Ilkestonian

Better than chanting some crappy Wings song before the kick off 

Match Thread: vs Portsmouth (a)
Tuesday, April 2nd, Kick-Off – 8.00pm
Head to Head:
Two grand old clubs who first met way back in 1902 in the FA Cup, a game that resulted in a rather unsatisfactory 0-0 bore draw. The replay at saw us winning the replay 6-3 which doubtless gave the early Rams faithful a little more to cheer. Since then, there’s not been a deal between the two sides, with Derby edging the charts with 42 wins to Pompey’s 35.
Games won: 42
Games drawn: 23
Games lost: 35
The Status Quo:
Well, it’s looking good right now my fellow rams. Likewise for Pompey, who do look near to uncatchable now, though there doubtless remain some happy clappers like yours truly who will still be hoping Portsmouth slip up and what better place for them to begin their demise than in front of their own fans on Tuesday evening? That said, Portsmouth have arguably been THE most consistent side in the division, steadily accumulating wins after a minor, mid-season wobble. It’s fair to say that while they’ve continued their good form, our post-Xmas wobble saw us fall back a little, though if we look at the last half dozen games, we’ve actually outpointed them, indeed only Lincoln, who seem to lay waste to every team they meet right now, can claim to be in better form than our own beloved Rams.

The Key Threats:
There’s little doubt that Cody Bishop is their main striking threat with 16 goals and 2 assists to his name this season, but Pompey can boast other threats, none less than Paddy Lane who has netted 11 times this season, also weighing in with 6 assists. Abu Kamara and Marlon pack have 8 assists a piece, so it’s fair to say that Pompey have multiple attacking threats and they promise to provide us with our toughest game of the season and one in which Nelson and Cashin will need to be absolutely on their A-game if we are to leave with Fratton Park with anything to show for the game.
Team News:
Like most, I was delighted to see Collo return to the fold so swiftly and he looked pretty damn sharp to be honest. Perhaps the ‘rest’ has actually done him well! This is critical as for me, Wash and Waggy look some way off their peak and I suppose, given their lack of games this year, that’s easy to understand.
I was also delighted to see Korey Smith start and for me, he has to stay in the starting 11. He’s not entirely dissimilar to Hourihane, but his mobility gives us more stability, though that said, we did again leave gaps between the press and our back line against Blackpool and if we do so again against Pompey, we might find ourselves in some bother.
With a considerable injury list still hampering his efforts, Warne will again need to marshal his troops carefully and I’d expect a cagey performance from both sides where moments of quality will likely settle the game, rather than one side establishing outright dominance. I’ll drop another update on injuries etc, on this thread nearer the game, but I’d be looking at something similar to what we saw yesterday, with a couple of tweaks:
Firstly, I’ve assumed Elder is once more broken and that we’ll therefore need to use Sibbo in the LB role again. I’d have preferred him starting higher up the pitch, but we have so many missing that it’s a case of needs must. In so much, the back 4 pick themselves.
I’ve kept the same midfield as last week, with Smith again taking the starting role and Conor set to figure later in the game. Adams remains on fire and simply has to start every match now. The only other tweak I’d use would be to play Wash in behind Collo, assuming Jimmy is able to manage 60 minutes at this point in his return. That gives us something like the line-up below, but I do expect this to change, as I very seldom guess Warne’s selection correctly and I’m also hopeful we’ll have one or two more to pick from. CBT, now with some minutes under his belt, appears to be finding some good form and despite our injury situation, we'll have some interesting bench options all the same and perhaps he might even earn a start?


The Game:
I don’t think there’s any doubt that both sides have sufficient quality to punish any errors made and I think this will simply come down to which side best executes their game plan and who is most clinical with the chances they fashion. I’m going for a 1-1 draw with Nate to re-find his scoring touch and secure us another vital point. I think with both clubs and sets of fans riding high, it ought to be a great atmosphere though at present, there is some rain forecast. For anyone making a mini-break of it, please see some 'Things To Do' suggestions and links to some decent eateries below, as suggested by TripAdvisor:
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g186298-Activities-Portsmouth_Hampshire_England.html
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurants-g186298-Portsmouth_Hampshire_England.html
Enjoy the game my fellow Rams fans and safe journey to and fro.
COYR
BE MORE B4

Some folk are just so blinded by their hatred of Warne that they don’t even bother actually watching the games any more. They just pray for us lose so they can spew their toxic negativity yet again.

