Vs Middlesbrough (H) Match Thread

[IlsonDerby]

10 minutes ago, The_Sheriff said:

You mean the football that got us 92 pts?

I know the point you’re trying to make - it was successful in league 1 but that’s down to quality of opposition. We did give away good chances/opportunities to most teams last season but the teams we played were so crap they couldn’t take advantage. More often than not this season (see Blackburn) our mistakes will be punished. 
 

We played high risk high reward relying on the risk being mitigated by crap opposing forwards. This won’t be the case this year. Even the rubbish teams have real quality up top. 

[BramcoteRam84]

Well what an amazing win that was!! A real heroic underdog backs to the wall effort. We defended magnificently, Sonny’s best game for the rams and Nelson back to his imperious best. Seriously impressed with Ozoh, Osborn was everywhere and Goudmijn worked hard and had his moments, we’ll see his quality in games where we have more of the ball. Jackson was probably my man of the match. Unfortunately I think while they tried hard and did ok, Elder and Collo were shown up to be no longer championship level players. Yates has to come straight in and I’d also play Fozzy. 

Warne deserves massive credit also. Tactically he was absolutely spot on, that was the only way we were going to beat boro. The gulf in quality was stark and to be honest it shocked me. If that is the benchmark of a top 6 side competing for promotion then we are miles away from it. Against the top sides we just have to dig in and hope we can grind out some results. 

I think we now know more about what a competitive budget is, a competitive budget to compete in a bottom half/bottom 8 dog fight. That’s where we are at as a club which is hard to take as most of us are used to seeing Derby as a minimum fighting the likes of Boro for top 6. This is going to take time, we need to evolve over the next 2-3 seasons and hope some of our academy prospects can be the next Hendrick, Hughes et Al. We need to build in a similar way to what Nigel did and like Coventry have done but then in the one season we’ll get a promotion chance we have to take it. 
 

Enjoyed it though and thought the fans were unbelievable, most appreciated the gulf in quality so got behind them and we’ll need that every game.

[BramcoteRam84]

1 hour ago, Reggie Greenwood said:

Reminded me very much of the Bolton home game last season , with the same result. 

Very similar except Boro are light years better than Bolton. We’ve improved as well, I don’t think we’d approach that game the same way in League 1 now with the squad we have. 
 

I think what frustrated fans last season was playing that way against teams we should comfortably beat, yesterday it was a necessity as they were just a lot better than us.

[BramcoteRam84]

1 hour ago, Nuwtfly said:

Not going to quote reply everyone that responded to me but just to add for clarification: my reaction isn’t based just on the performance yesterday but the football under Warne for the last year.

Definitely up for giving it time to see if we improve and I hope we do, but I need more than Warne just saying “he won’t play like that every week”

I think the sheer jump in quality means we’ll need to play that way more often than not, especially against the top 6 sides. 

[VulcanRam]

Just catching up after yesterday. 

Outstanding performance, spot on tactics by Warne and co, 100% effort by every player and an excellent, unexpected 3 points. Great job all. 

[Archied]

20 minutes ago, IlsonDerby said:

I know the point you’re trying to make - it was successful in league 1 but that’s down to quality of opposition. We did give away good chances/opportunities to most teams last season but the teams we played were so crap they couldn’t take advantage. More often than not this season (see Blackburn) our mistakes will be punished. 
 

We played high risk high reward relying on the risk being mitigated by crap opposing forwards. This won’t be the case this year. Even the rubbish teams have real quality up top. 

Last week I said it’s going to be really important to be compact , organised and not make silly mistakes as they will be punished at this level , how nice to see yesterday that it also applies to the teams playing against us as perhaps we have a bit more quality than last season too with perhaps a bit more to come in before the window closes , Jackson is rapid as duck and how composed and clinical was the finish 💪, looking at Blackburn and boro games I reckon warne can do a job and get us established this season with a fair wind

[JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta]

54 minutes ago, Comrade 86 said:

What would have been the more adventurous team selection and approach then? If playing Elder and Wilson as FBs to try and pin their wide men back isn't 'risky' enough for you, what exactly would you be advocating?

I'm not advocating we should have done anything differently, merely pointing out that approaching the majority of our games in such a way is not going to get us the results we want with any degree of consistency.

Warne has indicated we won't play that way the majority of the time, and my comment stated I'll believe it when I see it and that I hope we do. 

