It is funny but I posted the equivalent, only it was the England v Ireland game at Twickenham. And it was Jane, at the Brompton Registery Office. And she was 5' 8", a good cook and quite pretty.

And you all thought it funny then.

Short memories eh!

comment by HebridesRam (U2909)
posted 5 minutes ago
It is funny but I posted the equivalent, only it was the England v Ireland game at Twickenham. And it was Jane, at the Brompton Registery Office. And she was 5' 8", a good cook and quite pretty.

And you all thought it funny then.

Short memories eh!
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Short memories, how very dare you!

Who is this "Heb" character anyway?

I hadn't thought of that VC. Thanks for saving me from a fate worse than death.

Well it’s gone nuts now.

Skybet have Lampard at 1/7 as of 14:38.
Smith a distant second favourite at 5/1
18/1 bar.

comment by Rameses (U7190)
posted 17 minutes ago
Well it’s gone nuts now.

Skybet have Lampard at 1/7 as of 14:38.
Smith a distant second favourite at 5/1
18/1 bar.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Somebody must have lumped some dollar on him?

Its a little different to a horse race which is all driven by incoming bets after the opening show

These types of bets are based on information as well as incoming bets

Bush, in horse racing somebody is usually in the know as well mate.

I'm warming to the Frank Lampard appointment. A gamble, yes. But a very interesting one. We don't know what he can do, but then neither does anyone else. He has many good connections I suspect and clearly, because of his background, it would generate a lot of media interest in Derby and have the whole league curious.

He’s quite handsome too. So may appeal to the female or gay supporter who is toying with the idea of getting a season ticket.

It won’t be lost on Mel. He looks at Frank and then looks at Mick and comes to the same conclusion.

comment by AJisaRam1973 (U2100)
posted 18 minutes ago
I'm warming to the Frank Lampard appointment. A gamble, yes. But a very interesting one. We don't know what he can do, but then neither does anyone else. He has many good connections I suspect and clearly, because of his background, it would generate a lot of media interest in Derby and have the whole league curious.
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I agree AJ

Frank has a brain and is usually touted as a more intelligent/thinking type footballer.

comment by ViewFrom (U1581)
posted 18 minutes ago
Frank has a brain and is usually touted as a more intelligent/thinking type footballer.
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From a very low base.....I fink, in it, ya know

He seems a nice smart feller, he's a pretty boy and he was a very good footballer. I don't want him as a manager though. Surely there is massive risk. Any team in this division that gets into a downward spiral can get relegated, even with plenty of decent players. Nobody has the faintest idea how he might perform as a manager and so the case for him is similar to that of, say, Chris Baird, or Shaun Barker, or Stephen Warnock, or any retired footballer with no experience. Derby has an unbalanced squad with many high earners and there is a need to slash the wage bill with immediate effect. An incoming manager has to assess the existing squad, all of last year's returning loanees and the young kids and decide which of them he wants as his first team squad. They are all on holiday of course so he can't do that until pre-season. We might know a bit about the abilities of Craig Bryson, Chris Martin, Nick Blackman, Richard Keogh, Craig Forsyth, etc, etc, but what does Frank know? Where would he start? At least Mick and Smith know the league and they will have seen the great majority of our players many times. Both are used to managing budgets and assembling functional teams. Mick in particular has great experience of this division and of the range of scenarios on the pitch and behind the scenes that might be encountered.

If it's Frank I'll naturally be shouting "Super Frank" with the best of them but I bloody well hope not. Dean Smith for me, or Mick if it's slash 'n' burn on a shoestring.

At stupid odds of 1/7, someone knows something.

And Forest fans have gone quiet. Subliminal message there. What chance of Lampard bringing in Ashley Cole at left back. One of, if not the best left back I have ever seen.

comment by AJisaRam1973 (U2100)
posted 19 minutes ago
And Forest fans have gone quiet. Subliminal message there. What chance of Lampard bringing in Ashley Cole at left back. One of, if not the best left back I have ever seen.
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A left back of his quality would set the team alight.

comment by thriceramdini12 (U21438)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by AJisaRam1973 (U2100)
posted 19 minutes ago
And Forest fans have gone quiet. Subliminal message there. What chance of Lampard bringing in Ashley Cole at left back. One of, if not the best left back I have ever seen.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A left back of his quality would set the team alight.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

He's 38 FFS, are we going to get JT in at CH as well?

comment by ScouseRam - Deluded since 1975 (U9675)
posted 8 minutes ago
comment by thriceramdini12 (U21438)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by AJisaRam1973 (U2100)
posted 19 minutes ago
And Forest fans have gone quiet. Subliminal message there. What chance of Lampard bringing in Ashley Cole at left back. One of, if not the best left back I have ever seen.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A left back of his quality would set the team alight.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

He's 38 FFS, are we going to get JT in at CH as well?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Maybe Zola and Lebeouf too?...

