Keep calm guys. We are still very far from being competitive!

[Derby Canary 3]

Interesting read Dave Freezer''s article on Teemu Pukki. Does n''t fill me full of confidence when I hear that the Scottish League was a little too much for him.

Our fans enthusiasm over the signings reminds me a little of the ridiculous optimism following our ''success'' against Panama and Tunisia. Still always nice to dream and let us pray that it all works out.

Suggest that we are far from there yet and everything depends on Webber''s success in attracting that elusive goalscorer.

[KiwiScot 1,436]

Said it before. No signings are going to be that exciting as they are basically unknowns from teams or league of lower stature. Its more concerning the way they are played and if it stays the same then individual brilliance will be relied upon more and more. I figure we will improve on last season though and that without focusing on Murphy and Maddison we will have more a team effort up front.

[If wed only kept Howie.. 3]

the season is still a month away... you are the one who needs to “keep calm”

[Herman 9,700]

I''m calm. It helps being realistic. We are slowly building a new squad and are 3/4 to 4/5s on the way to having a full unit and due to financial constraints we are being wiser and more careful in our purchases. Whether these click and whether Farke can progress, (now that he has a had a year of English experience you''d hope he can), we will have to wait to find out.

[hogesar 9,611]

Cheers Derby, insightful and appropriately depressing as always.

[Derby Canary 3]

[quote user="Herman"]I''m calm. It helps being realistic. We are slowly building a new squad and are 3/4 to 4/5s on the way to having a full unit and due to financial constraints we are being wiser and more careful in our purchases. Whether these click and whether Farke can progress, (now that he has a had a year of English experience you''d hope he can), we will have to wait to find out.[/quote]

I hope that you are right Herman (ie that we are being wiser in our purchasers). The drain on our resources of late has come from longish contracts to the wrong people and Pukki has been far from a consistent performer even at a lower level then the Championship. The proof of the pudding etc................

[curious yellow 184]

Rather than sign "bang average players from the German lower leagues" we have beaten off competition from clubs who have finished above us to sign quality players.

So Pukki had a hard time at Celtic, Grant Holt had a hard the at worse clubs.

The fact that the players are agreeing to come here is, in itself, a cause for great optimism and puts paid to the "lack of ambition" cr@p

[Well b back 3,182]

[quote user="Derby Canary"][quote user="Herman"]I''m calm. It helps being realistic. We are slowly building a new squad and are 3/4 to 4/5s on the way to having a full unit and due to financial constraints we are being wiser and more careful in our purchases. Whether these click and whether Farke can progress, (now that he has a had a year of English experience you''d hope he can), we will have to wait to find out.[/quote]

I hope that you are right Herman (ie that we are being wiser in our purchasers). The drain on our resources of late has come from longish contracts to the wrong people and Pukki has been far from a consistent performer even at a lower level then the Championship. The proof of the pudding etc................[/quote]

Lol according to the bookies we are 7/1 to be promoted and you binners are 28/1.

[lake district canary 4,531]

[quote user="Derby Canary"]Pukki has been far from a consistent performer even at a lower level then the Championship.[/quote]

Pukki has improved year on year and has been a consistent

performer/goal scorer since 2010, even at Celtic where he managed 7

goals in 26 matches - and is approaching his peak at 27.  It would be a

surprise if he doesn''t do well.

[Nexus_Canary 1,016]

Dunno why your crying we got a free transfer winger from League 2 Crawley..

Oh wait... wrong forums

[Herman 9,700]

"I hope that you are right Herman"

Now, it maybe that I''ve spent far too long on this forum and I have become far too cynical, but why do I never believe statements like this?

[Derby Canary 3]

[quote user="lake district canary"]

[quote user="Derby Canary"]Pukki has been far from a consistent performer even at a lower level then the Championship.[/quote]

Pukki has improved year on year and has been a consistent

performer/goal scorer since 2010, even at Celtic where he managed 7

goals in 26 matches - and is approaching his peak at 27.  It would be a

surprise if he doesn''t do well.

[/quote]

You say ''even at Celtic'' LDC but we know from past experience what the ''quality'' of the opposition would have been like. The fact is that few Clubs have been overkeen to retain him...but we shall see. His record appears to be start well then fades!

[Well b back 3,182]

[quote user="Derby Canary"][quote user="lake district canary"]

[quote user="Derby Canary"]Pukki has been far from a consistent performer even at a lower level then the Championship.[/quote]

Pukki has improved year on year and has been a consistent

performer/goal scorer since 2010, even at Celtic where he managed 7

goals in 26 matches - and is approaching his peak at 27.  It would be a

surprise if he doesn''t do well.

