Comrade 86

Really enjoying Shogun. One tiny gripe being that you can quickly tell the great outdoors depicted is not actually Japan. It transpires it was filmed in Canada, but that nitpick aside, it's a very good show and Cosmo Jarvis carries the lead role very well. Only a couple of episodes in and already plenty of intrigue and on the whole, it's also beautifully filmed. I hadn't realised it was adapted from a book and I confess that I've not read anything by James Clavell, so I've no idea if the screenplay is faithful to his novel, but it works well as a stand-alone project IMO. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2788316/ On Disney+

Kin ell 😂

Can't stand either of them really, Hearne less than Warren, I suppose, but it's like choosing between a finger in the eye and a peculiarly effective nut-flick, you'd rather neither given the chance.

Have to say the Queensbury vs Matchroom malarkey doesn't really fire my imagination. Hard lines for Nick Ball. What a fookin terrible call that was against Vargas. Really felt for Ball who well and truly worked him over IMO.

Head & Shoulders... I didn't know you had dandruff *Smug smile... I don't f*** off! 😂

On reflection, a loan with a buy option would have been some very cute dealing, but it's easy after the event, isn't it? I think he's enjoyed his time with us too and I'm quite optimistic. He's only a year left on his contract, was sent to us as surplus stock and the fans bloomin love him. It's not like Derby are tinpot either, he'll have noticed the crowds! I'm more than hopeful as players tend to get what they want in these scenarios and in Ebou's case, I believe he wants to play for Derby.

Here's a dog with laser eyes chasing a spontaneously combusting cat...

We came out of admin with 6 rostered senior pros and just missed out off the back a non-existent pre-season, with a cobbled together team. That team is now challenging for the autos in our second season since facing liquidation, all achieved while under soft-embargo and an enforced business plan too. You can sneer all you like, but some folk are actually proud of how this club has turned things around, a notion you clearly find hilarious.

Good shout Steady! Our defence has been excellent all season, the odd brainfart notwithstanding, but the goals have been critical to keeping our noses ahead of the chasers, in recent weeks especially. I'm actually pretty chuffed with that, to top the stats for the entire EFL is seriously impressive. Is it Matt Hamshaw (first team coach) who is due a collective doff of our caps? I think it is as IIRC, Warne joked about Hamshaw getting his stuff right in the post-match presser. It seems to me that when he's poking fun at someone, that usually means he's very happy with them. Whoever it is will probably be getting a raise in any case! EDIT: Thanks for confirming @NottsRam - hadn't seen you post when writing this!

Well, well... Shrews you absolute beauties! Might was well just leave this here then. Enjoy your evening fellow Rams!

This Town - Bit of a slow-burner and not what I was expecting at all, but sometimes not knowing something makes for nice surprises and this series ended so strongly there surely has to be more to come. I won't say too much in case folk are still watching it, just that it's definitely worth sticking with if, like me, you should encounter an early wobble. A mainly young cast, visibly grows into the series and I'm already intrigued to see where they'll take it next. Blinding soundtrack too!

Actually can't wait for this fight. The Saudi events are sterile AF in terms of atmosphere, but yeah, they definitely get the top fighters together. Not only that, they've even got Hearn and Warren rimming each other senseless too, so there's clearly absurd money sloshing about the trough now and neither of the Russians are fancy Dans anyway, so they won't care about any lack of Vegas style pizazz. Shame though as who can possibly ever forget Wilder rocking the cross-dressing Black Panther look?

And there you have it... X owner Elon Musk suggested Monday new users on the social network formerly known as Twitter will need to pay a small fee to use basic functions on the platform—a change he says is needed to combat a bot problem that has plagued the site for years. https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2024/04/15/musk-will-charge-new-x-users-small-fee-for-posting-tweet-suggests/#:~:text=X owner Elon Musk suggested,plagued the site for years.

There's a Varsity game, but I've not really heard any of the locals talk of rivalry between the two clubs. They hate Swindon though! 🤣

Do you know I've written Ryan a gazillion times this season and caught myself every time, but this one has slipped the net. @DarkFruitsRam7 give the man his correct name please. Thank you, The Idiot 😂

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

Well spotted, but we remain =1st all the same. It also somewhat underlines the point made, in that their sub-par metric and the reason they have fallen short, is goals scored; even with their mad recent run, they've netted 13 fewer than Derby and 18 fewer than #1 ranked Posh. We're slightly profligate in front of goal, but that aside, we are a strong side by every salient metric.

*Lumps on City to win at Spurs

That stat rather leapt of the page didn't it! 😂 Also noted the six shots on target, scoring with 5 of them. Ouch! One hopes the Steer family cat survived the night. I think that while both Bolton and Posh are sometimes quite easy on the eye, they don't always convert possession to points. Posh seem to dominate games or do very little and actually make us look ultra consistent. Bolton are probably the best footballing team in the division, but they seem to score in clusters and can be frustrated by defenders who maintain shape and discipline. The more I think about this league, the more I think that for teams to succeed, they have to be adept across the board, in the top percentiles for all key metrics. We're slightly light off 'excellent' in the total goals scored column and in a season where we've bungled so many chances from open play, our set pieces and defensive qualities are what has really kept us in the hunt, especially in the final quarter of the season. Points Accrued: 2nd Goals Scored: 5th Goals Conceded: =1st Goal Difference: 1st Interesting to note that the top two in the table are equal top in the goals conceded charts and by clear water too. Not a coincidence IMO.

We could have had 7 or 8 today. Clinical from set pieces, but we squandered so many chances from open play too. Could have had 3 in a single 5 minute spell towards around the 75th minute mark. Credit where it's due; Warne will have known he would be absolutely crucified for the Bradley led back 3 call, had we lost, or drawn, so I hope even his fiercest detractors will acknowledge his courage and game strategy today. No way I'd have played Bradley, though IIRC both @Ghost of Clough and @DCFC1388 I think called his selection more or less bang on. The stats don't exactly scream it, but we've absolutely battered them today and on B4's birthday too! COYR

Hope he grows into them feet of his 👀

If he finishes the season in this form, he can be a bright red, tumescent, throbber, for all I care 😂