Wsm-ram

The lad has never played winger before in his career. He's 23. He's impacted games positively in nearly every appearance he's made, and has room to keep improving. If that isn't a successful signing, your metrics are way off. Not every signing is first name on the team sheet, prime aged player. We need several more Kane Wilson signings to build this squad for the future.

Washington won't be match fit till March providing he doesn't have a set back. Waghorn who knows. At some point isn't really helping.
Smith is proven at this level and offers something different to Collins. Whilst TJJ has potential. Not being able to play 90 minutes isn't really much help at all. 
If we signed CBT, Smith and Arblaster this month I'd think we could give it a right good go to get promoted. Strength in depth is key and being able to rotate and not weaken the side is key. Because last season we ran out of steam as we had nobody that could step in and replace any of our better players. We can't let that happen again.

His 21/22 season he had the following (stats per 90):
0.43 goals 
6.37 aerial duels won (league highest)
5.85 touches in the box (98th percentile)
Also, won possession 43 times in the final third, which was a league high.
In 22/23, he also had 0.52 goals (0.43xG) per 90 which was near the top of the league.
He'll add a different dynamic in our attack, win us aerial duels up top and get on the end of crosses. It'd be a good signing.

My ITK source (Beryl 🍔) tells me the 2 initial forward players are CBT and Smith on loan from Wendies and then a last day of the window attempt to sign Arblaster on loan from Sheffield Utd 😉

Let’s remember, the Wendies thought Mendez was s*** and were laughing at us when we signed him. Ok he’s done it at a higher level and has a better pedigree but this lad is 26, he’s up there in L1 in terms of stats, if he’s a similar player to Mendez then how much better will that be for Mendez teams having another problem to deal with. Sounds like we’re all over this and good if so.

What happened to the supposed money available? 

Centre mid more important than a striker IMO. Sick of seeing us over run in midfield

Corey Blackett-Taylor, shown around training ground Monday. Know nothing more than that 

You make some good points, he ticks a lot of boxes for the kind of player we should be signing. I guess there is concern about getting involved in a bidding war and making him a top earner. He will have resale value but that really depends on a Championship club wanting to pay for him, L1 clubs don't pay transfer fees these days.
CBT looks good though, and I assume signing him would mean Barkhuizen leaving and cutting his wage. I like Barks, and he's done a job, but he's inconsistent, over 30, and most of the time looks like he's just woken up in the back of his own car.

31Vickers: 6.5 - Did ok despite a hair-raising attempt at playing sweeper, but while not wishing to be unkind, Joe is still the #1 for me, even after a sloppy game last time out.
35Nelson: 7.0 - Solid enough, though not at his brilliant best in a 3 - might we have tried him at RB in a 442? I don't think not having Nyambe available fully warrants the change in formation, but we've won well enough in the end, so WTF do I know!
5Bradley: 6.5 - Continues to get pelters but I thought he looked better today. He does still look a little nervous and I think if someone could just calm him down a bit, I think there's s till a player in there. I think he'll get a few more games with Ryan away and I think it's now make or break for him. Having him back in form as well as the regular starters would be huge.
6Cashin: 7.5 - Held it all together at the back and is improving leaps and bounds this season - I think playing in a settled unit with Nyambe and Nelson to learn from has improved his consistency significantly. £5.5M, 20% sell on, full season loan back please Brighton. That or you can buy him for £8M +++ when we're promoted, or you could just feck off completely.
2Wilson: 7.5 - I'll get pelters for this but was trying to think whose style he reminds me of and it's Lauren James of Chelsea and England women. Like her he has this knack for just gliding past players and I'm really not sure how he's doing it. I think it's probably some for of football juju as slowmo's reveal nothing. 
8Bird: 8.5 Received a deal of criticism for his last performance, not all of which was fair IMO as he and Hourihane were overrun in a 2-man midfield. Banished that memory today in no uncertain terms, making critical interceptions in midfield and turning provider for 2 of our 3 goals. Only Collo ran as hard. MOTM for me.
4Hourihane: - 7.0 When we were good, so was he. Coincidence? I think not. Quietly effective and probably grateful for some extra bodies in midfield this time out. He's improving his consistency which for me has been the bugbear, rather than his ability.
22Fornah: 6.5 - Limited evidence but ran hard hard and did nothing wrong. Not entirely sure why he didn't start against Boro IMO.
3Forsyth: 6.5 - Didn't look comfortable at all and was duly hooked at HT. It seems like he's got a niggle so I'm hoping it's minor and we have him available again v. soon as he's a talisman and we need him.
20Elder: 7.0 - Don't know too much about this lad and obviously seen little of him at Derby as yet. That said, I really like what I have seen. One of the few to play his football against Boro and again looked promising today. Handy if Fozzy is injured I reckon and I can see PW rotating the two players a bit moving forward which will be one less thing for him to worry about.
19John-Jules: 6.5 - A little non-descript today, but it's his first start and he'll be sharper for the extended game time. I've noticed that both Boro and this lot targeted him a bit too and I do wonder whether that's out of respect for his latent ability. I hope so, weird as that might sound.
7Barkhuizen: 7.0 - Driving me nuts as every time I'm about ready to give up on him, up he pops with a goal. I'd like to see him work as hard off the ball as on it though, but I'm being grump really as he could do no more today.
11Méndez-Laing: 8.0 - Man's a real handful and was back to his pacy and bristling best today. He's playing with a smile a mile wide this season and as someone who has had his troubles, it's great to see him looking very much at home at Derby. Contract extension in the offing Mr Clowes?
9Collins: 7.5 - Oh Jimmy, Jimmy. The old bloke with enough fire in his belly to power a small town. Literally runs himself into the ground every game, yet somehow never seems leggy next time out. Another who looks a different player with a proper pre-season under his belt, his goals have been crucial this season.
16Thompson: 7.0 - Love this lad. A proper pocket destroyer and deceptively strong for a wee lad, he's also got loads of ability and precisely the kind of never say die attitude PW loves. It's great to have him back.
Warne Watch:
Soz gaffer, but just a wee, small moan would be the formation. Not going to bang on as we've won well, but it makes me nervous when we're in game management mode. That aside, another excellent day's work and a big relief to see us bounce back immediately after the loss last time out. Well done to you and the lads! 

