v Blackburn (A) Match Thread

[Crewton]

32 minutes ago, BramcoteRam84 said:

Missed your positivity one_chop 👍

"One-Record" would suit them more.

[Tamworthram]

34 minutes ago, Mrso said:

Thought the game showed the gulf between the divisions.  Blackburn were way better than anyone in last year's League 1.  I suspect they won't be in the relegation fight if they can play like that consistently.  We need to step up rapidly, but I don't think that game was a season write-off.

 

I suspect they're not as bad as many pundits had them down as but we did contrive to make them look "good". We had them on the ropes for a lengthy period - better Championship teams might well have punished them. Also, I doubt many Championship teams will leave themselves as wide open as we did for their second half goals.

[Anag Ram]

4 minutes ago, QuitYourJibbaJivin said:

Defensively we were all over the shop last night, got to be down to opening night nerves. We gave up space, let runners go, charged out leaving gaping holes behind us. Just a bad night at the office.

We looked a decent outfit for a good part of the game but were massacred on the transition. 3 man midfield was tidy, Kenzo looks like a player but fatigued early and drifted out of the game. If we’re only going to play 1 holder then nothing can get past Ozoh, travis moves past him for the opener like he isn’t there. Elder I thought had his most competent performance for us, Wilson is not a rb but not sure he’s good enough to play further forward either in this league. Cashin looks so out of kilter it’s unreal, looked far too amped up pre match and that showed in his performance.

At 1-1 they brought on 3 forwards 1 of whom was the leading scorer in the champ last season and we’d just brought on 34 year old James Collins. It is going to be a tough season there’s no doubt about that, 3 weeks to bulk the squad up, prepare for a relegation battle as it’s on its way but we can be better than 3 other teams.

Good post. What surprised me was how slow we were at tracking back. I thought we were supposed to be super fit?

There was enough to encourage me if

a) we sort the defence out and get JWZ in

b) we add a quicker defender, a footballing midfielder and two strikers

Ozoh, for me, has to sit in front of the back four, allowing Goudmijn and two others to form a three behind two forwards, Yates and a newbie. 

Last night showed we need more pace in midfield as we looked slow in transition.
 

[Idiakez]

Kenzo, Osborn, Jackson and Elder (offensively at least) looked good. Everyone else looked like a deer in headlights, particularly Ozoh who can be forgiven considering his age and it being his debut. No idea why Vickers is getting pelters, yes we need an upgrade but he wasn’t at fault for any of the goals.
 

The general consensus is we were sloppy, then bright for 30 mins, then sloppy again which I agree with. The front 3 selection was a little baffling considering any threat we had (minus set pieces) was from out wide, surely Collins would have been a better fit to get on the end of some of the crosses? 
 

Little worrying considering these are tipped for relegation and they picked us apart in 10 minutes, dread to think what a Burnley or Leeds could do to us if we play so naively. However not throwing in the towel just yet. Hopefully when we look back on this game there will be a few players who won’t feature much more this season and we’ll wonder how they were getting minutes. After Collins came on our next attacking threat was an 18 year old who was playing non league football last season, whereas Blackburn brought on last seasons top scorer, a new signing from Japan and an established Championship forward in Weimann. 
 

4/5 more faces are needed, no need to panic just yet.
 

 

[BramcoteRam84]

Didn’t watch any of the game. My bro-in-law is over from Oz so I went for beers with him and his mates Melton way. Kept track through my Blackburn mate giving me pelters quoting that Norwegian commentator who that clown Cundy on Talkshite tries to impersonate. Looks like I made the right decision. Tbh I’ve been struggling to get motivated for the new season with the Euros and now the Olympics being on. Can’t believe the new season is here already. 

I’ve caught up with post match interviews, RD, my family who watched the game and read through comments on here. Fair to say it’s the same broad cross section of opinion from the negative to the positive, with the most negative being the same posters gunning for Warne last year and not missing their opportunity to stick the boot in already. 

If Cashin is our biggest issue I’m not concerned, he’s a class act and will sort it out. Nelson is also decent looked poor early on last season and was then class. Players like Ozoh are not experienced and learning and some of these players haven’t played at this level. Difference seems to be we made some bad errors and when Blackburn were on top they were ruthless. Welcome to the championship. 

We don’t know how good Blackburn will be but this first game was always going to be a major step up and a test especially given it’s away from home. Remember when we came down from the Prem in 02 and Reading came up from L1 under Pardew and we played first game of the season. We beat them 4-0. They weren’t ready. They finished 7th I believe and we almost ended up in a relegation battle. 

