SFox1993

1st of July.. when the commentary got to that bit, I welled up. Not ashamed of it. Just shows how much a part of me DCFC has been since my first game back in 1961. I don't think I'll be the only one to feel that emotion. 
Always have been, always will be... Derby Till I Die

What a brilliant night! Dan (B4) and Angie Vallance received the Alfreton supporters award.  I almost missed it as I was in the loo 😂 the glass award is lovely and will have pride of place in my parents house. The players looked visibly touched when it was announced Dan and Angie were being awarded posthumously. It was lovely to see so over 200 people there to celebrate DCFC and those who love the club. I had no idea what to expect but it was amazing. Lovely food and company. I had no idea the players and David Clowes would be there, so that was a lovely surprise. 

Thank you for the gracious comments.  I'm a bit *ahem* tired and emotional - it's been a relatively long wait for us to get back in to the second tier.  I'm rooting for you to get over the line and other results this evening appear to have been in your favour.  Good luck and raising a glass to B4.

Well, well... Shrews you absolute beauties! Might was well just leave this here then. Enjoy your evening fellow Rams! 

Cledara Abbey Stadium: KO- 15.00
We’re on a mini-run, aren’t we, but despite having our fate firmly back in our hands, the pressure to perform remains; two wins from our last two and we’re back in the sunlit uplands of the Championship; a loss, or even a draw and potentially the pendulum swings again.
It’ll be interesting to see whether we might see one or two back in full training this week, but it’s hard to view the win against Orient as anything other than one of our most complete performances this season and this despite being far from clinical in front of goal. Will the confidence garnered see us approach the game with the same positive approach? One hopes so! Another slip up when seemingly set to turn the screw and inevitably, PW’s management will be under fire. A win and we head back to Pride Park with only Carlisle standing between us and our first promotion since 2007.
Our Opponents:
The club was founded in 1912 as Abbey United, and took the name Cambridge United in 1951. They played in local amateur leagues before joining the Southern League after finishing as runners-up of the Eastern Counties League in 1957–58. Under Bill Leivers's stewardship they were crowned Southern League Premier Division champions in 1968–69 and 1969–70, which helped to secure their election into the Football League in 1970. 

Recent Form & Key Players:
Off the back off two absolute kickings from Reading, 4-0, then a 6-0 hammering from Lincoln, Cambridge were held 1-1 by Northampton before closing out March with a 2-0 loss away to Bolton. April has seen them draw at home to Charlton and lose by the odd goal to Blackpool, before showing better form in defeating Wigan 3-1 at home.
Top of the scoring charts sits Gassan Ahadme with 11, with Fejiri Okenabirhie next best with 9. Ellis Kachunga is next best having netted 6 times in 34 starts. Sully Kalkai tops the assists list with from Jack Lankester and George Thomas with 4 and 3 assists respectively.
Rams Match Squad:
Hard to get away from the 11 that started against Orient, given the resounding nature of the win and the style in which it was achieved. A buoyant Paul Warne confirmed in the post-match presser that everyone came through unscathed and it was interesting to hear him saying that we had more energy coming off a shorter break than was the case at Wycombe, where he felt we lacked energy, despite the 8 day break.
The injury picture remains murky and it’ll be interesting to see whether Gayle and Bird might be fit enough to make the matchday squad. I’ll not bother with my selected 11, as I always get it horribly wrong and the gaffer seems to be doing a decent job matching squads to opponents without our guidance. Instead, here’s the top of the table as it stands:

Don't forget to keep an eye on @Caerphilly Ram's injury updates thread across the week, for any snippets on player's likely return dates. I'll append anything I see to this htread as best I can in any case.
The Promotion Picture:
Some key fixtures tomorrow night, none more so than Bolton’s home game against Shrewsbury, whom we know to be a strong and obdurate side, though one lacking the Trotter’s class edge. I’d expect Bolton to take the points, but should Shrews grab an early lead, it could make for rather tougher game.
Oxford, fresh off the back of their 5 goal hammering of Posh play hosts to Lincoln City, whose charge towards the play-offs has faltered a little in most recently. It ought to be a tightly contested affair and to be honest, I’d not be surprised by any result.
The aforementioned Posh have what appears to be a routine task against lowly Fleetwood, but what will be the aftermath of their humbling at the hands of Oxford on Saturday. Might they have a hangover?
Perhaps the best tie of the round features champions-elect Portsmouth hosting Barnsley. A point will surely suffice for Pompey, but I expect them to win and win well en route to a thoroughly well-deserved title win. They’ve been excellent this season and this despite being one of the few clubs with comparable injury concerns to our beloved Rams. It'll be good to see them back where they belong after some very difficult years of their own.
Of the weekend ties, the most interesting involve Peterborough, who have a tricky away game at Bristol and Bolton host Port Vale. It seems odds on we will be going into the final week needing to beat Carlisle to be absolutely certain of promotion and I doubt too many Rams fans will be counting their chickens early! 
Final Thoughts:
A brief digression is in order to congratulate Eiran Cashin and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, both of whom made the EFL League 1 Team of the Year. Bit miffed that Curtis Nelson was overlooked to partner Cash at CB, as for me, he’s been top of the pops for us, but I doubt he’ll mind too much if we win come Saturday.
A last word as always to all Derby fans travelling to the game, safe journey to and fro, Rams and Ramettes and hopefully plenty of good stuff to chatter about on your way home. Honestly, I think our away support has been as good as any in the entire EFL this season and they’ll hopefully be rewarded with another complete and controlled performance as we ourselves edge closer to that vital 2nd place finish.
COYR
BE MORE B4
 

