Ram@Lincoln

41 minutes ago, Dryhorce said:

I hope that he is booked into a nice hotel it's Dundee V Rangers on Sunday hopefully he goes and watches Lyall Cameron if he is scouting for us

Kilmarnock v St Mirren on Saturday if he wants to get a look at Ryan Strain

Nobody has said that Billy Davies is scouting for Derby, he also isn't a member of the club's scouting team. As discussed on the forum a couple months ago, it's more likely that we sign some glamorous European players since we actually have a scout (Robin Krasniqi) who is based in Europe. Until last month he was based in Madrid and now he's based in Austria. We obviously wouldn't be employing someone in these regions if we weren't actively taking an interest in potential deals. Warne said in his Barnsley pressers that he admires Barnsley's European/Scandinavian recruitment, so he/Mark Thomas is obviously taking it seriously.

2 hours ago, 8Leeds said:

If we spent 20k on anyone’s wages I’d be hugely disappointed. We’ve just come out of a situation where over spending and gambles nearly put us in the floor.

Yes, we’ll need to make a few addition in the summer but it won’t be a massive overhaul as you suggest. 

Exactly this on the wages. It'll be a real kick in the teeth for all the local businesses that had to take fractions of the debts owed them with the admin. 

DC is running the club with the ethos of integrity, whilst ensuring a sustainable and reputable club. Going back to the old ways of boom or bust immediately on promotion would just be plain stupid. Something that he isn't. 

We're a much better thought of club and business now. Let's keep it like that.

41 minutes ago, Dryhorce said:

If we can do better then that would be great to do a Ipswich or what ever but bottom lines that we have enough quality not to get dragged into a relegation battle in our first season back up

Looking at Ipswich's team from Saturday, from their signings this season; two players started, three came on as a sub and two were unused. That's a possible seven from twenty players, with only five being used. I can see similar happening for Derby in the summer, a few of the older members will leave and hopefully be replaced by younger upcoming players. Perhaps a half dozen in and out each, including retaining Gayle and Adams. We need a settled club at all levels for continuity, from the boardroom to coaching staff and players. Ripping everything up and starting again each summer just doesn't work and ultimately led us to where we are now.

1 hour ago, Dryhorce said:

 

                 Kelly

          MacKenna Souttar Welsh 

Beck  Baccus Barron Cameron Ralston

                   Bair.  Hornby

 

Accounting that a fee been made for Cameron and Bair

Souttar Welsh Ralston Beck Hornby loan

I think that is a strong side that keeps us in the division and hopefully gets us fighting for promotion 

So we get promotion this season and as reward to the current players, everyone loses their place and seemingly leaves?

I'm sure that's a great way of growing club culture and our new found reputation within the game/EFL.

Aren't Paul Coutts and Craig Bryson still playing for their childhood clubs? Stuff that  bring them back home to Derby!

27 minutes ago, Rich84 said:

Maybe it didn't work out as he's a young lad and too far from home, trial at Stoke, signs for Cov suggests he wants to be in the midlands perhaps

Hopefully the boy does well then. Sad he couldn't have come back to Derby if he showed promise. Another one to get away it seems.

13 minutes ago, Ghost of Clough said:

Based on the very limited number of times I had seen him play , I thought he was the most promising CB to have come through our academy since the early/mid 00's. I thought he was a 'complete CB' - good on the ball, decent pace, and strong in the air.

39 minutes ago, Ghost of Clough said:

A really odd move in the end. Hardly played for their U18s in the season he joined them. A regular the following season (19 league apps out of 24). Then nothing for their U23s this season, but was given a 45 minute trial by Stoke in August (a game they lost 10-1).

From what I understand, Brighton released him in January.

Was he actually any good/stand out for us, or did Brighton essentially just take a gamble on a cheap pick up due to our admin status? Then from there, like you say, it just hasn't worked out due to the skill level of the player.

Just seen that Coventry have signed one of the boys that Brighton nicked off us during admin. Could've been nice to reunite with hum.

https://www.ccfc.co.uk/news/2024/march/transfer-kain-ryan-signs-for-coventry-city/

Hopefully we had a built in optional future fee. Didn't we have the same with Martin, Forsyth and Jamie Ward back in the day under Clough? If not, he'll surely know where his bread is buttered. He didn't get a sniff at Cardiff, had no relationship with their fans, whereas here he's a nailed on starter and loved by the fans. Make it happen Warne and co!

