Indyram

Everyone, and Paul Warne has said this many times, knows we need better players in the Championship. If we get promotion, I think we will get sufficient to compete next season. 
Everyone would like us to play free flowing football but there are times when you just need to show hard work and desire. If we are a mid- table side next year, that will do for me. Just gradual improvement, which is all we should expect after nearly falling into the abyss.
i think that Warne and his coaches have shown over the last few months that they are tactically more aware than people think. If we can get some more energetic, quicker, aggressive players in (Adams-like) I think we could be ok.
unfair to judge Warne on his Rotherham experiences. We are a totally different animal (as he has learnt).

Was gonna do my usual morning after post on the game but what’s the point , better to quietly enjoy it and try to ignore the derby / warne are rubbish posts🤷🏻‍♂️

Great result and performance.  A point away at the top of league in horrendous conditions is not to be sniffed at.  I thought Ward took his goals well, especially the first.  He hit it first time, no need for a touch to control it and that probably caught them out.  CBT had his best performance in a Rams shirt and showed what he can offer now he’s over his niggles and settled in.  Sibley did well against one of the best wingers in the league.
Adams - my MoM, although Cashin ran him close.  I thought we might need a 3rd man in midfield but having him as 1 of the 2 is like having 3 in midfield.  The amount of ground he covers is superb, he tackles, he supports the attack and good on the ball.  How he plays with that energy during Ramadan I’ll never know.
I thought we were tactically spot on in the 2nd half and played the conditions well.  No point in closing down, risk a slip that lets them through or gives away a free-kick.  We made them go long and the ball skidded out on a slippy surface.  It took a bit of luck (handball) and a cracking strike to equalise - Wildsmith was a bit unlucky with that.
4 to go, 3 wins should do it.  April could feel like a long month!!  COYR 🐏.

Back home…
Excellent performance. Points from me:
- adventurous line up. Well done Warne.
- CBT, superb. Keep this up in the last four games and this is a new player for us.
- Adams, incredible force in the middle. If he had a passing range, well, he wouldn’t be in L1
- Ward - pleased for him. First goal super finish, second he got a good break 
- Wildsmith - having watched the goal back, does he have a weakness on long range shots (thinking Stevenage as well). He has to do better and stop that. I don’t think he’s as good as he or is think he is.
- The fans - we were incredible. Loud from the get go. Quieter second half as expected with their pressure.
There was a point in the first half though when just about all four stands were jumping around if you’re going up (or whatever the phrase is). It was awesome to see.
Portsmouth are good. It felt like a Championship quality game as well. 

Overall,  very satisfied as wasn’t expecting anything.

A great game and a really good result.
Maybe we should all not reply to Bris and definitely not that ap thing. 
There are going to be lots of fans returning from the game, full of excitement or pride or disappointment, wondering why this matchday thread is not about the game. 

Firstly, what an enjoyable game of football. Was a pleasure to see Derby as a part of that and matched a very good team at the top. Pompey will win this league, we can take confidence from our performance tonight into the last four matches.
My only gripe, with my derby bias, is that I felt they got a few favourable decisions in that 10-15 minutes before they scored which helped peg us back into our own half and made us get deeper and deeper. But also, we didn’t help ourselves and seemed less and less comfortable. You didn’t think with 30 mins to go we could defend like we were and hold out because we were loosing shape too often and not getting the ball into their half for any length of time. 
Aside that, I can’t tell you one player who I thought played poorly and Warne got his tactics spot on. I can’t put it simpler.
I’ve said a few times, one thing Warne has done really well this season is that every player has contributed to a key moment this season. Tonight was Joe Ward’s turn, he’s a big game player and he showed it tonight. Still think Blackett-Taylor may yet still get his before the season is out.
Thought it was Adams best game, another who thrives to the occasion. Smith is maybe our most underrated player.
Finally, four great goals. I don’t think we can analyse the ones we conceaded too much and neither can pompey with ours. Both sides have a bit of a weakness at full back and both sides were able to take advantage.
 

Got B4’s ashes with me (and a can of dark fruits). Husband is getting worried about the potential clean up 😂 There’s no way B4 would be missing this match 

A win was everything yesterday and it was warne and the players job to get that win ,,, bugger all else mattered, it was a tight first half where we edged it and got the lead ,
second half started and boy was I frustrated for a while , said to my wife that we seemed to want to play like we are 3-0 up and game over , we gave them space to play and like everyone else I was shouting at them to wake up and press on to them but soon got the nagging feeling we were happy to let them play and have space in areas they wernt hurting us , get in our shape and not chase everything, dive in and get played round then hit them on the break , we may not like it at times , we may wrongly feel we are being massively outplayed at times but by god it was a mature performance, free from the naivety that has plagued us at times ,
paul warne ? ,,,,like him or not ( i really like him and want him to be given the chance to see how much more he’s got) those who come on here and call him a clown , a kick and rush merchant without a clue or even a thought on tactics are very very wide of the mark ,
warne and his team may not always get it right ( who does ) but make no mistake, there’s a lot of hard work and thought going into how to beat each team we come up against , they are not clueless kick and rush merchants, you can’t and don’t have to get it right every time , you have to get it right more often than not and enough times over a season to do well and even get promoted,
at the end of games Paul warne is the one I have a main eye on going round the ground to applaud fans and hope he’s really enjoying it , I want to see him start the bounce if and or when we are promoted with the biggest smile on his face as I’m pretty sure he will when he feels he’s achieved something, the target promotion not a fleeting moment of a good win , that’s for us fans and the players ,he’s got a job to finish ,, you can bet he isn’t taking the players out for a wallet busting pxss up when the job is nowhere near done yet ,,, that’s what I see and like in warne and his team,
oh and another day I really enjoyed in a season im really enjoying,,,, live in the now folks is my advise🤷🏻‍♂️

