Jram

1 hour ago, SK47 said:

I'd much rather have loyal players. Too long I've seen people use this club and jump ship at the first sign of greener grass, only to fall flat on their face, but sometimes at our expense.

Stevie Mac did it with Newcastle, Lampard with Chelsea, Rooney after saying he would stay, a list of players too.

IMO Bielik is a great championship player. When fully fit, by far the best cdm in the league. But after we shelled out a hell of a lot of money for his services.. (regardless of whether he has control over that or not) he spent alot of the time here on the physio table... we get relegated, and he holds us to ransom to get a swift exit.

If a plumber turned up to your house, did a horrendous job and charged you a fortune, you'd expect them to fix it. 

I just expected more from Bielik as a person rather than a player, but as a player on his day, agreed he is quality. But he could of helped us when we needed him most.

I highly highly doubt he held derby to ransom. We definitely didn’t want him last season earning 20+k a week 

Who’s this keeper on Twitter?

9 hours ago, Carnero said:

Clearly a crypric ITK post, I'm thinking Charlie Goode, Tariqe Fosu & Ivan Toney... I'm right aren't I? Tell me I'm right...!

😉 

I’ve seen a lot more bees this week 👍🏻 

6 hours ago, 86 Hair Islands said:

I'm spelling OCD too, even though I try hard to hide it. You was, instead of you were is the one that pickles my gherkin most, though I conceded it's completely irrational 😂

I don’t want to stray too far from the riveting speculation in this thread but I could not agree more with this. People saying “you was” etc is a blight on society which has notably become worse in recent years. 
 

No, I don’t think it’s overly dramatic to use the word blight 😂

18 hours ago, Carnero said:

 

I’m willing to overlook the appalling spelling often seen in this forum but that spelling of inaccurate from a professional journalist can’t pass without comment. Makes me shiver 

1 hour ago, Caerphilly Ram said:

Seems to be a domino effect that happens on Twitter, one “ITK” account says something is happening and then several others repeat the same rumour. I always take with a pinch of salt until a more “reputable” source comes through with the info (typically the local press to Derby or Jon Percy etc) and things are pretty much done. 
However, this thread is the summer rumour mill and is definitely the place for wild speculation and optimistic predictions when it comes to signings. For what it’s worth I think they’d both be sensible additions on free transfers, one is a solid cb with plenty of experience through the leagues, the other is a young-ish (26) player who’s scored and assisted for fun at a lower level for a couple of years and could make the step up with relatively low risk to the club if the contract was sensible.

Yeah I’m really embracing the excitement. Tbh, I prefer the wheeler dealer nature of our trading these days over the 2015 Mel era where you knew we would be blowing millions. It feels a lot more exciting knowing it’s low risk but you might find an Ebiowei or a Mcgoldrick and all the signings can’t really fail to meet expectations as there are none.

When we were signing Johnson et al, they were doomed from the start. I’d say in hindsight Johnson was a decent player for us but I always thought he was gash because of the price tag

Loads on Twitter saying Sonny Bradley and Ruben Rodriguez are done. Don’t know who they are but I choose to believe they’re done deals 

28 minutes ago, kevinhectoring said:

he’s classy when he’s on it but his intensity is so so patchy. it improved end of season.  A player like that saps energy out of a team and unsettles other players. I am surprised Warne has so much faith in him - he cuts right against the approach Warne claims he wants 

Warne loves intensity but he also loves a set piece and Hourihane, for any faults, can put in a decent corner/free kick. Would be interested to see our Xg from set pieces last season compared to goals scored because Warne seemed to think we should have scored a lot more 

1 hour ago, duncanjwitham said:

Even at this level, the majority of teams are now playing with one central striker.  And if you are doing that, you cannot afford for that guy to be contributing nothing other than goals.  When Lineker was playing, the vast majority of teams were playing 442 and you could accommodate a goal poacher, with someone alongside him to do the other stuff.

Wait, were they allowed 12 players in Lineker’s day?

45 minutes ago, Mick Harford said:

Found this interesting, obviously you can debate he methodology and the results are not set in stone, but we do not rank as highly as I would have expected finishing 39th, with only Burnley and Stoke the other Cat 1 clubs below us.

 

https://trainingground.guru/articles/2021/22-academy-productivity-rankings-chelsea-top-for-first-time

 

Yeah quite surprised by that. Only one premier league player. Presumably Hughes. Then Hendrick, Whittaker, Bennett in the Championship? Not sure of the fourth.

In fairness, I’d expect us to go up that list once the U18 generation from 2019 come into their prime. It’s not out of the realms of possibility a lot of them will play the majority of their careers in the Prem/Champo. With Ebosele, Buchanan also playing in top leagues abroad. 
 

