Visiting Ram

Your words are very kind and much appreciated - the Derby and villa fans got on great all day and I do hope you find the person/ people dishonourably  wearing your shirt of your club 

also following on from a post about the transport links in and around Wembley - they are utterly dreadful for anyone north of Watford and I have Been to 4 play off finals now (1 win) and the biggest regret  has always been the journey!  I actually caught the train this year and at ST  Pancras and on the train it was like a war zone due to total and utter official disorganisation 

2 hours ago, Dick said:

Look at where Villa were at the beginning of this season, you're in a much better place. You'll pass FFP and can rebuild with a young manager in charge - and fwiw, Frank is a very good manager.

As for what would have happened with Villa. Our owners were confident we'd be ok, but Jack would have gone, perhaps McGinn, definitely Mings and Abraham, so we would have had to build again - but that's football.

If you can bring Mount and Wilson back, and add another 3/4 good young players, you will storm the league, I hope so, and I hope you batter Leeds twice.

It would be nice - but the best bit about the championship is that there are lots of games against teams nearby and frequently 

40 minutes ago, Teale's 'tache said:

Wanted to get Grealish levels of drunk when that final whistle blew and but for wife/children/work I would of done! Loving it in work today though, Wolves fans in my office are getting a little worried now!

The game itself wasn't much of a spectacle, the pressure really got to both teams in the first half, it was very scrappy, then from nowhere really we played a lovely bit of football back to front which brought the goal, fortunate it came of his back and went in, but the play up to that was excellent.

Derby started too negative and seemed to be playing a system a little alien to them, they couldn't seem to get enough men up the pitch and when they finally started to press our defence we cut right through them. At half time I expected Lampard to right his errors and change things up, he didn't and that seemed to help us grow in to the game more in second half, the second goal was coming but the circumstances made it seem out of the blue, it was very welcome and gave us some breathing room.

As soon as Lampard hooked Huddlestone and changed the system they instantly looked more dangerous but still didn't really bring a save from Steer, I liked how we played at this stage, we didn't drop in and try to man the barricades, we still had a go at them, kept breaking when they came forward, kept men up the pitch, it made it so much harder for them to commit as many men forward as they wanted. For the goal we got a bit stretched and Mings looked like he had saved the day, if he hadn't of injured himself in the process we may not of conceded at all. The goal did force us to sit deeper inevitability, but we still tried to break when their final ball broke down. 

The last 20 minutes or so were nervous, but again I don't think Steer had anything difficult to do, just collect a few crosses and land on a few loose balls.

Smith went with what got us there and the player had full trust in that, I think Lampard over thought things, maybe because of the results earlier in the season and he was too passive. 

In the end we made the least mistakes, showed the most intent and were braver in the way we set up. We deserved it!

UTV!

It’s worth mentioning that neither keeper had much to do and ours didn’t do the basics which cost the game - chances weren’t created by either team but were mainly handed over - all irrelevant now good luck next season 

1 hour ago, Dick said:

We really did expect a close game, and that's what we got. Honestly, nobody expected a walkover. Derby are a massive club, how about we stay up and you join us? I hope so. 

It would be nice but the reality is that a lot of our stupid contracts are coming to an end and we have some seriously good youngsters coming through so it’s quite exciting but the down side is that they have to learn which costs points and we have to sell when a decent offer comes in and it’s incredibly difficult to compete with clubs with huge parachute payments which are used (wrongly in my opinion) to purchase everybody they want ( I have no problem with clubs spending what they have but why do they actually get parachute payments- what are they for) and just out of interest if Villa didn’t have parachute payments how do you feel you would have got on in the championship?

again good luck next season and I hope you don’t get all those Sunday lunchtime games and you do manage 1 or 2 floodlit midweek games 

Firstly congratulations to yourself for ultimately the winning the game 

it’s such a shame that ultimately the winning goal was such a poor mistake.

i didn’t think there was much in the game at all and with another ten minutes we probably  Would have taken it and I did say we wouldn’t give up which we didn’t which was nice from my point of view

obviously if we were able to field a full first team we may have had a different game, waghorn and Marriott weren’t for fit enough to start And holmes couldn’t recover at all to replace Bryson spot in central midfield  so we’ve had to start with Huddlestone  which slows us down and obviously missing a 3-4 left backs 

congratulations again 

53 minutes ago, 7392craig said:

Interesting stat I read on sky sports. 14 of the last 15 teams to score first in the championship playoff final have gone on to win. And as people have pointed out, this fixture has been won by one goal more often than not. First goal seems vital.

