LeedsCityRam

Today watching on RamsTV with my fellow LS12 Ram - couple of beers in hand to get through the tension & a damn sight more afterwards if we win & results go our way elsewhere Next weekend in my usual spot top of East Stand exchanging pleasantries with Carlisle's best & brightest

Varsity 1 Derby 1 FRGS Collins

Good result, good performance & great to see us on the front foot from first minute. Got into them early & unsettled them, 2 early goals & never let them get back in...such a contrast to Wednesday's insipid effort. Credit to Warne for picking Thompson & having a 3 man midfield..it made a massive difference. Credit also to Sonny Bradley, I'd have happily never seen him in a Derby shirt every again but also do love a good comeback & today was exactly that. Unchanged for Cambridge please. Had to shoot off for a gig in Manchester straight after the match & was quickly sat in a pub with a few Pompey & Bolton...thanked as many Pompey as I could find & enjoyed the Bolton reaction 🤣 Feels like we're on the cusp. Its the hope that hurts the most 😁

A league table is not a selective stat & the irony of your post is you are perfectly happy to rely on those exact stats to come to an extrapolated conclusion on Warne maintaining those level of results based on nothing more than a hunch whilst ignoring his previous record at that level, which suggests that would've been highly unlikely. I didn't mention Rosenior at any point in my initial post - this is nothing to do with him. I also didn't say anything about ignoring the position in the table, how many defeats they had or places between them & the bottom 3 - its all there to look at. I've said the sample size is too small - you've completely missed my point.

Totally agree, if we finish 2nd this season then we will have deserved to. My posts weren't aimed at his performance in charge of Derby this season, just the 9 game stint Warne had at Rotherham at the start of the 22/23 season & how a couple of posters were using that small sample to evidence him being successful in the Championship in preference to the two full 46 game seasons where he was in charge & they were relegated. As I replied to Foreveram, it is undeniably true they were also close to the top 6 but the point I was making was that the sample size is too small to be considered success/that Warne had definitively shown he could be successful in the Championship. As you quite rightly say, exactly the same applies to Liam Rosenior - you can't say that Derby being in 7th upon his departure meant he was successful here or indeed, likely to continue in that vein. Both were decent starts, nothing more & with particular respect to Warne, his previous 120 games at Championship level have to be the barometer by which his ability to manage at that level must be judged.

I'm not sure anyone has said his first relegation was entirely his fault. What responsibility do you apportion to Paul Jewell for 2007/08 out of interest? I've said it was a decent start - what I object to is people using it as evidence that he was or was likely to be a success in the Championship that season as a result of that 9 game sample & using that as a counterweight to the other 120 games he managed at that level. Also true but the point was that the league table is misleading to qualify as a success.

Exactly how I'd go even if its a bit harsh on Korey Smith, who played well on Wednesday. We need to be on the front foot from minute 1 & Bird and Thompson would give us the platform to win the ball further up the pitch, play through the middle as well as out wide & offer a threat centrally to stretch their defence rather than the predictable doubling up on CBT and NML to neuter us. Also agree CBT needs to start albeit with a arm round the shoulder - he looked affected by his miss at Wycombe & came off the pitch looking pretty disconsolate. This is where Warne earns his corn as a good man-manager - build him back up & tell him to run at their full backs & shoot early and often.

There seems to be an increasing narrative on here that Warne's last stint in the Championship was a success & somehow negates the 3 relegations he'd previously suffered at that level. Below is the Championship table as at 17th September 2022 - 5 days before he left Rotherham for Derby. Rotherham were in 8th place & had won 3 out of 9 games - all at home. A decent start sure but reality is they were still only 4 points above the bottom 3 & very far from demonstrating they would have been able to survive that full season under Warne. To show just how this table is misleading in predicting performance over a full season, Wigan were only one point behind Rotherham at that stage but were ultimately comfortably relegated (even if they hadn't been deducted 6 points). Same situation with Reading who sit in 3rd at this stage with 18 points but only accrued another 32 points on the pitch from the last 36 games. On the flip side, Coventry sit bottom here but ended up in the playoff final. I would also ponder the question that if Rotherham had looked so strong at that point, why would he have considered dropping a division & not wait for an offer from a bigger fellow Championship club? That's what Steven Schumacher did this year swapping another small yo/yo club in Plymouth for a better resourced gig at Stoke.

Derby 1 East End Massive 1 FRGS Collins

Yes, Wycombe played much better stuff than I'd expected...some of their passges of plays were quite neat & opened us up easily. Also didnt think they resorted much to dark arts, it was a fair contest throughout. Their lad up top (Kone) looked a handful, add a bit of end product & he'll be playing at a much higher level. It would have been difficult for a neutral to work out who was the team in 2nd & who was the team in 15th. Particularly galling given the difference in rest since last game & what was on the line for us. Was very disappointed with our approach, the ball seemed to be a hot potato at times, sensed a lack of urgency (Wildsmith taking ages over restarts) & the decision making was poor. Corners for instance...I get their keeper had a howler on Sunday but did every corner taker have to try & score directly!? Washington also seemed very ponderous on the break, the only exception being his ball to CBT who could have taken a touch & should have scored. The side looked disjointed with Washingtoj & Collins up top..the latter was anonymous throughout and think we'd have been better served putting in Thompson as an extra midfielder to dominate territory & inject some creativity. Credit to Adams & Korey Smith who played well all night & stopped us being overrun. Onto Orient & now needing favours from others. If I see Sonny Bradley in that starting line up, Im going to go spare. Dont even think about it Warne.

