If I was a Derby fan, I'd be most worried about the "winnable" home games under Eustace. The games where we should have being shown some initiative last season were the ones we struggled most in - Plymouth, Millwall, Sheffield Wednesday, Coventry.

The length of the contract is the thing that stood out to me too. Bizarre that he got offered a longer deal than Kargbo, particularly given his history for not sticking around too long.

If you're Gary O'Neil, you're 100% waiting around for the Boro job. A former club with a board that is willing to invest and some consistent ambition of being at top end of Championship and trying to get back to Premier League. I suspect he's probably had some conversations with Boro and told to hang tight.

If you've heard Big Sam speak recently, he's obviously not the character he was.

Also keeping Derby up is a harder task than keeping us up last season. After 31 games last season, we were on 37 pts and stayed up by skin of our teeth. Derby are on 29. If Eustace goes it speaks volumes of Waggott/Suhail and how club is being run.

You'd hope this would be a wake up call to Waggott/Suhail, but sure they'll only see it as chance to get some money in to pad out accounts for season.

I can see Siggy as the man being left out. I suspect he gets a move to Sweden/Norway in the next few weeks and Dennis will play across front 3 if required. Dennis to me seems like a massive risk. No football in 9 months...assuming he's been in full training for whole season, he's gonna need a good 6 weeks to build match fitness before he can play 90 minutes.

Bringing in a crocked Bamford on big money would probably be the only way this window could get worse.

All set up to rollout a 3rd choice GK as our marquee signing at 10:59pm...

My money is on no striker and a Billy Koumetio-style fifth choice Premier League left back on loan.

It's the Football Manager tactic where you have to sign a compatriot for your new signing to settle in properly.

We didn't see much urgency when we were in a precarious position last January.

Louie Barry going to Hull. They've had two pretty decent January transfer windows.

Not seen a proper link, but Thierry Small at Charlton wouldn't be a bad shout. He can play LB as well as midfield on the left and right. England U20s international, cheap as out of contract in summer, League 1 and SPL experience and wouldn't count towards the 25 man squad as under 21. But sure Rudy's got a mate playing lower leagues that he reckons can do a better job.

Looks like something is imminent: https://x.com/roversduff/status/1882807444306526274

From the Robbie Savage School of Birmingham/Blackburn geography.

John Fleck 2.0. Abysmal.

Garrett was getting recalled regardless of Baker. Barely played a minute for Bristol Rovers in last few months and not making the squad. But every chance we end up in same position as last season now with a weaker squad after the January transfer window than before it. Baker didn't pull up any trees, but he was a decent enough squad option and had a goal in him too. Now need at least 4 in: CB/LB cover, CM cover, ST, LW at a minimum.

I really don't get the Ruddy pursuit at all. Not just from a football POV, but from Ruddy's POV he's made a choice to go to a Premiership team knowing that he: a) won't play so no stress or pressure b) will get paid a ton of money c) likely doesn't have to travel for matches as not included in the game day squad so gets to spend weekends with his family He made that decision less than 2 months ago. Why would he be interested in going to a lower mid table Championship squad where he will be expected to play most weeks for less than half the money?

If we're looking for a left-sided centre half with Championship experience available on the cheap then we should look at Yoann Barbet at Bordeaux. 200 Championship appearances with Brentford and QPR, can play centre half and left back. Just turned 31 so should have a season or two left in him.

Newcastle will be paying him silly money (20-30k+) to train for a few hours a day and with pretty much no expectation of playing. I'd take 12 months of that over scrambling around at the bottom of the Championship for half that if I was at the end of my career.

Southgate on Wharton: “He has settled in really confidently with the ball. I like the fact he likes to play forward as quickly as he can. "He sees pictures when he receives [the ball], and we have been short of these types of players for seven or eight years, if I am honest. At times, that has had an effect on the way we have been able to play.” That £18m was £32m short of what it should have been.

No surprise if true that Fleck failed a medical. Broken both legs in the last couple of years and collapsed on the pitch - surprised we got 15 minutes out of him to be honest.

Just to say that I was in the 'put the kids out' camp for this game, but delighted with the performance. Great to see the whole squad contributing - I thought Ayari, Garrett, Koumetio etc coming on would mean we'd roll over for the last 20 minutes but they were excellent. If we play with that much heart and determination for the remaining 12 games then I've no doubts we'll get to 50 sooner rather than later. Also not worried about the 'tougher' games of those 12 anymore - we've shown we can compete and put bodies on the line for a result. Massive credit to Eustace and the squad for stepping up last night. They should all take massive confidence from it.

I'd be writing off the Newcastle game right now. It's a fixture we could do without based on league position, squad depth and number of games coming up. Getting through (however unlikely) would be just another game for a stretched squad. Call Eddie Howe and tell him we're putting the kids out and they can do the same. We've got 14 games left and I reckon 51 points needed to stay up (3 wins/5 draws/6 losses or 4 wins/2 draws/8 losses). That would leave QPR needing 5 wins/4 draws and Sheffield Wednesday needing 6 wins/4 draws from their 13 remaining games.