kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong

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.

I'm not ITK but I'm told Warne wants to make Chris his first signing next season and will 'pull out all the stops' to get his man. 

Spot on with the tactics and team today.

Other than the last 15 - 20 mins of the 1st half that was a really good game and performance.  I thought he’d stick with Wilson at RWB but pleased he went for Ward.  I was surprised to see Hourihane on the bench again and I do wonder if that might be how he sets up now at home when the onus is on us to attack more.
If Barkhuizen’s early chance goes in to make it 2-0 I think we’d have gone to get 5 or 6.  The wingbacks were superb going forward and not really troubled defensively.  I think Bradley enjoys being captain.  It looks like he thrives under the responsibility and he looks more composed on the ball than earlier in the season.
First game of an important month out the way.

Naughty step?? A freak injury kept him out for a long time and since he recovered from that, he's been left out of precisely 3 matchday squads, the last two due to a groin injury. When he did get back in the team, his performances were patchy. Two clumsy challenges that gave away costly (and harsh imv) penalties got the crowd on his back at PP and on here. He's made 12 appearances in the 20 games he's been available for selection since that nasty heel injury, but it's only in his last couple of starts that he really seems to have got up to speed again. It's a welcome development which doesn't warrant the thinly-veiled criticism of Warne on a premise that you appear to have imagined.

Having spent the first half getting a good view of all of Ward's input in that NE corner, I'd already earmarked him as MOTM... A first for me, due to a lousy attention span and lack of footy knowledge!  I just don't normally even consider a MOTM!
My smugness knew no bounds, as it was announced on the PA later.  "Wow!  I actually do know stuff", I thought to myself.  I literally skipped home!  😁
Then I come on here.  No other player gets a mention on that topic.  It's as if it was a no-brainer.  A one horse race.  Clear for all to see.  Even for the dumbest of fans. 🙄
Needless to say, my smugness has diminished somewhat, and I'm back to conceding I know f all... but it felt great for that hour or so!
Still, at least my blind faith 3-0 prediction held good.  I'm on a roll!  💪
Next week, I may even get involved in pre-match line-ups and tactics!  😲
 👀🤣
 

Only a suggested as a starter by two posters yesterday. You weren't either of them. Of those who did pick him in their suggested line ups before the game, at least one of them (yours truly), did so only because Nyambe is injured.
Two questions; do you suppose that Nyambe's form might also have had something to do with Joe's limited starts? And in regards to your 'we've paid the price' comment, what is this 'price/ you claim we've paid?

For giving away two needless penalties in 2 games...
He's redeemed himself and we remain in 2nd place..
Great to have him back

For giving away two needless penalties in 2 games...
He's redeemed himself and we remain in 2nd place..
Great to have him back

For giving away two needless penalties in 2 games...
He's redeemed himself and we remain in 2nd place..
Great to have him back

In front of goal he’s got poise and killer instinct   

Good win today. Well deserved. First time I’ve liked the way we set up with wing backs. Sibs and Ward were excellent. First 20 really good, then we had a period when nothing happened probably when their keeper had issues and the game was stopped. They had a 10 min spell brought about by us carelessly losing the ball, then an excellent goal, cash put ward in a difficult position with his pass, under pressure his first touch was outstanding, plays an excellent ball out wide (about the only ball he could play under pressure) Barks does really well, great cross from Ebou and the perfect header from Gayle.
From that point we started to play with a flourish, got an excellent third, could’ve scored more then the game fizzled out as we made our changes. They were poor but you have to play what’s in front of you, we were ruthless at the right times got that second which by then we’d earned the right to play and managed to play some good stuff at times. We haven’t got that second goal often recently and as result every game has become a scrap. 
 
There is reason to be encouraged today, Gayle is a major threat, we might have found the formula with our wing backs and there was reasonable balance with Ebou and Bird in the middle. This coupled with the fact we’re getting players back from injury we should be strong for the run in to hopefully get us over the line, and if not, we should be strong for the playoffs.

Excellent performance today throughout the team and Warner got the tactics and team set up spot on I thought.
Sibley and ward were superb and ward deserved the mom,he looked just like the player we initially thought we were getting.
And for Gayle to score a proper strikers goal with a beautiful header was the icing on the cake.
Another shout out to Bradley who,I thought,was immense today and barely put a foot wrong.To be honest,I much prefer him as captain,it just suits his character.
So a very good turnaround from Tuesday's performance and it was an enjoyable watch...I even had a half decent cheeseburger from outside the ground,so all in all a top day.

Good job from the gaffer today. Tactics good, formation worked, subs were fairly seamless. It actually could have been 5-0 without flattering us. I am still perplexed by our tendency to disappear into our shell as we did the last 15 minutes of the 1st half. It was like we'd collectively lost our minds for a while there, with even the senior players looking rattled, but that aside, no real grumbles at all. 
I thought the back 5 worked well too, with Ward and Sibs the standouts. I think I'd still favour a 4 if Ryan and Fozzy were fit, but 3 goals scored and none conceded, to some extent, tells its own story, even against a poor side like Vale and I'm chuffed we've at least stopped the rot. We will need to back that performance up though as it's likely Brizzle will prove a significantly sterner test with our arch-nemesis, the Wardrobe lying in wait 👀

Spot on with the tactics and team today.

Excellent performance today throughout the team and Warner got the tactics and team set up spot on I thought.
Sibley and ward were superb and ward deserved the mom,he looked just like the player we initially thought we were getting.
And for Gayle to score a proper strikers goal with a beautiful header was the icing on the cake.
Another shout out to Bradley who,I thought,was immense today and barely put a foot wrong.To be honest,I much prefer him as captain,it just suits his character.
So a very good turnaround from Tuesday's performance and it was an enjoyable watch...I even had a half decent cheeseburger from outside the ground,so all in all a top day.

Spot on with the tactics and team today.

So still Warne out even if we were to get promoted, and sign players and start to play a style of football that you approve of? I know the latter is unlikely but how can you say “always will be”? Did he run over your cat or something? 

Have your opinion, fine, but if that will never ever change regardless of anything, why are you even here discussing it?

I’m still warne out and always will be.

Us proper fans were there Caerphilly and just on our way home now lol 😉 No seriously it was a good atmosphere today and yes the fans are still fully behind our manager 👌

Yep. Decent.

Spot on with the tactics and team today.

Excellent performance today throughout the team and Warner got the tactics and team set up spot on I thought.
Sibley and ward were superb and ward deserved the mom,he looked just like the player we initially thought we were getting.
And for Gayle to score a proper strikers goal with a beautiful header was the icing on the cake.
Another shout out to Bradley who,I thought,was immense today and barely put a foot wrong.To be honest,I much prefer him as captain,it just suits his character.
So a very good turnaround from Tuesday's performance and it was an enjoyable watch...I even had a half decent cheeseburger from outside the ground,so all in all a top day.

Excellent performance today throughout the team and Warner got the tactics and team set up spot on I thought.
Sibley and ward were superb and ward deserved the mom,he looked just like the player we initially thought we were getting.
And for Gayle to score a proper strikers goal with a beautiful header was the icing on the cake.
Another shout out to Bradley who,I thought,was immense today and barely put a foot wrong.To be honest,I much prefer him as captain,it just suits his character.
So a very good turnaround from Tuesday's performance and it was an enjoyable watch...I even had a half decent cheeseburger from outside the ground,so all in all a top day.