Mr Paul W.

[MadRich]

Paul, you have a hat like my ex
And your football knowledge is worse than hers...

[swaledale]

Paul, you have a hat like my ex
And your football knowledge is worse than hers...

I take it your ex has gained promotion from League 1 at least once then?

[SithHappens]

I take it your ex has gained promotion from League 1 at least once then?

How do you know his ex isn't Sarina Wiegman?

[MadAmster]

A subject with more questions than answers.

The thing with all the "Warne out" posts on X and FB and a plethora of forums, and this is a Warne out opening post and a very thinly veiled one at that is that they forget so much.

Due to the business plan we probably don't have the wriggle room for the £2M or whatever it would be payoff to PW and his staff/

David Clowes has said PW is staying.

Injury issues.

etc...

No manager can account for the worldy that was their first goal or the deflection that caught Wildsmith out for their 2nd and so many other things that happen in games.

Personally I'd be genuinely worried if we weren't creating chances but we are. Keep doing it and they will start going in. A higher % of shots on would help.

DC has said PW will have some money for January transfers. Some fans, although none of the regulars on here, I suspect, will be expecting incoming transfers in excess of half a million pounds. I fully expect some fans to be pushing for fees rather larger than that to be spent on a striker AND on a midfield strong man general. I think we're fine in the goalkeeping department. We miss Nyambe in January with the African Cup of Nations but with Wilson we have a capable replacement. Elder and Foz give us good options on the left and Sibs can be our 3rd choice there. I have faith in Nelson and Cashin. Less so in Bradley who seems to make one goal conceding error in almost every game. I'd think seriously about playing young Fapetu in MF and would be more than willing to give Tony Weston a go. Even more so if you start with the odd cameo off the bench.

[swaledale]

So sack the manager and replace him with who? And when that doesn't work sack that manager and so and so forth. WE are operating under a tight budget, we are only out of the playoffs on goal difference, yes we are wildly inconsistent, but presumably if all our squad were very good consistent players at this level most would not have been available on a free?

I know its painful for some fans that "mighty" Derby have been knocked out of the club by "little" Crewe but thems the breaks!

[SithHappens]

They are only 1 league below people forget that, it's not that unusual for championship teams to beat PL, in fact it's not that long back we did it.

I'm still not in the sack him camp, I am never a fan of sacking managers as think consistency brings its rewards.

Let's face it if Jim Smith's 1st season was in the internet forum age there would have been loads calling for him to go by mid November.

Maybe even Brian clough after his 1st season.

I can't prove it but I think had Mel stuck with Steve (both times) he'd have got us promoted.

[ramAnag]

DC has said PW will have some money for January transfers. Some fans, although none of the regulars on here, I suspect, will be expecting incoming transfers in excess of half a million pounds. I fully expect some fans to be pushing for fees rather larger than that to be spent on a striker AND on a midfield strong man general. I think we're fine in the goalkeeping department. We miss Nyambe in January with the African Cup of Nations but with Wilson we have a capable replacement. Elder and Foz give us good options on the left and Sibs can be our 3rd choice there. I have faith in Nelson and Cashin. Less so in Bradley who seems to make one goal conceding error in almost every game. I'd think seriously about playing young Fapetu in MF and would be more than willing to give Tony Weston a go. Even more so if you start with the odd cameo off the bench.

But would you trust Warne to spend money wisely in January, MA?
His record so far isn’t impressive. I fully accept the spending restrictions argument however...his two signings last January were poor. Of this summers’s signings I’d suggest that Nelson and Wilson have been the most successful while Nyambe too has been very good but, one way or another, we won’t have him in January and maybe not beyond. Of the others...Bradley has been a disaster, Waghorn and Washington injury prone and disappointing, Ward looked the part but has been injured, John Jules invisible, Elder likewise and Fornah...as suggested elsewhere, a promising mystery.
The fact is that virtually all our most influential players have been signed by or brought through by previous managers and that has to be a source of concern.

In addition, if you look at the nine performances we’ve put in since October - I’m discounting the BSM Cup - then I reckon four (Blackpool A, Exeter H, Northampton H and Barnsley H) have been between ‘good’ and ‘excellent’ while the other five (Cheltenham, Shrewsbury and Stevenage A and Crewe H&A) have been between ‘poor’ and ‘dreadful’.

