Derby County’s summer transfer window graded.
Derby County fans headed into this season wondering if their club will ever get promoted at their current rate.
After three consecutive seasons of coming very close to promotion, the Rams have started the new campaign poorly, sitting 18th with five points from five matches.
Nigel Pearson, a man who has done it all before in the Championship after winning the second tier with Leicester City in 2014, took his time in assessing the squad.
Strengthening was key before the deadline as the division becomes more competitive than ever. It will be hard to keep up with favourites Newcastle United, who spent over £50 million in the summer window.
So did Derby do enough to spark a promotion challenge this summer?
Scott Carson’s number one spot is in no danger, which is why Lee Grant left to provide competition at Stoke City. Chris Weale was brought in as a replacement on a free from Yeovil Town.
The first question mark over Pearson’s summer business would be in the right-back area. From a defensive perspective Cyrus Christie is not the greatest and he has no competition for his place in the starting XI, which is never good if a player needs to improve.
4-4-2 with its variants seems the way to go for Pearson this campaign at the iPro Stadium, though to play that perfectly you desperately need a solid holding midfielder; Derby don’t have that right now.
George Thorne is out for a long time and the manager never really seemed to be looking for a replacement. Will Hughes has done well so far, but is wasted in the holding role.
Central midfielder Jeff Hendrick moved to Burnley in a record £10 million deal, yet no reinvestment in the midfield area whatsoever could leave Derby short of innovation in a crucial part of the side.
Fans will also ponder over why Chris Martin was loaned out to Fulham after appearing in all of the club’s first six games of the campaign. He may not have been the main man at the moment, but he certainly deserves to prove a point ahead of Darren Bent and Nick Blackman.
With Bent, Blackman, Andreas Weimann, Abdoul Camara, Tom Ince, Johnny Russell and now new boys Ikechi Anya (£3.5 million), James Wilson (loan) and club-record smasher Matej Vydra (£8 million), there is certainly competitiveness for forward spots at Derby.
However, the Rams are in dire straits in terms of their attacking form, having scored just a solitary goal in their first five league games. Pearson will be hoping the two signings from Watford can show exactly why he got the board to splash the cash on the pair.
Derby’s squad is bolstered by a superb blend of potential and experience, but lots of chances have come and gone which seems to make true optimism implausible at Pride Park.
The title seems out of reach, and it looks like the only way up is through the play-offs once more.
However their two late attacking arrivals overshadowed the need to replace and improve in many areas, and the window was far from a roaring success for Derby – don’t be surprised to see Derby fall short due to their poor business.
Grade: C
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