Tamworthram

That would obviously be the ideal scenario but I do wonder if the better players (hopefully that’s where we’re looking) attract more interest and may take a little longer to sign up  unless the club is prepared to see off any competition with a crazy bid (and wages offer) especially if their agents are doing there job properly.
Time for patience me thinks.

Doesn't include miles covered, I guess. Ebou would be right up there in that. Hard to put into stats the overall affect on the rest of the team as well. 

Let’s assume he hasn’t come through our academy and is a random young striker who’s had a good 3-4 months.  Would we really be suggesting we sign him and throw him in?  Would we really by looking at him thinking a Prem club will sign him for 8 figures in the summer?  Probably not.
@Chesterfield_Ram has given some good stats about other National League strikers who’ve scored hat loads at that level, but not so much in L1 or L2.  It’s about developing him at the right pace and not rushing him too soon.  I think the best next step is to send him on loan to L1 with the option to recall in January.

It helped that Bellingham was on the radar of the world's biggest clubs long before he made his first-team debut. He'd clearly demonstrated something special in the academy that only a tiny fraction of young players do.

Indeed but I don't think it's worth selling him for less. Worth much more to us than, say, a sale for a couple of million. Our academy has singularly failed to produce top strikers for years. It's the hardest, and most valuable, position. 

An eight figure sum for a player with so little experience at senior level? I’d snap their hand off. 

2 dire games

Hi new member, all the way up in sunny Fife,  just joined today, never really bothered about forums before but feel exciting times are back around the corner for the Rams so here I am to keep up with the news for the new season etc
looking forward to the new season and hopefully end back where the club belongs. If Ipswich can do it then there’s no reason why the Rams can’t.

This.
Ideal scenario is probably four as you say.
Sign a quality striker and add another via, maybe a Prem loan.
That’s two additions in the area we need to improve most, along with central midfield. 
After that I’d look at Gayle to see if he still has the legs for another season, with Brown as the other option.
Obviously PW would need to take a good look at Brown and Gayle to see if they are up to it. But in Browns case, if he struggles in the first half of the season, we could always loan him out to a league one club and get a loan in to cover.

I personally think this will have influenced the number of strikers that PW will look to recruit. Having Brown as 4th choice does (not*) seem too risky.
*Thanks TamworthRam

My thoughts exactly. He may well be able to make the step up to the championship but let’s not forget, he’s still only made about 20 appearances at senior level - the vast majority of those games being at non league level. Would we be wetting ourselves over any other young player with such a limited senior career if they weren’t already a Derby player?
If Warne, and the rest of the coaching staff that have seen him play and train think he’s ready then bring him in. But, if they’re not yet sure then a loan to a league 1 team (until the end of the year rather than a season long loan?) might be a more prudent way forward. As you say though, dependent on who else we are able to sign in the summer. 

That would obviously be the ideal scenario but I do wonder if the better players (hopefully that’s where we’re looking) attract more interest and may take a little longer to sign up  unless the club is prepared to see off any competition with a crazy bid (and wages offer) especially if their agents are doing there job properly.
Time for patience me thinks.

That would obviously be the ideal scenario but I do wonder if the better players (hopefully that’s where we’re looking) attract more interest and may take a little longer to sign up  unless the club is prepared to see off any competition with a crazy bid (and wages offer) especially if their agents are doing there job properly.
Time for patience me thinks.

Did you mean to say “doesn’t seem too risky”?

It really isn’t 

That would obviously be the ideal scenario but I do wonder if the better players (hopefully that’s where we’re looking) attract more interest and may take a little longer to sign up  unless the club is prepared to see off any competition with a crazy bid (and wages offer) especially if their agents are doing there job properly.
Time for patience me thinks.

That would obviously be the ideal scenario but I do wonder if the better players (hopefully that’s where we’re looking) attract more interest and may take a little longer to sign up  unless the club is prepared to see off any competition with a crazy bid (and wages offer) especially if their agents are doing there job properly.
Time for patience me thinks.

I don’t mind the play offs it gives being in the chasing pack a worthy aim for more contenders. What has to go are parachute payments. If clubs can’t write players contracts to allow for relegation then they need new lawyers. It’s dumb, it unbalances the championship. Just not on, a handful of clubs getting a vast income advantage year on year. 

Yep. That would get my vote.
The only question is, where would the final be? At Wembley or at the home of the team finishing 3rd? Obviously the latter option would give the top ranked team an earned advantage but I’d still opt for a Wembley final to a) make it a special occasion and b) ensure as many fans from both clubs could attend. Imagine if Oxford had finished 3rd and the attendance for the final was limited to less than 13,000?
I do like the idea of the 3rd place team earning automatic promotion if they finish far enough ahead of the team in 4th (maybe 9 points as another poster suggested) but, I doubt it would happen very often and the money men would never go for it and probably neither would the clubs.

It is less appropriate. A team finishing 22nd out of 24 have had a poor season and shouldn’t really be given another chance at avoiding the drop. Whereas a team finishing 6th out of 24 in the league below has done pretty well (albeit, not as well as the team finishing 3rd).

Didn’t PW say that not much happens (in terms of actual signings rather than conversations) until June at the earliest these days?

My thoughts exactly. He may well be able to make the step up to the championship but let’s not forget, he’s still only made about 20 appearances at senior level - the vast majority of those games being at non league level. Would we be wetting ourselves over any other young player with such a limited senior career if they weren’t already a Derby player?
If Warne, and the rest of the coaching staff that have seen him play and train think he’s ready then bring him in. But, if they’re not yet sure then a loan to a league 1 team (until the end of the year rather than a season long loan?) might be a more prudent way forward. As you say though, dependent on who else we are able to sign in the summer. 

My thoughts exactly. He may well be able to make the step up to the championship but let’s not forget, he’s still only made about 20 appearances at senior level - the vast majority of those games being at non league level. Would we be wetting ourselves over any other young player with such a limited senior career if they weren’t already a Derby player?
If Warne, and the rest of the coaching staff that have seen him play and train think he’s ready then bring him in. But, if they’re not yet sure then a loan to a league 1 team (until the end of the year rather than a season long loan?) might be a more prudent way forward. As you say though, dependent on who else we are able to sign in the summer. 

My thoughts exactly. He may well be able to make the step up to the championship but let’s not forget, he’s still only made about 20 appearances at senior level - the vast majority of those games being at non league level. Would we be wetting ourselves over any other young player with such a limited senior career if they weren’t already a Derby player?
If Warne, and the rest of the coaching staff that have seen him play and train think he’s ready then bring him in. But, if they’re not yet sure then a loan to a league 1 team (until the end of the year rather than a season long loan?) might be a more prudent way forward. As you say though, dependent on who else we are able to sign in the summer. 

As someone else suggested somewhere else.
3rd goes straight to the final.
4th plays 7th, single game, 4th placed team at home.
5th plays 6th, single game, 5th placed team at home.
Winners of the two above games play off to play in final. Single game, highest placed in league at home.
Much more reward for league placing and goes a long way towards stopping what Peterborough did.