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Derby County v Stoke City


Bwash_Ram

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14 minutes ago, BondJovi said:

I have nothing against Martin, but he scores his second of the season and is heralded as the messiah. I didn't want him gone but things like this are madness. I'd rather we looked to the future.

Who is heralding him as a Messiah - typical response, wild extremes! I said he'd be good/better than Nuge playing with Waghorn and/or Marriott. Our current strikers haven't exactly set the League on fire. He's a clever player, why shouldn't he be in our future? He's a year of his contract left here as far as we know. Ditching players because they've been here a while or haven't been utilised properly seems the easiest thing to do. Buy a new one then - £5m spent on Waghorn. Rehabilitating Brad,  shows it can be worth trying the 'old'.

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58 minutes ago, Steve How Hard? said:

I'd probably bracket myself as a super fan of his but definitely not deluded. It's pretty obvious that his time here is done unfortunately. That doesn't stop me appreciating what he did whilst here. Without getting drawn in the whole debate once again, I just don't get the smug derision that some seem to thrive on. @AdamRam seems to sum the situation up the best in his post above. I'm probably being too idealistic thinking we could just all appreciate his past efforts, wish him the best and move on. I realise that is never gonna happen though. 

Trust me I’d want that as well, it’s just it’s either extreme that bothers me. Those saying Martin would fire us to the top two are talking tripe, but equally those who say he was always poo are also talking tripe. Appreciating what he was and moving on is what we all need to do, either end of the spectrum.

Think the more important debate is on our current strikers and whether we need an upgrade in the summer or not cause there’s certainly debate around their current form to be had.

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Anyway, back to the footy from last night: If only for an extra inch here or there, or an extra inch less here or there! We had 4 shots on target which Buckland got his sticky little hands on, we hit the woodwork twice and had two shots go less than an inch past the post. On another night it could have been 4 - 0 to the mighty Rams!

I missed the first 15 minutes after driving up from Cornwall in my HGV - thanks Boss. I know we didn't win, and we didn't score (the two might be related), but I was satisfied because yet again, there was progress. What caught my eye was that we were pressing and harrying much better last night - not always snapping into the tackle, but getting in their faces pretty well, to the point that on numerous occasions we forced them to go from attack all the way back to Buckland. Admittedly, they weren't too bothered about the attacking side of the match, but we didn't let them settle.

Lawrence was the best we have seen in ages, including tracking back, so maybe the rest while recovering has done him some good. I don't think anybody had an off-night last night, although some reckon Harry Wilson to be below his best. Although many of his challenges are a bit light weight, he never gives up. And he came into his won once we changed to playing the ball on the floor instead of long into the channels. He also seemed to get a bit of licence to roam and cut into midfield, linking play together. Stand out was Bogle who had MacLean in his pocket for all but one of the 90 minutes. He was very accomplished both defending and attacking, although crosses were in need of a little work.

Strangely for me I thought the ref did reasonably well, which is one hell of a complement coming from me! He didn't do much to stamp out the thugging and underhandedness which is Stoke's game, but only missed out when Lawrence was taken out in the first half, signalling no foul when he had both legs whacked from under him, needing several minutes treatment, and a red for an elbow/arm in the face of Wilson(?) in the second half.

As I said, it is great to see the team making progress and improving. Whether it is enough for a promotion push I don't know, or whether it is in preparation for next season maybe - in which case it is more a case of progress for Frank and Jody, who may well have a rather different squad to work with next season. It would be good to see us being quicker to shoot, and quicker to the second ball. Lawrence coming back has shown us what we have missed in his absence, and Mount is to come back soon, so putting all this together, who knows what we could end up achieving?

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12 hours ago, Premier ram said:

our lack of cutting edge and inability to score off crosses has managed to get us into a play off position though hasnt it ?

Not for much longer, and we have had a reliance on individual brilliance. Getting into the play offs also doesn't mean anything as on current form we won't stand a chance of winning them. With Mount back things could change, but I am not convinced at all in the ability of any of our strikers to be able to play as a lone striker, none can win headers and they don't have the hold up play we need.

 

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2 hours ago, WAGHORNY RAM99 said:

Not for much longer, and we have had a reliance on individual brilliance. Getting into the play offs also doesn't mean anything as on current form we won't stand a chance of winning them. With Mount back things could change, but I am not convinced at all in the ability of any of our strikers to be able to play as a lone striker, none can win headers and they don't have the hold up play we need.

 

Huddersfield managed it without winning a game and were awful in the last 10 matches .  We did it in 2007 whilst in poor form .  Blackburn beat us and only just scrapped in.  Hull and QPR were dog****.  The key to playoff success does tend to come down to being solid in defence so that could be our undoing.    playoffs generally come down to who holds there sphincter in check not form.

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