MadAmster

It has, indeed, been a great ride. Here's hoping next season is equally so. Probably not back to back promotions but some good football (a la PWs 3rd, albeit only 9 game, season in the SBC with RUFC) before coming to us. Enjoy your summer holiday and I'll be watching you again next season, apart from the 6 to 8 games I'm back over for. Thanks for the RamsTV team's great efforts all season. An expat's lifeline to all things DCFC.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. PWs first two promotions, did indeed, see them straight back down. How much of that is more down to the spending and pulling power (or the lack thereof) of RUFC and not down to PW. Following his 3rd promotion with them, after 9 games they were 8th with a game in hand on all the sides above them. Win that game and they'd have been 5th. He left to come to us and they plummeted to 19th that season 22/23. This season they are back down. Millers fans were saying, lasts season that the football they played in those 9 games was "proper football" not Warneball. I'm going to stick my neck on the line and predict we'll see better footbal next season PROVIDED we can get the right type of player in to replace the 10 or so who won't be getting a new contract offer. Warne has completed his 1st task, getting us back in the Championship, by hook or by crook. Now on to what I perceive to be the 2nd task, consolidation in and eventual promotion from the Championship playing "proper football". By that I mean not being one dimensional as we have been a lot of this season. By all means have your wide men go down the outside and cross the ball but it shouldn't be your only game. Have them cut inside and have a shot as well. Use the channels as well, play through the middle as well... all valid ways of playing the game and, IMO, teams should use a combination of them all. Sometimes at speed, sometimes in a patient build up. Don't make life easy for the opposition, keep them guessing.

I knew for certain at about 0745 on Saturday morning that we were going up. The lift at Birmingham Airport to the monorail to get to the railway station told me so. A voice said "doors opening" and they opened. The voice then said "doors closing" and they closed. That same voice then said "going up". It was written in the stars with such a prophecy. The club would, absolutely guaranteed, be "in the lift" 😉 True story.

Indeed he has and I see LWB/LB as his future. Just a shame we'll never know what might have been had he been given a run at #10 to see how he developed in his favourite position.

I'll be hotfooting it to a) check into my hotel and then b) running to get back in the Neppy before it's full and they're not letting anybody back in.

Regarding flanges... do they allow them to be placed on the black "fencing" around the perimeter of the pitch? It wouldn't block any advertising "hoardings" (no idea what these new electronic ones are called)

early/mid 70s, Thursday night/Friday morning, sessions at the Dog & Partridge in Tutbury. Often half a dozen of the squad in there.

Scaver and flange already packed for tomorrow's flight. Ewe Rams.

Ward lower due to defensive blunders. Elder hasn't made them. If both were fully fit I'd think Ward might edge it IF he's played in a more forward role

Leave Schiphol at 0615 UK time, arrive Brum 0730. 0803 tom New Street. 0830 to Derby arriving at 0904. Straight to hotel, drop my case off and straight to the Neppy for 0930. Pace myself nicely to finish #4 or thereabouts in time to get the Neppy bus at 1200ish. I will not be seeing double or even hazily during the game but can't vouch I'll be able to say the same, or much at all, come midnight... Anybody intoxicated after a mere 4 or 5 beers shouldn't drink. Especially of they're going to the football.

Summer window: Curtis Nelson 8 solid as a rock Callum Elder 6 sick note so far. Done OK when fit Joe Ward 5.5 injured too often far better going forward than defending Sonny Bradley 6 poor start but has been a rock of late barring that stupid sending off Josh Vickers 6 solid #2 Kane Wilson 7 Mr twinkle toes. Better defender than Ward and at least as good going forward Martyn Waghorn 5.5 good start to the season then injured for a long time. Average since his return Conor Washington 5.5 Another whose season has been blighted by injury Tyrese Fornah 5 promising start but faded Elliot Embleton 2 Just the 1 appearance before a serious injury ended his season Ryan Nyambe 7 excellent until injured Tyreece John-Jules 4 another with a season ruined by injuries. When fit he looks very good. I'd only gamble on him getting an offer for next season provided he got a very low basic wage, extra if fit but not selected, extra on the bench, extra if subbed on, extra if he starts. One season with options. Winter: Ebou Adams 8 The MF rock we were missing Dwight Gayle 7 6 appearances 3 goals..... then injured. Corey Blackett-Taylor 5 injured when he arrived. has shown flashes of why we bought him We''ll see the best if him next season. Max Bird 5 was a 6.5 to 7 but then out injured Extensions: Nathaniel Mendez-Laing 6.5 was playing brilliantly but been off it for a few weeks now. That seems to have coincided with playing up top in a 2 rather than out wide where he was excellent, IMO. Eiran Cashin 8 A rock. Frightening how many players of ours have had their season either disrupted or ruined by injury. Most weren't "right" when they came and stayed that way. Hopefully the new crop this summer won't be recovering crocks. Shouldn't be as we will see income go up from around £20M to around the £30M mark and we should be able to get players in the 24 to 29 age range that Warne so desperately wants to replace the wrinklies in the squad.

