Oldben

We need to keep knight - he does the work of two players most matches and on the basis that we haven’t got many players that may well be rather important!

The big picture is rooney doesn't need the money as his personal wealth is over 100 million.
I think with the money rooney has, there's no incentive to succeed in the same way a manager who needs to build a reputation and wasn't previously a star player will have incentive to succeed.
 

The big picture is rooney doesn't need the money as his personal wealth is over 100 million.
I think with the money rooney has, there's no incentive to succeed in the same way a manager who needs to build a reputation and wasn't previously a star player will have incentive to succeed.
 

I agree he isn't in a strong position but that brand will get even more sour if we start next season with no money/key players sold, as his limited management skills are likely to be shown up even further. He won't want to risk that & as I put in my first post, he has some influential friends in the media to 'mould the narrative' if he does walk
If the takeover does go through with funds to spend, Rooney will realise this is an ideal opportunity to continue the world's longest induction period. He knows he's difficult to sack because of his cost so enforced patience + funds is about a good as gig as it's possible to get at this level.
You are of course correct about fans changing minds if he does turn it around - not unreasonable to be fair even if he'll be off at the first sniff of a better job elsewhere.

The problem with selling Knight and sibley is the money is like to be used to pay players wages and keep the club going.
In my opinion the money will not be used to strengthen the team.
I agree that the team needs to strengthen but not just in the defence, but across the entire team.
Derby have 14 players, 3 injuries to the team and we could struggle to field a team, not just that but we will not win  any matches if we lose our best players.
Imagine a prospective new owner looking at buying the club, they look at the team, what a lot of rubbish players and so now not only are they being asked to pay 50 million for the club but another 25 to 30 million for new players.
In my opinion You could build a winning team as it is now by just investing say 10 to 15 million.
And in any case, derbys under a transfer embargo.
Selling Clarke to bring in Knight weakens the squad.
Losing buchanan or sibley makes Derby too weak.
Its time for mel to sell Derby for 20 million.

Fair point. But I think the quality of the whole forward line giving the defence something to deal with would mean the opposition can’t put two or three players on shutting the winger down. 

You're not making sense. So you're saying Jozwiak has been putting in good crosses but our strikers haven't been in the right positions? that can't be true can it? 
and our strikers positioning has nothing to do with the managers tactics what so ever I'm guessing? ?

I thought Jozwiak played well last night against Spain, which is never easy. You have to be very tactically disciplined without the ball and be ready to use it well after long spells without a touch, and he managed it very well. Won the ball back high up the pitch on serveral occasions, rarely gave it away and produced an excellent cross for Lewandowski which none of the pundits or reports seemed to mention.
I like what I've seen from him so far and with a fresh season to come I think he'll only improve.

As ever, its a question of context. Looking purely at Jozwiak's output without it, you would be disappointed with his contribution last season. He did struggle to provide quality, got easily frustrated & his decision making wasn't always the best. There were glimpses of his potential quality though, he retains possession very well & no-one could question his workrate or defensive discipline.
Can't think of many harder gigs than being a young lad moving to another country in the middle of a pandemic, into matches with no fans, into a team that struggled horribly all season & with an inexperienced management team to help him. He also got precious little help with the team selections, often being one of only 3 attack minded players in the side (when we went 3-4-3) & hence got even more attention from defenders in our notoriously tough division.
In a good, attacking side he'd be very good & part of me hopes he gets a really good move off the back of this tournament. Clearly I'd rather he stayed with us & tore the division up but the reality is he could fetch good money & he can't be that enthused returning for another season at the fag end of the Championship playing dismal football. To contradict some on here, he's actually too good for us.

Id like to see Derby keep wisdom.
Few of our players came out of last season with much credit, but he did well.
He may not offer the aerial presence of Matt Clarke but he reads the game really well – as his average of 1 interception, 3.2 clearances, and 0.4 blocks per game illustrate (Whoscored).
He offers quality and confidence in possession – having averaged 41.7 passes per game at a success rate of 82.2% last term (Whoscored).

Id like to see the club sign Andre Ayew

Id like to see the club sign Andre Ayew

Id like to see the club sign Andre Ayew

Id like to see Derby keep wisdom.
Few of our players came out of last season with much credit, but he did well.
He may not offer the aerial presence of Matt Clarke but he reads the game really well – as his average of 1 interception, 3.2 clearances, and 0.4 blocks per game illustrate (Whoscored).
He offers quality and confidence in possession – having averaged 41.7 passes per game at a success rate of 82.2% last term (Whoscored).

Id like to see Derby keep wisdom.
Few of our players came out of last season with much credit, but he did well.
He may not offer the aerial presence of Matt Clarke but he reads the game really well – as his average of 1 interception, 3.2 clearances, and 0.4 blocks per game illustrate (Whoscored).
He offers quality and confidence in possession – having averaged 41.7 passes per game at a success rate of 82.2% last term (Whoscored).

What is Rooneys motivation to do well this season.
His personal wealth is over 100 million.
If he fails at Derby he walks away.
If he really wanted to see the club perform well in the season ahead, he would be fighting for the best free agents and loan signings since the club doesn't seem to have money to spend.
Its ok to publish a retained list, to have just 14 players and not seek to raise that to at least 20 players is not OK.
Lampard wanted to make a name for himself at Derby and as a result he got the Chelsea job.
I dont see Rooney achieving next season, so I dont know why he bothers to stay at the club.
If Derby fail next season I can't see any other club wanting to hire Rooney as their manager.