Interesting comments from Richie Wellens
 

Pompey fan in peace, I personally think you boys will win all your remaining games from what I saw the other night you have enough to do it and you won’t need to sit back like you did in the second half. I personally like Paul Warne he comes across as an honest guy not like that arrogant Ian Evatt really praying that they stay down. Wycombe losing today was your best result but they are no great shakes. I was worried when we went there on Good Friday as they were on a bit of a run but we won comfortably. Teams that  play on the front foot against us we usually beat as we did against Peterborough the previous week who also were on a run of 5 straight wins. Teams that park the bus we struggle to break down like Shrewsbury yesterday we huffed and puffed all game and were fortunate to come away with 3 points. Most of us still are not taking it as given that we are going up, lose to Bolton then we have Barnsley on the Tuesday lose that and it will be twitchy bum time definitely do not want to go to Lincoln on the last day needing 3 points. Anything can happen this Saturday against Bolton but we won comfortably at Fratton 3-1 so it would be good to win that will give us 2 home games to seal the Championship. Anyway good luck Derby are to big a club like us to be stuck in Div 1.

Agreed! Horrible Club, with a pillock of an owner.

Yawn

Caught the local bus down to Portsmouth harbour this morning and asked the bus driver if he'd accept my gold card. He said, "From God's own county - definitely!" He was wearing a Derby County lanyard and turns out he is from Allestree! Got to be a good omen, that. 

Pride Park: Friday March 29th - 15.00 Kick Off
Friday night we get a chance to eradicate the bad dream that was Northampton away, but I think we've ridden our luck a little longer than just the last game and we simply must deliver a performance, or we risk succumbing to the lottery that is the play-offs. It's a sobering prospect by any measure. As it stands, we remain masters of our own fate, but potentially only by a single point and GD. Suffice to say, we can ill afford any further slip ups, or the chasers will be on us. 
On paper, this is a tougher game than the last one, with Blackpool having notched wins against Bolton, Peterborough and Shrewsbury as well as a draw against league leaders Pompey in their last 10 league games. Chief goal threat would be Jordan Rhodes who has notched 15 this season, with Jake Beesley and Karamoko Dembélé chipping in with 8 amd 7 respectively. Dembélé also has a very respectable 11 assists, with CJ Hamilton next best with 7 for the season to date. Keeping those two quiet might be key.
Squad News: Injury report might perhaps be a better heading! With Nate now joining an ever-growing list of crocked players, it's safe to say that having had a pretty healthy squad a mere few weeks back, we're bang in trouble again on that front and we'll need to marshal resources in a clever and effective manner if we are to get anything from this game. We are told that the one good piece of news on this front currently is that Collo may play a part, but whilst the man's a Spartan, he'll surely not be sharp enough to start. 
A last thought, until we have more news on who is actually fit enough to play, would be that while I want us to beat Blackpool, I do recall their kindness and solidarity during our troubled recent past. They're a proper club with a proper set of fans and I hope we make them as welcome at our place as they always seem to make us at theirs. 
May the best team win, but may that team be Derby, please! 
COYR
BEMOREB4

