Ambitious

Only 6 teams have scored fewer goals and him playing in the 10 scoring only twice, creating only three goals, probably is the main cause of that. Still, he does work hard and fans love a trier, but when you want a player to step up and win a game - he isn’t that guy.

Maybe Bristol City have a fetish over Derby County midfield academy products that struggle with adding any kind of their tangible production to their game? I thought they would’ve learned their lesson with Jason Knight after playing him in the number 10 for the majority of the season with a grand total of 2 goals. Maybe not.

Wonder who our next target is - I wait with baited breath to see the player who was deemed as the backup alternative to a 35 year old Lee Gregory.

I love this signing for nothing more than this being a competency test for both our recruitment and coaching staff. A player, who lets be fair, hasn’t proven anything beyond fourth tier in English football has been bought in and plays a position where we have five or six options already on the books, potentially 7 or 8 depending on how far down the list you want to go: Hourihane, Bird, Sibley, Thompson, Fornah, Smith, Radcliffe and Robinson. A position of the pitch where despite the quantity of players and individual ability there still causes us a problem with regards to balance. The recruitment staff have essentially nailed their colours to the mast and essentially said we can highlight a player, out of favour, who isn’t proven at our level because we can see ability. This is a good case study for their ability to judge a player and not just going off a CV and availability - like with Bradley, Elder, Ward and so many others we’ve signed. If he turns out to be pony, then we know that the guys tasked with highlighting players couldn’t tell their arse from their elbow and get them promptly binned off. Warne, despite the options available to him, has brought this player to the club to address the balance and make us a better team. Does his analysis, coaching and strategy all click on the basis of this signing? Is he going to be the dynamic piece we all hope for, or have we just signed another Springett? Can he make use of this signing, does he win his place, does he facilitate what Warne wants to do? I have no idea, which is the exciting part, because I’m really keen to see how this one plays out.

Our approach since the takeover has been incredibly short-term from a first team point of view. Clowes hired Warne on his ability to get teams out of league one, nothing more, and got rid of a very promising coach to facilitate that move. I understand that some of the transfers have needed to be short-term, but if we aren’t promoted this season then I would endeavour him reconsider his own approach. I’m in no doubt we would be in a much better shape, in almost every single aspect, had we gone with Rosenior - who was already well respected within the building, recruited really well despite strict budgets and had shown a lot of promise. The move isn’t unsurprising for a new owner of a club, who went for the CV of a manager who had ‘been there and done it’ over a guy who had a lot of promise. For the record, I don’t blame him and I (with a lot of people) could see the logic but in hindsight I don’t think it was right. We don’t get to see what happens behind the scenes but I think this Mark Thomas has also been a big waste of money, or at least isn’t having an impact, because the recruitment has been poor. We’ve probably made Sonny Bradley the highest paid player in the division and dropped him after a couple of games - a long list of them with injury records have unsurprisingly spent the season injured. It’s a massive mess, whether that’s down to Thomas or Warne, I’m not sure, but certainly no creative approach has been taken. We almost exclusively signed players with Championship experience in the summer, deciding on paying out bigger wages for players on the downswing of their careers, over properly researching and scouting players on the upswing of their career. You also have a coaching staff who aren’t really recognised with coaching players, so maybe the short-term, experienced professional approach we take is because we can’t trust these guys to coach up players in the first place? I don’t know. Either way you look at it, I don’t think it’s a setup for a successful football club.

This would be an outrageous signing - why bring in a player just to divide and piss the fan base off more?

Charlton have been in horrible form of late, but if they do hire a new manager before the weekend and get a new manager bounce then they have enough quality to cause us problems. No win in 13 games in all competitions, now with Ladapo and May upfront and possibly a former Premier League manager coming in (albeit a bad one) I suspect this is where they end their winless run. 3-1 Charlton.

I can only assume, along with Warne's comments, that we were interested but couldn't bid what Portsmouth could.

I'm not too stressed about us bringing anyone in, honestly. It seems like we're struggling to highlight players who can make then team better and that's a concern. I'd love to see what Mark Thomas has been doing for the past 12 months - there is clearly a disconnect between him and Warne that needs addressing. If we're waiting around to see what Michael Smith is going to do, like he's the only striker in the world who can improve us, then the whole recruitment strategy needs binning.

