comment by Terry Hennessey (U22420)
posted 38 minutes ago
comment by Desicafu (U8481)
posted 25 minutes ago
For me what's clear is that players such as:

* Knight
* Bird
* Sibley

Are not as good as we think they are, they've done well this season but Jason Knight has managed 3 goals in 40 games, Louie Sibley 6 goals in 44 games.
Max Bird ( not expected to be high on goals scored) 2 goals in 37 games.

At the start of the season once our squad was being rebuilt I did expect Knight and/or Sibley to hit 10+ goals each.

William Osula scored 5 goals by Jan, I'd have expected a few players at this level to have taken over that figure by the second half. At present Osula is 6th on our list of goalscorers.

I must admit I'm of that opinion...

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If our players were ar good as we thought they were we would be already promoted. Every football fan has the same delusions.

We do have one of the best players in the diviosion and several players who didn't look out of place when they were in the Championship. That is usually a recipe for promotion to the next division. We therefore must have several weak links in the team. I will leave you to decide who they are.

I also think we are being a little kind to Paul Warne. I don't think Warne is used to having players who come from a background of possession. We have only had two long ball managers in the last 10 years and one of those only lasted a few weeks. I really dislike teams which play the long ball all the time.

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I wish I could type.

Not at all Spart. Got the gist of it and always best from the heart

Bielik is the only player we have who is about this level. He's never really proven himself at a higher level, but for some reason we bought into the idea that he was too good for League 1.

I think we have a bunch of players who realise that they're never going to perform above this level, and are happy for us to stay in League 1 because a club with good facilities in league 1 is cushy.

A Wednesday fan made a bet with me before the season that they'd finish higher than us, saying NML was one such player who they were glad didn't agree to the offered contract extension. I foolishly took them on.

Bielik is a premium player given his wage and personal desires.

We can't realistically risk him at this level and have him injured for several months when he can play for another club and his wages be off the books.

I can't slate N M-L or any of the others that joined us as their commitment to play for a reduced salary offered us the opportunity to play as a club week in/ week out.

Whatever our final position in the league may be at the end of the season, that will be the position we deserve to be in - it will reflect 46 games. The same will be true for every team.

Let's suppose for the sake of argument we finish up in 7th place. How many of us would have gladly taken that at the start of the season given EFL restrictions and size of squad?

To start blaming players or management is way out of order. PW and co have done a fine job. If you look at today's game there were many moments of excellent play with only the cutting edge missing. And this lack of edge has only really manifested itself since January. No-one was complaining about PW or the players during our good run. Could we really expect that run to continue indefinitely given our squad and length of season?

Thoughts;

how on earth we managed to draw to MKD (who looked worse than Accrington), will haunt me until the day I die.

I agree we have lacked goals from midfield. It's a bit harsh on Sibley though as he has largely been played at left back. I would expect that his goals per minute played in midfield aren't too shabby.

I thought that today we played really well overall but the finishing was very poor and we also made the wrong choices in some fantastic positions. We played very little long ball today and it is a bit of a myth that this is Warne's only preferred way of playing. I think he is still trying to figure out how to get the most out of the crop of players he has at his disposal. Whether a different manager could have got more out of them is a matter of opinion but it's certainly possible.

It's utter nonsense to say that the players are happy to stay at League 1 level.

To be contending for play-offs is a decent achievement for me overall, though it would be disappointing of course to miss out when we looked nailed on not so long ago. After a full pre-season and the chance to do a bit of a makeover on the squad, next season we will be in a better position to make more of a judgement on the manager and his way of playing.

Today I thought Roberts and Cashin were outstanding and I agree Hourihane was very effective. It was interesting to hear Didzy praising Collins after the match and saying that his work sometimes goes unappreciated by some fans who don't know all that much about the game. I will leave you to decide who they are.

I omitted highlighting Sibley played at left back for several matches and Jason Knight at right back as majority on here would be familiar with the positional tweaks.

To have played over 30+ games in an attacking position I would have anticipated a little more in terms of goals. Sibley redeemed himself at left back but he continues to disappoint/ frustrate with one good performance followed by one that will get him hooked in the second half.

