Despite our low mood due to all the **** that's gone down over the past year, lets look at some 'green shoots of recovery'
1. We are still in the Championship. OK we achieved it in a cock-eyed manner but looking back to November 2020 none of us gave us a prayer of staying up
2. the threat of points deduction/relegation so caused has been lifted (for now!)
3. We've no doubt drastically reduced our wage bill with who we've either let go or who've chosen to go. Personally I think every transaction was a good one, apart from the juniors who I don't know enough about
4. We look to be re-hiring Teden Menghi, who on brief acquaintance looked more than competent, and who I'd choose over Matt Clark, who was a shadow of his former self last year IMO (and who drove me mad with his fooled-nobody faked forward pass/double back/backwards pass mullarkey
Baby steps fellahs
Last edited by Andy_Faber; 04-07-2021 at 12:53 PM.
Well there wont be too high expectations for the new season, respectable survival is my hope. We do need to be able to sign players on a fee though. not looking forward to watching a team of free transfer cast offs with the odd loan.
So Rooney now saying he can't sign loan players unless things change, seems we can't give new contracts to Davies and Wisdom as well, the EFL may not have deducted points but they have sure as hell got Derby tied up in Knots making it virtually impossible to operate.
Something has to change soon or its just going to be a joke of a season.
I heard that about the Menghi loan not being possible until the embargo is lifted.
The Davies and Wisdom situation is a new one to me, not seen anything on that online. It's a weird one too as they are every bit as much free agents as Morrison or Baldock...... or any of the other "trialists". Why the difference?
Andy Carroll on his way, supposedly
Just read on the beeb website that we have asked the EFL to relax the embargo.
It seems there is a rule that embargoed clubs can't bring players in if they have 23 or more "players of professional standing" on the books. It seems that a "player of professional standing" is one that has one or more first team appearances to their name.
Now, last January we fielded a bunch of kids in the FA Cup against Crawley because the 1st team were all in Covid isolation. That single game makes all 14 that got on the pitch that day count as players of professional standing and that is why we can't sign any layers at the moment.
Even more troubling because we fielded the kids at the request of the FA........
Not sure we are looking to sign chickens MA!
Thats seems to be the issue, now if the EFL refuse to waive that rule, we will really know they have it in for Derby. It just seems a complete farce and will make a mockery of the season if the EFL don't recognise that fairness requires an exception in this case.
I guess its wait and see but I do feel for Rooney in thi situation.
According to tinternet, the EFL have accepted that they should not class the players who played in that Corley cup tie as players of professional standing, so we should soon be able to sign players.