HorsforthRam

God no. Get it over with ASAP. I really don't get this desire for a mad, stressful, day against Carlisle. Id rather be turning up knowing we're up and having a bloody lovely time of it.

Well done Pompey

In place of who though? To finish in the top 2 we’d have needed 22 more points at least, that’s a big, big swing for another manager to achieve. And it was with a squad assembled by somebody else. You’ve said before “I hate this team”, so clearly the players didn’t have what it took any way?
I’m not Warne’s number 1 fan, I’m not sold that he is the right long term option for us and I’d have been very happy to see him sacked after Stevenage away. But he’s gone on to make us dogged, resilient and efficient.
I can accept people may dislike his playing style or his personality, whatever, but I can’t see how anybody could argue that he’s not done an excellent job - providing we finish the job - given the circumstances.
He’s taken a side who was pieced together under restrictions by a different manager, straight out of administration, and built an ethos and an atmosphere that a lot have clearly bought into. I really don’t think it matters how big a side we are or how many fans we have, to be in this position 20 months after nearly ceasing to exist is a wonderful achievement.
Whether he finishes next season as our manager or not will remain to be seen, but he absolutely deserves the opportunity to take us into the Championship.

I’m already nervous! 😂😂

To be honest, I find these end of season games where nothing is at stake a little dull. 

Cledara Abbey Stadium: KO- 15.00
We’re on a mini-run, aren’t we, but despite having our fate firmly back in our hands, the pressure to perform remains; two wins from our last two and we’re back in the sunlit uplands of the Championship; a loss, or even a draw and potentially the pendulum swings again.
It’ll be interesting to see whether we might see one or two back in full training this week, but it’s hard to view the win against Orient as anything other than one of our most complete performances this season and this despite being far from clinical in front of goal. Will the confidence garnered see us approach the game with the same positive approach? One hopes so! Another slip up when seemingly set to turn the screw and inevitably, PW’s management will be under fire. A win and we head back to Pride Park with only Carlisle standing between us and our first promotion since 2007.
Our Opponents:
The club was founded in 1912 as Abbey United, and took the name Cambridge United in 1951. They played in local amateur leagues before joining the Southern League after finishing as runners-up of the Eastern Counties League in 1957–58. Under Bill Leivers's stewardship they were crowned Southern League Premier Division champions in 1968–69 and 1969–70, which helped to secure their election into the Football League in 1970. 

Recent Form & Key Players:
Off the back off two absolute kickings from Reading, 4-0, then a 6-0 hammering from Lincoln, Cambridge were held 1-1 by Northampton before closing out March with a 2-0 loss away to Bolton. April has seen them draw at home to Charlton and lose by the odd goal to Blackpool, before showing better form in defeating Wigan 3-1 at home.
Top of the scoring charts sits Gassan Ahadme with 11, with Fejiri Okenabirhie next best with 9. Ellis Kachunga is next best having netted 6 times in 34 starts. Sully Kalkai tops the assists list with from Jack Lankester and George Thomas with 4 and 3 assists respectively.
Rams Match Squad:
Hard to get away from the 11 that started against Orient, given the resounding nature of the win and the style in which it was achieved. A buoyant Paul Warne confirmed in the post-match presser that everyone came through unscathed and it was interesting to hear him saying that we had more energy coming off a shorter break than was the case at Wycombe, where he felt we lacked energy, despite the 8 day break.
The injury picture remains murky and it’ll be interesting to see whether Gayle and Bird might be fit enough to make the matchday squad. I’ll not bother with my selected 11, as I always get it horribly wrong and the gaffer seems to be doing a decent job matching squads to opponents without our guidance. Instead, here’s the top of the table as it stands:

Don't forget to keep an eye on @Caerphilly Ram's injury updates thread across the week, for any snippets on player's likely return dates. I'll append anything I see to this htread as best I can in any case.
The Promotion Picture:
Some key fixtures tomorrow night, none more so than Bolton’s home game against Shrewsbury, whom we know to be a strong and obdurate side, though one lacking the Trotter’s class edge. I’d expect Bolton to take the points, but should Shrews grab an early lead, it could make for rather tougher game.
Oxford, fresh off the back of their 5 goal hammering of Posh play hosts to Lincoln City, whose charge towards the play-offs has faltered a little in most recently. It ought to be a tightly contested affair and to be honest, I’d not be surprised by any result.
The aforementioned Posh have what appears to be a routine task against lowly Fleetwood, but what will be the aftermath of their humbling at the hands of Oxford on Saturday. Might they have a hangover?
Perhaps the best tie of the round features champions-elect Portsmouth hosting Barnsley. A point will surely suffice for Pompey, but I expect them to win and win well en route to a thoroughly well-deserved title win. They’ve been excellent this season and this despite being one of the few clubs with comparable injury concerns to our beloved Rams. It'll be good to see them back where they belong after some very difficult years of their own.
Of the weekend ties, the most interesting involve Peterborough, who have a tricky away game at Bristol and Bolton host Port Vale. It seems odds on we will be going into the final week needing to beat Carlisle to be absolutely certain of promotion and I doubt too many Rams fans will be counting their chickens early! 
Final Thoughts:
A brief digression is in order to congratulate Eiran Cashin and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, both of whom made the EFL League 1 Team of the Year. Bit miffed that Curtis Nelson was overlooked to partner Cash at CB, as for me, he’s been top of the pops for us, but I doubt he’ll mind too much if we win come Saturday.
A last word as always to all Derby fans travelling to the game, safe journey to and fro, Rams and Ramettes and hopefully plenty of good stuff to chatter about on your way home. Honestly, I think our away support has been as good as any in the entire EFL this season and they’ll hopefully be rewarded with another complete and controlled performance as we ourselves edge closer to that vital 2nd place finish.
COYR
BE MORE B4
 

Warne makes no secret of how he sees the game successfully played in League One. Athletic players that get the ball down the channels and into the box. He said in an interview earlier in the season that it’s much more difficult (he may have said intricate) to create goal chances through the midfield. 
 
He’s also said that most championship sides play the same way (different to L1). If he gets us up, he deserves a chance to have a go at the Championship. He’s an honest bloke and I suspect will give us his thoughts on the style of play he wants to adopt in the championship once we get there and not before. Also, I would have thought the Clowes has had this discussion with him before he gave him the job. 

Warne makes no secret of how he sees the game successfully played in League One. Athletic players that get the ball down the channels and into the box. He said in an interview earlier in the season that it’s much more difficult (he may have said intricate) to create goal chances through the midfield. 
 
He’s also said that most championship sides play the same way (different to L1). If he gets us up, he deserves a chance to have a go at the Championship. He’s an honest bloke and I suspect will give us his thoughts on the style of play he wants to adopt in the championship once we get there and not before. Also, I would have thought the Clowes has had this discussion with him before he gave him the job. 

Warne makes no secret of how he sees the game successfully played in League One. Athletic players that get the ball down the channels and into the box. He said in an interview earlier in the season that it’s much more difficult (he may have said intricate) to create goal chances through the midfield. 
 
He’s also said that most championship sides play the same way (different to L1). If he gets us up, he deserves a chance to have a go at the Championship. He’s an honest bloke and I suspect will give us his thoughts on the style of play he wants to adopt in the championship once we get there and not before. Also, I would have thought the Clowes has had this discussion with him before he gave him the job. 

Warne makes no secret of how he sees the game successfully played in League One. Athletic players that get the ball down the channels and into the box. He said in an interview earlier in the season that it’s much more difficult (he may have said intricate) to create goal chances through the midfield. 
 
He’s also said that most championship sides play the same way (different to L1). If he gets us up, he deserves a chance to have a go at the Championship. He’s an honest bloke and I suspect will give us his thoughts on the style of play he wants to adopt in the championship once we get there and not before. Also, I would have thought the Clowes has had this discussion with him before he gave him the job. 

Warne makes no secret of how he sees the game successfully played in League One. Athletic players that get the ball down the channels and into the box. He said in an interview earlier in the season that it’s much more difficult (he may have said intricate) to create goal chances through the midfield. 
 
He’s also said that most championship sides play the same way (different to L1). If he gets us up, he deserves a chance to have a go at the Championship. He’s an honest bloke and I suspect will give us his thoughts on the style of play he wants to adopt in the championship once we get there and not before. Also, I would have thought the Clowes has had this discussion with him before he gave him the job. 

This pretty much sums up my thoughts. It’s looking like he will do the job he was signed to do. He is no fool and will be aware that this style of play will not cut it in the Championship. Maybe with money to spend on better players he can get us playing a more expansive style, maybe not, hopefully we will be seeing if this is the case next season.
 

As long as everyone has a rollocking good time.
...and spare a thought for the ordinary folks in Cambridge who have to deal with many thousands of the worst people in the world living out their student glory years...

Yeah but...
 

Glad we scored the set pieces in the first half (we’d have been disappointed to say the least to let those type of goals in at our end). We are much better at counter attacking rather than breaking a team down, and as Warne said, when the game became more open, we did actually create some decent opportunities from open play, helped hugely by Orient’s high defensive line. 
 
