MadAmster

£5M for C-H is OTT considering he's into the last year of his contract. When you look at us being allowed to pay "moderate" fees, I think moderate for L1 is somewhere around half a million maximum. The lad may well go for £3M but that is way more than a "moderate" fee. Out of our price range.

To all the Warne out brigade. Clowes gave him and his staff a 4 year contract and all the praise anyone could want. They are on the same page. Promotion is the aim. This season would be great but it's not a sackable offence if we don't get there next May.

Chop and change at the first hiccough is one of the reasons we got into the mess we were in. David Clowes will run a tight and steady ship. There will be no huge multi million signings. Partly because DC isn't going to sanction them and partly because we may only spend moderate fees which, to me, says £500K max. There's still a wage cap, I believe, but at a higher level than last season's £12K a week.

Those figures will make it harder for us to sign a proven striker. It will also see us having to be patient and might see us only getting the striker(s) we need in the 2nd half of August. I'd love to get them in this or next week but strikers hold the power and they know it. We have to be patient.

Predictions for the season? Not from me yet. The newbies look good on paper thus far but we won't be playing on paper. Will they gel quickly or even at all. Same goes for those players not yet signed. Fans will either like the look of them or they won't. Point is, until we've seen them play games, we won't have an idea of whether they are the business or not. Especially when you realise that we have no idea what formation PW will go for.

Keeper. The rules say you have to have one.

Defence. Will he play a back 3, 4 or 5?

Midfield. 2 DMs or just the 1? Will he go 3, 4 or 5 midfielders?

Up top. 1, 2 or 3

My guess is he'll go 3 at the back.

Midfield is more of a minefield. If he has the players to do it, I think he'll go for 3 lines of outfield players rather than 4. That would point to 343 or 352, IMO. If he does go 4 lines, I see that being 3421 with 2 #10s and a central striker.

Up top is dependent on the make up of the defence and midfield. Personally, I'm not a fan of the lone striker. Strikers hunt in pairs and occasionally in 3s. 

For me it will either be 343 or 352. The latter meaning we need a 2nd striker in pronto. A 3rd needed to unless we go 2 up top in which case we'd need a 4th.

21 hours ago, hydraulic ram said:

Love this!

Definitely was a tearful moment when I read last years announcement.

(60 plus bloke myself!)

Ewe n ne both Hydrau...

Wigan. They've had some poor luck. Lost in a game of poker. New owner put them straight into admin. Sold the club quickly and the next owner put nowt in, failed to pay wages etc......  They start the season on -8 with, quite possibly, more to come.

Reading FC. Madejski had them covered. He sold up and they've gone down the pan since. Now they have a winding up order served by HMRC which could see them disappear.

Add to the mix our close shaves with the fake Saudi, the dodgy Dago and the charlatan Yank and it seems the EFL "fit and proper test" isn't "fit and proper" for its purpose.

The EFL took no blame for Bury, or for us, or for Wigan or for Reading or for Bolton or any of the others who have gone before. The one constant in this litany of fit and proper test failures is the EFL and nothing is happening to them. Nobody taking them to task or to court. Nobody internally at the EFL, it seems, who is pushing hard to get the test improved. Unbelievable Jeff...

21 hours ago, Retro_RAM said:

I remember the months and years looking at this forum during this time for any information, the lost count how many pages administration thread, forum members genuinely concerned and looking for support. The fake Saudi, the American chancer

 

... and the dodgy dago...

1 hour ago, CBX1985 said:

Agreed.  There isn't an out and out goal scorer in the Team.  

I suspect there is the issue everyone knows we need a goalscorer but we do not yet have one.  So the most forward minded player has to become that hitman.  

Once a new striker is signed - which all hints suggest is on the way (whom, I do not care to guess) - attention will migrate to that individual.

 

Getting a striker in who'll get 20+ would be great. I'd be perfectly happy with (provided they stay) Sibs, Knight, Barks, NML, Bird, Cash each scoring 5 more than they did last season. Much better than relying on 1 player to get 25...

23 hours ago, Caerphilly Ram said:

Knight not there due to additional time off following international duty and NML currently at the gold cup. All other players there including Chester who continues his rehab.

Having Chessy back to continue his rehab is not only classy, it will also be great PR, showing that the club really does care about players, even when they have left the club.

I'd recommend the 98/99 away kit. Love it.

1 hour ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

Derby v Southampton playoff second leg at pride park. Crazy game and idiakez wrote his way into Derby legend when he blazed his penalty over in the shootout.

 

Once a Ram... 🙂

2 hours ago, EnigmaRam said:

Yeah it is. And they’re playing on my sons birthday which would have been perfect with a bit more notice 

80Km from Alicante Airport it seems. 

13 hours ago, DCFC1388 said:

So Warne says potentially 5 in before preseason starts so that is 5 within the next week.

So lets guess the 5!

My predictions are, in no particular order...

1. Josh Vickers

2. Sonny Bradley

3. Aden Flint

4. Darnell Fisher

5. Sam Smith

Didn't PW say not interested in Fisher last January when FLW and others had him almost in the door?

In his interview on RamsTV, PW hinted at 4 or 5 in before pre season and the rest spread over the transfer window. He also hinted at a squad of 20 to 22. Small? Yes. Too small? 21 was too small last season. 

Does this point to some exits being just about guaranteed? Looks that way. Bielik obviously. Who else is saleable? Bird, Knight, Sibs?