Sadly, it currently appears that generation may have been a one-off but hopefully we can continue to produce and the academy sides will be galvanised this summer 

I still think Bird has the quality and mentality to play at a high level. Towards the end of the season, he was noticeably pushing forward more and getting into positions to score/assist 

If he stays, I predict a big season from him

Deeneeyyyyyy 

If Mcgoldrick leaves, we’ll need someone to take up the mantle of well-hard, cool number 9 who can be lauded all season long for his being “brilliant with the younger lads” 

Guess who’s just been released by Brum

8 minutes ago, Olaf Penge said:

Agreeing to the points made above that a better balance of squad would have helped ( a conventional and experienced right back and a forward replacement for Osula, for instance), but we were definitely short of players by the last 10-15 games. I think we needed three or four more as Chester was almost always injured, Stearman not featuring and a number of the loanees not really performing well enough to displace the ideal starting lineup. I am sure that squad depth will be addressed. For right back, Sam Byram may be worth consideration, if not completely crocked. And for the no. 10 and also if he can prove fitness, Bradley Dack. Always been impressed by both when I've seen them play.

Bradley Dack is top class. Can’t believe his fall from Grace in last few seasons. Presumably injuries have played their part. If we sign him, I’d be buzzing 

I don’t think the squad size was necessarily the issue last season. A smaller squad is arguably better for cohesion, financial health and it gives the manager the chance to use the academy (not convinced he will though)

I think the issue we had was balance ie 700 midfielders hence Knight, smith, Sibley did long stints at WB

I don’t have a clue of any players to sign but I wouldn’t mind losing Knight as he’s clearly outgrown the club and we’d cash in on him. I’d then spend that money on fees/loan fees on the wings and centre back

I wish I could point out an academy player who might fill in as 3rd choice striker/second choice RB etc but not really got a scooby now we can’t watch games (and, as above, I don’t believe Warne is going to be using the academy)

Hull is a surprisingly great city. Still suffering from being named Britains s***test town years ago 😂 

It’s where the English Civil War started. It’s where Robinson Crusoe set off. For a period it had the world’s longest suspension bridge. It’s where they make Aunt Bessie’s. 
 

Also, I’ve heard on no authority that Vardy has signed

It’s an Ashes summer so there should be no issue filling the days. Buzzing 

I thought academy spend was exempt from FFP 🤔

3 hours ago, Ghost of Clough said:

Ipswich scored 101 league goals this season. Their CM duo scored only 7 of those whilst Bird and Hourihane scored a combined 8.

Bird has scored 1 goal this season 🤷‍♂️🤔

22 minutes ago, Sparkle said:

I believe we turned down a bid of £4 million for Bird from Burnley in January - we couldn’t spend any of it even if we had sold him 

Really? I’d be be surprised if we got that for him. I really rate Bird and think his ceiling is high but I’d be surprised if his stats impressed the still lazy scouting networks in football. 

3 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

He's not been 'massive' for us, so if we can get a decent fee that's good.

I’d be surprised if we get much for him.  I think the dollar signs I for one had in my eyes when that U18 team won the league has not really materialised but, in fairness, that’s more to do with the clubs situation 

I’d be happy with 2 million for him

Knight waved to the away end twice when subbed off. Looks like he’s gone but I suppose we all expected that 

26 minutes ago, angieram said:

I don't know whether it will influence anyone to attend, but we can go to watch the under 18s play against Middlesbrough tonight at Pride Park , 6 pm kickoff.

@Brailsford Ram mentioned it a few days ago, but there has been nothing official put out by the Club. Anyway, a friend has rung and we can attend. I'm assuming East Stand as usual. 

It's a nice evening and young Jack Thompson will be playing in goal, hopefully Lennon Wheeldon up front too.

I've not had chance to see the under 18s this season, but they are playing well. 

If you do go, be kind to the young team. It will be the first time for many of them playing at Pride Park.

I really wish they’d televise these games again on Rams Tv ☹️

1 hour ago, richinspain said:

Weren't we under a transfer embargo?

Yeah potentially in that case.

2 hours ago, ExiledinDerby said:

I don’t think the tribunal has taken place yet. The problem is that he was on a one year deal and had not been developed at Moor Farm. Rightly or wrongly that’s the rules (wrongly in my opinion) but that’s the problem with EPPP, the academy Category system and youth transfers.

I mean… in fairness, couldn’t we have signed him to a longer deal? If you give one year contracts, you’ve only yourselves to blame when you don’t get any sell on value.