From purely an enjoyment point of view: Steve McClaren George Burley Frank Lampard Billy Davies Liam Rosenior Philip Cocu Wayne Rooney Nigel Clough Gary Rowett Paul Warne Terry Westley Darren Wassall Paul Clement Nigel Pearson John Gregory Paul Jewell Phil Brown

It's never a good sign when you get a universal disillusionment following a win, but I did think the performance was on recent trend and that's a concern. Standards need to be much higher - it's been over a month since our last good performance and two months since we strung two good performances together.

You say that, but Bird’s tackle success rate isn’t a problem at all. Aerial ability isn’t important for a centre midfielder, although that is also around 50% success and aggressive enough is just an emotive term. He fouls more than any of our other midfielders if that counts, but I don’t buy that aggression somehow makes a player better. It’s a characteristic that certain players like to exude but I’ve never thought it makes a player better. The success rate of involvements Bird gets himself into isn’t at all bad, honestly, especially when it comes to duels. However, the rate of involvements he gets himself into is the problem. He’s been pinned as a player who can read the game well, intelligent and cultured central midfield player. I just wonder if the wool has been pulled over our eyes a little and the fact that he a) can’t anticipate danger very well and perhaps more importantly b) can’t spot opportunities very well is why his output over the course of the season is always underwhelming. I don’t believe it’s an ability issue, not that I think he’s a supreme talent, but he’s definitely a level higher than this but his inability to really do the above is the reason why we’re still questioning him as a player.

I think people focus far too much on emotive and physical attributes as to why we don’t control the midfield. I don’t think it’s anything to do with the physical aspect of the players, more so their ability to stay within the game from a mental aspect. Jeff Hendrick was/is a great example of a player who had physically and technical ability to dominate a game in midfield but lacked the ability to read the game so much that for 80% of every single game he played that you knew it was going to pass him by, unfortunately I think Bird whilst weaker and perhaps better technically, is similar that games bypass him purely because he doesn’t have the ability to read the game very well and be where he needs to be. Add that to a manager who plays a style, where he puts no emphasis on control and only catching the opposition out of position with a fast, direct approach. Bird and Hourihane play the game picking up pockets of space between the lines but are as useful as a chocolate teapot when we lose the ball and the other team has the opportunity to counter. Hourihane has technical quality and an edge that means he’s more useful to us than Bird, who I think really needs to be sacrificed for the greater good. By that I mean sold and replaced with a more suitable player this team. We really could do with a player who just knows how to stay in games, especially in centre mid, one that can be a presence. Thompson is a good example, but we need that but with much greater ability IMO.

Don’t think anyone wants him sacked, but many (like me) remain unconvinced. He’s got the opportunity to make us all look like idiots by getting us promoted and progressively improving Derby into an established Premier League side in time. That’s ultimately the job. I’d be delighted to be wrong.

Dreadful performance. I don’t even know where to start, so won’t bother, but I will say I feel for the fans that went tonight. The last few weeks have been rotten to watch, performances have been really bad. Too much emphasis on results, rather than performances have seemingly led us down the wrong path. Standards need to be so much better than they currently are. I’m still very much concerned that the people currently employed by the club don’t have the necessary skillset to achieve long-term. The recruitment and coaching is miles off where it needs to be, for me. I have no doubt that even if we did get promoted this season, we would be in for a long season next year which is a niggling thought that I can’t shake. Obviously nothing I can do to change the decisions the club make so I’ll continue to support (and moan) as it plays out. I hope I’m wrong, honestly, because I want success for Clowes and I’d like Derby to be seen as a relevant football team on the national stage again.

Good opportunity for him, based on what we’ve seen he has a chance of doing really well at that level. Acts as a little crash course in men’s football to see how he handles it.

It will be to do with wages and our business plan, 100% - he will be playing on his Charlton wage for the remainder of the year before setting up on new terms for the following season. I’d take it as he’s getting a fairly generous pay increase.

Important to try and not read too much into the money lost within the first 9 months, which could be attributed to a large number of factors post-administration. The turnover of the club, despite being in League One (and considering 9 month term) is very healthy. It’s actually more than Sheff Wed achieved over 12 months of trading at this level. Significantly more than Ipswich, Bolton, etc.