Why is it when people aren't effusive with praise for Warne we are jumped on? Absolutely nothing in my comment suggested I think we should have approached yesterday differently, yet that is what you took from my comment. What I did suggest is that I think Warne will play it safe for the foreseeable, and his version of safe is what we saw yesterday.

[JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta]

4 minutes ago, JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta said:

I'm not advocating we should have done anything differently, merely pointing out that approaching the majority of our games in such a way is not going to get us the results we want with any degree of consistency.

Warne has indicated we won't play that way the majority of the time, and my comment stated I'll believe it when I see it and that I hope we do. 

Why is it when people aren't effusive with praise for Warne we are jumped on? Absolutely nothing in my comment suggested I think we should have approached yesterday differently, yet that is what you took from my comment. What I did suggest is that I think Warne will play it safe for the foreseeable, and his version of safe is what we saw yesterday.

My last comment on this topic in this thread.

It appears to now be unacceptable to point out that playing a L1 style of football might not be the best way to adapt to life in the Championship.

If we play like a L1 team we'll get the kind of results a L1 team would expect to get playing Championship standard opposition. Spoiler alert, it probably won't end well.

In the short term it might be necessary which I accept. However, we've had 100 games of Warne now and we rarely control games and we don't use the ball well enough consistently enough. These are fundamental things that have been consistent factors for his entire tenure. They aren't suddenly going to change and it will cost us in this division unless he can change things. As I said before, I'll believe it when I see it 

[i-Ram]

11 minutes ago, JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta said:

My last comment on this topic in this thread.

It appears to now be unacceptable to point out that playing a L1 style of football might not be the best way to adapt to life in the Championship.

If we play like a L1 team we'll get the kind of results a L1 team would expect to get playing Championship standard opposition. Spoiler alert, it probably won't end well.

In the short term it might be necessary which I accept. However, we've had 100 games of Warne now and we rarely control games and we don't use the ball well enough consistently enough. These are fundamental things that have been consistent factors for his entire tenure. They aren't suddenly going to change and it will cost us in this division unless he can change things. As I said before, I'll believe it when I see it 

If it is your last comment in this thread Soldier, I’ve got your back.

[Comrade 86]

26 minutes ago, JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta said:

I'm not advocating we should have done anything differently, merely pointing out that approaching the majority of our games in such a way is not going to get us the results we want with any degree of consistency.

Warne has indicated we won't play that way the majority of the time, and my comment stated I'll believe it when I see it and that I hope we do. 

Why is it when people aren't effusive with praise for Warne we are jumped on? Absolutely nothing in my comment suggested I think we should have approached yesterday differently, yet that is what you took from my comment. What I did suggest is that I think Warne will play it safe for the foreseeable, and his version of safe is what we saw yesterday.

I haven't jumped on you I asked you a question. I shan't bother again given it causes you such angst 🙄

[De22Ram]

What a win! Glad to get some points on the board! Brum went down with 50 points last season! 50!! Thats terrifying! Dont mind how we get them this season, just need to keep racking them up by any means! Good start!! 
 

Up the Rams 🐏⚽️🐏⚽️

[MadAmster]

15 minutes ago, De22Ram said:

What a win! Glad to get some points on the board! Brum went down with 50 points last season! 50!! Thats terrifying! Dont mind how we get them this season, just need to keep racking them up by any means! Good start!! 
 

Up the Rams 🐏⚽️🐏⚽️

16 more wins and we're there.

[Foreveram]

15 hours ago, ipad1977 said:

If it refers to tonight, nah, I'll still be heading out shortly and having an enjoyable evening. I'd already written the points off today before the game so whilst it's disappointing it's not a huge disappointment.

 

If it involves a result against your club per se, then that doesn't affect me really. I tend to distance myself from boardroom politics behind the scenes as I feel they interfere too much and overshadow the essential element of the football being played. I have no grudge against Derby, they're simply another club, have fairly decent fans in my experience and one I've rooted for to win in some games owing to preferences. I love the fact that you won the league back in the 70s and upset the status quo with one of our lads in charge. If it were Sunderland who'd found a way to beat us today it would be a different kettle of fish of course, kind of like your mood would be affected more with a result against Forest I feel?

