Derby v Lincoln City

[Ghost of Clough]

9 minutes ago, S6 boy said:

I think the recruitment has been fine. Is it only 18 months since we had five players in preseason?! We now have decent players in every position and back ups too. In normal years if you got three players that were better 'like for like' you'd consider it a good window. Nelson and Nyambe have sorted our defence. The likes of Elder, Ward, Bradley, JJ etc. make the bench look strong compared to most teams in this division. If we can pull a couple of rabbits out of the hat in January top two is on. If not next summer we'll improve again and top two will be a very realistic aim next season.

Recruitment has been hit and miss. The main reason for that (in my opinion) was recruiting without any real plan in mind, other than playing 3/5 at the back. At the start of the summer, it looked like we wanted to primarily play 3421, then we missed out on targets and changed to 3412, then later settled on a form of 4231 after the window closed. The most evident point was signing 2 RWBs, then signing a RB in September. We failed to sign a LWB too. We also only signed Waghorn because Forsyth brought him in to training for his testimonial.

The good
Vickers - good backup and is very good backup if Wildsmith is unavailable at any point
Nelson - been an excellent partner to Cashin and they have a good understanding of each others games
Nyambe - Starts when fit. Arguably the best defensive RB in the league, although may have to move to RCB when we inevitably change to a back 3/5
Wilson - a great entertainer with his dribbling. We just need to decide where his best position will be

The not quite so bad
Elder - signed to play the wing back role which he isn't suited to and been injured since we changed to a back 4. Needs time to get back up to speed, but I can see him settling in well at LB and providing good competition with Forsyth.
Fornah - I said when he joined that he isn't much of an improvement on Smith. Needs to improve in a lot of areas if he is to play in the #8 role.
Waghorn - an excellent start but average since. After 5 goals in his first 4 games (186 mins) he's only scored 1 goal in 12 games. Has now only played 9 minutes in the last 2 months due to injury.

The bad
Bradley - was signed to marshal our back 3, but has been largely disappointing the majority of the time. Winning only 2 of the 5 games he's started is alarming (Burton and Northampton).
Ward - hasn't settled, with his 2 month long injury not helping. Been at fault for 2 of the only 3 goals we've conceded in the last 7 league games. He isn't a RB, so we'll either need to change back to wing backs to accommodate him, or move him to the wing.
Embleton - Could have been a very good signing if it wasn't for his injury. The fact is, he was only fit for 1 game before cutting his loan short (but still paying his wages)
Washington - Injured through the summer, out for 2 months in the current spell and likely out for a further 3 months.
John-Jules - on this list because he's only been able to play 84 minutes in the league so far. Could easily become a good signing if he can avoid injuries and extend his loan.

[Crewton]

11 hours ago, PrideParkhead said:

Never hated a manager more than Warne. A complete charlatan & he knows it, hence the jovial nonsense to deflect how he's turned us into a Sunday League team. Not stepping foot in PP again until he's booted down the road. 

 

[Tamworthram]

57 minutes ago, InstaRam said:

Nah, this league this season is abysmal. Expect us to dictate play in the 2 upcoming away games and should have nothing to fear. Anything less than 4 points would be a failure. 

Only thing that should be a risk is if we sell our players (Bird, Cashin) and try to replace them. Warnes recruitment was far from good and most of our actual footballers was here before Warne. That is my only fear for now. 

It astonishes me that some people suddenly think we’re going to boss this league for the remainder of the season. We might well do and, of course, I hope we do but we haven’t managed to up until now and whilst we’re on a good run of results I don’t think anyone would say we’ve turned the corner in terms of performances. 
 

At least 7 points from the next three games (obviously the ideal would be wins against Peterborough and Oxford) and a decent transfer window (with incoming and retaining key players) and I’ll be getting my boarding pass (even if it does have to be checked 3 or 4 times for every game 😀) for Automatic Promotion Airlines.

[VulcanRam]

4 hours ago, SKRam said:

Realise some won’t be happy till we’ve won League 1 but in the meantime…… We’ve had worse league tables to look at on Christmas Day. 
Merry Christmas 🐏 everywhere 

That’s isn’t the Christmas Day table, everyone is playing tomorrow, by which time we might be fifth again by Christmas Day!! 

But I take your point, it looks decent 🐏 

[Mucker1884]

I like having a player called Fozzle.

Either that, or I need new specs. 🤓

[VulcanRam]

I enjoyed last night, compared to some of the dreadful games we’ve seen this season, it was a good open and attacking game at times. Lincoln came to give it a go and looked a threat at times. We controlled much of the play and at times some decent football broke out.

Hourihane I thought was excellent first half, controlled the game and scored a cracker. Cashin and Nelson rock solid. Wilson changed the game. Collins led the line really well and took his goal excellently. 

Couldn’t work out what Fornah and Bird’s roles were first half, seem both to playing as really advanced midfielders sitting behind Collins, which left large gaps all over our midfield. Ward should only play as a winger or wing back, he’s no more of a right back than Collins.

