“Baffles me” – Derby County criticised for transfer situation that could become a "tough watch" | OneFootball

Our Derby County Fan Pundit believes there’s a glaring gap in the Rams’ winter recruitment

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 went into the January window with work to do.

Currently sitting in the relegation zone in the Championship, they needed to bolster their squad to gear up for a survival battle in the second tier.

The window saw them go for a double Norwegian swoop with defender Sondre Langas and striker Lars-Jorgen Salvesen, Matt Clarke from Middlesbrough and Harrison Armstrong on loan from Everton.

We asked our Rams Fan Pundit, Shaun Woodward, for his view on the window. He feels there’s plenty his team could have done differently.

Derby criticised for lack of wide players recruited

Speaking to Football League World, Shaun said: “I really wish we'd addressed the issues we have in the wide areas: full-backs and wing-backs or wingers.

“We're desperately short of options because [Kane] Wilson keeps getting injured, [Callum] Elder keeps getting injured, [Craig] Forsyth isn't the player he once was, [Joe] Ward's always injured.

“The likes of [Tom] Barkhuizen, [Kayden] Jackson, [Marcus] Harness and [Nathaniel] Mendez-Laing, none of them are good enough for the Championship. Their goals and assists return this season have been woeful.

“So, we're so desperately lacking in those wider areas in the 3-5-2 or the 4-3-3, so you can bring in as many good strikers as you want, but if you've got no service to them, then it's just not going to work, especially because we don't play through the middle.

“So, how we haven't addressed the wide areas baffles me and we're desperately, desperately short now going into the final few months of the season, which is going to be a real tough watch now, I think. And it's been a very disappointing window.”

Derby have missed their chance to add a spark

In most 3-5-2 and 4-3-3 systems, the quality of the wide players is crucial, sometimes in terms of scoring goals, but most commonly to create chances.

However, Derby’s assist chart is not dominated by wide players, with striker Jerry Yates and midfielder Kenzo Goudmijn ranking highly.

With fellow relegation battlers Hull City managing to land the likes of Louie Barry in the winter window — the loanee notched 15 goals, mainly from wide areas, for League One’s Stockport County in the first half of the season — there were clearly options available in the market.

The Rams are stuck in a losing streak towards the bottom of the Championship and, as Shaun says, it’ll make for difficult viewing if Derby can’t turn that form around.

Sometimes you need a player who can produce moments of magic to light that spark — something Hull appear to have identified with their capture of Barry — especially if the team as a whole is not at their best.

The question still remains as to who will be that player for Derby and, if they don’t find the answer, the consequences could be grave.

As Shaun identifies, it seems clear the Rams could have done with a refresh in the wide areas. It looks like an opportunity missed in the January window, one that won’t make their relegation fight any easier.