Summer Rumour Mill

[TomTom92]

2 minutes ago, duncanjwitham said:

The way I see it, you're never going to get a player that's very good at everything.  You get some players that are bang average at everything (jack of all trades, master of none types), you get players that have some strengths and some glaring weaknesses, plus all the variations between those.  And the further you go down the leagues you go, the more extreme those things get. At prem level, your bang average players are still pretty good at everything (Jordan Henderson is a good example, I think - he's a decent all-rounder, but not really spectacular at anything).  And likewise, players at the other extreme are going to have a lot of strengths and only a few weaknesses.  

However at League One level, if you want a player that's really good at one or 2 things, you are going to have to accept that he's bad a lot of other stuff.  If you want a quick winger that can cross, you have to accept that he'll probably be injury-prone, or inconsistent, or lazy, or old, or can't finish, or can't pass or whatever.  A player that's good at all that stuff simply won't be available to League One clubs, he'll be playing at a higher level.

How that relates to us is if you make "works extremely hard" an absolute requirement for all signings, you are reducing the pool of potential players significantly.  You are instantly disregarding the likes of Chris Martin (I know, I know, he's just an easy example to use). If you want a striker that works extremely hard, you are going to have to accept that maybe he doesn't score goals or maybe he can't hold the ball up or whatever.  And that's why we're ending up with players like Conor Washington - he meets the one, fundamental requirement, and the rest will have to do.  And it's possibly why we're finding it harder to sign other players - there just aren't that many players available who are good at crossing/finishing/passing/whatever and also run themselves into the ground every week, and they're in high demand.

Excellent point.

Warne certainly knows more about football and getting out of league 1 than me. But sometimes you need to maybe look past the one main requirement in order to get that magic player that can score and assist. 

There's no point us finishing 6 losing the play offs with the best defence in the league but a poor attacking output and going thats just the way the cookie falls we stuck to our principles. Last season was the 'Grateful to be here' season, from now onwards we should be challenging or at least looking to challenge the top 2, no excuses. 

[SFox1993]

1 minute ago, Big Bad Bob said:

Jeez, I can't believe the comments of some on here (well I can knowing how fickle some fans are) about the lack of transfer fees being spent. Lets take a look at Sonny Bradley - captain of Luton Town when they got promoted to the Premier League. Has a lot of experience and is a great build for a centre half. We signed him on a free. Would folk be happier if we spent £1m on him?

The same applies for the other players we haven't spent a fee on. If Warne is building the team he wants without compromising or spending money, then what is the issue? 

People are very short sighted , and also forget where we have been in our most recent history.
Personally id rather we worked smartly within the budget , and if we feel we need more options in January because we havent spent loads in the summer we can actually strengthen for a change where other clubs might not be able to ..

[Ambitious]

1 hour ago, alram said:

we are a very top heavy team, we will have big earners at this level so following a business plan would probably mean we will have to have a tiny squad to afford to pay such players

 

its another issue with so many of the older players we signed last summer

The wage bill shouldn't be too much of an issue taking our revenue into account. 

If I was to look at the senior outfield options in the squad, you've got: Forsyth, Hourihane, Cashin, Barkhuizen, Bird, Collins, NML, Smith, Sibley, Bradley, Elder, Nelson, Ward, Washington, Kane. You have then Thompson and Rooney who are inexperienced first-team options. Darren Robinson, Ben Radcliffe, Max Bardell & Dajaune Brown all look like they could be viable options for the coming season but really will be focusing their time largely in the U21s - I guess you may be able to include the lad from Rangers in that group but remains to be seen. 

My worry is the size of the senior outfield options and the fact you have a number of them that have missed time through injuries. Every single player we have brought in, bar Ward, have missed time through injuries in the last couple of years so you really have to question whether you can rely on them for a 46 game season, plus cups, etc. 

If I was being pedantic then I would want another 5-6 players in, with no more going out, including loans. 3 loans, 3 permanents. It shouldn't put too much stress on our resources but covers us for all eventualities. 

