SillyBilly

disgrace of a ref, chucked the slightest hope we had of autos up the wall.

We're not in the driving seat after a sluggish start so would rather two of the three immediately above us lose every single match they play, that being Plymouth and Ipswich. I don't care about the title as long as we are promoted therefore it is a no brainer to allow the team in top spot to run away with it and beat all the others. Therefore Wednesday win all day long for me, that may just collapse Ipswich's confidence altogether and leave us only with one to pick off. Of which we have a head to head of our own coming.

Dobbin is turning a corner, can see his confidence growing. 

2 minutes ago, REDCAR said:

 

Well done Rams tonight, gave them a game.

TBH I don't think we have given them a game, this is one of the most routine away wins I've seen. West Ham barely out of second gear IMO and looked really comfortable, we've not looked like scoring in 90 mins.

Been exceptionally boring from our point of view, immaterial of result. Totally flat.

From a control point of view we did decent against a Prem league side and still very much in the tie. The disappointments are 2-3 chances from CH to put some pressure on  (when we haven't created much) and poor delivery. Davies looks like the age he is tonight in so far as Antonio looks like he has the beating of him all night if he wants it. Collins trying hard as usual but his quality is every bit league one bench player. Just hope we can get some shots on goal 2nd half to lift the crowd as all pretty flat with no real efforts on goal.

Would have rather a tie like Sheff Weds/Fleetwood than Utd, a winnable tie. Obviously assumes we progress tonight, progressing is more important than glamour ties for me, I'm still in the mindset  (despite our fall from grace ) these Prem clubs are who we should be playing every week. Only positive about Utd is the pay day which will be substantial for us. 

Football is made for nights like this. Seemed like it was destined to be a bad day at the office. I am so pleased Port Vale were prevented from the double over us, that'd been hard to take to give 6 points to such a limited one dimensional team. Their gameplan was clearly to wind our players up, be in the refs ear all game trying to get players booked, waste time and generally s**thouse us. And it very, very nearly paid off for them so probably the right tactics for them.

Sorry but that was woeful from Dobbin.

Can understand the thinking for the long balls on the massive pitch but we seemed to be totally reliant on punting it forward the entire half as if that was the only brief. And the execution was pretty bad too. Pitch looks awful for passing but we can take these if we at least try to play a bit IMO. Game devoid of quality, the pitch and play was like Sunday League football. Confident we can win this if we take the game to them second half.

Great result. Shame the home clean sheet record couldn't be kept as for all their huffing they never looked like scoring all game. Professional performance, can see how Warne is imprinting his DNA into the team, not arsed if we don't go up this season as I think we'll be champions next if not.

Watching RamsTV and seems a change to the set up? Quitens the crowd noise while commentators speaking (which is constant). No choice to turn commentary off? Rather watch the game and hear the crowd than listen to Barker.

Form has been too poor at the start of the season for top 2. Realistically I think we can target 3rd, end up the form team of the playoffs who noone wants to face. Sure, lets make it interesting and keep the chase on for as long as possible...they shouldn't get the luxury of not having to look over their shoulders. I always felt we'd rue some of those inexplicable draws with Rosenior at the start of the season as suspected the squad would click eventually. Personally hope Sheff Weds and Ipswich get top 2 if we don't, get the 2 other biggest clubs out the league and reduce our long term competition. Plymouth may just be having one of those seasons everything clicks but could just as well finish mid table next year if they miss out, rather we're the undisputed biggest club in the league with the most resources if we're still in L1 next season. And would back us for the title then!

Excellent performance. Some headaches for Warne incoming as the balance of the side looked great in that opening 20-30 without Collins and also without NML (one of our best players this season). Knight has to find a way into this side, some how, some way.

Absolutely stupid by Osula and a shame as we could have still got 1-2 more at that point, shades of Collins getting sent off earlier in the season, brainless. 

Ref was beyond useless. Soft yellows which the game didn't warrant, 2 penalty kicks not given, one for them, one for us, and gave nothing for McG all game. 

This is champagne football, joy to watch.

Thing to note, the ball over the top has been so effective too, pumping it down the line to Dobbin has been a great mix up of play, we would not have done that under Rosenior.

Just now, NottsRam77 said:

 

other thing, i know we probably cant but would love to get that young ginger bearded lad off them, looked a v good player 

Brophy, their left back? If so, was their best player by a country mile, about the only threat they carried was him piercing through the lines periodically, looked a good player. And defended well too.

Job done, 3 points, not pretty but we'll take that.

Average so far. End product not there in the final third is about the summary of the first half. Cambridge look very poor, every bit a League One relegation candidate but at 0-0 anyone is a threat still. We need to up the quality of the final ball/cross second half to avoid this being a disappointing draw. Has to be 3 points against such a limited side.

8 hours ago, kevinhectoring said:

Biggest gate at Bolton in a decade apparently, thanks to us. 
 

