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DesertRam

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  1. COYR
    DesertRam got a reaction from ivo_knoflicek in How would YOU set us up currently?   
    Wow, can you imagine getting Will back....
  2. COYR
    DesertRam reacted to Chesterfield_Ram in How would YOU set us up currently?   
    Absolutely. I’m couldn’t give any realistic names. Will Hughes, Alex Mowatt, John Lundstram maybe, but i doubt we’ll pay the wages they’d want
  3. Clap
    DesertRam reacted to sage in The run-in: some analysis   
    I would agree about the Northampton game. It will probably, and hopefully, be the game when we have the fewest players available.
    Win this and I'd say we are odds on for top 2
  4. Like
    DesertRam reacted to Sussex Ram in The run-in: some analysis   
    As Dom Dietrich might say, these are “take it or leave it” stats. Below is my attempt at showing the league position of the opponents our direct competitors face on the run in:
    Portsmouth- 12 2 17 3 5 11 7- average 8.14
    Derby- 14 9 1 12 10 20 24- average 12.9
    Bolton- 8 18 13 1 17 23 4- average 12
    P’Boro- 24 10 23 6 22 13 21 3- average 15.3
    Barnsley- 20 19 16 8 18 1 9 14- average 13.1
    I haven’t considered home or away ties, but on the face it Portsmouth have by far the hardest run in, playing us, Bolton and Barnsley. My personal preference would be for them to beat Barnsley and Bolton, let them take the title, and it gives us more breathing space on the final day. But looking at it another way, if we can beat them on 2 April and other results go against them, might we be looking at a title push?? I would love that, for B4 if nothing else.
    Peterborough have the easiest run in and face all three bottom teams, although I noticed they are one of only four teams to play midweek before the final game of the season- which for them is a massive 6-pointer against Bolton.
    Our games seem to get “easier” as time goes on, whereas others are more mixed. Portsmouth finish against one the form teams of Europe (I’d guess?) in Lincoln. Let’s see if the Imps are still averaging three goals a game by then- if they are, they might well finish 4th or 5th!
    Final point- our GD is 4 better than Portsmouth, 7 better than Bolton and P’Boro and 13 better than Barnsley. That could well be the half point advantage that makes a difference come 27th April…
  5. Clap
    DesertRam reacted to FlyBritishMidland in Paul Warne   
    I think it’s pretty clear PW has built a fantastic culture and team spirit at the club.  All of the players and staff are united and fighting to get us promoted. This is testament to his man-management skills.  I seem to remember an interview with Ritchie Barker (?) not long after they joined compliment PW’s leadership and how they’d walk through a brick wall for him.  I think he has that with players.
    In the past I’ve been critical of how he uses the subs but in the last few weeks he’s been spot on with these.  He also seems to be managing the squad well.  Some Rotherham fans talked about the players tiring at the end of the season.  We’re not really seeing that and he seems to be managing the game time of the squad well and not taking unnecessary risks.
  6. Haha
    DesertRam got a reaction from Premier ram in Where do you think we'll finish this season?   
    Half fan
  7. Clap
    DesertRam reacted to David in Where do you think we'll finish this season?   
    If we win all of our remaining games, we are not going to Wembley. Fact.
  8. Like
    DesertRam got a reaction from cstand in HUGE!   
    We could even win the league yet, Pompey also have 8 left, with 6 real tough ones 🤣
    Us  Bolton  Wigan  Barnsley  and Lincoln
    and Wycombe are no pushover at the moment
    95 points for us  5 W 1 L 1 D,          THEM   1 L  2 D  or  2 L    and its ours  🥂
  9. Haha
    DesertRam reacted to Steve How Hard? in HUGE!   
    Had to ask for a cushion at full time to hide my modesty as it was beginning to show. 
  10. Haha
    DesertRam reacted to RadioactiveWaste in HUGE!   
    Verging on "get your rat out" territory
  11. Clap
    DesertRam reacted to Millenniumram in Match Thread: vs Bolton Wanderers (H)   
    I love you Kane Wilson.
    That is all
  12. Clap
    DesertRam reacted to CBX1985 in Match Thread: vs Bolton Wanderers (H)   
    Perhaps; just perhaps, all those who doubted his "we need to have the right types of people" philosophy were themselves wrong.
     
  13. Like
    DesertRam reacted to DerbyAleMan in Match Thread: vs Bolton Wanderers (H)   
    A Massive win, our 3 centre backs, Nelson, Fozzy and Cashin all excellent, Wildsmith with 2 great saves, and our man mountain Adams in the middle of the midfield never stopped, well happy with the 3 points today, and the atmosphere was excellent, lets keep PP rocking like that for the rest of the season, the Whisky will taste even better tonight. Once A Ram Always A Ram. 
  14. Clap
    DesertRam reacted to Tamworthram in Match Thread: vs Bolton Wanderers (H)   
    It doesn’t matter. We weren’t “lucky” today. Overall, Bolton played the better football and had the better chances but the reason they lost is because they weren’t good enough on the day and because Wildsmith had a very good game. Wildsmith did what he’s paid to do and did it very well and Bolton didn’t do enough to get a goal (or two). That’s not luck.
  15. Clap
    DesertRam reacted to derbydaz22 in Match Thread: vs Bolton Wanderers (H)   
    How good was Fozzy today? 🐑🐑🐑 keep them 3 together at the back we go up in my opinion 🐑🐑🐑
  16. Clap
    DesertRam reacted to CBX1985 in Match Thread: vs Bolton Wanderers (H)   
    Indeed.  I suppose with Billy we never had the opportunity to strengthen after what was of itself a miraculous promotion.  I think, with all restrictions removed, will have the opportunity to buy players to cement us in the division.  
    What matters is that we get up.
     
