Gabby'sThighs

"I'd release Smith, Wildsmith, Waghorn, Hourihane and Gayle." I'm being pedantic but, isn't releasing someone getting rid?

I'm not against signing a better 'keeper, I guess I'm just a little irritated (I'm sleep-deprived) with a few vocal posters who have decided Wildsmith (L1 Golden Glove winner) is crap and are very sure that there are better options just waiting around to join Derby! Christian Walton or Marek Rodák could well be an upgrade, who knows. Neither of them played this season, and that's typical of the free agent goalkeepers. Do they even want to sign up? Is a new goalie a good use of limited resources? They'd certainly be good signings if Wildsmith decided to leave.
It's just my opinion, but I think we should keep arguably one of our best 4-5 performers over the last 2 seasons.

Don't forget, he did a couple of bad kicks from hand against Cambridge, so we'd best get rid....🙄

The same Clough who built his Derby side around a trusted core that progressed together and the same Clough who then took some of those same trusted players to Leeds and Forest?
I don’t dispute he will be tested more. You could make the same argument for the entire squad, mind you. Even our player of the year could be replaced by that logic.
The reality is that we need a starting point to build a competitive squad and logically our most consistent and best performing players - Wildsmith, Cashin, Nelson, NML, Collins - should (and hopefully will) be the foundations of that. Most promoted teams that do well have a high performing core group that they stick with and put their faith behind.
Warne would be brave, bordering on crazy, to deviate from that, especially given the importance he places on team chemistry, team spirit and the psychology of the group.
Do we really want to rip up the squad and have to wait weeks and months for it to gel? Surely we want to make important tweaks that give us a boost but maintain a sense of continuity?

"I'd release Smith, Wildsmith, Waghorn, Hourihane and Gayle." I'm being pedantic but, isn't releasing someone getting rid?

I'm not against signing a better 'keeper, I guess I'm just a little irritated (I'm sleep-deprived) with a few vocal posters who have decided Wildsmith (L1 Golden Glove winner) is crap and are very sure that there are better options just waiting around to join Derby! Christian Walton or Marek Rodák could well be an upgrade, who knows. Neither of them played this season, and that's typical of the free agent goalkeepers. Do they even want to sign up? Is a new goalie a good use of limited resources? They'd certainly be good signings if Wildsmith decided to leave.
It's just my opinion, but I think we should keep arguably one of our best 4-5 performers over the last 2 seasons.

"I'd release Smith, Wildsmith, Waghorn, Hourihane and Gayle." I'm being pedantic but, isn't releasing someone getting rid?

I'm not against signing a better 'keeper, I guess I'm just a little irritated (I'm sleep-deprived) with a few vocal posters who have decided Wildsmith (L1 Golden Glove winner) is crap and are very sure that there are better options just waiting around to join Derby! Christian Walton or Marek Rodák could well be an upgrade, who knows. Neither of them played this season, and that's typical of the free agent goalkeepers. Do they even want to sign up? Is a new goalie a good use of limited resources? They'd certainly be good signings if Wildsmith decided to leave.
It's just my opinion, but I think we should keep arguably one of our best 4-5 performers over the last 2 seasons.

"I'd release Smith, Wildsmith, Waghorn, Hourihane and Gayle." I'm being pedantic but, isn't releasing someone getting rid?

I'm not against signing a better 'keeper, I guess I'm just a little irritated (I'm sleep-deprived) with a few vocal posters who have decided Wildsmith (L1 Golden Glove winner) is crap and are very sure that there are better options just waiting around to join Derby! Christian Walton or Marek Rodák could well be an upgrade, who knows. Neither of them played this season, and that's typical of the free agent goalkeepers. Do they even want to sign up? Is a new goalie a good use of limited resources? They'd certainly be good signings if Wildsmith decided to leave.
It's just my opinion, but I think we should keep arguably one of our best 4-5 performers over the last 2 seasons.

