Match Thread: vs Portsmouth (a)

[Jayram]

By any metric that was a good point away against the top team in this division. We didn’t look outclassed and it took a wonderstrike for them to get level. Yes we played well within ourselves second half and perhaps could have been a bit more attack minded but not many other teams have gone there and taken points recently so I’m happy.

It’s in our hands now. Bolton/Peterboro/Barnsley are going to drop points before the end of the season so keep the faith.

[BatRam]

Morning chaps , i didnt get chance to watch the game. Now everyone has had chance to sleep on it , what do you reckon? personally i would have bitten ya hand off for 1 point against league leaders but i am concerned with the chasing pack. Who performed well/bad and what do you think should of been done differently 

[Archied]

Was gonna do my usual morning after post on the game but what’s the point , better to quietly enjoy it and try to ignore the derby / warne are rubbish posts🤷🏻‍♂️

[RodleyRam]

Will we struggle next year? With this exact team, yes of course but it's going to be another big off season for recruitment, so I really don't think it's worth even mentioning until we know what league we are in.

On the game...

Thought it was a really exciting advert for League 1 (I wish all games were that standard) Two teams going for it, albeit with slightly different approaches. The quality on show was impressive considering the conditions and magnitude of the game.

We absolutely held our own, possibly conceded too much possession and territory in the second half but I don't think it was the wrong tactic given the circumstances.

Think the criticism of Wildsmith is unfair, tricky conditions and a couple of decent stops. Also responsible for points in the last few games. We look better with him in the sticks than Vickers for me.

We absolutely have to back it up now with a win against Wycombe, hopefully the walking wounded can get some rest and fitness back in their legs. Huge 4 games.

COYR

[HorsforthRam]

To the ap fella… we scored two good goals. Their equaliser was a fabulous strike but the fella hand balled it on the touchline. We frustrated them in large parts. The penalty wasn’t a penalty. The striker hit it in front of Smith but couldn’t get in front of him. He went into the back of Smith. Their “open” goal. Seen those type of chances missed all the time. Wasn’t as easy as you make out. Wildsmith saving with his legs… you’d expect a save from that angle. The bloke should have pulled it back. 
 

Lastly, when we were on top first half, NML breaking through with an overloaded on our left… mangy fox stops play 😂😂

I said to my lad, if I was a neutral watching that game, I’d never have thought Pompey were gonna score that second half but being a Ram, it’s always feels nerve wracking watching the opposition have so much ball even if it’s just in front of us. I think for some posters, that sort of skews the view of the game in that they feel we were some how lucky to get a point 

Edited April 3 by HorsforthRam

[On the Ram Page]

6 minutes ago, IlsonDerby said:

I think the reason why @Bris Vegas post has rubbed people up the wrong way is 2 fold. 
1) the timing of it

2) deep down people know it’s accurate

 

We have done well to get ourselves into this position with 4 left to play despite the injuries. The recent run we went on to completely turn it around and go from play offs to automatic hopefuls was really impressive. 
 

BUT our performances against the better sides this season will see us struggle in the championship. The gulf between this league and the one above is huge. Warne comfortably got Rotherham up 3 times to then be relegated 3 times. We need probably 12 new signings to even compete up there and none of us truly know where we stand financially and what our budget will allow. 
 

I don’t think Bris is wumming I just think his opinions came at a time people wanted to celebrate. It’s acceptable to say this would be a relegation scrap next year in a higher division. 
 

I like Warne but he’s done nothing to show he can be successful in the division above despite going up with the best team in league 1. We’ve not even got that luxury!! 
 

Anyway up the rams! A nervy last 4 but put ourselves into a great position. I hope it’s wrapped up before Carlisle so we can have a party atmosphere. 

Everyone, and Paul Warne has said this many times, knows we need better players in the Championship. If we get promotion, I think we will get sufficient to compete next season. 

Everyone would like us to play free flowing football but there are times when you just need to show hard work and desire. If we are a mid- table side next year, that will do for me. Just gradual improvement, which is all we should expect after nearly falling into the abyss.

i think that Warne and his coaches have shown over the last few months that they are tactically more aware than people think. If we can get some more energetic, quicker, aggressive players in (Adams-like) I think we could be ok.

unfair to judge Warne on his Rotherham experiences. We are a totally different animal (as he has learnt).

