Prediction for how it will end

[Charliegeorge1962]

Beat Blackpool on Friday and Stevenage do us a favour too.

Pboro will have a one too many games in a short period and blow it.

I actually think will get a draw at pompey.

Wins against Orient Carlisle and Cambridge

Loss against Wycombe.

13 pts

Finishing up with 91 pts

[eccles the ram]

Normally I am a glass half full person but with all these injuries and the stupid sending off I feel the playoffs are inevitable. We will finish fourth and hopefully get to Wembley where we play Lincoln. We may get most of our injured players back for the playoffs but time will tell. Feeling downbeat at the moment but will be roaring on the Rams on Friday. Please players (that are left) turn up and be counted this time and please the crowd don't get on their backs. We all need to be together on this one. 

[FlyBritishMidland]

8 hours ago, Charliegeorge1962 said:

Beat Blackpool on Friday and Stevenage do us a favour too.

Pboro will have a one too many games in a short period and blow it.

I actually think will get a draw at pompey.

Wins against Orient Carlisle and Cambridge

Loss against Wycombe.

13 pts

Finishing up with 91 pts

That’s what I reckon (hope!!) too.  If we can get 91 points, it means others have either got to win 6 out of 7 (Bolton) or 7 out of 8 (Barnsley and Peterborough).  I can’t see Bolton beating all of Stevenage, Peterborough and Portsmouth.  Barnsley are very inconsistent and have Stevenage and Portsmouth to play.  Peterborough are the trickiest having an easier run in.  Bolton aside, Oxford in the middle of April is probably their toughest and they’re still battling for the Play-offs. But they do have a lot of games in a short space of time, 9 in 30 days including the EFL cup final so fatigue could play a part.

Friday is a big game 🐏.

Edited March 26 by FlyBritishMidland

[Premier ram]

22 hours ago, Ambitious said:

Peterborough in second with 89 points. Derby in third with 88 points and Bolton in fourth with 87 points.

Derby knocked out in the playoff semi finals to eventual winners Lincoln City. 

 

                        

[Gerry Daly]

I think we still have a lot of good players in the squad and they will be smarting from Saturday. We all - or should I say many of us, myself included- just expected us to go on a roll after the Bolton game and cruise to automatic promotion. Well clearly there are still bumps in the road but we will get unexpected positive results as well as negative. And our opponents will drop points. We are STILL in the box seat. We need to win Friday and I'm sure we will  

[Ram-Alf]

Super computer says....

 

[WestKentRam]

I have this dream that automatic promotion is secured with CBT playing a major role, and great looking striker but sadly forgotten man Tony Weston slotting home the decisive goal to cause Pride Park to erupt in the final game of the season.

[RodleyRam]

20 hours ago, BramcoteRam84 said:

We head into the last round of fixtures, Pompey already champions and having a party at Lincoln who get the win they need to make the playoffs. We’re 2nd on 88pts, posh and Bolton on 87pts, we have a superior goal difference.
 

Half time and we’re 0-1 down following a really nervy performance, fans in full voice trying to urge the team on but becoming nervous and agitated with the performance. But news comes through from London Road that it’s 1-1 and despite being behind we’re still going up.

Into the second half and the fans find their voice again the team up their performance levels but the keeper is having a blinder, we equalise on 65 minutes, it’s still 1-1 at London Road. Time ticks onto 85 mins we’ve missed countless chances as Carlisle are hanging on trying to salvage something from a difficult season but then groans around the stadium, Bolton have scored and lead Posh 2-1, Bolton are going up. In the same moment a misplaced pass from Hourihane puts a Carlisle striker through on goal it’s curtains for our auto chances he rounds Wildsmith and shoots it’s going but who else but Cash gets there on the line to keep it out, the crowd roars again, we’re due a chunk of stoppage time due to Carlisle’s time wasting tactics, the board goes up, it’s 8 mins, the crowd roars again. It’s finished at London Road, Bolton have won. They think they’re up but they’re nervously waiting for our game to finish. 95 mins. We’ve thrown everything at Carlisle but the ball just won’t go in. We get a throw on the right hand side, Nelson for once goes short to Bird, he cuts inside plays the ball to the edge of the box Hourihane let’s the ball come across him evading the Carlisle player onto his left foot and with perfect technique he drills it into the bottom corner from 20 yards!!!

Pandefuckingmonium ensues!! We’re up and the much maligned Hourihane has bookended his Derby career by scoring the first goal of the new era post administration and the goal to take us back to the Championship. 

For once I'd like us to avoid being Melchester Rovers in the days when Roy got fat and addicted to painkillers. 

For once it would be really nice to have it wrapped up well in advance of time without killing off fans of a nervous disposition.

Just once in my lifetime! It's not much to ask!

[DB83]

I don’t know how the season will end, but I think at the start of the season nearly all of us would have taken second place at Easter. Wouldn’t we?? 🙂

[StantonRam]

Good game this, so here's my 2p worth.

Just for fun, I will assume that both Bolton and ourselves will draw against top 10 teams and win against the rest.  That gives us:

Rams - 3 draws (Blackpool, Pompey, Orient - next 3 games) followed by 3 wins - against bottom half teams, as our walking wounded start to return from injury/suspension, with Brown recalled from loan, and with other Academy discoveries stepping up, total 90 points

Trotters - 3 draws (Stevenage, Pompey, Posh) and 4 wins, total 89 points

On that arithmetic, we finish 2nd - BUT along the way, as we fail initially to get wins and Bolton creep up on us, and possibly even briefly snatch 2nd place (possibly in between the final whistle v Orient and the final whistle at Wycombe), then there shall be much wailing and gnashing of teeth, bums will be squeaky etc, BUT as we rack up those final 3 wins, each with 2-3 goal margins (thus reinforcing our GD advantage) their challenge will melt away and we are UP!