When I joined the Dead Sea was a bit under the weather! 😆

Totally disagree, I thought that Collins and Thommo were excellent, non stop chasing down 3 defenders between the pair of them. Some nice touches from Collins showed us just what we've been missing lately and he's come back not a moment too soon, imo.

The different prism’s through which we see games! 
FWIW I thought today’s performance was a distance away from some of those horrors earlier in the season and we looked to play some good football at times, if not always successfully. NML was lovely first half but tired as did Washington who made some good runs including one wrongly flagged offside, another where he would have buried a cross from Ward had it not been cut off and the chance when he was free was at an angle where you would only back a fully fit striker to score. For me he did fine and gives us something different.

Bearing in mind I  missed the Bolton game due to "Other stuff", I've gotta say, I thoroughly enjoyed this afternoon!
The walk in the sunshine to get there.  The queues at the turnstiles at 14:48.  The grit, determination and effort on the pitch.  The atmosphere from all points of the compass stands.  The cracking view of a cracking goal.  The relief at the final whistle.  The post-whistle celebrations on and off the pitch.  Heck, even the drenching from the 5 minute hailstorm on the way home!
No.  It wasn't a classic.  But it was bloody enjoyable, and I think every single one of us deserved that, after last week's all round poor output.
By jove... I do believe we're on our way... To the Championship, we're on our way...

Today is the first day I started to believe promotion might be possible, so I have given myself a good slap and come up with many scenarios by which we can blow it. We can already see from todays results how good Cambridge and Carlisle are, for example, so we will surely lose our last two games. Not to mention very tricky games at Portsmouth and Wycombe. I have now successfully re-convinced myself that we have no chance.

Thanks @B4ev6is  
You can clearly see his influence here with the rainbow marking where he’d guided the ball into the net. 

Great interview with Ebou Adams talking about Derby County, his faith, Ramadan. Four o'clock was his last meal. No food or water since. Wonderful attitude and discipline. Fully deserves MOTM.

Will gladly listen to it on repeat for the rest of the season if it means the ball is hitting the back of the onion bag. 

Don't you mean he's A turkey 😂

Evening lads. Looking forward to our match next Tuesday. 
Think we'd both be happy with a draw? 
I'm a moderator on a pompey forum and we'd love to read your views on the match. 
Were a friendly bunch, so if you want to exchange views with pompey fans please feel free to register and post on our forum. 
You'll be welcome. 
They'll be a match thread going up after tomorrow's games are done and dusted. 
We look forward to welcoming you. 
Good luck for your remaining games. 
Please register and post your views here 
https://www.thepompey.uk/
 

I went to Mount Everest a few weeks and loved it, food and staff were excellent and I enjoyed it much more than when I've been to the more expensive restaurants nearby - I'd definitely recommend it to anyone.

It's a while since I've been to Mount Everest but I've always had a good meal there. The Nepalese dishes are very good though you can get a Madras or Korma etc. if you want.

Maybe because Coors is all about lager, which thinks it is a beer but isn’t.
I suspect that we donate the next match’s  lager when we point Percy at the steel wall prior to the match and at half-time! 🤪

I'd have to agree with you. Both Doom Bar and Pedigree are not the beers they used to be. It's still possible to get tolerable pints of either, but if they're anything less than immaculately kept, they're rank. Bass is similarly prone to being badly kept.

Doombar is what not to like - how Coors can be allowed to change the recipe and percentage and take it from a lovely beer to the slop it is now without being made to change its name should be against the trade descriptions act - think I'd rather pay £2 not to have it to be honest - carry on everyone, rant over 😂

Doombar is what not to like - how Coors can be allowed to change the recipe and percentage and take it from a lovely beer to the slop it is now without being made to change its name should be against the trade descriptions act - think I'd rather pay £2 not to have it to be honest - carry on everyone, rant over 😂

Doombar is what not to like - how Coors can be allowed to change the recipe and percentage and take it from a lovely beer to the slop it is now without being made to change its name should be against the trade descriptions act - think I'd rather pay £2 not to have it to be honest - carry on everyone, rant over 😂

I really hope the club are monitoring the regulars on Social Media that have sold tickets throughout the last two seasons to get in the highest points category and they are stripped of their memberships

Too many muppets on X requesting other people's memberships to buy tickets. There's a system for a reason! 

Shall we concentrate on getting there first ?

Wow. Better quality football seen in a game between two highly ranked international teams than in a game between two league one teams. A truly startling revelation.

I know he's no McFarland but he's a class above Claude Davis in my opinion - you must've never seen him play, have a bad memory or just don't like him to suggest he's worse than Davis.