January Reinforcements

[Van der MoodHoover]

21 hours ago, ram59 said:

Regarding the January transfer window and the purchases and sales, Warne is getting quite a hammering for not signing a striker. But where does the blame lie?

I suspect that there's not a simple answer, Warne will surely indicate who he wants at the club, but others negotiate the transfer fees and contracts. Then you have the situation where everybody has done their job, only for some outside force arrive on the scene and throw a great big spanner in the works.

Whilst you're no doubt correct about the set up, I think the suspicion is that Paul Warnes list of "jolly good chap" characteristics is a) quite long and b) restrictive so we end up pursuing few alternatives.

We seemed to be spending a long time chasing one or two names. Lee Gregory was one repeatedly mentioned.

With all the factors you've listed, we probably need a shortlist of 4-5 but only ever appear to have 1-2. Perhaps Warne needs to be a bit less choosy?

[ram59]

3 hours ago, Van der MoodHoover said:

Whilst you're no doubt correct about the set up, I think the suspicion is that Paul Warnes list of "jolly good chap" characteristics is a) quite long and b) restrictive so we end up pursuing few alternatives.

We seemed to be spending a long time chasing one or two names. Lee Gregory was one repeatedly mentioned.

With all the factors you've listed, we probably need a shortlist of 4-5 but only ever appear to have 1-2. Perhaps Warne needs to be a bit less choosy?

Perhaps as a club, we've been guilty of being too nice and honest in our negotiations for players?

Maybe we've negotiated with only one or two targets rather than five or six, the one or two being unlikely to be let down by us choosing another player. A more cynical approach would be to negotiate with 5 or 6 players, leading all of them to believe that they are our first choice, only for us to complete the purchase on the our highest rated target which we can get over the line.

After all, this seems to be the approach of the players and their agents when dealing with us. How many times in the last couple of transfer windows have we been told that a deal has fallen through at the last moment because the player or his club have backed out?

[CornwallRam]

I wonder why we wouldn't invite Connor Wickham to train with us? Out of all the free agent strikers, he's got the most potential - still only 30. Obviously he might not be interested, but it looks like a good an opportunity for him to get fit and for us to potentially have cover for Collins. 

His injury record is terrible so we'd monitor that, but if he looked like he could contribute without damaging morale, then there wouldn’t be to much at risk with a deal until the end of the season.

 

 

[angieram]

1 hour ago, ram59 said:

Perhaps as a club, we've been guilty of being too nice and honest in our negotiations for players?

Maybe we've negotiated with only one or two targets rather than five or six, the one or two being unlikely to be let down by us choosing another player. A more cynical approach would be to negotiate with 5 or 6 players, leading all of them to believe that they are our first choice, only for us to complete the purchase on the our highest rated target which we can get over the line.

After all, this seems to be the approach of the players and their agents when dealing with us. How many times in the last couple of transfer windows have we been told that a deal has fallen through at the last moment because the player or his club have backed out?

It's not just the players who are variable. The two premier league strikers suddenly start getting game involvement around the time the transfer window is open. Do they continue to see action when it shuts? I suspect not but it is done by cash rich EPL clubs to keep them sweet. 

[Scott129]

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/derby-county-talking-points-stevenage-9107538

 

Confirms it was Harry Leonard who we were about to sign, before Blackburn's boss pulled the plug.

[Caerphilly Ram]

7 minutes ago, Scott129 said:

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/derby-county-talking-points-stevenage-9107538

 

Confirms it was Harry Leonard who we were about to sign, before Blackburn's boss pulled the plug.

And the manager ended up leaving anyway after he’d pulled the plug 😫

[Scott129]

1 minute ago, Caerphilly Ram said:

And the manager ended up leaving anyway after he’d pulled the plug 😫

Oh yeah - didn't even twig that!

And guess who's not been in the squad in the four games since the window closed.

[Jimbo Ram]

3 hours ago, Scott129 said:

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/derby-county-talking-points-stevenage-9107538

 

Confirms it was Harry Leonard who we were about to sign, before Blackburn's boss pulled the plug.

So it wasn’t the player that ended up going to Stoke 😉

[Ramdale]

Interesting who Warne was referring to in his interview after the game on 2 x January targets who scored yesterday.

