Ellafella

5 hours ago, Caerphilly Ram said:

 

We stay where we want,…we stay where we want …

Half-marks allowed; please rate all subs. Closes Thursday @ 18:00. Results by Thursday 22:00. Average is 6.00. Therefore, when a sub steps on the pitch he is on 6 -that'sthe baseline. Also indicate ATG (at the game) Or Tv.

1Wildsmith

23Ward

7 Barkhuizen 

35Nelson

6Cashin

3Forsyth

4Hourihane

22Fornah

2Wilson

17Sibley

5Bradley

8Bird

11Méndez-Laing

39Brown

9Collins

19John-Jules

1 hour ago, StevenageRam said:

Both Fleetwood away 6th Jan 12.30 and Burton at home 15th Jan 20.00 are now on sky meaning with the Peterborough game on the 1st Jan, our first 3 games of 2024 are all on the box

Oh no!😟 We’re fcuked then. 

5 hours ago, McArthur Park said:

Does anyone have any parking suggestions? Always good to have a few options! 

Engage the handbrake but also leave it in gear especially if on a slope. 😲

42 minutes ago, KBB said:

I've been in and around the game and know a few players. I can 100% tell you direct from a player that their true opinions of fans are never spoken in public. They know where the aggressive moaners sit near the front of the stand and round the dugout, they know which twitter users not to look at, they know which ones will hammer them no matter what and try their best to ignore them at every opportunity.

They also remember the fans, young and old, who wait outside for autographs, photos and chats every home and away game and try their best to remember those fans, their names and their families.

Players are human.

I also know of at least one player who turned down a transfer to a club based on a friend they had (player) at that club and how the fans had treated him. He was basically told, the fans are idiots, don't sign for us and he didnt

Was it Savage 😲

I saw Orient play Chesterfield last Sunday in the FA Cup: They are a compact, fit side, quite well-organised who play football on the grass and play out from the back. They favour their left-side if anything, and play a long-diagonal frequently from right to left. In a nutshell I saw nothing/no real danger-men in their line-up and Chesterfield, who are clearly an above-average National League side (and comfortably at the top of the National League) were able to adequately match them by working hard. So, whilst tempting the fickle finger of madam football, if Derby are "at it", I predict another W in the Rams' winnning streak. I'm usually cautious in my appraisals and predictions, but that's my assessment of sitting through a cold 90 minutes at Chesterfield which the Spireites won 1-0 and were never really put in any obvious threat. No puns intended.   

Vickers 7.5 Long periods of inactivity but produced 2 top saves at crucial moments.

Wilson 7.5 Lovely dancing feet & neat combination play.

Nelson 6.5 Late legs. 

Forsyth 6.0 A few “jelly leg” passes.

Hourihane 6.0 Knitted & pearled and assisted.

Fapetu 6.0 Late legs. Brings power.

Bradley 6.0 A couple of misplaced passes and mis-judged position in a largely unblemished performance.

Cashin 7.0 Metronomic. Scouts queuing up to watch him.

Barkhuizen 5.5 Nothings quite working right now. 

John-Jules 7.0 Finished with class; Will score for fun if he stays fit. 

Bird 8.0 MOTM Right in the guts of the engine there is a part which coordinates & performs multiple functions yet you barely see it. 

Collins 7.5 Jack in the box on the end of a spring to steer home twice. 

Weston 6.0 Covers the turf rapidly but out-muscled on contact. 

Waghorn 6.0 Enigma. A man possessed one minute then dispossessed the next. Cruyff-turn then stabbed-wide when easier to score.

Mendez-Laing 6.0 Gentle 2nd half canter well within himself.

Ward 7.5 His best game yet. Lovely arrow-headed delivery into the box and some nice combinations out right. Gives an added dimension option.

Rams always in control although Fleetwood had a couple of chances that could’ve ignited their night had they gone their way. Derby beginning to look like a finely-tuned power-unit with poise and purpose. Is this the consistency they’ve been missing or a false dawn? Having seen Orient last Sunday, I can’t see anything other than another w in the streak incoming.

Half-marks allowed; please rate all subs. Closes Thursday @ 18:00. Results by Thursday 22:00. Average is 6.00. Therefore, when a sub steps on the pitch he is on 6 -that'sthe baseline. Also indicate ATG (at the game) Or Tv.
 

Vickers

Wilson

Nelson

Forsyth

Hourihane

Fapetu

Bradley

Cashin,

Barkhuizen

John-Jules

Bird

Collins

Weston

Waghorn

Mendez-Laing

Ward

14 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Annual service of my home security system this evening, so I can't go.

No, I didn't deliberately arrange it for tonight.

…bet you’re a gas at parties @Eddie 😲

6 hours ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

It's a competition we're eligible to enter, so try to win it or progress as far as possible.

Potentially winning the LDV Vans/Johnston paints/pizza cup/Swis Tony's quality used cars trophy is a reality of being in League 1.

