Match Thread: vs Blackpool (h)

[JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta]

Their lad Dembele might be the most pathetic player I have ever seen in terms of physical presence.

Someone within a meter of him? Time to go down!

[Wignall12]

2 hours ago, Mucker1884 said:

 

Flob-a-dob !

[Caerphilly Ram]

2 hours ago, Wolfie20 said:

The ref was overly fussy but can't recall any major errors but the twonk running the West Stand line was just an incompetent buffoon.

That’s what I meant, no glaring errors as such but felt like he wasn’t letting the game flow and anything that could be deemed a 50/50 or “coming together” became a foul when it didn’t need to be. 

[Carl Sagan]

48 minutes ago, Matchday Fred said:

What was left full-back Sibley doing on the right-wing just before the goal ? That’s some version of ‘total’ football.

I presume he'd just taken an inswinging corner. On the radio in the bit I was able to listen to, they were saying Sibbo's corners were very good (as I think they always are).

[jono]

2 minutes ago, Carl Sagan said:

I presume he'd just taken an inswinging corner. On the radio in the bit I was able to listen to, they were saying Sibbo's corners were very good (as I think they always are).

He was everything the recent Sibley has been. Some good positional play, a couple of clever darting runs, beat a man with some beautiful twinkle toes. A bullet of a left foot shot just over the bar. Then mix in some lousy passes under minimal pressure, got shoved too easily off the ball, slow to react. … Will the real LS please stand up. He confuses me ! 

[MaltRam]

That was a nail biting, glorious, low rent league 1 scrap. I loved it, and after April I never ever want to watch anything like it again.

[kevinhectoring]

Was relieved to discover that news of an injury crisis was exaggerated 

Thought the first half was good - especially down the right where Ward and Wilson showed why they should have started together more often.
 

I didn’t like the sitting back at the beginning of the second half - we could have lost control. But OK,  with Adams, Smith, Nelson (how cool is that man) and Cashin (showed his class), we are unlikely to concede  

Up front? Hard to know what to say. It’s as if the players miss training but instead sit in isolation cells listening to podcasts that debunk the merits of a co-ordinated, team based approach. By the standards of this league the players we have (NML, Washington, CBT) are strong enough. But together they are so much less than the sum of the parts. Thank goodness our other 8 players are so much better than the average. Maybe Warne might use Elder at LB (if it’s 4 at the back) and have Sibley sitting behind the front men. He could give Sibs a large syringe labelled ‘play football’ that he sticks in their bums every time they come close. Now we’re seeing how valuable Barks was. 
 

After 41 games Warne has surely understood at last that starting Hourihane was the feckless error of a man bewitched by a CV. And that picking Hourihane and Bird as starters in an alleged high energy set up was lunacy. It’s now pretty clear that the players’ captain won’t  start again. If he does, we deserve to be in the play offs. Carry on with today’s team and approach and we’re well set for automatics.    COYR

Edited March 29 by kevinhectoring

[DesertRam]

Just over the moon, what more can you say   🌜

The promation Gods are smiling....

[SKRam]

Just crawled into my pit. Great to see old friends and banter at the Exeter Arms pre match. We were behind the shot which was something special and deserved  to win any match . Will rate players when I’m  sober as for now I’m  a very content and drunk Ram . 
Goodnight Rams wherever you are. Lots to do still but hey we’re sitting pretty and content yes?!! 🐏

[SKRam]

I’d like to add when Collins came on he was so very effective in what he did. Always underrated. He will rise again 

[DB83]

7 hours ago, Ramarena said:

We scored from open play. 

Ward carried the ball forward and crossed, the clearance went out wide to Sibs who crossed and the Blackpool clearance was lashed home by Adams. 

Some folk are just so blinded by their hatred of Warne that they don’t even bother actually watching the games any more. They just pray for us lose so they can spew their toxic negativity yet again.

[Oldben]

https://www.derbycounty.news/analysis/forget-ebou-adams-71-touch-derby-county-titan-was-the-real-match-winner-v-blackpool/

Cashin exhumed class with the ball at his feet by making 71 touches, placing 50/60 passes accurately (83%) and three long balls while putting his body on the line for the team; blocking two shots, making four clearances and winning six aerial duels.

Those statistics won’t surprise anyone associated with Derby, but it does place his name further in the shop window.

Here they point out why cashin was our best player on the field.

[Anag Ram]

I went to the game yesterday anxious about our lack of goalscoring options.

The team looked bold on paper with ostensibly four forwards even though Ward was being used as a right sided midfielder.

I didn’t think the formation worked that well in the first half. Washington and NML struggled to make an impact and Ward looked ill at ease trying to decide whether to tuck in or move wide. 

