valleyram Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Like last season the only thing that can stop this squad of players going up will be how PC keeps everyone happy , mclaren couldn't and was hopeless at man management , I fully expect to pass him on the way down come May next year , and I'd be even more confident if Bryso was fit and playing alongside Hughes and Thorne , no championship team can afford to be without his energy and work rate and eye for goal and the fact mclaren picked Hendrick before him last season just about sums up how clueless he was Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Am Sheep Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Confident? Hell yeah. Last season I talked the talk but deep down inside, from the very first match against Rovrum I had some serious reservations. With SM it was 433 or not at all. The whole team revolved around playing this no matter what.As has been said we became predictable, easy to shut out and not exactly hard to beat. PC is showing some serious tactical astuteness because we clearly have at least 3 fully viable formations right now. There are square pegs in square holes, the players know exactly what is expected of them in each position, PC should know when to switch players and the formations at the right time. The players look so much more comfortable on the pitch because they know exactly what they need to do.It's not just the coaching side of things though. Weimann looks like an absolute bargain! A tough, hard working utility player than can create openings and will easily finish the Championship season on 10+ goals and 10+ assists. Ince is a touch of class, Baird has invaluable Premiership defensive experience which showed against Villarreal and Pearce is a competent defender (even if lacking in other areas), very Bucko-esque dare I compare the great man to anyone else.Oh and Shackell. Odds for Derby to concede the least goals?Last season was blind faith and optimism. This time around it's genuine belief that we have what it takes to absolutely ******* storm this league from the ground up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plymouthram Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Yes and no. Our attack is immense but apart from Shackell and Buxton we don't have any players that can defend. Statically we only had the 14th best defence in the league last season. I'd still like to see another defender arrive, maybe a right back. Quoting stats from last season don't wash with me. 14th best defence ! What about being top goal scorers after losing in the play off final 2 season ago. Yes we scored 84 goals then last season we scored 85. So we could concede more goals than last season and in the same season score 90+ goals and finish as champs. THREE factors count in getting a promotion spot in the championship. 1. A good squad 2. No major injuries to key players 3. A bit of luck. Look at all previous promoted teams in the championship and these 3 things do count. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StockholmRam Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Oh my God, I'd forgotten about Ramage Did anyone else here him say " Dawkins has been away playing for Jamaica in the AFRICAN NATIONS cup"!! He aint bright is he..but he makes me laugh and laughter is good. P.S... yes confident... cant wait to play QPR, Burnley, Leeds and Florists... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sexydadbod Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Did anyone else here him say " Dawkins has been away playing for Jamaica in the AFRICAN NATIONS cup"!! He aint bright is he..but he makes me laugh and laughter is good. P.S... yes confident... cant wait to play QPR, Burnley, Leeds and Florists...That was great. Glad the other commentators put him right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rynny Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Like last season the only thing that can stop this squad of players going up will be how PC keeps everyone happy , mclaren couldn't and was hopeless at man management , I fully expect to pass him on the way down come May next year , and I'd be even more confident if Bryso was fit and playing alongside Hughes and Thorne , no championship team can afford to be without his energy and work rate and eye for goal and the fact mclaren picked Hendrick before him last season just about sums up how clueless he was I think that is incredibly harsh, Hendrick and Bryson are both very good midfielders and have different qualities, and you pick the one in form, so to say choosing one over the other makes the manager clueless is just ridiculous. I would argue that Hendrick had a better season than Bryson and looked more comfortable throughout. You can argue why but there are plenty of other sticks to beat McClaren with but this isn't one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 I think that is incredibly harsh, Hendrick and Bryson are both very good midfielders and have different qualities, and you pick the one in form, so to say choosing one over the other makes the manager clueless is just ridiculous. I would argue that Hendrick had a better season than Bryson and looked more comfortable throughout. You can argue why but there are plenty of other sticks to beat McClaren with but this isn't one of them.Brotherly love. I can't blame valleyram for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilkleyram Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Whenever I think that overconfidence has replaced confidence my mind always goes back to August 16th 1980 when, along with several thousand Rams fans, I travelled to Cambridge to watch our first match of season 80-81 in Division 2. Despite Biley and Swindlehurst and Ramage (Alan not Craig) we were well beaten 3-0 and it set the tone for the season.We had been relegated the season before but we set out that day thinking we would sweep through the Division back into the first division. We ended up 6th, a long way short of West Ham who were promoted along with Notts County and Swansea. Villa were first Division champions with Ipswich runners up.We have a good strong squad with a