ramsbottom

Paterson, Ince, Izzy Brown, Smithies, Grant Ward, Halme.

The problem is, would any of them want to come to us?? Doubt it…

I tell you something if Lewis wins the championship he’ll have done it the hard way. Imagine having Bottas, and his regular on track brain farts, as your back up!!!

Would’ve liked to have seen Verstappen stuck in 4th for a few more laps, think he might’ve gotten frustrated and done something silly..

To say I didn’t see that kinda performance coming is an understatement. Well, I could see Roos screwing up, but that’s every game really.

We were excellent 2nd half, and apart from the later header from Billing, we weren’t really troubled at all. 

My man-crush on Curtis Davis gets deeper and more serious every week. What a colossus he is!!!

I can't see any point in signing anyone in the upcoming window unless they fit a very slim demographic, those players that are very good League 1 players, that won't cost much, and are willing to come in and tread water for 6 months while we go down.  No point loaning in youngsters as any from decent teams, and who show promise won't play for us in League 1.  I'd rather we spend any budget we do have in extending the contracts of players we'd like to have around next season.  Although I can only see the likes of Davis & Jagleka sticking round...

We get bought pretty quickly in the game, deals done by mid October.  They've even given me a healthy £8m transfer kitty for next season.

The Papa John’s Trophy...

On 16/11/2021 at 09:31, Miggins said:

I think I despair of the need to hold this annual event rather than despise it. We live in a relatively rich country and in these modern enlightened times no one should have to rely on charity.

Same here.

The DIY SOS special last night highlighted the fact that 25% of children in this country are classed as being in poverty.  That's around 3 million kids who aren't fed or clothed properly.  Considering the billions being spent on HS2 and other vanity projects it's a disgrace that this kind of thing is necessary...

Some really poor form during the last third of the season saw us dragged back into trouble 

But fortunately the 7 points from the last 3 games saw us steer clear of relegation!!!

I know it's stretching the realms of believability that Baldock would get 20 goals in a season but if he'd taken half the good chances he had he'd have scored 40...

Macintosh 5 minutes before starting this thread… 

On 08/11/2021 at 10:10, ramsbottom said:

I think it's all over bar the shouting now. 

It's been a great effort that Lewis has kept it so close all season when his cars been inferior for the most part.  Will be interesting to see if Mercedes' decision to put all their development chips into next season's car pays off.

Think I may have spoken a little too soon.  What a drive from Lewis yesterday (all weekend).  As the remaining tracks look to be Merc friendly this is going to the wire.

Moment of the day had to be Toto giving it the biggun to the camera when Lewis took the lead.  Brilliant ?

On 08/11/2021 at 18:53, Rev said:

I'd like to hate Horner, he's such as smug twit, but then I remember he has to listen to Geri singing in the shower every morning, and decide the gods have punished him enough.

But on the flip side he does get to look at her in the shower every morning.  I mean, daaaaaaaaamn...

From DET - 

A52 Brian Clough Way,Derby - works rescheduled for New Year

An earlier version of this story stated that the A52 Brian Clough Way was set to be shut in both directions, between Pentagon Island and the junction with Derby Road at Asda Island in Spondon, from Monday, November 8, until Saturday, November 13.

14 minutes ago, Gaspode said:

Hamilton must be gutted after yesterday - Merc lock out the front row and then Bottas gives Verstapen a slipstream all the way down the main straight before breaking too hard and ending up at the back of the pack so he was no help for the rest of the race (other than pinching the point for the fastest lap). He could have quite legitimately put his car 6 feet further to the left and he'd have made it very hard for Max to get past, but he effectively opened a huge door for Max to drive through and take the lead.....

That's why he's out the door at the end of the season.  When he's 100% on it, he's a very capable driver, but he's far too prone to these types of errors.  

I can't wait to see more of Russell in a competitive car.

I think it's all over bar the shouting now. 

It's been a great effort that Lewis has kept it so close all season when his cars been inferior for the most part.  Will be interesting to see if Mercedes' decision to put all their development chips into next season's car pays off.

Frustrating draws have held us back but we're slowly climbing away from trouble.

January Transfer News -

Out - Juzwiak - Wolfsberg - £4.5m / Roos - Luton - £60k

In - Anselmo Garcia McNulty (CD) - End of season loan, £150k agreed fee / Facundo Ferreyra (ST) - Free

19 minutes ago, maxjam said:

Why would you want the Spurs job?  Other than for a fat payoff for 3 months work ? 

Both the fans and the board have delusions of grandeur despite never giving the manager enough funds to compete with the leagues big boys. 

