Oldben

https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/football/portsmouth-fc/portsmouth-pompey-sheffield-wednesday-derby-county-bolton-wanderers-4531528 Steve Evans thinks Pompey are ‘six or seven wins’ away from the Championship. Which I think means Derby need 7 or 8 wins. I think that needs to include a win today against Barnsley, the beating Bolton and Portsmouth.

https://theanalyst.com/eu/2024/02/who-will-win-promotion-from-league-one/

Wouldn't we be restricted to replace with championship level under 30 year old players costs a lot. We have 10+ players who are out of contract in the summer that could need replacing. Just wondering strong the team might be if we are promoted. Warnes got form on relegating teams

With our squad consisting of a number of older players, I'm concerned how we would stay in the championship if promoted.

I put that list together based on a couple of factors .... 1. Free agent strikers in the summer 2. Potential free agents so zero transfer fee 3. Under 30 years old because in my opinion, if we are promoted, having players 32 years and older in the Championship will not be good enough. 4. Of the calibre required in the championship 5. We will have several strikers who's contracts I definitely wouldn't renew in the Sumner, so we will need new strikers. 6. The strikers needs to have scored at least 7 goals in a season

Ché Adams, Aaron Connolly, Kelechi Iheanacho, Kayden Jackson and Tyrese Campbell are all free agents in the summer. Which ones would you choose to replace our old strike force in the summer, who are also free agents and the list includes Connor Washington and martyn waghorn. I'm assuming here we somehow make the championship next season, and also assume that the older players who seem to be injury prone are probably a waste of our wage budget in the Championship. We will have 10+ free agents in the summer, but I thought its worth looking at younger strikers first.

Dwight Gayle signing, Player Concerns: Recent form: Only 2 goals in 24 appearances for Stoke City. Age: 34 years old, nearing end of career, decline could be age-related. Injury history: Missed 23 games due to knee injury in 2020/21 and 11 games with various issues in 2021/22. Raises concerns about reliability and fitness for a demanding League One promotion battle. Fitness: Reportedly not at ideal fitness levels. Wage demands: High wages could strain Derby's finances. Goal tallies over the last 5 seasons: 2023/24: 0 goals in 13 appearances 2022/23: 2 goals (Stoke City, Championship) 2021/22: 14 goals (Newcastle United, Premier League) 2020/21: 7 goals (West Bromwich Albion, Championship) 2019/20: 10 goals (Newcastle United, Premier League) 2018/19: 5 goals (Newcastle United, Premier League)

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/derby-county-talking-points-stevenage-9107538 Disappointed. Let's hope its only a loan till the end of the season. If promoted he'd be a very expensive and probably not used substitute

A while ago I claimed that 3 must win games determine the season for us, the first is next up and its against Barnsley. Then we have bolton and Portsmouth. That said I don't like the stress of seeing a game against opposition that we are meant to beat, going to the final minutes like this one. The easier teams have to be must wins to. This is league one, if we are promoted, we have to get through a summer where more than 10 players might have to be replaced. Most will want to stay if we are promoted but on the strength of today, would we want them to. The championship will see us face much tougher competition. Plus warmes got a lot of experience winning promotion to the championship but he's also seen relegation twice. In part because those teams were not strong enough to compete at the championship level. On today's game I'd say I'm concerned about the current team being in the Championship. Should Corey Blackett-Taylor have played today, he has scored 9 goals this season. which puts him on the same goal tally as Nathaniel Méndez-Laing.

Looks like we are losing 2 points on this game. Given that bolton are 2 games behind and Barnsley are challenging, looks like we should have signed a quality striker in January.

I didn't write these questions, that said, I'd like an answer to each of these: Could you share your long-term vision for Derby County, particularly how you plan to balance immediate competitive success with sustainable growth and development of the club? How important is the youth academy to the club's strategy, and what steps are being taken to ensure Derby County continues to develop and integrate local talents into the first team? In what ways do you believe Derby County can enhance its engagement with the local community and fans to build a stronger, more inclusive club culture? With players like Louie Sibley, Joe Wildsmith, and others set to leave as free agents this summer, how is the club planning to manage this transition? What strategies are in place for retaining key talents or finding suitable replacements to ensure the team remains competitive? Can you discuss the club's current efforts and future plans to support and develop the women's football team at Derby County? How does the club envision promoting gender equality within the sport and leveraging the growing interest in women's football?

IF we beat Barnsley, Bolton and Portsmouth that gives us a good chance at promotion.

Great, we are getting back a prolific scorer

If collins gets injured it's going to be a hard couple of months before any of our other strikers are back playing

1. Bolton - They will take the loss against portsmouth and peterborough. But could still finish 1st. 2. Portsmouth 3. Derby 4. Peterborough - the main loss for them will be against Portsmouth

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/football/free-agents-available-to-sheffield-wednesday-including-ex-leeds-united-reading-and-newcastle-united-men-4504048 Maybe one of the players mentioned here would be an OK signing.

Talking exclusively to Football League World, former England international, Carlton Palmer, believes Derby County would be the best fit for Gayle as Paul Warne's striker hunt continues. "Former Newcastle United striker Dwight Gayle is a free agent after terminating his Stoke City contract on deadline day. The 34-year-old joined The Potters from Newcastle in the summer of 2022 and struggled to perform having scored just three times in 50 appearances," said Palmer. Not an improvement to our team.

https://www.derbycounty.news/transfer-news/derby-county-now-in-race-to-sign-free-agent-striker-after-unexpected-release/

Corey Blackett-Taylor - Stats and titles won - 23/24 Current season statistics (2023/2024). 78% Impacting goals 9 Goals. 50% Impacting assists 6 Assists. 30 Played matches 2460 Minutes played. Could he be our striker if coĺlins needs a rest.

I'm happy with having 4 players on the leader board for assists. Could we expect better performances from certain players if warne didn't always play the same tactics. As i said earlier Adams is not a good replacement for Bird but if the clubs not willing to pay proper transfer fees, we can see the result of that. I thought that Adams was signed to provide cover for Bird. I thought that Blackett-Taylor was signed as a striker to provide cover for Collins. I wonder if we will see a repeat of last year where as Warne admits, our players were just to tired to get the results at the end of the season. Only time will tell

Ebou Adams was brought in to cover Bird position wearing our team when we are often losing the midfielder battle. The teams become weaker. Its not as if Ebou Adams was even a primary pick, hes come on loan. How many loan players have worked out for us in recent years. Adams was signed as the club knew Bird was being sold on. Adams was signed not to improve the squad but for cover. Adams club moved him on because he wasn't getting game time. He was a failure at the African nations club, checked his stats for that. We are hoping the club's trying for promotion. We know we are not looking great against weaker teams, tactically we look poor. I think teams around us have strengthend.

https://www.whoscored.com/Players/342794/Show/Ebou-Adams

Your assuming it would be reinvested back into rebuilding the squad

https://www.derbycounty.news/opinion/derby-county-must-pounce-on-in-form-reading-star-before-deadline-its-not-savage/

https://the72.co.uk/2024/01/29/the-cost-free-key-to-solving-derby-county-midfield-conundrum/ Good article