archram

Win something again ? ,,,,, winning something is done by winning single games of football , when you really are a derby fan then games like Saturday against Bolton cannot fail to get right into you , the excitement, the joy ,the passion just fills you and bubbles out , you can’t help it , you roy are one of two this week who has none of that , not one iota of that , the only passion is to come on and rubbish it , @ Chrismartin only passion to come on and tell us how poor the league is , sorry but I don’t see derby fans there and not being able to get to games for any reason is not a factor , it’s in you even if the best you can manage is to follow results , I know , I’ve been there in that position many times over the years 
the best you’ve managed ( like pulling teeth ) is begrudgingly saying you will be happy if we are promoted when pulled up and pressed on this constant rubbishing of everything derby and trying to destroy others joy at good times for us and our club ,, ffs we’ve had our fill of bad stuff for the last few years🤷🏻‍♂️

I think I could leave the forum for weeks, get married, go on my honeymoon, see Derby further strengthen their grip on second with two or three wins, and still come back to the same two or three posters trying to downplay the job Warne is doing.
Even after a hard-fought win against a direct rival where Warne clearly had the tactical edge, they are still picking faults.
How tiresome.

People keep referring to this still taken from a video as if it's conclusive evidence that Waghorn  handled the ball (maybe it also hit the hand of the Bolton defender that is 'obviously' immediately behind Waghorn and in the path of the ball 😄) but at full speed Waghorn lifts his arm to let the ball pass. Odd that no-one from Bolton has produced a slo-mo clip that would show frame-by-frame what actually happened, isn't it? 😏
I'm now more than ever convinced that the goal wouldn't have been disallowed even under VAR, because whatever faint touch the ball got on Waggy's arm (it certainly wasn't vice-versa) didn't affect the outcome.

🍻
 
Yes I know they were...
But what I hadn't noticed... despite even quoting them(!)...  was that it was actually @Rampant themselves that was asking the question!  I thought it was someone else, trying to muscle in on Rampant's tip-top run!
 
It was at this point, that I cannot deny, I felt quite the fool!  🤣
I'm gonna claim diminished concentration.  It's been "one of those weekends"!
Apologies all round!  🙄 😊
 

Well he looked happy with his new mates celebrating at full time.  I’m giving him time me.

It’s funny that Doncaster airport is called Robin Hood airport. Now, I don’t want to give Nottingham this much credit, but if I was a foreigner flying in to Robin Hood airport, I would definitely expect to be getting flying into Nottingham, and would be incredibly disappointed to find I’m in Doncaster (I would be reasonably disappointed to be in Nottingham, but at least I would have a fairly realistic expectation of being greeted by men in tights).
like, okay Doncaster, by all means make a claim to Robin Hood, but you still have to face facts that to anyone who has ever consumed any Robin Hood media, Robin Hood came from Nottingham and had an American accent. And it shall be forever thus. 

In my late 20s my wife thought I looked like Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice. 
I would point out that 
A) this was 25 years ago 
and
B) she had bad eyesight 

I tend to see it somewhat differently to the way you do. You say Bolton were the better team - I argue that our defence and goalkeeper were better than your attack and our attack was better than your defence. It matters not how much possession or dominance you had it meant diddly squit. Other than the two shots that were brilliantly saved (I concede that the header seemed harder to miss than score, but it was brilliantly saved) you troubled our goalkeeper very little cans the shots fir both sides were the same. Derby converted one of their 6 goal attempts and Bolton didn’t score any from their 6 attempts 
Bolton very rarely got in Derby’s Penalty box and as I’ve said before Derby’s defence is pretty damn good and delt with everything well. 
 

I'm of the understanding that the matchday thread starter continues until we lose?  🤷‍♂️
As @Rampantis currently... erm... running rampant, in terms of actual results and indeed quality of the opening posts, I think it would be very, very silly to put a spanner in that particular fine work.
Leave well alone I say, and let Rampant take us all the way to the Championship!
🐏
 

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.

Wildsmith's worldie first half save and a really good one in the second half cemented our victory yesterday. Can't think of a better save I have seen by any keeper since PP opened. That save could be so pivotal in our run in. Not the best of matches football wise but for tension, atmosphere and downright determination it was right up there. Crowd were magnificent and credit to Bolton fans generating to what was so much noise. Keep it up my beautiful Rams. Please don't get complacent at Northampton now. Seven more. Just seven more matches. It's in our hands. From a very happy and still hoarse Rams fan. 

Well I really enjoyed yesterday. Haven’t seen pride park like that in years. What an atmosphere!! Even the west stand were noisy 😉. Loved how Warne laid down the gauntlet to the fans post match saying just like the players the fans can’t drop their standards now after that!! 
The performance wasn’t vintage and we’ve played much better recently, but credit must go to Bolton who look a decent outfit. I don’t think they battered us, think the first half was pretty even although overall they edged it, second half we were second best until we scored although they didn’t create loads, a couple of routine saves for Wildsmith and one excellent save (after his worldie save in the first half). Think a defeat was definitely harsh on Bolton. However the concern I would have as a Bolton fan is when we scored they never looked like they were going to equalise. Yes we had to defend at times but we closed the game out relatively comfortably. I don’t think Bolton react well to things going against them and I question if they have the minerals.
We can question Warne tactically (think the three subs at halftime were slightly unnecessary and we couldn’t get going, agreed with Thommo coming on for Conor but thought Ward and Barks should’ve stayed on although Kane did get the winner arriving where ward wouldn’t have done) but we won that yesterday primarily because of the band of brothers mentality this team, the heart spirit and togetherness created by the amazing dressing room environment Warne has created, and I think it’s this that will ultimately get us through and over the line 🤞 

It really isn't unusual for footballers to appeal for things that didn't happen, is it? Bolton players appealed for both the penalty and Wildsmith's sending off at their place and we know that neither decision was correct.
I think they were guessing about contact as much as I am about whether they actually saw contact. As I say, the ball didn't slow down, speed up or deviate as it passed "through" Waggy, so only he knows if ball touched skin and it didn't affect the flight of the ball or Bolton's chances of clearing it.