15 minutes ago, duncanjwitham said:

If you think back to that Chorley FA cup game, where we had to put out the academy lads against non-league defenders, the big issue was our lack of physicality.  We just got out-muscled and couldn't let out superior technical skills shine.  When you watch Brown play against teams at this level, you see none of that, he looks big and strong and his better movement and technique is shining though.   Obviously that doesn't guarantee he'd be good enough at higher levels, but it's certainly a good start.

I did a job at the Chorley ground a couple of years ago, I got discussing the game with some of their volunteers/staff. To give them credit, they generally don't acknowledge the game purely because it was men vs boys. Overall they were very disappointed that they couldn't play our first team as a reward for their efforts. But being non league, did admit the prize money was too hard to turn down. 

You might have forgotten, but recently we had a little financial strain. This came following a number of years chucking good money after bad. I'm sure DC hasn't forgotten this and will be eager not to return to those days. Sure, the EFL restrictions/business plan will be a thing of the past in the summer but that doesn't mean a blank chequebook. We've had the sunk cost fallacy of MM and now the sustainable and responsible management by DC.

Taking untested Scottish based players on £4/5k per week and skyrocketing them to £20k just won't be a thing that we'll do. I'm sure that Bryson and Russell when they moved down didn't 4-5x their salaries overnight. Things like that are exactly why we find ourselves in League One and not the Championship or higher. 

The annual 1st team wage cost last season we now know was £7.3m, we know it's about a third higher this year (45% turnover) so lets call it a nice £10m for rounded sake. Assuming 25 players per first team squad, last year we ran an average of circa £5.5k, whereas this year we're around £7.5k. Obviously average, so some will be more, some will be less. Even if we say a 25% rise for promotion, that's going to £9.375k as a average. Taking any player and putting them on £20k, let alone a number of untested Scottish based ones, simply won't happen.

1 hour ago, Dryhorce said:

My whole point was getting a few or £4 or 5 a week down from Scotland would mean there could be two or three on the £20 000 mark,and we still can keep a decent sized competetive squad 

And remember that a lot of players will be leaving most on more than £4 grand the wage bill goes up when we go up

Club can earn £8.8 million from just staying in the championship might go to paying debts

But this is were transfer trading has to be right to solid low ball low risk signings that can be sold on if they do well 

16 minutes ago, Reggie Greenwood said:

Also referred to us as County in his very first post. Always a sign of someone with little knowledge of the Rams 

I wonder what the excuse is on that one...

Almost like the ginger witch on EMT! 😆

59 minutes ago, roboto said:

No to my original question of having some suggestions that aren't from the SPL.

Are you an agent for these lads or something? Seems a weird way to drum up some business, but you seem to be committed to it.

From overhearing my lad, there's some new version of football manager out, so I guess that has these all listed as top players?!

14 hours ago, angieram said:

 

They don't have many fans do they!

1 minute ago, BramcoteRam84 said:

Not surprised by this, they all wanted him out before their recent run, very similar parallels to Warne here.

They also want the stadium announcer sacked! 

https://barnsleyfc.org.uk/threads/the-stadium-announcer.328816/

It's not just Warne that's a divisive character, there's now a thread on the Barnsley forum wanting their manager sacked. Yesterday was shocking for them, but it's only their 4th defeat since September. 

https://barnsleyfc.org.uk/threads/get-him-out-now.328815/

3 hours ago, CBRammette said:

Enjoying scrolling through twitter tonight. Something on this one has stumped me though - who is the chap on the right shoved to the from for the bounce? Coach?

He's the fitness coach that takes charge of the half time warmup/kick about. Obviously a popular guy amongst the players.

1 hour ago, Stive Pesley said:

I hadn't really thought much about the shirt sponsor being "given away" to the NSPCC, but presumably a commercial sponsor would be paying quite a lot of money (£100k+?) to be the main sponsor on the shirt of a club the size of Derby, so donating that spot to the NSPCC would count as a charitable donation and lower our tax bill?