For saying how much sledging we get, we always bring out big home gates ontop of our own following, this league and the Championship. Our games in the Championship were netting the highest averages too. They're only there to see the Derby ?.

First time I really noticed it today, was a couple where it almost felt like it was a merely a duty to throw it back into play rather than an opportunity to make a possession count. Hopefully Warne is onto it.

Good point against a decent Bolton side. Just got to beat them in the return leg at home to make this an even better result.

Fozzy MOTM, cleared up everything. A draw was fair overall I reckon, both sides had some reasonable chances, couple of headers for us we should have buried and they had the best chance of the game early in the second. Shame there wasn't goals as the game deserved some, as entertaining a game as is possible for a 0-0 IMO.

I'm knackered just watching that, the intensity from both sides I don't think I've ever seen a half as frantic as that. Would normally say wait for the side playing like that to tire but we're both chasing down everything so be interesting to see how second half shapes up; can't see that pace being sustained. Both sides certainly up for it.

23 minutes ago, TigerTedd said:

Maybe you’re right. Southgate was a fairly crap manager at club level. I think it takes a different type of manager to manage a country. Pep could potentially be a rubbish international manager, for example. You need a lot of different skills at international level, and yes, diplomacy is one of them. Brian clough probably would’ve been a rubbish England manager too.

If he doesn’t win anything during his time here, and it’s another 60 years before we win anything, we’ll always be wondering, would a different manager have got better results?

Likewise, Southgate may have done a better job than Sven and Capello with the golden generation. We’ll never know. There’s always an enquiry unless you win. There’s always things you could’ve done differently. 

FWIW I am not saying he is a bad manager (did okay at Boro overall) albeit I don't agree judging someone by past performance (of England) is of much relevance when generations of players give different opportunties. By the same token it'd be akin to judging ex Man City managers by the standards of Pep, as great as he undoubtably is, he has had the support to bring in the very best players in the world so you would expect them to be winning some trophies now.

I agree with your point too. I can agree that international vs club is totally different incidentally too and also the matter of whether any top club level managers would want to manage international is again another matter i.e. could we do better, and if so, whom? I was making the point that Gareth would not be in the running for top European club level jobs, I don't think that is even a particularly contentious viewpoint, short of throwing curveballs to divert from it; I think most would accept that is more than probable likely to be the case. Perhaps a job at someone like Middlesborough (where he has history) in the Champ would be an entry point back into club level for him. And that isn't a bad job. Maybe he can get a mid level Prem team and surprise me, I don't know.

2 minutes ago, 86 Hair Islands said:

Steve McClaren did a fair job for us I'd say, wouldn't you? Given the choice between Southgate and Warne, it'd be an easy call for me and I don't say that to fire pelters at Warney, but rather to give kudos to Southgate. For me, this team has yet to peak and in so much, assuming Soutgate stays in situ, then I'd agree that it'll be at the end of his tenure when we can fairly assess whether this 'golden generation' has been wasted. 

Do you disagree that the top clubs in England (or in Europe for that matter) will rate Southgate? I'd be interested on your view on that as not commented on the key thrust of that post and instead brought us onto a different topic by asking a question of Steve M, obfuscating somewhat on the main point I was making.

On Steve McClaren, I liked his football and style of play and yes he did do well for us IMV. I also think this generation of England players is much better and less overhyped than what came before, considerably so infact. Warne is a proven winner at this level so I think we made the right call there, if not for this season but for next, like Southgate his football may not always be pleasing on the eye but I'd not see the point to change someone who has stellar L1 pedigree, was an excellent decision by Clowes for the medium term IMO. In Clowes and Warne I trust fully.

7 minutes ago, 86 Hair Islands said:

As for Southgate, I've expressed frustration when we retain the dual-holding midfielder line up against the likes of Wales, but I can see why he would favour such tactics against a side like France. Trying to break down teams who sit deep versus nullifying the threat of teams like France who come at you all guns blazing, requires different approaches. Based on the performance over the full 98 minutes, this was a game we really ought to have won and in so much, I'd say his decision was more or less vindicated and his record is one of the best in the national team's long history. It's a shame then that so many choose to pour scorn on him and the team when with a fairer crack of the whip, we'd most likely have seen England advancing and not France.

I think your post is fair, it is always raw after the exit. It was a good performance last night, but it hurt because we bottled it from the spot, again. 

I would say on Southgate though the assessment of his tenure will not be done by Engerlund fans, it will be when he leaves post and evaluates options at club level. And to be honest, I'd be very surprised if he is in the mix for any top jobs, I'd even be surprised if he was fancied at mid-level premier league. So we'll see what the football world thinks of the job he has done. They may assess it that with the players at his disposal the job he has done doesn't qualify him for a look in at their football club. If Warne was sacked tomorrow and we got Southgate linked to us, how many of us would be excited about the future? I'll be honest, I wouldn't be, and this is an England football manager and we're in League One!