Oakwood Ram

Great work yet again with the match threads, these have been a different class over the last couple of months.
I for one will miss these after next week.
COYR - Hold your nerve and leave everything on the pitch for two more matches, we’ve got this.

Great work yet again with the match threads, these have been a different class over the last couple of months.
I for one will miss these after next week.
COYR - Hold your nerve and leave everything on the pitch for two more matches, we’ve got this.

Great work yet again with the match threads, these have been a different class over the last couple of months.
I for one will miss these after next week.
COYR - Hold your nerve and leave everything on the pitch for two more matches, we’ve got this.

Great work yet again with the match threads, these have been a different class over the last couple of months.
I for one will miss these after next week.
COYR - Hold your nerve and leave everything on the pitch for two more matches, we’ve got this.

Great work yet again with the match threads, these have been a different class over the last couple of months.
I for one will miss these after next week.
COYR - Hold your nerve and leave everything on the pitch for two more matches, we’ve got this.

Hopefully comrade will be doing the thread first game of next season 🙂 

Great work yet again with the match threads, these have been a different class over the last couple of months.
I for one will miss these after next week.
COYR - Hold your nerve and leave everything on the pitch for two more matches, we’ve got this.

Cledara Abbey Stadium: KO- 15.00
We’re on a mini-run, aren’t we, but despite having our fate firmly back in our hands, the pressure to perform remains; two wins from our last two and we’re back in the sunlit uplands of the Championship; a loss, or even a draw and potentially the pendulum swings again.
It’ll be interesting to see whether we might see one or two back in full training this week, but it’s hard to view the win against Orient as anything other than one of our most complete performances this season and this despite being far from clinical in front of goal. Will the confidence garnered see us approach the game with the same positive approach? One hopes so! Another slip up when seemingly set to turn the screw and inevitably, PW’s management will be under fire. A win and we head back to Pride Park with only Carlisle standing between us and our first promotion since 2007.
Our Opponents:
The club was founded in 1912 as Abbey United, and took the name Cambridge United in 1951. They played in local amateur leagues before joining the Southern League after finishing as runners-up of the Eastern Counties League in 1957–58. Under Bill Leivers's stewardship they were crowned Southern League Premier Division champions in 1968–69 and 1969–70, which helped to secure their election into the Football League in 1970. 

Recent Form & Key Players:
Off the back off two absolute kickings from Reading, 4-0, then a 6-0 hammering from Lincoln, Cambridge were held 1-1 by Northampton before closing out March with a 2-0 loss away to Bolton. April has seen them draw at home to Charlton and lose by the odd goal to Blackpool, before showing better form in defeating Wigan 3-1 at home.
Top of the scoring charts sits Gassan Ahadme with 11, with Fejiri Okenabirhie next best with 9. Ellis Kachunga is next best having netted 6 times in 34 starts. Sully Kalkai tops the assists list with from Jack Lankester and George Thomas with 4 and 3 assists respectively.
Rams Match Squad:
Hard to get away from the 11 that started against Orient, given the resounding nature of the win and the style in which it was achieved. A buoyant Paul Warne confirmed in the post-match presser that everyone came through unscathed and it was interesting to hear him saying that we had more energy coming off a shorter break than was the case at Wycombe, where he felt we lacked energy, despite the 8 day break.
The injury picture remains murky and it’ll be interesting to see whether Gayle and Bird might be fit enough to make the matchday squad. I’ll not bother with my selected 11, as I always get it horribly wrong and the gaffer seems to be doing a decent job matching squads to opponents without our guidance. Instead, here’s the top of the table as it stands:

Don't forget to keep an eye on @Caerphilly Ram's injury updates thread across the week, for any snippets on player's likely return dates. I'll append anything I see to this htread as best I can in any case.
The Promotion Picture:
Some key fixtures tomorrow night, none more so than Bolton’s home game against Shrewsbury, whom we know to be a strong and obdurate side, though one lacking the Trotter’s class edge. I’d expect Bolton to take the points, but should Shrews grab an early lead, it could make for rather tougher game.
Oxford, fresh off the back of their 5 goal hammering of Posh play hosts to Lincoln City, whose charge towards the play-offs has faltered a little in most recently. It ought to be a tightly contested affair and to be honest, I’d not be surprised by any result.
The aforementioned Posh have what appears to be a routine task against lowly Fleetwood, but what will be the aftermath of their humbling at the hands of Oxford on Saturday. Might they have a hangover?
Perhaps the best tie of the round features champions-elect Portsmouth hosting Barnsley. A point will surely suffice for Pompey, but I expect them to win and win well en route to a thoroughly well-deserved title win. They’ve been excellent this season and this despite being one of the few clubs with comparable injury concerns to our beloved Rams. It'll be good to see them back where they belong after some very difficult years of their own.
Of the weekend ties, the most interesting involve Peterborough, who have a tricky away game at Bristol and Bolton host Port Vale. It seems odds on we will be going into the final week needing to beat Carlisle to be absolutely certain of promotion and I doubt too many Rams fans will be counting their chickens early! 
Final Thoughts:
A brief digression is in order to congratulate Eiran Cashin and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, both of whom made the EFL League 1 Team of the Year. Bit miffed that Curtis Nelson was overlooked to partner Cash at CB, as for me, he’s been top of the pops for us, but I doubt he’ll mind too much if we win come Saturday.
A last word as always to all Derby fans travelling to the game, safe journey to and fro, Rams and Ramettes and hopefully plenty of good stuff to chatter about on your way home. Honestly, I think our away support has been as good as any in the entire EFL this season and they’ll hopefully be rewarded with another complete and controlled performance as we ourselves edge closer to that vital 2nd place finish.
COYR
BE MORE B4
 

Great work yet again with the match threads, these have been a different class over the last couple of months.
I for one will miss these after next week.
COYR - Hold your nerve and leave everything on the pitch for two more matches, we’ve got this.

Great work yet again with the match threads, these have been a different class over the last couple of months.
I for one will miss these after next week.
COYR - Hold your nerve and leave everything on the pitch for two more matches, we’ve got this.

Great work yet again with the match threads, these have been a different class over the last couple of months.
I for one will miss these after next week.
COYR - Hold your nerve and leave everything on the pitch for two more matches, we’ve got this.

Great work yet again with the match threads, these have been a different class over the last couple of months.
I for one will miss these after next week.
COYR - Hold your nerve and leave everything on the pitch for two more matches, we’ve got this.

It was a disappointing result but I agree with the hundred previous posters who have pointed out that we're tactically naive. We started defensively against a team who had scored 6 away goals. We should have got stuck in from the first second. Too often this season the first 45 minutes is simply wasted, and then we're chasing the game in the second half after an adjustment.
I read the Guardian's report on the Leverkusen-Bayern game, and an observation there stuck out to me: "But what distinguishes this Leverkusen team is how little they rely on moments of individual quality. They defend and attack as a unit..." We rely almost entirely on moments of individual quality! In recent games particularly, it has been flashes from Bird, NML, Hourihane, or Collins to pull a result out of the bag. With a coherent system, we have good enough players, and a deep enough squad, to demolish most teams.
I don't think any individual had a bad game yesterday - in fact, I thought Sibley, Bird, Nyambe, Adams, and Nelson played very well - but they're being asked to set up in seemingly random, incoherent, and ineffective ways, from game to game. Second half was a good performance, and I was impressed by how they kept going and nearly snatched a winner through Nelson & Barks, but it should have been all over by then. Shrewsbury were pretty crap, and we let them off.
Still, 15 games to go, all to play for, and enough rubbish sides in this league that I still think we can struggle our way to an automatic spot!

I'm with @ramtique on this.  It's simply not as enjoyable as it has been.  It's not as entertaining as it could be.  Jipes, it could even be argued it's not as entertaining as it SHOULD be (But that's a separate discussion). 
Like @ramtique, I too suspect there are others (20k+, quite likely, but I appreciate I could be open to argument there!)
I'm not threatening to down STs and stay away (Although it does occasionally cross my mind!).  I'm certainly not affected enough to be concerned about my day to day mental well being.
I don't enjoy seaside do-nuts as much as I did 40 years ago, but they're still bloody tempting when you're within touching distance of the seaside.
Same with Kylie in gold hotpants.  It just doesn't have that same effect any more... but I ain't gonna click away if it unintentionally pops up on my YouTube suggestions! 👀
 
Hey, @Tyler Durden, why not not try to focus on what folk are actually posting, rather than exaggerating their words and opinions to a polar extreme?  Just a thought.

Only garbage, in your opinion. We win games and people still want to drag Warne and the players over the coals.
Are you still not pleased? We’ve gone from being 15 points off top to now potentially as little as three points if we win our game in hand. 
Which team at League 1 level will be without its faults or weaknesses? None. The key is finding a way to ensure your weaknesses are not regularly taken advantage of.
We have lost two in 17, compared with five in 14 earlier in the season. We have won 12, compared with just 6 in that same earlier spell. So clearly while we are not perfect, we are doing something right in that regard.
I go to as many games as I can. I watch as many games as I can. I’ll be there on Tuesday, for instance. I don’t feel depressed by the prospect. We might play badly and win. We might play well and lose. We might play badly and lose. We might play well and win. I couldn’t call it. It comes with the territory of supporting a team currently in League 1 and their typical limitations.
You say it’s depressing. Would you be happier being in Peterborough’s position, losing their grip on their place in the automatic promotion race? Playing better football but losing 5-2 to struggling Wycombe?