In L1, yes. Max playing the more advanced MF role in the SBC would be a great help, IMO. We'll need to play more "proper football" next season in the SBC, if/when we get there (we aint up till the rotund bint warbles)

Bolton now an average of 6/4 to go up. Not worth the bet. If it was still 100/1 it would be worth a bet. We go up, you're deliriously happy and don't give a damn about the lost bet. Bolton go up, you're totally deflated but at least you've got the wherewithall to fund the next 2 to 3 season's football if you do home and away. My choice would be to lose the bet..

Confucius also say "Man with hole in both pockets not feel too cocky" 🙂

1st of July.. when the commentary got to that bit, I welled up. Not ashamed of it. Just shows how much a part of me DCFC has been since my first game back in 1961. I don't think I'll be the only one to feel that emotion. Always have been, always will be... Derby Till I Die

Posh's selection antics will concentrate minds and bodies and the players will need zero motivation to do the job required.

3-0 Sibley

I look at it this way. The club is 90 + injury time minutes away from promotion. The players won't need motivating by anybody. They will be ultra professional and totally concentrated on the job in hand. They will have 30K fans on their side plus 2K Carlisle here for a day out and expecting nowt from the game. We're going up and Satdeh afternoon, evening and night is going to get very messy in Derby. See you all there... even if it will all be a blur come Sunday morning 🙂

Pompey beat Lincoln and the glove is JW's as he's played less games than Jensen. Add in Satdeh's clean sheet and he wins it any road up.

With any luck and a following wind, aided and abetted by a sterling performance from the lads, Posh v Trotters result will be totally irrelevant to where we finish in the League. We don't lose, we're up. PW never goes for the draw so we're all out for the win. Job done. Now, let's all get to Pride Park on Saturday and have 30,000 Rams fans leaving the ground at about 15:15 totally hoarse.

Don't know about any presentation but... I did see odds of 1/1000 on us going up.

Sorry but, IMO, using any song to "honour" David Clowes that is based on a song with "clown" in the title or "tears" does seem against the spirit of what any Clowes song/chant should be...

I just changed my VPN location to the UK and got "unauthorized country" so it looks like no RamsTV coverage. Reset VPN to the Netherlands and it works

He obviously suddenly remembered doing the Dogs 2 favours by disallowing 2 Rams goals a while back and decided to right the wrong 😉

Several topics cropping up in this thread. Connection. 6 of us came over for the Bolton game doing hospitality. 2 of the 6 were Ram "virgins" paying their first visit to an English game ever. Great time was had by all and, on the Sunday morning over breakfast in the Babington, the 2 "virgins" were referring to DCFC as us and we. Converts to the cause after just the 1 game. They felt part of the city, the club, the fans. Attachment. The bread related accusations? Whoever posted those obviously had a cob on and, unwittingly, started off a batch of puns. So, use your loaf and leave them alone... or you're toast. The football? It has been rather "industrial" at times but, in the main, it's been effective. It should see us go up. Looking at PWs time at Rotherham, he was infamous for his Warneball tactics. We have seen that here, last season and this with rather more skill than he put on show at the Millers. I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, that much of the criticism is borne out of a wish to see football of the type we've been treated to for about half of the past 30 (ish) years. Those making the criticism should, IMO, think about what silky football is likely to cost, where we were just 2 years ago and that we've been fortunate to be able to put a squad together that has been very good at times, poor at others and middling for much of the season. What we have is a work ethic and a togetherness the rest don't appear to have. Based on money available, business plan and EFL sanctions last season, business plan this season, I don't believe anything other than what we've seen was on the cards. David Clowes possibly thought similar and that's why PW got 4 seasons as up in 2 was a long shot. PWs first 2 shots at the SBC with Rotherham saw them stick to Warneball and they went straight back down. Go #3 at it saw him play more "football", a more expansive game. Not my verdict but that of Millers fans when he defected. When he left them after 9 games they were 8th, just a single point off 5th place with a game in hand on the sides above them. He left and they tumbled to 19th come the May. Personally, I'll be disappointed if we're still playing Warneball next season. I'm not expecting an immediate return to the football under Mclaren or Smith or Cox but certainly a more skilful and expansive game than these past 2 seasons. He did it in SBC attempt #3 with the Millers. I expect he'll have enough money to put a half decent footballing side together and will, IMO. One combining finesse with the kind of work rate PW likes. In short, better than this season's football as he's, hopefully learned what doesn't work in the SBC.