IceStationLatic

He'll have until Forest. If we continue to amble on - let's say, draw v Crewe and draw/lose at Scunny (no-one will want to put a tackle in before the cup), he could go if we then lose at the City Ground.

Just such poor goals to concede. The fact the winner was o late shouldn't detract from the fact it was shocking. Basic defensive errors again. That is why we're down where we are. And where's the desire to get to the ball first, to put your head on the line. At least Smith I'd that. But collectively we're a soft touch and have been all season. Yet incredibly, we have such a bad disciplinary record. It's almost like the players don't want to play....!

I think he's on a one-year rolling contract, so it doesn't matter when he goes.... You're right to point out his ability to attract certain players, that's his one and increasingly only strength.... But the fact we then drift into average form, second-half syndrome, late goals conceeded, out-thought tactically, questionable substitutions, second-half-of-the-season syndrome... - it all points to the manager I'm afraid. Some people drew positives from Sat. But for me, the players worked hard and got back into it, and, yes, deserve some credit, but the final stages of the game - when Saunders acted and Dickov didn't, summed up more problems. That's where the manager earns his dough and makes the big calls to nick points. People could see it coming. Although a last-minute goal was harsh, everyone was saying we looked tired in certain positions and it always appeared likely there'd be a moment where we'd switch off towards the end - because, sadly, we always do. Changing managers is always a gamble, but it's getting to the point where keeping the manager could be just as big, if not a bigger gamble - especially when you take into account our second-half season syndome under PD - which occurs once teams have worked us out. The best we can hope for is a 16th/17th finish it seems. If Baxter goes, and we lose at Forest, the doom and gloom - which already seems to be at high levels - will reach fever pitch. And given the fragile confidence and consistent levels regularly show by our players, which appears to have seeped throughout the squad, we could be in big trouble.

He's on the receiving end of some harsh decisions, O'Driscoll. Unbelievable.

It feels like even the inconcistency theory is being stretched now.... Agreed with Corney when he said recently that the only thing we've been consistent at this season, is being inconsistent. But to me it's starting to feel like we're consistently bad more often than we're consistently good, while being inconsistent. ...so does that mean we are now inconsistently inconsistent?

It feels like even like inconcistency theory is being stretched now.... Agreed with Corney when he said recently that the only thing we've been consistent at this season, is being inconsistent. But to me it's starting to feel like we're consistently bad more often than we're consistently good, while being inconsistent. ...so does that mean we are now inconsistently inconsistent?

On the basis of one (or two) pain-free training session(s), should Simpson walk back in. He may have been scorching in training, but has bagged five goals in three games for the Reserves and been seemingly the only one to heed Dickov's message about staking a claim...

Thought it was interesting in the Simpson interview on LP when he suddenly raised the issue about a change in formation... Maybe they've been trying a different system in training....

Put to one side that he was sent off on Saturday!lol he's coming back from injury and was trying too hard - got himself two silly bookings for tackles. But the impressive thing is that he was taken out of a relegated team, Hereford (and let's face it he didn't set the world at light at his former clubs too......! ) but he didn't just plod along with delight at getting a contract at a big non-league club. So many of the players brought in by the last boss did this. And the other thing is that he has just blended into the overall team mentality. He is a cog in a machine rather than someone who's under pressure to come up with moments of brilliance every game. He loves that aspect of being at the club - but doesn't abuse it. He'd be out the door if he did. Take Morais. It feels like here, he had to be this out-and-out winger with flair. His final ball was always analysed. Why wasn't he getting more goals? Was he tracking back enough? Etc He goes to Stevenage. He slots in a five-man midfield and plays to an organised team formula. You hardly hear about him setting the world alight but look where he and they are in the table.... It boils down to creating a consistent team at the end of the day...

Trouble is managers are always wary of bringing young players into a struggling team, or in PD's case bringing them in full stop. He clearly thinks they aren't good enough or they would have featured more. If they smell blood and bust a gut in training this week, maybe he'll live up to his word from a week or so ago and some will feature. But I think it'll be pretty much the same team, looking for a reaction. I've called for a 4-3-3 with Smith before, playing off him and using positional flexibility to keep the ball on the deck even though he's there. But others say it's stupid having him on without wingers crossing to him. To be fair, his goals have nearly all come from a basic half-decent cross - seems so easy. We just seem so simple to beat and counter, tactically, in a 4-4-2 at times. But playing any system, with a bit of effort and grit, would be a start

