Port Vale (A) Tues 24th Jan

[CBRammette]

34 minutes ago, DavesaRam said:

OH WHAT A NIGHT! 

I got up at 3.15 yesterday morning for work, and arrived home at 12.30 am this morning. Cream crackered but the best spend of energy ever! And Vale's idea of away fans catering meant that I didn't eat till 11.30 pm, a food gap of 10 hours! I got some ale in, though! And no, I wasn't driving for this match!

Th match itself was frenetic for most of the time, partly because we tend to high-press more than we used to, and Port Vale were up for it, almost as though it was a cup final! There have been loads of comments about how poorly we played, but bottom line is that we had to adapt to playing on a cabbage patch - hence the propensity for the long ball game. Someone spoke about the degrading pitch, but whether that was because it was degrading to play on, or steadily getting worse as the match wore on they didn't say. It was both! So some of the poor finishing, and poor passing was because of the terra firma being so bobbly. And some was because we didn't have a good night.

But the match I was watching Vale were quick and having a go, but didn't create that many  chances until they had scored. By contrast Derby looked threatening, and early on were the ones creating the opportunities. In the end Warne thought our tactics were the best way to go, and he has done well on that score, particularly recently. And having 18 (?) shots with 5 on target in an away match is pretty darned good, don't you think?

Davis was excellent in the first half, and NML is consistently playing well. But stand out to me was Barkhuisen. Like NML on Saturday he had his full back on toast - several times the full back simply whacked the ball into touch when there was no-one near him, he was so rattled. So when Dobbin came on, it was Open Sesame! The full back was not only either useless or knackered, he was a beaten man. Quite rightly Dobbin was given man of the match, because he ended up with 3 shots on goal, and created 3 chances, in only a very short space of time.

It did seem as though it was going to be one of those nights where no matter what we did, the ball simply wasn't going to go in. But the persistence was amazing, and paid of - testament yet again to Paul Warne's fitness regime - we kept motoring on despite having had a draining match on Saturday while Vale had their feet up. And as ever the ref played his part. He booked a Vale player very early on, but that was it. We got 5 minutes of good ref, then it was back to normal. Yet again, all Vale had to do was gently sit down and it was a free kick, while being free to simply run at a Derby player with both arms forwards and push the Ram out of the way without censure. Smith went down holding his face in our area when there was no-one within 2 or 3 yards of him - thankfully the ref let Vale down on that one. And after we went a goal down, Barkhuisen was all-in-wrestled away from a through the ball , and when Didsy went to pick the loose ball up he was hacked down right on the edge of the box, but nothing was given for either. Terrible refereeing, and we only ended up winning because Vale obviously didn't pay the ref as much as they did for the match at Pride Park, allegedly.

The away end was deafening all night, apart from when we were "Sssssshhhhhh"ing at the Vale librarians! And to see the whole team celbrating at our end for the second goal was brilliant. IT was very, very special.

Unlike the burger van outside, although it did serve some very tasty looking items - none of this "Do you want onions or cheese on it? There you go", but properly assembled pieces of art. But like many Rams, we baled out in order to get to out seats for kick off, nipping out at half time instead, only to get to the front of the queue to find that he had run out of food! Massive starvation feelings, but perhaps he had planned it well to run out with only a dozen or so left in the queue. H no doubt made a killing, especially at £7 a go, but surely he would have know that it was an away-end sell out. If he had more than just himself serving, and brought more food to begin with he could have made 30 - 50% more sales. What a missed opportunity. We walked past the chippy in a side street near the ground on the way in because of the queue, and it was closed when we came out. A chippy closed before 10 pm? Good grief!

So we finally got home at 12.30pm, still absolutely buzzing, still floating on air, and for the second match in a row I was leaping around like a madman for the goals! I haven't done that for years, but simply can't help myself! Something very special is happening.

Its a great time to be a Ram!

So when and what did you finally get to eat?

[Leeds Ram]

Watching it on rams tv the away end sounded absolutely immense. It looked like one of those nights where we just weren't going to score. But Warne has molded this team into a machine that chews out results and batters teams. If Vale's legs went that's because they were under constant pressure for the final 30 minutes that they eventually broke. We had half a dozen chances that should have ended in a goal. They can have few complaints, apart from a 10 minute spell where they could have scored a 2nd and put it beyond us they didn't look like winning the game. 

Even if we get in the playoffs who is really going to want to face us? If we're firing on all cylinders and keep our players fit then on current form I fancy us against anyone. I think davies and forsyth as a pairing are vulnerable to pace in our current tactic, something which makes getting cashin back so important. But we have options up front to mix it up, again perhaps one more body would be helpful. But our midfield looks a standard above most of the division atm.

[Betty Swollocks]

35 minutes ago, Ram@Lincoln said:

The BBQ outside the turnstiles was absolutely fantastic, the best food I've had at a stadium in a long time. 

I had the Chicken Jerk Wrap. It was superb

[RoyMac5]

 

[Valiant59]

2 hours ago, Srg said:

Being up in the posh seats last night, it gave me a much different look at our away support. I can honestly say, without bias, if that support had been in the away end at Pride Park we'd have unanimously said it was the best away following we had seen in a long time. Didn't stop the entire game.

As a Vale fan I was gutted after the match but the consensus among our fans was that the best team won. Thought we edged a tetchy first half but after scoring we sat back and invited you on and you duly obliged. Last 20 minutes you looked like a top of the table side. That was the best our goalie has played all season! Unfortunately both our main strikers(Ellison and Wilson)! are out injured so we were VERY limited up front. As for the away following, I thought you lot were superb. Sang loudly all through the match apart from, understandably, the 10 mins after we scored. I've supported Vale since 1969 and think overall that was THE best overall away backing I've heard in that time. You should be proud. That stand you were in has excellent acoustics and will be our home end next season with away fans being housed in the stand opposite you last night. As for on the pitch I'd say, though you only really started playing late on, you were the second best team I've seen at Vale Park this season, with Ipshit being clearly the best. Hope you get promoted with Sjoke City exchanging places with you! Again, great effort by your support last night! Our pitch is s*** but looked like Wembley compared to the old Baseball Ground mud heap of the 70s. Didn't seem to hinder Kevin Hector, Roger Davies or Alan Hinton? too much though.