     
  17. Clap
    DesertRam reacted to Comrade 86 in Match Thread: vs Bolton Wanderers (H)   
    Today's game report told through the medium of gif....
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

  18. Like
    DesertRam reacted to Elwood P Dowd in Match Thread: vs Bolton Wanderers (H)   
    Dorian Gray-like Forsyth, 😂 l wonder where  he keeps his picture the one that shows him with two broken ACLs.
  19. Clap
    DesertRam got a reaction from jimtastic56 in Match Thread: vs Bolton Wanderers (H)   
    I have to admit i'm worried here, Bolton's last scoreline suggests they have a ruthless streak that we
    don't, We scraped thru against BR with alot of help from the ref. However, if we are all 8/9 we could
    pull something off - hoping for a draw, and would take it now!
  20. Clap
    DesertRam reacted to Will Hughes Hair in Match Thread: vs Bolton Wanderers (H)   
    I’m assuming BR stands for Blinking Reading? 😂
  21. Like
    DesertRam reacted to Rampant in Match Thread: vs Bolton Wanderers (H)   
    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
     
  22. Clap
    DesertRam got a reaction from Van der MoodHoover in Match Thread: vs Reading (H)   
    A win in this one and we're really on our way up  🥂
  23. Like
    DesertRam got a reaction from Caerphilly Ram in Match Thread: vs Bristol Rovers (a)   
    Fantastic, just hope we can keep this going
    UTR  😍
  24. COYR
    DesertRam got a reaction from oodledoodle in Match Thread: vs Bristol Rovers (a)   
    Fantastic, just hope we can keep this going
    UTR  😍
  25. Clap
    DesertRam reacted to Rampant in Match Thread: vs Bristol Rovers (a)   
    Bristol Rovers vs Derby County
    Saturday 9th March KO 3pm
    Memorial Stadium (BS7 0BF)
     
    Opponents Form: Decent recently with three wins in their last four matches including their last two. They currently sit 11th in the table albeit with no realistic playoff aspirations or relegation concerns. Whilst their home record in L1 this season is a reasonable W7-D5-L5 it should be noted that they have lost four of their most recent six matches on their own patch with wins over Carlisle (2-1) and Oxford (3-1) dampened by defeats to Blackpool (1-2), Exeter (0-1), Fleetwood (0-2) and Burton (1-2).
    Opponents Bio: Rovers are managed by Matt Taylor who is in his third managerial role. After an impressive four years at Exeter he was the man chosen by Rotherham to take over the reins after the departure of our own Paul Warne to Pride Park. Taylor's spell there lasted 13 months before he parted company with the Yorkshire club in November 2023 as the Millers were struggling in 22nd place. Within three weeks, however, he found himself in the Bristol Rovers hotseat replacing the ever-delightful Joseph Barton. 
    The club have played their home matches at the 11,000 capacity (3,000 seated) Memorial Stadium since 1996 after leaving their previous home in Eastville. They are officially known as the 'Pirates', reflecting Bristol's maritime history. Or because they just arrrr. Or maybe because their form is historically patchy. They are of course also known as the 'Gas', a nickname which was given them by opposition fans originally but was cheerfully adopted by the Rovers' followers who refer to themselves as 'Gasheads'. The name came about apparently due to their former stadium being sited next to a gasworks which produced a distinct aroma which would waft over the ground. Anybody who sits near a few of our more dedicated drinkers at Pride Park will no doubt relate to that.
    Opponents Player Watch: Only one place to start here as the Rams go up against our former beau, Christopher Hugh Martin. The Wardrobe has scored 15 goals this season and is joint fifth in the top scorers chart for the division. Second top scorer after CM9 is Anthony Evans with half a dozen goals. Other notable players are ex-Rams youngster Luke Thomas, experienced former Swansea, Celtic and Preston man Scott Sinclair and Chelsea loanee Harvey Vale who I think we were linked with during the summer. I'm not sure if he's their number one or not but they also have a goalkeeper called Jed Ward who you can only sympathise with.
    Rams Record vs Opponents: There have been three FA Cup ties between the two clubs but we'll focus on the 27 league matches there have been between Bristol Rovers and Derby County. The first meeting was on 29th August 1953 at Bristol so hats off to any Ram or Rover who remembers that match over 70 years ago. During the early years of the fixture it was Bristol Rovers who held sway with the Pirates winning the first three encounters, four of the first five and six of the first nine overall. Since then though it is the Rams who have had much the better of it. The overall league record for Derby against Saturday's opponents is as follows:
    P27: W12-D7-L8
    Away at Bristol Rovers our record  is: P13: W3-D4-L6   Whilst that isn't impressive it should be pointed out that we lost on our first five visits and since then we've gone W3-D3-L1 on their turf and are unbeaten in our last four visits.
    Since our relegation to L1 for the 2022/23 season the Rams have recorded home wins against Rovers in both fixtures at Pride Park (4-2 and 2-1) whilst last season we conceded a debateable late penalty in a 1-1 draw at their place.
    Other Saturday Fixtures Of Note: We will either be second or third going into the match depending on the outcome of Barnsley vs Bolton on Tuesday night. Peterborough are at home to Northampton on the same evening. On Saturday our priority is of course to earn three points in the south-west but we will be hoping for favourable results in at least one of the following games:
    Blackpool vs Portsmouth
    Exeter vs Bolton
    Barnsley vs Lincoln
    Burton vs Peterborough
    Expected Team: My guess is that Derby will be unchanged from the 3-0 win against a desperately struggling Port Vale. With fit full-back options rarer than a salad in the City Ground boardroom I suspect it'll be a back three plus the two wing-backs who played well yesterday. 
     
    Safe journey to those who make the trip and COYR.
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