[YouRams]

Just now, BatRam said:

Morning chaps , i didnt get chance to watch the game. Now everyone has had chance to sleep on it , what do you reckon? personally i would have bitten ya hand off for 1 point against league leaders but i am concerned with the chasing pack. Who performed well/bad and what do you think should of been done differently 

I've slept on it and will probably get pelters but I still feel last night is 2 points dropped. And I'll elaborate.

All if buts maybes granted, but Bolton win their game in hand then win another that we lose there's still a good chance we miss out on autos by 2 points.

You can pick any time through the season we could've gained 2 points, most will look at Northampton and say the massive Derby County should be rolling over Northampton and that's where we went wrong.

But I'll still be more disappointed In last night and the reason is we never turned up at Northampton, we could've played for a month and never scored. Last night we turned up, first half was one of the best attacking performances I've seen all season. Pompey looked rattled and couldn't deal with the pace. Yes they had more chances first half could've gone in 3-2 down, but we didn't we took the lead. Second half they couldn't get anything going, we gave them too much respect because of the position they're in, played too defensively, didn't make the Collins sub when we should've. These tactical decisions on a day when we turned up and imo could've gone on to score more had we carried on as we did in the first could be more costly than a game we didn't turn up in.

I don't post on here enough to know the beef some posters seem to have with having a positive or negative opinion on decisions by the manager, I'm not strongly for or against Warne, for what he's been dealt finances injuries etc he's doing a good job yes but I still think everyone's opinions should be considered and not ridiculed, would be a boring world if we all thought the same after all.

[IlsonDerby]

17 minutes ago, Srg said:

We have half a squad out of contract. Whether we go up or not, the team will be vastly, vastly different. The whole debate that this team will struggle is completely pointless. That's why I'm annoyed by it. Even Ipswich have brought in double figures this season, and that's after having an expensive, for League One standards, squad before they went up. 

Concentrate on going up, worry about the squad for next year when the hoards of inevitable transfers start happening later.

 

17 minutes ago, Crewton said:

Less than 2 years after near annihilation, I'm not sure what Bris expects. If they can't just enjoy this for what it is, then I feel sorry for them.

I think it’s more than within the realms of possibility that someone can both be excited by results and league position but have niggling doubts about performances and how that might transfer to a higher division? 

2 minutes ago, On the Ram Page said:

Everyone, and Paul Warne has said this many times, knows we need better players in the Championship. If we get promotion, I think we will get sufficient to compete next season. 

Everyone would like us to play free flowing football but there are times when you just need to show hard work and desire. If we are a mid- table side next year, that will do for me. Just gradual improvement, which is all we should expect after nearly falling into the abyss.

i think that Warne and his coaches have shown over the last few months that they are tactically more aware than people think. If we can get some more energetic, quicker, aggressive players in (Adams-like) I think we could be ok.

unfair to judge Warne on his Rotherham experiences. We are a totally different animal (as he has learnt).

I think knowing that we need to bring in a lot of players and having the money to do so - to the quality needed - are two different things. 
 

We knew in Summer/Jan we needed a proper striker to help with Collins (some rumours even suggesting PW would have been happy to lose Collins if we got in his preferred target) yet finances and the market dictated that this couldn’t happen. 
 

We not only need to rebuild with better players we’ll also be competing with 3/4 of the league for these players rather than the top 5 like in league 1. 

[TheTinMan]

I'm not sure its that unfair to judge Warne on his Rotherham exploits in the Championship, its a relevant concern. Ignoring it is a bit of wanting your cake and eating it for starters because he was judged on his ability to get Rotherham out of this league in the first instance. If you don't think one is relevant then nor is the other. Matt Taylor came in early doors last season after Warne came here and he kept them up which Warne hadn't managed to achieve. Would Warne have kept them up? We'll never know. Reality is the current side we have here considering we know Max Bird is gone for starters and others could follow given the contract situation, there could be significant turnover of the squad. Its going to be a very difficult season and we're being very naïve to think otherwise. Obviously we need to get promoted first which last night and the weekend have left us in a very good position to achieve.  

[TheTinMan]

6 minutes ago, YouRams said:

I've slept on it and will probably get pelters but I still feel last night is 2 points dropped. And I'll elaborate.

All if buts maybes granted, but Bolton win their game in hand then win another that we lose there's still a good chance we miss out on autos by 2 points.

