DCFC1388

Our game at Northampton on the 23rd will probably be postponed, but not the Bolton game.

International break is the week after.
NML has already pulled out of the Guatemala squad.

Bristol Rovers vs Derby County
Saturday 9th March KO 3pm
Memorial Stadium (BS7 0BF)
 
Opponents Form: Decent recently with three wins in their last four matches including their last two. They currently sit 11th in the table albeit with no realistic playoff aspirations or relegation concerns. Whilst their home record in L1 this season is a reasonable W7-D5-L5 it should be noted that they have lost four of their most recent six matches on their own patch with wins over Carlisle (2-1) and Oxford (3-1) dampened by defeats to Blackpool (1-2), Exeter (0-1), Fleetwood (0-2) and Burton (1-2).
Opponents Bio: Rovers are managed by Matt Taylor who is in his third managerial role. After an impressive four years at Exeter he was the man chosen by Rotherham to take over the reins after the departure of our own Paul Warne to Pride Park. Taylor's spell there lasted 13 months before he parted company with the Yorkshire club in November 2023 as the Millers were struggling in 22nd place. Within three weeks, however, he found himself in the Bristol Rovers hotseat replacing the ever-delightful Joseph Barton. 
The club have played their home matches at the 11,000 capacity (3,000 seated) Memorial Stadium since 1996 after leaving their previous home in Eastville. They are officially known as the 'Pirates', reflecting Bristol's maritime history. Or because they just arrrr. Or maybe because their form is historically patchy. They are of course also known as the 'Gas', a nickname which was given them by opposition fans originally but was cheerfully adopted by the Rovers' followers who refer to themselves as 'Gasheads'. The name came about apparently due to their former stadium being sited next to a gasworks which produced a distinct aroma which would waft over the ground. Anybody who sits near a few of our more dedicated drinkers at Pride Park will no doubt relate to that.
Opponents Player Watch: Only one place to start here as the Rams go up against our former beau, Christopher Hugh Martin. The Wardrobe has scored 15 goals this season and is joint fifth in the top scorers chart for the division. Second top scorer after CM9 is Anthony Evans with half a dozen goals. Other notable players are ex-Rams youngster Luke Thomas, experienced former Swansea, Celtic and Preston man Scott Sinclair and Chelsea loanee Harvey Vale who I think we were linked with during the summer. I'm not sure if he's their number one or not but they also have a goalkeeper called Jed Ward who you can only sympathise with.
Rams Record vs Opponents: There have been three FA Cup ties between the two clubs but we'll focus on the 27 league matches there have been between Bristol Rovers and Derby County. The first meeting was on 29th August 1953 at Bristol so hats off to any Ram or Rover who remembers that match over 70 years ago. During the early years of the fixture it was Bristol Rovers who held sway with the Pirates winning the first three encounters, four of the first five and six of the first nine overall. Since then though it is the Rams who have had much the better of it. The overall league record for Derby against Saturday's opponents is as follows:
P27: W12-D7-L8
Away at Bristol Rovers our record  is: P13: W3-D4-L6   Whilst that isn't impressive it should be pointed out that we lost on our first five visits and since then we've gone W3-D3-L1 on their turf and are unbeaten in our last four visits.
Since our relegation to L1 for the 2022/23 season the Rams have recorded home wins against Rovers in both fixtures at Pride Park (4-2 and 2-1) whilst last season we conceded a debateable late penalty in a 1-1 draw at their place.
Other Saturday Fixtures Of Note: We will either be second or third going into the match depending on the outcome of Barnsley vs Bolton on Tuesday night. Peterborough are at home to Northampton on the same evening. On Saturday our priority is of course to earn three points in the south-west but we will be hoping for favourable results in at least one of the following games:
Blackpool vs Portsmouth
Exeter vs Bolton
Barnsley vs Lincoln
Burton vs Peterborough
Expected Team: My guess is that Derby will be unchanged from the 3-0 win against a desperately struggling Port Vale. With fit full-back options rarer than a salad in the City Ground boardroom I suspect it'll be a back three plus the two wing-backs who played well yesterday. 
 
Safe journey to those who make the trip and COYR.

6 home games left, time for the fans to fully get behind the team no matter what is happening on the pitch, the formation or whether you like Warne or not. 

6 home games left, time for the fans to fully get behind the team no matter what is happening on the pitch, the formation or whether you like Warne or not. 

6 home games left, time for the fans to fully get behind the team no matter what is happening on the pitch, the formation or whether you like Warne or not. 