Believe, brothers and sisters, beliiiiiieeeeeve!

Hallelujah! etc...

LR2

[Tamworthram]

5 hours ago, DB83 said:

I don’t know how the season will end, but I think at the start of the season nearly all of us would have taken second place at Easter. Wouldn’t we?? 🙂

You’re 100% right. No, actually, I think there are some on this forum that still wouldn’t be happy (with PW in charge) even if we were top.

I think the reason a lot of us are anxious/nervous/glum etc is because it feels like watching a film that you’ve seen before so you know how it ends. How many times have we been in a good position going into the last few games but failed? last season obviously, then there was the year we only needed a draw at home v lowly Reading in the final game but we lost immediately spring to mind. Add to that the injury list and the fact that we’re not playing particularly well, even when we win more often than not, and the feelings of uncertainty are understandable.

BUT, this isn’t a film - it doesn’t have to end the same way, teams in the chasing pack have had their wobbles and most still have some stiff games ahead of them. 
 

Four (or more) points from the next two games and I think it’s game on still. (I can see us nicking a point at Pompey)

Two points or less (I can see the Blackpool game being a tricky one) then I think we’re no longer favourites for the auto’s (obviously dependent on what the other do).

[Crewton]

We need to channel the spirit of 85/86 and 96/97, when we didn't fall at the last hurdle in the final few games. The atmosphere at the home games helped get us through in the end. Maybe it can do it again.

[Premier ram]

It’s in our hands , the lads know what they have to do, injuries are all part and parcel of the game especially near the end of a season , I’m still confident we will go up automatically, Blackpool for me are our trickiest fixture so a draw for me , Pompey will come at us , which suits our game , if we can stay strong at the back we can beat them

                4 wins and a draw I think will be enough 

[Leeds Ram]

At this point, there are so many permutations it is very hard to know where we'll end up. My best guess is if we get a couple of the attacking players back before Wycombe we'll probably scrape through automatically. If not then it'll be the playoffs and a lottery. I'd fancy us given what an advantage Pride Park can be in a second leg... but who knows at this point. 

[BramcoteRam84]

On 26/03/2024 at 17:42, RodleyRam said:

For once I'd like us to avoid being Melchester Rovers in the days when Roy got fat and addicted to painkillers. 

For once it would be really nice to have it wrapped up well in advance of time without killing off fans of a nervous disposition.

Just once in my lifetime! It's not much to ask!

True it’s not much to ask but this lot ain’t hearing you and it ain’t happening so strap yourself in and brace yourself. Our run in really should come with a health warning. In fact they should warn you as a kid when signing up for the junior rams or whatever that “Supporting Derby County seriously damages your health” 

[oldtimeram]

4th place

[StantonRam]

IMO the bottom line is that we must assume for now that Bolton are capable of getting 15 points from 7 games, whilst still hoping that they will slip up somewhere.

As I said before, that means that if we get 12 points from 6 games then we are finishing 2nd, especially if we can keep GD superiority over Bolton.

Update - good news about today is that NML and Collins might start for us, and Jordan Rhodes is injured and won't feature for Blackpool.  That might give us the edge over them going forward and creating chances.

Most teams around us are having end of season injury problems as well, which maybe evens things up a bit.

12 points is what we need, doesn't matter how we get them or against which opposition.  I really believe that 3 wins and 3 draws will be enough.

My strategy would be to go all out for the win every game, rack up the 12 points as soon as possible and by then hopefully it will be done and dusted.

Knowing us however, in reality we will probably get a surprise win against one of the teams around us and also a surprise loss in one of the last 3 games against the bottom half teams.

Looking forward to what might well turn out to be a season defining weekend!

 

[plymouthram]

On 25/03/2024 at 13:07, RoyMac5 said:

Surely Warne will take the unexpected opportunity to go with a four at the back, if so I think we'll get 2nd place. #COYR

He's got no choice, no Bradley or Forsyth and only 2 centre halfs left. lets hope they don't get injured.

[RoyMac5]

3 minutes ago, plymouthram said:

He's got no choice, no Bradley or Forsyth and only 2 centre halfs left. lets hope they don't get injured.

Well before the team was announced, one suggestion was a three at the back with Elder as LCB. So there was a chance not. Or as we see he's discovered our England U19 player, who is a CB.

Edited March 29 by RoyMac5

[StantonRam]

Great day for us today, TBH I don't care what Pompey do, the Posh and Barnsley results put them out of contention for 2nd place now, most important was the Bolton result combined with ours, which stretches the margin to 6 points now (or really 7 if you count our better GD).

2 wins and 3 draws minimum now will do it.

It's now possible that on the 13th at home to Orient we might be celebrating a 2nd place finish with 3 games to go.

To avoid the "commentators curse", I stress the word MIGHT above.

Adams again proving the difference as he often has since coming here, surely he has to be persuaded to sign up for the long term so that a team can be built around him next season to compete in (hopefully) the Championship.  I haven't checked how long his contract is, but surely we need to get him tied down for the next few seasons if we haven't already done so.

Great to see Collins back and CBT getting a start.