Derby County haven’t been so successful in the transfer market over the past 18 months.
Derby County manager Nigel Pearson
Towards the end of the 2013/14 campaign, Derby County were the envy of most Championship clubs after five years of hard work and cost-cutting culminated in a vibrant young team vying for promotion.
The side which reached the playoff final that season was ultimately made up of academy players, free agents, cheap signings and loan stars put together by Nigel Clough and his successor Steve McClaren.
Fast forward around 28 months and over £35 million has been spent on that squad, yet ask any Derby supporter and most would tell you that the 2013/14 side would comfortably beat the current crop of players.
The proof is in the pudding. Derby have struggled to get going this season under Nigel Pearson and after five games have netted just once, while in 2013/14 they ended the campaign as the league’s highest scorers.
So after spending such vast amounts of money, its fair to say a few have badly underperformed.
Sheffield Wednesday’s Keiren Westwood in action with Derby’s Nick Blackman
Nick Blackman:
The 26-year-old joined Derby from Reading in a £2 million deal last January (Daily Mail), and the general consensus among supporters is that the Rams paid about £2 million too much for his signature.
The forward evidently didn’t suit Derby’s style of play last season, and now under Pearson he has recently found himself out of the picture and struggling to get back in.
Blackman has yet to score for Derby in a league match, while at Reading previously he managed a superb 11 strikes in 25 matches – arguably the only decent goal scoring spell of his career.
Bradley Johnson of Derby County in action with Emerson Hyndman of Fulham
Bradley Johnson:
Johnson arrived at Derby as a club record signing from Norwich City, and in the first few months of his career at the iPro Stadium he played a key part in then boss Paul Clement’s side’s run to the top of the Championship table.
However, his form took a drastic turn for the worse at the start of 2016 and it soon became quite clear that Derby had five other central midfielders who were ahead of him in the pecking order.
The former Leeds United man struggles with the ball at his feet, and in a possession-based side he often looked clumsy and out of sync compared to the likes of Will Hughes and George Thorne.
Derby County’s Darren Bent looks dejected after missing an opportunity to score
Darren Bent:
While Bent arrived with a decent goal scoring pedigree, it soon became obvious that unless the ball was put on a plate for him, he offered next to nothing in terms of general play.
The former Aston Villa man looks a shadow of himself and nowdays racks up more offside calls than actual touches of the ball – a unique feat for a once England international goal scorer.
He may not have cost Derby much in terms of a transfer fee, but his current salary is no doubt more than what the likes of Chris Martin and Johnny Russell were on during the 2013/14 campaign.
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