To get to where we are is an absolute fantastic achievement tinged with disappointment as we may get into the playoffs but it's going to be an uphill battle now and we're continually dropping points from strong positions.

Responding to Chicago's comments, I wouldn't be looking to blame players, I'm grateful to every player that joined or remained in our cause this season, allowing us to have a season to enjoy ( in parts)!

I just think it's a good idea to reflect that certain players that have come from the Championship are not quite Championship material just yet.

I cant believe some of the negative comments on here. We had no team at the start of the season. We recruited players past their prime on Limited wages who have performed well and, alongside our own youngsters, put us in with a shout of the play offs. I'd have happily taken that 8 months ago. We lack 2 things ... a genuine goal scoring centre forward and the 25/28 year old players that every squad needs.
Our youngsters are easily good enough to play Championship. But they need nurturing and to be part of a balanced side, which we aren't.
Wherever we play next season, we need to move the squad around. Ideally, build it from Cashin forwards. He is an absolute gem of a player.

At least I got my annual bath over and done with on the way from the pub to PP. ☔️

Well said Peeder. In fact, since Smith moved into midfield we have seen a glimpse of what a balanced team might look like. Today we had three kids as our defensive line and for almost the entire season we have had Fozzy playing out of position alongside Cash in his first full season. We have had no proper right back all season. We have had to overplay Didzy and NML because if the thinness of the squad. If we take a step back and look at the club in its entirety we have made huge strides since coming out of administration. We are stable, we don't have a lunatic owner, we are within the budgetary constraints imposed and supposedly our realtionship with the EFL is now very good. There are some on here who forecast that we would be struggling to even stay in this division at this stage, not competing to get out at the first attempt. The top three have had a huge advantage over us in the time their squad has been developing together and what they have been able to invest in recruiting to their squads. We have had a good season, all things considered, no matter what our final position may be.

Absolutely Vidal 👍🏼

When you two have finished mutual back patting, if you think that with the team we have. we should be losing at home to Fleetwood and drawing with MK Dons then you are easily satisfied.

comment by lastapostleofvidal (U1491)
posted about 16 hours ago
I agree we have lacked goals from midfield. It's a bit harsh on Sibley though as he has largely been played at left back. I would expect that his goals per minute played in midfield aren't too shabby.

I thought that today we played really well overall but the finishing was very poor and we also made the wrong choices in some fantastic positions. We played very little long ball today and it is a bit of a myth that this is Warne's only preferred way of playing. I think he is still trying to figure out how to get the most out of the crop of players he has at his disposal. Whether a different manager could have got more out of them is a matter of opinion but it's certainly possible.

It's utter nonsense to say that the players are happy to stay at League 1 level.

To be contending for play-offs is a decent achievement for me overall, though it would be disappointing of course to miss out when we looked nailed on not so long ago. After a full pre-season and the chance to do a bit of a makeover on the squad, next season we will be in a better position to make more of a judgement on the manager and his way of playing.

Today I thought Roberts and Cashin were outstanding and I agree Hourihane was very effective. It was interesting to hear Didzy praising Collins after the match and saying that his work sometimes goes unappreciated by some fans who don't know all that much about the game. I will leave you to decide who they are.
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What Didzy meant was that Collins made him look good, having skills that Collins doesn't have.. He's hardly likely to go public with something like Collins is a donkey who would have trouble scoring in a brothel.

....and as a total aside to this discussion about whether this player...or that player is any good....I was talking to Mr Zan [ Zanfish] last night ....he told me he was getting rid of his Vacuum cleaner....he said that it was only gathering dust....

comment by Spart-Derby really are the best says red dog. (U4603)
posted about 3 hours ago
When you two have finished mutual back patting, if you think that with the team we have. we should be losing at home to Fleetwood and drawing with MK Dons then you are easily satisfied.
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Spart
MKD were in the payoffs last season and well backed this year. So, arguably, yes.
Fleetwood ... no, we should be beating them.
However, it's football.
You can have a bad game and win or a good game and lose.
Statistics suggest we battered MKD ... except the goals scored one.

