ram59

But can you still get into it?😁

I thought that all 3 goals were down to poor defending. Bradley had just shown what he could do, only seconds before, but was given too much space. Their first was a fortunate break from Adam's tackle, but then we stood off their players allowing an easy cross, followed by a weak free headed clearance which just happened to fall perfectly for their striker, if it had gone 3ft to the left or right, he would have had to control it and get closed down. It was a good strike though, I was right in line with it and as soon as the ball sat up for him, I feared the worse. For their second goal, we were very sloppy in the lead up to the corner.

I find this hard to believe. Out of a crowd of 24,719, you're claiming that there were only 14k home fans with probably 1,000 or so away fans, so that works out at around 18k empty seats or giveaways? It also means that around 6-7,000 season ticket holders didn't turn up for the game. The club have previously stated that ticket holder no shows are no longer included in match day attendances.

I though that several players had nervy performances yesterday with multiple simple passes going astray. I'm hoping that this was a one off and not a sign of things to come, because the teams going up will be by and large the ones who's players handle the pressure the best.

With it looking like it's going to the wire, I think that it's entirely likely that someone will get second place because they've had a bit more good fortune than those behind them. If Bolton edge us out, we will look back at that dire refereeing performance in the away game, which we may have lost anyway. If Barnsley edge it in front of another team, that team will look back at some shocking late referee decisions that have given Barnsley some points. There will be teams who won't have had the rub of the green who just miss out and will probably deserve second place more than the team that finishes there.

Just got back from the game, disappointing result with quite a few below par performances, but still more than deserved a point. Their first goal was a good finish, but we couldn't have set him up any better for it and this was shortly after we had a great chance to go 2 up. Our passing at times was atrocious, simple passes under no pressure, not reaching their target and some of them in potential good attacking positions. Hopefully, this won't be the start to a nervy end of the season run in, we're going to need a set of players capable of coping with the pressure.

We're sitting down at a little table right Infront of the stage. No hot food this year. 😔

Don't whether it's been mentioned, that they've changed the ref with the Charlton v Portsmouth fixture. Warning up nicely in the East Dene WM Club. 🍻

This has been explained before, but briefly, the club have to pay equal shares of the gate money for cup games to the opponents and the cup organisers. If we have 20k season ticket holders with vouchers then an equal share of the season ticket money set aside for the cup games will go to the opposition and organisers based on 20k rather than the handful that turn up. Added to this you have the extra administration when all the vouchers aren't used and having to open up the full ground even when a majority of season ticket holders won't turn up, even though they've paid for it.

Bolton's remaining away fixtures appear to be quite difficult, but does this indicate that their current position is largely down to having easier away fixtures up to now? 8 of their 9 away wins have come at the bottom 9 teams, whereas we have won 5 of our 11 wins against top 9 teams with only 2 defeats at Stevenage and the ref at Bolton.

It's a stupid appointment and puts unnecessary pressure on him. There are two ways at looking at this situation and any crucial decision will be questioned. From our point of view, he cost us promotion 10 years ago and he's someone who was once on Barnsley's books and has always had a soft spot for them. From Barnsley's point of view, he's always been bitter about Barnsley after they ended his dreams of being a pro footballer, added to that he supports one of their local rivals. We'll know which one it is on Saturday night, unless he manages to have the perfect game and there are no controversies, but that is unlikely with so much at stake.

It's quite comical really, not only are they paying Hendrick's wages, they're paying a loan fee to mega rich Newcastle owners as well, for a player who is going to be sitting at home for the rest of the season. Yet another example of a reckless owner of a football club.

The trouble is, that system is also flawed. That great team under SM1 played great football sweeping all before them, or so we'd like to remember. What actually happened, was that we'd come up against a manager who set his team up to play against us and would snuff out our attacking force and SM1 didn't have a plan B. Although we won a majority of our games, it wasn't enough to beat the 2 teams who finished above us.

Brown on the bench for Gateshead tonight.

Remember that Cheltenham hadn't scored all season until they played us. Also, Charlton will have the new manager bounce and new signings may be settling in. I don't think that any team can be taken for granted for the remainder of the season.

I was speaking to someone who knows one of the newer Barnsley players, he said that he is looking forward to playing in front of a packed away end.

The ball is in all three's hands, Portsmouth, Derby or Bolton will go up if they win their remaining games, because of the three remaining matches between the three teams. This is just hypothetically possible as all 3 will drop points elsewhere.

I would imagine that part of the mutual consent would include Stoke paying a decent percentage of the balance of his contract, possibly 50%. This would allow him to play at Derby for much less, without losing out too much, financially. A good return over the remainder of the season could see him earn a decent contract either here or elsewhere next season, otherwise his career at a decent level, could be at an end.

Whether we go up is largely dependent on how other teams get on. After we lost to Peterborough, I and many others thought that they were nailed on for an automatic spot probably alongside Bolton, as Portsmouth were struggling at the time. Since then Portsmouth have gone on a great run and Peterborough have collapsed. But that's just over a 5 game period and we still have 12 or 13 games left, plenty of time for things to change once more.

Correct, both Bolton and Derby would finish 3 points ahead of Portsmouth in that very unlikely scenario. There are going to be quite a few twists and turns before the end of the season, hopefully ending with us finishing in the top two. Barnsley are beginning to worry me, they've benefitted from a number of late dodgy decisions this season.

Maybe it was a case of 'sausage fingers' when selecting the emoji?

I think that we need 2 new topics on this forum, a happy clappers' one whereby only positive opinions are allowed and a moaning minnies one where only critical opinions are allowed. This would reduce the vitriol aimed at fellow Rams and those of not interested in the others' opinions need not read them.

Is it possible for the mods to add B4's avatar to the title line on this topic, please? I really miss seeing it on the forum.

Then the prison warden lock the cell door and throw away the key. 😁

It could be argued that he was tactically aware. Football is now a game consisting of 15 outfield players, 10 starting and up to 5 'finishers'. There are some games where you need to tough it out against a physical opposition before bringing on your more lightweight players. Sibley and Smith played key roles in the goal, had they started the game, they probably would have been battered into submission. Statistics seem to back up this theory, Derby substitutes have scored more goals than any other team in this league. In rugby union when England were at their peak, they would bring on their 'finishers' in the second half, players that were arguably better than those they replaced.