Rammy03

Poor game but I don't think this is the disaster people are making it out to be.
Personally I was always slightly worried about this fixture and on my predictor I had us drawing this game and we still go on to make automatic promotion.
If we win the last 3 games Bolton will have to win all their 4 to go above us including beating portsmouth and peterborough.
It's not in our hands right now but it could all turn again after saturday. We just need to be in pole position come the last game of the season.
I still back us to do this.

Poor game but I don't think this is the disaster people are making it out to be.
Personally I was always slightly worried about this fixture and on my predictor I had us drawing this game and we still go on to make automatic promotion.
If we win the last 3 games Bolton will have to win all their 4 to go above us including beating portsmouth and peterborough.
It's not in our hands right now but it could all turn again after saturday. We just need to be in pole position come the last game of the season.
I still back us to do this.

Poor game but I don't think this is the disaster people are making it out to be.
Personally I was always slightly worried about this fixture and on my predictor I had us drawing this game and we still go on to make automatic promotion.
If we win the last 3 games Bolton will have to win all their 4 to go above us including beating portsmouth and peterborough.
It's not in our hands right now but it could all turn again after saturday. We just need to be in pole position come the last game of the season.
I still back us to do this.

Poor game but I don't think this is the disaster people are making it out to be.
Personally I was always slightly worried about this fixture and on my predictor I had us drawing this game and we still go on to make automatic promotion.
If we win the last 3 games Bolton will have to win all their 4 to go above us including beating portsmouth and peterborough.
It's not in our hands right now but it could all turn again after saturday. We just need to be in pole position come the last game of the season.
I still back us to do this.

Poor game but I don't think this is the disaster people are making it out to be.
Personally I was always slightly worried about this fixture and on my predictor I had us drawing this game and we still go on to make automatic promotion.
If we win the last 3 games Bolton will have to win all their 4 to go above us including beating portsmouth and peterborough.
It's not in our hands right now but it could all turn again after saturday. We just need to be in pole position come the last game of the season.
I still back us to do this.

That game turned out exactly how I thought it would and yet everyone on here is stunned. Wycombe are horrible to play against. CBT should have scored but I still think we can do enough in the last three games.

I think if we win our final 3 then we will get 2nd, even if that’s not guaranteed now.
Peterborough or Bolton are realistically still going to have to win all their remaining games to finish above us, as I think that’s our last points dropped of the season.
Peterborough are two games in to a run of 7 games in 20 days. They’ve won the two so far, but if they go on to win the next 5 in 17 days then fair play to them.
For Bolton I think the key turning point is going to be Saturday, if they beat Pompey then we may be in trouble. They then have Shrewsbury and Port Vale at home which should be nothing less than 6 points.
I personally see it going in to the final day with Derby 89, Bolton 88, Peterborough 86. If we can’t get promoted before the final game, then having both Bolton & Peterborough within reach of us is better than only having one. If one of the two can’t get automatics, then I wouldn’t be surprised if that side rested a few.
It’s strange because despite how poor tonight was, and despite it no longer being in our hands, it still feels like it is.
9 points from 9, we can do it. I still think we’ll go up.

Bolton can ge a maximum of 93 points but have Pompey (h), Shrewsbury (h), Port Vale (h) and Peterboro (a). Peterboro can get a maximum of 92 (Like Derby). But they have 5 games to play in 13 days starting with Oxford (a), Fleetwood (h), Bristol (a), Cheltenham (a) and last game against Bolton at home. Between Bolton & Peterboro, one or both won't get maximum points because they both play each other on the last day.
The way I see it; Pompey need a win this Saturday to secure promotion and also take the League One title knowing the trophy would be displayed at their next home fixture against Barnsley. Bolton, now see a chance to catch Derby in 2nd spot, both teams will be going for a win, so I see a draw. Peterboro also look to have a sniff of the 2nd spot but face Oxford away who need to pick up points to hold on to that 6th spot. Peterboro have'nt drawn a league match since January, so I'm thinking this would also be a draw.
Derby, with the points in the bag (always better than games in hand at this squeeky bum time of the season) have Orient (h), Cambridge (a) and already relegated Carlisle at home. Win all three and we should secure 2nd spot. Well we did win 4 on the bounce at the begining of last month. It could end up with more twists and turns yet and possibly the 2nd spot might be won on goal difference.

Run of wins? They've each won two on the trot, none of which were away at Portsmouth. Over the last 6 games, only Peterborough have picked up more points than us (one). We're all in similar "form" as far as results go.

Exactly that. Plus the gap would be 4 points not 1 until they play their game in hand. They’d still have to win 3 games against our 2 wins. 

Bolton have to play arguably the best two sides in the league in Portsmouth and Peterborough.
If Bolton lose on Saturday and we win, it’s back in our hands…plenty of twists and turns yet. 

