Carnero

I'd imagine that if we had taken the 15 point hit, we'd have also either been placed under another embargo or the business plan we agreed would have been very different and spending more money wouldn't have been possible. 

Best of luck Marco, loved you back in the day. 
BBC News - Sunderland legend shares heart bypass surgery shock
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c722xmm8yvpo

All the best to him, if the rumours of a player coach role being on offer at Barnsley are true, then that's a good bridge towards his future coaching career. Always comes across well in interviews and i wouldn't be surprised to see him have a decent managerial career in the future. 
Well done to him for not just taking the easy money by activating the extension option in his contract.

But then again of course, even if we've spent just £4.50 and a bobble hat on incoming players, we'll still have lazy journalists discussing 'Big Spending Derby' and fans of certain other blinkered teams who will be convinced of the absolute truth that we've "thrown money at it", "Spending tax payers money after getting off so lightly with a bit of a points deduction" and other miscellaneous garbage.

This was very era was very early in my time supporting the club, so I can't comment on the feelings around the club at the time. But, is this current era not different. At the time of GSE coming in in 2008 we had recently been at a relative high in terms of being promoted to the premier league, but the club started plummeting from the start of 'that' season (as it was my first season properly following football, I spent the following seasons being amazed at how unlucky teams were to get relegated after getting more than 20 points in a season), 20th in PL, 18th, 14th, 19th in Championship in successive seasons. Essentially, we were in a decline with no clear evidence of it stopping.
At the moment, we are on our way up again. Stephen Pearce has talked about the club having a long term view of things, which makes sense imo. Next season, following promotion, we should be looking at staying up, the year after we should be looking at a comfortable below mid table finish at the very least, the season after that we should aim to be slightly above mid table and so on. If the club follows this trend I suspect the realistic fans would be happy, as we are progressing back to where Derby County should be in the pyramid.
Regarding your point about the last time the club were in the bottom 6 or 8 in terms of budget ending in protests. I only see this happening if the club show no signs of moving forward (if we become a Rotherham for example). However, for the first time in a long time I trust our owner in David Clowes. I genuinely feel like he can create long term sustainable success at the club, like he and his family have done at Clowes Developments. It may well be that our current and previous owners' time and achievements at the club reflect how they have done so well in business. DC and Clowes Developments being built up sustainably, while MM's time as Derby owner is similar to the game his company made. Lots of things to get exited about while it's happening only to have very little when its not being played. 

OK, so let's dissect your rationale:
1) "We'll have a good budget" - None of us know what our budget will be but I would imagine it's not going to be particularly close to a top 6 budget. There will be 4 teams with parachute payments, some clubs kitty will be boosted by players they are able to sell, some seem to have owners more willing to splash the cash and, whilst our attendances (and therefore gate revenue) may be amongst the best, it won't be significantly bigger than a number of clubs.
2) "We'll be an "attractive" club" - By this I assume you're suggesting good players will be tempted to sign for the club. This may well be the case but, I'm pretty sure for most players and their agents, money has the loudest voice.
3) "We'll be an ambitious club" - I doubt very much we'll be unique in this respect. There will be several I reckon that fancy their chances at making the play offs.
4) "A club with a "successful"  manager" - Wow, this is a bit rich coming from you. I don't think anyone would doubt that PW's success has only been proven at league 1 level to date. He has no successful track record at Championship level but many of us reckons he deserves a chance.
5) "A manager wanting to prove himself" - I would imagine every permanent manager (if there is such a thing) wants to prove themselves.
You're right, the thread is about aspirations and top 6 should be the goal BUT you said "why can't we expect a good run at top 6". There is a difference between aspirations and expectations.
For me, the aspiration is to be up there having a good go at the top 6 but my expectation is much lower.
I know I added a smiley face to my original response but the cynic in me can't help but think that if we're not close to the top 6 by Christmas (or earlier) you'll be calling for his head on the basis that we should "expect" to be in contention for the play off places.
 

