Derby v Lincoln City

[Mucker1884]

I've only caught up on the posts to half time, so far.

The number of posts treating that HT score as game over is quite embarrassing.  "Throwing 4 points away in two games".  "Ward costing us two games in a row."

Dear oh dear!  🙄

Ah well... I'll go and catch up on the second half posts now... still in with a chance of winning this game on aggregate!  🙄

[Blondest Goat]

5 minutes ago, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

What Sibley did was exactly what Bird and Fornah don't.  Give a defence something to be concerned with, by running at them 40 yards from goal rather than collecting sideways on and moving slowly.  it's shifting them from a a comfortable position in their own third and making space.  Sometimes he's better at it than at other times but I can't see any benefit in him sitting on his arse watching Fornah looking like Bambi on ice for an hour. He's a better player.

They're not the same age though mate so you can't compare them.  Apparently.

[jono]

21 minutes ago, valakari said:

Ward can't defend, certainly need Nyambe  back asap.

Collins touched the ball approx 7 times in the whole game. His first touch was in the 34th minute!

Cashin and Nelson were outstanding...

Deserved the 3 points overall..

What ! .. Collins ! he ran himself in to the ground leading the line, harrying, provided, assisted linked and scored. 
yes, Cash and Nelson were brilliant. The team played the ball to slowly, it wasn’t a great game, we started slow but we’re in contrail after the goal, only to let them back in. How many saves did our keeper have to make ? = 1 ?

Lincoln weren’t dangerous but they were very well organised kept a shape really well (something we helped by so pedestrian at times ) 

 

[Caerphilly Ram]

 

[Archied]

Will take that , yes we are frustrating at times and that’s not down to warne it’s down to the players who just at times pass very poorly , there’s a reason we don’t play through the middle much , it’s because we hit poor passes and players are drawn to the ball rather than moving intelligently to create space and options , it’s not all on warne demanding the ball wide every time , then we have little spells where we click and don’t force it and hey presto we look like a team , bloody shame that last minute penalty for Wycombe 😡,

the haters popped in again briefly tonight I see , I mean ffs some people really need to get a grip , Paul warne is a football manager , he’s doing an ok job at worst and on top of that it’s clear he is a decent kind of human being , the crap aimed at him from some on here is beyond the pale 

[Eddie]

It's a work in progress - and given the utter sterility in attack, crab-like midfield and frailty at the back during the first few games of the season, there has been a huge amount of progress. We're just a couple of wins short of the magic 'two pints - er, sorry, points per game'.

Long may it continue.

[Gee SCREAMER !!]

2 minutes ago, jono said:

What ! .. Collins ! he ran himself in to the ground leading the line, harrying, provided, assisted linked and scored. 
yes, Cash and Nelson were brilliant. The team played the ball to slowly, it wasn’t a great game, we started slow but we’re in contrail after the goal, only to let them back in. How many saves did our keeper have to make ? = 1 ?

Lincoln weren’t dangerous but they were very well organised kept a shape really well (something we helped by so pedestrian at times ) 

 

Cashin is doing a lot more of what I suggested would turn him into a top end championship defender last season .  He's learnt to not spend the first 15 minutes of a game smashing into people head on and stopped playing too tight on quicker forwards leaving no room to recover if he's turned. 

He'll be a good player at the next level but a couple more years till he's better than that, but he could be.  It will be a loss when he goes and not sure we'll be able to get him back on loan like we almost did transfer deadline day.  We really should push for a sell on. 

[jono]

3 minutes ago, Blondest Goat said:

They're not the same age though mate so you can't compare them.  Apparently.

Oh yes you can because they are all younger players with time to develop. 

For the record, Sibley added some much needed drive and pace tonight but still decided to go for glory when he had options on either side of him. Fornah has a superior touch and ball skills. I think could be an interesting player if he develops well. Sibley had great energy. The comparisons are useful. Comparisons with an old established player at the end of his career can only be valid if you’re talking about a specific game/performance, or just your own personal favourite. 

[Sparkle]

Decent 3 points as Lincoln will take points off other sides 

when is our real right back available because ward isn’t one and to be honest wilson is no better at right back but as wide right midfielders they are both fine.

our first decent penetrating pass was made by Sibley when he came on and he should have had that rebound on target 

I have no idea what Fornah is told to do but he does tend to just go sideways and backwards as a first instinct which kills any positional momentum that we sometimes have.

Barkhauzen had a bit of a stinker with his crossing to no one but we seem better balanced with him starting 

NML had a quiet night but he did have at least two players marking him 

two nice strikes from Houriahan and Collins 

merry Christmas everyone 

[Returning ram]

Haaland is acknowledged by many as one of the best centre forwards at the moment, I hate to use stats because they need context and you can spin them anyway to prove a point, but I personally think a CF will have less touches because you want them in the box more, it's what they do with them that counts more than the quantity.

Against Red Star Belgrade EH had 16 touches, Against West Ham it was 22 touches and Fulham 17 touches. Today Collins had 17 including one goal 😏

[MACKWORTHRAM]

Some people on here are pretty harsh on Collins tonight. Not sure what game some are watching if they think he played poorly.

Chased absolutely everything down. Couple of lovely touches. The one chance we created for him. He scored from.

Doesn't matter who's upfront in this team with the service they get. Some of the crosses from Barkhuizen were a hate crime. He did everything I'd want my centre forward to do. Worked his arse off, led the line, had one chance and took it. Fully deserved his goal.

