Ghost of Clough

5 minutes ago, simmoram1995 said:

This could be the end of Warne if this backfires I could see us playing NML up front if Collins is injured or shove Bradley up top 🤦‍♂️😂

Collins also has to avoid picking up 2 yellows over the next 8 games or he's suspended for 2 games...

8 minutes ago, YouRams said:

I still like NML through the middle just means we'd have to switch how we play and can't see Warne doing so 

Mendez-Laing at CF (usually with astrike partner) has just 1 assist in his 6 starts at CF. Last season he averaged 1 every 3 games overall, whislt this season he's averaging 1 in 2. Moving his away from the wing would hurt the team overall

5 minutes ago, Rample said:

Listening to a Bristol Rovers deadline day live podcast as they were talking about Fornah and they've just spent a good 5 minutes praising the wardrobe as unstoppable. Scores any chance he gets, has 11 in 14 starts, has best goals per minute in league one. 

A lot of speculation from rovers that they are after a Costa Rican midfielder from Forest so maybe not signing Fornah. 

Martin has 11 goals from 30 shots this season. In his last season for us  he had 11 from 38 shots

19 minutes ago, Rample said:

Twitter rumour. Goalkeeper John Ruddy currently having a medical with us. Wildsmith off? 

Must be true. Ruddy is injured

5 minutes ago, jimtastic56 said:

If Bird thinks that Rams and Bristol city are going to be in the same division next year . Why on earth would you pick them over us?

Perhaps he's been nudged out the door? 

23 minutes ago, Kernow said:

I’d take that, although there’s 3 strikers you’ve named with 3 very different playing styles, so it’s interesting to see what approach we’re going to take.

Also, a £1mil loan fee for 4 months of 32 year old Michael Smith 😂😂😂😂

Based on our summer targets, Warne doesn't mind what type of forward we get in, as long as it's someone. From Mark Harris, to Alfie May, Matt Godden, Jordon Rhodes, Billy Sharp, etc... all different.

1 minute ago, TomTom92 said:

Moaned about Dom and Leigh earlier, wish i hadn't, their latest tweets aren't filling me with hope. Was Gregory really our main target today??

I live in the hope that we had a list of players with all being options depending on our situation and how many choose to go elsewhere. I'd be gobsmacked if anyone in power at the club sat there and thought: "today is the day Sheff Weds decide to cave in and let us have one of their players on loan, after playing us for foolsall the other times we tried to get someone off them"..

If Gregory was our 4th choice target, we would have still been talking to them in case our 3 preferred options fell through. On days like today, you need to have every option on standby.

If Blackburn sign that forward they're after, could Harry Leonard become available?He's rarely featured since they signed an Icelandic forward, so will have even less game time after today. He's scored 3 and assisted 2 in his 834 league minutes this season. Scored 10 and assisted 4 in his 15 U21 appearances last season too.

Similarly, Reyes Cleary could be on the way out of West Brom. He's out of contract at the end of the season, seemingly frozen out of the squad (due to not signing an extension). West Brom have also signed Callum Marshall, so there's no chance of Cleary getting minutes. 16 goals and 3 assists in his 12 U21 games last season and still only 19.

There are a few decent wingers from U21 sides with conrtacts expiring in the summer. I'd be tempted to get any of them in early if possible:
Amario Cozier-Duberry (Arsenal, RW, 18) - 7 goals and 2 assists in 13 U21 games
Charles Sagoe Jr (Arsenal, LW, 19) - 3 goals and 10 assists in 17 U21 games
Omari Forson (Man Utd, RW, 19) - 7 goals and 2 assists in 10 U21 games

6 minutes ago, CodnorRam said:

Are you infact Rammie? Youre knowledge of the inner workings of derby is abit suspicious 

There's currently only 1 player I could speak to and friends of my family know a couple others, but that's as close to being #ITK as I'll ever be.

4 minutes ago, CodnorRam said:

How do you know all this stuff. 🤣 I can just bout remember my password for my phone 

By forgetting all the useful stuff I need to remember for work and whatever my wife told me last night  😅

4 minutes ago, Eoghan1884 said:

If we put one in when we sold him maybe ?