You can pick any time through the season we could've gained 2 points, most will look at Northampton and say the massive Derby County should be rolling over Northampton and that's where we went wrong.

But I'll still be more disappointed In last night and the reason is we never turned up at Northampton, we could've played for a month and never scored. Last night we turned up, first half was one of the best attacking performances I've seen all season. Pompey looked rattled and couldn't deal with the pace. Yes they had more chances first half could've gone in 3-2 down, but we didn't we took the lead. Second half they couldn't get anything going, we gave them too much respect because of the position they're in, played too defensively, didn't make the Collins sub when we should've. These tactical decisions on a day when we turned up and imo could've gone on to score more had we carried on as we did in the first could be more costly than a game we didn't turn up in.

I don't post on here enough to know the beef some posters seem to have with having a positive or negative opinion on decisions by the manager, I'm not strongly for or against Warne, for what he's been dealt finances injuries etc he's doing a good job yes but I still think everyone's opinions should be considered and not ridiculed, would be a boring world if we all thought the same after all.

If Bolton can manage to get promoted from the position they are in still needing to play Pompey and Peterborough then it means two things, one is we've bottled it and another is they'll have deserved it. Both need to happen. 

[RoyMac5]

21 minutes ago, BatRam said:

Morning chaps , i didnt get chance to watch the game. Now everyone has had chance to sleep on it , what do you reckon? personally i would have bitten ya hand off for 1 point against league leaders but i am concerned with the chasing pack. Who performed well/bad and what do you think should of been done differently 

They looked happy to settle for a point,  I think their manager even said that, and so did we.

We play better football with a back four, will Warne stick with it though?

[Tamworthram]

10 minutes ago, YouRams said:

I've slept on it and will probably get pelters but I still feel last night is 2 points dropped. And I'll elaborate.

All if buts maybes granted, but Bolton win their game in hand then win another that we lose there's still a good chance we miss out on autos by 2 points.

You can pick any time through the season we could've gained 2 points, most will look at Northampton and say the massive Derby County should be rolling over Northampton and that's where we went wrong.

But I'll still be more disappointed In last night and the reason is we never turned up at Northampton, we could've played for a month and never scored. Last night we turned up, first half was one of the best attacking performances I've seen all season. Pompey looked rattled and couldn't deal with the pace. Yes they had more chances first half could've gone in 3-2 down, but we didn't we took the lead. Second half they couldn't get anything going, we gave them too much respect because of the position they're in, played too defensively, didn't make the Collins sub when we should've. These tactical decisions on a day when we turned up and imo could've gone on to score more had we carried on as we did in the first could be more costly than a game we didn't turn up in.

I don't post on here enough to know the beef some posters seem to have with having a positive or negative opinion on decisions by the manager, I'm not strongly for or against Warne, for what he's been dealt finances injuries etc he's doing a good job yes but I still think everyone's opinions should be considered and not ridiculed, would be a boring world if we all thought the same after all.

A lot of people talk about ifs and buts and not turning up for certain games (e.g. Northampton away) but we're not unique in that respect. All of the top teams have dropped points in games they shouldn't have done (Bolton only drew at Northampton, Barnsley's and Posh's recent home defeats spring to mind). I would imagine supporters of all the top 5 teams often think "if only".

[Srg]

1 minute ago, RoyMac5 said:

They looked happy to settle for a point,  I think their manager even said that, and so did we.

We play better football with a back four, will Warne stick with it though?

He will for at least another game with Men Behaving Bradley still in the stands.

[Kernow]

16 minutes ago, YouRams said:

All if buts maybes granted, but Bolton win their game in hand then win another that we lose there's still a good chance we miss out on autos by 2 points.

Easy to say that both ways, though. Their game in hand is at home to Port Vale, the midweek before the final game of the season. The impact of the game in hand may not even be relevant at that point.

Looking at the games we both have, I’d back us to get at least the same number of points as Bolton, meaning the game in hand vs Port Vale wouldn’t matter, as they could only get to within a point of us.

I think it’ll go down to the last day but if we don’t finish in the top 2 now it’ll be because we’ve messed up somewhere, we’d only have ourselves to blame.