Sponsorship income for the Three Amigos, Gadsby and GSE years prior to Mel Morris' spending frenzy;

2004: £1.3m - 2005: £1.2m - 2006: £1.2m - 2007: £1.0m - 2008: £1.7m

2009: £2.4m - 2010: £2.2m - 2011: £2.1m - 2012: £2.0m - 2013: £1.8m

2014: £2.6m 2015: £2.9m 2016: £3.0m 2017: £5.0m 2018: £5.0m

2019: N/A 2020: N/A 2021: N/A 2022: N/A 2023: £1.4m

For the GSE years, prior to the Mel Morris silly seasons (2008-2013) we averaged £2.0m on sponsorship. Including the Gadsby and Three Amigos years brings it down to £1.7m. Therefore, to sit at £1.4m for the past financial year having gifted arguably the largest sponsorship product is excellent reading.

After reading various news articles of Championship clubs regarding front of shirt sponsorship costs, it appears £200-600k per season appears the normal range. Obviously relegation to League One will reduce the potential fee we could charge, however the size of the club and high profile would still demand a premium. With all this in mind, £1.4m is £300-600k off the average range of £1.7-2.0m without a front of shirt sponsorship. If we dip expectations and assume £1.7m is a reasonable figure for a club of our size in League One, that would suggest a sponsorship cost of around £300k. 

For League One comparisons, Ipswich had a sponsorship turnover of £2.0m in 2021 and £3.4m in 2022 - the later year being when Ed Sheeran became front of shirt sponsor for his boyhood club. Sunderland while in League One had sponsorship revenues of £1.3 (2022) and £1.1m (2021). Sheffield Wednesday and Bolton don't give a sponsorship specific line in their accounts. Taking the average of the two, £1.3m and £2.0m at £1.65m that would align with the £1.7m previously mentioned. Therefore, I'd assume £250-300k would be about the level for the front of shirt sponsor for Derby in League One.

For a slightly different comparison, the iPro stadium sponsorship was reported at £7m for 10 years, so £700k a season.

2 hours ago, ariotofmyown said:

Don't you want to follow the game? What do you do instead? Refresh BBC text commentary?

So you're saying the text commentary doesn't make for a exciting and gripping experience? 

Goal! Barnsley 0, Derby County 1. Sonny Bradley (Derby County) header from the centre of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Conor Hourihane with a cross following a corner.

It's almost like being there....

6 hours ago, Gaspode said:

his utter obsession with proving how clever he is because he’s managed to qualify as a ref

My teenager qualified last year, it's incredibly straight forward to do it. It's about £150 and a weekly evening session for about 2 months. They did everything possible to make you pass, there's no exams, you basically just have to attend the evening sessions then they "watch" the first 5 games.

Usually for youngsters refereeing junior football, it'll be the league organiser just walking around the many pitches they have going on at once. A quick glance over at your pitch to see if all is fine and that's it really. 

I'll renew my own but I won't be bothering with my lads one. He's barely interested anymore, only coming now and again, with the price increase it isn't worth it. One less battle to make on a Saturday morning.

1 minute ago, gfs1ram said:

What non league team would that be Jim. Can't recall that one ?

He played for Southport on loan from Blackburn when we somewhat struggled against them at home in the cup.

So brilliant to hear Ed's voice again on the airways, he's presenting Sportscene at six tonight.

3 hours ago, Ghost of Clough said:

8th in National League South. He came off the bench for the final 4 mins + injury time when already 4-2 up. He made 2 starts for Buxton in the National League North earlier in November.

He's 21 year old, and I beleive we only signed him on a 1 year deal, so I wouldn't expect him to get an extension here.

What's the age profile of the rest of the U21 squad looking like? I'd assume rather young following admin with a few like these dotted in to make up the numbers? Hopefully the next succession line is in place for folk to step up to the next age group.

We didn't expect much from McGoldrick when he signed and he became a vital piece of the puzzle. Hopefully another elder statesman in Gayle can bring his previous Premiership class to League One. As already has been said look at Rhodes and Martin tear it up this season, McGoldrick last season. I'm very hopeful indeed for this signing.