Poch probably over achieved when Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea were going through their various stages of development - they have clearly pulled away now and everyone else is challenging for 4th.  You can also throw Everton, Leicestor and West Ham into the mix now along with Man Utd and a resurgent Arsenal.  

4th if they have an excellent season, 10th for an average one.  Not sure the average Spurs fan thinks either of those outcomes are good enough.

It's quite ironic that they're in this mess because they strived to follow the Arsenal way of competing.  Scrimp on save on the team so you can build a funky new, bigger stadium, and use better gate receipts to fund better players.  But that's only a success if you have a good manager, and better scouting.  They never should've let Poch go, and they especially shouldn't have replaced him with Jose.  Everyone knew that wasn't going to work.

10 minutes ago, David said:

Was linked with the Newcastle job the other week

Didn't notice him on the betting.  Would doubt he'd go that far up north though, considering he didn't enjoy Burnley, then again who does?

You never seem to hear any mention of Eddie Howe when jobs come up anymore...

9 hours ago, maxjam said:

Likewise... I always play Derby so rather than play it on easy mode - which it has been for the past few seasons the chance to play it now on hard mode is much more appealing!

Has it changed much from last season?  I haven't paid much attention to it yet tbh, I've been getting stuck into New World for the past few weeks.

Good luck with your season ?

The match engine is a lot better, much more realistic.  Pressing is a lot more obvious and actually results in getting the ball back instead of your players getting close to the opposition before they pass round you.  Deflections are a lot more plausible as well.  The animation is more detailed as well, Lawrence loves an unnecessary Cryuff turn...

I wasn't going to bother purchasing the latest version of Football Manager but the lure of guiding The Rams away from relegation, and the chance to distract from our real life cluster-funk of a season was too much to resist.  So I've downloaded the beta version and got cracking.  

Formation - 

As our best wingers are our full backs I want to play 3 at the back and push Byrne & Buchannan far up the pitch.  Dispensing with the wingers lets me play 2 strikers as well.  One of the big updates with positions this year is the wide centre back, designed to mimic Sheffield Utd's overlapping centre halves.  Thought I'd try them out and see if they're any good and even though they're not pulling up any trees assist wise they do help pull opposition teams out of position and create overloads to exploit.  As Forsyth can play fullback and in the middle he's perfect for the role, as would Wisdom have been if we hadn't let him go.

A tip for anyone starting a new game, make sure all over your youngsters are set as unavailable for loans because as soon as any offer comes in the administrators will ship them out whether you want them to or not.  I lost Ebosele and a couple of others I could've used.  You're also unable to sign anyone of frees so you have to make do with who you've got.

Results - 

So far, pretty good all in all.  Like their real life counterparts inconsistency is an issue, as is holding onto leads, even if I go ultra defensive.  In this year's update players who aren't rotated do tire quickly in games, including centre halves.  The result against Boro was a particular low light as I imagined that smug rick Gibson giving it the smug face in the stands.  I'm sure the limbs at Coventry were immense though...

League - 

The target of being on positive points by the end of October has been achieved and fortunately a few other teams have been pretty terrible so we've managed to close the gap and haul ourselves out the relegation zone.  Onwards & upwards from here ei-ei-eio!!!

I know Morrison's played wide in seasons past so you could quite happily go with Bielik/Bird/Shinne in the middle and drop either Lawrence or Wozniak, which I'm sure a large percentage of the supporter base will gladly welcome...

When you look at it Manure have the same issues we've had for ages, too many managers with different styles & philosophies, buying square pegs for round holes, ending up with a basket case of a squad.  The only difference is they can afford to spunk millions on overpriced talent that nobody else wants...

I actually burst out in laughter as the 4th & 5th goals went it.  Manure were an absolute shambles but the writing was on the wall for a few weeks now.  Ronaldo has managed to paper over the cracks a bit but he's not the force he was the first time around.  

If I was Jadon Sancho I'd be feckin fuming right now...

On 17/10/2021 at 23:00, Mostyn6 said:

Have you by any chance got a XBox or Playstation? Best bet is to install the Sky app on one of those and get a login off someone. Most Sky customers don’t realise that they get spare logins and someone can be watching on the app whilst they’re watching on their box. 

On 20/10/2021 at 23:19, sage said:

Borrow a spare Sky Go login off a mate with sky sports. 

Cast it to your TV or run a cable from laptop to TV. 

 

This ☝️

I use my Mum's log in for the Sky Go app on ipad and PC, works a treat.  Cast it from either of those or a laptop and you're up and running.

jakeymcjakefac1 

I'm not on it anywhere near as much as i used to be, my sanity has thanked me for that decision...