Let’s hope for some more set piece magic on Saturday or maybe Cambridge will come at us?👍🏽

Glad we scored the set pieces in the first half (we’d have been disappointed to say the least to let those type of goals in at our end). We are much better at counter attacking rather than breaking a team down, and as Warne said, when the game became more open, we did actually create some decent opportunities from open play, helped hugely by Orient’s high defensive line. 
 
Let’s hope for some more set piece magic on Saturday or maybe Cambridge will come at us?👍🏽

I remember a time, not very long ago, when fans bemoaned that our corners and set-pieces never came to anything. Now we're the most effective team in the division in that regard so, of course, fans have to find something else to criticise the manager for, despite the fact that, when Orient actually had to come out and play, we created enough opportunities to have more than doubled our score. Imagine what Dwight Gayle might have done with those chances...
I hope we keep banging in those corners and crosses in the remaining two games. Any team will struggle to defend the quality of cross we produced consistently yesterday. Of course, if we can also take  chances like the ones we did create yesterday, that would make us all much less stressed.

Glad we scored the set pieces in the first half (we’d have been disappointed to say the least to let those type of goals in at our end). We are much better at counter attacking rather than breaking a team down, and as Warne said, when the game became more open, we did actually create some decent opportunities from open play, helped hugely by Orient’s high defensive line. 
 
Let’s hope for some more set piece magic on Saturday or maybe Cambridge will come at us?👍🏽

I agree. I think Smith was hugely influential throughout the game. Adams breaks play up, the enforcer, Tommo never lets anyone breath but it was Smith as the fulcrum. Quick to pass, not too many touches, sees the ball that unglues things and sets us going forward. I can’t comment on away games but every time I see him at PP he does it right and makes us look more polished as a unit. 

Almost forgot to mention, how bad was the linesman by the East Stand first half?!

It’s not the soccer Gods, it is the fact that we played three in the middle, with good shape and total purpose. It sped the game up, made the passes more incisive and we were a structured team. This,  coupled with the fact that everyone looked like they knew where should be on the pitch made the game flow.
A good midfield should protect the defence and engineer chances for the attack, this we did throughout, perhaps until CH was brought on and for five it looked like we were going to stagnate again but then Corey moved into the middle and we got on the rails again.
it’s just a pity that in the past, a lot of us have seen the hole in midfield , when just two are played their and almost cried out for this to be noted and changed, to no avail.
I do hope that we can just maintain this for the final two and that lessons are learned.
COYR
 

There was a group of lads in the west stand, one of them dressed in a Derby strip (shirt, shorts and socks). I got chatting to them in the concourse at half time, turns out it was a stag do, the groom, dressed in the strip, was a Leyton Orient fan and after the match they were heading to Nottingham for a night out.
Class😀

Three goals from corners was misleading somewhat, just in the second half alone Sibley and NML missed 1 on 1s and Washington somehow managed to miss two good chances in injury time. 
Good performance overall. I rolled my eyes at Bradley regaining his place after his outing at Northampton and whilst I still loathe his inability to defend without wrestling, he clearly did the business in the opposition box. Luckily we were barely tested at the back. Maybe Warne had done his homework on their crossing fragility?
Felt like there was more urgency and intensity from early in the game. We were even taking throw ins quite quickly..! Novel idea given our usual penchant for taking ages and throwing it to the opposition. 
Wilson lively early, Adams everywhere, Thompson pressed well. One of Collins best games for me even without scoring. Came short and held the ball up properly. 

Yea yea ( yawn ) you then go on to say Wilson is called the buffalo because he’s just a bulldozer,,, perhaps that’s just his build ? Very early the wife and I nicknamed him twinkle toes because he has very good fast feet and excellent dribbling skills , do you actually watch games or just read stuff 🤷🏻‍♂️,
well done though , we are arguing the toss over this negative and that negative right after a fantastic day / win ,, of course you have covered this well and set the ground by posting in places that you are certain we will be promoted , leaving you free and clear to pick holes in everything 👏👏👏👏👏

Good result, good performance & great to see us on the front foot from first minute. Got into them early & unsettled them, 2 early goals & never let them get back in...such a contrast to Wednesday's insipid effort. Credit to Warne for picking Thompson & having a 3 man midfield..it made a massive difference. Credit also to Sonny Bradley, I'd have happily never seen him in a Derby shirt every again but also do love a good comeback & today was exactly that. Unchanged for Cambridge please.
Had to shoot off for a gig in Manchester straight after the match & was quickly sat in a pub with a few Pompey & Bolton...thanked as many Pompey as I could find & enjoyed the Bolton reaction 🤣
Feels like we're on the cusp. Its the hope that hurts the most 😁