Quote Originally Posted by swaledale View Post
1. No, but you have consistently criticised him since last August, where as AF and others have generally made comments after a bad spell of results or a poor game. I've responded where I felt such comments were ill judged, so I'm not "picking on you".

2. Maybe, but whats telling is that despite the football being less than scintillating and some players being consistently slated, the team is now 4th in the league after 6 games unbeaten. Lets not forget the millions spent previously on players and managers in an attempt by the previous owner to get a team playing the "Derby way". At the moment getting out of this division on limited resources is the name of the game.

3. You stated that a manager is judged on the signings he makes, you didn't say its one of the things a manager is judged by! I'm not a mind reader and in any case I'm not in the habit of assuming you mean something that you don't state. There are of course examples of managers who come in make no signings and are judged solely on the team results.

4. I am puzzled how you think Warne has got the team to 4th in the league if he hasn't managed to integrate the new signings with the existing players in the team, I think you mean individual player performances, but its perhaps as well to note that existing players such as Sibley, Bird, Rooney for example have been either injured or not performed well. Wildsmith was having a mare early on as well. Funnily enough players do get injured, have a loss of form etc. etc. On the other hand Nelson, Nyambe, Wilson, and Waghorn have not disappointed though some have had injuries.

There are plenty of examples at any football club of players who have been signed (sometimes for millions) and for whatever reason don't gell, hardly get a game and soon move on, why even the great Pep Guardiola has been known to sign the odd "dud" - theres £40 million Phillips currently looking for a way out at Man City, hardly played since he arrived. Warne IMO opinion has done no worse than most managers to date.
Okay...Christmas Day truce over but let’s stick to logic and reason.

1. I have criticised Warne, especially two or three months ago. I have also praised his achievements when warranted. It’s a case of criticism and praise as and when appropriate for me. As for you ‘picking on’ me...how old are we...six? I said you chose to ‘vent your spleen’ on me even though others have been equally critical at times.

2. What other managers and owners, one in particular, have done in the past is totally irrelevant to Warne’s transfer dealings. Complete red herring.

3. You may not be a mind reader’...but I didn’t realise I had to spell things out quite so literally and simply to you. The context of the discussion was Warne’s performance in the transfer market. Obviously other factors...league position, style of football etc are crucial but central to all that is the ability to spot and acquire additions that fit the budget and will strengthen the playing squad. It’s my opinion that this hasn’t proved to be one of Warne’s strengths over the last 16 months. I’d give him a 4 or possibly 5/10...that’s my opinion...I’ve provided my reasoning elsewhere and things may change in the next window or over the next five months. Certainly Nyambe signing an extension and, as I understand, showing great enthusiasm for DCFC is a huge positive.

4. I don’t really understand how Waghorn, of the players you’ve mentioned, hasn’t ‘disappointed’. This is the Waghorn who you didn’t want us to sign... ‘no thanks not even at L1 level’ were your words I believe...and so far he’s had a bit of a typical Waghorn season. He’s a decent wholehearted player imo...scores goals in ‘clusters’, then goes quiet and misses lengthy periods with injury. Nelson, Nyambe and Wilson we agree on. Vickers too has done nothing wrong, although we haven’t seen enough to be genuinely positive, but 3 or 4 successful signings out of 12/14 leaves much room for improvement in my world and that is all I’ve said.

As regards Pep and Phillips. You make one of my points perfectly. I don’t think anyone would doubt that Kalvin Phillips is an extremely talented footballer...but he’s also staggeringly injury prone. For me that makes him a ‘no go’. I don’t care how good anyone or anything is when they/it are functioning perfectly. If they/it are subject to regular breakdown/unavailability then I wouldn’t buy. Fact is that Pep/Man City can afford to lose out on £40m more than we can afford to lose money on players who’s performances may be measured more in minutes played rather than matches.

I’ve really nothing more to say. It’s become tiresome again and basically we just disagree on the quality of Warne’s signings since he arrived at Derby. You’re obviously satisfied...I’m not...end of. If you want to continue I’d suggest we move to the January window thread because this all has nothing to do with last week against Lincoln.