Just like Forest never won the league after the first game we’re not relegated after the first game. I’m confident Ozoh Adams Osborn and Goudmijn will be good at this level, Yates looks a smart addition and Kane is getting better. We’ve also got Nyambe Cash and Nelson. We need more additions but we know that and hopefully the players we’re going for are the ones that can make a difference and that’s why they’re not in the door yet.

Absolute best case this season is top half, more realistic we’ll be 16th to 24th. There will be many more times we’re licking our wounds this season so I’m not panicking, if we’re adrift after 10 games I probably will be then!
 

 

[SSD]

We all know Warne teams generally start badly. If we're going to lose then keep the score down. Conceding 3 goals in 12 minutes is not acceptable at any level of football. Goal difference plays a big part in relegation battles, where I think realistically is where we'll end up with 10 games to go. Thankfully we have demonstrated again how dangerous we are from set pieces. This gives us a big advantage in tight games. Don't throw it all away, looking back I thought we played okay until Weimann and Co joined the field. 

If six more players are going to join us, and we let Washington and Fornah go. I think we'll have a decent squad to stay up.

[DE56Ram]

Well we’re not bottom

preston have that accolade for starting with a ‘P’ or is it Goals Scored? 

i thought we were very good going forward but possibly used the winger or wing back outlet too often when I would have liked to see one of the midfielders step into the central positions and run at them

we clearly do lack a pacey no 9 to focus effort in the centre

where was our tracking back with runners? They scored three goals where the runner had far too much space and were left with tap-ins

I thoroughly enjoyed what I thought was a cracking football game shame sky ruined it for some by 8pm on a Friday night! 

lots of positives for me. Ozoh, Osborn and Kenzo look capable at this level as did NML, Wilson and Elder. Jackson’s pace will get us goals and the cB’s will work on stuff.
We need to strengthen, but we know that. We need to study the video and work on marking after we lose possession their breaks were quick and clinical 

good atmosphere in the Derby end and much love shown to the team and staff at the end 👏🐏⚽️

[Jase116]

Interestingly enough,  non rams fans at work this morning thought beside the opening 15 minutes,  we were unlucky to lose, thought we looked comfortable and looked really good for the first 20 minutes of the 2nd half and they thought we deserved a draw,  but they all said the same thing, defensively we need to do better, also the difference off the bench as well, with Blackburn having proven championship players.

Personally,  I'm not too downhearted,  kenzo looks a player, and there were good signs,  especially when we decided to pass the ball to each other along the ground,  we looked a far better outfit than when hoofing it long for someone to chase.

It's going to be a difficult season,  we all need to back the side and stick together,  whatever your thoughts are on PW. Obviously more needed in this transfer window,  but they have to be better than what we already have.

[BramcoteRam84]

27 minutes ago, JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta said:

As I've pointed out multiple times now, I'm not advocating to do it now, but given Warne's track record at this level how long should he get?

I think unless we’re well adrift like the Wendies were Clowes will give him the whole season. 

It should be noted Warne’s record at this level was heavily influenced by having far and away the lowest budget, and that he got promoted 3 times from League one without even having a top 6 budget. He came to Derby to test himself to make the step up. He should be keeping us in this league as a minimum and if at any point it seriously looks like that won’t happen then Clowes should make the call, whether he will or not is another matter. 

Personally I would give Warne 18-20 games and if it isn’t working getting someone else in ahead of the Jan window. 

[Gaspode]

I'm struggling with people saying Elder was decent - he was selected as a full-back and yet was missing in action for most of their goals (and in on case was sitting on his backside watching their player dink the ball to Weimann to score). The bloke doesn't have any defensive qualities - he can't tackle, doesn't have defensive instincts, and his positional sense is non-existant. Being able to put in a good cross is no use when you've been culpable for goals against....

As for Cash, it wasn't good - but in his defence, there were times when he was trying to cover his poition; Elder's position; and also trying to win the ball when Ozoh was exposed against their runners. His determination to win the ball led to poor decision making but I can understand why he made some of those decisions - it's not his nature to hold his position if he can see us being threatened and thinks he can get the ball....

Blame for the defeat for me lies squarely with the manager - he picked an attacking team for a potentially difficult away game - at home he might have got away with it, but it seems he fell for the same idea that a lot on here have repeated - that Blackburn will be relegation candidates - those folk need to remember that Eustace had Brum in the play-off places before he was sacked. He's a decent manager at this level and I don't think Warne gave them the respect they deserved.

