plymouthram

Forest Green Rovers played 3 at the back earlier in the season and when Duncan Ferguson took over at the end of January he switch the formation to a back 4. I think we should switch to a back 3 for this game and have more numbers in midfield to dominate play. Keep the ball on the ground, keep possession and we will be rewarded with goals. Eh we might even get a dodgy penalty in our favour.

Wildsmith

Chester Forsyth Cashin

                                                       Knight                                    Smith       Bird                          Roberts

                                                                 Mendez-Lang                                               Sibley

McGoldrick

Bench-    McGee, Rooney, Hourihane, Barkhuizen, Dobbin, White & Collins

Having looked at Bolton, Peterboro, Wycombe, Portsmouth and Derby's remaining fixtures I think Bolton will remain in 5th spot with the extra game to play giving them the edge. Peterboro have the most difficult games and have already lost 15 games so far, can see them losing another 3 in the remaining games. Wycombe, have on paper the easiest remaining fixtures. Get past Ipswich with any points and they look to be a strong bet for that 6th spot, but with 4 of their 7 games away (Ipswich, Morecambe, Cambridge, Portsmouth) hopefully they might stumble on their travels. Portsmouth also have 4 away games with Shrewsbury/Derby being tough matches. They have lost the joint least games in these teams (10 the same as Bolton). The Derby v Portsmouth game could be a crucial decider in taking a top 6 spot.

Derby out of the 5 teams have won the least away games and with also 4 matches to travel to need to secure wins.  Forest Green Rovers needs to be 3 points, anything less will be no good. I feel that we need to also win at either Bristol or Exeter to achieve enough points. It's possible that 12 points could be enough to nick 6th spot, but that's relying on the others dropping points. The next 3 fixtures for us are possibly the ones we need to get 9 pts. This will put us in the driving seat against the others, also it will boost the squads confidence for the remaining tricky 4 games.

So I'm saying 4 wins required or 3 wins and 3 draws.

10 minutes ago, Mr Tibbs said:

We generally have way more possession than teams we play under Warne. 
I don’t necessarily think that statements true either, given that we concede goals from our own corners! 

I think either style would work if your players apply themselves. We’re way off it. 

I would'nt use the words "way more possession" today's game we had 56%, Peterboro 58% and Fleetwood 56% and thats not way more in my thoughts. 73% against Lincoln (14th Feb) was probably our best in recent months and that was a crap performance that ended 1-1 even after 21 shots at goal.

Conceding goals from our own corners, can't be classed has having possession when you pump a ball into the 6 yard box, unless you take a short corner to keep possession.

5 minutes ago, duncanjwitham said:

If anything, I suspect there’s a degree of pressure to not be seen to be swayed by the home crowd into making decisions.  So marginal decisions where the crowd goes wild are more likely to go the other way just to demonstrate “neutrality”. And at this level, we’re probably getting a lot of referees who’ve barely ever refereed a game in an atmosphere like Pride Park.

This could be also partly true, but some bad decisions have happened away from home.

7 minutes ago, Dcfcsr92 said:

Can anyone please explain the style of play warnes trying to play? As week in, week out you know what we are going to do but theres no natural flow to our game its just like a sunday morning team! There's no passion from management and a handful on the pitch! We are too negative, way too defensive! We have gone backwards since warne has come in! Even nigel Clough had us playing better then this! Its a f***ing joke

I did prefer Liam Rosenior style of play and with the players he recruited, given more time it would have got better. Since being at Hull City his league results are not outstanding, but he took on a struggling team that were one point off relegation but in his 21 league matches in charge, Hull have only lost 5 times and are currently 9 points clear of relegation. Building from the back, keeping possesion, having more possession means the opponents don't have the ball to hurt you.

1 hour ago, NorwichExile said:

Disallowing Cash's goal utterly deflated the team today. That's not the refs fault, it's down to managing the morale of the squad, but you have to wonder if we're ever going to get a decision in our favour.

The push on Knight would have been a touch soft, but it's the type of pen that's been given against us time and time again this season. How many of us instantly waited for the whistle when Chaplin went down like he's been shot? Where was the booking?

