plymouthram

Good end of season celebrations for some East Midlands teams, Chesterfield= Champs and back in League two. Mansfield= Promoted to League one. Leicester City= Promoted to top flight and could be going up as champions. Alfreton Town in the playoffs in Vanarama North. Shame about the Red Dogs; Points deducted, moaning about a Ref who supports a rival team and they could get relegated and have to compete in the Championship.

Been a class player for them for about 3 seasons now, he could easily step up to the Championship. Would cost us a transfer fee being under contract until summer next year.

That's 22/1 with the bookies. Might have a cheeky £10 on that.

Pompey would'nt want that, they could lose the title.

Steady there Alf, you drink too much and you won't remember the result.

Unless it`s a team we have bad history with, then seeing them get promoted, even during such an awful season for us, is something I`d be happy for them if it happened. Derby have been down in L1 a while now, and if they go up, they`ll have earnt it, and their fans will be ecstatic after the match. Which means they`re less likely to want to beat any of us up, and any of ours who are in Derby afterwards, would probably have a great time enjoying the celebrations with them, into the night, and might not even have to pay for drinks ! I like this side of football, when 2 sets of fans can come together, and just enjoy the game, and those special moments. Exactly! I really can't understand why people feel bitterness towards another club simply because they've done well and have got promoted? I met a few Derby fans in 'Spoons' before our home clash with them earlier this season, and they were as sound as a pound, even taking the 'Mickey' out of a mate of mine because he is Scottish (nowt wrong with that, is there ??) If we had some sort of rivalry with them then fair enough, but ............'DERBY COUNTY!!!!!!!!', they couldn't even beat us when they won the 1st Div (Premier League) title all those years ago. Anyway, we're stopping in Derby over the weekend, so looking forward to sinking a few pints with them afterwards. COYB TAKEN OFF THE CARLISLE FC FORUM

I watched the Portsmouth v Barnsley game on I-Follow last week, Pompey won 3-2 coming from behind. I thought that Barnsley were the better team and Portsmouth's 83rd minute penalty was a dodgy call. That was their 13th penalty scored this season, only Wycombe can match that amount of luck with officials dishing out spot kicks. If and it's not a big if, the game was drawn or even won by Barnsley the title would still be on for Derby. I look at last season with Plymouth grinding out results when being outplayed and Ipswich grabbing 2nd spot with ease. I feel, even though Pompey are champs, they are not the best equipped side for the Championship next season. Could we get a similar situation next season with Ipswich flying high and Plymouth struggling this season. Could Derby do well next season and Portsmouth struggle ?

Dear Paul Simpson, hope you are reading this blog and still have some love for Derby County (the team you made most appearances during your 679 playing career total). Please do not turn up at Pride Park with the intention of ruining the party. Play your fringe players and youngsters, get them ready for next season in League Two. Afterwards (providing Carlisle do not win) go and milk the applause from the Derby Fans, whom a lot of them will remember you playing for the Rams in the Artur Cox/Roy McFarland/Jim Smith times.

Have you been drinking, even if we did lose to Cambridge, there's no way Paul Simpson would let his Carlisle side win at Pride Park.

You need to look at the League One table again, us and Pompey are the lowest goal scorers in the top 6 teams and when you consider Pompey have had a whopping 13 penalties including tonight's which having watched was another dodgy decision.

Taken off Bolton forum tonight; It does hurt and that's what it feels like today. The point is bittersweet and should we get promoted it'll seem decent but given the context of our season it seems like another chance we've had that's gone wayward. Portsmouth are not a better side than us. They are however more consistent and ultimately that's what's done it. Couple that with the extra 8 points for pens they've had and it's a game changer for their season. Had we got the pen at the end of todays match we would've had a similar boon but it's not to be. Us and Derby have had the same number of pens this season but Wycombe and Portsmouth have had significantly more. Is there something substantial that they're doing that we are not?

Well to be fair, Bolton should have won, but that's football for you. I think they will get promotion, but fingers crossed, not 2nd spot, but through the play-offs.

I thought that Pompey had lady luck today, one shot on target and that was their goal. In the dying seconds of the match a Portsmouth defender handled the ball in the 18 yard box and the ref waved play on. They've also had a shed load of penalties awarded to them this season compared with us. Love to see Barnsley beat them on Tuesday night, followed by a home draw against Wigan (They won at Lincoln today). Then last game they are away to Lincoln. We win our 2 remaining fixtures and take the title on goal difference.

