Wistaston Ram

Be good to have a comparison with 84-85 as well, our first season back in Division 3. Hopefully this season follows the pattern of 85-86 and not the previous season!

I thought i'd show a comparison to our promotion season from this division in 1985/86 for a bit of fun. I'll try to do it game by game if there's any interest to read it.
Game number 9 was a 2 - 0 away win at Cardiff City & took us to 13 points - so we're ahead of that. Attendance was just 3,435 at Ninian Park
We'd just beaten Div 1 Leicester City 2 - 0 in the 1st leg of the Milk Cup
It appears that you could only name 1 substitute then as well which surprised me
Starting lineup:
Goalkeeper Mark Wallington
Right back Charlie Palmer
Central defender Rob Hindmarch
Central Defender Ross Maclaren
Left back Steve Buckley
Midfielder Steve McClaren
Winger/Midfielder Gary Micklewhite
Midfielder Geraint Williams
Forward Trevor Christie
Forward Bobby Davison
Winger/Midfielder Jeff Chandler
Substitutions: Paul Blades for Steve McClaren
 

Thanks for your ratings and input of comments for the Plymouth Match. The infographic is presented below. I've only just got over the sting of that game but now am starting to see that it was a timely defeat and has given us perhaps a more realistic appraisal of where we are as a team.
Summary
McGoldrick was statistical MotM with an average rating of 7.20, with NML not too far behind on 6.86. The average player rating was 5.77, with 8 players above average and 7 players below. The red dotted line is the cut-off point. It's interesting that the ratings bear out what many were commenting during & after the game ie that our midfield department was just not right and that's where Plymouth won the game. You'll see that the lowest ratings were given to midfielders Thompson, Hourihane & Bird.  NML actually got the highest single rating of 8.5, thanks to Chadlad, followed by McGoldrick with a series of 8.0 scores. The Tony Hatch award went to CBRammette who gave an overall team rating of 71.50, some 5.89 points lower than the average team rating of 77.39. Given the home defeat, it will be of no surprise that the average aggregated team rating is the lowest thus far this season; the next lowest was the 80.98 scored for the Oxford United game, which was a victory so surprising that it ranks that low. I will catch up with the Lincoln City ratings tomorrow (should be interesting) and the Wycombe game will follow quickly after that. The international break will enable me to pin some season to date analysis which I'm looking forward to doing because I do think there will be some interesting insights - not least that the player with th ehighest average ratings to date this season is not NML or McGoldrick (although they are close) but a certain Jake Rooney. I appreciate he has played fewer games but the 2 that he has played he was rated consistently high by a large volume of raters. I think he is good enough to make a claim to a starting spot, and deserves a league start or at least an appearance from the bench when fit. He could be another great find and he could also give Bird a new lease of life because he has notably suffered poor form of late.
 
Thanks for your help and keep the ratings coming in. They will make a great record for the season. 

To sum up....Half time Forest 1 up, Derby 1 down. Full time you know the rest... nice weekend.

Its a common saying over in Staffs.

'Round the Wrekin'  eg I had to go round the Wrekin to get here... meaning a large detour. Does anyone (outside Shropshire) say this phrase or was it just my dad?

It's better than no Club.

Joe Ledley 

'Round the Wrekin'  eg I had to go round the Wrekin to get here... meaning a large detour. Does anyone (outside Shropshire) say this phrase or was it just my dad?

To sum up....Half time Forest 1 up, Derby 1 down. Full time you know the rest... nice weekend.

I have enjoyed the home games (even Plymouth), but up until Saturday the opponents have largely tried to play football, so I am expecting more time wasting, park the bus tactics in future games.  Away, it has been frustrating, but it has been refreshing to visit new grounds and I am sure things will turn once we start being more clinical in front of goal. Never really expected much more than mid table this season followed by a promotion push next season. Nine games in, a shot at the play offs now seems realistic.

And Leicester ?

The shirts used in the 1996-97 Promotion campaign, runners position assured in that final game v Crystal Palace and we were into the Premier League, goalkeeper home and away, home away and yellow third shirt, @pumafootball at its best ! #dcfcfans 

Wildsmith 7
Chester 6.5
Knight 7
Roberts 6.5
Cashin 7
Davies 6
McGoldrick 7
Sibley 7
Hourihane  7  (up until 71 mins would have been 5)
Mendez-Laing  7.5
Bird ? 6
Collins 6
Barkhuizen  6.5
Forsyth  6

Wildsmith 7
Chester 6.5
Knight 7
Roberts 6.5
Cashin 7
Davies 6
McGoldrick 7
Sibley 7
Hourihane  7  (up until 71 mins would have been 5)
Mendez-Laing  7.5
Bird ? 6
Collins 6
Barkhuizen  6.5
Forsyth  6

I loved that today. First 20 mins were poor but we improved and then the subs / change of formation really changed the game. I thought McGoldrick was excellent and so good to have Knight’s energy in midfield, he made loads of forward runs. And hats off to Wildsmith, I’m starting to really like him.
The view from behind the dugouts was great, I’ll definitely try to get that seat again if I’m on my own. All in all a very nice way to spend my birthday.

Wonderful player and shirt. He created one of my favourite memories that season grabbing the winner at Sheffield United in the FAC.

Hope you have a very happy birthday!

Hope you have a very happy birthday!

Wonderful player and shirt. He created one of my favourite memories that season grabbing the winner at Sheffield United in the FAC.

Wonderful player and shirt. He created one of my favourite memories that season grabbing the winner at Sheffield United in the FAC.

Wonderful player and shirt. He created one of my favourite memories that season grabbing the winner at Sheffield United in the FAC.

A shirt that is a privilege to add to the collection, our brave captains shirt from the amazing promotion season of 1985-86 from division three, the start of the DCFC rebuild under Arthur Cox, a brave player who lead by example on the pitch RIP Rob Hindmarch.#dcfcfans