He seemed OK against Germany.

Spart - Give up mate. Either 666 believes all his stuff or he is having us on. In either case he is not worth any attention. I know I am one who he has annoyed beyond endurance. That is why I can't resist winding him up now and then. And anything that praised Keogh's bility is bound to succeed on that front. Personally I don't think he really believes his own bulls hit any more than other folk do. But, who is Martin O'Neill compared with 666 on selecting football players.

comment by I'm not Spartacus. and definitely not Vidal (U4603)
posted 5 minutes ago
He seemed OK against Germany.
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..but was crap against Bristol. Again. Remember the away match when he came charging out to a ball he couldn't possibly win and left us exposed in the box, or do you have no opinion on that as you didn't go? And last season away, when he gifted them possession for their two goals?

"Germany"

Whatever you think about Keogh as a player, my grivence is the captaincy and when he was relieved of that I thought his play improved, the problem was that it was handed to Baird, hardly a player who was going to play a majority of a season.

So when McClaren returned he was never going to go against the grain especially when Keogh seemed to having the backing of his fellow teammates.

So McClaren missed a trick, firstly to give him a rest and secondly to try out a Pearce/Shackell combo in the Leicester game.

Has McClaren got any gumption, know how to get out of this league, I'm beginning to doubt the second coming was the way to go.

I agree Igor.....Rowett & Warburton on the bench😉

Baird looks to be solid just now Igor: doesn't get to their byeline but better defensively and has, as you've pointed out, put some beauties through to Ince that have resulted in goals. He also didn't, as Keogh, have a 5hitfit about losing the armband either, and has been a model pro whilst awaiting his chance. BJ could learn a thing or two from him in that regard.

I'd give the band to Thorne if he wasn't so brittle, but hopefully we'll see a midfield general arrive in summer.

To change the subject, should the Bristol player who missed the sitter yesterday have taken the conversion for Scotland today, (and vice-versa)?

What a complete fck-up, it could have cost them the game!

I liked what I saw from Nugent. Making a lot of runs. As soon as the rest of the team figure out what Nugent is doing is called intelligent forward play and actually start looking for him there'll be goals there. It's blindingly obvious he has quality. Hard to leave Bent out when I
he's scoring and as SMcC will only play 442 if he's desperate it seems for now he'll have to come off the bench.Thankfully Vydra and Blackman will have few opportunities now barring injuries of course.
I was surprised de Sart didn't replace Johnson. The introduction of two dwarves in the shape of Anya and Butterfield seemed a bit odd to me when you consider Brizzle had 4 outfield players over 6'5" and when we quickly conceeded the third I thought we were done. But credit to them they stuck at it a got a very very fortunate point. Make no mistake this was lucky, we went for it, left gaping holes at the back which Bristol were unlucky not the exploit. However nothing ventured, McClaren wanted something from the game, we went for it could have easily lost 6-0 and destroyed our goal difference but we ended up with a point. Amazing.

666, what I've never got was we already have 3/4 players in the squad who where captains of their previous clubs, so it annoying when you hear about the lack of leadership on the pitch.

That was some 5 goals that Norwich stuck past Forest yesterday.

http://m.derbytelegraph.co.uk/see-what-steve-mcclaren-said-about-derby-skipper-richard-keogh-after-bristol-city-draw/story-30130392-detail/story.html

😳😳😳

"I thought Richard Keogh was magnificent throughout. He gave a real captain's performance - and he was one of those who had played two hours against Leicester City on Wednesday!"



I think WADA and UKAD need to pop past McClaren Towers is what I think.

Captaincy doesn't involve much more than the toss of a coin. It isn't like cricket where captains make decisions. The idea of a captain inspiring and organising is a bit fanciful - the players should know their jobs when they leave the changing room. What is important is communication. On Saturday I sat on the very front row as the person I went with was in a wheelchair, and you can hear a hell of a lot of communication coming from Carson, Pearce, Keogh and others. The whole armband thing is something fans fixate on but which matters little during the game.

What does the opinion of football professionals count compared to that of an armchair supporter.

WADA and UKAD don't even visit players. They found one case last season and he got off with a reprimand. If they did their job properly I would expect around 25% of current football players would be banned and 100% of Rugby players.

666

Why do you actually think it is that Keogh is so highly rated by international and club managers, and his fellow players?

Vidal, a more pertinent question to 666 might be. "do you actually think?".

