Chesterfield_Ram

GK:

Marek Rodak - Free

Adam Davies - Free

Viljami Sinisalo - Loan

Carl Rushworth - Loan

DEF:

Paddy McNair - Free

Ben Gibson - Free

Nathanael Ogbeta - Free

Dan Potts - Free

MID:

Liam Walsh - Free

Nathaniel Chalobah - Free

FOR:

Aaron Connolly - Free

Liam Delap - Loan

Ian Poveda - Free

7 hours ago, WestKentRam said:

I was interested to hear Kieran Maguire on his Price of Football podcast that came out yesterday talk about David Clowes paying off £8.8M in full to all the unsecured football creditors when he bought the club, a significant portion of which was related to the Krystian Bielik deal. If he hadn't, then Derby would have had a further penalty of minus 15 points on exiting administration.

Maguire mentions he knows of at least one other interested party to buy the club who was willing to put in a lower bid, and was also willing for Derby take the 15 point penalty as they weren't bothered about paying back these creditors.

Again, fair play to David Clowes for doing the decent but expensive thing with the football creditors. We would have been mid table last season with a 15 point deduction, but it also would surely had a longer term impact to the feel around the club that would have made our promotion this season much less likely to have occurred. 

I thought it was fairly open knowledge what was said if I'm being honest.

Regarding the Bielik deal, Arsenal agreed to take instalments for him, but it was easier to just pay it off in full and start with a clean slate. 

On the second point that was brought up about another interested buyer. It was Mike Ashley, but by the sounds of it it fell through as he wanted the stadium as part of the deal or something or other related to the stadium. After being rejected he went on to buy Coventry's ground.

Finally, all football creditors have to be paid off. I seem to remember the administrators not paying Lech Poznan for Jozwiak, then them taking it to Fifa to force Derby to pay. It's with the non-football parties that Clowes sounds to have really done good, paying more for products and services than football clubs would usually pay.

While I do like listening to the POF podcast, it was a bit of a repeat with this story, which they can't do too much about with it being asked by a listener in all fairness.

6 hours ago, G STAR RAM said:

This really isn't the ground breaking information that he has dressed it up as and, anyone that paid attention to our situation, knew this was the case.

As for the 'other interested party' this guy does not really know anything that is not available in the public domain, as has been proven many times before, most recently when he was posting false information about DCFC and he skulked off this site when I pulled him up on it.

Still, guess that is not really the jist of your post, however, I like to point out what a charlatan Maguire is at any given opportunity 😂

In Maguire's defence it was only brought up to answer a listener's question about Derby leaving administration.

12 hours ago, The Key Club King said:

It does worry me looking at the table about who we can compete with financially. There are some very well-funded teams just hanging around lower mid-table.

It is obviously up to Clowes what he choses to put in to the club - he has earned the right to pretty much do as he wants really. The last time we were in the bottom 6 or 8 in terms of budget is when GSE and Clough were in charge and that ended in protests as they were "only" covering £2 or £3 million pounds of losses each year. 

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. 

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.

1 hour ago, Chesterfield_Ram said:

Might the club be delaying the announcement of the retained list, so that they can announce Adams back on a permanent

Well … That aged well

Might the club be delaying the announcement of the retained list, so that they can announce Adams back on a permanent

1 hour ago, Anag Ram said:

Interesting you mention Langstaff. Watching his many goals on YouTube and elsewhere, there aren’t that many that would be offered as chances in the Championship.

It will be interesting to see if he can do it at a higher level.

 

I seem to remember in January when he was being linked with a move to Swansea, that an ‘unnamed’ scout from a championship club claimed that he is not up to standard for that level. That’s despite scoring 40 odd goals in the national league promotion season and 20 odd in league 2 last year.

To back up my point about not rushing Brown, I've done a bit of research into players stepping up from the National League into the EFL.

To start on a rather negative point, there are a number of forwards to step up into L1 who never meet the standards of the level in the last couple of seasons.

Kabonga Tshimanga - 24 goals in 27 games followed by 7 goals in 17 games before stepping up into L1. 22 games without scoring in L1 for Peterborough and Fleetwood.

Matt Lowe - 11 in 41 before stepping up. 0 in 20 games (L1) and 0 in 23 games (L2) since.