Thought the first 10 minutes of the first half we couldn't get going, but credit to Lincoln for starting on the front foot. But after that I thought we took control and deservedly took the lead. 

Can't legislate for Ward giving that penalty away. But it just highlights for me what I knew. He's not an out and out right back. But it gave Lincoln a massive lift and they came out second half and started well again. But again after 10 minutes we took control and deservedly won. 

Wildsmith hasn't had a save to make and other than a really good block from Cashin, they never troubled us.

I heard one fan moaning outside the ground that it's not "sexy football". Hate to break it to you mate but sexy football doesn't exist in this league. It's all about winning and getting out of it. 

Much better performance than Saturday. Big win against a decent side.

I honestly think people are disappointed not to see us play teams off the park for 90 minutes. Which is never going to happen.

Wilson did well when he came on. Nelson and Cashin outstanding.

Get to January in touching distance of the top and we've got a great chance if we can strengthen well.

Up The Rams!

Merry Christmas to you all. Hope you and your families have a good one.

 

[California Ram.]

Rare trip home for this one - thought centre backs were excellent, two great finishes, easily the better team - as is so often the case in this league. 
 

great numbers from Lincoln fans on a Thursday night for their cup final. Thought we were quiet, but I was in the West Stand so it might have been that !
 

Ward’s crossing in the first half (particularly his corners) is a real strength despite his moment of madness in defence. Just not quite sure where he fits in defensively.  Nyambe was a great signing and want him back. 

great to see Thompson back on the pitch. Hope he can play a significant part second half of the season. 
 

[Scott129]

Not a brilliant performance from us but you'd struggle to find a more comfortable game than that. Not sure Lincoln had a shot besides the penalty.

[Mucker1884]

Looking at the fixtures, I'm very much looking forward to another win against Lincoln in a months time, going top, and celebrating my birthday all on the same day.

[norwichram]

Thought Warne did well tonight. Good decisions. As someone else said his interview made a lot of sense too. 
 

good goals. Sibley Wilson cashin and Nelson played well. 
personally thought Collins was fine and did finsih well which was good to see. 13 goals (admittedly a fair few in Papa johns pop idol st Johnstones paint confederations cup) 

wish we didn’t flaming drop those  two pints .. 

January on and off the pitch vital but so are these next three games 

good to see thommo back - another rnidfield option 

 

hapoy Christmas you filthy animals hope you are all well and enjoy the next weeks or so

DTID

[BramcoteRam84]

Very decent win tonight. Thought Lincoln were decent at times. Moved the ball well, tough game but also one that played into our hands as Lincoln weren’t spoiling the game (unlike Wycombe). Professional performance result never really in doubt after Wilson goal. 
 

Keep thinking Hourihane should be dropped but he’s one of the few (possibly the only) player in league 1 who could score that goal, he’s not had many chances like that, technically outstanding. Like his leadership but with Tommo now coming back then he’s potentially droppable - if Fornah is performing which he didn’t necessarily tonight. 
 

Foz I’ve been critical recently but no issues tonight although pleased Elder is back to keep him honest. Ward cannot play in a back 4, he can’t defend - it wasn’t a pen last week although it was poor defending, this week it was a stonewall. His crossing was straight to the keeper. Wilson made a huge difference when he came on. 
 

Wasn’t Mendez’s night tonight but thought Barkhuizen was a threat. Collo did little tonight and was really quiet, until brilliance from Kane found him and he scored with an excellent finish. Delighted for him, so many times he’s run his heart out for little reward.

The centre halves were excellent once again, Cash outstanding defending to prevent a goal, Curtis Nelson is a league one Igor!! Class! 
 

Big result tonight with tricky games over Christmas, the acid test for us ahead of the January window.

[B4’s Sister]

It’s a long way to Lincoln when you’re 💩 That chant made me laugh 😂 Enjoyed the match tonight. Had a pic with Rammie too 🐏 

[Jourdan]

Massive result and a case of job done and move on. Winning when you are not at full flow is so important.

However the performance really underlined that the balance of the team is not quite right. For me, it raised question marks over Ward, Barkhuizen and the midfield. Better teams would exploit these weak points.

The conditions were probably a factor in the performance - it was very cold and windy all day. It certainly looked like it led to some less than composed passes and some unpredictable bounces and movement.

But that aside, you can see why we are amongst the chasing pack and not champions in the making. We are a top six side missing some extra quality and balance to make us a genuine and sustainable top two side.

Maybe January will help..:

[DerbyAleMan]

A really happy Ram tonight. Thought we was good in periods , kept our heads after Ward gave away a terrible peno, why dive in there I will never know, great goal from Hourihane, and a great finish from Collo for the third, thought Cash and Nelson where excellent again, great partnership, also thought Wilson was good when coming on, Hourihane and Fozzy also had good games, so tonight has made my Christmas. 

Happy Christmas to all Rans fans on this forum, lets get promotion this season in the memory of B4. 

Edited December 21, 2023 by DerbyAleMan

[TuffLuff]

My take from watching on RamsTV, but I feel somewhat we are currently playing in second gear. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, in that I think how we are playing is pushing teams out of position and we find gaps on the wing or around the box, but it’s also can be a slog to watch. We spent years in the champ working out how to break through teams that sit in at PP and maybe this is a good way to counter it.

We won’t get away with it over the next few games, and I don’t think Warne is best pleased with the last couple of performances either so I expect something to change. We will have a very good indication about where we are after Jan 1st I think.