I find Derby's signings really uninspiring. I mean, Chris Baird ffs. They'll finish 15th this season.
On my Football Manager I was Derby and I signed Chris Baird. I won the League. Definitely a sign it will happen in real life.
Surely there is an expiry date to the buyout clause to prevent us getting screwed over at the last minute? Don't clubs usually have until the end of June with these things?
The money is on Ince staying now McClaren has moved to Newcastle. He must start against Huddersfield on August 8th. Remember, last season he was Derby's MOTM in their 4-4 away draw at Huddersfield scoring two fantastic long-range goals. Steve Bruce take note, that's hitting the ball in the opposite direction of long range back passes.
He scores the same goal cutting in from the right every bloody week. Yet Bruce played him as a target man down the middle for three games and gave up on him based on that. We need use him from the wing if we want to get the best from him, same with Aluko. Proper centre forward down the middle, easy.
Not a problem, he's our best RB now and if we play a back four I'd rather he was there than right wing. His frailties at the back are exaggerated.
The idea was clearly always to sell him after a year for a sum double or triple what we would have paid for him, presuming we were still in the PL.
Agreed, he had a couple of dodgy moments where he switched off in the first season in the PL, mainly against some of the bigger teams with the trickier and more cleverer players, but he was a solid defender last season and the only real error I can think of was getting a toe on that loose ball away at WBA, and that goal was more down to McGregor anyway as he still had plenty of time to boot it out instead. If anything, he has more frailties in attack imo. Too one dimensional and doesn't get in the box anywhere near enough.
Only one of those goals came as a result of a cross; if we're planning to keep him we need to take the 3-5-2, stick it in a bag and throw it to the bottom of the Humber for Grimsby to find. The players we have don't really suit that system anyway, it'll be worrying if we persist with it (and given SB's one dimensional tactics last season, it's a high possibility).
the thing about SB is that he played a formation that suited our players and as we wont be making that many additions in the transfer window, I can't see him changing things.
It will be interesting to see where both clubs are in the league after the Xmas New Year games. Our trip to Derby in April should also be good fun.
How does it suit our players? In Snodgrass, Aluko and Ince we have some of the very best players in the Championship in recent years, and we play a formation without wingers...
we never had ince or Snodders last season, if we have them for this chumpionship season, I reckon SB will change the formation again. Ince on 1 side and Snodgrass on the other? square pegs in round holes but he does seem to play a formation that fits our players.
I think the main reason Rossy left was that SB is going to play 352, so his chances of getting game time was going to be limited.
He made the 5-3-2 to suit Faye and cover his complete lack of mobility, he then decided to carry it on because it meant he could cram the team with as many defenders as possible and squeeze his son in the team. It definitely didn't suit the players we had last season.
You are obsessed with this 3-5-2 to an unhealthy degree, we didn't go down because of it, we went down because certain players let us down regardless of the formation or managerial input