Overall it was a good performance which made Warne’s interview even stranger than usual. Is it a dig at the board as he knows what’s about to happen in Jan? Who knows, but you’d have thought we’d lost the way he was talking. 

Nod to the referee, who I thought had an excellent game. Let it flow, didn't allow time wasting, got the bookings right, took his time with the penalty decision and got that right, and largely let the game flow. 

[Crewton]

8 hours ago, Caerphilly Ram said:

Love the angle behind the goal for Hourihane’s strike, seeing the way he anticipates the ball’s movement, sets himself and strikes it so sweetly is so satisfying to watch. I think he’s as good an option as any to play the “10” role if it’s goals and assists we need, might not have the legs to press as well as others but his technique for striking the ball must be right up there compared to his colleagues. Play Bird as the deep lying player with Hourihane and Sibley/Tommo ahead of him. 

Those are top quality goals. I hadn't appreciated at the time that Collins' had deliberately hooked the ball back towards Hourihane - and it showed why Hourihane should be up there to take advantage of those situations. Fornah/Smith -> Bird -> Hourihane might work better if Hourihane has to play. Equally, if Thommo can recreate the form he found at the start of the season, he could be an effective link between defence and attack.

Loved NML's superb cross and Wilson's pirouette and through ball too.

[jono]

1 hour ago, Gaspode said:

Even better that it was their annoying No 6 that he made look stupid - the bloke was a complete and utter twit all evening….

He was VERY annoying wasn’t he ! 🤣

it’s a weird thing about going to live games. There’s always one particular knob on each team that stands out. He was last nights for me too 👍

[angieram]

8 minutes ago, jono said:

He was VERY annoying wasn’t he ! 🤣

it’s a weird thing about going to live games. There’s always one particular knob on each team that stands out. He was last nights for me too 👍

Who was ours? 😉

[Crewton]

One worrying aspect last night (and I've noticed it a few times this season) is that there seems to be an epidemic of prostate ailments among young men, judging by the number of times some of them need to go down to the concourse during each half. I hope they all get medication or a catheter and bag from Santa because it must be distressing for them 😉

[Anag Ram]

It’s heartening that we can win without really playing well. It’s a team that seems to find goals out of nowhere. 

I’m still not sure what our best starting eleven is, particularly in midfield, which seems to operate the wrong way round. Bird should be collecting from the back four and distributing the simple passes and Hourihane should be in advanced positions where he is a goal threat.

Anyway, Wilson and NML bring much needed excitement to the game and should start.

Merry Christmas everyone 😊

 

[Old Spalding Ram]

Premier League Thurs 21/12/2023

Crystal Palace 1 - 1 Brighton & Hove Albion

Attendance 24,171

 

EFL Sky Bet League One

Derby County 3 - 1 Lincoln City

Attendance 27,192

 

…………no further comment required. 👍🐏

[Crewton]

9 minutes ago, Old Spalding Ram said:

Premier League Thurs 21/12/2023

Crystal Palace 1 - 1 Brighton & Hove Albion

Attendance 24,171

 

EFL Sky Bet League One

Derby County 3 - 1 Lincoln City

Attendance 27,192

 

…………no further comment required. 👍🐏

Equally pertinent, 27,000+ crowds in your last home game before Christmas in League 1 aren't for everyone:

 

[Ram-Alf]

10 hours ago, uttoxram75 said:

I think we have to accept that we can’t dominate and play with that intensity you mention for 90 minutes. What we have to do is take our chances when we have our periods of dominance. 

This👍

If we can stop the silly penalties, If we can fly out of the gate from minute 1, If we can dominate a team for 60mins, If we can put more of our chances away, If we can put the fear of God in  the opposition...then automatic promotion is on 👍

We sort of flatter to deceive without dominating, We're doing just enough instead of being the dominating team, As I've said I follow the games on here, You get a fare balance of play and thought, Up until our second goal even on here I could feel the angst, I or 2 posters were optimistic but a good few were as we are at times frustrated.

I think we know we have a very good squad if not the best squad in league1, I think the squad also believe this, 3 tricky games now to come, We're more than capable of 3 wins if the players are at it, From what was a big gap a few weeks back has now closed so I'll leave this post with one quote.

"Portsmouth we're coming for you"  

[ariotofmyown]

14 minutes ago, Old Spalding Ram said:

Premier League Thurs 21/12/2023

Crystal Palace 1 - 1 Brighton & Hove Albion

Attendance 24,171

 

EFL Sky Bet League One

Derby County 3 - 1 Lincoln City

Attendance 27,192

 

…………no further comment required. 👍🐏

Before the games, I was joking with a Palace mate about an invented rivalry which no one understands, but enough about Derby vs Lincoln, Palace are also playing tonight.

I also sent him that stat after. 3k more for the huge Derby vs Lincoln clash of the titans than the bloodthirsty action in the so-called M23 derby.

