MadAmster

Used in just about every role but his preferred one and never given a run except for those 15 games at left back last season. I wish people would refrain from stating the obvious and look for the reasons. Playing a different position every game does not help a young lad develop. That is what has happened to Sibs. If PW isn't intending to give him a job to do and a run of games at it, he'll be better off going somewhere where they'll give him what DCFC hasn't. Possibly his own fault for being "utility".

Wilson seemed to spend a lot of the game thinking he was the striker. Almost permanently up top. It will be interesting to see how we set up at Barnsley next Saturday. As it's my birthday that day I'm hoping for a similar outcome to the Exeter game. COYR.

Post match it was teeming down but the walk back to the hotel do drop off my new "megastore" purchases was very enjoyable. 5 minutes later off to the Neppy and it had stopped raining. Cut through the Derbion and into the Shrine and we were hit with a wall of 80s music, beers bought, we found a table for two and sat down to chat and listen to the music. The 80s bit was followed by a lengthy Motown medley. Had a chat with my mate Tim and a few others. The Pedi flowed freely and went down very nicely, thank you. The best news is that I'm back in there 3 weeks tomorrow. Aint life grand? I feel for Sibs. Great talent stifled by never getting a run of games (other than 15 at left back last season) in a role in order to be able to progress.

So, I think the consensus on Sibs is a) he hasn't reached his potential b) he hasn't had a run of games, except 15 or so last season at left back, to cement himself into a role and make it his own. c) possibly harmed by his own diversity he has played full back, DM, LWB, LW, RW and the odd game at #10, his best position IMO. How does one develop as a player given the lack of a consistent role? I've followed the lad from the U18 Champions days of 2019. IMO, there is still a very good player in there who won't ever get out unless he gets a run at a role, preferably #10. Unfortunately, I don't think PW is ever going to give him what he needs. He might be better off moving on to a club where he'll be given the time and trust he (and every other player, for that matter) needs to fulfil their potential. Just to close, I don't think fans should get on his case. True he hasn't reached his potential but ask yourself why and show some understanding.

Depending on which hat you wear there's several ways of looking at it. 1st half. From one point of view it was a borefest of a game played in midfield with little happening in the goalmouth. There were 2 real chances, both to them. One saved well by JW and the other cleared off the line by Sonny Bradley who finally seems to have settled in and is showing exactly why we got him in. I don't remember us having a shot, on or off target. There were also some "pretty" passages of play which, unfortunately, led nowhere. For the neutral or the open minded there was plenty to see. A half of many faces. The South Stand started well but after 10 minutes or so, apart from the berating of Steve Evans, they and the rest of the crowd were pretty bland. 2md half saw the South Stand wake up and their infectiousness got to much of the ground ending in a lot of bouncing after the goal. The crowd's awakening seemed to light the players' blue touch paper and we were on top. A really enjoyable half that started to look like it would fade into a 0-0 draw... cue Sibs, the impact sub. Cracking ball for Smith to NML. Reports I've read go on to say NML crossed to Sibs.. I don't see it that way. They weren't all that far apart and I maintain that NML passed to Sibs who hit it first time into the bottom right hand corner of the net. Cue unbridled joy both on and off the pitch (unbridled joy if you're not Stevenage, their players were stunned, fans too, Steve Evans just got mardy as did others in his staff, one of whom got a yellow for his efforts). Worth the win, IMO. Steve Evans? Will he ever answer the question posed by the South Stand? Has he ever seen it? Post match he claimed they should have had a penalty for a hand ball in the lead up to Bradley's goal line block. I won't comment on that as I didn't see it, if it happened. What Evans did miss was the 2 occasions in the first half when Derby players were thrown to the ground in the Stevenage penalty area. I've not yet seen the 2nd half charge on Barks back yet but it looked like a red from my vantage point on the front row some 10 yards North of the halfway line. The ref? I have to say I found him even handed. Both sets of players were guilty of holding opponents and the ref ignored 90% of it. Eventually their keeper got yellowed for time wasting, far too late, IMO. Players of both sides went down unnecessarily, IMO, theirs more so than ours. The number of poor tackles he let go could have had a lasting effect, fortunately, it seems we have no new injuries from the clattering the lads got at times. One example is Sibs, about 30 seconds after coming on he gets clobbered. He just got up and got on with the game. A year ago he'd have exacted revenge... grown up a bit? Basically, depending on your hat, it was a borefest, it was interesting, it was enjoyable. I left feeling that my various hats of former player, coach, referee and fan, had had enough to make it a good day out... and we won. Next up for me is the Reading and Bolton double header in mid March.

ATG 1Wildsmith 6 35Nelson 7 5Bradley 7 6Cashin 7 24Nyambe 6.5 11Smith 6.5 8Bird 6.5 32Adams 6.5 20Elder 6 2Wilson 6.5 11Méndez-Laing 6 7Barkhuizen 6 17Sibley 7

Confusing? I'll say so.. I never knew the heel had a front...

