FKANorwichExile

There's a couple of players at Bristol City I've had my eye on in Jason Knight and Max Bird. Wonder if they'd be interested in a trade for Scott Loach and a bag of crisps?

With the exception of Adams who just clicked instantly, every single one of the players Warne signed or inherited improved after six months or so of getting used to what he demands from them. I know people like to joke that his a PE teacher or a fitness coach, but I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't a massive physical shock to CBT. A full pre season, hopefully injury free, and I'd bet on him hitting the ground running next season. Him and NML either side of a powerful striker who can hold up the ball and win the aerial duels will be a thing to see next season.

The one that has always stuck with me was us sticking 6 past Tranmere at the BBG in 96. They'd beat us 5-1 away where Igor had got his first goal for us (was that his debut?) and my dad had warned me about John Aldridge and Pat Nevin. Then Paul Simpson and his magic left boot made them pay. The 6th goal was lovely football with Sturridge making the defender look foolish. 9 year old me, playing fullback for my school team, thought Chris Powell was the best player on earth.

1 minute ago, Black ('n' White) Sheep said:

If we're looking to keep the role, first person I'd be on the phone to is one Mr Curtis Davies... just been released by Cheltenham.

100%. Just imagine how much Cashin must have learned from playing along side him. A true leader and role model.

4 minutes ago, Kernow said:

 

Is that it?! Expected Cardiff to #bemoreB4 and ask for £30m and add-ons!

5 minutes ago, MadAmster said:

Just to complicate things a bit more, young Rooney will be fit. He can play CB, RB and he can play DM. Him alongside Adams?

Oh now that's a shout. He looked so sharp before he did his knee.

4 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

I'm not his biggest fan but Collo has looked a better player when we play more football. So the extra aggression will come in handy too.

He'd been an excellent squad player for next season, but it might come down to wether he's happy to settle for the bench or be guaranteed starts elsewhere. I can't imagine us going in to the new season without having made a marquee striker signing.

It'll be worth keeping an eye on Reading. Whilst I don't want us to pick the bones exactly, they're up the creek and their paddle has just snapped. Mola (lwb), Savage (DM), Wing (cm) and Smith (st) could all be available for less than market value and would be decent acquisitions to bulk out the weaker parts of the squad.

2 minutes ago, cool_as_custard said:

Are we sure about Bogle and Lowe? That would be so not Derby to sell them for £11m and get them back for free

I'd be down for "Seth Johnson"'ing the pair of them

21st will do for me! Seeing how Plymouth smashed League 1 but still aren't safe tells you all you need to know about the strength of the Championship. We need a lot of strengthening but I'm confident in Warne and the team getting it right and keeping us up.

Assuming we resort to 343 or 352, we need to sign Adams and a mobile upgrade on Hourihane. I'd love us to pick up Sheehan from Bolton or Brannigan from Oxford, somebody who can spray the ball around and create but also have to legs to get around the pitch.

Then we just need to conjour a goalscoring, hard working, fitness freak striker and I'm sure there are loads of affordable options around 🙃

Collo is clearly not fully fit from his "season ending" injury, but what a performance he put in today defensively.

I can't imagine many of us had Sibs converting to a left wing back on our bingo cards for the season, but he's been immense to end the year.

Back three solid as ever, Bird showed a couple of glimpses of his usual class and Thommo ran himself into the ground once more.

Boxes ticked, now can this week hurry up already?!

It's certainly the biggest shift from last season. The players have barely changed, but we seem to have worked out how to clear the first man this year!

After years of watching us pay through the nose for form players who inevitably disappoint, it'd be really refreshing for us to become a club who pick up outcasts, misfits and players who just haven't worked out and mould them into a team of winners.

Obviously that's a lot harder to do and requires top notch scouting and analytics, but doing a "Moneyball" and fitting the right players at the right time would be so satisfying. Especially when you think back to the Blackman and Anya signings *shudder*

I hope this means they'll do a run of the 1996/7 maroon away shirt again, seeing as they were the sponsor too. My first, and favourite, Rams shirt.

There aren't words in the English language for how much I fudging hate Wycombe. And they just comfortably outplayed us. Utterly pathetic.

2 minutes ago, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

Been a few.  Asanovic and Osman come to mind.

Osman was the only one that came to mind for me. Him and Ian Taylor made a sensational partnership. Asa was my favourite player as a lad (I had a signed portrait on my wall that my dad found in the loft recently) but for me Stimac was the catalyst of the change in that team (although I was a wee lad at the time).

My Rams journey started in '94 and I've never seen a player come in and have such a massive influence on a team single handedly as Ebou Adams has. It's like Warneball just clicked when he came in, the mythical missing puzzle piece. Sign up The General immediately!

I'll take that all day. Good, solid away performance where either team could have claimed they deserved a winner. We definitely looked tired by the end, especially Collo who by all accounts should barely be able to stand let alone run around for 90 minutes. If Vickers is fit he might be able to stake a claim for a start next time out too.

Sibs absolutely smashing through the winger is a hell of a sight. He nearly broke him in half, proper tackle.

4 minutes ago, Papahet said:

Blackett-Taylor looking better with each game

Him and NML either side of a younger, more mobile Collins replacement next season is gonna be spicy.

What a game of football so far! We're hardly prime Barcelona, but both sides playing some decent stuff.

16 minutes ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

 

The "that's why I love this club" at the end warmed my cold, dead heart. What a man. We must sign him.

What a game. Proper blood and thunder stuff at times, but we also played some good stuff in brief spells. The whole back 4 were immense and Adams was a force of nature. He looked shattered by the end, same with Smith who did a good, professional job in getting a boot in and slowing things down when we needed it. We look so much better when not carrying Hourihane. CBT had an excellent first half and Washy gave a good account tooi. It was so good to see Collo again, just being a handful and a nuisance.

A word for the ref, too. I thought he had a really good game, which is probably the only time this season I've said that.

A point at Pompey please!

1 hour ago, Bluebazooka said:

You'll be hard pressed to find a pompey fan that thinks promotion is guaranteed this season. We're only two defeats away from blowing it. 

One of us... One of us...