"I'd release Smith, Wildsmith, Waghorn, Hourihane and Gayle." I'm being pedantic but, isn't releasing someone getting rid?

I'm not against signing a better 'keeper, I guess I'm just a little irritated (I'm sleep-deprived) with a few vocal posters who have decided Wildsmith (L1 Golden Glove winner) is crap and are very sure that there are better options just waiting around to join Derby! Christian Walton or Marek Rodák could well be an upgrade, who knows. Neither of them played this season, and that's typical of the free agent goalkeepers. Do they even want to sign up? Is a new goalie a good use of limited resources? They'd certainly be good signings if Wildsmith decided to leave.
It's just my opinion, but I think we should keep arguably one of our best 4-5 performers over the last 2 seasons.

£30m or get lost
 
#bemoreB4

Wildsmith made a couple of big blunders this season but aside from that has been very good. I would retain him and work more on his distribution. Even if we happen to bring someone in better, he'd make a great 2nd choice if he still wants to stick around. 

I really don't get this thing with Wildsmith. He's not the perfect keeper by any means, but he has just kept 20 clean sheets in a season. Yes, a lot of that is down to the players in front of him, but he still made some very important saves to keep the score at nil. Many seem to remember more his mistakes rather than his saves. If we were looking to sign a keeper who had just kept 20 clean sheets in a season in the league below us then most people would be all over it.

Need to remember you have 9 subs, not 7 in the Championship,  so there should still be room in a 20 man matchday squad for the younger players, whilst keeping the good characters that will be able to so a job when required.
 
Also, can everyone mentioning Hourihane just stop, he said ages ago he was hanging his boots up for a coaching role at Villa, and even if he wasn't, he's become very much a bit part player in the last 10 games!

Some people will just have to learn to live with the disappointment of realising that they won't get everything they want. I don't think that, after what we've been through in the last 5 years, any fan should retain any illusion that we will be spending substantial fees on any players, unless we first raise the funds through transfers. I don't think the club should make any statement about what money is available either.

Sums up my thoughts. He was good Feb-April (after Adams came in) but he'd been average-to-crap August to November, apart from his immense performance against Blackpool.

This is just reminding me that Ebou made everyone else better.....

"You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off Ebou..."

Release: Loach, Smith, Hourihane, Waghorn.
I am comfortable with keeping Smith in the squad for a year if that's the way we choose to go, but I do think we're in danger of letting recency bias override what was a pretty average season for him up the last 6 games or so.
Transfer list/available for loan: Elder, Fornah, Washington
Keep: the rest 

I've just been told by a Huddersfield fan that there was talk of Sorba Thomas joining us and agreeing to terms last week. Not one I believe and haven't seen a single person mention it elsewhere, but thought I'd note it here in case it happens and I get ITK credibility. 

I second that. Listened to it this morning and thought there was some good, honest discussion on the season and also what we might need and face as challenges moving forward. Some balance in their chat about what went well and what could/will need to be better. 

Wildsmith has been excellent, on the whole, since he signed with us. He signed a deal with a League One club to compete for the goalkeeping position. He wasn’t even a lock for the job when he signed initially, so I’d imagine the discussion will be that he wants to get paid as a Championship number one. The lad’s stock has never been higher and he’s coming into his prime years. I’d suspect the contract he would want is going to be vastly different to the one he originally signed.
In terms of replacements, I did notice that one of Warne’s former favourites, Marek Rodak, is out of contract at Fulham. 

Hes looked pretty decent when he came back from in jury, shame he then got injured again. I suspect he might be a good player for us next season if he can stay fit. A good pre season will help.

If I were Clowes I’d be leaving Warne (and his staff’s) contract as is. Warne probably also content with that. There’s still 2 years to run, probably had some sort of bonus or % increase written in should he achieve promotion. Wait and see how we go and if there’s a need to discuss a new deal it can happen later in the next season. 