We can recall Dajaune Brown on the 20th from his loan at Gateshead. I don't think we will, even if Collo is out for the season. DB is 18 and (and I might be wrong) PW seems loathe to put young uns in just in case he ruins their confidence. Just as much chance they do well and grow in confidence. Things not going your way is a path to growth in everything you do. Football is no different. Give the kids a chance. Impress upon them that things not going our way isn't going to end their careers before they've even started. Put them on in their proper position and tell them to do exactly what has got them this far. If it doesn't work today, it will tomorrow...... not giving them a chance might actually be worse for them than being on the wrong end of a scoreline.

If Vickers is still injured then Loach will be the keeper on the bench ahead of Thompson, IMO... 😉

We all know most opposition teams will come here to stifle us. Play exactly the game we played at Exeter. Imagine what a catastrophe of a game it would be if we set up that way at home and the opposition did too....

Flashback to 2017 and our home game against Burton that we won 1-0. I was, for the one and only time thus far, in the South Stand, back row, half a dozen seats from the concrete "block" they have the camera on. The 4 fans to my left started to criticise CM from the second they got to their seats around 14:45. Their reasons totally ignored what his game is all about. Game kicked off and I found many a reason to praise CM. Hold up play, bringing the midfield into the game, running out wide and taking 2 defenders with him to create space for teammates, his defensive work at dead ball situations etc etc etc..... I pointed out each and every time he did something good. 5 minutes before HT they went to the concourse for a beer and their seats remained empty throughout the 2nd half. I wonder if they still have the same opinion of his time with us or did I broaden their view... or were they just pissed off because I was right and they felt embarrassed at their uninformed view?

The away setup is spot on. The home team tries to make the plays and we hit them on the counter. At home there's >26K fans wanting us to "play football", to take control, to dominate and thrash the opposition. The oppo does what we do away and we frequently struggle as do our oppo when we are the away team. Let's imagine that PW sets up to utilise our away strategy on Saturday, at home to Stevenage. Stevenage do the same. I foresee shape and personnel changes after 10 minutes. It wouldn't make for an interesting game if there weren't quick changes. Richie Barker hinted at changes in personnel for the Stevenage game. That signals that we will, again, try to take the game to the oppo at home. The major difference this time being that we have Ebou in midfield and I don't think they'll be able to bully us the way they did at theirs. Ultimately, our chances, IMO, depend entirely on the ref enforcing the Laws, ALL of the Laws. If not I can see their dark arts being our downfall.

Depending on the extent of any action from FA/PL Wolves, Everton or the Red Dogs could still take the record...

RAMSTV 1Wildsmith 6.5 2Wilson 6.5 35Nelson 7 6Cashin 7 23Ward 6 20Elder 7.5 8Bird 7.5 32Adams 7.5 17Sibley 7 4Hourihane 5.5 12Smith 5.5 11Méndez-Laing 7 5Bradley 7 9Collins 5 27Blackett-Taylor 3 Not an auspicious start to his Rams career but I'm not writing him off. Does he need a rest from playing to get fit? 7Barkhuizen 7

Set the side up to surrender possession and hit them on the break. Worked a treat. My word for the display is competent. Nothing flash, not commanding, simply competent all round. Bird and NML a goal and an assist each plus a goal from Barks was sufficient for all 3 points. Clean sheet is always welcome. The stats show Exeter had 2 shots on target. Both were from long range free kicks and straight into JW's hand. Having said that, they created 3 or 4 chances where they shot wide/over that they will be kicking themselves for being so wasteful. 1st half they tried to get the ball over our back line at speed, their 2 best chances saw poor control stifle their best one and the other time they beat the back line, their player was offside. A more ruthless opponent may well have scored. 0-3 away win from 30% possession, a thoroughly competent and professional performance but we shouldn't forget that they did have chances, chances another opponent would put away. Feet on the ground, we're not there yet. CBT. Not worrying yet about the lad although he has shown little in his appearances thus far. Totally unsuccessful in anything he did last night and replaced at HT, apparently suffering from a tight hamstring. I really hope he started the game (or picked it up very early) with an iffy hammy as that would explain, in part, the poor play. He has a good game in him. Maybe he needs a couple of weeks of relative rest to get fit? Too early to write him off, way too early. The ref? What had to happen for us to get a free kick? He refused to give us a shedload of serious fouls yet, later on, gave us a couple that, to me, weren't fouls. A case in point, Adams ushers the ball out, 2nd half and he's already on a yellow, and he gets pulled over by an Exeter player. ref calls both players over for a "chat". He had been so inconsistent all game I feared he was going to card both players which would have seen Adams off. I am still at a loss as to why he felt the need to have a chat with either player. Nothing untoward happened other than a foul which deserved to be given as such and no more. The foul wasn't given. Quite possibly the worst ref we've had this season. IMO. Both Bolton and Pompey won last night and it's starting to look like the top 3 might be slowly pulling away and making it a 3 horse race. We play both the Trotters and Pompey, win both games and we're a step closer to the promised land. 14 games to go and we play 4 of the top 7, starting with Stevenage on Saturday. I'll be there with 'er indoors. COYR!!

