europia

41 minutes ago, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

We took just over a million for Bird with 3 championship campaigns under his belt, an U18 premier league winners medal and an EFL apprentice of the year award at championship level, on the understanding we may well have got less at tribunal.  It will be less for Burrows if it's on a criteria basis.  Either way, I suspect emphasis to be on midfield pace and goals, strikers and a quick centre half to compliment the ones we have.  Not every player can be outside our budget or we have an issue.

We have a bad habit of selling players on the cheap. Just over a million for Bird is pittance. 

On 28/04/2024 at 11:49, jimtastic56 said:

Collins will be 34 in December and scored 3 goals in his last Championship season . Agree Smith is not the answer . To finish mid-table , we could do with 3 strikers that can get 10 goals each . They won’t come cheap . 

Absolutely, but this is where our recruitment team need to earn their money. Needs to be remembered that much of the squad that won us promotion was put together by Liam, so let's see what the recruitment strategy is moving forward. 

Thanks as always mozza. 4th in PL for me this season, so I'll take that.

Well done to leroyoftherovers, Dordogne-Ram & RadioactiveWaste 👏 

5 hours ago, Day said:

 

Although for me, if you give the manager the summer, got to give them until Christmas then barring any complete and utter disaster situation which we saw under Pearson.

All in my opinion of course. 

Yes this would be the correct strategy. Warney has had plenty of Ch'ship experience and his understanding and analysis of previous failures with Rotherham may turn out to be a strength, moving forward, rather than a weakness. Time will tell....

As one would expect for the third tier, some not so great football on display at times. However in terms of authenticity of the clubs and sincerity of majority of fans, it's head and shoulders above the Sky VAR Premier League, with newly promoted clubs barely able to keep up, and the likes of ManCity buying up the silverware, Newcastle attempting to emulate that model. The Ch'ship obviously somewhere in between and a bit cut throat, as clubs obsess with the prospect of promotion and untold riches. 

Just to say a massive well done to Warney and all the players involved this season. Not only have they achieved a hard fought promotion back to the Ch'ship, but they've restored pride in the club. Amazing!

On 24/04/2024 at 11:09, Simmo’s left foot said:

His brother seems to have gone very quiet? Not seen anything of him of late.

Well down the pecking order at Liverpool. Most likely end up at a Ch'ship club. 

Quietly confident that the players will do what is required of them tomorrow. 

Rams 2 - 0 Carlisle                   frgs  Collins 

1 hour ago, jimtastic56 said:

It does seem incredible -17 years without a promotion , and it’s not unusual for teams to spend 20 years in the Championship. So it’s imperative that we enjoy the moment on Saturday.

There have been many disappointments since and including that 2007-08 capitulation. Hopefully, Saturday is the start of better things to come. We will do OK in the Ch'ship next season, and significant investment could follow on from that. With the right leadership, it's not inconceivable that DCFC could then be competing at the top end of the Ch'ship. 

Cambridge 0 - 1  Rams           Collins 

-Liam Thompson ✅ 2 years + 1 year op
- Louie Sibley ✅ 2 years + 1 year op
- Martyn Waghorn ❌
- Dwight Gayle ✅ 1 year - dependent on fitness assessment 
- Joe Wildsmith ✅ 2 years - If he actually wants to stay at the club 
- Conor Hourihane ❌  a very good player, past his prime now
- Korey Smith ✅ 1 year for depth
- Craig Forsyth ❌  
- James Collins ❌ the club will probably offer JC a contract, but I don't see as a Ch'ship player 
- Scott Loach ❌ get a young lad as third choice 
- Darren Robinson ✅ 3 year + 1 year op and get him out on loan 
- Tom Barkhuizen ✅ 1 year 

9 hours ago, Ram-Alf said:

That celebration was...dare I say was...that's what I can do! 

