Jump to content

Rampant

Member
  • Posts

    2,060
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

  1. My biggest takeaway from this thread is we're a poorer side minus Gayle. Going off on a tangent, all these injuries are probably just a sine of the times.
  2. Saturday 23rd March Northampton vs Derby Sixfields Stadium (KO 1500) Parking: There is apparently parking available at the ground (NN5 5QA) for a fiver or at a place called Duston Mill (NN5 5FP). Opponents Bio: Founded in 1897, Northampton Town are well known by their nickname, 'The Cobblers', a nod to the town's historic shoe-making industry. Previously based adjacent to Northamptonshire County Cricket Club, their move in 1994 now sees them play home matches at the 7,798 capacity Sixfields Stadium. The swinging 60's was quite the decade to be a member of the Shoe Army as Northampton started the 1960/61 season in the fourth tier of the English game before three promotions and three relegations saw them back in Division 4 (ask your parents kids) in time for the 1969/70 campaign. Their one season in the top division was their only appearance at that level in their history so far. Indeed, since their relegation in 1966/67 from what is now the Championship, the Cobblers have played each of the subsequent 56 seasons in either the third or fourth tier. That run could have been broken in 1993/94 when they finished bottom of League 2 but they had a reprieve as Kidderminster Harriers' ground wasn't deemed suitable for the Football League. This season sees Town looking to consolidate a League 1 berth after their promotion from League 2 in 2022/23 and sitting in 14th place and well clear of the drop zone they have comfortably achieved their initial target. A decent run of results could see them finish in the top half as they are one of four sides on 50 points before this weekend. Opponents Gaffer & Dangermen: They are managed by an Australian, Jon Brady, who I know nothing about. Top scorers for Northampton this season are Sam Hoskins (14 goals), Kieron Bowie (eight) and Mitch Pinnock (six, plus seven assists). They also have Huddersfield loanee Tyreece Simpson and another loanee is a certain Tony Springett who played a few times for ourselves last year. Other Titbits & Links to DCFC: Notable names associated with Saturday's opponents include former managers Herbert Chapman (of Huddersfield and Arsenal fame), Tony Barton (European Cup winning manager at Villa), Chris Wilder (when he was good), Ian Atkins (coming good again at Tranmere maybe), Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Aidy Boothroyd and Graham Carr (father of comedy twins Alan and Jimmy). Their most famous ex-player is probably former Liverpool and England full-back, Phil Neal. Derby links include Kevin Wilson (managed them) and those who played for both clubs include John Gregory, Ian Taylor and Marco Gabbiadini. Opponents Form: They've struggled over the past five games, picking up just two points from draws against Charlton at home and Cambridge away. They've lost two on the bounce, both without scoring, with a 1-0 defeat at home to Blackpool followed on Saturday by a 2-0 loss at Wycombe. Their league record at home is respectable overall, reading: W8-D5-L6. Rams History vs Northampton: We tempted fate against Bolton by highlighting the fact that they had never won in the league at Pride Park in 10 attempts. Lets be bold again by stating that; Derby have never lost a competitive fixture against Northampton. It's true. Six FA Cup ties (four original and two replays) and seven League matches is the sum total of the two clubs' historical matches against each other but the Rams have managed eight wins and five draws thus far. In League matches only, we currently stand at W4-D3-L0 with an away record of W2-D1-L0 on their turf. The match earlier this season at Pride Park saw Derby run out comfortable 4-0 victors in a game where we saw the best of Conor Washington and a brace by Max Bird. Likely Rams XI: We can possibly expect a change or two. Or maybe three? Assuming we maintain the back three then Warne has to decide between a recall for Sonny Bradley after illness or sticking with Fozzy. I'd be amazed if he didn't stay with Craig Maldini tbh. There are obvious doubts over those withdrawn against Bolton. Gayle is surely out and Barkhuizen and Ward are possibly struggling too. The gaffer also needs to make a decision on Hourihane as we look better with either Smith or Thompson in the middle (or both ideally for me) alongside Ebou Adams who must surely be our transfer target #1 for the summer. A return to the 18 for Conor Washington (MotM in the reverse fixture) would be welcome. Other Notable Fixtures: None. Certainly not as far as those chasing automatic promotion is concerned. We are the only one of the five involved in that battle for a top two finish to be playing so it's a perfect opportunity to apply pressure on those now playing catch up with us. Seven points with a game in hand has to seem psychologically further away for Bolton than the current four points and equal games played so hopefully we can turn that screw. COYR
  3. Any chance we can just ban this tedious p****? ^^^ Bad timing @FlyBritishMidland! The one above you obviously.
  4. I'm old school @angieram - you're safe with 'he' :) I'll sort the thread for Northampton out tomorrow (Mon) night.
  5. When do match threads get posted for a Saturday game? Tonight seems a bit early but given our collective excitement right now I could try and cobble (no pun intended) one together for Northampton late this evening if required.