Bang on. WARNING: Disillusioned waffle coming up... Personally, what worries me is the parallels I keep seeing between us and the club I cover at work, Grimsby. Their previous manager was an ex-player, a striker. A man who believed in youth and long-term strategy. He bought pretty players. He got a young team. They were comfortable, the players always praised the team spirit, they were always talked up by the manager. But they were inconsistent. Great one week, shocking the next. When things went wrong, heads went down as a seemingly collective defeatist mist came in. No leaders to turn the tide. Seemingly no plan b from the bench either. They'd be winning loads of games 1-0, but in the second half they'd concede and draw against teams they should have killed off. They'd be playing well, then concede a poor goal and struggle to revover. They'd be winning a game 2-0 but concede two goals in stoppage time. More and more fans stopped going. 'Same old...' Every spat of good results built hope - then a shocker knocked another 100 off the attendance and the doom set back in, more and more. The new managers. Signed consistent workers, not just flair players. Signed players with something to prove, many of whom had experienced promotion at a former club. Very rarely is a defeat followed by another defeat. A bad performance always leads to a reaction. If they are poor, they are made to know about it - but the key thing is that it doesn't happen again, for quite a while. The gaps between those slip-ups have grown. They graft and battle away from home, keep clean sheets and win games 1-0. They attack at home and rack up some big scores, second only to Barcelona's home tally last season. Now there's a winning mentality. A positive atmosphere brought on by results, not by an arm around the shoulder. That is breeding consistency. Sloppy mistakes and self-inflicted goals have dried up. If one player is awful, the players manage themselves and pull their 'mates' up - there's leadership on the pitch, before a dressing room hairdryer if necessary. The other week, the team conceded in the first few minutes of a game at home - the managers immediately pulled someone off, changed formation and the team won the game 5-1. The fans are starting to come back. They realise the team put in a shift. It's still very expensive for non-league, against tiny clubs who barely bring 20 fans just a decade after Championship teams visited, but at least there's some value for money as the players visibly battle for the shirt, the club, the fans and the town. This team is challenging for promotion..... Amazingly, perhaps to some on here, one of the seemingly savvy managers is Rob Scott - and a good player has been Joe Colbeck...! Good managers make players good, but good players can't make managers good? But anyway back to Latics.....

Am I missing a trick here or couldn't we re-introduce old-style terracing, let-alone the new safe sanding kit, in a section of the ground. Seating is only mandatory in the PL and Championship, or is there a rule that you 'can't go back'? I guess it wouldn't be the best publicity! But a massive proportion of clubs in L1 and L2 have some section of terracing in their ground, so why couldn't we - we've been in this league long enough! What's to stop the club introducing any form of standing in the lower tier of the new stand, or the lower part of the Chaddy? As long as it was well watched by stewards, and limited by ticket to ensure numbers aren't too high, what's the problem - it certainly doesn't look like we are going to sell out any time soon! It's understandable why Premier League clubs are against it. They don't need it. The likes of United pretty much pack their grounds anyway so no point risking bad pr. There isn't a financial incentive for clubs. The Government and PL don't need to risk the bad pr that 'going back' would lead to.

They butter have corrected it by now? Anyway, mooving on...

Some abuse of Forest fans? He's thicker-skinned than that surely?!!! But if I've missed the issue you're on about, apologies. Purely on the pitch, the issue of course was service. We weren't getting crosses into the box and getting in behind teams, and we weren't moving the ball quick enough to create space in midfield and allow through-balls or link-up play via Baxter.

£12 is pretty good! Presume Forest pushed the idea of lowering prices to get a lot more home fans tempted. And we agreed as the total gate revenue is split. Either way, we should be able to get a good atmosphere going and out-sing the red dogs! #josebaxterbaby

Been told Derby and Forest can play at home at the same time, even though they rarely do. Notts County would be away, so highly likely to be 3pm Sat!

:-) Mehhh!

See other thread, but like I said there, I visit Derby a lot - my girlfriend's family are all Rams - and as far as I'm aware Derby and Forest never play at home on the same day/time. Not sure why, but even taking the a52 distance into account they are big rivals obviously.

Derby and Forest never play home games at the same time as far as I'm aware...

Wouldn't be where they are without him. Very harsh

We'll probably get Bournemouth away :-/

Gone if we lose today I reckon, unless we play really well and are ridiculously unlucky. If Donny sit deep, frustrate and pinch a winner - game over for PD. A cup run was his remit as manager. Always a risk appointing a new manager - although maybe a risk keeping one too given second-half season form - but he'd have a bit of time and the Jan window to rejig the squad

Yeah Wabara and Mvoto at the back, Brown to RB, Grounds to LB. Other than that he'll go back to his orthodox outfield line-up. We now won't have the long ball to Grounds on left wing, or Smith up top, so they'll have to start playing football! Donny will pack the midfield, play dirty to stop the flow if we do try and pass it, and then (try to) nick a goal from a set piece or a mistake just like they did the other night. After what I saw on Tue, I struggle to believe that a couple of training sessions is suddenly - after constant long balls to Grounds on Tue - going to be able to make the players have the ability/confidence to pass the ball at pace with the necessary vision and confidence to get the wide men and front two in the game. But hopefully they'll be revved up for 'cup final day' and a much more positive tactical approach to the game will spur them on.

Wouldn't surprise me if Cisak gets clattered the first time Donny get a cross into the box, or a corner. I think they'll target him on his return.

Why didn't we snap Fulham's hand off...!. Surely a massive risk, in our financial position, to say no hoping we might have someone pushing the first team by next season! I reckon that grates on SC and he's probably nudging PD about this issue. I agree Winchester still looks like a youth player, but I really thought pre-season that Mellor was ready to be another Wes in midfield. Winchester seems to be the scapegoat at times. Like when it was him whipped off at half-time against Stevenage when he'd actually played okay! It has to be noted from that game also that there seemed to be more groans in his direction, for some reason, when he made the slightest error compared with players like Furman and M'Changama? Clearly the majority of fans weren't/aren't confident in him. Maybe that has been another reason to make PD wary of throwing him in? Linked with this, his big error against Chesterfiekd in the JPT can't have helped. He apparently looked crushed with other team-mates trying to help him?!