I can’t argue with that statistic but this game maybe different based on the season I have witnessed ————- we generally let a goal in against anyone but I must say we have come back to win impressively at lots of places like Man United Southampton Norwich Leeds as well as several others, my main point being that I wouldn’t expect our lot to give up or stop believing at any point. - there could be several goals in this one 

32 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

5th choice! Even better. 

We only have one recognised left back so I dread to think what we would do if him and 3 other alternatives were unavailable. 

Cole will know what to do but at some stage he will have either Adomah or El Ghazi running at him with Elmo overlapping.   Does he still have the legs? 

I’m not sure what winning everything in the game has to do with fitness. Terry has won everything too but I still wouldn’t want him playing at centre half.

 

Yep and Cole won’t get any help from Lawrence either and he will be down the other end of the pitch a lot as well 

1 minute ago, BleedClaretAndBlue said:

Cole had a mare in the 4-0 didnt he and was hooked at HT?

I was there - we were a shower and the six changes to the side didn’t help at all and we were really crap - different come Monday but we can’t defend well in all reality so I do expect us to concede but if we get the ball in midfield we will play at speed and I expect it to be a very good game.

1 minute ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I don’t think all the off the field stuff will affect them. But i do think having to play their 3rd choice 38 year old left back will. We really have to target Ashley Cole.

Actually Cole is 5th choice and helping out his mate 

1st - Forsyth- knee ligaments 

2nd - Olson - knee ligaments 

3rd - Malone - suspended 

4th - Lowe - out on loan at Aberdeen- won player of the year there can’t play as classed as on loan 

5th - Cole - won everything in the game and knows what he is doing but yes 38 yrs old 

3 hours ago, eholm said:

GW or CH is the big call IMO.

Mason Mount is statistically their most creative player and loves the space between the lines as this is where he does most damage from either shooting from distance or passing it through the defence. I'm not one to particularly focus on one player but Smith will surely look to minimise Mount's influence; its not about changing how we play to counter the opposition, more a case of common sense and basic tactical application.

I feel that GW will nullify Mount more than CH would due to his more disciplined play and would cover the area better. GW is actually very good at moving the ball quickly and so I don't believe we would suffer in that regard. Obvs we would miss CH set pieces and left foot but I still believe that is a great weapon to have off the bench if required.

Albion attempted to nullify our best players (JG/JM) and one could argue that it very nearly worked. Now, there is no way that Smith will see this our most over-riding tactic as the Baggies did but I do think he will look to hold that central defensive area, nullifying Mount's impact and freeing up space for JG and JM. Also, Derby will be forced to go wide more often and again this will play into our hands as more space will be available centrally for us to attack and both of our CBs are arguably better at dealing with crosses than through balls to a speedy front man.

I am fairly confident that we won’t have anybody who is overly geared to nullify anyone in the villa team, maybe Johnson might kick one or two if he is near enough but thats about it - but 4 or 5 of ours will turn round and run directly at Villa twitch the ball so we will see how everybody fairs 

31 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Even if he wanted to sell the club who would want to buy it without the ground included in the sale?

It doesn’t mean it can’t be sold back at some point.

Following on from a post I read earlier about average ages of the teams - the team that started at Leeds recently has an average age of 24.5 yrs old but at Wembley we will use Ashley Cole who is 38 so that would change to 25.4 years old

                           Roos 26

bogle 18 Keogh 32 Tomori 21 Cole 38

                     Johnson 32

        Wilson 22 Mount 20 Holmes 24

                Bennett 22 Lawrence 25

thats based on the formation we used at Leeds by the way for information purposes  

Just now, imavillan said:

what you say makes a certain amount of sense, but......

you still haven’t worried me, it’s our year !!!