  6. Now W8 D3 L0 versus them in league matches at PP. Maybe one of our stattos can check but there might not be a side visited Pride Park more in the league than the 11 times Bolton have without winning. A gritty win by all accounts it seems. We aren't swashbuckling by any means but it's a case of just battling our way up and recruiting well in the summer to improve the overall quality of the play.
  7. I'm happy with a draw in this if we can get it tbh.
  8. They did indeed. I only focus on the league matches though tbh. I think as clubs have placed less and less importance on cup matches over the years - until the latter rounds at least - my interest in the FA and League Cup competitions has dwindled too. The 'magic of the Cup' is no more sadly.
  9. Saturday 16th March vs Bolton Wanderers Pride Park KO 1500 This match as a song by The Smiths: Some Games Are Bigger Than Others Opponents Bio: I had the honour of starting the match thread for the reverse fixture so may be repeating some of these nuggets of insignificant trivia. So in the hope that the forums' collective memory is worsening here we go again. Bolton Wanderers are, like ourselves, proud to be one of the twelve original founder members of the Football League. Not only that, the opening round of fixtures back on 8th September 1888 saw the two clubs meet for the first of 136 encounters (129 league, five FA Cup and two League Cup). Furthermore, Bolton winger Kenny Davenport has the distinction of being the first scorer in English Football League history as he netted after just two minutes of the game. The Rams did come back to win an opening day thriller 6-3 at Pikes Lane, Bolton in front of an estimated crowd of 3,000. Bolton can proudly boast that they have spent more seasons in the top flight of the English game than they have outside of it and have seen giants of the game like Jimmy Armfield, Nat Lofthouse and Michael Ricketts sport their colours over the years. Bolton are commonly known as one of three nicknames; The Whites, due to the colour of their home kit, Wanderers, as it's their name, or The Trotters, chosen by their first owner who made his fortune selling laxatives. They have former Ram Ian Evatt as manager and also had a run of three successive bosses with Derby links between 1992 and 1999 as they were led by Bruce Rioch, Roy McFarland and then Colin Todd. Players who have represented both clubs include Franny Lee, John McGovern, Jeff Chandler and Andy Todd. Opponents Dangermen: Chief threat is 13-goal Dion Charles although he is doubtful with a knee injury. Victor Adeboyejo has ten goals but is likely out for the season which leaves Bolton with three principal goal threats; Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, ex-Ram Cameron Jerome and Aaron Collins whose five goals and ten assists make him a man to be wary of in our third. Josh Sheehan also poses a threat from midfield. Opponents Recent Form: Wanderers will rock up at Pride Park in third place, one position and one point behind ourselves and buoyed by an impressive 5-0 demolition of playoff chasing Oxford on Tuesday night. They are, however, winless in their last four away fixtures since winning 2-1 at Cambridge. Defeats at Blackpool (1-4) and Wigan (0-1) followed that victory and their most recent away games have seen them draw 2-2 at both Barnsley and Exeter. Whilst we're looking for positives, they have conceded at least once in their last eight road games. Their overall away record for the season is decent enough with nine wins, five draws and five defeats. Derby vs Bolton History: Derby have had by some margin the upper hand in the head-to-heads with Wanderers. In 129 meetings our record stands at W64-D23-L42. One statistic stands out in the meetings on our turf though and it is this: Bolton have never won at Pride Park. There, I've said it. Since we moved to Pride Park, Bolton have visited us ten times in the league and drew on their third, fourth and fifth visits but went back up the M6 with nil points on the other seven occasions. We are P10: W7-D3-L0 with 24 goals scored and just five conceded when the Trotters come to town. They haven't scored more than once in any game at Pride Park and, alongside two victories by a one-goal margin, we have merrily spanked their chubby Lancashire backsides 4-0 twice, 4-1 twice and 3-0 once. Now if that isn't tempting fate I don't know what is. Expected Rams XI: Possibly same again do we think? Maybe Smith for Hourihane if the latter is still feeling the affects of Yiadom's brutal tackle in midweek. My Tuppence Worth: I mentioned it elsewhere but we have winnable looking (I know, I know) games against Blackpool, Orient, Carlisle, Northampton, Wycombe and Cambridge to come in the run-in. If we can do the business in those then a couple of draws in the games against Bolton and Portsmouth will be enough for an automatic place. What I'm suggesting is that given the respective fixture lists of ourselves and Bolton, a draw wouldn't be such a bad result on Saturday. If it's a must win game for either side then, in my opinion, it is more so for Wanderers than it is for us. Other Fixtures of Note: It's a significant round of matches as apart from second versus third in our match, it's fourth against first at London Road. Peterborough vs Portsmouth Barnsley vs Cheltenham COYR
  10. And Burton had a blatant penalty not given late on.
  11. I'll post the match thread for Bolton late tonight. Eight to go then. It surely won't pan out like this but IF we can win the 'easier' looking games (Blackpool, Orient, Carlisle at home, Northampton, Wycombe, Cambridge away) then draws in the Bolron and Portsmouth games would almost certainly see us finish at least second.
