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[FM20] Derby County - Why manage the Rams? / How are you getting on?


Stuniverse
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SUMMER UPDATE

After play-off final heartbreak it was time to regroup and asses what was needed to take the next step. In all honesty, I didn't feel much was needed. We were excellent defensively last season, but with Rooney going and our attack being blunt on times, it was in the final 3rd that I was looking to improve. Here's our dealings:

Out:

Duane Holmes - £1.3m - Hibernian - A shame really. I remember in season 1 stating to @Stuniverse my surprise at how well Holmes had been doing. His value shot up to £6m and looked like he had nailed down that AMR spot. Unfortunately last season, injury upon injury meant he hardly appeared at all, so with his value and importance depreciated, he was sold.

Max Bird -  £975k - Ipswich - One of the youngsters that just didn't make it. The board are extremely happy with my development of the youth players, with home grown talent such as Bogle, Lowe, Sibley, Knight, Brown and Buchanan all getting game time last season, but Bird just couldn't get a game.

Whittaker, Buchanan and Brown have all now been loaned out in order to get more 1st team games this season.

Davies and Rooney both retired.

 

In:

Sergio Diaz -£6.75m - S. Gijon - Brought in to fill the Mezzala gap left by Rooney, I'm hoping the Spaniard can add creativity to our attack.

Iuri Medeiros - £2.2m - FC Nurnberg - A left footed AMR, again brought in to help with creativity in attack, this little gem possesses excellent technical attributes and will hopefully add something we were missing last season.

Kieran Gibbs - Free - The former Arsenal LB was brought in as back up to Lowe in order for me to loan out Buchanan so that he get a full season of games under his belt.

Kevin Gameiro - Free - I needed a 3rd Striker option as operating with Just Marriott and Kopke last season left us short. Happy to come on a low weekly wage and offering something different upfront for us, I'm hoping this signing will turn in to a short term masterstroke. 


I'm still looking at maybe 1 or 2 more attacking options, but keen not to overload us in that area. Either way, I feel we've made a slight improvement in attack whilst keeping hold of our defence, so hopefully that'll be enough for us to make the next step.

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One of the most crazy matches I ever played in FM. Mind you, this is the Super Cup. The rollercoaster of feelings from 2-0 up at half time, to then 2-3, then 3-3, then 3-4 and eventually winning by 7-5. What in the world is happening! It's as though both sides just decided, "Screw defending, let's just score and score and score!"

75supercup.thumb.jpg.6b6a242f895d05c92388e4aa32fdb572.jpg

Edited by Impz82
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2 hours ago, OJ403 said:

Looks like you've made some good signings, and they're performing well too! Well done

Out of interest how have the young players performed for you? Particularly Bogle, Lowe, Knight and Bird? And also Whittaker as he's in your 11 in your screenshots and Archie Brown as he's a player I have interests in based off my save?

 

 

Bogle has been great. He's my 1st choice RB. Coaches rate him a star player operating at Premier League Level.

Lowe 1st choice LB. Star player with Premier League potential.

Knight I haven't played a lot to be honest but being told he's got great potential.

Bird took a while to get in the team but once in he's been in my first choice midfield at both DM and CM and also operating at Premier League level.

Whittaker similar to Bird took a while to break into first team but is now cemented in the starting line up on either wing. Premier League potential.

Brown hasn't featured in the first team at all but has big potential.

 

The youngster that I have most difficulty assessing is Buchanan. He barely featured in the first half of the season and I almost sold him in January. Almost all of the Premier League teams apart from the big 6 were trying to sign him and I drove the bidding up to 7.5m but in the end I got cold feet and kept him. Lowe got injured almost immediately after that so it was a good choice but I'm still struggling on how to assess Buchanan's value. 

Edited by Boca1973
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Update on my save -

I'm getting crushed with injuries just at the wrong stage of the season but QPR have just beaten Fulham 2-1 so we're level on points with Fulham at the top of the table. 

Edited by Boca1973
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A busy summer rebuilding and 3 days before the transfer deadline I've been offered an interview with Wolves out of the blue. 