Derby 4 Real Madrid 1

Big wins against Liverpool, Arsenal 4 and 5 nil

FA Cup replay Spurs 3 Derby 5. Then there's League games against Spurs too where we scored a 5, a 6 and an 8.

Watney Cup Final against ManU, we won 4-1.

FA Charity Shield v West Ham at Wembley in 1975. 2-0 goals by Roy Mac and Zak

One classic where, although highlights were shown on BBC, I don't think there's footage online anywhere, is Derby 0 Leeds 0, early 70s midweek game under the lights at the BBG. No goals but what an absolute cracker of a game. Both keepers were excellent on the day and it could easily have been 8-8. My Dad didn't want to watch the highlights as 0-0 is always a crap, boring game. I persuade him to watch and he was glad he did.

Just now, EnigmaRam said:

Close to the mark

Apparently it's close to Alicante and there will be a friendly after all, against Salford City.

19 hours ago, ExiledinDerby said:

I wouldn’t include Loach or Oduroh, both will get their minutes in the u21s next season.
 

For whatever reason Loach is not fancied and will be a training Gk again next year I think and if you watched any of the u21s games Oduroh is nowhere near first team ready. 

Which is exactly why I discounted them... and, IIRC, exactly what I posted.

19 hours ago, Oldben said:

Rosenoir knew that to field a team derby had to have a minimum number of players, agree or disagree with who he brought in, he still managed to sign a lot of players in a very short time. PW has got a lot more experience than Rosenoir, so i would have expected at least 1 signing in the days since the window opened. 

Last season we missed out on a number of free agents signings before we came to the table, the window between when Rosenoir began to sign players and when PW signs his first player is narrowing. Rosenoir in my opinion was left with having to sign any player he could find that was willing to sign, and not looking at building at a particular formation. As a tactic it appeared to get us very close to the play offs at least, i admit PW was largely responsible for the tactics, but it was largely Rosenoirs selection.

The players Rosenoir signed, i dont think, were told that they they had to be a certain type of player to be able to play.

 

Watch the RamsTV interview with Warne taken a couple of days ago. He expects 4 or 5 in before pre season starts and the rest in the course of the transfer window.

8 minutes ago, Oldben said:

1. We were one of the smallest teams in the league and it showed towards the end of the season, when our players looked tired.

2. If this is to be a promotion push changes then the 5 or 6 new players we need, should be signed soon to give them time to bond with the team.

 

1. Indeed. We used, IIRC, 21 players last season. All we had if you discount the 2nd and 3rd keepers. No chance to rotate players who needed a rest. No chance to rotate a player to prevent him being in need of a rest.

2. If you discount Loach and Oduroh, we currently have 14 senior players. 5 or 6 new players? We need between 10 and 12 or we'll be back in the same situation we were in last season, running out of steam.

On 14/06/2023 at 17:54, MickD said:

sell Sibley and Knight ...........headless chickens 

Keep Cashin, Widsmith, Smith, Rooney, Bird, Hourihan.

Collins has goals in him needs support.

179 club career goals in 540 appearances. 1 in 3 so 15 a season should be well within his capabilities. IMO, he'd have got more for us last season if he'd spent more time in the box and less time out wide. Going wide is fine if the intention is to take 2 defenders with you thereby leaving room inside for teammates to exploit. That doesn't seem to be why he goes wide. I'm not saying he should never go out wide but that he should do it less.

2 goals in 13 games for the Irish senior side as well...

Is he another of those players who get things right when it's instinctive rather then having time to think. His header at Burton was amazing, a worldy. At other times his first touch is poor and he rarely jumps for high balls. A first touch can be worked on and jumping for the ball, even if you know you aren't going to get it, puts the defender under pressure and will force mistakes... it aint rocket science. 

On 03/06/2023 at 18:35, Ram1988 said:

I think we need players who are good in the air to take advantage of Hourihane balls in from set peices.

Bird takes good dead balls and, IMO, when Sibs was allowed the odd kick when Hourihane was off the pitch, he was excellent. 

6 minutes ago, Gaspode said:

Hope not - I'm loving the fact that the club are keeping everything in house and there are no leaks to the muppets in the press. Only downside is the damage to the environment from the extra sheets needing to be washed due to all the bedwetters that can't cope with the silence.....

True. However, that doesn't stop the idio..... sorry, journalists on the usual click me, I need the money, sites from posting multiple stories per day on who might interest us or who they think we should be looking at... Ignore 'em

2 hours ago, GboroRam said:

Sluttily

into mirrors are we? 😉

17 hours ago, Wignall12 said:

That would be Ronco proudly presenting again , they have a lot to answer for !! 🤣🤣

Ronco? No idea who or what that is. You have to remember I haven't lived in the UK since 1984.

2 hours ago, Wignall12 said:

Ahhh ....but it wasn't a rumour he went elsewhere ...............your move (I'm enjoying this game , is it the 10 mins or full half hour  ? )

The fact that the rumour was wrong..... I'm sorry, I thought this was a free sample

6 minutes ago, Srg said:

Sutterly?!

Subtly

Welcome young buck... or as we say in Derby, Ay up me duck (Angelina Jolie will gladly explain that one, see https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/angelina-jolie-confuses-everyone-with-ay-up-me-duck-greeting-to-derby-actor-jack-o-connell-9870300.html)

Welcome to Ramkind where lows are as deep as the highs are high. The highest high being the camaraderie between Rams fans. I have had the pleasure of meeting a few posters in real life and they all made a favourable impression. There's no finer bunch anywhere than Derbeians, especially those who had the sense to move to Amsterdam 😉