Like you I recognise the dangers of us starting to chop and change again, but I think the evidence above tells you why there is concern and the last two performances...excellent against Barnsley and apparently dire last night against Crewe...seem to sum up the ‘one step forward two steps back’ Warne era.

P.S. Two differences between Warne and Smith, Sith. Smith had the privilege of being able to add Stimac to the squad at about this time of year...but what a choice of addition...and Warne has been with us for a great deal longer than Smith had when he started to turn things round. JS also understood the need for ‘leaders’ on the pitch...having three in Robbie vdL, Darryl Powell and Stimac.

[MadAmster]

We don't know if we can trust PW to spend wisely in January, rA. IMO because he's had little to spend thus far and, under the new regime, as I understand it, he doesn't actually spend the money. He gives the recruitment department a wish list consisting of the type of player he wants and some names he'd like. The recruiters then speak to players and their agents and, naturally, their clubs. PW will have contact with a player to talk about tactics, expectations, opportunities, lack of guarantee of starting place etc. Any transfer fee and wages are sorted by Stephen Pearce and the financial staff.

PWs influence goes, IMO, no further than being able to say no to a player recruitment suggests that he doesn't want for whatever reason.

We have signed several players who were either injured or recovering from one. Might it be that those were the only ones DCFC could afford in sufficient numbers to give us the required squad size? We fans don't know.

[ramAnag]

We don't know if we can trust PW to spend wisely in January, rA. IMO because he's had little to spend thus far and, under the new regime, as I understand it, he doesn't actually spend the money. He gives the recruitment department a wish list consisting of the type of player he wants and some names he'd like. The recruiters then speak to players and their agents and, naturally, their clubs. PW will have contact with a player to talk about tactics, expectations, opportunities, lack of guarantee of starting place etc. Any transfer fee and wages are sorted by Stephen Pearce and the financial staff.

PWs influence goes, IMO, no further than being able to say no to a player recruitment suggests that he doesn't want for whatever reason.

We have signed several players who were either injured or recovering from one. Might it be that those were the only ones DCFC could afford in sufficient numbers to give us the required squad size? We fans don't know.

I’ve no idea how accurate that description of our recruitment scenario is...but, whoever is responsible, it seems flawed to me and the Warne regime has had two windows.
He/we’ve been unlucky with Ward who had a good appearance record with Peterborough. Beyond that things have been predictable and there’s just no point in signing injured/injury prone players imo.
For example, John Jules is said to be an extremely talented and skilful striker, but he could be Charlton, Lineker and Salah all rolled into one...he’s no bloody use and just a drain on our limited resources if he’s crocked.
The same seems true of Bradley, Elder, Washington...and who could have predicted that Waghorn would have a problem with his hamstrings once the pitches started to get a bit heavier?
As for Fornah...circumstances have meant that I’ve only seen him play for about forty five minutes...he seemed decent, if a little ‘hot headed’, but while plenty of others seem to get starts despite poor performances he seems like the forgotten man.

[MadAmster]

I’ve no idea how accurate that description of our recruitment scenario is...but, whoever is responsible, it seems flawed to me and the Warne regime has had two windows.
He/we’ve been unlucky with Ward who had a good appearance record with Peterborough. Beyond that things have been predictable and there’s just no point in signing injured/injury prone players imo.
For example, John Jules is said to be an extremely talented and skilful striker, but he could be Charlton, Lineker and Salah all rolled into one...he’s no bloody use and just a drain on our limited resources if he’s crocked.
The same seems true of Bradley, Elder, Washington...and who could have predicted that Waghorn would have a problem with his hamstrings once the pitches started to get a bit heavier?
As for Fornah...circumstances have meant that I’ve only seen him play for about forty five minutes...he seemed decent, if a little ‘hot headed’, but while plenty of others seem to get starts despite poor performances he seems like the forgotten man.

The recruitment scenario is how both PW and DC have described it in interviews a few months back so I'm only repeating what they said.

We do seem to have had problems with injured players remaining so, we can add Embleton to that list as well. I remember pre season, certainly elsewhere but IIRC, also on here, I covered a list of players we were reportedly looking at and listing last season's appearances and any reason for the lack of them. I was negative in my wishes regarding signing them. It seems I wasn't far off the mark with most, if not all.

Fornah showed promise in his first 5, maybe 6, appearances (9 so far this season), less so since.