Players who are still contracted to the club beyond this summer: 
Goalkeepers - Josh Vickers
Right Back - Ryan Nyambe, Kane Wilson
Centre Back - Eiran Cashin, Curtis Nelson, Sonny Bradley, Jake Rooney.
Left Back - Callum Elder 
Right Wing Back - Kane Wilson, Joe Ward
Left Wing Back - n/a
Central Midfield - Tyrese Fornah
Wingers - Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Corey Blackett-Taylor, Joe Ward
Strikers - Connor Washington
Players most likely to be offered new deals: Joe Wildsmith, Louie Sibley, Liam Thompson & Darren Robinson. 
Players who will probably be offered new deals: Craig Forsyth, James Collins, Korey Smith & Tom Barkhuizen. 
Players who will be unlikely offered new deals: Scott Loach, Martyn Waghorn, Dwight Gayle. 
I wouldn't be at all surprised if we keep John-Jules for developmental reasons, obviously there are issues regarding his fitness & health but there is definitely an appreciation for his talent and with him being out of contract at Arsenal. I could see him signing a two year deal, low risk in terms of financial investment. We're undoubtedly going to try and sign Ebou Adams (which has all but been confirmed). 
The scale of the rebuild is there for everyone to see: 2x goalkeepers, 1x centre back, 1/2x left back/wing backs, 4/5x central midfielders, 1/2x wingers & 3/4x strikers. 16-odd players depending on who signs new terms from the out of contract players. I suspect the bulk of our work will be done in free agency once again as EFL have curtailed spending there is a plethora of out-of-contract players hitting the market – an intensely competitive market. We could well see the likes of Wildsmith and Sibley offered terms that we find out of our budgets. Wildsmith will be a Championship number one somewhere next season, on his body of work at Derby and that could mean wages upwards of £15-20k a week depending on the club. Sibley has pedigree and will have a ton of suitors willing to pay him good wages, again it could be beyond what we can/are willing to pay.
I’ve just looked through the free agency market and you can see how crowded that market is going to be, especially considering the type of player we need to add to the squad. I’d like to see us bring in Norrington-Davies, Nathan Ferguson, Shandon Baptiste, Alan Browne, Lasse Sorensen, Femi Azeez and Aaron Connolly.
There isn’t a shortage of good players, unfortunately there is no shortage of Championship clubs in the same boat. I don’t envy the job the recruitment team have ahead of them – the level of creativity they’re going to need to show in order to bring a squad together capable of being competitive isn’t easy. Not to mention that we’ve got to start recruiting for resale value so it can’t be just about patching a squad together, like we did in League One.
My concern with how we approached recruitment in League One was that it was very short-term based, but on the other hand I could appreciate that it's much easier to bring in talented players as a Championship club. It's actually played out as such, so now we have a fairly blank canvas to build upon as a Championship team, but the volume of work that's required is significant. No wonder they're starting back tomorrow. 

that's a shout. CM, bags of experience, 344 Championship appearances, captain at Preston. he could take the armband straight away...

Alan Browne from Preston on a free would be a great signing.

Kasey Mcateer from Leicester has one year left on his contract, he’s out of favour having only started 12 games and made 21 appearances overall. He has 5 goals though and looks good whenever I see him.
Hes starting tonight as a lot of main players have been rested for Leicester and a lot of fans seem to feel he should of gotten more game time.
At 22 he could be a good investment as a winger who can play behind the striker also. 

There is a lot of dross, definitely, that's the nature of the free transfer market. I think there are plenty there who have done well enough, and players with 100-200 Championship appearances are probably going to be good enough to keep us up (as part of a decent squad). There are definitely some young gems in L1 & L2 but not many who'll come without a transfer fee. Randall & Aasgard are absolutely the type of player we should go for but I doubt we can afford them. Maybe we could get them later.

Mark Harris has come up a lot but his stats aren't great. He scored 9 league goals in 3 Championship seasons 2020-2023, underwhelmed in L2 & NL, then got 13 league goals in 39 L1 games this season, plus we'd have to pay for him. At 25, he has potential.