[/quote]

You say ''even at Celtic'' LDC but we know from past experience what the ''quality'' of the opposition would have been like. The fact is that few Clubs have been overkeen to retain him...but we shall see. His record appears to be start well then fades![/quote]

His record appears to be start well and fade - why have you brought Nelson Oliveira into the conversation Derby ?

[Jim Smith 2,314]

Consistent theme with the signings these days is that they are technically good footballers. I think we need a more physical, pacey option up front but am beginning to feel the squad has a bit more balance to it. Cautiously optimistic

[lake district canary 4,531]

[quote user="Derby Canary"][quote user="lake district canary"]

[quote user="Derby Canary"]Pukki has been far from a consistent performer even at a lower level then the Championship.[/quote]

Pukki has improved year on year and has been a consistent

performer/goal scorer since 2010, even at Celtic where he managed 7

goals in 26 matches - and is approaching his peak at 27.  It would be a

surprise if he doesn''t do well.

[/quote]  His record appears to be start well then fades![/quote]

Brondby kept him for four years.   Scored 10 first year, 13 in second year, 25 in third year, 17 goals last year.  

Looks like a pretty good record, wouldn''t you say?

[Guest]

Brondby kept him for four years. Scored 10 first year, 13 in second year, 25 in third year, 17 goals last year.

Looks like a pretty good record, wouldn''t you say?

It does look good to me.

But I have mentioned on another post that it is strange that we are saying we have little money and must be careful, but can attract an apparently in form striker who can''t agree a new deal with arguably the best club in Denmark.

[Mike 0]

[quote user="keelansgrandad"]Brondby kept him for four years. Scored 10 first year, 13 in second year, 25 in third year, 17 goals last year.

Looks like a pretty good record, wouldn''t you say?

It does look good to me.

But I have mentioned on another post that it is strange that we are saying we have little money and must be careful, but can attract an apparently in form striker who can''t agree a new deal with arguably the best club in Denmark.[/quote]

I would suggest a club in the championship, even with our "financial restraints" can easily match the best club in Denmark, he will need to step up as the Danish league is no way as strong as the championship. Hope he succeeds.

[lake district canary 4,531]

[quote user="keelansgrandad"]Brondby kept him for four years. Scored 10 first year, 13 in second year, 25 in third year, 17 goals last year.

Looks like a pretty good record, wouldn''t you say?

It does look good to me.

But I have mentioned on another post that it is strange that we are saying we have little money and must be careful, but can attract an apparently in form striker who can''t agree a new deal with arguably the best club in Denmark.[/quote]

Has to be the way forwards. Get quality out of contract players for free and pay them good wages rather than pay big transfer fees. A better use of resources.

[king canary 7,562]

"Has to be the way forwards. Get quality out of contract players for free and pay them good wages rather than pay big transfer fees. A better use of resources."

That is a pretty terrible idea.

You''d be much better off paying a decent sized fee for someone on lower wages that stuffing the squad with those on higher wages that are more difficult to shift if they don''t work out.

[lake district canary 4,531]

[quote user="king canary"]"Has to be the way forwards. Get quality out of contract players for free and pay them good wages rather than pay big transfer fees. A better use of resources."

That is a pretty terrible idea.

You''d be much better off paying a decent sized fee for someone on lower wages that stuffing the squad with those on higher wages that are more difficult to shift if they don''t work out.[/quote]

The problem with that is that if you are having to pay a decent transfer fee, that player is going to be of the kind that wants higher wages too, a double whammy.   At least with Pukki or a similar quality player out of contract, you are not paying anything up front, except maybe a signing on fee.

[king canary 7,562]

With Pukki it''s fine as it''s a two year deal- we''re not tied down for too long if it doesn''t work out.

The way forward though is players like Buendia though. Young, wages won''t be too high and if he does well will have some serious resale value.

[lake district canary 4,531]

[quote user="king canary"]With Pukki it''s fine as it''s a two year deal- we''re not tied down for too long if it doesn''t work out.

The way forward though is players like Buendia though. Young, wages won''t be too high and if he does well will have some serious resale value.[/quote]

Think Pukki is a three year deal, but to be fair, doesn''t it need to be a mixture of the two?  Young players we can bring on and sell later and a few reliable and experienced heads to give the squad some balance.