I like Paul Warne and am desperate for him to succeed at DCFC. I like his style, his honesty and feel he has integrity and moral compass. However, serious questions to be asked following yesterdays performance which was too similar to previous performances:
- why is there such a lack of creativity in our play when he has had such a long time with this squad? 
- why do we not impose ourselves on weaker opposition, especially at home?
- why does it take us to concede a goal in order for us to display energy and desire?
- why do we never have any runners beyond Collins, when our tactic is so often hitting the ball directly towards him in the air? Seriously, what are we achieving with this tactic without runners around or beyond him?
- why do players not appear more motivated when you consider our position and the opportunity we have, especially in the earlier parts of each game when we are far too passive?
My opinion is that if he and the coaching team can resolve the 5 questions above, we can and will make the automatic positions. If we continue not to, then the best we can hope for is a play off lottery, and I wouldn’t fancy our chances over two legs against anybody if the issues have still not been resolved. Quality coaching and leadership now required for the remainder of the season. 🐏

I like Paul Warne and am desperate for him to succeed at DCFC. I like his style, his honesty and feel he has integrity and moral compass. However, serious questions to be asked following yesterdays performance which was too similar to previous performances:
- why is there such a lack of creativity in our play when he has had such a long time with this squad? 
- why do we not impose ourselves on weaker opposition, especially at home?
- why does it take us to concede a goal in order for us to display energy and desire?
- why do we never have any runners beyond Collins, when our tactic is so often hitting the ball directly towards him in the air? Seriously, what are we achieving with this tactic without runners around or beyond him?
- why do players not appear more motivated when you consider our position and the opportunity we have, especially in the earlier parts of each game when we are far too passive?
My opinion is that if he and the coaching team can resolve the 5 questions above, we can and will make the automatic positions. If we continue not to, then the best we can hope for is a play off lottery, and I wouldn’t fancy our chances over two legs against anybody if the issues have still not been resolved. Quality coaching and leadership now required for the remainder of the season. 🐏

I like Paul Warne and am desperate for him to succeed at DCFC. I like his style, his honesty and feel he has integrity and moral compass. However, serious questions to be asked following yesterdays performance which was too similar to previous performances:
- why is there such a lack of creativity in our play when he has had such a long time with this squad? 
- why do we not impose ourselves on weaker opposition, especially at home?
- why does it take us to concede a goal in order for us to display energy and desire?
- why do we never have any runners beyond Collins, when our tactic is so often hitting the ball directly towards him in the air? Seriously, what are we achieving with this tactic without runners around or beyond him?
- why do players not appear more motivated when you consider our position and the opportunity we have, especially in the earlier parts of each game when we are far too passive?
My opinion is that if he and the coaching team can resolve the 5 questions above, we can and will make the automatic positions. If we continue not to, then the best we can hope for is a play off lottery, and I wouldn’t fancy our chances over two legs against anybody if the issues have still not been resolved. Quality coaching and leadership now required for the remainder of the season. 🐏

I like Paul Warne and am desperate for him to succeed at DCFC. I like his style, his honesty and feel he has integrity and moral compass. However, serious questions to be asked following yesterdays performance which was too similar to previous performances:
- why is there such a lack of creativity in our play when he has had such a long time with this squad? 
- why do we not impose ourselves on weaker opposition, especially at home?
- why does it take us to concede a goal in order for us to display energy and desire?
- why do we never have any runners beyond Collins, when our tactic is so often hitting the ball directly towards him in the air? Seriously, what are we achieving with this tactic without runners around or beyond him?
- why do players not appear more motivated when you consider our position and the opportunity we have, especially in the earlier parts of each game when we are far too passive?
My opinion is that if he and the coaching team can resolve the 5 questions above, we can and will make the automatic positions. If we continue not to, then the best we can hope for is a play off lottery, and I wouldn’t fancy our chances over two legs against anybody if the issues have still not been resolved. Quality coaching and leadership now required for the remainder of the season. 🐏