I think one was Will Evans from Newport. On the night Warne confirmed he was going to scout a game in January, Newport played with Evans scoring.

He would have been an ideal signing.

[Foreveram]

1 hour ago, Jimbo Ram said:

So it wasn’t the player that ended up going to Stoke 😉

No, I put this out after the Charlton match where I spoke to David Clowes and he confirmed it wasn’t.

[taggy180]

1 hour ago, Ramdale said:

Interesting who Warne was referring to in his interview after the game on 2 x January targets who scored yesterday.

I think one was Will Evans from Newport. On the night Warne confirmed he was going to scout a game in January, Newport played with Evans scoring.

He would have been an ideal signing.

Callum Lang and Joe Taylor at a guess

[Jimbo Ram]

3 minutes ago, Foreveram said:

No, I put this out after the Charlton match where I spoke to David Clowes and he confirmed it wasn’t.

Things change I suppose 😉

[Ramdale]

1 hour ago, taggy180 said:

Callum Lang and Joe Taylor at a guess

Agree Lang will have been one.

Just think the other is likely Will Evans as Warne made the point about going to a game to scout that night & said the player did well who he watched.

Taylor had already signed for Lincoln by that point. He looked real handful against us at their place too. 

[Crewton]

13 hours ago, Ramdale said:

Agree Lang will have been one.

Just think the other is likely Will Evans as Warne made the point about going to a game to scout that night & said the player did well who he watched.

Taylor had already signed for Lincoln by that point. He looked real handful against us at their place too. 

Taylor just scored his first goal for Lincoln at the weekend and missed a hatful of chances against us. Hopefully, he's found his range now and will score vital goals that might benefit us, particularly when they play Pompey in their final match.

[Donkey Derby]

On 17/02/2024 at 06:36, Van der MoodHoover said:

Whilst you're no doubt correct about the set up, I think the suspicion is that Paul Warnes list of "jolly good chap" characteristics is a) quite long and b) restrictive so we end up pursuing few alternatives.

We seemed to be spending a long time chasing one or two names. Lee Gregory was one repeatedly mentioned.

With all the factors you've listed, we probably need a shortlist of 4-5 but only ever appear to have 1-2. Perhaps Warne needs to be a bit less choosy?

Just because Gregory and Smith were the only names that got into the press does not mean they were the our only to targets.

Who knew about Leonard until it was confirmed over weekend . Same applies to CBT last summer, or signing of TJJ or Ward

Fact is we run a tight ship regards transfers so have no idea who we are interested 

Add in fact that still working with EFL restrictions with very limited transfer pots would suggest Warne (and club)  ain't doing as bad as suggested

[Oldben]

Ché Adams, Aaron Connolly, Kelechi Iheanacho, Kayden Jackson and Tyrese Campbell are all free agents in the summer.

Which ones would you choose to replace our old strike force in the summer, who are also free agents and the list includes Connor Washington and martyn waghorn. 

I'm assuming here we somehow make the championship next season, and also assume that the older players who seem to be injury prone are probably a waste of our wage budget in the Championship.

We will have 10+ free agents in the summer, but I thought its worth looking at younger strikers first.

[SFox1993]

Adams & Iheanacho IMO are both Prem strikers and regardless of where their teams end up will be back there next season.

[Oldben]

I put that list together based on a couple of factors ....

1. Free agent strikers in the summer

2. Potential free agents so zero transfer fee

3. Under 30 years old because in my opinion, if we are promoted, having players 32 years and older in the Championship will not be good enough.

4. Of the calibre required in the championship

5.  We will have several strikers who's contracts I definitely wouldn't renew in the Sumner, so we will need new strikers.

6. The strikers needs to have scored at least 7 goals in a season

 

[Oldben]

With our squad consisting of a number of older players, I'm concerned how we would stay in the championship if promoted.

[Srg]

4 minutes ago, Oldben said:

With our squad consisting of a number of older players, I'm concerned how we would stay in the championship if promoted.

Well the top 7 there are all out of contract, and we maybe re-sign Loach as a coach but that's about it. With restrictions eased and a new league, we would be fishing in a different pond and will need a lot of players. But let's worry about that if and when we need to.