Phil Bardsley

[Oldben]

Surviving The Drop Tactics

Spend Big?

The riskiest strategy is to keep spending at a division higher level. Many minor league teams overspend to get a shot at the big level. To avoid spending a season in the second division, these teams typically lose their great players who do not want to go down with the ship.

Bringing in proven talent and expertise has significant benefits. These are usually excellent players who can be sold when things don't go as planned. They can also mentor your junior squad members. Their reliability makes them the backbone of your team.

However, their salary and transfer fees might be high. There's also no assurance a transfer will go as planned, so when every dollar counts, they are risky bets. These people may be a costly to Derby if the club fails to reclaim the championship tier.

However its true that those teams that have spent the most are mostly in the playoffs or looking at automatic promotion.

Spend Smart?

Losing a division generally means wage cuts, so finding cheap replacements is crucial. It's important to be able to quickly and economically replace players. You should aim for certain players.

1. Emerging youngsters;

2. The out-of-contract established players;

3. Rejects from a top club.

Even successful transfers may fail for unexplained reasons, but strong scouting can reduce chances of that happening.

Next free agents, a manager knows that one man's garbage is another's treasure. The listings of retired players may include some hidden gems, although old legs don’t go so far especially in the physical league one.

Next Loan players, a disadvantage of a loan is that some players are too young to make an immediate impression. However, some can compete and even flourish at lesser levels.

Bargain older players have drawbacks. An old player with season or two is all you'll sign on a bargain. Injured or physically declining players will be the most common ones you sign. Your scouts matter. Without a network, there will be no transactions.

Focus On The Academy?

Benefits Of …

1.      It’s cheap

2.      The fans usually love it

3.      It’s long term planning

Disadvantages

1.      The academy is largely barren, many of our best talents been sold already or are likely to leave in the summer.

2.      Youngsters often fail and are inconsistent

3.      It’s long term planning, and its unhealthy for Derby to spend a long time in league one as there’s little financial return in league one

[inter politics]