We had no history between fans until a couple of years ago, indeed I have had some decent weekends in Middlesbrough chatting about football with the locals in the pub before and after the game.

That all changed on our last visit to the Riverside which was a very toxic atmosphere and scenes of after match violence that I haven’t witnessed probably in the last 30 years including trips to Leeds and Millwall.

This was all down to the vindictiveness of one man who felt he had to win an argument by closing down a founder member club of the football league.

I will happily sit and have a drink in O’Connells after the match with fans in March but my contempt for that man will never relinquish.

[i-Ram]

32 minutes ago, De22Ram said:

What a win! Glad to get some points on the board! Brum went down with 50 points last season! 50!! Thats terrifying! Dont mind how we get them this season, just need to keep racking them up by any means! Good start!! 
Up the Rams 🐏⚽️🐏⚽️

I thought it was most enjoyable.

[thischarmingram]

2 hours ago, JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta said:

I'll believe it when we see it, and I hope we do see it.

I think the Blackburn game surprised Warne and it'll be a while before he is going to take what he deems to be a 'risk' by getting on the front foot.

We will have to see who we manage to bring in. A 9 and a 10 who can help us control the ball higher up the pitch better, should make a big difference to the variation of game we can play. But I agree, there will be more Blackburn games if we also don’t bring in a out and out lb and a quicker cb. 

[Alty_Ram]

Firstly, that was a terrific defensive performance and was a serious examination of our resolve and discipline - blummin' brilliant result - I'd have bitten your hand off for that result before kick-off.

It was always going to be a big challenge and I expect Boro to be involved at the sharp end at the end of the season and sure, on another day we might lose or draw that game, but we did what we needed to do and threw the gauntlet down and said "OK, go ahead and try to break us down because we are not gifting you anything". There are many similar and even tougher challenges ahead and we'll need to have the mindset of yesterday in many more games where we are simply 2nd best as a team. Compete and make the opposition really work for it and be ready to pounce when opportunity presents itself.

We're all aware of the step up in class in the Championship, however, not every game can be a 'backs to the wall' exercise in survival. IMHO we also have to show what we can do where we're on a more level playing field. We also need to give the defence a breather occasionally and retaining the ball better and finding a way to hold it upfield more (being stronger up front, drawing fouls etc) would make that easier.

Anyway, that's all very minor criticism - I'm delighted with the result and great support from the crowd. It feels already like that support is going to be a key factor in trying to getting us over the line this season. Whatever reservations we may have on here about individual performances or whatever, the players need to know that we've got their backs. Discussions on here about what we could do better are NOT somehow betraying the lads, just part of a sensible and reasonable football discussion and this is 100% the place for it. If not here then where ? What matters far more is that solidarity and backing in the stadium on match day and I think it's important to understand that worries expressed on here doesn't mean that you haven't just spent 90 mins shouting yourself hoarse in support of the lads.

3 points 🙂... we're up and running!.. COYR ! 🐏

[Srg]

I’m sure this has been said but the Boro fans were really bad. Great numbers but took several minutes of us roasting Gibson for a response and that was basically all the noise they made the entire game. We’ve seen greater noise from fans coming on a skateboard from League 1 minnows last season. Was really surprising. 

[Foreveram]

16 hours ago, Wsm-ram said:

God I enjoyed that today

The stadium was buzzing and had a real good vibe today.

Best game vickers has played for us.

Defensively excellent. 

Heart and passion in abundance. 

Wow,that referee was something else.

It was starting to look beyond obvious where his loyalties were. 

And still got the result.

Brilliant day and great start at home for this seasons league battle.

Up The Rams 🐏👍

Even with the 5 minutes of added time up and no further stoppages, he still proceeded to play a further 71 seconds and gave them one last free kick to put the ball into the area 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Mick Brolly]

2 hours ago, JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta said:

It appears to now be unacceptable to point out that playing a L1 style of football might not be the best way to adapt to life in the Championship

Who said it was unacceptable to point it out just because other posters don’t necessarily agree with you doesn’t mean you have to start playing the victim 

[Brammie Steve]

1 hour ago, Mick Brolly said:

Who said it was unacceptable to point it out just because other posters don’t necessarily agree with you doesn’t mean you have to start playing the victim 

The next time Juan plays the victim will be the first!

Brilliant result! Great all round team performance!

COYR!🐏🐏⚽️