A point isn’t terrible as Bolton have Pompy and Posh still to play. We need to win our last 3 games though 

I’d be more concerned if we weren’t creating the chances, but we are… this game for me needs Sibley further up the pitch and get his shooting boots on!
It will end 2-0 Rams 🐏 

I won’t be deflated, just relieved we won our two games. 

As long as we back it up with a win on Saturday.
Six points from these two games and we’ll be strong favourites. Four points we’ll probably be slight favourites still. Anything less and it will be in the balance.

Yep, whilst not mathematically out of it, I think Barnsley have blown it now. Posh do have a chance but, they probably need to win five of their remaining games to catch and overtake both us and Bolton. As we have seen, every game is winnable but they could all be lost or drawn. To be honest, I can’t see both us and Bolton collapsing so Posh’s chances are probably slim.

It's one of Everton, forest and Luton for that final relegation spot.
Luton and Forest both have fixtures that they can win. 
Everton have some tougher fixtures with Arsenal and Liverpool still to play. But they also have both Forest and Luton to play as well. Some real 6 pointers in there.
I think it's going to be incredibly tight.

There is a very stark and real difference between being able to forge a career in the Championship and being an impactful player in the Championship. A LOT of fairly unremarkable players have made careers in the Championship, so I actually don't have too many worries about a lot of our players' ability to hold their own at the next level. 
In terms of impactful players at the Championship, well that's a very different story. I would be confident in Mendez-Laing and Cashin. If Nelson was an import from overseas, who had never played in the Championship, then I would also say him. I do worry that he's been unremarkable in the Championship, largely, so would consider it unlikely he's going to carry the same impact at the next level. Adams, too, has found it tough by all accounts. He's in a similar boat to Nelson in the sense he's been very good for us at this level but has struggled to make the step up. I guess you could also put Nyambe in this category too, albeit he has previously done very well at Championship level with Blackburn. 
Blackett-Taylor is starting to show his ability and looks to have good speed, range and technical ability that should serve him well at the next level. He does seem to lack the power of a NML but he has potential to be impactful at the next level if he progresses. Wilson, Sibley are probably more along the lines of being able to play in the Championship, perhaps struggle to be as impactful. 
I do worry about Waghorn, Collins, Smith, Bradley and I'd probably add Elder to the list as players who I think would actually struggle to step up. All of them look to be on the down-swing of their career, in-terms of mobility, Collins has done well for us this season but I think a better class of defender really limits his impact. Waghorn started the season well, but looks laboured since his return from injury. Elder and Bradley just haven't looked right since we signed them, honestly, both have had moments but big question marks over them two - as well as Smith. 
If we do get promoted, the recruitment is going to have to be very strong. Central midfield and strikers, in particular, will need to be improved upon enormously. 

So the players will suddenly put more effort in to avoid going down because they are being well paid? They appear to have put buggar all effort in up until now, and probably signed contracts that said nothing about a pay decrease if relegated. Tictoc was one of the highest paid players in the Prem last year if I remember correctly, it didn't seem to motivate him too much.

It's one of Everton, forest and Luton for that final relegation spot.
Luton and Forest both have fixtures that they can win. 
Everton have some tougher fixtures with Arsenal and Liverpool still to play. But they also have both Forest and Luton to play as well. Some real 6 pointers in there.
I think it's going to be incredibly tight.

It's one of Everton, forest and Luton for that final relegation spot.
Luton and Forest both have fixtures that they can win. 
Everton have some tougher fixtures with Arsenal and Liverpool still to play. But they also have both Forest and Luton to play as well. Some real 6 pointers in there.
I think it's going to be incredibly tight.

Unfortunately Forest have a lot of winnable games coming up.
Burnley, Sheff Utd and Everton away, plus Wolves and Chelsea at home.
I think they will get another 10 points.
I don’t see Luton getting any more than 6.
Luton gave it a brilliant go but they dropped some easy points by losing at home to Sheff Utd and squandering a 3-0 lead at Bournemouth.

I was doing my usual nosing of expiring contracts and spotted the lad from Huddersfield as one of the championship players we might pass on the way up the football league (along with a couple of Rotherham midfielders 👀).
I don’t know much about the J-League, or any of the Asian leagues really, but I’ve always admired the players that have come from that region to do well in European football. There’s often an added commercial element when signing players from say Japan or South Korea with fans from those countries having a good reverence for their compatriots and the clubs they join, could be an added bonus of a talented footballer and increased profile in lucrative markets. 
 

We are in pole position. Embrace the final games, don't cower behind the sofa. 

I just boil it back down to the fact that we'd much rather be in our position than Bolton's or Peterborough's.
We know for a fact that 4 wins from here and we're up regardless of anything they do.
We also have softer fixtures on paper than either of them, with Bolton having Pompey & Peterborough, and Peterborough having Bolton to play and 7 games 21 days.
We'd have gladly taken this position at most points of the season if offered.
C'mon Derby, final push.