3/1 To Win
Whilst a jam-packed schedule dominates the football agenda at this time of year, one eye has turned towards what could potentially unfold during the January transfer window.
The tabloid rumours have begun and during his pre-match interview with RamsTV, we asked Gary Rowett how his plans are starting to gather pace.
“We know roughly what we want to do,” the Derby County manager said.
Whilst naturally keeping his cards close to his chest the 43-year-old says the upcoming transfer window will be a tweaking process for the club.
He said: “I don’t like to talk too much about it, but we’re aware that our numbers are too high, we know that we are going to be dependant to a certain degree on the players that leave the building to get regular football.
“I don’t imagine it to be a massive window for us. I think we will just tweak one or two areas if we can in the right way.
“I don’t envisage that we will be spending vast amounts of money in January – I don’t think statistically that it works anyway.
“I’ve done it both ways where I have bought in three or four players and it has destabilised the good work that we have done.
“We have to be mindful of that. Of course, though, we are working to make sure that we have got some of those options lined up.”
As Rowett mentions, his squad is still a little on the hefty side – particularly at this moment in time when he has a fully fit squad to call upon.
The Derby boss spoke of the issue he has at the moment not just to pick his starting XI, but to select his 18-man matchday squad – knowing full well that there are going to be a number of disappointed players on his hands.
He added: “The most challenging bit for me is not necessarily picking the team, it’s picking the matchday 18 because the players always feel the same.
“If they are suddenly out the 18, psychologically that feels like a massive blow to them. It happened to Alex Pearce on Saturday and what the players have to understand is that the substitutes bench is there for impact.
“As we have seen with (Marcus) Olsson and (Craig) Forsyth, in particular, they have gone from being out of the 18 to being straight in the XI.
“If they are not in the 18, it is not the end of the world. It doesn’t stop them starting games, but when you have got 25 fit players you are always going to have seven of them disappointed.”
