Carnero

I'll forever die on the hill that Roos was nowhere near as bad as people made out.

The Dembele link is probably the most exciting one we’ve had all summer.
He looks full of pace and trickery and has the ability to unsettle defences but also to pick a pass.
I think that’s the key signing. Getting someone in the mould of Dembele / Azeez / Randall / Maghoma is much needed.
We need more creativity and more technical prowess, especially with Bird and Hourihane having left.

The implication Warne only dropped Hourihane because of fan criticism is pretty naïve to be fair, and does come across like trying to undermine Warne's success by giving the credit to fans that were whinging at the time?

Jesus, what does PW have to do to gain any praise? Do you honestly feel CH was dropped because of criticism rather than Warne could see he had started to struggle and needed a rest from the starting eleven?

I suspect we have probably got some deals done - not ITK by the way!!  Earlier this week someone posted that the way we work now is to only announce deals when they’re registered.  CBT was used as an example where he’d been photographed in the kit 3 or 4 days before any announcement.  Think back to last Summer, Vickers, for example, was announced on 20th June but his Rams TV interview was done before his honeymoon in May.
I think it’s part of us, as a fan base, still adjusting to the more measured approach under DC’s ownership.

Just an update for everyone as I have had a few messages from Derby fans on other platforms asking how he is. 
 
Reuben is doing well and is now spending more time at home during the weekends. He is still an inpatient at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. His sounds are developing and we have had glimpses of ‘mummy’ and ‘daddy’. He is starting to stand now but he is still a while from walking. His right arm is starting to get movement at the elbow but nothing at the wrist or hand yet…. So it’s all heading in the right direction. 

Spot on Alf. There was zero commitment to a 3 year plan that I recall, quite the opposite in fact and quite how folk have used this to arrive at the belief that we'll be signing big names and looking to challenge from year one is beyond me.
Yet again, fans are setting themselves up and more critically, Warne and the players too, for another hard fall and a long season of discontent  and all over a comment he never even made. 

This is mental this.
From October onwards we accumulated more points than anyone else in the league and were it not for Portsmouth's unbelievable start (where I think hey won their first 10) we would have won the league. The start can be forgiven giving it was a squad that had a lot of new players in finding their feet at a new club.
But as soon as we got going, we earnt more points than anyone else.
Also we conceded 3 goals in the last ten games. THREE. And two of them were in one game.
The last 11 games we won 8 drew 2 and lost 1. If that is inconsistent then you gave give me inconsistency any day of the week.
Paul Warne was appointed here because he knows how to get out of this league, you need to be solid. Playing good football is fine, but not really a pre-requisite of getting out of League One. Bolton probably played the best football on the eye last season and they are still down there.
Warne will not play the same way in the Championship, he's not stupid. He wants athleticism and a high press to suffocate teams.
I will openly admit after Stevenage and Shrewsbury I wanted Warne out but I can hold my hands up and admit I was very wrong. 
I can't believe a man who seems to be a genuinely nice human who has got us promoted with the highest points total we have ever had, the most away wins we have have had still gets criticism.
He gets beaten with a stick every time we get linked with a player who has played for Rotherham. (I think we only have Vickers and Washington) Its pretty common for managers going to other clubs, 1. To get linked with nearly every player who has ever played for him and 2. To actually like players they have had before, trust them and wants them at his current club. Eddie Howe signing Lloyd Kelly today for as an example.
 
 

Fewest goals conceded, best goal difference in the league, highest points total and highest number of away wins in the club's history.
If we even get vaguely close to replicating that level of 'inconsistency' anytime soon, I shall be thoroughly delighted.

One bit of transfer news - not raising a thread for an academy player...
AJ Doyle, Irish defender
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5289548/2024/06/11/scotland-england-young-players-brexit/
 

So, I was never a Paul Warne fan. I wasn't enthused by the style of play or the players he signed. 
However, the more I hear and read, the more I think he's done a very solid job. Not the bare minimum - but I understand why people would think the latter. 
I've changed my mind because of the following. 
The legacy contracts of Bird and Sibley seem to have been taking up far more of the budget than I thought. Reading posts from @Ambitious, it seems very likely both were on 15k and maybe some more. Then there's the wages of Hourihane. Great leader, but since Wigan away, he's been slowly ambling around like an old moose who's been asked to trample the grass down. Again, from the TalkSport interview, it would seem that there were players on 10k, or a bit more, who didn't really fit the system. 
So, that's a long-winded way of saying that a lot of wages have been tied up in players that we can easily improve on, probably by paying less money. Sibley, as much as i want him to kick-on, isn't worth 15k a week as an average LWB, for example.
I'm expecting, with the addition of Ebou to start things off, a very strong and athletic midfield. The defence needs a good LB and GK. I think both are lined-up and achievable. 
I think PW is the right person to build a squad, on a modest (for this league) budget, that will still be competitive. I wouldn't have said that 3 months a go. 

