Comrade 86

I'll get me coat...

Passion, tension, both? Warne and his team really want success at Derby and IMO it's good to see how much it means to him, even if he's got it wrong, which in fairness I did too.

Loving the calm way Cash goes about his work. Controlled aggression when needed, but otherwise cool as you like. Always seems to win the ball when he does go to ground and calmly ushers his man wide when it's not there to win. I really think Sibbo has improved for their partnership on that left flank. Sibbo has always had bags of ability in attack, but in defense, he seems to take Cash's lead and he's improving that side of his game quite markedly. Saw Cash telling a much older and more experienced Ebou to calm down too which made me smile. Deeply impressive maturity from such a young lad, who IMO should be nailed on for the captaincy next season. Sidenote - how strong is Thommo! He's tiny, but he seems to lever much bigger players off the ball so easily.

Anyone having advocated for Bradley this season, would likely having been feeling pretty let down by him after the Northampton debacle, but he's been excellent today. A brave call from Warne (not one I'd have made!) and great to see the player working hard to redeem himself. Big 45 minutes ahead, but it's been quietly impressive so far. More of the same please!!!

Owen sounding as excitable as us lot, which is endearing. A good foil to Barker, who always sounds like he's commentating from his bed, bless him. A decent game today, with conditions better than of late. Movement off the ball really good, with everyone showing. A controlled, confident and disciplined performance thus far. Elsewhere, Posh seem to have shot their bolt so if we maintain this level (and don't return from HT half asleep), it'll likely be down to a straight shootout between us and Bolton for 2nd place, the slight concern being whether Posh will still be up for Bolton.

Always liked that Sonny Bradley 👀

Bless you Claire, that neatly circumvents a deal of unnecessary awkwardness 😂 I hope you and the Beavis clan have a lovely day celebrating Dan's birthday today. I'm (mildly) confident that his beloved Rams will oblige with the gift I suspect he's most wanting today too, which would certainly be the icing on the birthday cake. 🙏🐑

6-1 nipped out to grab lunch bits for tomorrow and phone kept pinging every 5 minutes. GF demanding to know who it is that's so anxious to speak to me 😂

Now then B4, I know we've begged a few favours already, so I've waited until we really need it to beg another, but if you could give the boss a nudge for us and tell him I'm sorry I've not been to church for 20 years, I'd be obliged. A win today would most certainly restore some faith and I'll book myself in for confession at very least, though I might well need a 2 hour slot!

A not unfair take to be honest, though we don't really know how hard he trains the lads in comparison to other teams. Seems to me that there is a greater focus on athleticism, pace and stamina as you move down the leagues, with the players having more natural ability being priced out of range by Champ and Prem outfits. I did note from Barker's interview prior to the game that the squad had been given time off and returned to their families during the break between Pompey and Wycombe and I do wonder whether the rigours of a 50 game season on some pretty poor pitches (our own at times!) might have more to do with the injuries than a martinet's approach to training. In any case, hopefully we put it all together for the next 3 games, as I'm not sure anyone wants another season of L1 football irrespective of whether Warne is still the incumbent. Slight tangent, but I was sorry to read that 2024 has proved difficult for you and yours thus far. Hopefully a resounding win today signals changes sooner, rather than later.

Why is it always the in-form players? If we didn't have miserable luck in that regard, we have none at all 😔

Let's hope not eh, the failing bit, not the lighting it up thing, obvs!

The backstop date for Forest's appeal hearing is apparently May 24th but it's rumoured that the PL are to try to resolve this prior to season end. I've been trying to find the articles suggesting that Forest's belief that they had nothing to lose with what I view as a spurious appeal, is potentially a serious misunderstanding of the process and the link below is the the one I managed to find again. In a further twist, that really ought to set alarm bells ringing, the PL have stated that they retain the right to force a single arbitrator to make a final call should the appeal not go the way they would like. Bear in mind the 8 point penalty they originally sought. Perhaps I'm reading too much into that statement, but it suggests to me that they want to see the penalty increased and will challenge the appeal outcome if additional points are not deducted. I'm not sure who is advising the fat fella, but I think Forest appealing what was IMO, a ludicrously generous outcome given the size of their overspend and the underhand way they went about masking it, was essentially an act of flagrant self-harm, akin to accidentally shooting themselves in the foot, then shooting the other one too so they have a matching pair. https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/nottingham-forest-ffp-appeal-points-deduction-fail-2964272