We also suffer (though it may help us towards the end of this season as it did last) from Warne's obbsession with fitness in pre-season - so much fitness work that the players come back knackered and also with very little in the way of team development - constantly changing selections during pre-season and huge numbers of substitutions in every game meant that the team last night didn't really know who was playing where. The midfield was a prefect example - three good players but they looked like strangers - it could take us 5-6 gamnes before the players start to gel - which ideally they would have done in pre-season - and that's assuming we don't get into 'guess the formation' as we did numerous times last year....

[Gladys_was_the_Greatest]

27 minutes ago, CBX1985 said:

I like this but the 10 - 12 games thing is a red herring.  What Clowes is going to want to know is what plans PW would have to fix things.  You only would sack a manager in the season if there is an issue and you do not have a plan to overcome it (that appears reasonable).

I appreciate your point about the red herring, what I was thinking is that we probably won’t get reinforcements until the end of August. We therefore have potentially three more weeks of a team that is not what Paul Warne envisioned. He then would have seven to nine games for the whole team to bed in and bond. I guess I am going on what happened to Rosenior; although he only had seven games but he did have his whole team assembled. I do wonder if Liam was ever in the frame for the job, but it’s not worth going back as it doesn’t help. So that was my reasoning, you may well be right, if the cracks are still there after all that time then it’s not working, so why wait. I think there are positives from last night , at 1-1 we looked good, but we through the game away in a few minutes of poor defending.
My main point is, give it time hopefully we will learn from these mistakes and the additions to the team will fill the gaps. 

[Seth's left foot]

30 minutes ago, Idiakez said:

Kenzo, Osborn, Jackson and Elder (offensively at least) looked good. Everyone else looked like a deer in headlights, particularly Ozoh who can be forgiven considering his age and it being his debut. No idea why Vickers is getting pelters, yes we need an upgrade but he wasn’t at fault for any of the goals.
 

The general consensus is we were sloppy, then bright for 30 mins, then sloppy again which I agree with. The front 3 selection was a little baffling considering any threat we had (minus set pieces) was from out wide, surely Collins would have been a better fit to get on the end of some of the crosses? 
 

Little worrying considering these are tipped for relegation and they picked us apart in 10 minutes, dread to think what a Burnley or Leeds could do to us if we play so naively. However not throwing in the towel just yet. Hopefully when we look back on this game there will be a few players who won’t feature much more this season and we’ll wonder how they were getting minutes. After Collins came on our next attacking threat was an 18 year old who was playing non league football last season, whereas Blackburn brought on last seasons top scorer, a new signing from Japan and an established Championship forward in Weimann. 
 

4/5 more faces are needed, no need to panic just yet.
 

 

Exactly this, excellent summary.

why are fans throwing in the towel after one game?! The same fans (if they actually go to games) who will probably boo at half time during the Boro game.

Collins not playing was a big mistake considering how Warne likes to play and we looked ok in parts and suffered through individual mistakes and naivety.

Why is Wilson playing RB? For their first goal he ran into the line rather than towards the goal scorer, Nyambe should always play in a back four.

Adams will make a difference once fully fit, we can’t be cut through like that again, reminded me of the Bird and Hourihane partnership. 

Cashin looked very rusty to say the least.

There will be more additions (Warne has mentioned this), again this is the insanity of the transfer window closing after the season starts rather than the clubs fault.

I worry about Warne ball I admit but I think we’ll stay up.

[Paultheram]

Last night was not the result we wanted but we’re are only 1 game in!

At times we played some good football and we kept Blackburn pressed back into their half.

On another day the keeper wouldn’t have kept out the corner. Fine margins.

Silly mistakes cost us and in sure they will iron themselves out!

Few new additions and I think we will be fine.

Teams in this league will have off days 

 

[Ram-Alf]

1 hour ago, Leeds Ram said:

I'm oddly not too downhearted after that game. We looked nervous the first 20 but grew into the game. We then conceded a stupid goal but took it on the chin and for a good 40 minutes looked like the better outfit. We get the equaliser and then our positional play goes out the window. Not sure if they were overexcited and wanted to press to find the winner but we made it too easy for them to get the second and the third. 

PW often mentions..."be brave" to his players...not naive, A learning curve for sure, Giving the ball away in the final 3rd from us and not knowing who's to do what job when the ball is lost makes for what we saw last night.

Sometimes a kick in the gonads is not a good remedy for learning...but learn they must, End of October will be the time to judge from me 👍 

[Tyler Durden]

1 hour ago, BramcoteRam84 said:

Missed your positivity one_chop 👍

They should change their emoji to one of Two Tails from Sonic the Hedgehog 

[LazloW]

Rabbits in the headlights for 15-20 mins

Better for 10-15 mins before half time

Good for 15-20 mins after half time (up ‘til their second)

Shambles for 15-20 after they went ahead.

