So, another week ticks by and another weekend approaches where we go into a game as an unbeaten team this calendar year, I’m not sure any of us would have anticipated that following our last defeat away at Oxford? It’s a little disappointing that not more of our results have yielded maximum points, but following last weekend’s thrashing of those down west and seeing us follow that up with a gritty comeback in a quite frankly awful game against a physical Millwall side at the Den, to come away with 4 points from 6 should we really be a little downbeat still? Alas, with the number of draws recently it does mean that we are still very much in peril, so this weekend provides us with an excellent chance to continue our run and hopefully pull away a bit further from the trap door as we face a woefully out of form Derby County at the CCS hoping to avoid a Ram raid. Who Are You? Paul Warne the Derby gaffer must be coming under some serious pressure now as his Rams are without a single point since the turn of the year. The Midlanders were comfortably mid-table during the early part of the season but a bit like Millwall, have slowly slid backwards and are now very much part of the relegation scrap along with ourselves. Warne’s overall record at the Rams gives him a creditable 46% win rate from his 130 games in charge, however, this season in the league that figure falls to just 25% so far, signalling perhaps the toughest spell of his 52 months in charge? Squad wise their current top scorer is the on-loan Swansea forward Jerry Yates who has 6 goals and 2 assists to his name this term (I wonder if the JB’s are regretting letting him go out on loan now??). He is closely followed by Ex-Bluebird Ebou Adams who is perhaps showing City what we let go by notching 4 goals so far in this campaign (his time with us was such a shame for club and player as he never had chance to really show us what he could do). Another player we’ll have to keep an eye on is of course another ex-Bluebird, wideman and white-line speed merchant Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, who incidentally is now the Ram’s captain! He, along with fellow ex-City stalwart Curtis Nelson both have 2 goals and 1 assist each to their names. Overall Derby have the 18th best attack (we are 17th currently), and the 9th worst defence (ours is currently ranked 6th worst). Last Time Out & Form Last time out saw our Bluebirds slip to a disappointing but thoroughly deserved 1-0 defeat at Pride Park with the only goal coming in the 28th minute. Although City dominated the possession stats and created a handful of chances, the hosts that day were only stopped from winning by a bigger margin thanks to the heroics of Jak Alnwick between the posts as he thwarted several Derby attempts. The only real other point of note in the game was the comedic miss by former City man Ebou Adams as he raced clear and had an open goal to hit, yet he somehow contrived to put the ball wide (once a Bluebird always a Bluebird eh Ebou?? Admit it, you just couldn’t bring yourself to score against us) As alluded to above, Derby’s form recently has been pretty dire. Just 1 win in their last 6 (a Boxing Day clash v WBA which they won 2-1 courtesy of a Mason Holgate own goal). Since then they have endured a run of 5 straight league defeats and suffered the ignominy of an FA Cup exit at the hands of Leyton Orient on penalties. Their last outing saw them slip to a 1-0 home defeat against promotion chasing Sunderland, a game in which they ended up playing Ebou Adams as a centre-back in a back 3. With rumours swirling of Brighton chasing the signing of defender Eiran Cashin (great name for a player getting sold for the money eh??) it could be that Adam’s has to maintain that role again v the Bluebirds. Warne however is talking up their chances following what he believes to have been some decent performances, despite results going against them, with him stating; “We will attack the game, we will be as aggressive as we can and we are definitely working on - as we do always - on final third entries and trying to create more chances," Warne said. "And, obviously, we have to take them." Winger Corey Blackett-Taylor was lively after coming off the bench against Sunderland in midweek despite injury concerns before the game, and is now being considered for what would be only his fourth league start of the season against Cardiff. "If he is fit to start and he can play, then he is a contender," Warne added. "I can see what everyone else can see, which is that he goes past people and puts crosses in, so he is in a really good vein of form. He is in a good position and we just have to make sure that physically he is. Because if physically he isn't, then as much as I want him to play, or I play him for 60 or 70 minutes and he can't play at the level, then it's pointless and I'd be better off bringing him on for 30." In, Out Or No Sign Of Them About So, with 11 names players named below for this one, I fully expect more than a draw! Joking aside though, after 5 changes in mid-week I think we’re all praying for the