Josh Walker - 10 in 32 followed by 10 in 24 before stepping up. 2 in 16 (L1) and 1 in 16 (L2) since.

There have been some players in this period who have made the step up.

Ephron Mason-Clark left Barnet for Peterborough after scoring 6 in 39 in the NL. He followed on from this by scoring 9 in 39 before taking an extra step developmentally this season scoring 14 and setting up countless other goals.

Rúben Rodrigues scored 18 in 43 for Notts County before joining Oxford this year scoring 9 in 44. 

Joe Taylor also made the step up, but took e seasons before reaching double figures in L1 this year for Lincoln.

Other than these I can find many to make the step up to L1 directly, which should give an indication (to fans wanting Brown in the Championship next year) as to how big a step up it is and the need to move up through the leagues gradually.

Looking at the numbers it appears a L2 loan would be most beneficial for Dajaune next season. Potentially a loan to Notts County if they end up selling Langstaff.

On 12/05/2024 at 21:13, LeedsCityRam said:

Brown is clearly a goalscorer, quick, powerful & has a decent first touch. He has adapted incredibly well to men's football (albeit in the 5th tier) & given his age & game changing potential, its not beyond the realms that a Prem club may feel his potential is that of a starter in 3/4 years given the right exposure to better players & better coaching. 

How many Premier League clubs sign a player after having a good season in Non League?

In my opinion we should be looking at Brown as one for the future. The 'future' may come as soon as the second half of this season or it may come in a year or twos time. What we can all agree on by reading the comments on him, is that he will play a part in the clubs first team at some point or other.

Having watched quite a bit of National league football this year, as my home town team have been playing in it, we need to temper our expectations of his current ability. I'm not denying that he has had a fantastic half season at Gateshead. But the standard of defending at NL level is terrible. Defenders are out of position far more than they were in League 1 last year. Defenders lose their players far more than they did in League 1. Defenders are typically slower and don't have the defending IQ to counteract it.

6 hours ago, ollycutts1982 said:

Chesterfield have signed Paddy Madden n a free from Stockport so no chance we would loan him there to be behind him and Grigg. 

My thoughts exactly, but they're still expecting Brown to be signed as well.

The only problem is that we won't loan him to them. I remember Warne and Hale mentioning a team 'at the top of the national league' wanting him in January and being less than impressive with the clubs reasons for wanting him.

1 hour ago, Ramarena said:

This.

Ideal scenario is probably four as you say.

Sign a quality striker and add another via, maybe a Prem loan.

That’s two additions in the area we need to improve most, along with central midfield. 

After that I’d look at Gayle to see if he still has the legs for another season, with Brown as the other option.

Obviously PW would need to take a good look at Brown and Gayle to see if they are up to it. But in Browns case, if he struggles in the first half of the season, we could always loan him out to a league one club and get a loan in to cover.

I sort of agree with this, but I'd do it the other way round. I'd look to loan him out to a L1 or L2 team to make sure the jump up in standard isn't too much too quick for him.

National League defending really isn't up to standard. Hence Will Grigg scoring 25 goals this season, more than he scored in his past 5 seasons combined in L1. Diesuruvwe scoring 24 despite not doing anything at Salford in L2. Kabamba scoring 5 goals in 2 seasons in L2, then 25 in 40 games this season.

For his long term development I think it would be better to gradually work his way up the leagues. This way we could end up thinking in several seasons time about how good he is, rather than how good he could have been.

I don't want him to end up becoming another Mason Bennett.

On 09/05/2024 at 20:48, DiggerB said:

I’ve always thought Loach may fulfil a similar role to Carson in the dressing room, albeit there is no requirement for “homegrown” players in the EFL,  think? Just not as many medals or on 30k/week!

I think Loach plays quite an important, yet under appreciated role at the club. He's at the stage of his career where he's thinking about life after retirement and is working his way through the coaching badges. This combined with his experience must be really helpful to the young keepers at the club.

The U23 teams are selected by invitation as opposed to teams choosing to enter aren't they? 

I we have the opportunity to enter them I'd like to see it happen. We entered it in the 2016/17 season and featured the like of Jayden Bogle, Emil Riis and Luke Thomas. It also gave opportunities to first team players in need of game time. I think the likes of Weimann, Russell and Blackman also played in it that season.