[Rich3478]

32 minutes ago, MACKWORTHRAM said:

Agreed. Someone on the forum wanted us to spend £2-3 million on Jonson Clarke-Harris.

Whilst I would love him here. Spending that money on a 29 year old striker on a 3 year deal is an absolute no go.

At the end of that 3 years he'll go for nothing. Doing that is what got us in this mess.

Waghorn, Johnson, Butterfield, Blackman. Circa £18 million there that went for nothing.

Don’t think anyone is forgetting where we were. But equally football is a business governed by money. 
 

ultimately we’re not sustainable in this division, so we need to get promoted asap. We will need to spend money again at some point, we can’t be scared of it because of it being done poorly in the past.

spending £2m on him and if he scores 25 goals and we get promoted would be a brilliant investment.

would argue that just treading water in this division is a bigger waste of money than trying to push on and get promoted.

I also realise that the best situation is arguably a compromise between the two approaches.

[Ghost of Clough]

24 minutes ago, TomTom92 said:

Warne also noted the burnout affect of having a small squad and thats exactly what we're going for again this season.

We've lost an international midfielder in Knight and a 20 goal a season striker in McGoldrick. We lost Dobbin and Springett who arguably weren't that great however, so far we've brought in Washington as a workhorse. I really can't see why we're recruiting in this manner.

As i've previously stated defensively the recruitment team have knocked it out the park, but in offence they've been found wanting so far. 

Maybe we're unlucky that the financial money pit has fallen on its bum just as we need to spend a bit. But this is where a manager with good connections could sign a couple of smart signings out of nowhere. 

We essentially had a first team squad of 15 players last season due to having too many players who weren't able/ready/trusted to play a regular role in the squad. Total players used in all competitions was 28. We've replaced the injury prone players with those who're more robust and more likely to be available for 65+% of the games this season. Our younger fringe players (Rooney, Tommo) will have greater opportunities, whilst other academy players (DBrown, DRobinson) will be given game time.

This means the minutes given to our top 15 last season will be spread out between 20-22, thus reducing the likelihood of burnout. Her's a graph comparing the actual minutes played by each player last season (all competitions) vs a rough estimate of what to expect this season:

[Eoghan1884]

People panicking about signings should listen to Hamshaws interview with bbc radio derby, talked about waiting to get in 2/3 players before opening day, he talked about how they also can then have a look at loan market then. Loans usually happen in the last 2/3 weeks in the window when prem clubs know who they want to keep and loan out. Still plenty of time left to sign players and we’ve had a great window so far.

[Foreveram]

37 minutes ago, valakari said:

Its like buying a second hand car..you know it will lose its value every year..thats why you have someting called depreciation..and in football terms, ( not the MM way of doing it), if you sign a player for £3m on a 3 year contract..his value depreciates by £1m each season...

Apart from I don’t have the option of selling my second hand Honda to Saudi Arabia for five times what I paid for it.😂

[i-Ram]

6 minutes ago, Foreveram said:

Apart from I don’t have the option of selling my second hand Honda to Saudi Arabia for five times what I paid for it.😂

Well you still have the option, but the seller might want it still to be a decent second hand Honda.

[Big Trav]

I still believe we will land Rhoades btw, He was in Moor Farm on Monday being shown around etc, and I was told it was a done deal. 

[JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta]

13 minutes ago, Big Trav said:

I still believe we will land Rhoades btw, He was in Moor Farm on Monday being shown around etc, and I was told it was a done deal. 

I wonder what the hold up is. Is it Rhodes himself? I don't get the impression he is pushing for the move and if he isn't sure if he wants to be here then I'd give him a deadline to decide and move on if he misses it.

I might be way wide of the mark there, but if the terms with Huddersfield are sorted (which I assume they would be if we are talking personal terms with their player) then I can't see what else would hold it up?

EDIT: I'm asking a general question there, not expecting @Big Travto answer it directly.