Nothing really concrete yet, heard that Smith might be on his way out on loan for the rest of the season which might explain the Savage/ Coventry links. No plans for anyone else to leave, Bird and Cashin, barring bids too big to turn down, both staying. Have been told there is a bit of money to splash 

I know but I can’t bring myself to say Bobby Davison didn’t succeed in the top flight

If we are forced to sell because he won’t commit to a new contract then it might not be the worst thing, depending on how much we get.
I’ve seen figures of about £2mil banded about. If we were to spend £2mil on a midfielder, I’d expect to get somebody who is a standout midfielder in this league. Max Bird isn’t that.
For comparison, Finn Azaz is going from Villa to Boro for £2mil and he is a much better player than Bird. We can definitely improve the team with those funds, if we made smart decisions in the market. 

You are obviously watching a different match if that’s your analysis of Birds contribution. He was bypassed all day long and made no real effort to at least be difficult to pass. Basically he was a passenger 

He not even put a tackle in and just jogging around i think he knows hes going didnt look intrested one bit

Bird has a couple of really good games a season but thats it. Doesnt control the game from deep, not a very good tackler, not really a box to box midfielder & doesnt score all that many. After all his appearances I still dont think anyone has a clue what Max's best position actually is. I think with him being an academy player he gets more grace from fans, if he had signed last summer under Rosenior fans would say he was a poor signing.
If we got over £2m for him id snap your hands off. Much better centre mids out there imo, Randall & Kyprianou today & Branagan just from recent games.

Personally, if we got 2-3 million for Bird in this window I’d snap their hand off and take it. We could buy a good replacement with that money, and someone who fits the role which we need better than Bird.

Actually have a sneaky suspicion we might sign him on a permanent deal on a free (presumably with some future add ons/sell on).
 
It’ll be interesting to revisit these two posts come the end of January.

I agree. We had a bad January last year through not strengthening at all, but an even worse one in 2007 and 2008 because we signed too many players, most of whom added nothing to the team.
If we end the window with all our key players still at the club plus an additional central striker and a creative attacking forward/midfielder/left-sided winger, I'll be absolutely delighted.

Watch the posh highlights from last night. Clarke Harris never leaves the central area for both goals. Two great crosses and he’s on the end of them. He will be the perfect lynch pin for us. Can say he’s a waste of money but with our love for crossing he could be the difference. Get him on an 18 month deal with the option of another in the clubs favour and if we go up and he doesn’t cut it then he goes after one season. Yes he will cost about 600k but when you look at promotion isn’t it worth about 7 million. I’d take the gamble and get him and Blackett Taylor if we can 

Great news, get him on a longer deal in the summer, if we go up and he starts the championship on fire that 4 million could easily turn to 10 million with more clubs interested in him, its worth the gamble, also I love the Cashin Nelsin partnership, like i said months ago, best pairing in the division bar none. 

Just my opinion, we need quality over quantity. We don't need 2 or 3 players who will sit on the bench waiting for minutes, we need a number 9 who can score goals.
If there is a budget, blow the lot on a decent striker, that will be the difference between top 2 and not.

Feels like a special result tonight
 
Well done you RAMS 🐏 👏 

That was a superb second half. Credit to absolutely everyone involved. Best performance of the season for me and richly deserved. 
🐏🐏🐏