Not everyone's cup o tea but a job done 👍

 

or perhaps 'that's what I can do .....on a good day'  

It was a good 2 goal performance from SB, no question. But that nonsense at Northampton was unnecessary and unprofessional. 

1 hour ago, MackworthRamIsGod said:

I see us finishing 3rd. The last 3 games are completely winnable, just like Northampton and Wycombe were.  For some reason we fail to perform against struggling teams when it matters.

Prove me wrong Paul.

 

The main problem finishing 3rd, is the team going into the play offs with a negative mindset. Would Warney be able to lift them, having been so close, but ultimately failing to clinch an auto spot? Perhaps, the teams finishing 4th 5th or even 6th better placed, psychologically. 

5 hours ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

Agreed with all of that. The illegal streaming is a symptom. It's not like sky is a cheap option.

I wonder if below prem level, it's not that it's even worth it to sky to put on the EFL games, they purely want to have the rights as a device to steer consumers of football content towards the main premier League stuff.

Yes I agree with that. Very few neutral supporters even want to watch PL games outside the 'elite' clubs (Man$hity, Manure, Ar$enal, Liverpool, Spurs, Newca$tle) never mind Ch'ship or below. It's just a case of Sky hoovering up the left overs. 

Rams 2 - 0  Orient          frgs Collins 

10 hours ago, YorkshireRam said:

Yeah this is it for me. If Bolton go ahead and beat both Portsmouth and Peterborough, it'd be hard for even the most biased Derby to fan to say we deserve an autos spot over them...

Unfortunately we've opened the door for Bolton Wanderers, and there shouldn't be any complaints if they now win 3 or 4 games to finish in 2nd spot. Our recent results, only 2 wins in 5 is a fair reflection of individual and team performances. We needed to beat Wycombe, but we didn't do nearly enough, and they could have won the game with a couple of good attempts.  Hopefully Portsmouth will get something from the Toughsheet Community Stadium, but Bolton will obviously be massively up for that game. 

3 hours ago, Poynton ram said:

With NML struggling for form should Warne have made him captain?

No

Wildsmith   6.5

2Wilson   6

35Nelson   6

6Cashin   6

17Sibley  6

11Méndez-Laing   4

12Smith   6

16Thompson  5.5

32Adams  7

27Blackett-Taylor  4

4Hourihane  6.5

14Washington   4

7Barkhuizen   4

9Collins   4

10Waghorn.   4

Wycombe 1 - 1   Rams              Collins 

9 hours ago, Eoghan1884 said:

Always looks good whenever I see him. On loan from Norwich and only 20, think I seen Norwich will only sell for 10 million plus. 

Almost as much as we are getting for Max Bird then? 

1 hour ago, Kernow said:

Investment for the billionaire Rams

The fake Sheikh considering investing a big stake? 😉 

I'm sure we will win the home games, and the amazing supporters will play their part. Other than that I don't think we will lose any, but could possible draw one or both away games. I do expect Bolton to drop points, probably against Portsmouth. In short, I expect us to finish 2nd. COYR

1Wildsmith 5.5

2Wilson 6

35Nelson 6

6Cashin 6.5

17Sibley 7

23Ward 8

16Thompson 6.5

12Smith 6.5

4Hourihane 6

32Adams 8

27Blackett-Taylor 7

14Washington 6

11Méndez-Laing 6

9Collins 6.5

10Waghorn 6

On 02/04/2024 at 01:16, Carl Sagan said:

I think momentum is so important in football. Last time we crawled out of the third tier under Arthur, we won the league the next season and went straight into the top flight. Look at Ipswich this season, top of League One and full-on competing for promotion, while Wednesday and Argyle didn't maintain their momentum and may very well come back down.

If we go up, and if the mindset is then just to survive for a year, we will likely be relegated.

I agree, momentum is important, but continuing the momentum is going to require significant squad improvement to compete anywhere near the top six in the championship. That will be determined by the available transfer / wages budget, and shrewd recruitment.