Genuinely torn whether to go for it or not.

Transfers 2020.png

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28 minutes ago, Boca1973 said:

A busy summer rebuilding and 3 days before the transfer deadline I've been offered an interview with Wolves out of the blue. 

Genuinely torn whether to go for it or not.

Transfers 2020.png

Some good deals there. Interesting you sold Holmes, he's been a surprise package for many people - not to mention one of my favourite players in real life. How come you sold him?

And what are you plans for the season?

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1 minute ago, OJ403 said:

Some good deals there. Interesting you sold Holmes, he's been a surprise package for many people - not to mention one of my favourite players in real life. How come you sold him?

And what are you plans for the season?

He just didn't perform for me last season. Shinnie will go as well if I get a decent offer for him.

Can't shift Curtis Davies or Yaya Toure.

My plans were automatic promotion but this Wolves offer has knocked me for six.

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1 hour ago, Boca1973 said:

My plans were automatic promotion but this Wolves offer has knocked me for six.

That should be achievable with the squad you've got

Are you likely to take it do you think?

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46 minutes ago, OJ403 said:

That should be achievable with the squad you've got

Are you likely to take it do you think?

Went for the interview but haven't heard back yet. I'm leaning towards staying with Derby an having a right good go off of promotion.

Thought I was still a bit light up top so got Brewster in on loan from Liverpool. He scored 15 for Swansea last season so hopefully he'll bang a few in for me.

1395003973_TransfersSummer20.thumb.png.1a2fb03b26f515efe3a430292ac7e476.png

My director of football has made some strange offers for players that I've had to knock back so I might have to look at either moving him on or adjusting his role.

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Unfortunately events this weekend enforced a long break from my FM save and have come back to the dreaded 'lost it' feeling. Sitting comfortably in the top 6 going in to November, I decided to resign and I'm now in the search for a new challenge. I saved the game before resigning, so that should I ever get the spark to pick it back up I can.

It's been my most enjoyable save to date on this FM, so thanks for the support and good luck to the rest of you with The Rams.

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2 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

Unfortunately events this weekend enforced a long break from my FM save and have come back to the dreaded 'lost it' feeling. Sitting comfortably in the top 6 going in to November, I decided to resign and I'm now in the search for a new challenge. I saved the game before resigning, so that should I ever get the spark to pick it back up I can.

It's been my most enjoyable save to date on this FM, so thanks for the support and good luck to the rest of you with The Rams.

Thats a huge shame mate and I hope everythings ok in real life too, after all thats what really matters. 

I've really enjoyed your updates and fingers crossed you next save goes as well! And if you ever do reload the save you know where to find us.

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Update on second season. 10 games in and our two new attackers are settling in superbly.

Squad is a bit bloated but after injuries cost us promotion last season I'm happy to carry a larger squad this year.

 

Derby 02.10.png

Derby 02.10 2.png

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21 minutes ago, Stackalee said:

Ouch, still your squad looks pretty robust now - you'll be alright.

Plenty of cover but no one in Roberts class. Hopefully a combo of Lawrence, Nelson and Woodburn can take up the slack until he gets back.

 

Bogle gets injured in very next match - out for 3-6 weeks :seagull:

 

 

Edited by Boca1973
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1 hour ago, Ronaldinho Gaúcho 10 said:

In my 1st season with Derby. How do you guys utilise Rooney? No matter where I play him, he seems to contribute very little. Majority of the times he just disappears in games and I feel like I’m not using him well? Any advice?

Hi mate

We've all used him in a variety of roles and positions, the most common of which I'd say has been the DLP or even a regista in a "quarterback" style role in a 433 (4141 DM Wide or whatever the game calls it these days) or 4231.

I've also seen him used as a MEZ, which surprised me but the logic made sense when explained. There was a brief discussion a page or two back if you want full details.

I mainly used him as an AP-A in a 442. It was quite a "funky" system with IWBs and essentially the formation of a midfield diamond. However he was very effective when forming the tip of this "false diamond". He also had stints up front as a DLF-S in his final season too.