Since we sold him during admin, we would have sold him for the best up front fee we could get. I doubt there will be a sell-on. However, we will be entitled to a modest 1% of any fee due to FIFA's Solidarity Contribution scheme - essenitally 0.5% for every season at the club before the end of the season a player turns 23 (0.25% per season between the ages of 12 and 15). This only applies when a player transfers from one country to another.

4 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

Can you share which league we'll be recruiting for?

There's a 'Championship Pot' and a 'League 1 Pot' depending on the outcome at the end of the season. Some targets may even appear in both pots

17 minutes ago, Nuwtfly said:

Is there an argument to say that Collins scoring that many goals says more about the standard of opposition than his ability? After all, it's actually about 13 goals in the league I believe? 

Looking at the list of top scorers in League One this season, there's names in there even above Collins who have been either deemed surplus by Championship clubs or who have failed to do it in the league above time and time again.

He's done well this season, don't get me wrong. He's had a lot of opportunities to. But you would surely be concerned if we went into next season (lets say in the Championship) with him as our main no.9?

He's still managed to score 7 goal contributions against top 8 sides (I expect to see Blackpool in the top 6 by the end of the season). He played for 484 minutes against the top 8 so far, so has averaged a very impressive 69 minutes per goal/assist against the top sides.

2 hours ago, Sparkle said:

I’d have three playing in midfield but we have so many wide players we can’t fit them in so something has to give way and Warne has chosen central midfield as the place where we short of bodies on the pitch much to the criticism of Bird and Hourahan unfairly 

Midfielders (7) - Bird, Hourihane, Adams, Thompson, Smith, Fornah, Sibley
Wide players (4/5) - Mendez-Laing, Blackett-Taylor, Barkhuizen, Wilson, Ward (?)

We're perhaps a Smith/Fornah and a Ward too heavy in terms of squad size but not too bad, especially as Wilson/Ward also cover RB.
However, we would be a tad heavy at CF in a 433 once we sign someone and other players are all fit (5): Collins, New, Washington, Waghorn, John-Jules

1 hour ago, Srg said:

Am I crazy for being genuinely annoyed if we get rid of Fornah? Hopefully, it's all nonsense and he's going nowhere, but if he does go, I'd be so frustrated.

I think most fans think he'll come good. I also think I'm an outlier in thinking he should be moved on, but that's mostly because when we signed him I had the opinion that he "isn't much of an improvement over Smith (if any at all)" and haven't seen enough to change my opinion. I can recall 2 games where he made an impact - I think it was the Cambridge home game where he mopped up everything in midfield, and the Bistol Rovers game where he came off the bench to assist our last minute winner. His performances since then have lacked effort, topped off by walking back when Bradford were breaking up the field.

I am perhaps being a tad harsh on him, as looking through his match ratings when given conssitent starts in the absense of Bird and/or Hourihane, he did quite well. We've also only lost 2 games which he started in - his first start for Derby was against Bolton when Wildsmith got sent off, and the other was against Shrewsbury when we was brought off at half time (score was 0:0 and we went on to lose).

I can see why Fornah may be frustrated with not being given more starts, which will have been a cause for his recent poor displays when given a rare opportunity in the team

19 minutes ago, Macintosh said:

I'd go for free-agent Conor Wickham on a six-month contract. He's 30, a target man, and would be playing for a contract extension. That can be done after we miss out on whoever we are chasing and being held ransom by Wednesday. Let them continue paying their wages, they will soon regret that. Waghorn must be weeks away from being involved and Washington not that far behind.

Are you worried John-Jules may be a bit lonely on the treatment table later in the season?

41 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

Do we have some sort of link to FGR? Is there a vegan in the recruitment team? Is that three players now (inc C Savage) with FGR links?

We had Luke McGee on loan from them. He was also part of their 21/22 L2 promotion team

6 minutes ago, Animal is a Ram said:

Bold are more likely ones - we know there's been interest in Weston, and a midfielder in last night would hint at the rest.

Sibley though, is currently our best available left (wing) back. Elder's close, but not likely to be back for Charlton on Saturday if we're still working on the 10 days.