It's interesting to see the professionalism and know-how we're giving up. I get what you say about Korey. Smith was a model pro in terms of knowing and trying to do his job, whether it was at right back or in the middle. I think he'd be an excellent acquisition for someone in League One, or at the foot of the Championship. 
Hourihane was the guy who would get in the ref's face and fight our corner and win freekicks the way other teams would do against us. And he was so brave fronting up to the fans that day, in a really toxic environment, possibly saving Warne his job. A leader, even when he struggled to make the impact we needed on the pitch. 
And I've frequently said Wildsmith's ability to take the sting out of the game served us very well. Part of the modern goalkeeper's toolkit. Whoever comes in needs to have this as well perhaps a little more subtly. 
But expertise and game management is something we will need the replacement's we're bringing in to possess. 

While it's easy to look at the negative side of things regarding the size of our budget in comparison to other clubs, there are benefits to having a smaller budget.
1 - Focus on developing youth. Clubs with lower budgets tend to have to look to invest heavily in their youth set ups. With our track record of providing first team opportunities to younger players, the club could be an attractive prospect for talented young players in the area. As well as this, young players who develop in-house tend to have stronger loyalties towards the club that developed them. This can help create a stronger sense of togetherness, just look at the impact we've seen in previous years from out younger players.
2 - Effective scouting. As we can't just go out and handpick players, the scouting system is forced to find innovative and smarter ways of identifying talent, perhaps looking to find undervalued markets to exploit. As it will be harder for the scouts they will need to improve their way of doing things, which could help them develop in the long term as well.
3 - Financial stability. As we aren't close to getting promotion from the championship, the club doesn't necessarily need to overspend on trying to get the final piece of the puzzle so to say. We've all heard and seen how DC wants to run the club sustainably, which may have some short term pain on the way to success in the long term. We may not be ready to challenge for promotion from the championship for 5 seasons or more, but when we are back we will be in a better place to succeed.
4 - Player development pathways. This is similar to my first point. A number of teams who have gone up through the leagues have focused on developing players then selling them on for profit. They then invest this profit in more players to develop then sell them on for more profit and continue doing this. We've all seen how many young players have come though our system and now we are in the championship we could demand higher fees. Didn't Bournemouth bid £9 million for Cashin a number of years ago? We have a number of good players to develop in the club, who we could potentially sell on for big money in the future, and then we can invest this in numerous players to develop further.

Manchester City are just boring.
The players are like machines. They function well but I don't want to watch them.

Hard pass. 
I get it, he wants a bit of security from what could be his last decent contract.
But we can’t have a player who’s likely going to be an infrequently used back up tied to a 2 year deal. 
He’d probably get a decent two year deal from a play off chasing/mid table league one team.

Hello.
I’m by no means an ITK Alan Nixon impersonator and i’d only come on here and say owt if i believed there was any sort of legitimacy.
Chap who told me we’d want Adams permanently in the summer when we signed him, I had a chat with him on Friday, fee is the stumbling block. all parties want the move but Cardiff want a decent fee.
Sibley deal - apparently it seems to be length of the deal holding it up. we’re offering a shorter contract than desired. hopefully can be resolved.
Collins - same as above. we want a 1 yr deal. his camp want 2.
Herbie Kane - haven’t entered discussions, doubts that we will.
 

Reuben is progressing really well and is now working on being able to stand and put his weight through that right leg before he moves on to trying to walk. A little bit more movement in the right elbow but nothing yet in the wrist and hand….. 

Hey honey, get in here, new Oldben just dropped

All the best to him, if the rumours of a player coach role being on offer at Barnsley are true, then that's a good bridge towards his future coaching career. Always comes across well in interviews and i wouldn't be surprised to see him have a decent managerial career in the future. 
Well done to him for not just taking the easy money by activating the extension option in his contract.

Brentford released their retained list and have released Shandon Baptiste. I’ve suggest him before on here but now he’s officially a free agent he’s a player we should definitely be after. He came through oxfords academy so I’m sure Mark Thomas knows about him.
Hes a box to box midfielder with 10 prem games (2 starts) this season with 1 goal and 1 assist. He’s 26 so is in the right age bracket and will definitely join a championship club. 
 
Over the 21/22 and 22/23 seasons he’s made 45 prem appearances which nearly all them from the bench so I’d imagine he’d seamlessly fit into a championship midfield having only played 14 championship games in his career so far.

Ipswich had a ready made team, built over two seasons without restrictions on wages or fees, that they were able to tweak successfully and managed to exceed everyone's expectations, including their own and the bookies.
We aren't in that position, having to move on from most of the players that were hurriedly signed after Administration. So anyone with an expectation of challenging for the playoffs or better this coming season is setting themselves up for a season of disappointment or, more likely in some cases, laying the ground to jump straight back on the Warne Out bandwagon at the earliest possible opportunity. 