I was disappointed to see M-L at right back failing to stop the cross which our 3 centre backs missed, probably because they are too small. I think Forsyth or Davies should have played and I hate this 3/5 at the back.

I predicted 2-0 and I expected to see about 6 goals after our performance in the first half. MKD were very poor but we seemed to stop and let them back in. 2 points chucked away, looks like we will have to put up with this league for another season.

It was all going so well till Warnsy got manager of the month.

I may have missed something, but I don't think the comments on here have been overly critical. Compared to some of the texts read out on Radio Derby, and apparently on twitter and elsewhere, our comments have been relatively mild and fair-minded. Not that we should measure ourselves by their dubious standards.
Im sure we all appreciate our starting point this season and have set our expectations accordingly. I dont think we have either under or overachieved, however, given our mixture of talented youth and higher league experience, some level of disappointment is understandable.
The players and coaches have, without doubt, faced challenges not experienced by their recent predecessors, resulting in them enjoying a high level of satisfaction from the fans, but they cant expect to be totally immune from criticism.

Believing that the criticism of the club in some quarters is excessive and lacking in context is not the same as being happy that we lost at home to Fleetwood. I just think that many fans are unrealistic in their expectations at the moment. 2 seasons is a reasonable time frame to expect to get out of League 1 in my opinion - one to steady the ship and perhaps have a sniff, and one to go all out for promotion.

I agree with VC that NML was naive in letting his opponent beat him on the flank. Changing to a back three has improved us in some respects but weakened us in others. Whether the manager is a genius or an idiot depends on the moments in the game. On another day maybe NML scores a hat-trick, which he might easily have done with a bit of composure. Unfortunately for him a very small error in a defensive area ended up costing two points.

Given the circumstances you could say we will have overachieved this season in whatever position we may end up. And yes, it may well be reasonable to expect a club of our size and stature, if promotion eludes us this time, to have a real good go at promotion next season but for the fact that the EFL could well again seriously inhibit our chances. Ipswich, Sunderland and Sheff Wed have found it hard without interference from EFL.

There have been games where we have not gained the points we should but every team can doubtless say that. As someone on here said, that's football.

If I can add my bit in here, it's all down to fine margins - and the stats don't lie. The top 3 have as follows :
Sheff. W - goals for 71 : goals against 32
Plymouth - goals for : 70 goals against 44
Ipswich - goals for : 79 goals against 32
Derby (7th) - goals for : 62 goals against 42

So, actually we're not that far off. Equally all teams go through a bad patch, at some point. As I recall we didn't get off to a particularly brilliant start, so those teams above us already had points in the bag before they hit their bad patch. So we actually had 2 bad patches : at the start of the season and now. If you think about it, without McGoldrick we'd have been near the bottom. He's 35 now so he's actually had a fantastic season ... but I think we've struggled because we've had no one other than him or Collins since the turn of the year. I do think we missed Osula as one of you guys pointed out.
Warney IMO quite rightly pointed out when he joined us that we were light in players aged around 25/26 and i think he's right.
Whatever happens in the next 5 games, we'll need to find [at least] replacements for Curtis, Stearman and Chester, probably 2 more forwards a full back, a central defender and a midfielder...so much to do.

I'd forgotten all about Stearman. I don't think he's even made the bench for some time either. Surprising that Rooney is preferred to him in a back 3 for some reason (even if he has done well). I'd imagine in the playoffs we'd need experience (if we get there) and I was hoping Chester would also be fit for them for that reason.

comment by 🏁 AnglianRam 🏁 (U17428)
posted 14 hours, 59 minutes ago
I may have missed something, but I don't think the comments on here have been overly critical. Compared to some of the texts read out on Radio Derby, and apparently on twitter and elsewhere, our comments have been relatively mild and fair-minded. Not that we should measure ourselves by their dubious standards.
Im sure we all appreciate our starting point this season and have set our expectations accordingly. I dont think we have either under or overachieved, however, given our mixture of talented youth and higher league experience, some level of disappointment is understandable.
The players and coaches have, without doubt, faced challenges not experienced by their recent predecessors, resulting in them enjoying a high level of satisfaction from the fans, but they cant expect to be totally immune from criticism.
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Totally agreed!