@LeedsCityRam if this is the case then apologies as I thought your comment was in reference to the status quo and not Rosenior's reign. I too was massively frustrated when he was moved on as it struck me that we were just beginning to play some decent stuff. Did we not dismantle Wycombe in his last game? Irony overload, if so. I also seem to recall you and I, among others, being taken to task (most often by the forum's most prolific poster who now wants us to believe she was in favour of Rosenior staying!) for suggesting that the style of play we would see under Warne would not necessarily please the masses. How quickly some forget!

I've wavered on this as before we heard Collo had miraculously returned to training, I'd have said the same. The ideal world scenario though is that we get over the line by hook or crook without him and Dajaune shows the benefit of being left to continue to develop his game when he returns next season.

With the form he's shown since being given a starting slot, I'd imagine it was a shortlist of one! Not often a kid who only recently turned 18 comes in and dominates teams the way he has. Hopefully he doubles down, works even harder, continues to listen to his coaches and in doing so maintains his current arc. He's a seriously exciting prospect for one so young and will surely be in and around the senior squad next season.

Apologies if I've misunderstood your point, but surely a league table encompassing 46 games is THE most accurate measure of success. What other metric is less misleading? it frustrates me that when teams finish above us it's always because they deserved to over the course of the season, but somehow this same rationale does not apply to us. IMO, if we do secure an autos slot, it's absolutely because we deserved it and by the same token, if we don't, then we clearly won't have.

When you feel lucky, perhaps? 😂

I always try to strip away the dressing and focus on what I see. Had we taken any of the 3 or 4 gilt edged opportunities we carved out in the first 40, I think conversations on here would be rather different. As someone else said, fine margins. The second half I thought saw an emboldened Wycombe and I don't think that would have been the case were they 2 or 3 down. Likewise, when NML blasts the ball over the sticks, or CBT fumbles a sitter, can we seriously suggest that these are tactical or coaching deficiencies. With the amount of experienced players we had on the park, calmer heads should have prevailed IMO, though none of this negates the view that at times, PW has clearly got it wrong. I've not reiterated my sense of it recently, as a pet hate of mine is posters who relentlessly post the same material, but whilst I support Warne currently (likewise the playing roster), I opposed his appointment and can also see how we'd likely need a very different formula to prosper were we to secure promotion. I have enjoyed some performances, Pompey only a game back, I thought was a fantastic game between two sides playing good attacking football, despite the atrocious conditions, but I'm not blind to the occasions where we've looked all over the place either. My view though, is that we are just a L1 side after all, despite being 'massive' and perhaps these inconsistencies come with the territory.

It certainly seems like a mountain to climb, but the West (or the sympathisers therein) can't give up now. We can't just throw our hands in the air and say, 'it's too hard' as in some ways that lack of determination is what empowers Netanyahu. It's also not lost on me that the assassinations on Iranian soil might be another twisted device to curry favour with the US at a time where relations are more strained than at any time I can recall. The enemy of my enemy etc. I'm not convinced either that any Palestinian state would immediately look to attack Israel again. I think the Palestinians will feel they have suffered enough for their allegiance to Hamas, but I concede that the Israelis could quite easily instigate further conflict.

Excellent stuff. Do they provide this type of analysis for every race? It's actually way better than the F1.com equivalent.

In fairness and unlike some, you've been entirely consistent in your observations over the course of the season, but taking Wycombe as an example, what was wrong with the team selection? Was it not another occasion where he actually got it right, which I concede, he hasn't always, but was let down by a forward line who lacked composure?

Try reading what I actually posted again. S-L-O-W-L-Y.