I don't think there's a conspiracy from the EFL down, we're more than capable of sabotaging our own season, but the level of officiating is beyond abysmal.

Do you think, some officials have it in for us due to being a big club and in the news a lot over the last 5 to 6 seasons. With having the likes of big name managers in Lampard, Cocu and Rooney. Then all the news attention regarding being in Adminstration and close to folding. Some of these officials have this power status and get their kicks from making a controversial decisions in the matches.

Agree the reffing in League One is not a good standard and all teams will get good and bad decisions made during the season. Some will say it will even it self out over the course of the season. I'm doubting that will be the case for the Rams and thats why I have come to the conclusion that these men in black want to make a name for themselves when a big name club is on the pitch.

38 minutes ago, nottingram said:

Going to be a hell of a score line when these decisions all even themselves out. 

I would hope the decisions even out in all the remaining 7 matches and beyond (in the play offs).

20 minutes ago, MackworthRamIsGod said:

I think we are done.

If there was 1 factor for our poor form I'd say we could turn it around, if it were an injury, a suspension, an off day, for example.

But it isn't, the players and manager have just suddenly imploded. 

Warne isn't picking the right teams (what has Barkhuizen done wrong), our midfield isn't able to dominate, key players like Mendez-Laing look knackered and our defense has more leaks than a holy bucket.

Such a shame after a great season, but that is where we are.

I expect us to finish around 8th or 9th, it'll go down as an opportunity missed, but a better than expected season and Warne starts his rebuild sooner.

 

 

So with 24 points still to get you've surrendered. Sheff Weds have lost 2 games on the bounce and have'nt won in 3, are they not getting an automatic place as well. We are 6th, the only way we would lose that position would be for the teams below us to get more points than us, even if they match us on results they fail to get above us. I think our current position is a true measure of where we are, that's being the 6th best side in the League. When you consider the squad was only put together a few weeks before the season started it's a brilliant achievement. And if we do remain in the top 6 after the last game of the season, we end up playing cup games, the league position no longer counts. 

A Derby impossible wish list that could come true

1. We hit form going into the last 5 games and finish in the top 6.

2. We stay injury free and romp the Play-offs.

3. EFL do their review on our business plan and drop all sanctions.

4. A very rich man joins the Derby board and puts in millions in the pot.

5. We go on a summer spending spree and sign all young good talent.

6. The new team clicks from game one and romps the Championship title breaking all records.

Please be free to state which wishes will not happen and don't be to harsh.

19 minutes ago, Sparkle said:

I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in a 3 man defence so that Warne gets two up front - I think he hinted at maybe a formation change after Saturday 

Yes Warne liked 3 at the back when he was Rotherham. Not done it at Derby, due to not having enough central defenders available so far this season. With Cashin, Davies, Chester, Forsyth, Stearman and Rooney available, now's the time to play with 3 at the back, bulk the midfield up and release 2 up front.

Barnsley's 12 match unbeaten run came to an end tonight, beaten 3-1 by Exeter City, Stats, charts, form tables can be thrown out the window it's the business end of the season. Teams at the top, have no easy games, if you are playing a team near the bottom they're fighting to stay up. If you are playing a team in the play-offs or just outside, they are fighting to stay in contention. If you are playing a mid table team, the pressure is off they can play with no worries and some of their players are playing for new contracts or trying to get noticed by a better/bigger club.

Chester had 45 mins on Monday 20th against Stoke, then Friday 24th had approx 60 mins against Middlesboro for the U21s. I would not be surprised if he made the bench on Saturday.

You can look at graphs, take in stats, look at form but nobody's going to predict exactly what will happen in every remaining fixture. We can all guess and I've done that loads of times. I stated a while back that the current top 6 (yes it's still the same 6 teams) will remain in the top 6. What positions they will finish in is even hard to predict now, but a few matches ago most were saying Sheff Weds was nailed on for automatic promotion (agree they are still favourites with the bookies).

         Wildsmith in Goal, Back 3 of Forsyth, Davies and Cashin. Wingbacks of Knight and Roberts, central midfield Bird & Smith. Mendez-Laing on the right flank and Sibley on the left. McGoldrick up front.