return of some of the ‘missing’ players from the weekend? After enduring a tough time against Millwall it'd be no shock to see Siopis drop back out in favour of a rested Ralls who played a blinder v the Jacks. Likewise, hopefully Alex Robertson is fit to return to the starting line-up after illness in place of Rubin Colwill, who also found the going tough at the Den, though he at least showed a bit more effort than in some other recent performances. The ‘dig in and scrap’ type environment of the Den wasn’t really his kind of game though, so perhaps a home tie v a more fluid Derby may be? Ollie Tanner may still be missing after picking a foot injury v the Jacks so we can probably expect either Willock or the returning El Ghazi (both of whom played instrumental parts in us achieving a draw on Tuesday) to deputise. Perry Ng may also have done enough to force Omer Riza to consider a recall after his industry in creating our equaliser late on v Millwall. Andy Rinomhota has played a lot of football recently, but with his stamina rarely coming into question I think Riza may favour sticking with Rino at RB to begin with. Predicted Starting 11 Alnwick Rinomhota Daland Goutas Bagan Chambers Robertson Ralls Robinson Ashford El Ghazi The Odds Bods There was only ever going to be one ‘person’ who could do the odds for this one! Match Day Melody With us being back home in the Capital City of Wales, let’s hope we can live up to our reputation as sheep worriers!! Blooooooooooooooooooooooooobirds!!! Just as an extra bonus to help warm your cockles given that we have the snow Queens rolling into town we may as well enjoy these again too!!
It's an ok ish match thread I suppose. Only kidding. Fantastic read and love the snowman on Barrybados beach . Tidy. I'd very much like us to win this one please if that's ok with everyone. And to indulge in a bit of trash talk, I'll quote from the cultural masterpiece that was the film Short Circuit: "Hey laser lips, your mama was a snow blower". Bloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobirds If you catch my drift.
A little flakey Clingo. Great thread yet again BB. Loved the clips. Some great players of the time. Let's hope the current squad can grow and gain the same status in our memories. Interesting point of note, the TV camera was at the back of the Ninian, not the grandstand for both games. As I sit in the Ninian I always get confused with the camera position when watching home games. That's what getting old does for you!!!
Getting old brain farts ,cant find my shoes or socks, last week i forgot my wlfes name ,i hate cooking.
How good were we when Chopra + Bothroyd + Burke + Mcphail + Whittingham were on their A game? Always puzzles me how we didn’t win promotion by a country mile back then.
Sadly I think it was down to Dave Jones lack of tactical nous... If I heard things correctly then he rarely went with specific game plans and just told the players to go out and play. Entertaining to the max and we were blessed to see such players (not that we probably fully appreciated some of them at the time) but chaotic at times too. Still think that era produced some of, if not the best football I've ever seen is play.
I think DJ just told the forwards to play their own game and didn't try to coach them. This resulted in some brilliant football and wins but left us lacking in midfield and defensive cover.
Getting back to tomorrow it’s such a vital game. Somehow City with only 2 wins in their last 15 (yes 15) have scraped their way out of the bottom 3; and realistically to stay that way we’ve got to start winning rather than drawing (or losing games especially as Leeds, Sunderland and Burnley are on the horizon ). So it’s games against teams around us that are going to be crucial and that’s when our mettle will be tested. As for tomorrow well Derby are in rotten form but so were Blackburn, Preston & QPR but they all rolled us over with ease at CCS so that has to be addressed by Riza tomorrow.
Just reading that Ollie Tanner, Alex Robertson and Callum O'Dowda should be back tomorrow. Thought O'Dowda was going to be out for a while as it looked like a hammy. Good news if that is correct.
Robertson certainly as he had a short term sickie. Of the other 2 Tanner is the more likely to be available even if from the bench. Should O'Dowda be fit, where would he play? Bagan has done well and it would be tough to drop him. O'Dowda to left wing then but in competition with others. Again from the bench is a more likely option. Could be a very strong bench tomorrow.
Even more vital now with Hull 2-0 up at Sheffield United. Snow queens currently in relegation zone, and with those tough matches coming up, we definitely need the three points tomorrow.
With Hull currently 2 up at Sheffield United, even more pressure on the boys tomorrow now Just hope the injured trio are back fit as our midweek battlers showed guts but far less flair and composure. EDIT: Sorry Irish, you beat me to it!
Happy match day fellow Bloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobirds. Let's win today and move up that table.