I'm not excited by the competition but I'm not distressed that we're in it.

“…winning the trophy 🏆 is like…making lurve to a beautiful woman…” so I’ll be there. 😲

1 hour ago, Returning ram said:

We "nearly" conceded 😳 Bradley was brought on to deal with crosses when we were under pressure. 
 

Nature of football is that when you go behind, you try to equalise, pushing more men forward whilst the team that's winning tends to me more cautious as time passes by.
 

As we didn't concede against Port Vale, I'd argue that was down to the introduction of Bradley.

This ^. Had Vale equalised after Sonny’s entrance, logically you could say the change was a factor. So, the reverse is also the case. Our problem is central midfield; Fornah was gassed out after a gargantuan shift so we need a midfield general to freshen and stem the tide in those scenarios. Problem is we don’t have one. 

2 hours ago, sage said:

I'm grateful for any attention these days 

I know exactly what you mean… at Port Vale the other night the hi-viz brigade were going to town on every Derby fan prior to entry to ground doing full body searches for drugs/knives/flares/ etc. I had concealed about my person a can of coke & was ready to have it removed but when it came to the chap looked me up & down then said “you can go through”. For some reason, that disappointed me…clearly thought I was too senior to be dodgy I reasoned, as I snorted a line of coke* in the toilets minutes later 👀 

* I lied about snorting coke. 

1 hour ago, sage said:

I'm travelling back from Thailand on Friday. Should make the game OK 

Assuming you get through Customs @sage  ...

"Did you pack this suitcase yourself Sir?" <Thwack!> {sound of rubber glove being put on by Customs Official>

{Bead of sweat appears on Sage's forehead and starts to meander downwards...slowly} 😧

11 hours ago, David said:

He's only scored 1 goal for us?

I didn't want to be that man who pointed that out so great that you did @David 😲

22 minutes ago, Van der MoodHoover said:

The way to test the goodness of fit of any statistic is to do analyse the distribution of the actual vs expected. That is, the distribution of the residual (A-E)

You'd expect that shape to be the classic bell shaped curve. But the value of the mean, or peak of the curve, should be close to 0 with a relatively narrow dispersion around the mean for it to be seen as statistically "good".

Hey @Van der MoodHoover you do know your R-squared from your elbow .

11 minutes ago, Mucker1884 said:

 

 

I'd like the words to this, if anyone can oblige.
I've sat in my NE seat for weeks straining...

... to hear what the SS is actually singing!

 

Sounds great, but ducked if I know what's going on!  🙄

“We’re on our wayyyy, we’re on our way! To the championship we’re on our way, how will we get there I don’t know, how will we get there I don’t care, all I know is Derby’s on their way…”. 

3 hours ago, Ellafella said:

Love this ^ . You even can spot me …”We’re on our wayyyy! We’re on our way…”

I’m 75% up {upper quarter} after 3 seconds, white coat arms behind my back and it was a hairs on the back of my neck moment as the volume of 3,000 Rams hit 11 on the scale. 

1 hour ago, On the Ram Page said:

A comparison of the League Tables as at 29 November 2022 & 2023 makes interesting reading:

2022                  PLD   W    D   L      F       A         GD        P

Plymouth           19      13   4   2      39    22        17         43

Ipswich              19      12   5   2      38     19        19         41

Sheff W              19      12   4  3       35    16        19         40

Peterb                19      10   1   8       34    23       11          31

Bolton                 18       9   4   5       21    15         6          31

Barnsley             18       9    3   6       23   15         8          30

Portsmouth        17       7    8   2       26   18         8          29

Derby                 18       8    5   5       23   16         7          29

 

2023                  PLD   W    D   L      F       A         GD        P

Bolton               18      12   3    3     37     18        19         39

Portsmouth      18      11   6    1      29     16        13         39

Oxford              18      11   3    4     31      18        13         36

Stevenage        20     10  6    4     29      19        10         36

Peterb               19     10  5    4     37      20        17         35

Derby                18     10  3    5     31       16        15         33 

Barnsley            18      9  4    5     34      20        14         31

Blackpool          20     8   6    6    33       25         5         30

 

Admittedly, you can read anything into stats to back up your own position but with a fairly positive (but realistic) outlook, I can see some positives. At this stage last year we were 11 and 13 points behind the top two, this year currently only 6 points. Last year, I think everyone would agree, Ipswich and Plymouth were the outstanding teams throughout the year, rightly gaining automatic promotion.

The consensus of opinion is that Derby haven't played as well as they might at present but are still 4 points better off than last year. Surprising, having lost our talisman McGoldrick, we have scored 8 more goals than at this stage last year, conceding the same as last year (16). Both Bolton & Barnsley have also scored a lot more goals too, helped by two huge wins.

My conclusions: things are no where near as bad as is being made out. Hopefully there will be a lot more goals to come together with an uplift in "exciting" performances. Hopefully we can keep hold of the players we want to retain in January and bring in a couple who can really improve the team, to the next level.