6 home games left, time for the fans to fully get behind the team no matter what is happening on the pitch, the formation or whether you like Warne or not. 

6 home games left, time for the fans to fully get behind the team no matter what is happening on the pitch, the formation or whether you like Warne or not. 

6 home games left, time for the fans to fully get behind the team no matter what is happening on the pitch, the formation or whether you like Warne or not. 

Give over. It's nothing like that.

No issue with the line up really, he maybe could have had Sibley at LWB but if he did plenty would moan.
He was never going to go to a back 4 when Charlton play 2 upfront. I can see us going to a back 4 vs Port Vale who play with 1 upfront.

Very strong line up & bench. Looks like Wilson is left wing back, looks to be either a 3421 or 3412
No defender on the bench.

I’m guessing it’s a 3-4-2-1?
                Wildsmith
       Nelson   Bradley  Cashin
Nyambe  Smith  Adams  Wilson
                NML   Bird
                    Gayle
Strong looking bench too.

I think it may be Elder

From Warne's post match comments I can see Elder not playing on Tuesday, also sounds like Waghorn & CBT will be in the squad.
In a 3421 -
Wildsmith - Nelson Bradley Cashin - Wilson Adams Hourihane Sibley - NML Bird - Gayle
Loach Nyambe Smith Thompson Barkhuizen CBT Waghorn

From Warne's post match comments I can see Elder not playing on Tuesday, also sounds like Waghorn & CBT will be in the squad.
In a 3421 -
Wildsmith - Nelson Bradley Cashin - Wilson Adams Hourihane Sibley - NML Bird - Gayle
Loach Nyambe Smith Thompson Barkhuizen CBT Waghorn

Cashin & Nelson in a back 4 struggle when teams play 2 up front & the team struggles to build up play from the back. So when teams play 2 up top we will need to play 3 at the back & Bradley offers something different to Nelson, Cashin & Nyambe.
I get the argument that we should play our way & impose ourselves on any team we play but we have tried that & failed

If we’re not going to finish top 2 then who is? Bolton? The team who have just been smashed 4-1 and whose fans are probably in meltdown right now. Barnsley? Need to win their game in hand (against Bolton) just to be level with us, a team who not so long ago fans were also in meltdown wanting their manager out (sound familiar). The reason no one is running away with it (I think Pompey will be pulled back) is because all the teams at the top have flaws and are not quite good enough to dominate the league. Barnsley are back in the top 2 race now yet didn’t look any better than us, Bolton have been everyone’s pick and rightly because along with Pompey they’ve been the most active in the transfer market and spent the most money, yet they’re struggling right now. This will go to the wire and we have absolutely as much chance as the other teams. 
Big week ahead, Port Vale we absolutely should be banking on 3 points, anything else not good enough given they’re one of the poorest teams in the league right now. Charlton will be tough, they’ve taken points off Bolton and Pompey in the last two games, beating them will actually be a marker for our competitiveness. 
 
I think we can get top 2 but I don’t think we’re in the top 2 sides in this division. People can ignore this until they are blue in the face, the likes of Pompey Bolton and even Barnsley have had an advantage on us due to our restrictions. There’s a reason the average age of the squad is as old as it is. Yes we have a budget to be competitive and we are being competitive but that doesn’t mean top 2 should be a guarantee, and the playoffs as we all know are a lottery. 
 

Now is not the time to panic, we need to get behind the team as we head into the final stretch of games.
4 of Pompey's next 5 games are against top 8 teams so if we want to close the gap this is our chance especially with our game in hand.
In that same period we play 6 games with 4 at home, Bolton being the only top 10 team. Bolton play 6 games, 4 away from home & 3 vs the top. Barnsley have 5 games, 1 of which is Bolton too but their other 4 are winnable games for them.
It could end up going down to goal difference the way it is shaping up.

Korey smith for Hourihane and gayle for sibs on 60 please 

We looked better vs Stevenage when we went to a 3421 with Bird in the 10 so have no issue with us going the same again today. 

Barnsley 2 Rams 0

I remember how well Johnny Stead done for us when he joined us and scored some vital goals and not much was expected of him to be fair ….the difference is and no disrespect to any of our other strikers but Gayle is the best striker we have ….played and scored at a high level and a player I have always think will pop up with a goal when you least expect it because he’s a poacher 
very happy with this and some teams in L1 will now have to watch him closely when they play us which might free up space for others 

I have a feeling its a case of we have X amount left of our budget, with the Bird sale we can actually afford Z amount but the cost of signing Gayle is Y amount which is somewhere between both X + Z