He was bombed out of Bradford at the start of the year for not being good enough, went on loan to Swindon where he scored a lot of goals (through purple patches, it must be said, as he went on goalless runs too) now back at Bradford and not really in their plans. They’re obviously hoping to cash in on him on the back of his loan spell and don’t hold him in high regard. Buyer beware, would be my advice.

I think Leaburn will be off to a Premier League side development squad - he's a very good talent. Charlton would be better served persevering with him and his development than signing Ikpeazu... he's an absolute honking footballer.

The season is 23/24 and Forsyth being injured is detrimental to our promotion chances. You could've said that in 2013/14 too and it would've been true. Testament to him as a player, really.

Looking back through the seasons, it looks to be March is a bigger problem than February. By my count, we've won 35.7% of our games in February in the past 10 years. We've only won 23.4% of our games in March. Since COVID hit, we've gone on to lose 10 games in March, winning just two (four draws).Good news for Port Vale, Bristol Rovers, Reading, Bolton, Northampton & Blackpool. So you can enjoy valentines day whilst we slowly march towards the true unravelling of our season.

Forest can't be surprised, nor should they be worried about a point deduction - the Premier League is incredibly weak this season because none of them did what they did and spend the best part of a quarter billion after getting promoted. They will survive with a 10 point deduction. I find the whole thing ludicrous to be honest, as I did when we were in the hot seat. How does a team in the bottom 8 sides in terms of wages in the league break financial fair play rules - seriously? If Luton wanted to be anything other than the lowest spending side in the Premier League, they would break financial fair play regulations (for example) - it's the biggest con in the sport and what makes it even more ridiculous is that they're targeting sides spending less than a third of some of the other teams in the same league. Unless the end game is selling broadcast rights to the court proceeding as teams try and kill each other legally then it's a sure fire way to kill the actual product. Too much is made of the team spending the money, how it should be regulated and punished - when equal focus should be given to the team receiving the money. Wages should absolutely be capped in order to encourage a competitive on-field product, however transfer fees should be uncapped and subject to owner investment. If an owner of Newcastle, for example, wants to spend £500m on a player from Peterborough, for example, they absolutely should be encouraged to do so because Peterborough are benefiting from that transaction a hell of a lot more than Newcastle. No loans that straddle the club with debts - if you own a club and want to invest in a player then open up your own bank account and make it happen. Restrictions on spending have done nothing to slow wages at the top end, but have had a considerable knock on effect when it comes to transfers lower down the pyramid. Teams used to factor in transfer income into their revenues - now it's certainly not the case. Spending between clubs within the country needs to be encouraged - it helps strengthen the pyramid. If City buy someone they like from Crystal Palace, Palace then will have money to buy someone they like from Luton, Luton have money to buy someone they like from Bristol City, Bristol City have money to buy someone they like from Stevenage, Stevenage have money to buy someone they like from Hartlepool, Hartlepool have money to buy someone they like Ilkeston & Ilkeston have money to buy someone they like from Forest.. Stopping the top clubs spending or putting restrictions on transfer fees has a much more negative trickle down effect - the players are still getting their payment but the money isn't being recycled around the league as freely as it should. You tie that in with the fact the largest clubs can hoover up any young talent that looks to have something about them for minimal fees before they come of age and you get a very top-heavy, brittle pyramid that is more about preserving status quo than it is improving the state of football in this country.

I think the fee is likely be shy of £600k but would make sense for Charlton to pack out the deal with future incentives, like a bank offering high interest rates. Derby will probably throw £300-400k into the deal following promotion and not think twice, rather than pay that upfront now. If I was Charlton I’d be quite content with £300k upfront with a following £300-400k add ons for a player with one foot out the door.

Moxon was a player who intrigued me the most after last season - first real season in professional football and he was by far and away the best player in League Two. I think he's obviously not had the same impact this season, but playing in a pretty poor, seriously underfunded side, in League One makes it difficult to shine. I'd like to see us roll the dice on him, who knows what he could be if afforded the chance of good-level coaching, top facilities, etc. We know full well that he would come in and dig and fight every chance he got for an opportunity to play. If he could take that next step, as he did when he moved into professional football, then he could be a player for us. I've always like a central midfielder who gets himself involved in every single aspect, from tackles, interceptions to shots. He does it as well as anyone else in the league without the quality in supporting cast.