Saturday 16th March
vs Bolton Wanderers
Pride Park   KO 1500
 
This match as a song by The Smiths: Some Games Are Bigger Than Others
Opponents Bio: I had the honour of starting the match thread for the reverse fixture so may be repeating some of these nuggets of insignificant trivia. So in the hope that the forums' collective memory is worsening here we go again.
Bolton Wanderers are, like ourselves, proud to be one of the twelve original founder members of the Football League. Not only that, the opening round of fixtures back on 8th September 1888 saw the two clubs meet for the first of 136 encounters (129 league, five FA Cup and two League Cup). Furthermore, Bolton winger Kenny Davenport has the distinction of being the first scorer in English Football League history as he netted after just two minutes of the game. The Rams did come back to win an opening day thriller 6-3 at Pikes Lane, Bolton in front of an estimated crowd of 3,000. 
Bolton can proudly boast that they have spent more seasons in the top flight of the English game than they have outside of it and have seen giants of the game like Jimmy Armfield, Nat Lofthouse and Michael Ricketts sport their colours over the years.
Bolton are commonly known as one of three nicknames; The Whites, due to the colour of their home kit, Wanderers, as it's their name, or The Trotters, chosen by their first owner who made his fortune selling laxatives.
They have former Ram Ian Evatt as manager and also had a run of three successive bosses with Derby links between 1992 and 1999 as they were led by Bruce Rioch, Roy McFarland and then Colin Todd. Players who have represented both clubs include Franny Lee, John McGovern, Jeff Chandler and Andy Todd.
Opponents Dangermen: Chief threat is 13-goal Dion Charles although he is doubtful with a knee injury. Victor Adeboyejo has ten goals but is likely out for the season which leaves Bolton with three principal goal threats; Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, ex-Ram Cameron Jerome and Aaron Collins whose five goals and ten assists make him a man to be wary of in our third. Josh Sheehan also poses a threat from midfield.
Opponents Recent Form: Wanderers will rock up at Pride Park in third place, one position and one point behind ourselves and buoyed by an impressive 5-0 demolition of playoff chasing Oxford on Tuesday night. They are, however, winless in their last four away fixtures since winning 2-1 at Cambridge. Defeats at Blackpool (1-4) and Wigan (0-1) followed that victory and their most recent away games have seen them draw 2-2 at both Barnsley and Exeter. Whilst we're looking for positives, they have conceded at least once in their last eight road games. Their overall away record for the season is decent enough with nine wins, five draws and five defeats.
Derby vs Bolton History: Derby have had by some margin the upper hand in the head-to-heads with Wanderers. In 129 meetings our record stands at W64-D23-L42. One statistic stands out in the meetings on our turf though and it is this:
Bolton have never won at Pride Park.
There, I've said it. 
Since we moved to Pride Park, Bolton have visited us ten times in the league and drew on their third, fourth and fifth visits but went back up the M6 with nil points on the other seven occasions. We are P10: W7-D3-L0 with 24 goals scored and just five conceded when the Trotters come to town. They haven't scored more than once in any game at Pride Park and, alongside two victories by a one-goal margin, we have merrily spanked their chubby Lancashire backsides 4-0 twice, 4-1 twice and 3-0 once. Now if that isn't tempting fate I don't know what is.
Expected Rams XI: Possibly same again do we think? Maybe Smith for Hourihane if the latter is still feeling the affects of Yiadom's brutal tackle in midweek.
My Tuppence Worth: I mentioned it elsewhere but we have winnable looking (I know, I know) games against Blackpool, Orient, Carlisle, Northampton, Wycombe and Cambridge to come in the run-in. If we can do the business in those then a couple of draws in the games against Bolton and Portsmouth will be enough for an automatic place. What I'm suggesting is that given the respective fixture lists of ourselves and Bolton, a draw wouldn't be such a bad result on Saturday. If it's a must win game for either side then, in my opinion, it is more so for Wanderers than it is for us.
Other Fixtures of Note: It's a significant round of matches as apart from second versus third in our match, it's fourth against first at London Road.
Peterborough vs Portsmouth
Barnsley vs Cheltenham
 
COYR
 

Bring your scraves and flanges !

I think RamsTV are okay for a commentator. 

I like ED on RD and still miss Chris Coles 

Personally I'd sooner they carried on with Dom Dietrich on commentary purely for the fact that I think he is a significantly better commentator then Ed Dawes. 
 

In memory of B4.....
 
I reckon when Klopp leaves Liverpool at the end of the season some of their lads will want away.
We should be looking at Nobby Cater, Virgin Vandick and Mehmet Salad as they can't wait to pull on the black and white and play for the mighty Rams in front of a full house.
What do you guys think?
😍

Perhaps ownership not such heroes as we first thought? (yes I don't need telling that they saved us but they can't dine out on that forever). 

Sorry yeah a bit of a blonde moment
 

I just hope we don't put any money in Sheffield Wednesday's coffers! 

Am I crazy for being genuinely annoyed if we get rid of Fornah? Hopefully, it's all nonsense and he's going nowhere, but if he does go, I'd be so frustrated.

I'm dreaming here big time:
Kierffer Moore allowed to leave on loan. He got his career back on track in 17/18 for Rotherham, scoring 13 in 22 games, under... Paul Warne👀
(edit: It does look like he's joining Ipswich but here's to hoping)

2 striker targets - ones a small fee + ones loan ( Prem - heard three names that it  could be)
1-4 players possibly going out - most likely ward and or fornah 

I'd go for free-agent Conor Wickham on a six-month contract. He's 30, a target man, and would be playing for a contract extension. That can be done after we miss out on whoever we are chasing and being held ransom by Wednesday. Let them continue paying their wages, they will soon regret that. Waghorn must be weeks away from being involved and Washington not that far behind.

Ebou Adams set to sign for us, great midfielder at this level. The type we need a strong powerhouse to let players like Bird Hourihane and Tommo play more ball.