Jump to content

Nearly Rams


Carl Sagan

Recommended Posts

We have an ex-Rams thread, but what about "Nearly Rams"? Those players who seemed destined to join us, but for whatever reason never quite got over the line.

As a whippersnapper I was there at the Baseball Ground when Ian Storey-Moore was paraded around, only for his wife to insist he sign for Man Utd instead.

I was there again when political defectors Lubos Kubik and Ivo Knoflicek were announced as our players having fled to the West for political asylum, with a little help from Robert Maxwell (who became my boss later that same year) but the football authorities refused to let us sign them.

I type as Ollie Watkins has scored a hattrick against Liverpool, and Watkins is another player I think of as a nearly Ram. I met Exeter manager Paul Tisdale in the sports statistics world and we'd chat and he liked I was a Ram and spoke very highly of Matt Oakley who was his lieutenant on the pitch, so I started following Exeter quite closely. Watkins was a player making a big impression and it was fantastic that it seemed as though Derby had taken notice and a deal was agreed and he was going to be joining us. Then something went badly wrong late in the day, with him ending up moving to Brentford instead (of course also big on the sports stats scene). There were rumours we'd been quoted some vast asking price and Brentford less than half the amount, which would make no sense whatsoever. Who knows what went on, but it always seemed a huge loss we didn't get this young talent over the line.

Who are the players the rest of you look at and think, he was nearly a Ram, and keep an eye on their progress as a result?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 29
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Of course there was Baggio, when it seemed as though Eranio persuaded Jim Smith to switch late in the day and buy Baiano instead. And we almost got Johan Cruyff as Technical Director but Arthur Cox put his foot down so he went to Barca instead.

Talking of Arthur Cox, there was talk Kevin Keegan was going to follow him to Derby. Which would have been fitting as it was my dad who forced through his transfer to Liverpool, but that's another story!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Carl Sagan said:

Of course there was Baggio, when it seemed as though Eranio persuaded Jim Smith to switch late in the day and buy Baiano instead. And we almost got Johan Cruyff as Technical Director but Arthur Cox put his foot down so he went to Barca instead.

Talking of Arthur Cox, there was talk Kevin Keegan was going to follow him to Derby. Which would have been fitting as it was my dad who forced through his transfer to Liverpool, but that's another story!

Yes Kevin Keegan wrote the foreword in a book “There was some football too” good book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

my mate swears we nearly bought Bobby Moore once, and could've had the England Back 4!

Yakubu was one that springs to mind. 

Nugent and Kenwyne Jones - the board wouldnt pay up, could've been good for us.

Austin - about 8 years ago - Nigel Clough dismissed as a bad attitude

Bakary Sako - Paul Clement pulled the plug

half of the Villa promotion team of a couple of seasons ago!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, Mostyn6 said:

my mate swears we nearly bought Bobby Moore once, and could've had the England Back 4!

Yakubu was one that springs to mind. 

Nugent and Kenwyne Jones - the board wouldnt pay up, could've been good for us.

Austin - about 8 years ago - Nigel Clough dismissed as a bad attitude

Bakary Sako - Paul Clement pulled the plug

half of the Villa promotion team of a couple of seasons ago!

Clough tried to buy Moore and Brooking. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, Mostyn6 said:

my mate swears we nearly bought Bobby Moore once, and could've had the England Back 4!

Yakubu was one that springs to mind. 

Nugent and Kenwyne Jones - the board wouldnt pay up, could've been good for us.

Austin - about 8 years ago - Nigel Clough dismissed as a bad attitude

Bakary Sako - Paul Clement pulled the plug

half of the Villa promotion team of a couple of seasons ago!

Don't remember Austin

Having bid 6 million for Jones i was delighted Sunderland went higher

Moore was very close, but had a fit of conscience per Clough-

"I wanted to sign Bobby Moore, who then wrote a stupid book saying I tapped him up" "I did... but he shouldn't have told anybody".

 

Petit and Baggio in the 90's. A title push in 97-98 with those two

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ferrie Bodde comes to mind - an obsession for the Rams in 2008, when Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins put his foot down and refused the 26 year old a transfer to Derby despite multiple offers (and Bodde clearly keen to move). 
 

Sadly his career stalled after that emotional Summer and was basically over by Christmas of the same year. He only played a total of 20 games after the Derby offers, as 4 operations ruled out playing at a senior level. He’s now a coach back in the Netherlands. 
 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mika Väyrynen was close to signing at least twice... first of these cases was bit of a mystery. Even the player himself doesn't know why the deal didn't get over the line. Everything was agreed but Derby postponed the deal. Publicly it was said he had calf injury.

He certainly had his share of injuries but still it was a huge miss. He was hell of a player in his prime before the injuries ruined his career.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Van Gritters said:

Esteban Fuertes if it wasn’t for a forged passport and him being refused entry back into England, oh, what could have been. We did make a profit on him though.

Think he did well in the few games he played if memory serves me correctly. Looking at his overall playing stats...scored a lot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Carl Sagan said:

Watkins was a player making a big impression and it was fantastic that it seemed as though Derby had taken notice and a deal was agreed and he was going to be joining us. Then something went badly wrong late in the day, with him ending up moving to Brentford instead (of course also big on the sports stats scene). There were rumours we'd been quoted some vast asking price and Brentford less than half the amount, which would make no sense whatsoever. Who knows what went on, but it always seemed a huge loss we didn't get this young talent over the line.

Mel said it. Wasn’t rumours.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Carl Sagan said:

Of course there was Baggio, when it seemed as though Eranio persuaded Jim Smith to switch late in the day and buy Baiano instead. And we almost got Johan Cruyff as Technical Director but Arthur Cox put his foot down so he went to Barca instead.

Talking of Arthur Cox, there was talk Kevin Keegan was going to follow him to Derby. Which would have been fitting as it was my dad who forced through his transfer to Liverpool, but that's another story!

The bald eagle was trying to get Emmanuel Petit but Arsenal stepped in what a signing he would have been

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Reggie Greenwood said:

Martin Allen was at the BBG waiting to sign ( QPR home game i recall saw him going in ) when Maxwell pulled the plug plus we were very close to getting Dennis Wise and John Fashanu from Wimbledon but i think the Mirror pension fund was empty by then .

Was their myself ..Allen actually sat in director,s box ...  everyone expected him to sign    but MAD MAXWELL  pulled the plug on MAD DOG ALLEN ..?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...