That Santos that they all rave about is absolute dog 💩 

Absolutely, it is all about opinions. From my perspective we will always need a balance of youth and experience and if you have Fozzy as part of the experience quotient you’re on a winner. He won’t sulk if he isn’t picked, he’s able and he’s got Ram in his DNA. I’m not naive, he will never be a first choice starter at this stage of his career and at this level but he will make a competent job of whatever is asked of him.  Just look how he stepped in as makeshift CB. The stop gap turned into a fixture. 

No

After realising that Tyrese Campbell is the son of Kevin Campbell, and with us being linked to Devante Cole, Josh Windass, and Charlie Savage, it occurred to me that our new transfer policy is obvious: the children of 90's and 2000's UK footballers who Paul Warne & Richie Barker remember. So here's a list of suggestions.
 
GK - True Grant - Man City, 18, son of Lee Grant. Derby County link there already - terrible name, but we'll sign him when Man City get relegated to the National League North.
RB/CB - Finn Delap - Burton, 18, son of Rory. Sign Finn up first and Liam will follow.

CB - Charlie Cresswell - Leeds, 21, son of mediocre journeyman striker, Richard Cresswell. Was on loan at Millwall last season and they rated him. Recently crashed his car into police car outside Elland Road, so possibly a b*llend.

CB - Caleb Taylor - WBA, 21, son of Martin Taylor (not that one, the brute from Birmingham). Did well on loan at Cheltenham last season, played nearly 50 games. Loaned to Bolton this Feb but barely played. Contract expires next summer.

DM/CM - Jensen Weir - Brighton, 22, son of David Weir. Rated when on loan at Blackpool but game time was limited so cut it short. Played a lot on loan at Port Vale, who were bloody awful. He is soon-to-be free though.

CM - Charlie Savage - Reading, 20, son of Robbie Savage. More technical than his Dad, plus he doesn't have that stupid bloody hair. Reading have no money, so a god shout.

CM - Bobby Clark - 20, Liverpool, son of Lee Clark. We're also being linked to him! He'd be a great loan by all accounts.

CM - Donovan Lescott - 20, just released by Blackpool, son of Joleon. Probably rubbish.

CM - Jack & Tyler Fletcher - Man Utd, 17, twin sons of Darren Fletcher. Both handy centre mids, possibly we'd get a 2-4-1 deal on a loan.

AM/RW - Stan Mills - Everton, 20, son of Danny Mills. Did well on loan at Oxford than knacked his knee. Could be a good loan when he's fit. Probably hears lots of great stories from when his Dad played 2 games for Derby.

AM - Elliot Lee - Wrexham, 29, son of Rob Lee. Another Derby link, smashed it in L2 with 16 goals from midfield. We probably can't afford him though, and he's nearly 30.

AM - Josh Windass - Sheff Weds, 30, son of Bradford and Hull legend, Dean Windass. Scored 6 in the Championship for a crap Wednesday side. A bit old but possibly available on a free, let's see.

RW - D'Margio Wright-Phillips - Stoke, 20, son of Shaun. Soon to be a free agent, but did well on loan in Belgium at Beerschot, a name which makes me thirsty.
CF - George Hirst - Ipswich, 25, son of David Hirst. Did well in the Championship this season but could easily get replaced, let's see. Seem to remember he was a big-time prat when leaving Sheff Weds.
CF - Tyrese Campbell - free, 23, son of Kevin Campbell. Didn't really score for Stoke, but they are an awful, cursed club and couldn't get a tune out of Dwight Gayle either.

CF - Devante Cole - free, 29, son of Andy Cole. Two good seasons at Barnsley so worth a punt on a free.

That Santos that they all rave about is absolute dog 💩 

The game of his life where he made 2 saves? 
We were comfortable for about 89 minutes of that game. Let Santos have the ball for about 75 minutes knowing that he could do nothing with it.
Not sure what is lucky about scoring from a corner? Must be another modern football hipster concept.

What? Oxford look completely comfortable here. Derby on the other hand were lucky Wildsmith had the game of his life and we scored late on from a corner.
We were poor against Bolton. And if we play like that every game in the Championship we will be relegated.