Imagine the comments if we tried playing the way we did last night at Pride Park... Imagine the confusion if the oppo were also set up to concede possession and hit on the break 🙂

The last sentence of my post to which you replied reads... In the interest of balance, there were other games where the side with the best xG won. The problem with xG is that the various sources use different statistical models and their own algorithms, hence the variance in the figures. Same goes for shots/SOT. The BBC stats are often different to those of DCFC or Sporting Life or "insert newspaper name of your choice". I've not looked up last night's xG stats but I think our 3 goals wouldn't score well under xG but Collo's early, saved strike would. Conversely, they created a few chances inside our box but either mis-controlled or shot wide/over and those missed chances would probably attract a better xG than our actual goals. The old adage of there are lies, damned lies and then there are statistics is as true as it ever was. Same with opinion polls, questions get formulated in order to virtually guarantee producing the required outcome. Whatever any stats say about last night's game, the fact of the matter is that we set out with a game plan, executed it very well and won 3-0. I expect Stevenage to play similarly and to be very physical at Pride Park on Saturday and I hope we don't succumb to this type of game which is one we, historically, haven't been consistent in combatting.

Some interesting and varying views on stats and their worth. xG is calculated by several different companies/organisations, each with their own model and each with their own algorithms. They come up with different xG figures. As do those who "calculate" the number of shots and SOT. How do they handle blocked shots? How far does a shot have to travel (or how close to the goal line does it have to get) in order to be registered as a shot/SOT? As with the models and algorithms for xG, I have no idea what, in the minds of those various organisations who do such calculations, constitutes a shot so it's difficult to reconcile any of those stats with what I saw. At the end of the day, there is but 1 stat (or does it count as 2 stats?) that counts and that's goals scored (for/against which could be seen a 2 stats).

As an old school type, I obviously go for hype. Is it a more valuable stat than shots, shots on target? I don't think it is. Here's some examples from last weekend Luton 1.75 Sheff U 1.56. The result was 1-3 Villa 2.45 Utd 1.9. The result was 1-2 Red Dogs 1.25 Toon 0.68. The result was 2-3 Fulham 1.75 B'mouth 2.61. The result was 3-1 Shots/shots on were Luton 20/5 Sheff U 7/3. Villa 23/10 Utd 17/5. Red Dogs 13/3 Toon 7/5. Fulham 7/6 B'mouth 25/4. Look at xG and, in all 4 cases the team with the better xG lost. Look at shots and the team with the most shots lost. Shots on target sees Luton and Villa losing despite more SOT and then Toon and Fulham having more SOT and winning. IMO xG is no better a stat than shots/SOT. In the end, it all comes down to creating chances, making the decision to shoot and then whether it's off target, on target but saved/blocked or on target and in. In the interest of balance, there were other games where the side with the best xG won.

Teams do appear to switch off, like we did in the 88th minute last weekend. Many free kicks/throws aren't taken quickly because the opposition stands right in front of the ball or wanders off with it or kicks it away, preventing a quick take. The instructions issued to refs at the start of the season included stamping down on this. It hasn't happened. It should have.

What I don't get is his, apparent, aversion to going through the middle now and again. 1. It's a valid tactic and teams don't like players bombing at them through the middle 2. Permanently going wide is too predictable as a player will almost always go outside on one wing and cut inside when playing the "inverted" winger role

Rowett. Guaranteed to polarise thoughts. I didn't like the football he served up, despite it being reasonably successful. Much the same as I was with Paul Clement. Clement went when results became as bad as the football. Rowett never got that far. None of us will really know why he went but... the commonest "reason/rumour" is MM told him there was no money for incoming transfers which was why he decided he'd be better off elsewhere. In came Lampard... Waggy £5M, Marriott undisclosed, Florian Jozefzoon £2.75M, Wilson undisclosed loan fee, Holmes for a reported £700K, Cole no fee but wages won't have been cheap, Tomori undisclosed loan fee, Andy King undisclosed loan fee, Evans for a reported £1M, Malone undisclosed fee, Mount undisclosed loan fee. So, there was money there, possibly just not for Rowett. One thing is certain, there;s little chance we'd have had Wilson, Tomori or Mount if GR had still been manager. I think we would have still seen "safety first" football but we'll never know if he could have improved on his 17/18 finish.

1-1 own goal

As you will know I manage between 6 and 8 games a season, watching the rest here in NL via my RamsTV "season ticket". Friday to Sunday for a game including flights and hotel etc is around £500. The Stevenage game will be #4 or #5 this season thus far. Already booked for a 6 day stay for the Reading and Bolton games in March and coming back for the Carlisle game in April as well. Damned expensive hobby being a Ram. I'd do more games but finances get in the way. Why do we do it? For me it's many facetted. Seeing old friends (and making new ones) and family in Burton and Derby. Getting to drink real ale instead of lager. A change of scenery and last but by no means least... once a Ram, always a Ram. It's deep inside us and we are addicts, pretty much in the same vein as Del Boy telling Rodders "this time next year...". Seriously, how do you break a habit of, in my case, 63 years and counting?

... forgot to add that when the corner ball entered the penalty area I was thinking "yet another poor one" and then Max buried it 😉