So all in he's been used in a variety of ways, mainly successfully, but most of all make sure it suits your system and the rest of your squad. If your winning games I wouldn't worry too much

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4 hours ago, Ronaldinho Gaúcho 10 said:

In my 1st season with Derby. How do you guys utilise Rooney? No matter where I play him, he seems to contribute very little. Majority of the times he just disappears in games and I feel like I’m not using him well? Any advice?

I second OJ403. Personally, I put rooney as DLP (s) or Regista (s) in a 4-1 dm-4-1 or any system that uses a sole DM. This reduces the impact on his really fading physicals, while taking full advantage of his technical and mental skills. In the 1st season, he had the best average rating in the Championship for me. :) You probably will not have any other decent free kick specialists, so put him to kick as well as corners lol.

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Derby fans are so hard to please. I will hardly consider Manchester City, who has a front four of Mbappe, Nmecha, Sterling and Rodrygo, and a midfield of De Bruyne/Rice an inferior team.

What are they smoking lol, a 1-0 win is amazing already.

I also applied to the job to Manchester City to troll them. I have absolutely no interest to join any other team other than Manchester United lol.

derbuymancity.thumb.jpg.cff28dc33ac04f901620ab13080ffaab.jpg

Edited by Impz82
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40 minutes ago, Impz82 said:

Derby fans are so hard to please. I will hardly consider Manchester City, who has a front four of Mbappe, Nmecha, Sterling and Rodrygo, and a midfield of De Bruyne/Rice an inferior team.

What are they smoking lol, a 1-0 win is amazing already.

Honestly that doesn't surprise me. We're quite a hard to please set of fans, all these years of disappointment will do that to you...

Although I'd say thats a good result so you've got the backing of at least one fan!

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51 minutes ago, OJ403 said:

Honestly that doesn't surprise me. We're quite a hard to please set of fans, all these years of disappointment will do that to you...

Although I'd say thats a good result so you've got the backing of at least one fan!

Yep, I no longer post updates as the play is a bit unrealistic. I am in my fifth season and somehow due to the luck of the draw, already won the Carabao Cup, leading the league by 13 points with 8 games to play (I did lose 3 and drew 4, so hardly invincible), in the semi finals of the FA cup, quarter finals for C.League with a young-ish squad. I am happy though as I keep to my thrifty style of playing and now to start acquiring English talent. lol.

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9 hours ago, Ronaldinho Gaúcho 10 said:

In my 1st season with Derby. How do you guys utilise Rooney? No matter where I play him, he seems to contribute very little. Majority of the times he just disappears in games and I feel like I’m not using him well? Any advice?

This works for me:

09DB524A-F8E6-417F-8396-B07D7992E809.thumb.png.210eac11f6a709ee30f952246ca393af.png
 

Not always that eleven players, but certainly close to that 4-2-3-1 tactic. I seem to get the best out of Rooney in CM as an AP-Su, usually with Huddlestone, Bielik or Bird (possibly Evans), alongside him in a more defensive role. I have Rooney on corners, free-kicks and penalties as well.

Edited by Stuniverse
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20/21 Season

 

Premier League: 13th 

1242960360_Derby20-21end.thumb.png.818336b824b9e70825e9f8cfdb46b86e.png

 

We did quite well to find ourselves at 13th in the Premier League considering we really struggled for goals this season. Just like last season we stayed alive due to our defense, while we would get exposed by the big 6 teams against the rest we stayed pretty compact in the back, finishing tied for 10th in goals given up (55). Meanwhile we were 13th in goals scored (43) and only 4 players scoring more then 5 goals, Tatith Chong (12), Jack Marriott (10), Troy Parrott (6), and Tom Lawrence (6). Are stats could have been higher but key players Chong, Will Hughes, and Jayden Bogle all missed significate amounts of time due to injury; Bogle (7 weeks injured), Chong (11 weeks injured), and Hughes (18 weeks). If those player's injury time was cut in half we definitely would have been fighting for top 10. Players that impressed; Chong, Chirivella, Knight, and Farninez. Chirivella and Knight both took a step forward and showed they could hang in the Premier League with Knight having better stats then he did last season in the Championship. Players that disappointed; Tom Lawrence, Graeme Shinnie, Scott Malone. Tom Lawrence lead the team in assists (6) and had 6 goals but most of those assists game from indirect free kicks and during open play was rarely a threat. He would get abused by top teams wingers and full backs usually ending up as the worst rated player in most of the big 6 games. Shinnie gives it all for the team which is sometimes too much and would get wound up which would lead to a few straight reds. 