Edited July 20, 2023 by JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta

[Sparkle]

I am delighted that we are prepared to give one of our own youngsters a go if true rather than a Osula on loan because if they do well then we actually have a player rather than needing one and they become sellable quickly especially if they are a forward doing well if we choose. It is also pleasing that we are prepared to give Tompson a good go because the lad did well in the championship for us at a difficult time and we have to trust them.

In terms of a centre forward we obviously need one at least but my main concern isn’t their ability to move around it’s their ability to compete and win headers in this league especially if we are playing two forwards centrally which I think we will be, every team basically pumps the ball down the ground in this league and that includes us. 

[Ambitious]

15 minutes ago, JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta said:

I wonder what the hold up is. Is it Rhodes himself? I don't get the impression he is pushing for the move and if he isn't sure if he wants to be here then I'd give him a deadline to decide and move on if he misses it.

I might be way wide of the mark there, but if the terms with Huddersfield are sorted (which I assume they would be if we are talking personal terms with their player) then I can't see what else would hold it up?

EDIT: I'm asking a general question there, not expecting @Big Travto answer it directly.

sounds like Huddersfield want a replacement through the door first, which is understandable. Rhodes is on good money at Huddersfield £20k+ a week and I can't imagine we're taking that contract on. I think he will be very well compensated, of course, but not to the tune of £1m+ a year. 

[Arsene Titman]

19 minutes ago, JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta said:

I wonder what the hold up is. Is it Rhodes himself? I don't get the impression he is pushing for the move and if he isn't sure if he wants to be here then I'd give him a deadline to decide and move on if he misses it.

I might be way wide of the mark there, but if the terms with Huddersfield are sorted (which I assume they would be if we are talking personal terms with their player) then I can't see what else would hold it up?

EDIT: I'm asking a general question there, not expecting @Big Travto answer it directly.

Seems to be down to Warnock needing to recruit more attackers before he will let Rhodes go.

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/football/news/derby-county-huddersfield-town-striker-27342503

[TomTom92]

50 minutes ago, Ghost of Clough said:

We essentially had a first team squad of 15 players last season due to having too many players who weren't able/ready/trusted to play a regular role in the squad. Total players used in all competitions was 28. We've replaced the injury prone players with those who're more robust and more likely to be available for 65+% of the games this season. Our younger fringe players (Rooney, Tommo) will have greater opportunities, whilst other academy players (DBrown, DRobinson) will be given game time.

This means the minutes given to our top 15 last season will be spread out between 20-22, thus reducing the likelihood of burnout. Her's a graph comparing the actual minutes played by each player last season (all competitions) vs a rough estimate of what to expect this season:

Fair point but depends whether you think Thommo and Robinson can provide us with the performances required. I have my reservations. 

[Jase116]

Jordan Rhodes signing a contract tomorrow, pre season going well, contracts being signed, Warne still in post. Great start to the season. UTR. 

#dcfc #dcfcfans

[Jase116]

@joesmith5 Apparently,  no idea if reliable 

[Ambitious]

7 minutes ago, TomTom92 said:

Fair point but depends whether you think Thommo and Robinson can provide us with the performances required. I have my reservations. 

No doubt they can fill a gap every once in a while if carried by others, but they're not players who are going to drive performance like you want your CMs to do. Robinson looks like Bird did when he first got into the team, technically very smart, whilst you can see why he's highly rated you get the impression he's still got to develop before he's a player we can rely on. Thompson can press and keep the ball ticking along better than most, but games have a habit of chewing him up. 

If you're playing a Port Vale, Morecambe, etc, you're not worried about either of them having a contribution but neither are winning the game for you. I like the look of Ben Radcliffe in what I've seen so far, now he does look like a player who could have an impact - he's an absolute specimen for his age and technically looks no worse than Thompson. 

[RoyMac5]

19 minutes ago, Jase116 said:

@joesmith5 Apparently,  no idea if reliable 

[MarsdenRam]

1 hour ago, Rich3478 said:

spending £2m on him and if he scores 25 goals and we get promoted would be a brilliant investment.

You are Mel AICMFP.

[Jase116]

12 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

Sorry, @joemsmith15