Regarding Brown, I do think it would be best for his development if he gets loaned out to a L2 team or maybe even a L1 team like Mansfield. It's a huge step up in quality from what he's been playing at with Gateshead, where defending at times can be described as pathetic.

14 hours ago, Stripperg-ram said:

Which Derby team, under which manager with which players do you think was the most dirty Derby team of all time?

Probably one of the teams that played at the Baseball Ground. White shirts mixed with that pitch is going to leave the kits looking rather dirty.

I rate Johansson and I think he'd be a better keeper than what we already have. However I read that the relegation release clause in his contract is for £900,000, which I can see other championship teams paying but not us. 

13 hours ago, Carl Sagan said:

Bizarre comment. Clearly the teams he's with think he can't play that level anymore and has only been used sparingly by Anderlecht this season. There is much more money to be had in the English leagues than across the continent. Get rewarded well, play in front of full houses and far more people than at Anderlecht every week. With the chance to build a reputation in England, the home of football, and the gateway to the Premier League. And reputedly a man of great character - just the sort of leader we should be looking for at the next level.

Supposedly, he's on just over £60,000 a week at the moment. I can't see him taking a huge pay cut to join us. With the way modern football's going I wouldn't be surprised to see him at a lower level Premier League team like Leicester, Crystal Palace or Everton.

3 minutes ago, YouRams said:

Only 30 plenty of championship games under his belt we could do alot worse.

It's more the 10 goals in the last 5 years that puts me off. On a low wage he could be a decent signing

10 hours ago, MadAmster said:

Adams (hopefully) and Tommo? 

It will be interesting to see what formation PW goes for in the SBC. 352? that would likely see NML in the "2" alongside Collo or Collo's replacement. Did NML's downturn in form coincide with playing up top rather than out wide? If so, will he improve up top in the SBC?

It would likely see Wilson/Ward as RWBs and Sibs/Elder at LWB. Would we need NML/CBT playing a winger role?

So many questions to be answered.

Before any transfer business has been done, id imagine he might do a 343 with CBT, Collins and NML the front 3.

On 03/05/2024 at 19:11, Nuwtfly said:

I would agree with this. Not sure it’s worth it for the price it currently sits at. 

Also can’t say I would be particularly glad to see the return of Conway, either. Still haven’t forgiven him for that ridiculous Rooney article!

I typically wait for one of their deals then cancel it before it goes up.

16 minutes ago, YouRams said:

Former Wolves and Leeds winger Costa is a free agent could be worth a look

I'd take prime Costa, but I'm not sure how much you'd get out of him now.

2 minutes ago, Carl Sagan said:

Thomas Delaney (Danish international midfielder) only has a year on his Sevilla contract left and they don't want him. He spent last season on loan at Anderlecht, with an option to buy for 3 million Euros, but reportedly the Spaniards are now ready to take 1.5 million: https://www.anderlecht-online.be/en/article/232104

He's 32 years old but could be the central midfield leader we need to make a difference. He's got American citizenship through his dad so I imagine would be comfortable in an English-speaking environment. 

It's laughable that Cardiff want half a million pounds for Ebou, but for just over twice as much we could maybe buy someone like this.

I'd imagine his wages would be difficult to accommodate.

1 hour ago, Bris Vegas said:

Having the biggest budget in the league is no means a guarantee of success. Look at ourselves at Championship level under Mel, or Man Utd in the PL.

It does help though.

Anything other than promotion this season would have been a disappointment and arguably an underachievement.

Especially given that there was no Ipswich, Sunderland or Sheff Wed this time around.

The true test of Warne’s coaching ability will come next season.

 

I think the problem we have is that one of our biggest needs is in the centre forward department, which is probably one of the hardest positions to get good deals in.

Chesterfield fans reckon he's going to join them on loan for next season. I'm not so sure as I recall Warne talking about a team 'at the top of the national league' who weren't convincing at all when they tried to take him on loan last year. 

Then again it has been very amusing reading who they think their club are signing this summer with Sam Morsy (just gone up with Ipswich), Liam Cooper (Leeds captain) and Nathan Byrne the 'most' likely according to them.

On 28/04/2024 at 21:28, nogbad van 50 said:

Looks a bit of a unit!

 

 

You can't take too much from this type of video. I remember spending my summer watching Kamil Jozwiak clips thinking he'd take us to the prem.