Small world. One of my good pals is one of the Clee Ultras you describe - 350 mile round trip on a Tuesday night away at Ashington? He's there Went with him to watch them couple of weeks back v Winterton (they won 2-0) & been to Linden Club a couple of times too - nice little ground. My pal can't stand Grimsby Borough so was obviously outraged on Easter Monday when they got clattered 3-0

Weasel parasites 1 Super Derby 2 FRGS Blackett-Taylor

Very hard to call potential to play in the Prem given we're still a 3rd tier club & the absolute chasm in class. That said, players can surprise with making the step up - Bournemouth's first promotion team & Swansea both contained players from their League One (and League Two) promotion teams. Believe Pelly Mpanzu for Luton has played for them from Conference all the way to the Prem too. I'd be confident that Cashin & Blackett-Taylor could make the grade as regulars in a top half Championship side. I suspect Ward & Sibley would also be effective but only in certain positions - Ward as a wide midfielder/right wing back given the quality of his delivery & Sibley as a left wing back with his direct style & game changing ability. I'm struggling thereafter although Mendez-Laing would still cause problems in the division above as would Gayle. Of the remainder, I'm sure players like Nelson, Forsyth, Korey Smith, Elder, Barkhuizen, Thompson & Wilson could do a job as bottom half Championship players but feel unlikely to develop beyond that due to age or lack of physique/technical class to offset that. Both Wildsmith & Vickers would also be competent at the level above but again nothing more. The biggest holes in potential we have are in central midfield & up front - losing Max Bird was a massive blow as he would definitely fit into a top 10 Championship side & we desperately need a similar type conductor of play. Can't quite make my mind up about Ebou Adams - obviously not our player anyway but whilst he looks a million dollars in League One, I suspect the technical demands of the top half of Championship would blunt his effectiveness. I also think we have a batch of forwards who would barely reach bottom half Championship standard (with exception of Gayle) In short, a lot of work needed in the summer to inject some youthful potential to the squad & a bit of class in midfield/forward areas. The club also need to be strong in buying promising players from lower divisions/foreign leagues with potential to improve & resale value rather than older players with 'Championship experience' and no resale potential. My instinct is Warne would prefer the latter but the former would equip us better to develop into a top half Championship team in a couple of seasons & achieve sustainability as a club.

Just landed back in Leeds thoughts - overall, really pleased with that point & an enjoyable away day even if it absolutely hammered it down throughout. Obviously would've liked us to have held onto the lead but that was a big dog contest in front of one of the most vociferous home crowds in the country in atrocious conditions. It was vital we didn't get beat - mission accomplished & our destiny is in our own hands which with only 4 games to go, is a fantastic place to be. Was impressed with how we handled the conditions & after a ropey first 10 mins, we definitely adapted better than Pompey - shifting the ball with purpose & seemed to relish the physical nature of the contest. It felt like a breakthrough game for Blackett-Taylor - he was electric at times & Pompey struggled to keep him under control. Obviously his run led to the first goal but he made a couple of breaks second half which nearly yielded a breakthrough, one of which needed excellent speed & control to retrieve an overhit ball from Wilson(?). Liked him rousing the away fans too & he deservedly got a rapturous ovation as he walked past the away end after being subbed. Same could said of Joe Ward too, another lad with serious potential & last night he stepped up with one great finish & one great hit that got the luck it deserved. The conditions screamed out for potshots at goal & Ward was intelligent & gifted enough to capitalise. If I'm being ultra-critical, I thought Collins was on the field maybe 10 mins longer than he should've been - the lad had run himself into the ground but overall a pleasing pragmatic performance by management & team. Also bit confused by criticism of Mendez-Laing - he's coming off a recent injury, has had a long season & was always going to find it difficult on a pitch like that. I really like him & CBT as twin options - Pompey struggled with our counter attacking threat & I'm confident our remaining 4 opponents will do too. Thought our away support was excellent - certainly made plenty of racket throughout & traded well with an excellent home support. Am pleased for Pompey finally going up after so many years in the bottom 2 divisions & whilst Fratton Park has its limitations, its a true football theatre with all the magic of a big game under the lights that you'd want. A much needed 8 day break before we face the Waitrose parasites. Come on Derby 💪🐏

Thanks pal. Thought your support was tremendous also, stayed with them even when trailing for a lot of the game. Agree point was fair & suits both teams. Hopefully see you in Championship next season, that atmosphere was wasted on the 3rd tier.