[Ram-Alf]

Had a personal message from @Bris Vegas he said the best player was the Fox...that deserves a months ban surely 😁

 

You're posts Bris are OK for this poster...opinions are like forest fans you either dislike them or feel sorry for them 😊

[Jimbo Ram]

48 minutes ago, IlsonDerby said:

I think the reason why @Bris Vegas post has rubbed people up the wrong way is 2 fold. 
1) the timing of it

2) deep down people know it’s accurate

 

We have done well to get ourselves into this position with 4 left to play despite the injuries. The recent run we went on to completely turn it around and go from play offs to automatic hopefuls was really impressive. 
 

BUT our performances against the better sides this season will see us struggle in the championship. The gulf between this league and the one above is huge. Warne comfortably got Rotherham up 3 times to then be relegated 3 times. We need probably 12 new signings to even compete up there and none of us truly know where we stand financially and what our budget will allow. 
 

I don’t think Bris is wumming I just think his opinions came at a time people wanted to celebrate. It’s acceptable to say this would be a relegation scrap next year in a higher division. 
 

I like Warne but he’s done nothing to show he can be successful in the division above despite going up with the best team in league 1. We’ve not even got that luxury!! 
 

Anyway up the rams! A nervy last 4 but put ourselves into a great position. I hope it’s wrapped up before Carlisle so we can have a party atmosphere. 

Take your point and agree with a lot of it. But Warne deserves a chance in the Championship if he gets us up. Time will tell with probably additional resources than he had at Rotherham, whether he can do a job for us. But let’s worry about that when we go up.

[BatRam]

blackett taylor and ward looked very lively. the last goal looks like collins just ran out of steam and did a half arsed tackle haha. i see we didnt play hourihane again

[HorsforthRam]

24 minutes ago, YouRams said:

I've slept on it and will probably get pelters but I still feel last night is 2 points dropped. And I'll elaborate.

All if buts maybes granted, but Bolton win their game in hand then win another that we lose there's still a good chance we miss out on autos by 2 points.

You can pick any time through the season we could've gained 2 points, most will look at Northampton and say the massive Derby County should be rolling over Northampton and that's where we went wrong.

But I'll still be more disappointed In last night and the reason is we never turned up at Northampton, we could've played for a month and never scored. Last night we turned up, first half was one of the best attacking performances I've seen all season. Pompey looked rattled and couldn't deal with the pace. Yes they had more chances first half could've gone in 3-2 down, but we didn't we took the lead. Second half they couldn't get anything going, we gave them too much respect because of the position they're in, played too defensively, didn't make the Collins sub when we should've. These tactical decisions on a day when we turned up and imo could've gone on to score more had we carried on as we did in the first could be more costly than a game we didn't turn up in.

I don't post on here enough to know the beef some posters seem to have with having a positive or negative opinion on decisions by the manager, I'm not strongly for or against Warne, for what he's been dealt finances injuries etc he's doing a good job yes but I still think everyone's opinions should be considered and not ridiculed, would be a boring world if we all thought the same after all.

Agree with most of that. It would have been natural or understandable for us to sit back with 15 to go. However, that mentality seems to have been instilled at half time and like you, I thought Pompey were there for the taking. Even with our approach, it would feel a lot more comfortable if, now and again, we had control of the football for brief spells. As it was, we tried to counter too quickly and turnover was too quick (a big beef of mine 😂)

I do t expect we’ll change much over the course of the next 4 games. Warne’s big call will come when Bradley is available again

 

[Jimbo Ram]

13 minutes ago, Tamworthram said:

A lot of people talk about ifs and buts and not turning up for certain games (e.g. Northampton away) but we're not unique in that respect. All of the top teams have dropped points in games they shouldn't have done (Bolton only drew at Northampton, Barnsley's and Posh's recent home defeats spring to mind). I would imagine supporters of all the top 5 teams often think "if only".

Yep, any of the top 6 can mess up TR….disappointing they didn’t on Monday 😉

[TomTom92]

If we can't get 9 points out of our next 4 matches then we'll only have ourselves to blame.

If we do the above and Bolton or Posh etc. go on their best run of the season under the pressures we're all experiencing to pip us to the post then fair play to them. 

I do think looking on paper Bolton do have quite a kind run in apart from Pompey but they only need to throw in a Northampton like performance and not beat Pompey and its all but over for them.

Peterborough are playing two matches a week between now and the end of the season and Barnsley are in last chance saloon with failure to beat Charlton on sat surely putting them to the sword. 

Edited April 3 by TomTom92