Other than Robinson, the rest of the U21s are unlikely to get EFL loans so we can still send them out to the National League (or lower) later in the season. The club will be reluctant to weaken the U21 too much. Whilst results haven't improved as much as we'd have liked, performances have improved considerably. We've been undeservedly beaten in a few games, including agaisnt Forest the other night - it took 2 red cards and an injury time goal for them to beat us. We haven't been beaten by more than a single goal since September, and that was the last of only 3.

23 hours ago, Carnero said:

Can't wait for the meltdown tonight from some of the babies that don't realise that deadline day is tomorrow.

18 minutes ago, NottsRammy said:

In my View we have just shot promotion straight in the foot .

NO STRIKER AGAIN !! 

Still over 12 hours left to sign one

18 minutes ago, NottsRammy said:

Im all for Clowes i dont want him spending silly money ( lesson learned ) 

But for me midfield is terrible i dont agree that hourihane and Bird are what we need . If we are that tight on funds what a missed opportunity , why not sell bird get a fee and his wages off the books and with that get the midfielder in we have got in who i believe is a bit off a tackler what we have been crying out for !! .

It seems like you missed yesterday's news - we signed a defensive midfielder... Exactly wehat you're crying over. We also didn't need to sell our best midfielder to get someone in.

18 minutes ago, NottsRammy said:

But also free up wages and money to go for a better striker .

I have always been a Warne fan think he is a grwat bloke doing a good job in still some fairly difficult circumstances but i think he has totally shot us in the foot here for going up , why he couldnt see off loading bird and getting a decent striker in is beyond me . We wont make autos now and i doubt we will win a playoff as derby sides are known for bottling it when the time comes . 

Put my tin hat on but its how i feel right now .

Just cant believe we havent got a striker in and we only have one fit that everyone is not convinced about , and neither am i .

Seems like you put your tin hat on too early and can't see what's right in frot of you. There's still budget left in the pot to sign a forward WITHOUT selling anyone.

7 hours ago, LN747 said:

JCH is highly unlikely BUT watch the space , it could be more exciting than Gregory 

The only way I see this happeneing is if we do a straight swap with Fornah, with them having enough time in to get loan cover in for CF.

Unrelated, but I didn't realise how small their squad was. Outside of their first 11, they have Clarke-Harris who has played a bit part role this season, a winger who comes on when Mason-Clarke or Poku need a breather, and a backup kepper. They also have a CB who hasn't started since September (following 7 goals being conceded in 2 games). The rest of their squad has played a total of 622 minutes between them. If they don't suffer from fatigue in the 2nd half of the season, they'll surely pick up a couple of injuries with results dropping off.

3 minutes ago, Jimbo Ram said:

How will our midfield now look? Who will miss out? I think Thommo will be unlucky to be left out after recent performances. 

Warne'll no doubt go with Adams, Hourihane and Bird once he's settled. Personally, I'd have Thompson or Sibley (when not filling in at LB) in there over Hourihane to maintain a high press. I've said it before, but Hourihane should have a reduced role in the squad - coming off the becnh every game to see games out or provide a different threat if chasing a result.

I expect Smith to be loaned out tomorow. I wouldn't be surprised if Fornah is loaned out either.

1 hour ago, maxjam said:

 

That's the kind of personality which will lift the team when on a bad run. It's clear how excited he is to have joined us and you know he'll try his best when out on the field.

1 hour ago, Millenniumram said:

Good signing, fits in with the rest of Warne’s recruitment. I did think the treatment table was getting a bit empty.

To be fair, the injury which kept him out for all of last season was afreak accident "never seen before in football" and doesn't seem to be a problem which could reocurr. He's been releatively free from injuries throughout his career.

If his performances at Forest Green are anything to go by, he'll be the 'midfield enforcer' many people crave. He also had a good attacking output for a DM when playing for them. Much better than what you'd expect from Fornah and Smith.

27 minutes ago, Eoghan1884 said:

I remember it seemed that Warne was at Brentford v Wolves and he said there’s a striker he was also looking at in that game. He also said that there’s a premier league player that can be released once that team sign a replacement. It seems like it would be Nathan Fraser from wolves and wolves are close to signing to signing a striker from Brazil. Wonder if this is one that could potentially happen.

Which would be another dissapointing signing when Brown has a better strike rate than him at U21 level this season. It's similar to us signing White last season, which resulted in Thompson deciding it was best for him to go out on loan.