I am not trying to, just giving you some balance because we all ignore things that don’t wear our colours 

On 17/05/2019 at 10:28, MaVilla said:

The problem is they didn't sell it to themselves they sold it to their owner who could keep it and lease it to them if he ever left, the owner now owns a prized asset that will go up in value over time and derby basically own nothing but their training ground.

Basically derby don't own that asset anymore.

If it helps, I believe our owner owns 4 separate businesses with Derby county as the focus of attention firstly there is the ground which which has been sold off to himself (with planning permission for hotels etc) another business is the training and academy centre at moor farm another business is the internal concessions of the stadium ( conferences, food drink etc) and the other business is the range of bars coffee shops and restaurants around the ground. Ultimately he is an actual Derby fan and we are very lucky to have fund us.

57 minutes ago, Lord Willard said:

Derby also were very clinical. 4 shots on target 4 goals. I doubt they'll be able to recreate that. Also Leeds for a team that was winning the tie were so so open at the back it was suicide. I just don't know what they were thinking. 

Always harsh when we hit the woodwork twice and it bounces out to the opponents - I know it doesn’t count but it’s rather close to a shot on target or a goal

52 minutes ago, Lord Willard said:

I really don't know if I'd start Whelan or Connor. I think playing Whelan gives Jack and John more license to attack. 

Connor on the other hand is a match winner. Derby are weak at set pieces. Will we try and exploit that? Too many times this season has he produced a moment of magic to win a game. 

Down to you Dean. 

You will start whelan mainly to screen your back 4 because our midfielders will be coming and shooting from there 

50 minutes ago, VillaFaninLondon said:

what's worrying me is that Derby were fantastic at Leeds and we weren't against West Brom, in either of the two matches.

 

Derby were very poor in the home, didn't even have a shot at goal. And I think at Elland Road Leeds were a shambles. Taking nothing away from Derby though, they went for it and got their rewards in the away game and fair play to them, but I think they're being somewhat overhyped and we're being played down. 

 

From what I've read, a lot of pundits are backing Derby to beat us. If that isn't motivation for our lads I don't know what is. Yes, Derby are dangerous but we have a more experienced manager and I would say have more threats in the team - there's probably seven or eight players who you wouldn't bet against scoring for us. We weren't great against West Brom but still absolutely dominated both games. We're favourites from this game and the lads need to show why - if they turn up, they should win, we are a very good side when we're on form that's for sure. Scoring the first goal might be key as this bunch of lads are resilient and I don't think they'd implode like Leeds did. That's why turning up from the first minute is hugely important. 

 

Our recent record at Wembley is bad but you would think it might finally click this year and we get some luck there - the big pitch suits a younger team and we're much younger and full of energy when compared to last season's ageing team. I think our average age is 24 or 25. 

At home we played Nugent on his own up front he is certainly a nice chap but no starter and goalscorer in the 2nd leg (2nd half of the tie) we started two up front in a totally different formation which Leeds couldn’t cope with ultimately and if it helps all our outfield players have goals to their name this season and not scruffy ones either ( would be nice to have got some scruffy ones) if it helps we are actually a very young team and yes just like villa park our ground is the same size as Wembley - energy won’t be a problem 

51 minutes ago, John said:

Us I suspect, if either. They didn't expect to be turned over at home by Derby and they didn't lose to us this season, so I guess we will be the lesser of two evils for them. They folded late in the season much like Derby so often do, didn't they? Who would have thought it?

I am sure leeds followers will prefer yourselves to win - we gave it to them LARGE at Bellend road - most enjoyable 

as for our annual crumble well we did try it this season from February until April where we won only 2 in 10 games but usually our February to April crumble is a mixture of the effects of sacking a manager for gross misconduct ( never disclosed to the public) appointment of several interim managers - other clubs wanting our managers and destabilising everything and a general variety of our best players getting injured or we have signed someone useless in January and we have to play them for 10 games to prove that they are useless 

45 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Not using Var for such a big game makes no sense to me. 

We have used it twice away at Southampton and away at Brighton in the fa cup - cost us one very good goal as they decided that our players arm was offside - not that an arm can score a goal apparently 

43 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I can’t speak for your on loan players but Mings and Abraham are up there as 2 of the most committed players we have. 

