Day Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 NIGEL Clough believes he has the strongest squad of players since he became Derby County manager four and a half years ago. Derby finished 10th last season and Clough has added four new signings this summer. Goalkeeper Lee Grant has arrived from Burnley, left-back Craig Forsyth from Watford, and strikers Chris Martin and Johnny Russell from Norwich City and Dundee United respectively. Experienced midfielder John Eustace could become the Rams’ fifth signing next week. The 33-year-old is training with the club. Clough says he is “generally happy for now” with his squad although John Brayford’s future still has to be resolved. Brayford has 12 months to run on his current contract and the Rams are keen to discuss a new deal with the right-back, who was the subject of a bid from Wigan Athletic last week. “We’ll see what happens with John but I think we are covered in most positions at the moment,” said Clough. “We are happy with the numbers and the depth and it will depend on the outs if we are to bring any more players in. “But there is no point bringing anyone in if they are not going to improve us. “Look at what we have in most areas of the pitch now. We have good quality and reasonable cover, so any new signing would certainly have to be challenging for a first-team spot. “Is it our strongest squad yet? Yes, I think so. “The only two we are missing through injury are Shaun Barker and Mark O’Brien. “If we had those two available we could definitely say it is our strongest squad."http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Nigel-Clough-best-squad-time-Rams/story-19488213-detail/story.html#ixzz2YXE7I93k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheron85 Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Agreed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alph Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Yeah he's got more depth than ever before. I think he's had a starting 11 before that could match the new one. But it's a squad game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilkoRam Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 In still slightly concerned with our lack of good wingers. We have no quality wide men for me. Ward is the only one. On the flip side we have a large amount of centre mids - Hughes, Bryson, Hendrick, Bailey, Coutts, Eustace. I can see us playing 4 CM's across the middle again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randombc Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 In still slightly concerned with our lack of good wingers. We have no quality wide men for me. Ward is the only one. On the flip side we have a large amount of centre mids - Hughes, Bryson, Hendrick, Bailey, Coutts, Eustace. I can see us playing 4 CM's across the middle again. This is my main concern. I hope he doesn't fall into the trap of playing our best players rather than the best team. We need a formation in which we can utilise our best players if he is to do this and play 4-3-3 instead of 4-4-2 and having Bryson or Hughes wasted on the left side of midfield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheron85 Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 In still slightly concerned with our lack of good wingers. We have no quality wide men for me. Ward is the only one. On the flip side we have a large amount of centre mids - Hughes, Bryson, Hendrick, Bailey, Coutts, Eustace. I can see us playing 4 CM's across the middle again. Jacobs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilkoRam Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 This is my main concern. I hope he doesn't fall into the trap of playing our best players rather than the best team. We need a formation in which we can utilise our best players if he is to do this and play 4-3-3 instead of 4-4-2 and having Bryson or Hughes wasted on the left side of midfield So a midfield 3 of Hendrick, Hughes and Bryson with a top three of Ward, Martin and Russell? Not too bad but I can't see Nigel diverting from his 4-4-2. The signings we've made I'm not disappointed with but I've always had in my mind that there would be a creative spark signed at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramble On Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 In still slightly concerned with our lack of good wingers. We have no quality wide men for me. Ward is the only one. On the flip side we have a large amount of centre mids - Hughes, Bryson, Hendrick, Bailey, Coutts, Eustace. I can see us playing 4 CM's across the middle again. I think Davies and Jacobs are the best we could get out of this division, we don't play with wingers unless it's Wardy on his own. To show there quality would mean using a formation that brings them into the game. Davies is the most underrated player with us at the moment, season before last his assists were in the top 3 in the league and was the main source of creativity. As for last season always impressed off the bench and scored a couple too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DcfcNews12 Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Jacobs is a very good player and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a run in the team that an U21 call comes was on there list when at Northampton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DcfcNews12 Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 433 will be what We use with Russell wide right and Ward wide left Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodleyRam Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 433 will be what We use with Russell wide right and Ward wide left I agree, do you think Russell will play tigher to Sammon leaving space for the Bray to bomb on? I think if we play 4-3-3 like this we need to have the 'wide' players popping up inside the box and looking to feed off Sammon, I personally think Ward is wasted hugging the left touchline and would prefer to see him playing a bit narrower. It is our best squad for some time, there's a lot of options and hopefully Nigel will rotate to keep things fresh and change things up during the game if it's not going our way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Teale Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Don't managers say this is their best squad nearly every year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronnieronalde Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Don't managers say this is their best squad nearly every year? You're right again. We're gargage and he's making it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mostyn6 Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 to be fair, he's never said it's his best squad, but he's always said that he's happy with what he's got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Teale Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 You're right again. We're gargage and he's making it up. Shall I pick your dummy up as I don't agree with you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derby_Dave Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 to be fair, he's never said it's his best squad, but he's always said that he's happy with what he's got. “Is it our strongest squad yet? Yes, I think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inter politics Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 433 will be what We use with Russell wide right and Ward wide left Thanks for the info. Fairly happy with this. All formations have pros and cons, we'll see what happens as the season unfolds. How are the academy looking - are they training too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Teale Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 I would be suprised if we used Russell out wide after the money we spent on him and after clough and rush always were clear we needed to bring a striker in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronnieronalde Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Shall I pick your dummy up as I don't agree with you No dummy out. Just an observation of your latest posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Good news, hopefully we will have still have something, to play for going into the February this year :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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