I like Paul Warne and am desperate for him to succeed at DCFC. I like his style, his honesty and feel he has integrity and moral compass. However, serious questions to be asked following yesterdays performance which was too similar to previous performances:
- why is there such a lack of creativity in our play when he has had such a long time with this squad? 
- why do we not impose ourselves on weaker opposition, especially at home?
- why does it take us to concede a goal in order for us to display energy and desire?
- why do we never have any runners beyond Collins, when our tactic is so often hitting the ball directly towards him in the air? Seriously, what are we achieving with this tactic without runners around or beyond him?
- why do players not appear more motivated when you consider our position and the opportunity we have, especially in the earlier parts of each game when we are far too passive?
My opinion is that if he and the coaching team can resolve the 5 questions above, we can and will make the automatic positions. If we continue not to, then the best we can hope for is a play off lottery, and I wouldn’t fancy our chances over two legs against anybody if the issues have still not been resolved. Quality coaching and leadership now required for the remainder of the season. 🐏

I appreciate Warne get's a lot of stick... and at times like this it's difficult to argue against... But there's a particular trait I like... have always liked... in a player.  And that's passion!
Not for the shirt, per sé.  Not for the badge specifically.  But for their craft.
There's a distinct lack of that right now, and it seemed to be massively magnified last night.
Masses of mistakes last night, and yet I don't recall one single hint of a player reacting in a frustrated "must do better" kind of way.  No kicking hoardings.  No thumping the ground.  No heavenwards screaming out in frustration.  No bollockings from team mates.  No fist pumping encouragement.
Even young Cashin was doing this a few weeks back... and it was truly wonderful to witness... but that seems to have gone now (And no, I'm not singling him out intentionally.  No effing way!)  
All we got last night was meek acknowledgements of apology.  Lots of stooped shoulders! A half-raised hand of patheticism. (*Looks like I just made that word up, but it's staying in!  Fuckem!) 
If I was the cynical sort (I'm not!), I'd be wondering if they actually cared!
 
Now... I hasten to add... My support of DCFC is currently going through a similar phase.  I can laugh it off.  I can shrug my shoulders.  I can slouch back in my NE Corner seat and not bother singing.  (I won't boo, but my silence alone should be deafening to the players!)  I can almost appear to those that don't know me as though I don't care.  That's not the case, but I certainly don't care as much nowadays as I have done in the past.  Of course I've lost SOME of my passion.  But that comes with age.  That comes with having "Been there before... numerous times".  In essence, I've "got an excuse".
These players don't have that excuse.  They are the now.  They are as close to being in their prime as they're likely to be.  They should care.  They ought to care.  They should be taking pride in their craft.  They should feel the passion.

They ain't clocking in at Royces at 07:40 every morning, to stare at the same old computerised CNC milling machine hour after hour.  They ain't driving the same old dirty bus around the same old dirty streets of Derby day in, day out.  They ain't staring at spreadsheets shift after shift.  Those guys and gals are (arguably) entitled to "plod on".
These guys are craftsmen.  They are entertainers.  They are professional athletes. They have either been gifted with a talent, or indeed they have worked bloody hard to hone themselves that talent. 
So where is their pride?  Where is their passion?  Why are they letting their peers down?  Why are they letting the supporters down?  Why are they LETTING THEMSELVES DOWN? WTF does it look like they don't care?
I just can't get my head around that.

Warne’s RD interview was interesting. He magnanimously said he brings Bradley on to score from set pieces and since he didn’t score, that was one Warne got wrong. Apart from that …  it’s all down to the players. 
 
The problem is : if the players are continually blamed and if they don’t believe in him as a tactician, then they lose their motivation. And his ‘gas out’ approach can only work if they are 100% motivated. 
 
Players enjoy playing good football. He needs to find a way to get them playing better football 

Can you do Saturday’s pre match team talk please?

It's definitely too soon to smash the panic buttons. However, the way Warne sets the team up means we struggle when we're lacking squad depth - we saw it at the start of this season, we had it when we didn't rotate the squad as much as Warne would have liked last season, and we're seeing it now (6-8 players had been unavialble). It doesn't help that a significant number of signigns are injury prone or have a recent history of not playing much. 
Warne needs to trust the players on the fringes of his squad more (we said the same last season). There's no reason for players such as Ward to have just 30 minutes of football over a 4 week period when he's fully fit and other players are starting to struggle with fatigue a little bit. The use of players such as DBrown and DRobinson at the end of games needs to happen more frequently in periods when we do have a mini injury crisis as it helps keep the senior player fresher. More games for Brown earlier in the season would have meant he'd now feel comfortable playing more of a part now when we only have 1 fit forward. Instead we'll now have to rely on Collins playing full 90s or move Mendez-laing upfront and weaken ourselves on the wings.

How could I forget to mention that! memories!