Bolton can ge a maximum of 93 points but have Pompey (h), Shrewsbury (h), Port Vale (h) and Peterboro (a). Peterboro can get a maximum of 92 (Like Derby). But they have 5 games to play in 13 days starting with Oxford (a), Fleetwood (h), Bristol (a), Cheltenham (a) and last game against Bolton at home. Between Bolton & Peterboro, one or both won't get maximum points because they both play each other on the last day. The way I see it; Pompey need a win this Saturday to secure promotion and also take the League One title knowing the trophy would be displayed at their next home fixture against Barnsley. Bolton, now see a chance to catch Derby in 2nd spot, both teams will be going for a win, so I see a draw. Peterboro also look to have a sniff of the 2nd spot but face Oxford away who need to pick up points to hold on to that 6th spot. Peterboro have'nt drawn a league match since January, so I'm thinking this would also be a draw. Derby, with the points in the bag (always better than games in hand at this squeeky bum time of the season) have Orient (h), Cambridge (a) and already relegated Carlisle at home. Win all three and we should secure 2nd spot. Well we did win 4 on the bounce at the begining of last month. It could end up with more twists and turns yet and possibly the 2nd spot might be won on goal difference.

Warne got it wrong playing Washington and Collins together, it did'nt work. Taking Smith off, when he was one of our better players, also did'nt make sense. When is Gayle fit, he would have put one of the chances away tonight that others fluffed.

Our history in the 3rd tier of football: 1955/6 season W28 D7 L11 Scored 110 goals, 63 pts(finished 2nd, only winners went up). 1956/57 season W26 D11 L9 111 goals scored, 63 pts (finished 1st, Champions). 1984/85 season W19 D13 L14 70pts 65 goals scored (finished 7th). 1985/86 season W23 D15 L8 84pts 80 goals scored (finished 3rd and back then, that was automatic promotion). 2022/23 season W21 D13 L12 76 pts 67 goals scored (finished 7th, did not make the play-offs). Looking at the history, we have got promoted each time on our 2nd season. 3 wins would equal our best win total in a season, 4 would be a new club record. Even with just one more away win would be a new club record. 4 more points would see us break another club record. I'm greedy for the club to have success, get promotion this season, keeping up with our sequence of 2nd season promotion. beat the points total record, beat the away wins total. And if this happens we will definitely finish 2nd.

Pompey could easily lose at Bolton, they could lose at home to Barnsley who only lost their 2nd away game of the season today. Wigan might be Pompey's last win, having Lincoln away last game of the season. Which could mean they would finish on 93 points. The Rams would have to win all 4 games to finish on 94. It's a bit of a long shot, but not beyond possiblities. But I'm still sticking with 2nd spot, even though Bolton have the best chance of over taking us.

Did you know that, even though Derby drew at Portsmouth tonight, they've still drawn the least games in League One. Well I think it's time to make my prediction, the Rams will finish 2nd. The only way I would change that, is if Pompey don't beat Shrewsbury on Saturday and lose at Bolton.

The story so far: Portsmouth 25 league wins (14 of them by the odd goal), Derby also 25. Portsmouth scored 66 goals (lowest out of the top 5 teams), Derby 70 (only bettered by Bolton & Peterboro). Portsmouth have put away 9 pens out of their 66 goals, Derby only 5 pens. Portsmouth conceded 33 goals, Derby 35 conceded. After this clash Portsmouth have Shrewsbury (h) currently 18th, Bolton (a) 3rd, Barnsley (h) 5th, Wigan (h) 12th and Lincoln (a) in 6th. Derby; Wycombe (a) 13th, Orient (h) 10th, Cambridge (a) 19th and Carlisle (h) 24th. Derby need 5 more points to beat their club record of 85 points in a season. Also one more away win would be a new club record. A little harder to achieve is getting 4 wins out of our 5 remaining games to beat our current best which is 28 wins in a season.

Is that, their points deduction round two in May (Take That) another 4pts and relegation.

Are you stating that Pompey looking like a Championship side because they are nearly promoted, or do you consider them to be as good as a Championship side already. After all, they have won 25 matches, the same as the Rams. I'm not going to jinx the Rams by saying we are going to win, but I don't think we will lose.

Bolton have 9 first teamers out injured and if they still managed to win their next 2 and we lost at Pompey, they would have to turn their goal difference to be better than ours. They would still have Pompey and Peterboro to play in their last 4 games.

Looked on the top 5 teams forum sites and it seems most expect Pompey and Derby have got the top 2 spots. Still hopeful that we can go up as Champions though. I know Pompey have a game in hand over us, but if we win at Fratton Park, then their remaining 5 games throws up 4 of them against top half teams. But what is in their favour is that most of them are at home. After Tuesday night they have Shrewsbury (H), Bolton (A), Barnsley (H), Wigan (H) and Lincoln (A).

He's got no choice, no Bradley or Forsyth and only 2 centre halfs left. lets hope they don't get injured.

Would love to see him back and be given more than a few minutes to prove himself in League one. I do believe that there was a clause in his loan that he could be called back at anytime after completing 28 days at Gateshead.