admira

Just beat me to it mate

Craig Fagan?

This screams 0-1 Martin winner… bloody hope I’m wrong! 😂 

Bristol Rovers vs Derby County
Saturday 9th March KO 3pm
Memorial Stadium (BS7 0BF)
 
Opponents Form: Decent recently with three wins in their last four matches including their last two. They currently sit 11th in the table albeit with no realistic playoff aspirations or relegation concerns. Whilst their home record in L1 this season is a reasonable W7-D5-L5 it should be noted that they have lost four of their most recent six matches on their own patch with wins over Carlisle (2-1) and Oxford (3-1) dampened by defeats to Blackpool (1-2), Exeter (0-1), Fleetwood (0-2) and Burton (1-2).
Opponents Bio: Rovers are managed by Matt Taylor who is in his third managerial role. After an impressive four years at Exeter he was the man chosen by Rotherham to take over the reins after the departure of our own Paul Warne to Pride Park. Taylor's spell there lasted 13 months before he parted company with the Yorkshire club in November 2023 as the Millers were struggling in 22nd place. Within three weeks, however, he found himself in the Bristol Rovers hotseat replacing the ever-delightful Joseph Barton. 
The club have played their home matches at the 11,000 capacity (3,000 seated) Memorial Stadium since 1996 after leaving their previous home in Eastville. They are officially known as the 'Pirates', reflecting Bristol's maritime history. Or because they just arrrr. Or maybe because their form is historically patchy. They are of course also known as the 'Gas', a nickname which was given them by opposition fans originally but was cheerfully adopted by the Rovers' followers who refer to themselves as 'Gasheads'. The name came about apparently due to their former stadium being sited next to a gasworks which produced a distinct aroma which would waft over the ground. Anybody who sits near a few of our more dedicated drinkers at Pride Park will no doubt relate to that.
Opponents Player Watch: Only one place to start here as the Rams go up against our former beau, Christopher Hugh Martin. The Wardrobe has scored 15 goals this season and is joint fifth in the top scorers chart for the division. Second top scorer after CM9 is Anthony Evans with half a dozen goals. Other notable players are ex-Rams youngster Luke Thomas, experienced former Swansea, Celtic and Preston man Scott Sinclair and Chelsea loanee Harvey Vale who I think we were linked with during the summer. I'm not sure if he's their number one or not but they also have a goalkeeper called Jed Ward who you can only sympathise with.
Rams Record vs Opponents: There have been three FA Cup ties between the two clubs but we'll focus on the 27 league matches there have been between Bristol Rovers and Derby County. The first meeting was on 29th August 1953 at Bristol so hats off to any Ram or Rover who remembers that match over 70 years ago. During the early years of the fixture it was Bristol Rovers who held sway with the Pirates winning the first three encounters, four of the first five and six of the first nine overall. Since then though it is the Rams who have had much the better of it. The overall league record for Derby against Saturday's opponents is as follows:
P27: W12-D7-L8
Away at Bristol Rovers our record  is: P13: W3-D4-L6   Whilst that isn't impressive it should be pointed out that we lost on our first five visits and since then we've gone W3-D3-L1 on their turf and are unbeaten in our last four visits.
Since our relegation to L1 for the 2022/23 season the Rams have recorded home wins against Rovers in both fixtures at Pride Park (4-2 and 2-1) whilst last season we conceded a debateable late penalty in a 1-1 draw at their place.
Other Saturday Fixtures Of Note: We will either be second or third going into the match depending on the outcome of Barnsley vs Bolton on Tuesday night. Peterborough are at home to Northampton on the same evening. On Saturday our priority is of course to earn three points in the south-west but we will be hoping for favourable results in at least one of the following games:
Blackpool vs Portsmouth
Exeter vs Bolton
Barnsley vs Lincoln
Burton vs Peterborough
Expected Team: My guess is that Derby will be unchanged from the 3-0 win against a desperately struggling Port Vale. With fit full-back options rarer than a salad in the City Ground boardroom I suspect it'll be a back three plus the two wing-backs who played well yesterday. 
 
Safe journey to those who make the trip and COYR.

I think Akranes is in Iceland, so Thordur Gudjonsson. As far as I know, he remains the only Mörlandar to ever play for us.

This is assuming Nyambe is injured...

Wildsmith
Smith - Nelson - Cashin - Sibley
Bird - Adams - Hourihane
NML - Gayle - CBT

Subs: Vickers, Wilson, Bradley, Thompson, Fornah, Barks, Waghorn

CBT has looked like he hasnt seen a football in his life, hope it's just a blip,

Smith filling in at RB to get some much needed solidity,

Nelson and Cashin (who I think are statistically the best partnership in the league) back together, no idea why Warne played him as a LB, almost as if he pulled his name out of a hat,

Hourihane has to start if fit, regardless of him becoming somewhat of a scapegoat - the long ball to Gayle will not work, he's not that kind of player. Hourihane there to come and collect each and every short pass from Wildsmith, something which was almost non-existant on Tuesday,

Very strong bench.

 

We need NML back on form.
Without him we don’t have anyone who can change it up and drive at the opposition. 
I was rather hoping CBT would offer that too. I hope he gets a start and that he gets the Derby experience of acclaim from 25,000 fans. This presumably is why he signed.
If we get both of them flying then DG will be busy 😊
 

Jon Macken?

Derek Hales

Tyrone Mears. It would've been more obvious with the other fun fact about his great escape from Moor Farm 🙂 

Well that completely bypassed me 😀 carry on sir!

Yes, for Jamaica. And three goals

Roy Greenwood. Famous for be named Reggie. Just about sums him up.

Giles Barnes?

Doesn't time go slowly? Seems so much longer ago! 😉

Jeff Kenna?

Doesn't time go slowly? Seems so much longer ago! 😉

Everyone is allowed to make a mistake 😅

Trevor Christie, cool as custard...
 
Mods...chuck all these in a GR appreciation thread. The most wonderful radio presence.

Sadly got this from his personal problems listed , thought this boy was going on to a decent career , Darren Wrack

I did work experience at the Post Office, when I was at school.
I was really too young for the job. We would sit in the sorting office, listening to the radio, putting the parcels in order.
Every time the music stopped, I would open one.

For the past twenty years, I've received a Valentine's card from the same secret admirer. So, I was pretty upset when I didn't get one this year.
First my granny dies, now this?

When he was on his uppers, Elvis Costello once swapped a tyre for a box of chocolates. That was a Goodyear for the Roses.