I presume he'd just taken an inswinging corner. On the radio in the bit I was able to listen to, they were saying Sibbo's corners were very good (as I think they always are).

I know what you mean in terms of perhaps feeling we don’t have the right to say we miss him because we never met him in person but I’ve come to the conclusion that places like this forum really do become communities and you do get to know people if you stay around long enough and post on a wider range of topics ,
I too miss the lad and he will be a massive part of what I remember about this season , a season I am really enjoying for many reasons , here’s to Dan , proper derby fan , one of our own 🐏

Pompey fan, in peace.  I read (a lot) and posted (a little) when you were having issues with the ownership.
I just wanted to pass on my belated condolences for B4's passing - as an outsider it was clear how much he cared about your club.  It's lovely to see how much warmth he commands and how he's being remembered.
I'm sure it doesn't need explaining that I hope my club gets up, but having read some of this thread I hope you manage to make it up with us.  It's also a great reminder that football clubs are all about the people who support them.  Raising a glass to Daniel this evening. 

When Daniel died I kept seeing rainbows everyday. I know how science and weather works but I like to think that’s his way of saying hello… or guiding dcfc to the back of the net 😂 I got to write a message on the dcfc changing room white board for the team to read today. I asked them to score a goal for Dan. Ebou delivered 🐏❤️🐏

A little bit of Daniel at Pride Park forever ❤️ Give him a wave when you pass the east stand 🐏

Been told:
Barkhuizen and Gayle are out for 3 weeks
Forsyth’s season, and most likely Derby career, is over

Hope you can help again tomorrow Daniel.
I’m sure you will be there

It’s a huge topic and there will be many pages devoted to it all over the place. One thought (sorry this is off topic ) I honestly think there’s some mileage to be had in making loans dependant on PL clubs paying all wages and accepting all risks. After all its training their players, why should money go back to the PL when the EFL clubs are effectively providing training for nothing ? 
 
Back to Joe. Everyone makes mistakes but Joe makes fewer than most and has proved to be an excellent keeper. Hope he stays. He’s not Shilton or Poom but he’s earned his No 1 spot to my mind.

Last season it was 7 goals and 10 assists in 44 league one appearances, this season it’s 5 goals and 7 assists in 35 league one games and counting. Whilst not as consistent as I’d hoped he would be from set pieces, he’s still delivered good numbers and as @sage  implied, Hourihane can certainly still strike a ball. Some of his goals have been decisive this season. 
I mentioned on one of the matchday threads recently that he’s showing a bit of needle and aggression which I like, and I think he’s showing commitment and leadership especially in the run-in so far, up and cheering the lads on from the bench, not sulking, geeing others up.
I reckon he’s going to leave in the summer and although he’s not as mobile as he was, he is still contributing to the cause so for me he will have a part to play in the next 7 games whether from the bench or starting so he can leave on a high. 

Yep. All ran smoothly from start to finish. Justin even organised a win for us 😊

Right - now you’ve done condescending somebody who was there as he is every match I’ll refer you to xG which showed us having a higher xG.
 
They had that shocking miss from the header - we had Curtis miss a free header from 8 yards in between the posts. 
They had that shot Wildsmith saved well. We had our goal. 
 
Chances were few and far between. Other than their chance in the first half and the last 2 minutes of injury time we were completely comfortable until half time despite losing our focal point. 
 
They played a better brand of football and on another day they take one of their two big chances and we find it tough. On another day we score the header from Curtis and it puts more pressure on them. 
 
At the end of the day they had to bring the game to us. A draw wouldn’t have cut the mustard for them whereas a draw would have been fine for us. 
 
Look back at my previous posts since about November 2022 to find my thoughts on our performances under Warne. Im certainly not a happy clapper. Im vocally critical but we did an absolute number on Bolton yesterday. 

There.  All fixed now.  

He was superb. Won every header, crunched a superb tackle first half, kept the defence together. Top bloke. Derby legend.

I’ll shed an actual tear (or two) when he finally leaves us. He is still a link to that amazing second half of the 13/14 season, which was as enjoyable as anything I can remember (going back to early 80s). But he has also been that reassuring presence throughout the dark times, ten(?) managers and countless left backs, all inferior. Still quality, still a Ram.

If there’s one person who deserves a promotion it’s fozzy be great if he scores the goal that takes us up

Over ten years of service, never a problem in the entire time he's been here, seen off every left back we've signed since he arrived, flexible enough to cover multiple positions.
A club legend. No doubt about it.