I'm not 100% sure, we'll see.

I don't like the look of the team he has picked 3 times, Huddz? Zooom? Malone? No Marriott? No Bielik?

We will see and I'm not saying anything for now. I'll wait a bit.

Beilik is working toward full fitness and I think he'll start on Tuesday.
I think away from home we'll play 2 DMs and at home it'll be one (Beilik). I wouldn't be at all surprised if we start Beilik and have Marriott starting along with Waghorn against Brizzle. He put Paterson on against Swansea in place of Evans because he said he was probably being a bit too cautious at home. It's understandable as he didn't want to lose his first home game.

One thing does seem clear is he sets his team tactically to overcome what he expects to find lining up against him and if it's not working he'll change it, rapido.

I think we'll see some changes when players are back to full fitness.

The biggest problem so far has, aside from the 2 goals in the opening game, been once again Lawrence, who only seems to show up every 5-6 games.

I'm wondering if the aim with the formation is something more fluid. We saw a preview of 3 at the back / 2 wingbacks, but Beilik himself has said he likes to get forward so it could be he wants there to be the possibility of 3 different players driving forward from the back (up to 2 at a time, with the rest shifting over to cover positions)

At the moment it still seems to be about learning what players can / can't do, and unless he's just incredibly stubborn it might be a case of "3 strikes you're out" when it comes to not being able to follow new instructions.

Good point 9GC.
I think Zoom is worse than Lawrence in that he offers no goal threat at all. Paterson Marriott and Holmes will be eager to take his place off him. If he plays with wing backs in a 5 then it'll free up Lawrence to come inside more and do what he does best.
He doesn't know how poor Zoon was or how inconsistent Lawrence was. Hopefully he'll make his mind up soon and we'll develop a more settled way of playing.

I'm with you so far, Rameses. It's early days, but I like what I've seen from him and his coaching team. I have been wrong on many occasions in the past though, most recently with Rowett. In fact the only time I was 100% right was with Pearson.
The challenges I see ahead for him are not necessarily footballing ones, as I thing he is tactically very astute. But how will he cope with having Rooney parachuted into PP in the New Year with the potential disruption to his squad ? If we lose a few, will the Derby fans accept his decisions, when he does not have the persuasive charisma of the last manager ?
Regarding picking Marriott, it is hardly something new. FL notably failed to pick him for our biggest game in 5 years. Perhaps there is something behind the scenes that we cannot see.
To paraphrase a texter to RD on Saturday, it's good to have a tactician on board rather than a media darling.

Ang. Face facts. You have been wrong about everything. Always. But admire your tenacity

comment by HebridesRam (U2909)
posted 14 minutes ago
Ang. Face facts. You have been wrong about everything. Always. But admire your tenacity
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Yes. But you'd have thought that by the law of averages.....

Shinnie? Signed with high expectations and yet.......Any views?

Think we probably signed the wrong sibling ?

Shinnie is a bit of a Bryson. I can see him in a midfield 3 with Dowell and Bielik. Every team needs a ratter and I think Shinnie could be ours.

I still think we signed him to aid Lowe's development. I honestly don't think it was to be part of the playing squad.

The inept performance against Kazakhstan for Scotland he put in was one of the reasons Scotland sunk to a new low back then, reminded me somewhat of the performance Francois Grenet put in against Bristol Rovers back in the day in terms of shockers.

Ratter seems about right. Suspect that he may to be a Cocu sort of player now....... - but could come into his own come cold Tuesday nights in November......

meant "not' a sort of etc.........

Concentrating on the cricket - 4 overs to go!

4 wickets to go !

The analysis seems right to me. Bielik is working towards full match fitness and it is inconceivable he won’t be a starter eventually. I like the way Cocu hasn’t rushed players but took time in pre-season to assess the squad and he knows it’s a long old season. As Rameses says he can think on his feet and change things early which is a very rare thing to see in a Derby manager. If he gets a full squad to choose from I think he will vary the midfield in particular based on who we are playing, but Bielik will be the lynchpin. Huddz, Evans, Dowell, Knight, Shinnie, Holmes: all might feature and all are very different players which gives him great flexibility rather than having to stick to a rigid style. Further forward I think we will only rarely see Wagstaff and Marriott together which I think is a bit of a pity if I’m right. I reckon he has had a sit down with Zoon and told him to prove how wrong Cocu was to freeze him out at PSV. Fair play to Cocu for that but surely he will drop him soon unless he has a big turnaround in form. Lawrence will be likely to be first choice with Zoon, Bennett and Paterson fighting over the other side. I really hope Bogle gets fit soon because early signs were that he was going up another level from last season. I think Lowe and Malone can compete nicely for left back. I’m very optimistic.

Just finished watching Take Us Home:Leeds United, te he. I love a happy ending, ha ha.

Why doesn’t Marriott play more? He certainly knows where the net is.

It's a mystery to me VC, last season he didn't really have a pre season and so was introduced gradually then once he had cemented himself in the team he was banging them in for fun and looked by far and away out best striker. Then he just disappeared so he must have done something to upset Frank. I think this season he has also had a couple of niggles so maybe cocu is doing the same and waiting to integrate him gradually again, although if waghorn keeps scoring it's a hard case to drop him, even though I still maintain jack is he best natural finisher this club has had for many years.

comment by Harper - Ram in Auckland. Welkom bij Derby County Phillip Cocu and Wayne Rooney. Unbelievable Jeff. (U13926)
posted 5 minutes ago
It's a mystery to me VC, last season he didn't really have a pre season and so was introduced gradually then once he had cemented himself in the team he was banging them in for fun and looked by far and away out best striker. Then he just disappeared so he must have done something to upset Frank. I think this season he has also had a couple of niggles so maybe cocu is doing the same and waiting to integrate him gradually again, although if waghorn keeps scoring it's a hard case to drop him, even though I still maintain jack is he best natural finisher this club has had for many years.
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I’d play both Waghorn and Marriott and not Waghorn on the wing.

Perhaps he's seen as an impact sub.

Look at it another way if we start Waghorn and Marriott who is going to provide a threat off the bench if we need a goal?

Chris Martin was not even in the squad v Scunny so that speaks volumes.

Someone from the Academy maybe. Hector-Ingram, Whittaker? Untried but who knows.

Alternatively perhaps he wants to play Marriott at home with Waghorn and tomorrow is the first opportunity as Marriott wasn't fully fit v Swansea.
Regardless tomorrow night, knowing Marriott is now match fit, will tell us where PC sees Marriott's role.

Not likely to drop a striker who scored twice in his last game so I expect to see Marriott on the bench again, but to feature earlier if Wagstaff is not on his game. If that happens and he does well then he would be likely to get the nod on Saturday. Hopefully the presence of a fully fit Marriott on the bench will spur The Wagster on to keep on banging them in. We need competition for places after all.

I agree Vidal. I don't see PC being gungho enough to start with both of them even at home. I'd like it but I don't see it.
But if he is not to start then it'll be because he can't drop Waghorn not because of some kind of weird conspiracy against Marriott.

Wellies had some theories on Marriott's lack of game time which my legal advisors say it would be unwise to repeat on here. Then again, Wellies was off his head on Canadian hooch at the time so you can take what he says with a pinch of salt.