Fair enough our three are as well 

37 minutes ago, Made In Aston said:

Not to mention that villa are in a stronger position to go up. Derby's best players are loanees who will leave the club at the end of the season. Villa, on the other hand, would still have Grealish, Mcginn , Hourihane, El Ghazi , Hause and possibly Mings. Tammy has also intimated that he might be here next season. That's a good nucleus to take on the Premier league with. 

Our loan players are decent but I am not sure you can say they are our best players but from an outside view I would say Mings has been your best player followed by Abraham in my personal opinion and obviously there are plenty of other decent ones just like us.

5 hours ago, Stephen_Evans said:

Imagine how the Derby fans and players are feeling.  Probably like us pre-Fulham.

We are better than they are.  We must believe in the stands and get every last drop of talent and application out of our boys.

You were 2 points better than us this season so it is fairly even and it could easily come down to an idiotic referee decision or how much all those ‘on loan’ players actually want it

23 minutes ago, omariqy said:

I saw that the Derby chariman bulk purchased these seats but only sold some of them as hospitality so had 2000 left over which they are now selling to fans. I believe the same happend to us last year when we had a random 200 odd tickets suddenly appear.

I haven’t seen that but it’s possible as he is a very generous owner and Fan - previous seasons he always said that he would refund all season ticket purchases if we won promotion for that season to all who purchased on the early bird scheme, he hasn’t mentioned it this year but he may well do so.  Other things he has done is give back cup money to smaller clubs in desperate need like Hartlepool.

2 hours ago, Rugeley Villa said:

Derby fans will snap them up and will be flogging them. The derby fans that want to really go will have tickets by now as it sold out on general sale. The last few hundred we had left sold out to 3+ home games within minutes. We still have thousands that genuinely missed out. 

I must say that’s never going to happen - our season ticket holders had access to one each and every other occasion when we have been to Wembley selling 40,000 plus is not a difficulty but the whole club Wembley thing is a national football disgrace - when we played QPR a few years back they were given more seats than us which was unbelievable and if I remember correctly it was dependant on which end of Wembley we were in - the extra 2000 sold out in 40 minutes at lunch time. If more seats were available both clubs could easily sell them - proper football clubs proper supporters.

4 hours ago, Kingman said:

How many 1st choices you got out?

Well for the season we have missed Davies Forsyth Olson and currently we have Bryson out and waghorn and Holmes under treatment and malone suspended 

2 hours ago, TRO said:

My concern is that our full backs can stop crosses and they have some players who can cross a ball.

Don’t worry we cut inside and shoot - only the full backs cross the ball 

3 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

I thought he looked really shaky. Parrying shots in to dangerous areas. Totally misjudging the flight of the ball of the free kick for their goal. He may be a decent keeper for you. Didn’t seem convincing to me and I hope we test him at any opportunity.

He’s done ok but not played a great deal, been with us five years from non league but only played the last 12 or so games his distribution has resulted in us getting the ball to our forwards which flows with only losing 2 in about 12 

6 hours ago, SmythRam said:

Not a chance of Ledley playing as he doesn't play for Derby.

It will be Bradley Johnson. He has been back in the side towards the end of the season and been absolutely brilliant.

Johnson one of two in our team who can head a football properly - returned to the team basically for that reason especially for being on the naughty step for biting a stoke shirt ( yes 4 game ban for that - Bamford 2 game ban for feigning injury and unjustly affecting a game by getting someone sent off for imaginary violent contact)

44 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Your keeper looked awful against Leeds.

Really in what way? Roos took over from carson due to carson’s Distribution and failure to deal with crosses 

as a side note Roos is out of contract after the game on Monday so it may well be his last game for us then again at least 5 maybe 6 of our starters on Monday will be playing their last game for us that day

46 minutes ago, Rugeley Villa said:

My big soft spot for derby went when they left The Baseball Ground. Derby fans are sound though, very level headed, and it’s a great place to have a drink.

We had no choice about the baseball ground sadly and you are very correct about the beer - lots of real ale places and independent breweries 

we are not very level headed when it comes to the red dogs (Nottingham F########## ) and Dirty Leeds