I've no idea why he's so highly rated by anybody, to be honest; he's bang average for Championship level. His propensity for mistakes seems to be higher than usual, and he is often directly responsible for our conceding.

It's all well and good folk pointing to the defensive run this season but that was predominantly down to our focus on not conceding as a team, which came at the cost of the goals scored tally. Now McClaren's back to form and is ploughing the same old rut but hoping for a different outcome, Keogh's frailities are again exposed.

You say he's not much of a captain, or at least no more a captain than others out there, so given that and the performances of Shackell and of Pearce, why do you think it is that Keogh hasn't come into the mix for rotation? Why is it that Pearce and Shackell hasn't been trialled in a competitive match? It seems to me that the consecutive run of Keogh is swaying the manager's mind which is somehing that should never be a consideration. McClaren rotated practically the whole first team last week, but not Keogh who is one of the oldest players; why? If Keogh IS so important to us, why rest the others but play him for the full 2 hours against Leicester? There's no justification for it beyond protecting his run; whatever happened to 'nobody's bigger than the club'? As a consequence of that decision, Keogh was directly responsible for 4 goals in 4 days, yet still those who are blinded by the badge hail him as Captain Fantastic.

It's a complete nonsense is what it is.

666 functions by spinal reflex rather than thought. He always reminds me of Mike the chicken.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34198390

Were 666 to have his brain sliced off I doubt we would notice much difference - he would still be running around in small circles shouting "Keogh's garbage! Keogh's garbage!" until he finally choked on his own bile.

So, rather ignore the uncomfortable questions, eh?

I thought Richard Keogh was magnificent throughout. He gave a real captain's performance - and he was one of those who had played two hours against Leicester City on Wednesday!"

Erm…..We lost to Leicester with Keogh having another poor game. Anybody else sees a common denominator.

Starting to think SM is losing the plot.
The way he has handled the Chrissy Martin saga must have been seen as a vote of no confidence in the strikers we have. Should have kept his thoughts to himself.
The team selection for the replay at Leicester and his total disregard for the FA Cup. I wonder how Mel feels about his club being portrayed in this way.
Saturdays abysmal first half, which cannot be papered over by the spirit showed in the second half.
Was it team selection or motivation, either way it makes the `resting’ of players make him look stupid.
If he does not take us up this year then as other posters have stated, perhaps its time we move on.
#losingpatience

Had you been at the game you would have noticed that the worst player on the pitch was one Craig Bryson. He couldn't even close down average players and was rightly substituted after half an hour. I hope he was carrying an injury in to the game because if he wasn't he shouldn't even be in the Championship. He was truly hopeless.

If he and Johnson weren't fit why were they picked? They gave no protection to the defence which was reflected in the scorline.

On a positive note I hope Nugent starts on Tuesday

The answer is pretty obvious, 666. It's because his manager thinks he is the best centre-half in the club. That opinion appears to be shared by other managers and also players and fans.

Just because you are baffled by it, doesn't mean it's not true. You should at least consider the possibility that they know more than you, and that you are wrong. It does seem to be the likeliest explanation.

McClaren set up the team and then changed it when it wasn't working; that's what he's paid to do, to put the club first over the individuals. Everyone here knows I'm a fan of #CB4 but if he deserved subbing then he should be subbed, no question about it.

If they weren't fit, which seems to be the consensus regarding both Bryson and Will, then that's a poor decision by McClaren. He was obviously desperate for a result on Saturday having put himself and the club in the centre of the FA Cup 5hitstorm in midweek and may have taken risks that he shouldn't have, but both Hughes and Bryson were apparently panting hard after about ten minutes. With Johnson dropping too deep (why BJ rather than de Sart?!!) that left the centre defended by Hughes and Bryson and neither of those is comfortable in that role; we all know it, why doesn't McClaren? With BJ too deep and offering no midfield assistance, we were effectively with the same midfield pair that saw Pearson sacked.

comment by lastapostleofvidal (U1491)
posted 2 minutes ago
The answer is pretty obvious, 666. It's because his manager thinks he is the best centre-half in the club. That opinion appears to be shared by other managers and also players and fans.

Just because you are baffled by it, doesn't mean it's not true. You should at least consider the possibility that they know more than you, and that you are wrong. It does seem to be the likeliest explanation.
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...but being 'the best' wasn't McClaren's reasoning behind the rest of the team's selection on Wednesday was it, so try again doctor boy... why was Keogh picked on Wednesday when McClaren was resting his first team if not only to keep Keogh's personal record going?