[Comrade 86]

39 minutes ago, S6 boy said:

I think the recruitment has been fine. Is it only 18 months since we had five players in preseason?! We now have decent players in every position and back ups too. In normal years if you got three players that were better 'like for like' you'd consider it a good window. Nelson and Nyambe have sorted our defence. The likes of Elder, Ward, Bradley, JJ etc. make the bench look strong compared to most teams in this division. If we can pull a couple of rabbits out of the hat in January top two is on. If not next summer we'll improve again and top two will be a very realistic aim next season.

Hark at Facty McFactFace, with your powers of rational observation. Well look here sunshine, as a relatively new member of the forum, you are afforded the one pass, but I'm afraid that's done now and I must now insist that you observe forum traditions for all future posts and stick to whingy hyperbole. Nit-picking is acceptable in the advent of us scoring 3 or more goals, but if you fail to identify something to moan about on all other occasions, you're not trying hard enough. FWIW, forum protocols dictate that you may loosely refer to 'feeling mildly upbeat', but the more tangentially you express such notions, the better as happy people make unhappy people even less happy and we can't have happy folk making unhappy folk even unhappier, can we? Top tip; try following any vaguely positive remark up with a negative conditioner, for example; "Yeah, I know that we won 4-0 today and we've won 6 from 7, scoring bucketloads, but Louie Sibley...." Works a treat!

For future reference, if at anytime you fear that you are once again succumbing to any feelings of even mild positivity, please just consider that we'd never beat Man City with this lot of cloggers and you should find your yin instantly realigned with your yang. On the rare occasions this does not work, I usually try to visualise Margaret Thatcher in her undies as I find that a rage / nausea combo is a quite effective buzzkill. That said, I'd only advise using this technique when literally all else fails.

A last word on your ridiculously positive end-note; please see my reaction to that below, as expressed through the medium of GIF.

Ta,

86 x

[Comrade 86]

19 minutes ago, Old Spalding Ram said:

Premier League Thurs 21/12/2023

Crystal Palace 1 - 1 Brighton & Hove Albion

Attendance 24,171

 

EFL Sky Bet League One

Derby County 3 - 1 Lincoln City

Attendance 27,192

 

…………no further comment required. 👍🐏

[kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong]

1 hour ago, Chester40 said:

It was a difficult game to judge certain players because our tactics were so clear. Keep playing it from side to side across the back, push Forsyth and Ward up and have them slide it down the line to Barks and NML to drive forward. 

It meant that especially Bird rarely touched it first half and Fornah was isolated at times. Ward kept getting the ball but didn't take his man on and his crosses were being cleared  near post. Barks was poor in my opinion, his crosses weren't great and he kept wandering offside or making the wrong run.

Lincoln were happy to sit in and take the point. Terrible penalty to concede. Barks didn't give much cover and Ward was reckless. 

We started the 2nd half quite poorly but the substitutions gave us some momentum. Wilson's goal gave us breathing space and Lincoln came out their shells and we won quite comfortably then.

Nelson and Cashin won everything, both immense. Fozzle and Hourihane worked hard and were good. Collins worked his socks off but he doesn't look like he will nick us that crucial goal  from nowhere or make the run that turns the game.

Warne's interview was a bit odd. Overly negative, quite awkward as well ..not jovial. His 'maybe this is as good as we are' answer was an interesting one. It's what a lot of fans are thinking/saying but seems strange for him to say it.

 

I didn't see it as weird.

Warne wears his heart in his sleeve and despite the win he clearly wasn't remotely happy with the performance, particularly of some players (ward especially) and finds it hard not to show exactly how he's feeling.

I'm glad he wasnt happy with that,we can and have played a lot better and we need to strive to improve if we are going to go up in the automatics.

 

[Ram-Alf]

10 hours ago, MACKWORTHRAM said:

Some people on here are pretty harsh on Collins tonight.

I'm a Collins fan, The work rate he gets through far out weighs the negatives of his Mrs 😁 in front of goal, A sort of battering Ram, A player that gets in the faces of the defenders, Some one who's there as a minder, Yes he could have 5/6 more goals than he has, He's in the box and not hiding, He doesn't miss on purpose, And I like the way he blows kisses to the South Stand when he scores 😉

1st one on the team sheet for me☺️

[Archied]

1 minute ago, kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong said:

I didn't see it as weird.

Warne wears his heart in his sleeve and despite the win he clearly wasn't remotely happy with the performance, particularly of some players (ward especially) and finds it hard not to show exactly how he's feeling.

I'm glad he wasnt happy with that,we can and have played a lot better and we need to strive to improve if we are going to go up in the automatics.

 

Oh come on kash you know the deal , if warne is upbeat and seems to overate the performance it’s a stick to beat him with , he does the opposite and isn’t too pleased with the performance it’s a stick to beat him with 🤷🏻‍♂️

jeez we’ve been told he is jovial to cover the fact he’s a fraud at this management lark and he knows it 😂😂,

his job is to get us promoted and it seems to me he’s having a stab at it ,, personally I quite like the bloke based on what I get to see , I also think he knows he is giving a bit back to the over the top faction who grow more and more frustrated and in some cases even hateful with him and the team getting results , fair play to him , I hope to be bouncing when he starts the bounce when we get auto spot or win play off final at Wembley