DavesaRam

51 minutes ago, Geriatram said:

Sadly this will be my last match today. My first was in 1956 as a 13year old, My dad used to take me before that but he stopped going when we went down to the third division north. My mate and I would catch the 12 oclock bus from Melbourne and be the first in the ground. We stood in the Normanton end pigeon loft, I think it was 3 shilling. To this day I remember that team. We were champions in 1957 and I ran onto the pitch after the last match against Southport, Ray Straw scored 37 goals that season, The next ten years saw me start work, get married and have two children, I had moved to Derby, and after my family, the Rams were the most important thing in my life I never missed a home game in those ten years even though we were only an average second division side. And then in 1966 after England won the world cup my mate and I decided to have a season ticket, Little did we know what would happen that season, I was at work one day and a Rams supporting work mate told me we had signed a player from Bradford Park Avenue, his name was Kevin Hector I'd never heard of him but he was without doubt the most wonderful footballer to grace the Baseball Ground I had ever seen, and because of this we wanted to see more players like him which led to Tim Ward getting the sack and BC becoming Manager, what followed was ten years of unbelievable success and enjoyment. And then things started to go wrong off and on the pitch and I stopped being a season ticket holder during Peter Taylors time as manager, i still loved The Rams of course and when I turned 65 and retired my old mate from Melbourne and I bought season tickets again. But sadly covid left my best friend of 80 years with a dementia problem and he know no longer knows me. For the last two seasons I have been going alone to the match but its just not the same for me. Therefore I am calling it a day, as I write this I am welling up as I will do this afternoon. Thank you Derby County for every thing I will love you till I die.     

Love you, even though I’ve never met you!

2 hours ago, Ram-Alf said:

Another over the top reaction from those who can control the public, Ones persons disorder is another persons party, I think we'll need VAR here to decide.

Are fans going to celebrate if DCFC are promoted...of course they are, Do people celebrate the New Year...of course they do, Is there any dispersal orders on New Years day?...football support has changed over the years, The police attitude to supporters hasn't. 

Come Sunday afternoon if someone is attacked in Derby town centre...there'll not be 1 old bill to be seen 🙄

 

Apparently the VAR official is called Bill, and he is elderly, so there is an obvious conflict of interest. Rioters are considering their options.

3 hours ago, RoyMac5 said:

It's already started, whatever it is. No more than one person chanting 'Come on You Rams'?

"A dispersal order is now in place for Derby city centre, following concerns about anti-social behaviour.

The order will be in place until 11am on Sunday 28 April. The order started at 11am on Friday 26 April, and covers the areas pictured on the map."

"Officers and PCSOs will be using the dispersal powers to disperse anyone found causing anti-social behaviour in Derby city centre for a maximum of 48hrs.

Dispersal orders give officers extra powers to direct groups to leave an area if they are involved in ASB or disorder, if members of the public are being harassed, alarmed or distressed, or if officers think their behaviour may lead to anti-social behaviour.

Anyone who returns to the area after being moved on, will face being arrested."

 

If the police are heavy handed, can we invoke the dispersal order on them? Just asking for a friend.

On 25/04/2024 at 16:24, Foreveram said:

This was a good year.

If it takes 16 years to drink, is it a bottle or a whole vineyard?

2 hours ago, Kathcairns said:

My grandson is 6 and wants to see the team walk round waving his flag. Is he a minority then.

Yes, the majority of us are older than 6, even though we may act like we are 6!

As an employee of the Ministry of Justice, a criminal prosecution could cost me my job. Or it would if I wasn't retired!!!!!

2 hours ago, angieram said:

How many will be sober enough to actually see the match? 😂

It's a pity we can't get a few more building the atmosphere inside the ground, rather than in local hostelries. I take it some people only know how to support the team when they are half cut? 

Wish mash yoo tokkin baatt?

1 hour ago, Crewton said:

He also got one of the Coro lads who was a Celtic fan 2 tickets for the Celtic end for their game at the City Ground in the UEFA Cup in 1983. For all his flaws, he was always doing that kind of stuff for people.

My wife was stood behind him at the till in the co-op in Allestree and both were geld up by an old dear trying to pay for her shopping with shrapnel, and Clough just reached around her and paid the whole bill for her!

What a guy!

1 hour ago, McMuffin said:

What central midfield? Where does he get played then?

It’s not like he was treated like Knight for example out at fullback and all sorts. 

At the time he was part of a 2 man midfield that was either bring completely ignored, or asked either to pass it out to the full back or winger, or boot it has hard  and high is you can. Very little of his prowess was being used. At the time he was being asked, no told to play in a completely alien way that was a waste of his ability. Why not go to a club that was known for playing people to their strengths?