FA Cup: 5th Round

Got knockout by Newcastle United away 2-0. To get there we beat Sheffield United and Preston, with Mike ter Wierk scoring 2 goals during the Cup competition.

 

Carabao Cup: Quarter Finals 

We had a really good run but got our hearts ripped out as we lost to Norwich City 1-0 with the lone goal coming in the 93rd minute. On our way to the Quarter Finals we beat Accrington, Newcastle United, and Preston (on penalties). I really thought we had a chance to make it to the Semis and maybe even the Finals but it wasn't meant to be.

 

Future: Continue to improve the team and learn to defend corner and indirect free kicks

Top Needs:

AMR and AML: I really really need wingers Chong is more then likely going back to Man Utd and I have no replacement anywhere close to being able to step in. On the other side Tom Lawrence is way to up and down and there is no player that I have currently that can step in and play better.

LB: Lowe is a decent option but Malone makes me hold my breath every time he steps on to the field. 

Striker: I like Marriott and want to give every chance to succeed but if Derby is going to challenge for anything exciting we are going to need someone who is a better goal scorer to lead the attack. 

RB: Bogle is fine for now but looks like he is injury prone and Wisdom is not quite the player I want to lean on to play in an event of an injury.

CM: Either Hughes just had rotten injury luck this season or I need to find another advanced playmaker who can stay on the field and be a threat rather then sitting up in the stands. 

485824093_Derbyyouthgoal.thumb.png.1680518b957c64b408511837a32ae09a.png

Never seen this goal before although I'm up to giving it a try, but I don't think 2 seasons is enough to pass the academies of the highest level teams in England. 

 

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1 hour ago, JaytheGreat said:

 

485824093_Derbyyouthgoal.thumb.png.1680518b957c64b408511837a32ae09a.png

Never seen this goal before although I'm up to giving it a try, but I don't think 2 seasons is enough to pass the academies of the highest level teams in England. 

It's a weird one, but beyond asking the board to upgrade facilities you don't seem to need to actually do anything. At least for me it was just marked as cleared the day an upgrade was completed.

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2 hours ago, JaytheGreat said:

20/21 Season

 

Premier League: 13th 

1242960360_Derby20-21end.thumb.png.818336b824b9e70825e9f8cfdb46b86e.png

 

 

Not a bad season at all. I’d be happy with that. 

Knight - I’ve pinpointed him as our best young prospect and is defo one I’d want to keep as long as possible. Is he a starter for you/where do you play him?

Lawrence - A mixed bag for me. Stood out early in my save. Good at dribbling and getting into the final third. Is often motivated and tries hard but his finishing let’s him down. 

AMR/AMR - Try loaning Angel Gomes, I have him on loan and use him as an impact sub and he does really well. Struggles as a starter though (constant fitness issues - Low Natural Fitness) but despite only being an impact sub he is carrying us to promotion with his goals and assists. 

Malone - Fell out with him early and Lowe took his spot by GW5 and now I’m trying to sell him. 

Wisdom -  Since I play a “Higher line” he didn’t suit that style so I’ve loaned him out. 

