OohMartWright

Actual results aside, xG is probably the most useful stat in the whole of football.

Our season was well and truly brought out of it's slumber by a combination of them both.
To quote the late, great George Michael...
'Wake Me Up B4 you Diego...'
 
 
I'll fetch my coat.

They still have the FA …… oh, wait ….

Beating Manchester United at home in the first leg of a two-legged League Cup semi-final tie isn't for everyone. Chin up.

You must see the favoured scenario here, Man United make the final, Newcastle win?

And Forest concede in the sixth minute ?

OH WHAT A NIGHT! 
I got up at 3.15 yesterday morning for work, and arrived home at 12.30 am this morning. Cream crackered but the best spend of energy ever! And Vale's idea of away fans catering meant that I didn't eat till 11.30 pm, a food gap of 10 hours! I got some ale in, though! And no, I wasn't driving for this match!
Th match itself was frenetic for most of the time, partly because we tend to high-press more than we used to, and Port Vale were up for it, almost as though it was a cup final! There have been loads of comments about how poorly we played, but bottom line is that we had to adapt to playing on a cabbage patch - hence the propensity for the long ball game. Someone spoke about the degrading pitch, but whether that was because it was degrading to play on, or steadily getting worse as the match wore on they didn't say. It was both! So some of the poor finishing, and poor passing was because of the terra firma being so bobbly. And some was because we didn't have a good night.
But the match I was watching Vale were quick and having a go, but didn't create that many  chances until they had scored. By contrast Derby looked threatening, and early on were the ones creating the opportunities. In the end Warne thought our tactics were the best way to go, and he has done well on that score, particularly recently. And having 18 (?) shots with 5 on target in an away match is pretty darned good, don't you think?
Davis was excellent in the first half, and NML is consistently playing well. But stand out to me was Barkhuisen. Like NML on Saturday he had his full back on toast - several times the full back simply whacked the ball into touch when there was no-one near him, he was so rattled. So when Dobbin came on, it was Open Sesame! The full back was not only either useless or knackered, he was a beaten man. Quite rightly Dobbin was given man of the match, because he ended up with 3 shots on goal, and created 3 chances, in only a very short space of time.
It did seem as though it was going to be one of those nights where no matter what we did, the ball simply wasn't going to go in. But the persistence was amazing, and paid of - testament yet again to Paul Warne's fitness regime - we kept motoring on despite having had a draining match on Saturday while Vale had their feet up. And as ever the ref played his part. He booked a Vale player very early on, but that was it. We got 5 minutes of good ref, then it was back to normal. Yet again, all Vale had to do was gently sit down and it was a free kick, while being free to simply run at a Derby player with both arms forwards and push the Ram out of the way without censure. Smith went down holding his face in our area when there was no-one within 2 or 3 yards of him - thankfully the ref let Vale down on that one. And after we went a goal down, Barkhuisen was all-in-wrestled away from a through the ball , and when Didsy went to pick the loose ball up he was hacked down right on the edge of the box, but nothing was given for either. Terrible refereeing, and we only ended up winning because Vale obviously didn't pay the ref as much as they did for the match at Pride Park, allegedly.
The away end was deafening all night, apart from when we were "Sssssshhhhhh"ing at the Vale librarians! And to see the whole team celbrating at our end for the second goal was brilliant. IT was very, very special.
Unlike the burger van outside, although it did serve some very tasty looking items - none of this "Do you want onions or cheese on it? There you go", but properly assembled pieces of art. But like many Rams, we baled out in order to get to out seats for kick off, nipping out at half time instead, only to get to the front of the queue to find that he had run out of food! Massive starvation feelings, but perhaps he had planned it well to run out with only a dozen or so left in the queue. H no doubt made a killing, especially at £7 a go, but surely he would have know that it was an away-end sell out. If he had more than just himself serving, and brought more food to begin with he could have made 30 - 50% more sales. What a missed opportunity. We walked past the chippy in a side street near the ground on the way in because of the queue, and it was closed when we came out. A chippy closed before 10 pm? Good grief!
So we finally got home at 12.30pm, still absolutely buzzing, still floating on air, and for the second match in a row I was leaping around like a madman for the goals! I haven't done that for years, but simply can't help myself! Something very special is happening.
Its a great time to be a Ram!

Get a room, you two ?

Just got home, I'm hoarse, got sore knees from too much bouncing and ringing in my ears from the absolute bonkers noise in the away end.
It's nights like these that David Clowes has given us back when they were so nearly taken away from us.
As for arguing about budgets and squad values, tonight of all nights!  There's only one thing you need to know - the togetherness of owner, squad, fans - it is priceless. 
 

Get a room, you two ?

Lewis Dobbin, take a bow. Absolutely transformed us tonight. Quick, direct and positive on the ball. A shame for him he didn't get the goal his performance deserved, but he was phenomenal. 

Just when I thought we'd have to settle for the playoffs and concentrate on winning the FA Cup instead!
Excellent stuff - the sort of few minutes that makes the players and fans believe anything is possible, even catching the top 2. The sort of few minutes that makes people think this just might be our year.
Come on you Rams!
 

Re: Dobbin. People have to be realistic (I know - ridiculous). If he were some kind of superstar wonder kid and/or ‘the finished article’ he wouldn’t have been sent to League 1. What he lacks in finishing he more than makes up for in overall contribution.  He’s doing well. He’s developing. Give the kid a break (I know, another ridiculous comment).

I for one am delighted that we gave Port Vale fans a whole load of hope then pulled their pants down on their big night.
Stick that up yer b******* lads.

What Dobbin lacks in finishing ability he makes up for with sheer bloody mindedness of not letting a mistake get you down and persisting with the effort 

Harder to miss ?

Also, it's starting to show how big a player Cashin is for us.

A really scrappy game on a truly awful pitch. We are creating chances, but must not allow ourselves to be wound up by their cynical baiting. Last thing we need is another suspension.

Please explain why these clubs can’t get a huge sheet of plastic to cover the darned pitch. One club found a lady they bought one off, saved a fortune. They did thank her….. Ta Pauline 
I’ll get me coat 

It’s like the Emperor’s new clothes- everyone knows it is bull***t but nobody will say so.

This League 1 is quite fun isn’t it.
 

Might this be transfer window related? Really hope not!
 
?

Or he might just feel that he wants to put right some of the wrongs of the past?
He almost single-handedly kept us running in administration. 
The Club has moved on, so should we.

He’s a qualified accountant so I don’t think he can be absolved of blame given that our accounts were flawed. 
 
That said as I said many times, EFl made a mountain out of a molehill. I don’t believe that we broke any rules other than maybe making the disclosure of the method as clear as it could have been. 

I presume you were at the game at your place? I distinctly remember Sky Sports waxing lyrical over your winger for the majority of the game despite him having no more than an 'ok' game. It was like they had decided he was man of the match before a ball was kicked, and sure enough, he was. Was very weird.