He’s nearly had a longer career than his name sake, Bruce.
Best money we’ve spent in years.
Slotted in yesterday like he’d never been away and absolutely bossed it.
The word legend is thrown around far too often these days but our Craig is without doubt a true Derby legend.

When he finally hangs up his boots I hope he takes up a coaching or mentor role inside the club. The youth could learn a lot from him, resilience, determination, professionalism.
🍺here’s to you King Craig

Fozzy put a great shift in yesterday , his experience could be crucial in the run in , I bless the day Tim Ward signed him 

Decided to read through the thread after hearing the inspiring albeit sad tale of your recently passed young supporter. This post popped out. 
 
Year after year we’ve had close calls with promotion and have thrown it away.  Even now with the lead we have I won’t believe we are promoted until it’s mathematically safe. 
 
After hearing the story about B4 I genuinely hope it’s Pompy and Derby who go up in the automatics. What a fitting tribute that would be for someone who was obviously well loved by this forum and had a good heart. 
 
 

I never met the lad but still miss his sudden threads and rallying cries!
Hope you are well @B4ev6is. 

It's a thread started by a young, Derby mad fan known to us as @B4ev6is, B4, or Daniel. He passed away recently which broke many a heart among us Rams as he was as sweet a lad as you could wish to meet and the most fervent and loyal supporter of any club, not just Derby, that I've ever met. His spelling however was shocking, but as a result of learning difficulties, hence the jokes about 'scraves and ballions' you'll find all over the forum. We bumped the thread as part of an effort to keep him close to our hearts and the title was left as was out of respect to Dan and his family. In its own way, it kind of sums up who he was and why he such a favourite among us Rams faithful. No disrespect is intended.

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. 

I actually don’t agree. I think without 3 standout teams outplaying the majority of the rest of the league it’s actually proving to be a more competitive league this season, sides are more closely matched at the top end of the table illustrated by the smaller gap between the sides. Last season it was almost always between 3 sides for automatic promotion, this season it’s been less clear with us, Barnsley, Bolton, Posh, Portsmouth and Oxford all competing at various points. 
I’ve never signed up to this idea that the league is somehow “easier”, it is what it is, 24 teams competing for points across a 46 game season and relative to that we’re currently the second placed side.

Well, that’s now all the teams in the top six that we have won one and lost one against this season
just Pompey to come. . . 
they won at our place, so surely it’s a win for us at theirs and Champions 🥇 all round?! 😉 
it really doesn’t matter how we play at this stage, just find a way to win each game and be better than our opponents as we did yesterday
what a belting atmosphere! Loved every minute! COYR 

What would bring you joy in football? It appears beating a promotion rival in what was essentially an evenly balanced game isn’t the answer. Here’s how I saw it as someone who likes seeing their team win football Matches, with some of the stats I can find online to support my view…

- The team we all (supposedly) support showed grit and determination to earn a key result yesterday, big plus for me there.

- The possession stats are fairly even (44% to us 56% to them) which backs up what I saw during the game, they had spells with the ball and we had spells with the ball.
- The attempts on goal, well we had 10 shots with 3 on target and they had 6 shots with 3 on target, so they didn’t create massively more than we did in terms of attempts which tallies with what I saw yesterday.

- 6 corners and 1 yellow card a piece, pretty balanced there.
- we made a total of 280 passes with 62% accuracy, they made a total of 385 with 67% accuracy so they won there…I did however notice our players intentionally standing off their defence and allowing them to have the ball which seems a tactical decision to allow them the ball, so my simple observation there is we allowed them to pass it more and they didn’t do much with it…
- the stats I’ve found say we had 1 big chance each and missed 1 big chance each…. Balanced again.
- we had 3 blocked shots, they had 1. Our keeper made 3 saves, theirs made 2. So while our keeper was busier they blocked some of our efforts which could have resulted in their keeper making more saves…
- we made 9 interceptions to their 3 and 32 clearances to their 25, backing up the work our defence did to keep them out.
- we scored 1 goal, they score 0.
So in summary, as I thought yesterday and still today having looked over the numbers, it was a balanced game between two teams at this level, both had chances, both defended well, each side approached the game slightly different to the other and we scored from a set piece to win…. Hooray! 

OK just for you, it was handball.
But the reality is we created the better chances and didn't take them, and a lot of credit has to go to your goalie. Equally, the responsibility lies with our strikers who are simply not as ruthless as our usual starters, especially Dion Charles.
As I mentioned during the match when we were battering you but couldn't score in a brothel, it was obvious that you'd get a scabby goal to win it which you did, but that's football folks - you don't always get what you deserve, and we didn't deserve to lose that, not that you care.
The irony is that it was Kane Wilson who was credited with the goal - a player we'd agreed a fee with Brizzle to sign, but didn't in the end as his personal terms and wage demands were too high for us, so he came to you instead.
Anyhoo, onwards and sideways.....

It's spelt bald. He tries to hide it with a hat most times though. 

My first game of the season. Haven't felt the excitement to come all the way from West Wales for a while due to cost and time, whilst being frustrated with team selection and particularly substitutions (too late and wrong).
Today, however was back to the feeling of the relegation season.
What an effort from all the team, you could see the togetherness. And all deserve credit for getting over the line when we didn't look like winning.
And well done Paul Warne for managing the game and substitutions to great effect