Edited by Ronaldinho Gaúcho 10
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I think I did all I can in this fantastic season. Winning everything that is available to me (with very lucky draws avoiding the big guns in the cup competitions) in my fifth season with Derby. The best part? The Spanish-styled Geoff Hurst, Francisco Martinez who just won his first cap for England, scored the winning goal in the Champions League. :)

The only cup I did lose was the Community Shield, who honestly didn't matter that much LOL.

quintuple.thumb.jpg.20b0595624e4e1c69fe9e7b841f77c03.jpg

Edited by Impz82
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4 minutes ago, Impz82 said:

The best part? The Spanish-styled Geoff Hurst, Francisco Martinez who just won his first cap for England, scored the winning goal in the Champions League.

Cool, mind posting a pic of his development?

Well done on the trophies. Especially beating Barce, if they're anything like they were in my save that's no joke.

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11 hours ago, Stackalee said:

Cool, mind posting a pic of his development?

 

You can see that I spent a lot of individual effort to up his strength and heading, and now he is in a good level to dominate in the air. He is close to hitting full potential though, but he is very well rounded. He is now a 6'7 behemoth running as fast as an elite winger, able to dominate in the air like a target man, pass with vision like any midfield orchestrator and great aggression/bravery (usually not available in a striker). it's a complete nightmare for any defender to deal with. The only issue is his slightly moderate dribbling of 13 but you can't have everything. The funny thing is that he is not even my best regen at this point. 

franciscomart.thumb.jpg.cb86653a5689eb40bbd91b1e7d9c1576.jpg

 

11 hours ago, Stackalee said:

Well done on the trophies. Especially beating Barce, if they're anything like they were in my save that's no joke.

Actually, they are surprisingly not as strong as they sold a lot of their players. I did not see Messi, Suarez and all those scary players (maybe retired?). I mean they are still very strong, but not OP-level strong. Their best player is probably Foden/Ansu Fati. Kiko is a regen that should not be playing (Ter Stergen is clearly better), so they kind of shoot themselves in the foot. I also poached Sergio Gomez from Barcelona during January's transfer, as he was languishing in the outskirts of the squad, transfer listed like a broken tool when he is so good. This is probably a pet peeve of FMs in general, where good players are hoarded and teams do not rotate enough.

fcbarca.thumb.jpg.bc0383c30553a7d2b7bb91bd4252a24e.jpg

Edited by Impz82
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3 hours ago, Impz82 said:

You can see that I spent a lot of individual effort to up his strength and heading, and now he is in a good level to dominate in the air. He is close to hitting full potential though, but he is very well rounded. He is now a 6'7 behemoth running as fast as an elite winger, able to dominate in the air like a target man, pass with vision like any midfield orchestrator and great aggression/bravery (usually not available in a striker). it's a complete nightmare for any defender to deal with. The only issue is his slightly moderate dribbling of 13 but you can't have everything. The funny thing is that he is not even my best regen at this point. 

Cheers - he's really progressed well.

3 hours ago, Impz82 said:

Actually, they are surprisingly not as strong as they sold a lot of their players.

Fair, in mine they had a Bernardo/De Jong/Camavinga midfield and they'd bought in Mane and Mbappe for the wings, so pretty grim.

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@Stackalee I hope so, my youth facilities will be done upgrading in 5 months so I guess we'll see soon if thats good enough. 

That's a scary Barcelona team.

 

@Ronaldinho Gaúcho 10 I've been playing Knight as a box to box CM on the left side. His finishing and long shots are lower then I'd like but he does well on the counter attack. 

 

@Impz82 Big congrats on a hell of a season! 

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9 hours ago, Stackalee said:

 

Fair, in mine they had a Bernardo/De Jong/Camavinga midfield and they'd bought in Mane and Mbappe for the wings, so pretty grim.

That is an absolutely filthy team. Thank god I am not facing that, I will give up X_X

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And so we head into the second half of our second season sitting on top of the table. The injury bug has hit again but we soldier on with a few reinforcements bought in January.

Let's hope we can hold on to an automatic promotion spot this season...

