Nuwtfly

This one will go to the wire and then Wednesday will concede that getting some of his wages off the bill is better than nothing. Absolutely no other club is going to pay a fee like that for him. It'll go to the wire but, if Warne wants to wait, he'll get him.

I thought that. Doubt we would be sending a forward out on loan, especially considering current injuries, unless we had one coming through the door...

26 is young. 26 has to be young. Please tell me 26 is young 😩

I'm sure this point has already been made but, not only is it fantastic to see Derby signing a young player in a position we desperately need to improve in, but it's also so great to see us splashing a bit of cash! Goes to show that we have got the money to spend if we feel the deal is right and are willing to do so to secure Warne's main targets. Definitely makes me feel at ease about our financial position and about our owner's willingness to get his wallet out when needed.

Great news! Hope he kicks on now and settles into the side, scores a bag load of goals, and signs on the permanent in the summer 😎

I think I read somewhere that this guy is the barber for at least one or more Derby players?

As someone who lives in Taunton - yes please! 🤣 This would be a game changer for me so please let me know if it progresses!

The power of that bobble hat must be studied

This is difficult to swallow when you see Charlton managing to sign Alfie May (one of the top scorers in the division this summer) and Johnson Clarke-Harris for what looks to be under £1m combined. As other posters have said, I'm not calling for money to be thrown at the wall. We've all learnt our lessons there. But I am concerned about the financial power that our current ownership has if I'm honest and this is only going to become more prevalent if we get promoted.

I'm reacting to the exact same posts you are...

I believe there was no upfront fee and that a fee will only be paid if we get promoted? I could be wrong!

Are there any remaining restrictions that could be/would be hampering our ability to be able to sign players at this point? It is very concerning to hear that we essentially don't have any money to spend. Why is this the case, at this point, if there are no further restrictions? Have we spent a fee on any player since David Clowes bought the club?

Maybe Paul Warne?

Perhaps stats can back this up, perhaps not, but I would say that since the end of November there has been a visible difference in how we're playing. The ball is on the pitch a lot more, we pass more and more accurately, we move the ball forward with more pace and actively try to play through the lines more rather than lump it over the top to Collins over and over. There's still a lot of pumping it down the lines and crossing the ball in. Like...a lot. But we seem to be getting better at making the most of that tactic. Nobody would complain about it if we scored a goal every other time we crossed it in, that's for sure! "Warneball" has been better ever since the club came out and backed him. Or it has seemed that way to my eye.

Say it quietly but I thought we played some pretty attractive football (in spells) today! We just seem to keep running out of gas. Think recruitment is going to be so, so vital this month.

He was - but again i should reiterate that i don't believe that's because Warne is a bad manager or anything like that. Bird is just playing in a system that doesn't suit him now. It's a bit like watching a player go from playing under Sarri to Conte. Same player, different system, different results. Napoli are a good example of this, if you're partial to a bit of Italian football.

Wouldn't put it quite like this but I do agree with Roy here. Max looked fantastic under Cocu, Rooney, Rosenior - he flourished in technical sides where he's going to have time with the ball. Warneball does not suit him at all. Feels a little bit like Rowett/Hughes again. That's not necessarily a criticism of Warne's style. It benefits some players over others. Sadly, Max isn't one of them.

If I'm honest Roy I wasn't even thinking of you when I made that comment. I was thinking more of those more commonly found on Twitter. Perhaps the fact that you saw that, and thought it was about you, should give you pause for reflection, though?

Is it possible to actually voice a negative, pessimistic or even really any alternative opinion to the (for want of a better word) "pro-Warne" narrative without "contributing to the negative dialogue"? I agree that there are those who simply don't like him and will jump on any bad moment to use against him. But it also really concerns me when reasonable criticisms are just shouted down as "moaning", "wrist slashing" and other such terms. If we are not given a space to criticise and debate managers/players/owners you can end up with a situation where they are essentially allowed to get away with murder and anyone trying to criticise them just gets shouted down. See: Mel Morris.

Unproven? Think he has had a few cracks at it before and it’s not going particularly well a lot of the time. Saying that, I think he has Rotherham in the top 6 when he left them for us?

Absolutely agree - I hope it does!

Fair comments! But to @Crewtoni would just say that, for whatever reason, I just don’t like it - like I said, I hope he does well, but just can’t seem to warm to him.

We are playing some good stuff at the minute and are in good form, but that doesn't suddenly mean that the first half of the season didn't happen. Perhaps i'm just somewhat pessimistic but I can't help but feel like we've been here before with this club at this point of the season. It's usually followed by a sub-par January window and then...the dip... Let's hope we've learnt our lesson(s). Also; on Warne himself - glad the team, and therefore he, is doing well, but there's just something about his Brentian interviews, his constant digs at supporters and his general communication style that just rubs me the wrong way. Sorry!

It’s because I’m a miserable git

Did he manage to get through the post-match interview without having a pop at our own supporters or is he still got a bee in his bobble when it comes to criticism? You're getting to get deserved praise when you do well, Paul. You're going to get deserved pelters when you don't.