Derby County v Wigan Athletic

[Ramarena]

11 hours ago, Woodley Ram said:

I might be alone here but I would give him another contract and play him, he is the only one we have who isn’t bullied in midfield. 

I’ve been advocating for BJ to be back in the team for weeks now. However I’m not sure I’d offer him a new deal unless he took a big pay cut, his signing hasn’t offered value for money.

If we can get two midfielders (one experienced, one youngster) who are similar to BJ in style (eg: tough, ball winners who can drive the team on) and improve on his passing which is BJ’s big weakness then I think we will have done well! 

[RoyMac5]

1 minute ago, Ramarena said:

I’ve been advocating for BJ to be back in the team for weeks now. However I’m not sure I’d offer him a new deal unless he took a big pay cut, his signing hasn’t offered value for money.

He's another that seems to be in and out like...

But wouldn't a new contract be good for offsetting FFP losses compared to letting him go on a free?

[Ramarena]

7 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

He's another that seems to be in and out like...

But wouldn't a new contract be good for offsetting FFP losses compared to letting him go on a free?

Possibly as I’m guessing the loss is deferred. Haven’t delved into the intricacies of FFP to be honsest.

I wouldn’t have a problem with it if he stayed but my ideal scenario would be a fresh start with an experienced midfield battler who can also pass, alongside a younger understudy in a similar mould.

Our midfield desperately needs toughening up without losing the skill/creativity as last night showed.

[RedSox]

21 hours ago, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

I scored a goal like that in an FA cup qualifying game once . I'm not sure how as I played right back .  It was enough for some Division Three scouts to come and watch me from Stockport but they left when I put a free kick out for a throw in .  Never heard anymore from them strangely enough.

@Gee SCREAMER !!Forgive me if someone’s already asked, but was yours a “screamer” by any chance? ?

[Spanish]

1 hour ago, Ramarena said:

Possibly as I’m guessing the loss is deferred. Haven’t delved into the intricacies of FFP to be honsest.

I wouldn’t have a problem with it if he stayed but my ideal scenario would be a fresh start with an experienced midfield battler who can also pass, alongside a younger understudy in a similar mould.

Our midfield desperately needs toughening up without losing the skill/creativity as last night showed.

I would GUESS that keeping him may provide another £2m for another player.  I really don’t THINK that we have fully discounted bj, Anya and butters.  Hopefully I’m wrong

[Gee SCREAMER !!]

22 hours ago, RedSox said:

@Gee SCREAMER !!Forgive me if someone’s already asked, but was yours a “screamer” by any chance? ?

We were 3-1 down at the time . Might call it more of an angry strike .  Hit the net like Thors hammer

[DavesaRam]

Well done, sarf standers for getting the vocal support up and running strong from the start, and keeping it going for most of the match! After recent performances, especially against Villa, t was a tremendous effort. And once we had equalised, getting the various stands to start the bounce was a great idea. We even invited the North Stand to have a go, although the librarian was probably tut-tutting at the inconsiderate and disruptive behaviour! And we got the Wigan fans to do a start as well! Credit to them!

Frank mentioned the support in his RD interview, and also spoke of the team having a desire to move the ball forwards quickly, and it sounded like we were back to the good old days of a few months ago. The reality wasn't quite so good. It was better than recent efforts, but we were still dilly-dallying about at the back, and needing a touch too much in midfield, but we were prepared to put the ball into the channels, and we did have a number or raids on the Wigan goal. But there were still mistakes a plenty, with Malone and Carson figuratively carrying a red carpet under their arm just in case they got a chance to roll it out for Wigan. Thankfully the visitors weren't up to it, until we made sure, giving them a 2 on 1 situation, and they happily obliged.

Most people think that they started time-wasting from that moment onwards, but in actual fact they were doing it right from the start, including kicking the ball away to a distance of 30 yards, right in front of the ref, who did absolutely nothing. He nipped the time-wasting in the bud by pointedly looking at his watch. The net effect though was that there was only 3 minutes of time added on at the end of the first half, which including about 3 minutes of treatment to injured players. All it needed was  as strong warning, and a yellow card early on, but the ref never did. I am sure that as he runs by you can hear the swishing noise of his thighs rubbing together because there aren't any balls in there to keep the thighs apart.

The second half started pretty much the same as the first, but two incidents changed things around. Firstly was the introduction of Ewan Holmes and Mason Bennett, and suddenly we were playing football. Both Holmes and Bennett are able to keep hold of the ball, and they got us playing it around much better than we have for ages. And secondly, Wilson appeared to be scythed down in the area. From the South Stand it looked a clear penalty, one of the clearest this season, but there are many people who say that he dived. He sort of dived in the first half and ended up getting a bank on the head, but there was a Wigan defender blocking our view of the actual challenge, so peno or not I can't say. It got the fans dander up, and seemed to get the players kicking on. For the next 10 to 15 minutes we were all over them and in those situations you can sense that a goal is inevitable. And so the least inevitable goal did come. And yes, Bennett did mean to go for goal. If you watch the replay ............. go on ,you can watch just one more time ............... he turns his head and watches the flight of the ball after it left his foot. If it was just a hopeful flick, he would have looked round afterwards to see where it ended up. But watching the ball in flight means he meant it to be a shot. Brilliant!

The biggest irony of the night was the ref booking Wilson for diving, because the first free-kick of the evening went to Wigan, when one of their forwards knew that he had lost the tussle with Tomori, as many do, and simply stopped a fell down forwards. So he should have been carded as well, as should two others, one of which threw himself to the floor while about 10 feet away from the nearest Derby player. There were several  very nasty fouls, including off-the-ball elbows to the head on both Wilson and Johnson, both needing treatment. The time-wasting and hefty challenges should have resulted in a bout 8 yellow cards for Wigan. But it would not surprise me in the least to learn that we got more yellow cards than they did. Tomori's card was sort of understandable because of dissent. However it followed an absolute deluge of awful decisions. One wonders if we can request that certain match officials never darken or doors again (Fergie managed to do this quite successfully), but that would leave us with very few match officials available!

Tuesday night was a significant result, and a great step forwards, but it isn't the end of the season. there is still plenty of work to do, but having been in the doldrums, sometimes all that is needed is the right result. That we showed improvement as well is a bonus, and we need to take that boost with us as we take on Sheffield Wednesday. WE need to just be ourselves and not worry too much about what the Wendies are capable of, more we need to let them worry about us.

Well done you Rams. Well done you fans!