1 hour ago, jimtastic56 said:

I am sure Bird and the others , who are leaving will be a bit teary eyed at the end of the game . But come Monday - they will be photographed in their new club shirts saying their move was a “No Brainer “. I still don’t get what Bristol City have over us .

The promise of someone being played in their best position?

2 hours ago, McMuffin said:

Midfield has been better without him. Why change a winning formula for one that has proved time and time again inconsistent and risk it now? Don’t get it 

It will be interesting to see how he fairs alongside Adams. 

5 hours ago, Wolfie20 said:

Can you be specific as to why you think we should have sewn up automatic promotion weeks ago? Was it dropping points against Wycombe, Northampton and Charlton?

Think back to last season when Paul insisted on 3/5 at the back which didn't work, and we limped from one poor result to another for a while. But then injuries meant that we had to go to 4 at the back, and then went on the good run for several matches. But as soon he could, we reverted to 3 at the back, and the run ended. 

We have had similar this season, and as you intimate a certain group of matches acted as a watershed, with some sections, especially at away matches, turning against the manager. But this was  followed a change in style, with crosses into the box being lower down, even at foot or knee level at times, and a degree of playing though the midfield, and yet again we went on a run of good results. This was aided by the arrival of Ebou Adams, which enabled us to go to Warne's preferred wing-back system. But once again we started reverting back to by-passing the midfield, noticeably against Northampton and Wycombe, and once again our results faltered. Especially when it became clear that teams had sussed that if they double up on our wide men, we have no answer, because to us midfield didn't exist. These were points thrown away. We could argue that maybe even if we did play through the middle we may have had the same results, because football is full of imponderables and opinions, but after finding that 3 in midfield benefits the team, I am baffled why we moved away from it again. 

I understand the concept of adapting to counter or exploit the opposition's strengths and weaknesses, the Leyton Orient game being a good example, but several times the "adapting" has been inexplicable. Cheltenham away, where they had been outplayed in midfield all season, let goals in for fun and were metaphorically stood in front of a barn door with a banjo in their hand, and no idea what it was for, but we decided to vacate midfield. They were there for the taking, but instead of imposing ourselves on them we retreated into our shell. There are a number of matches like this one which were crying out for us to impose ourselves, but which we let slip through our fingers, and represent points which would have made a huge difference. We really could have been secure in second place, and we really could have had an eye on top place. 

But in these last few matches I have been happy for us to grab points however we can to make sure - I am not confident of us surviving the play-offs successfully - and am also happy for Paul to do his stuff next season, although I hope he doesn't pull another "Cambridge second half" on Saturday. Although the defence was outstanding at the weekend, it was an  awful demonstration of non-football. We are better than that. However, we have got the results we needed, for which Warne should be congratulated, but we have been helped to a degree by there being a load of worse teams, but again, we are better than that.

We are blessed as a club because of the phenomenal commitment and loyalty of the fans, because the numbers are there despite what keeps getting served up year on year, because it clearly goes beyond entertainment. And indeed if all I wanted was entertainment, if all I wanted was free-flowing football, I would have given up my season ticket ages ago. But apart from a short period post-Newman, I have been around "since I was a lad", and have renewed for next season.

So here's to next season, the great unknown because we have no idea who will be playing for us, or how they will be playing. And here's to Paul Warne for actually doing what David Clowes employed him to do.

2 minutes ago, On the Ram Page said:

Yes you do tediously keep saying the same thing. But I for one totally disagree with you. I am happy with the way the team has  (nearly) achieved promotion, the way the whole club has developed. We have done this season, what we needed to do to get out of this league, despite lots of injuries and having to play people out of position.

I am confident we will recruit what we need to be competitive.

I hope just to keep you happy over the summer that our 3(?) midfielders pass the ball to each other on Saturday and your boy Sibley gets a goal.

It doesn't matter who scores on Saturday, just that we get at least a point. We do have to be "means to an end" at this stage, and I am looking forwards to next season to see how we go.

Onwards and upwards, or to quote the Honda ad from a few years ago "More forwards, please!"

21 hours ago, Archied said:

Wonder if there’s any flack flying around Ian evatts head ? Maybe Bolton would not have spent the last few games scrabbling round trying to duck up holding onto second place ,

im ok with the way the season is panning out , really enjoying it 🤷🏻‍♂️

Sorry to keep repeating myself - I am on board with what Warne has achieved, but there really wasn't any need for us to be having to hang on to second place. It should have been secured weeks ago, and we should also have had a real good chance of top spot, which would have been much better for all concerned. Let's hope that the way we have played to get us this far was simply a means to an end. I'm fine with that, but really hope that we tackle the challenge of championship football with a bit more than the percentages. What we will be capable of depends entirely on the rebuild, so I wait in hope. Note the last two words.