My positive spin - I know the doubters will use the stats to put a different view on things. 

Excellent post @On the Ram Page and very helpful evidence to fuel the debate…one key caveat is the fixtures ie Have we played against a comparable homogeneity of teams. Should be random and therefore of negligible difference season on season; detractors will argue teams generally are poorer this season so not “like with like”. But, a very helpful tool nonetheless. 

Love this ^ . You even can spot me …”We’re on our wayyyy! We’re on our way…”

https://t.co/yjM6SI1TVF

56 minutes ago, Crewton said:

Imagine if Wigan had a player called Wai Ting....

Love these high-brow esoteric references. 

Love this @Andrew3000. 

1Wildsmith 6: shots-wise had the night off but had to srcummage & punch on a few crosses. 

24Nyambe 6.5 Had to work hard to repel his opponent. 

7Barkhuizen 6 Late fresh legs

35Nelson 8. Colossal. 

6Cashin 9 MotM. Marked the pterodactyl Ikpeazu out of the game with a masterclass of stout resistance. 

3Forsyth 6.5 Slotted back in seemlessly.

4Hourihane 6.0 In the quarter-back role; busy. Some of his dead balls were short and wasted.

17Sibley 6.0 Late fresh legs.

2Wilson 7.5 Mercurial feet danced his full-back into successive spins and a few telling crosses. Brought a good save from Ripley.

22Fornah 7.0 Brought constant presence and possession but tired notably.

8Bird 7.0 Always in the thick of a midfield battle; got very little time or space. 

11Méndez-Laing 7.0 Quiet by his own high standards but teed up JJ for the winner.

5Bradley Late fresh legs.

9Collins 7.0 Huge endeavour at the coal face & unlucky not to bag a scruffy goal. 

19John-Jules 7.0 77 minutes first touch BANG! Pre-destined & Deserved for overcoming relentless injury frustration. Could JJ launch his season from here-on. 
 

Derby deserved the 3 points built on a rigid and immovable defence, relentless defiance and sufficient attacking opportunities. 4 wins on the spin but only 1 where the game was controlled {Barnsley}  mean it’s always on a thread. Fans in fine fettle made their presence heard with consistent support. 

Half-marks allowed; please rate all subs. Closes Thursday @ 18:00. Results by Thursday 22:00. Average is 6.00. Therefore, when a sub steps on the pitch he is on 6 -that'sthe baseline. Also indicate ATG (at the game) Or Tv.

1Wildsmith

24Nyambe

7Barkhuizen

35Nelson

6Cashin

3Forsyth

4Hourihane

17Sibley

2Wilson

22Fornah

8Bird

11Méndez-Laing

5Bradley

9Collins

19John-Jules

1Wildsmith 7.5: That 5mm of glove material that Joe got on that goal-bound shot on 44 minutes to deflect it onto the right-hand upright was as significant in terms of the result as NML's surging drive into the back of the net on 90 minutes. Fine margins indeed.   

24Nyambe 6.5: Solid, firm and forceful. let's hope he likes the Derbyshire countryside & chooses to stay around come the New Year. 

35Nelson 7.5: An outstanding presence, but defence must take a collective -0.5 for allowing what we all predicted pre-match.  

6Cashin 7.5: Blocked, headed tackled. Always an offensive threat at corners with his rabbit-like spring but must learn to time it so his headers are not gentle lobs to their keeper.

17Sibley 6.5: Solid in defence albeit beaten on a couple of occasions. Switched position and arguably should have finished off the 1v1. Needs a run of games as any player does.   

4Hourihane 6.5: A couple of lovely balls into the box from corners but we need more defence-splitting passes as an option 2 rather than constant balls outside to the wings.

7Barkhuizen 5.5: His cut inside and sideways running is becoming habitual. Needs to re-set his own game-plan. 

2Wilson 6.5: Should've been introduced sooner; showed his obvious threat quickly and helped to unsettle Gas defenders.

12Smith 5.5: Too frequently bossed off the ball I'm afraid & provides insufficient amends elsewhere. 

22Fornah 7.5 Power, big appetite and great assist for the winner. If Rams are to continue upwards trajectory Fornah has to start. No question. 

8Bird 7.0 The CPU of the Team; some delightful and often subtle contributions that go unnoticed. Central to our fortunes. 

5Bradley 6.0 Some sky-scraper hoofs late on to kill off the resistance. 

11Méndez-Laing 8.5 MoTM Burned the Gas defence off with pace and power when pushed further forward 2nd half. NML is the new McDick and his fitness and wellbeing is crucial to Ram's season. 

9Collins 6.0 Huffed and Puffed in vain.

10Waghorn 6.0 Late legs to see it out.

This game will always be in my memory for B4 who epitomised and personified what supporting a football team means. May his memory and example live on in perpetuity.  "Always remember this our club".