good strong bench, but it will, as it always has been, a tough season with ups and downs and no guarantees of success.Can't wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ram59 Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 I remember that season, We were red hot favourites and the bookies were only offering 7 to 1 that we would go the whole season undefeated. We thought We would walk it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oomarkwright Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 I seem to remember Biley scoring against us, which led to us buying him from them for £300,000? was that the season before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 I seem to remember Biley scoring against us, which led to us buying him from them for £300,000? was that the season before? We signed Biley and Swindlehurst the season before, and thought that they were better than they were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam_DCFC_1994 Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 One week to go. Confident?"Let me put it this way... Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wearetherams Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Really cannot wait for this season to kick off- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gypsy Ram Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Did anyone else here him say " Dawkins has been away playing for Jamaica in the AFRICAN NATIONS cup"!! He aint bright is he..but he makes me laugh and laughter is good. P.S... yes confident... cant wait to play QPR, Burnley, Leeds and Florists...i agree, hes got a very good dry and dark sense of humour. I like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StringerBell Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 i agree, hes got a very good dry and dark sense of humour. I like it.I love how keen Ed Dawes is to stick the knife in. He even started implying Ramage was under the influence a couple of times. "What's in that bottle you keep drinking from Craig?"They don't seem to be to everyone's taste but they're a funny double act. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintRam Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 In fairness to Craig, a lot of people aren't 100% sure where the Caribbean is. Still funny though. I also liked the "a bag from a local store is blowing across the pitch..." "Aldi." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 I've got a little frisson of excitement running through me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramsbottom Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 I'm excited as every year. But I was never more confident than after we signed Thorne. We were so fast and frightening coming off the back of that season. Felt like a real desire to go and show how cruel that Play Off final was.Who was left to keep us outside the top 2? Brighton? Nah, destroyed them and beat them 4 times. Norwich? Maybe. Fulham? Wigan? Couldn't see those forcing us outside the top 2. We had a reputation and going into the season it became clear that a draw at the ipro was considered a great result by other fans. Thorne would be back in the new year. Between old reliable Eustace, who was fine for the majority of the season before, and a Real Madrid youth I thought we'd manage ok. Cyrus Christie was comparable to Wisdom. Not as good but he looked close enough. To not even get in the top 6?!I'm cautious this season. I'll be happy to be in that top 6. More reasonable expectations this year.Teams aren't going to stand back and admire us. We're a big game now. When you play Derby then you have to step up. Just like we have against Newcastle, West Brom, West Ham, Forest when they were expected to be successful. You set up to stop them. You grab a point or 3 and everyone says "if we play like that next week" ( But you don't. You go and play a boring 2-0 defeat at a midtable side) This why coaches say the best don't kick back. You have to work harder than everyone else. You have to have more answers. You drop to 70% and you lose because everyone brings their best out for you. And this is the Champ. The level between us and our rivals isn't as big as the gap between to top PL sides and their rivals. They can get away with 70% sometimes. This is where I think we have got it right with bringing PC in. He's coached players amongst the top 20 in the world and has seen and (i'm sure in some cases) improved their work ethics. He knows the standards our players need to aspire to.I know it's a cliche we spout every year (especially when Nige finally had his side...) but if we're there or thereabouts after 10 games I can see us kicking on and going up top 2, as by that time Clement's ideas will be bearing fruit and the lads will trust his methods. As @Derbados says, in theory our spine is really good for this level and I pray that Thorne can get around 30-35 games this season as we're a different side when he's in the mood to boss it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van der MoodHoover Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Confident about getting off to a good start. Bolton look to have picked up injuries and can't be a happy ship given that every second story is about the amount of their debt. The rest of the season is a widely expanding "funnel of doubt". I'm expecting 6 points from the first 2 games and a brim full of confidence performance against Boro tho..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintRam Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Confident about getting off to a good start. Bolton look to have picked up injuries and can't be a happy ship given that every second story is about the amount of their debt. The rest of the season is a widely expanding "funnel of doubt". I'm expecting 6 points from the first 2 games and a brim full of confidence performance against Boro tho..... I'm expecting 3 from Bolton, Charlton aren't injury riddled though and they don't have debt. Still we are at home I suppose. Boro will be a very interesting game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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