Marriott is injury prone and regularly fails to find the back of the net.
Just the sort of player to lack interest from other clubs

Id like to see Derby keep wisdom.
Few of our players came out of last season with much credit, but he did well.
He may not offer the aerial presence of Matt Clarke but he reads the game really well – as his average of 1 interception, 3.2 clearances, and 0.4 blocks per game illustrate (Whoscored).
He offers quality and confidence in possession – having averaged 41.7 passes per game at a success rate of 82.2% last term (Whoscored).

Does anyone really believe that Rooney is capable of getting results with a weaker team than last season.
I didn't think it was possible for the club to have a weaker team that last season.
We have 14 players, 3 of those get injured, we then have 11. One more player gets injured and we are fielding junior players to be allowed to play matches.
Rooney in my eyes is not the man to take the club forward, he's not the sort of manager who can get results when the clubs in a relegation fight from the start.
I think Mel put Rooney in charge to try and bring in new owners, in my opinion it has not worked.

Burnley rumoured to be considering a move for Kamil Jozwiak this summer as part of their scouting guide of the European Championships.
I guess they have 25 million to part with.

Sun newspaper: Derby target Joe Pigott (27) dominates Afc wimbledons end-of-season awards. He scored 22 goals in one season.
I doubt we will see potential relegation issues if we sign him.
The Dons were desperate to retain him, but Pigott has since told the club’s official website how he will leave this summer at the end of his contract and look for a new club.
Our club was the lowest scorers in the Championship last season.
Martyn Waghorn is out of contract while loanee Lee Gregory has returned to Stoke City.
In my opinion, Colin Kazim-Richards at 35 is not the answer, to the need for a striker.
At 27 years old joe has room for improvement.
 
 

Josh Ruffels looks a decent left back.
With buchanan being rumoured to be of interest to several clubs, including arsenal.
The Oxford United man has enjoyed an excellent season in League One after making 47 appearances in all competitions, scoring six and creating six more for Karl Robinson’s side.
Ruffels faces an uncertain future, however, with his contract due to expire in the coming weeks.
With no extension yet agreed.
 

I can't help but feel extremely apprehensive about next season between the ownership situation, the ongoing EFL stuff, the current management, the squad depth, the way we only just about limped over the line last season and the way none of the above seems like it will be rectified quickly it looks like it's going to be a rough season. The only gleam of hope to my eyes is that I do genuinely think we've some talented young players that with the right coaching and the right support around them could see us have a decent season. But I think the most likely scenario in that regard is that they get picked off/pushed out cheaply to raise funds in some futile attempt to inject short term quality so Rooney can feel he has a stab at top 6. Whether we end up relegated feels to hard to say at this point, I could even see how a scenario plays out where we end up fairly comfortabley away from the drop but I feel like the issue is going to be we end up languishing towards the bottom whilst worsening our chances in future season. 
The most likely scenario to my mind plays out roughly like the following:
Takeover rumbles on most of the summer without actually getting over the line Rooney stays in post with little to no change to the coaching staff The EFL business rumbles on the entire summer proving a disrupting influence and sometime early in the season we get hit by a token punishment We sell between 2-3 of Sibley, Knight, Buchanan, Bird (with a chance it being the lot) on the cheap to raise funds for Rooney Said funds get spent on a few loanees from the likes of Utd, a few older championship journeymen with perhaps one more eye catching loan thrown in (this will either be someone like Roberts or an older out of favour prem player) We start the season with pretty much the same brand of turgid, match the opponent and try grind out points style of play we've seen for the majority of Rooney's tenure in charge Around October-November we are sat somewhere between 15th and 21st which is when I expect something will change. Likely something from the following: Rooney gets fed up of takeovers not materialising and gets wary about being tarred with another relagation battle and walks under the cloud of not being backed New owner comes in and boots Rooney for poor results/fans really turning on him New owner comes in and wants to be attached to the Rooney brand and for good or ill promises Rooney a war chest for January  
 
 

Paulo Gazzaniga (goalkeeper), 29, released from spurs.
Might be a useful player for Derby

QPR goalkeeper Joe Lumley is attracting Championship interest going into the summer – Middlesbrough, Millwall and Coventry City enter the race - but should Derby enter the race?!
 
Here are the best free agent options for Derby ahead of the 2021/22 season, sorted by their current club.
AFC Bournemouth: Jack Wilshere, 29, midfielder
Barnsley: Alex Mowatt, 26, midfielder
Blackburn Rovers: Lewis Holtby, 30, midfielder
Bristol City: Famara Diedhiou, 28, striker & Henri Lansbury, 30, midfielder
Cardiff City: Junior Hoilett, 30, winger
Huddersfield Town: Oumar Niasse, 31, centre forward, Alex Pritchard, 27, midfielder, Yaya Sanogo, 28, centre forward & Christopher Schindler, 31, centre-back
Middlesbrough: Jordan Archer, 28, goalkeeper, Britt Assombalonga, 28, striker & Ashley Fletcher, 25, striker
Norwich City: Mario Vrancic, 31, midfielder
Preston North End: Billy Bodin, 29, winger
QPR: Tom Carroll, 28, midfielder
Reading: Sone Aluko, 32, forward & Sam Baldock, 32, striker
Sheff Wednesday: Moses Odubajo, 27, full-back & Adam Reach, 28, midfielder
Other free agents worth looking at ...
Britt Assombalonga, Charlie Austin, James Collins, Charlie Wyke
Wishing good luck to Rooney on these, as he totally failed to impress me last season, its now down to him to hugely improve the squad for next season. 
If he doesn't have a transfer budget I assume he at least has a larger wage budget than most other championship clubs.