Jack who?
Assuming, and there are still over thirty points to play for, that we’re still in the Championship next year who would you be looking to re-sign for next season?
Thankfully CKR’s future with us has been secured. Of the rest, Waghorn, Wisdom and Curtis Davies all have contracts that end in the summer.
Wisdom would be top of my list, but Waghorn, for all the frustration he brings, has averaged about a goal every 4.5 games and, despite being virtually non existent against Forest, usually puts in a shift.
I like Curtis Davies...think he’s been a good signing and the closest we have to a genuine leader, but at 35 and seemingly increasingly injury prone I suspect his days are numbered.
Of the loans, including Clarke who tends to feel like a proper Derby player after two seasons...but isn’t , are there any we should be realistically looking to keep for longer?
P.S. There’s also the question... ‘what do we do about Jack?’
Last edited by ramAnag; 28-02-2021 at 10:05 AM.
Jack who?
Andre Wisdom, Jonathan Mitchell (out on loan), Martyn Waghorn, Scott Malone (out on loan) are the players whose contracts expire this summer as far as I'm aware.
Wis - keep
Mitchell - let go
Waghorn - let go
Malone - let go
Then we have Jack Marriott - 10 appearances and NO goals at Wendy. His current contract expires in 2022. Would I keep him? on face value you'd say no. After a decent 1st season it's been injuries and no goals and no great performances from Jack. In his P'Boro heyday, he formed a partnership up top with "forget his name", a big lad and he fed off balls from the big un. Would he benefit from playing alongside Kazim? So, that's the choice. We let him go because he's lost his mojo OR we keep him and try him alongside CKR? On balance I probably plump on letting him go.
I’d just assumed that Malone would be surplus to requirement, MA. For me Davies provides a bigger dilemma and I know nothing about Mitchell.
Take issue with your ‘decent first season’ description of Marriott. For me he had a great two months...then disappeared...resurfaced for two substitute appearances at Elland Road and about 20 minutes at Wembley...then disappeared again and has been a waste of space since.
In the hopefully unlikely event of us being relegated I’d keep him...maybe League One is his level...otherwise I agree with you, but it might have been interesting to give him a chance alongside CKR.
Unfortunately, for Curtis, at 35 and with this injury, his days at this level are numbered IMO. He is, however, knowledgable and eloquent and could be an asset as a coach. If he hasn't got his badges yet, let him do the work at the Academy to get them and then either give him a "proper job" there or promote him to the senior squad.
Sort of extending the subject of contracts. Of the loanees that Rooney has brought in, who has impressed to the extent that we might want to keep them?
In an otherwise abject performance last night, I was quietly impressed by Baningime - in the first half at least, I think Gregory looks half decent playing alongside CKR in a two up front, that Edmundson could be useful, especially if Clarke can’t be re-signed, and that Roberts gives us more than Jozwiak although he seems a bit lightweight.
There’s sadly certainly no Leon Osman amongst them, but I wonder if any will survive with us past the end of this season?
Agree with most of that rA. Roberts is big ? for me. After a couple of failures he had one sub appearance in which he looked better going forward but in the others he was poor at both ends. Jozwiak appears to have gone backwards, in an attacking sense, since Bielik's injury. However, he still offers far more defensively than Roberts.
On the limited evidence so far, none of the Rooney loans look worth signing to me. Though you could argue, throwing them all on together into an unsettled side is not really a fair test of their worth to us.