[RoyMac5]

#titter

[G STAR RAM]

2 hours ago, ram59 said:

That's ridiculous, if Accrington went into administration tomorrow, are you saying that their new owners would have the same budget restrictions as Derby, whilst averaging less than 3k attendances?

The restrictions are linked to costs of running the stadium and such like and also linked to the expected income of the club.

Are they? Where did you get that information from? Would be interested to read it please.

I'd say its more ridiculous to give a team more leeway because their turnover is high, ignoring the fact that they went into administration despite that level of turnover.

Edited January 25, 2023 by G STAR RAM

[Mr Tibbs]

1 hour ago, kevinhectoring said:

You’d eat humble pie if his effort onto the bar had been a half inch lower. 

If only yeah. We could just ignore the reality of the situation and say he's a really good finisher if you like. I like Dobbin but I don't understand the need to lie about an area he is currently extremely poor in. 

1 hour ago, kevinhectoring said:

It’s a bit early to make up your mind

I don't think you've read my posts if you think that. 

[angieram]

 

[Grumpy Git]

1 hour ago, Ellafella said:

Wow! Now that is statement art. Did you get a picture? 

[scout's dad]

13 hours ago, Yani P said:

The PV forum keeps banging on about our massive player budget..they clearly know nothing about our massive restrictions in place for this season and next.

Maybe they need to factor in xS into the PV business model - expected supporters?

[Ellafella]

4 minutes ago, Grumpy Git said:

Superb thanks @Grumpy Git?

[Foreveram]

11 hours ago, angieram said:

Just got home, I'm hoarse, got sore knees from too much bouncing and ringing in my ears from the absolute bonkers noise in the away end.

It's nights like these that David Clowes has given us back when they were so nearly taken away from us.

As for arguing about budgets and squad values, tonight of all nights!  There's only one thing you need to know - the togetherness of owner, squad, fans - it is priceless. 

 

Rubbish view, not the best of games, took ages to get home, those last few minutes made up for everything though.

[Ram@Lincoln]

51 minutes ago, Betty Swollocks said:

I had the Chicken Jerk Wrap. It was superb

Likewise - it was absolutely excellent. Derby's catering has a lot to learn. Sorry to hear that they didn't have enough to go round all, sure they're used to small crowds but this has been sold out for weeks now.

[ram59]

29 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

Are they? Where did you get that information from? Would be interested to read it please.

I'd say its more ridiculous to give a team more leeway because their turnover is high, ignoring the fact that they went into administration despite that level of turnover.

I was just using Accrington because they have the lowest gates. I was trying to say that any business plan would have to be unique to each club, taking into account overheads and income or turnover. You're saying turnover shouldn't be part of the thinking, which can't be right. Pride Park and our training ground cost more to run than theirs, so that would also be a consideration.

A club like Accrington's turnover is a tiny fraction of Derby's, it would be irresponsible to give them a business plan including an identical budget for players'wages. I would imagine that even our restricted wages budget is 2 or 3 times higher than their turnover.

[Foreveram]

1 hour ago, DavesaRam said:

Stop rubbing it in!!!

Chips and Curry from the chip shop on May st were really good as well.

[Reggie Greenwood]

2 hours ago, Ellafella said:

What a night. PV away goes down in the annals of top away games:

a. Leeds away

b. Brighton away

c. PV away.

I was right in amongst the melee - pure pandemonium and all I can remember is Jason Knight’s face in contorted exclamation whilst seemingly we were all in a big rugby scrum. Got back around 13:00 and the adrenaline was still surging. Priceless. 

Spurs away in the Cup 1973 wasn’t half bad either ?

[Scott129]

1 hour ago, Crewton said:

On a slightly sour note, we had the usual problems caused by the "we'll sit/stand where we want" brigade. The gangways were clogged up with people who said they couldn't get to their allocated seat, made worse by the numbers of stewards who continually ran up and down them shouting " please keep the gangways clear" but doing nothing about it. That probably added to the pile-up when the goals were scored. Fortunately it seems, no-one was seriously hurt, but it looked at one stage like that body was going to be piling on body with some poor beggar at the bottom.

I arrived about 5 minutes before kick-off and it didn't seem like the stewards knew what they were doing. We were just told to go in any gate and sit anywhere ?‍♂️

[Ram@Lincoln]

27 minutes ago, ram59 said:

I was just using Accrington because they have the lowest gates. I was trying to say that any business plan would have to be unique to each club, taking into account overheads and income or turnover. You're saying turnover shouldn't be part of the thinking, which can't be right. Pride Park and our training ground cost more to run than theirs, so that would also be a consideration.

A club like Accrington's turnover is a tiny fraction of Derby's, it would be irresponsible to give them a business plan including an identical budget for players'wages. I would imagine that even our restricted wages budget is 2 or 3 times higher than their turnover.

Did you see the tweet the other day from one of their directors? They literally made £2.99 profit from a home game. Without knowing much about Derby's accounting, I'm pretty certain we make more than that per game.

 

[angieram]

31 minutes ago, Foreveram said:

Rubbish view, not the best of games, took ages to get home, those last few minutes made up for everything though.

I had a bloke a similar size as that pole in front of me last night. He was taller than me despite being a row down! Lots of dodging about to get any sort of view.

At least the pole stands still. ?