Subs: McGee, Rooney, Chester, Hourihane, Barkhuizen, Springett and Dobbin.

12 hours ago, Tyler Durden said:

The easiest thing to do to prove or disprove your assertion is to get a series of timemachines (to obviously make it a fair test) then port in Rosenoir over the same period you're sampling plus a number of other League 1 managers - then compare the outcome with that of Warne so see how many managers have a more favourable or unfavourable record. 

If we could get a timemachine in, I would'nt bother swapping and changing managers around. I would just bring in Peter Shilton, Roy Macfarland, Colin Todd, Archie Gemmill, Charlie George and Kevin Hector.

I think Cashin would shine better in a trio of centrebacks, so if he does his little bursts out from the back we would still have 2 central defenders covering. Is it time try Rooney or Chester in the team being that extra central defender to allow Cashin show more confidence.

It bothers me to think we look good in recent games in the 1st half and should have scored maybe one or two goals. Then the opposing manager makes changes to his teams formation/tactics which improves their team. Yet our manager and his coaching staff must see the opposing teams improvement but don't have the answer by switching our formation, tactics, style to keep on top.

Unfortunately James Collins is under contract with the Rams until 30th June 2024.

19 minutes ago, Tamworthram said:

Today’s win for FGR, Peterborough’s loss at home to Cheltenham and ours against Fleetwood shows how hard it is to predict what is going to happen. Add to that the fact that we play Sheffield Wednesday and Peterborough play at Barnsley on the last day, one or both  of whom may have already determined their fate by then or might still have big stakes to play for, just adds to the uncertainty.

Probably the thing we can be most certain of though is that our biggest threat is likely to be our own lack of form.

All teams have dips in their form throughout a 46 match season, let's hope ours picks up going into the last 5 or 6 games prior to playing in the play-offs. It's also the business end of the season where teams at the bottom half of the table start putting in more effort in trying to avoid the drop. I personally think Sheff Weds will be promoted prior to us playing them, let's hope they are already champions and they have nothing to play for. With Peterboro playing Barnsley last game, I think Peterboro will be mathematically out of contention for a play-off place by then. I would be more worried about Wycombe if the Rams continue to stutter in the next 8 games.

I do believe it's been suggested that there will be some scope to review the current business plan with the EFL at the end of the season. I think this is based on the finance and budget is being run well by the club and they (Derby's owner & EFL) did not expect the amount of revenue the club have generated through season ticket sales and gate attendances being that large on the original forecast made back in July last year.

20 minutes ago, Gerry Daly said:

Hales played at the top level for us and was a bad fit with our other players. We weren't a third division team then

Derek Hales was signed by the Rams having smashed in 28 goals in 1975/76 season for Charlton in the old 2nd Division (now Championship). He had scored 72 goals in 129 apps for Charlton and at Derby managed 4 goals in 23 apps. We off loaded him to Westham where he faired a little better by scoring 10 in 24 apps. He went back to Charlton in 1978 and scored another 76 goals in 191 apps. Most famous for having a fight with his strike partner Mike Flanagan in a cuptie with Charlton in 1979. Also famous at Derby for missing absolute sitters on numerous occasions.

I've looked at Peterboro remaining fixtures and think they will get 14 points, so maybe the bigger threat will come from Wycombe who might pick up more points, looking at their fixtures they could get 16 -18 points. So it does look like me may need to finish on 80 points. But we must not forget Bolton could be caught by the chasing teams in 7th & 8th place. Mind you, looking at their remaining fixtures they could also get around 16 - 18 points. Lets hope our goal difference stays better than Peterboro's and Wycombe's in the remaining 8 games.

9 hours ago, Needlesh said:

Not quite as far GD. I do remember Bobby Campbell and Steve Biggins though. 

What about Derek Hales

15 hours ago, SirBrian said:

Kevin Hector was already at the club before Clough and Taylor arrived.

Tim Ward bought him from Bradford.

Yes, I do believe that Zac was Tim Ward's last signing.

On 23/03/2023 at 16:30, Foreveram said:

Nobody fancy nine wins on the bounce to take us automatically then 😂

It's possible, maybe even 8 wins and a 3-3 draw at Sheff Weds to clinch 2nd spot.