  12. Derby County vs Reading Tuesday 12th March Pride Park KO 1945 Opposition Bio: Reading have made more headlines off the field than on it in recent times as they find themselves in financial strife as a result of incompetency by their owner. Sound familiar? The EFL have seemingly cut them more slack than they did with ourselves but their patience must be wearing thin as deadlines to deposit sufficient funds regularly pass. The latest failure to pony up saw them docked further points and their season deduction now stands at six points in total. There was a further deduction of three points doled out, albeit suspended, after their understandably fed up supporters invaded the pitch and caused the early abandonment of their home match with Port Vale, the latters best result in recent months. Where we had Mel Morris, Reading have Dai Yongge. This proves the old adage of being wary of baldies or fake Welshmen baring gifts. Any sympathy we have for them should be tempered though by the thought that they are probably still laughing at us paying £3m for Nick Blackman. Reading FC are known as the Royals, a distinctly naff nickname acquired after a young Prince Albert played a dozen games for the club before marrying Queen Victoria. Plus they hail from the royal county of Berkshire. They are also known as the Biscuitmen due to the town's association with the biscuit makers Huntley & Palmers. They are managed by Spaniard Ruben Selles and, having been relegated last season, will be looking to secure League 1 survival this season and kick on in 2024/25 under different ownership and without points deductions. Reading are the proud holders of two notable records. In the 1985/86 season they recorded 13 straight victories at the start of the season in what is now this division and they also hold the record for the highest points total for their whopping 106 points in their 2005/06 Championship campaign. Opposition Form: Not too shabby in fairness. In the ten matches played since they beat us 1-0 at their place they have won a further four games with three draws and three defeats. They arrive at Pride Park on the back of a 2-1 home defeat to Wycombe and in 18th place with a record of W12-D9-L16. It should be noted, however, that without their points deduction they would be in 14th position. Their away record is perhaps misleading as the bare stats of W3-D5-L10 needs to be looked at in the knowledge that they contrived to lose their first eight matches on the road. They all count obviously but their more recent form away since then reads W3-D5-L2. Their away wins have been at Wycombe (2-1), Stevenage (1-0) and Carlisle (3-1). They have also managed decent draws at Oxford and Peterborough. In those 18 away games they have only failed to score on four occasions. Promisingly from a Rams perspective, they have only kept the one clean sheet on their travels. Opposition Players: Going purely off the stats it would appear their chief dangermen are top marksman Harvey Knibbs (10 goals, 6 assists), Sam Smith (9 goals, 10 assists) and possibly Femi Azeez and Lewis Wing. They also have Robbie's son Charlie Savage, the experienced Harlee Dean and the wonderfully named youngster Jacob Hammond-Chambers-Borgnis who I hope gets a runout as I'd love to see if they put his triple-barrelled name on his shirt. Rams vs Reading History: This will be the 48th league clash between Derby and Reading and the 54th in all competitions. The clubs' first meeting was a League Cup clash in October 1965 (1-1) but it wasn't until 22nd September 1984 that the Rams and the Royals met in a league fixture for the first time and the long wait proved barely worthwhile as we played out a goalless draw at their previous home, Elm Park. The return fixture would prove to be more memorable, for us at least, as Reading's first ever league visit to Derby in April 1985 saw the Rams win 4-1 with goals from Bobby Davison, Steve Buckley, Trevor Christie and Gary Micklewhite in front of a bumper crowd of 7,945 (really?). That was not a taste of things to come in this fixture though as Reading have had by far the better of it. Our record on their turf is especially poor with just four wins in 24 visits. On Derby soil, though better as you'd expect, it is still deeply unimpressive. Our last victory at home to them was a 1-0 success in September 2021 but our overall home league record against Reading is W10-D3-L10. Expected Team: Same again one might think. Possibly a change in the middle to give more legs with Smith or Thompson in for Hourihane. Other Fixtures of Note: Something similar to Saturday would be nice. A Derby win and at least one of our rivals for automatic dropping points please. Their games midweek are: Portsmouth vs Burton Bolton vs Oxford Carlisle vs Barnsley Peterborough vs Stevenage (Weds) COYR
  13. I think the first goal was Barkhuizen's too tbh.
  14. Hattrick inside 22 minutes today for Dajoune
×
×
  • Create New...