Originally Posted by
swaledale
The principles I allude to are an example of something that has happened and rumours of things that may have happened. i.e. that something mentioned in the press is given any credence unless there is actual evidence to suggest otherwise. Its obvious that journo's are going to link Warne with former players and equally obvious that not all the links are true. In my world that doesn't equate to Warne having either a Rotherham bias or a restricted scouting radius - the fact we picked up 2 youngsters suggests we do look further afield as well.
I do think you have to remember both the situation and the league Derby are in.
We have a restricted budget, boring I know, but that limits the scope in players we can sign, both in terms of any transfer fee and also wages. Whilst a player on 20K a week may well be happy to travel from afar to play for a club one on £5k or less is likely to be more choosy - hence it is more likely in league 1 that players will be from within a fairly tight geographical area.
We are in league 1, yes one of the bigger clubs in league 1, but still, if you have an offer of a stable club in the championship or even one of Wed, Ipswich and Plymouth who have got promotion, then I'd suggest the latter 3 will prevail. Then there is as AF pointed out, the fact that£1k a week more for a smaller club might well be more attractive than the salary Derby can play.
GP's point about Arsenal and Chief Scouts sums it up - whats more they also have an army of scouts.
Until such times we get back in the championship, we will be bottom feeders, picking up the scraps that other clubs throw out or don't want.