Will anybody be disappointed if we now DON'T appoint Frank?

Pity we missed out on Ray Wilson, he was a good left back.

I agree with Vidal.

Do you detect the note of jealousy and panic in Will Scarlet's post?

comment by thriceramdini12 (U21438)
posted 2 minutes ago
Do you detect the note of jealousy and panic in Will Scarlet's post?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rams envy

Frank with his Dad n 'Arry holding his hand is maybe a bit more comforting but still scary if we had money to spend and he had a clever, cunning plan then maybe it would be an interesting gamble.

PC came with a collection of notable contacts we didn't even get a Bueno out of it..

I share Vidals' fear, I think people underestimate the job GR did getting us to top 6.

I think we can tread water with an astute manager I'm not sure there's another gear in this team as it stands, barring Timmi Max or Craig Bryson being visited by the ghosts of Steve Bloomer, Johan Cruyff and Didi Periera.

I guess it depends on the long term plan, if it's a year of austerity then a 1 year contract for a Mick type manager is a potential safety first measure, if it's a longer period of austerity then it's a bit more difficult to choose.

I'd take Stevie Mac back, he knew the limits of the team, which ironically is why he got fired, bring Martin back and then oscillate between the industrial legacy of Gary Rowett (Away) and the more Tika Taka of SM (Home).

A Jordan Ibe on loan. Joe Ledley Eustace holding. Timmi Max being rotated. Who knows.

The idea of another manager or an unknown manager coming in and making the same mistakes as the previous ones and not being able to build on the strengths is a bit scary.

What we've learned from all these coming and going's in my opinion is.

4-4-2 (DW and NP) was a bit 5hit.

4-3-3 (PC, SM) was very fluid and porous (when Eust-less or Thorne-less) under SM, until teams just sat back against us and very sideways and boring under PC. It was sound defensively when we just sat back but frequently caught out on the counter. SM chose to sit back in his last spell and we offered nothing going forward due to (in my opinion) no wide players that could hold the ball up and bring others into play, or shoot consistently well and a questionable midfield three, in terms of a non passing, pedestrian BJ, a sideways only passing, non tackling Butters and a frequently injured, ghosting, hiding or chasing Hughes and/or Bryson.

4-2-3-1 (GR) offered us space on the break, unleashed Vydra finally, very difficult to break down up until January. No flair or creativity or ability to break teams down when we needed something special. Rigid and oft boring as duck.

3-5-2 (GR) Finally gave us an attacking edge, more out of power than guile, wasn't 100% balanced and again lacked wide players that could hold the ball up or just play a bit smarter. Very demanding physically on an aging team and once the wing backs tired towards the end of the game became a bit nail bite-y.

Assuming we sell Vydra there is still the potential to build from all of these three strategies.

4-3-3
CM:
Ledley
Huddz
BJ
Bryson
Thorne??
Timmi Max
Bird
Guy

Strikers: Martin/Jerome/Nuge

Wing: TL, Y-man, Loan??, Anya.

4-2-3-1:

Vydra Role: TL, Blackman, Vernam, Y-man, Nuge???

Holding: Huddz, BJ. Ledley. Thorne???

Strikers: Not sure Martin fits into this one as well. Jerome/Nuge though maybe a loan.

3-5-2:

Think we have the personnel already for this one, Anya might help out at LWB, again high octane wouldn't work with Martin I don't think.

For me a manager who can build on what works and tweak the what didn'ts is what's needed here.

With Ledley holding and a decent wide man with a bit of nouse I think the 4-3-3 could start to come out of it's previous 4-5-1 shell and be a good enough home strategy, plus bring a few punters back to watch a more attractive game. If Ledley gets injured not sure we have another John Eustace there, maybe BJ but think he works better with someone alongside him and his performances have been a tad inconsistent.

The counter attacking 4-2-3-1 for away from home but would need a Vydra replacement and maybe the 3-5-2 for when we want to press teams back and overwhelm them with numbers and power.

There are many additions I'd like to add but I think the decent wide man is the only essential one, maybe take a look at LB. I do feel previous managers have given us a competitive Plan A, B and C though. The weaknesses of the 4-3-3 could be mitigated with a holding midfielder and a returning CM. The sterile attack of the 4-2-3-1 could be tweaked with a decent wide player and maybe a more playmaking Number 10 a la KP. The 3-5-2 for when we want to get the best out of Jerome and just overpower teams with numbers and pace.

The rest is man management and motivation and dealing with a heartbroken fan base that wants redemption out of a team that continues to hurt them. Simple in't'it???

What 2W said.