For those (few?) who thought we’d do an Ipswich, a bit of a crash to earth.

For those (majority) who thought this season would be a struggle - or at least it would be a slow and difficult start - perhaps what was expected (maybe not as bad defensively, but result wise).  We are going to be underdogs for most away games and until we have a full complement of signings and our players adapt it will be hard.

I’m disappointed and frustrated that we did the hard work, got back into it, looked ok and competitive for a bit and then pee’d it up a wall with such sloppiness. But I’m not panicking. Long season and plenty of time to improve. 

[IlsonDerby]

1 hour ago, LN747 said:

My assessment not that it’s worth anything…

We know we need new keeper, full back , centre back , winger and striker…

Those on the fringes or who struggled last season such as Vickers , Elder , Barks , Fornah sadly won’t be good enough in a weak squad , although I thought Barks did ok - I like them all but it’s just the reality 

We got sliced apart a number of times last season , ala Lincoln , Shrews , but thankfully L1 teams can’t finish , this year you get punished. 
 

We need to learn to make tactical fouls higher up the pitch to stop goals on the break , this was a problem last season , so will be even more now…

We probably need to play 5 or 6 at the back away from home to scrape some points on the board…

We need to refind home form we have had in the past otherwise we are in doodoo 

On a positive we won the singing match 37-1 . Blackburn fans are a disgrace, empty seats everywhere and you could just about hear them at 4-1 

Well done Rams fans, showing the world that 99.9% of football fans are normal people who don’t have a problem with anyone despite what some people label and scaremonger us as…

 

 

Fornah impressed again in his small cameo… looked confident on the ball and played it forwards with purpose rather than aimlessly. Carried on with his good cameos during pre season.
 

Think he’s played himself into being an option for us if he’s willing to be a squad player. 

[LeedsCityRam]

Whilst not the opening night we wanted, my slept on it thoughts are that it serves as a useful benchmark of the standard at this level & an indication of how far we are off that standard.

Firstly, I thought Blackburn set up exactly as we should have done - very disciplined out of possession & very clinical when with the ball. Every time they attacked, they had numerous options, plenty of movement & most importantly, were moving the ball quickly. They were content to let us pass the ball around our back line with a great shape to their team and the odd intense press when the opportunity was on. 

By contrast we were extremely loose & open all night and whilst I appreciate some of that was to force the issue, it smacked of naivety in leaving so many gaps out wide as Wilson or Elder drifted up pitch. This was compounded by Cashin often wandering & Ozoh, who whilst I think adds a lot to the side, lacking the positional discipline to play as a sole holding midfielder - he also made 2 very weak attempts to stop their players in the the build-up to their first goal. I also found our build up play slow, predictable & often punctuated by poor technique - control of the ball & basic passing to feet.

Up top & in general open play, I thought we looked very disjointed indeed. There was little sense of Jackson, NML & Barkhuizen playing as a unit or interlinking and consequently we were easy to defend against. The ball also wasn't sticking first half & hence invited Blackburn to break on us a number of times. We urgently need a focal point number 9 off whom wingers can play off - Gayle did this brilliantly last season with NML & Barkhuizen and we need Yates & another CF in the building to fulfil this role going forward.

Going forward, I would be looking to change shape to 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 - our tendency to attack out wide particularly from deep is going to leave Cash & Nelson constantly exposed so need a Nyambe or Forsyth in there also. I also think we need to pack midfield whilst we're adjusting to the gap in quality. I'd also be looking to swap Kenzo & Ozoh so the former can get on the ball & dictate more with Ozoh playing more of a box to box role, dominating with his physicality & winning the ball higher up the park.

Finally, last night highlighted the lack of star quality in the side - we have a lot of perfectly competent players throughout the squad but not enough game changers. This needs sorting in the last 3 weeks of the window at both ends of the pitch with another CB & at least 2 more attacking options (focal point CF & a creative AM) a must if we don't want to be struggling all season.

Edited August 10 by LeedsCityRam

[HorsforthRam]

“Collins needs to stay central and not on the wing” is a common complaint. But watching from the away end last night, it does seem like a tactic. He rotated with NML a few times. Maybe he’s expected to win the header from a long ball to the wing 🤷🏽‍♂️

[vonwright]

I'm sure Cashin will come good but it's maybe relevant that last time he played at this level (and played well) he had Davies next to him to do the organising. Nelson's a decent enough player but he's no Curtis.