The goal was a beauty and I hope will be the first of many for Ebou. He’s had so many shots blocked in recent weeks but this one was unstoppable.

 I fully expected us then to get two or three more. Blackpool looked really poor. 

However, the stop start nature of the second half was in their favour and we sat back. They gained confidence and kept possession well.

I thought Kane Wilson was excellent in the second half and his trickery got the momentum back and we managed the last ten minutes well.

This team doesn’t quite gel as the sum of its parts suggests it should, but it has a lot of spirit and that’s commendable.

The defensive seven, from Wildsmith to Smith and Adam’s would be the envy of the division.

Bravo team. You showed guts and determination. Rest up and prepare for an even tougher match on Tuesday.

 

[Chester40]

1 hour ago, DB83 said:

Some folk are just so blinded by their hatred of Warne that they don’t even bother actually watching the games any more. They just pray for us lose so they can spew their toxic negativity yet again.

This was in response to me...and I've been 'pro' Warne all along.

Plus I was at the game,  willing us on!

Sibley was only that side when taking corners which is where my confused comment came from.

So...your 'some folk' rant may still be true, but it's totally misplaced in relation to the origin of that comment.

I was with a couple of 'casual' fans at best and they found the game pretty uneventful. The couple of us who are regular fans found it gut-churning and ultimately enjoyable but it was the context that gave most of the emotion. 

The blocking of shots, desire to get a head on a cross etc was great to see. But we rarely committed ourselves, no one really went beyond the striker,  Wilson stayed solidly in position and generally passed it backwards rather then take on his man or overlap.

The victory was everything.  

My observations are though that we make it hard for ourselves by constantly taking a pretty pragmatic approach. When you're winning that's fine but it makes for quite stressful viewing at times. Blackpool looked pretty toothless and we generally handled them well but they had a decent chance at the end poorly struck/bravely blocked and if that had gone in then this thread would be twice as long.

[FlyBritishMidland]

Another professional performance.  NML and Washington were used (and I use that word as a tactical instruction) as players coming back from knocks.  No relentless pressing but more effective, at the right times.  The midfield looked balanced and the defence was solid, as it usually is.  For all their possession in the 2nd half, Wildsmith only had the free-kick to save.

The results went for us.  Just like our little wobble last week it was the same for the rest yesterday.  1 month and 5 games to go 🐏.

[Van der MoodHoover]

Very important result and what sounds like sensible management of players to avoid aggravating injuries/recovery.

Performance good enough - now time for a masterclass in poohousery to see if we can nick a scruffy and undeserved result at Pompey.

Just caught up last couple of months with the Promotion Rivals thread. It looks like we've managed to be steady whilst others have wobbled.

So let's keep the pressure on, Rams!

[Archied]

A win was everything yesterday and it was warne and the players job to get that win ,,, bugger all else mattered, it was a tight first half where we edged it and got the lead ,

second half started and boy was I frustrated for a while , said to my wife that we seemed to want to play like we are 3-0 up and game over , we gave them space to play and like everyone else I was shouting at them to wake up and press on to them but soon got the nagging feeling we were happy to let them play and have space in areas they wernt hurting us , get in our shape and not chase everything, dive in and get played round then hit them on the break , we may not like it at times , we may wrongly feel we are being massively outplayed at times but by god it was a mature performance, free from the naivety that has plagued us at times ,

paul warne ? ,,,,like him or not ( i really like him and want him to be given the chance to see how much more he’s got) those who come on here and call him a clown , a kick and rush merchant without a clue or even a thought on tactics are very very wide of the mark ,

warne and his team may not always get it right ( who does ) but make no mistake, there’s a lot of hard work and thought going into how to beat each team we come up against , they are not clueless kick and rush merchants, you can’t and don’t have to get it right every time , you have to get it right more often than not and enough times over a season to do well and even get promoted,

at the end of games Paul warne is the one I have a main eye on going round the ground to applaud fans and hope he’s really enjoying it , I want to see him start the bounce if and or when we are promoted with the biggest smile on his face as I’m pretty sure he will when he feels he’s achieved something, the target promotion not a fleeting moment of a good win , that’s for us fans and the players ,he’s got a job to finish ,, you can bet he isn’t taking the players out for a wallet busting pxss up when the job is nowhere near done yet ,,, that’s what I see and like in warne and his team,

oh and another day I really enjoyed in a season im really enjoying,,,, live in the now folks is my advise🤷🏻‍♂️

[Chester40]

4 minutes ago, Archied said:

A win was everything yesterday and it was warne and the players job to get that win ,,, bugger all else mattered, it was a tight first half where we edged it and got the lead ,

second half started and boy was I frustrated for a while , said to my wife that we seemed to want to play like we are 3-0 up and game over , we gave them space to play and like everyone else I was shouting at them to wake up and press on to them but soon got the nagging feeling we were happy to let them play and have space in areas they wernt hurting us , get in our shape and not chase everything, dive in and get played round then hit them on the break , we may not like it at times , we may wrongly feel we are being massively outplayed at times but by god it was a mature performance, free from the naivety that has plagued us at times ,

paul warne ? ,,,,like him or not ( i really like him and want him to be given the chance to see how much more he’s got) those who come on here and call him a clown , a kick and rush merchant without a clue or even a thought on tactics are very very wide of the mark ,

warne and his team may not always get it right ( who does ) but make no mistake, there’s a lot of hard work and thought going into how to beat each team we come up against , they are not clueless kick and rush merchants, you can’t and don’t have to get it right every time , you have to get it right more often than not and enough times over a season to do well and even get promoted,

at the end of games Paul warne is the one I have a main eye on going round the ground to applaud fans and hope he’s really enjoying it , I want to see him start the bounce if and or when we are promoted with the biggest smile on his face as I’m pretty sure he will when he feels he’s achieved something, the target promotion not a fleeting moment of a good win , that’s for us fans and the players ,he’s got a job to finish ,, you can bet he isn’t taking the players out for a wallet busting pxss up when the job is nowhere near done yet ,,, that’s what I see and like in warne and his team,

oh and another day I really enjoyed in a season im really enjoying,,,, live in the now folks is my advise🤷🏻‍♂️

Agreed. It's obvious there are clear tactics being employed all over the pitch, when to press, when to turn back and pass, where the full backs move to at goal kicks, etc etc.

Most of them are quite defensive in nature for me. There isn't a lot of free-flowing football, much individual flair.

It's a resolute, strong, structured team. I won't look back on this as a season where we smash lots of teams on the way to promotion,  by design there haven't been many games where we have coasted to victory...so it feels similar to the Billy promotion. And when we are bad we are dire.

Ultimately I don't care,  I can't face the play offs. It would be nice to at least have 1 game where we are already promoted to actually soak it in...but the way we play I'm sure it will go to the wire!

[Tamworthram]

9 minutes ago, Archied said:

A win was everything yesterday and it was warne and the players job to get that win ,,, bugger all else mattered, it was a tight first half where we edged it and got the lead ,

second half started and boy was I frustrated for a while , said to my wife that we seemed to want to play like we are 3-0 up and game over , we gave them space to play and like everyone else I was shouting at them to wake up and press on to them but soon got the nagging feeling we were happy to let them play and have space in areas they wernt hurting us , get in our shape and not chase everything, dive in and get played round then hit them on the break , we may not like it at times , we may wrongly feel we are being massively outplayed at times but by god it was a mature performance, free from the naivety that has plagued us at times ,

paul warne ? ,,,,like him or not ( i really like him and want him to be given the chance to see how much more he’s got) those who come on here and call him a clown , a kick and rush merchant without a clue or even a thought on tactics are very very wide of the mark ,

warne and his team may not always get it right ( who does ) but make no mistake, there’s a lot of hard work and thought going into how to beat each team we come up against , they are not clueless kick and rush merchants, you can’t and don’t have to get it right every time , you have to get it right more often than not and enough times over a season to do well and even get promoted,

at the end of games Paul warne is the one I have a main eye on going round the ground to applaud fans and hope he’s really enjoying it , I want to see him start the bounce if and or when we are promoted with the biggest smile on his face as I’m pretty sure he will when he feels he’s achieved something, the target promotion not a fleeting moment of a good win , that’s for us fans and the players ,he’s got a job to finish ,, you can bet he isn’t taking the players out for a wallet busting pxss up when the job is nowhere near done yet ,,, that’s what I see and like in warne and his team,

oh and another day I really enjoyed in a season im really enjoying,,,, live in the now folks is my advise🤷🏻‍♂️

Agreed. It wasn’t pretty but that doesn’t matter right now. Just grind out the results.

No doubt some statto will come on saying we didn’t “deserve” to win because they had more possession (which they did) and completed loads more passes (which I assume they did) etc. but, as you say, it was a deliberate tactic to allow them to keep possession and pass it around where they couldn’t hurt us. I expect to see the same at Pompey - it’s not a game we’re likely to dominate.

It’s not a tactic you’d want to see deployed too often (especially at home), but sometimes it’s necessary.

 

[eccles the ram]

Definitely was what the doctor ordered yesterday. Ground out 3 points and thanks to a resolute defence had no goals against. Liked the flags on East and North stands. Hope this now continues. Crowd in good voice. Overall good day made better by results elsewhere. Tuesday is a different kettle of fish. Be over the moon to take a point but am not at all confident. Safe journey to all who are going. Hope the journey back is a happy one! UTR!