7 minutes ago, Archied said:

Which obviously isn’t working too well 😂

No, but it highlights how we seem to spend most of every match being outplayed by poorer and weaker teams. And it suggests that we could play more football to add to the effectiveness of our non-football. It wouldn't take much to get everybody on board so that even on a bad run there would be n o flack flying around Paul Warne's head. And, if we had added to our effective style, as I have said several times, we wouldn't have spent the last few matches scrabbling around trying to hang on to second place, we would have been clear at the top.

Unless of course Paul Warne has completely stage-managed the whole season to take us right up to the last match of the season to maintain everybody's intertest. In which case he is a genius!

8 hours ago, Kathcairns said:

Dont think MM ever sat in the north stand.  I heard he wasnt really into football till he got us  dont know how true that is though.

You are correct, Kathcairns, the word is that he allegedly knew absolutely nothing about football at all, although word is that he tried to carry an air of being keen on football.

1 hour ago, Archied said:

Yes but there’s professional s paid eye watering sums on the other team paid to stop them 🤷🏻‍♂️

yes, and most of them try to stop us by outplaying us. With actual football.

7 hours ago, jono said:

I am not sure I agree with this angle. We certainly have better players than many; but the best ? I think that is debatable. Look at the midfield. The arrival of Adams has made a huge difference but prior to that I reckon or midfield was average. Bird is wonderfully talented but in this league often got out muscled and his skill wasn’t always enough for him to win those battles … so better or just good  ? Hourihan 6 years ago, yes a better player, but our Hourihan ? The one who gets caught napping against athletic sides ? A good player but “better” than the rest ?
The only areas where I think we had demonstrably better players was defence and out wide. We Haven’t got the better strikers and we hadn’t (until Adams) got the best midfield. 
 

Warne had “better” wide players and made best use of them to support our  lack, for much of the season, of a dynamic striker. This leads to a form of football that by necessity involves getting the ball in to danger areas via the wings and making good use of set pieces. All to create the greater number of chances to address those areas where we didn’t have “the best” players.
 

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see one touch midfield interchanges crafting chances with slick passing ; but too many of our players didn’t demonstrate enough of those skills either due to ability, age, or the type of opponent / type of football played in this league. 

A pretty good analysis, Jono, although Warne was obsessing about getting lots of crosses in before our midfield deficiencies became apparent. And in many ways our midfield deficiencies was largely because he kept playing a 2-man midfield, but without a ball-winner in there. Oh, and by-passing it whenever possible.

I reckon we Rams fans may have a song we dust down and to sing to the EFL come Saturday on behalf of Gateshead, and specially for Mr Brown!

2 hours ago, RoyMac5 said:

👍 At least 80% of Bradley's headers went to Cambridge shirts, was he green yellow colourblind? 😄

in the second half in particular, 80 - 90% of our passes and clearances went to Cambridge players because we'd got all our players back in our own half, hanging around our penalty area. Our sole tactic was a big lumping ball as far upfield as possible, with running like stink trying to catch up with it in case a Cambridge defender made a mistake. Even though we don't play anywhere near Mac 1 levels, we ar better than what we did yesterday. But it got us the win, which in this league at this stage of the season is all that matters.

Come on guys! Paul Warne has got to be good. He got us a win yesterday with us only playing football for 30 minutes! That second half was absolutely terrible, probably worse than the fiascos against Stevenage, Wycombe and Northampton. And yet again we have spent most of the match being outplayed and even dominated by a team right at the other end of the table. BUT - he Has got us the win, and he has got us promoted, bar a catastrophe next Saturday.

Most of the brick-ends thrown Paul's way are because of his intransigence, particularly last season and the first part of this one. He only had one way of playing it, and he was determined to play it, even if it didn't work, and even if he had found other ways to set the team up that did work - twice! And yes, I threw quite a few myself.

But what has emerged is that he has grown into the job, and has been prepared to learn and develop, so that there are now occasional flashes of football, which show that actually we can be quite good! It still isn't the silky, smooth liquid football that we would all love to see flowing all over the pitch, well not yet, anyway, but we have seen on the pitch better than what we had to put up with in the earlier days. So for someone who was so stubborn to be prepared to change is quite refreshing, and tough to do, so thank you, Paul!

And yes, when we are promoted and I am happy for him to get the chance at last to take on the Championship with better resources than he has ever had before.

COOME ON YOU RAMS!!!

WE DUNN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now I'm worried. Lyle Taylor coming on

Just now, Caerphilly Ram said:

Officials have been questionable 

I couldn't possibly comment!

I'll take winning ugly today>