Best Of

Ivan Koney

I'm surprised MB has come out and said he changed the style up because we didn't have a right back. Skura has done really well so far and looks very comfortable on the ball, I'm sure he would have been absolutely fine at right back.

I also thought Gideon was wasted at right back, he tried his best and had one electric run. I would liked to have seen him up top with Hanlan, stretching their back four. For me, he actually looked the most dangerous last night but couldn't have an impact from right back.

Leahy is an interesting one, he doesn't do huge amounts wrong but doesn't unlock defences that often either. When playing in the back line his one dimensional ball into the left hand channel, normally cleared by the right back or right centre back, is so frustrating. I thought Bradley played some really good long balls into the channels which they struggled to clear.

Leahy free kicks/corners have been average at best, unless he is taking a strike at goal. His shots are normally very good and I have no issue him taking those around the box. The little chip into the box when we get a central free kick has never worked, regardless of who takes it, so I'd like to see something different there. I'd like to see Humphreys taking corners.

Huddersfield were excellent defensively, they backed themselves to get a clean sheet and did so. They offered little going forwards. I have a few Town mates who are STHs and they are happy with the wins but are really bored of going to games as they are saying it's generally very dull.

We have so much to be positive about, we shouldn't let a couple of defeats and some indifferent play get too much on top of us. I'm sure we will sort it out over the transfer window. I think we've overthought things the last couple of games. With Morley we were winning by two or more goal margins. I'm sure if we keep the same team and shape, and played Bakinson or Scowen in the Morley role we'd create enough to win by one goal. Not sure it needs these re-thinks. Why we went long ball against one of the best defences in the league without Vokes I cannot explain.

Looking forward to Friday, COYB!

Really really impressed with Sonny Bradley last night. That first header had so much intent and their no. 9 crumbled to pieces like a Tom and Jerry cartoon. Didn’t put a foot wrong and there is nothing wrong with his pace. I can see a Caleb Taylor and Bradley combination when Taylor comes back hopefully. Almost certain Joe Low is off to pastures new.

I will reiterate that we are in second spot in the league with a better goal difference than the team in third.

Yes our recent form has been poor, but not dreadful, exacerbated by the loss of key players either due to recall or injury & a loss of form for other starters (Fred & Leahy in particular).

Rav is coming in for a lot of stick, but he has shown himself to be our best keeper for some time & has grown in confidence. As for last night, Kone blocked him from getting greater contact on his punch & Fred had gone to sleep & failed to shut down Kane, hardly all his fault as some you have said.

We are still creating lots of chances & having lots of shots even though our attacking set pieces have pretty much deserted us. We are also still stuggling with defensive set pieces, I am sure the coaching team are trying to resolve both but with the current schedule that is a big ask.

As someone once said "form is temporary, class is permanent".

We will finish in the top 6 at worst & 2nd at best - yes a positive window will definitely help.

The sensible thing surely would have been Leahy to LB and Harvie to RB. We already know Harvie's got an excellent right foot on him. I'm not buying the forced formation change claims when there was a much simpler, very obvious choice.

Maybe Dan Rice is deciding the formation now too 🤔

Plymouth 😂

I'm not suggesting that they are the same player. I have simply pointed out that statistically, Toney at 21 was worse than Kone is now, and even Toney's best league one season is similar to the output Kone is producing this season, in terms of goals. I don't think there is anything that shows that a 21 year old Ivan Toney is a different level to a 21 year old Richard Kone at all. Toney's development through the years was phenomenal and it will be incredibly impressive if Kone can match that, of course. In their age 20 seasons, for example, Toney scored 1 in 15 in league one (788 minutes) whilst Kone scored 3 in 17 (643 minutes). I don't think the young Ivan Toney was really as good as you think.

Agreed. Managers do have some say. At Derby we have a recruitment team these days, backed by a stats based scientific team and the financial guys. PW gives them a list of positions/roles he wants filling together with some suggestions of players for those roles. The rest is out of his hands until a deal is looking likely then he chats to the play outlining what the player can expect of him and the club and what he and the club expect of him. If a signing doesn't work out, it's the Head Coach that gets the flack.

With regard to Sonny Bradley. It never worked out for him at Derby. Made some mistakes early doors with us, quite a few of which led to goals against and he's not really been able to nail down a run of starts. Fans expected we'd got ourselves a decent Championship level having played 20 games in Luton's promotion to the Premier League season. He'd also skippered the side and we thought we'd got a leader in. His performances were adequate at best and he showed little leadership on the pitch. 4th choice CH this season and, had Jake Rooney been fit, Sonny might have been 5th choice. In his final Rams appearance at Sheff Wed, he got roasted for pace in the lead up to their first, IMO, any pace he had seems to have gone. Can't blame him for effort but his best days are behind him.

I hope he rediscovers his form with you guys and doesn't derail you promising promotion push.

The more I watch us since his departure, the clearer it is that this team is crying out for Aaron Morley. Hopefully Dan's data brings him to the same outcome.

Here's hoping there's some truth to what you heard @Major !

@manchesterchairboy , maybe I owe you an apology as I didn’t realise that you and others were comparing Kone to a young 21 year old Toney. I wrongly assumed Richard was being compared to the present day Ivan Toney. 👍