[River End Canary 18]

Clearly we have a very weak squad. Expectations need to be moderated

We are assuming that Farke gets them working well at best a mid table team

Delia out stinking rich Irish owner in

[Essjayess 307]

Seems to be to much posting in this thread about 1 guy, even thou he has not even kicked a ball for City yet. I get it of course, he has a "striker" tag above his head. This thread creator has the theme "We are still very far from being competitive", which has to mean we were not competitive last season, of which i totally disagree, if we had been disasterously competitive, we would be with Sunderland in L1 right now. We finished 14th, with a team that included Maddison, Murphy and Pritchard, of which we have recouped somewhere around 45 million pounds for.

Personally, i will look at ALL the new guys, McLean, Buendia, Leitner, Marshall and Pukki equally, along with the rest of the guys, and DF''s 2nd season, as a whole. Personally, my expectations for the club in general, which includes off the pitch as well as on it, have increased in the past 12 months instead of decreasing. I still remember all to well the happenings of a decade ago and having invested a huge amount of money over the last few years on guys that have contributed little (all the way back to RVW, thru Lafferty and up to the Naismith and Jarvis now), i was truly apprehensive for a time about where we were headed in Alex Neil''s last season.

The club, and the new regime, have and continue to develop in a manner that had to be done, for survival as well as competitiveness. Of course you can wish a rich guy can throw his money around and buy competitiveness such as Tony Xia at Villa, but i prefer the model we have here and look forward to the new season, not more or less, but as much as i do every new season.

[dylanisabaddog 4,848]

[quote user="keelansgrandad"]Brondby kept him for four years. Scored 10 first year, 13 in second year, 25 in third year, 17 goals last year.

Looks like a pretty good record, wouldn''t you say?

It does look good to me.

But I have mentioned on another post that it is strange that we are saying we have little money and must be careful, but can attract an apparently in form striker who can''t agree a new deal with arguably the best club in Denmark.[/quote]

Unfortunately the best club in Denmark is League 1 standard at best and probably closer to League 2. Have a look at the 6 minute YouTube clip of his 2016/17 goals. The standard of defending is non league standard.

Asking someone who is used to that standard to start against Birmingham away and WBA at home is a leap too far. Hopefully he''s back up for someone who has yet to arrive.

[Derby Canary 3]

[quote user="dylanisabaddog"][quote user="keelansgrandad"]Brondby kept him for four years. Scored 10 first year, 13 in second year, 25 in third year, 17 goals last year.

Looks like a pretty good record, wouldn''t you say?

It does look good to me.

But I have mentioned on another post that it is strange that we are saying we have little money and must be careful, but can attract an apparently in form striker who can''t agree a new deal with arguably the best club in Denmark.[/quote]

Unfortunately the best club in Denmark is League 1 standard at best and probably closer to League 2. Have a look at the 6 minute YouTube clip of his 2016/17 goals. The standard of defending is non league standard.

Asking someone who is used to that standard to start against Birmingham away and WBA at home is a leap too far. Hopefully he''s back up for someone who has yet to arrive.[/quote]

The ''management committee'' have been successful in one area. ie convincing us that surviving in the Championship next season represents progress! Oh how attitudes have changed at our Club in a few short years.Was it really only just over a season ago we were beating Reading 7-1? We effectively sacked that manager. Look at the progress we have made since then (lol)!!!

[River End Canary 18]

Sage words Derby , the decline over 2 years has been nothing but spectacular

Finishing below the binners is completely unacceptable and you can''t see it improving at all this season

[stewfil 10]

"The standard of defending is non league standard". Sounds like some of the comments about our defense in certain games last season. There is also shocking defending in the Prem and at the World Cup.

[CDMullins 436]

Essjayess,

I have to disagree.

Firstly finishing 14th (15 points from playoff) isn''t competitive.

Secondly you highlight that we sold Maddison, Murphy and Pritchard and unless we replace them with equal or better players we are only going to be less competitive.

The club stinks of accepting mid-table Championship football, that''s all very well but with with teams around us improving, we risk dropping even lower.

[Bonzo 198]

I’m glad to see the arrival of players like Pukki - last season we shipped out Naismith and Jerome and for most of the season barring the eventual arrival of Srebny we lacked options beyond Olieira.

We needed variation and someone who has some gas. I would not read too much into Pukkis return playing at Celtic- he was their third choice striker. Here he has the potential to play a major part in the season. He is Farke’s pick. He is full of creative menace and has goals and assists and technical quality in his pedigree.

Last season we for the most part only a little bit more dangerous than a cheese sandwich and 20-25 goals shy of where we needed to be.

This season with the likes of Pukki and Rhodes we should be a much greater challenge to opposing defences and the added strength in depth is sure to benefit us hugely.