Sheaf Saint

Deary me. I look at that lineup and for the life of me I can't even guess what the shape is going to be. There's some positives there, like Manning being dropped and Jelert coming in on the other side, but it's hard to escape the conclusion that this is yet another desperate tombola draw team selection from WS, who clearly still doesn't have the slightest clue what his best eleven is. Armstrong and Archer are too similar and neither have enough physical presence, so I can't see that working up top. THB coming in for Quarshie is questionable. He doesn't have anything like the speed or strength to play the same role so I don't know how the 3 CBs will combine. Pleased to see Scienza keep his place, but how on earth can a team struggling for goals be leaving players like Fellows, Azaz and Robinson all on the bench. Are we relying on the wing backs to provide width in attack, crossing to two strikers who are both hopeless headers of the ball? I hate being pessimistic and I really want Still to come good, but this just looks like another total mess, and will likely be followed up by him subbing half the team at some point which will just make it even more disjointed, as he always does. I'm not sure I even want to watch 😕

Yes, yes. But there's not even a realistic 'IF' here is there. If you even consider it a remote possibility that Trump has the ability to broker a deal with Putin that is acceptable to Ukraine then you're utterly deluded.

"We took care of him and did everything we could" I'm pretty sure that taking a player who has barely played for three years and starting him three times in seven days shows that statement to be blatantly false.

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/25548830.still-opens-crap-decisions-leaving-duo-squad/

Manning needs to be dropped purely on the basis of gifting Derby a goal by being too busy arguing with the Lino to even bother trying to defend. Absolute dickhead.

Beeb reporting that Hassenhutl is among those in the frame for the Rangers job following Martin's sacking. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cy0ynx4wr5do I know the chances of it happening are slim to none, but I would snap your arm off to have him back here now.

2-3 now 👍

He took a very poor Wednesday team and made it better than the sum of its parts, and their fans loved him for it. I've seen no evidence so far that Still is capable of that. Quite the opposite in fact - he's got one of the best overall squads in the Championship to work with and has got it performing well below what it should be capable of.

Yeah and IIRC he was unlucky a few times before he broke his duck, hitting the post etc... Downs hasn't even come close to making a connection with a shot yet, let alone hit the woodwork.

Gerrard is the Ray Patterson to Russel Martin's Homer...

Which ones are you doing? I finally got round to climbing Scafell in August. It's very touristy (as expected) and the weather was awful so couldn't see anything from the top, but I'm very glad to have ticked it off at long last.

Was signed before the SR takeover.

Seven. Ralph, Jones, Selles, Martin, Juric, Rusk, Still. Hands up anyone who thought of Trumpton while reading that.

And on our current trajectory under SR, that's exactly where we will be.

Incompetence fuelled by greed is probably the best way to describe it. Their drive to focus solely on the resale value and potential profit margins of players, while completely ignoring the qualities needed to build a successful team, is what has brought us to this point. Nearly 4 years now and they continue to just make bad decision after bad decision, seemingly without ever learning from their mistakes. This current situation - going into a season with a crock and a hopeless fraud of a footballer as our striker options (who cost a combined £15m) - is just inexcusable. I was so full of hope and excitement when they bought the club, but they've been an unmitigated disaster and it's only going to get worse from here with these clowns in charge. They've had enough chances to prove themselves as worthy custodians of the club and they've right royally fucked it up. We as fans need to step up the pressure on them now. They've had an easy ride from us so far but enough is enough. They've turned us into a soulless, data-driven cash cow that it has become little more than a chore to support 😔

No, it was his ankle.

Stamp duty accounted for £15bn of tax revenue last year. Where would that shortfall be made up if it was abolished?

Right on cue... https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/13446395/watford-paulo-pezzolano-set-to-be-sacked-as-head-coach-after-five-months-in-charge-of-championship-club

Yep, I was thinking this recently that he reminds me of that time we had to stick Dexter Blackstock in goal against Newcastle. He always has that similar "rabbit in headlights" look about him, like he knows he's not really supposed to be there. Macca has been infinitely better since he came in recently (Liverpool howler aside) and made more good saves at Derby of the kind that Baz never does. Long may it continue.

McCarthy has always been better than Baz. Easy to forget that he was our POTS in 2017/18. He has plenty of faults, no doubt. But he is actually a proper goalkeeper at least, which is something Baz will never be.

What an utterly ridiculous argument. Have you considered that's because nobody hade even heard of him at that point? Plenty raised concerns about whether or not his profile and experience was what we needed for this season (which has obviously turned out to be correct). If any of us had voiced the same criticisms after his recent 'performances' at the point he was signed, you would no doubt be slagging those same people off for writing him off before even seeing him play. There was one poster though who did have some decent insight from his son who is a football scout and warned that he was fucking terrible. Calling @BARCELONASAINT to the thread please. You know there are times when I see some decent points in your long and convoluted posts. But then there are times, such as in this instance, where you just make yourself look like a total idiot.

At Bramall Lane last week I saw someone waving a banner that said something like "Sport Republic - two relegations", but I couldn't make out the rest. Anybody else see it or know who's it was? Seems like someone is actually trying to make the fans' feelings about their ownership known, but it needs a lot more than a single small banner at an away game if it's going to be effective.

He didn't look like he was struggling to me. Was still causing problems and didn't look like he needed to come off. Perhaps it was just another instinctive call from Still. It worked in Tuesday, but not this time.

His ability to hit a free kick shouldn't be the only reason he's in the team. We saw in 2023/24 what a total liability he is in defence. He's obviously never going to get better in that regard either. Players with his kind of limitations need to make up for it with effort and professionalism. To allow Derby an unchallenged cross into the box because he was busy arguing with the lino is simply unforgivable. I get that he started the season as understudy to Welington so was never intended to be first choice at LB this season, but we have Jelert now who surely must be a better option there.