 

 

Jan 21 Table.png

Jan 21.png

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Summer 21/22 Transfer Window 

 

In

AMR Cristian Pavon - 7 mil Boca 25 years old

One of my favorite players from FM19 joins the Derby set up. The 25 year old winger has big time speed and is a huge upgrade on the right wing. Pavon chose us over fellow Premier League teams Norwich, Sheffield Utd and Bournmouth. While his finishing isn't great his crossing is and I expect him to rack up the assists this season.

AML Gabriel Martinelli - Loan Arsenal 20 years old

I couldn't find an AML I liked enough on the transfer market so I brought in one on loan. Outside of long shots and free kicks Martinelli is already miles ahead of Lawrence, and will be receiving most of the playing time on the left.

 CM Nikola Moro - 11 mil Dinamo 23 years old

The Croatian CM is a lot like Jason Knight but with better mentals. Moro is a good box to box/playermaker option. I brought in Moro because I want to use Knight in more of a playmaker role with Moro being a slightly better B2B player it gives me some room to experiment with my midfield.

CB  Tosin Adarabioyo  - Free Man City 23 years old

Went back and forth about signing him last summer before going with McKenna. I'm very happy to pick him up on a free, he's got good physicals combined with good Passing and 1st Touch skills to make a very good Ball Playing CB. Tosin is our biggest CB which should help with your corner and free kick problems.

ST Caju - 33.5 mil a team in Brazil (Regen) 17 years old

I really didn't want to sign a regen as I like to sign real players but every striker I went after their teams wanted to play hard ball so I decided to say screw it and I went with the regen. Caju is quick, 17 Pace, agility, and balance along with 16 passing. He is very well suited for playing as a False 9, Deep Lying Forward or even an Advanced Forward. He's accomplished as a AMC and an AMR and could easily be retrained into either of those positions but with his 16 crossing probably will mean he'll end up on the wing down the road. He'll need to work on his finishing and dribbling but at the age of 17 he's got a lot of time to improve.

RB Pablo Maffeo - 15.5 mil Stuttgart 24 years old

After multiple loan attempts for a RB fell through I landed on Maffeo as someone to split time with Bogle. Maffeo is a good player but isn't great at anything, I really only need him to help take the load off Bogle. While he's a fairly expensive player for what his role is my options were limited and it's better then having a U23 player going up against a big 6 team when Bogle goes down again.

 

Out

GK Kelle Roos - 4 mil Utrecht

Only got time during Cup games last season and he wanted out.

CM Graeme Shinne - 3.3 mil Aberdeen 

Wanted a pay raise but at age 30 I didn't want to give him a new contract. His leaving was a big reason I signed Moro.

CM Louie Sibley - 5.5 mil Everton 

2nd year in a row Everton sent me an offer for him. I like Sibley in the game and in real life but I just don't think he'll have what it takes to be an impact player on my team. Given he's only 19 and from the academy it was a tough sell, but I just don't think he'll ever be a Premier League player. 

Wayne Rooney and Tom Huddlestone both retired

Andre Wisdom left on a free to Brentford 

Florian Jozefzoon left on a free to Suriname 

And Scott Carson left on a free and has yet to find a team 

 

I was offered the Everton job after I interviewed there but even though I have a soft spot for Everton in FM I turned them down, as my loyalty is with Derby (unless  Liverpool, Man Utd, Man City or Chelsea come calling)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by JaytheGreat
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A 1-0 defeat away to Millwall followed by a solid 3-0 win at home to Boro see us maintain our advantage at the top.

Fulham having a bit of  a wobble is helping the cause thankfully.

If we get a win against Preston next day out combined with Watford slipping up  against Huddersfield and we go up!!!!

20.03.png

Edited by Boca1973
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Away to QPR (in 4th postion) and a draw will see us promoted.

Just kicked off. Will see you on the other side #nerves

HT - 1-0 down. I ****ing hate QPR.

FT - Well they've only gone and done it!!!! :cool:

Second half goals from Roberts (2) and Rooney see us home. Throw in a missed pen from Brewster (he's missed three this season) at 1-1 and you have the makings of a major roller coaster of a game.

Promotion secured lets try and go up as champions now!

QPR.png

Edited by Boca1973
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