Pickford
          Walker   Stones   Guehi
                         Rice
    Trent  Bellingham  Foden   Saka
                       Palmer
                        Kane

Pickford
          Walker   Stones   Guehi
                         Rice
    Trent  Bellingham  Foden   Saka
                       Palmer
                        Kane

I’m no expert on Ben Osborn, but the idea that a player with over 350 career appearances in the championship and Premier League has nothing to offer a club does seem a little odd to me (not you saying this, others).
It’s a squad game, we need midfielders and experience having released both Smith and Hourihane, he covers a couple of positions, and seemingly is the type of player to do the leg work that allows others to go and play…maybe he’s the ideal foil for our new goalscoring midfielder? 🤔
Just don’t get the rush from certain posters to write players off before they’ve even joined, and that’s IF they even join anyway. If we sign Osborn he won’t be the only player we sign, he’d be one of many to ideally make us competitive next season. 

I have no doubt if Thommo was a starter in our midfield next season that he would  not let us down , very underrated by some on here , his game is a lot more than just running around

Pickford
          Walker   Stones   Guehi
                         Rice
    Trent  Bellingham  Foden   Saka
                       Palmer
                        Kane

Excellent post.

Just listened to the TalkSport interview. As you would expect he came over really well. I don’t think there are many managers that have his level of emotional intelligence. It’s clear there is lots of thought and planning behind everything, Paul and his team clearly live and breathe and put the hours in. Really interesting there’s two systems he’ll focus on in preseason and basically the players need to know everything about it so have to do their homework and be prepared to talk about it. 
Also it’s clear that he sees good dressing room environment as a potential differentiator and focuses on it heavily,  Personally I think this is why we beat Bolton  automatic, when we weren’t playing well the squad togetherness got us through. Most successful underdogs have strong dressing rooms and togetherness. Look at Luton Cov those sorts of teams. It can bridge some of the gap in quality where teams have bigger budgets. Interesting the whole Warne being appointed was basically Stephen Pearce liking Warne’s interviews, listening to his podcast and basically concluding this is the type of manager we want running our club. Human first and foremost. 
I also found it interesting when Matterface was asking him on Derbys budget last season trying to infer maybe Derby didn’t have the biggest budget and overachieved last season, Warne genuinely didn’t know if we had the biggest budget he saw the team as top 4, not necessarily top 2 which is how I saw it. However more interesting he said that in his 3 Rotherham promotions not once did he have a top 6 budget. I think we need to put some more respect on just what he achieved there. 

This season is his acid test, he will be battling expectancy, but he’s here as he wants to push Derby towards the premier league and go beyond  where he’s been as a manager before so he has the hunger, he creates a positive environment for people to be at their best and has demonstrated throughout his career thus far he can overachieve his budget, something we will need to do if we are to ever get back to the premier as there won’t ever be a scenario until we’re promoted that we have a top 3 or even top 6 budget. He’s definitely the right man for now and I really hope he proves to everyone this season just how good he is.

I hope we never lose 5 games on the bounce. !
 My take on it, if I was DC, would be to look at it after 10/15 games and as long as we aren’t bottom 3 and the feel/figures are showing an improving team then there’s no problem. 
If with 10 games to go we are struggling / flirting with relegation then PW will be under pressure 
I want him to have the full season and only a relegation threat would alter that. We simply have to stop the routine panic sackings. Building things properly is difficult, there are always tricky times in big projects. 

Believe it was Rodak and Mubama of West Ham

I’d take him just to wind up those OAPhobic fans that turn red in the face once a player has hit their 30s.
Would be an alright signing as well to be fair.

He’s been round the ground, and was one of the three players Warne spoke to. He wants to be local and be close to family. It’s a strong possibility 

He also looks to have good versatility too, with appearances as a DM, CM, AM, RW, LW... ideal for Warne. It's certainly ticking a lot of the boxes for someone that we could be after, even if only a rumour at this stage.
 

Had Whitley’s final ball of the innings not been caught on the boundary, by my records that would have been the joint third quickest 50 in T20 Blast action since it’s conception in the UK.

Would be a statement of intent.
Some good players from Iceland and fees are notoriously low, hence why mums go there.