“Paul Warne Sounds Alarm: Derby County Bracing for Tough Championship Season”
This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Derby County are aiming to consolidate themselves in the second-tier again in 2024/25 after promotion from League One last season.
The Rams secured promotion by finishing second in the third tier with 92 points, and are back in the Championship for the new season under Paul Warne after two years away.
Warne has overseen numerous departures from his promotion-winning squad so far this summer, after allowing club captain Conor Hourihane, Dwight Gayle, Scott Loach, Korey Smith, Martyn Waghorn and Joe Wildsmith all to depart Pride Park upon the expiry of their contracts at the start of July, while Louie Sibley rejected a new deal to join fellow second-tier new boys Oxford United.
James Collins, Tom Barkhuizen, Craig Forsyth and Liam Thompson, meanwhile, have all extended their stays with the club for another 12 months, while Darren Robinson has signed a new two-year contract, so Warne has been decisive about who he wants in his squad for the upcoming campaign.
The Rams have been busy in the transfer market as a result of those outgoings, with Jerry Yates and David Ozoh coming in on loan from Swansea City and Crystal Palace respectively, while Ebou Adams has made his loan move from Cardiff City permanent for a reported initial fee of £500,000, and AZ Alkmaar midfielder Kenzo Goudmijn has made the switch to Pride Park for an apparent £690,000.
Warne has also brought in Ben Osborn, Corey Blackett-Taylor and Kayden Jackson on respective free transfers from Sheffield United, Charlton Athletic and Ipswich Town.
The former Rotherham boss is certainly building a squad that he believes will have enough to survive on their return to the Championship, and will likely not be done just yet with incomings or outgoings, despite the Rams’ curtain raiser against Blackburn Rovers on August 9 edging ever closer.
The Rams have had some mixed results in their pre-season fixtures prior to the new season starting, and while scorelines are not the most important factor in friendlies, they will certainly have given Warne a lot to think about regarding the strengths and weaknesses of his squad at this current moment in time.
His side began their pre-season campaign with an expected 3-0 win against non-league Matlock Town, then beat League One Stockport County 1-0, but followed that up with a 4-0 loss to Chesterfield and 4-3 loss to Barnsley, then returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory against Real Valladolid.
Everyone connected with Derby will be hoping for a successful return to the Championship in the new season, but may expect to struggle, and we spoke to Football League World’s resident Rams fan pundit Shaun Woodward about how he thinks his club will get on in 2024/25.
“If I’m completely honest, with the lack of a new goalkeeper and striker, I think we are going to really struggle,” he told Football League World.
“Our transfer window has been okay, but without those two additions, I think it is more like a six out of 10.
“If I am honest, I think we are probably going to finish between 16th to 20th, which I would take this season.
“I know expectations are normally quite high for us, because we have always been used to pushing for play-offs, but I think this season we need to lower them and be realistic.
“We were in League One last season, our budget isn’t as good as some of those other clubs, so I’ll be really happy if we could just survive this season and then push on in the next one.
“Mid-table would be amazing, but realistically, mid to lower half is where I think we will probably finish.
“As long as we stay up, I’m happy.”
