Wistaston Ram

I'm home and just cracked open a nice bottle of German Christmas beer in celebration.  Guess it has all been said, but nights like tonight make the life of ram all worthwhile, this was better than Port Vale last season. I hope I get my voice back tomorrow, maybe the beer will help.

I'm home and just cracked open a nice bottle of German Christmas beer in celebration.  Guess it has all been said, but nights like tonight make the life of ram all worthwhile, this was better than Port Vale last season. I hope I get my voice back tomorrow, maybe the beer will help.

Just back. First thought... Match thread's gonna be an absolute doozy. Thank you fellow Rams, you didn't disappoint. And this on the same day that we discover Roymac hasn't got a willy too.
Time for a single malt and some group texts to Oxford supporting pals, I reckon.

Caught up on the thread, my only piece to add is that the Derby fans were excellent tonight. Even at 2-0 down, the support for the team was outstanding. Dont tell me that doesn't make a 1 to 2% difference to the players on the pitch.

I'm home and just cracked open a nice bottle of German Christmas beer in celebration.  Guess it has all been said, but nights like tonight make the life of ram all worthwhile, this was better than Port Vale last season. I hope I get my voice back tomorrow, maybe the beer will help.

I'm home and just cracked open a nice bottle of German Christmas beer in celebration.  Guess it has all been said, but nights like tonight make the life of ram all worthwhile, this was better than Port Vale last season. I hope I get my voice back tomorrow, maybe the beer will help.

I'm home and just cracked open a nice bottle of German Christmas beer in celebration.  Guess it has all been said, but nights like tonight make the life of ram all worthwhile, this was better than Port Vale last season. I hope I get my voice back tomorrow, maybe the beer will help.

I'm home and just cracked open a nice bottle of German Christmas beer in celebration.  Guess it has all been said, but nights like tonight make the life of ram all worthwhile, this was better than Port Vale last season. I hope I get my voice back tomorrow, maybe the beer will help.

I'm home and just cracked open a nice bottle of German Christmas beer in celebration.  Guess it has all been said, but nights like tonight make the life of ram all worthwhile, this was better than Port Vale last season. I hope I get my voice back tomorrow, maybe the beer will help.

I got home earlier than expected from parents home. Checked for tickets in home fans at 5.15 and I'm here now!

Cracking view of the carpark. No buses parked tonight hopefully.

Cracking view of the carpark. No buses parked tonight hopefully.

Cracking view of the carpark. No buses parked tonight hopefully.

Just arrived in Oxford , off for a few beers , good luck to the lads tonight , safe trip for fellow Rams who are travelling , COYR

1Wildsmith 6
24Nyambe 7.5
35Nelson 8.5
6Cashin 8.0
3Forsyth 7.5
2Wilson 7.5
22Fornah 6.0
8Bird 7.5
4Hourihane 7.5
5Bradley 6.5
20Elder 6.0
7Barkhuizen 7.0
19Sibley 6.0
11Méndez-Laing 6.5
9Collins 7.0

Back home after a very satisfying performance, just lacking the goals we deserved.  Sat with the home fans who were very impressed with how we played, less so with Wigan who were a shadow of the team who played at Pride Park. Looking forward to Oxford and nothing to fear if we can reproduce the performance, desire and hard work of today.

Honestly, almost from the first minute, it never felt like a game we could lose, despite the wasted chances and a scoreline that suggests a close match-up. The fact is, we absolutely battered this lot. For nigh on 70 minutes, they were chasing ghosts and some of our football was as slick as I've seen since Mac1. Our work off the ball was excellent too, by far the best I've seen under Warne, with a bristling Conor Hourihane at the heart of it. I think we've got the old man fit at last and we're a better side for it. Some consistency now please skipper! As much as anything, that off the ball work the lads were putting in today is what gets the coaches purring. That and clean sheets.
So where do we stand? On this kind of form, where we're beating teams quite comfortably, even in games where we are not playing at our best, I reckon we are a prime candidate for the autos. Our defence seems impregnable, bar occasional brainfarts (we are in L1 after all*) and we remain a tad goal-shy on occasions*, but we are now starting to exercise real control in games. Critically, I think there's still gears left in this side and in fitness terms, the value of a full pre-season this year is clear to see. Some kudos to Warne on that score, at very least. Some are only just now finding their legs (see Hourihane), whilst NML can now run flat out for 70 to 80 minutes, when last season he was gassing out before halftime. We may not have the searing pace of youth that some sides boast, but we'll run harder for longer than most in this division and I genuinely believe think we'll finish as strongly as we have done in a very long time. Like butcher's dogs, this lot.
A last thought would be around the transfer window. My mindset has changed on this in recent weeks, mainly because the lads are stepping up and filling what I'd considered to be gaps. I no longer think of this window as 'critical', though I obviously agree that a couple of decent signings might further strengthen our chances, hopefully without disrupting what appears to be a well settled squad. Wanting a statement win against Oxford to take us into that window might perhaps be greed on my part, but I can see us doing, it at which point Derby County become the fox in the henhouse with everyone else just hens. Honestly, that's how I see it right now. Few will want to play us, that's for sure and that will present some new challenges, I concede, but taking a pragmatic view, that's quite a luxurious 'problem' to have. I can't say I've watched a lot of the other teams in and around the top, but on what I have actually seen, there's no side we should fear. Quite the opposite.
A swift closing doff of the cap to Curtis Nelson. It seems a case of, Curtis is dead, long live Curtis, as we've lost one warrior to father time, but found another in his stead. He and Ryan Nyambe are our best signings in feckin years and just look at how they've got Eiran playing. £3 million? Brighton can feck right off! Somehow, old man Fozzy keeps running through the pain and that back 4 is a collective monster right now. Frankly, if anyone gets us promoted, it'll be those lads.
COYR
 
 
 

And Derby County U21s to win the EFL Trophy

Back home after a very satisfying performance, just lacking the goals we deserved.  Sat with the home fans who were very impressed with how we played, less so with Wigan who were a shadow of the team who played at Pride Park. Looking forward to Oxford and nothing to fear if we can reproduce the performance, desire and hard work of today.

Back home after a very satisfying performance, just lacking the goals we deserved.  Sat with the home fans who were very impressed with how we played, less so with Wigan who were a shadow of the team who played at Pride Park. Looking forward to Oxford and nothing to fear if we can reproduce the performance, desire and hard work of today.

Back home after a very satisfying performance, just lacking the goals we deserved.  Sat with the home fans who were very impressed with how we played, less so with Wigan who were a shadow of the team who played at Pride Park. Looking forward to Oxford and nothing to fear if we can reproduce the performance, desire and hard work of today.

See you at Wigan on Boxing Day. 

Last time I predicted a run of three games, I was castigated for saying that I would be happy with a point from Stevenage (might have been useful in hindsight), so to spare me the wrath of 'the spirit of the 70s champions' I'll say nine points (although I would be happy with a point from Oxford!)

4 of us leaving shortly to go and support the U18s at Old Trafford tonight, want to wish the lads luck and make us proud , a tie with Swindon awaits the winners COYR

I think both players are available as the cut off point for five bookings was last week?