Jeff Hendrick M Derby County b.1992

A truly horrendous run. You could maybe forgive the points dropped against Norwich, Boro and Wolves with their injury woes but one point from Fulham, Brighton and Birmingham was terrible. I would still say, slightly reluctantly, that a playoff spot shouldn't be a problem when they have everybody fit after the international break. Other results have continued to offer them a slight lifeline in terms of the automatics. They could reel Watford back in on Good Friday if they beat them at the iPro after Ipswich's excellent win at Vicarage Road today.

Hendrick one of three important players back in contention for Derby tomorrow.

Derby Telegraph

If I click on that Daily Telegraph link, I'll have used up my April quota.

I love that you're actually keeping count. How Tory of you.

Derby Telegraph!

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Originally Posted by geysir

If I click on that Daily Telegraph link, I'll have used up my April quota.

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If you use privacy mode on your browser, it doesn't count towards the monthly free allowance. Same with the Irish times website

For God's sake, Tets, ssssshhhh!!! I don't want to be left with just the Indo online!

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Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

If you use privacy mode on your browser, it doesn't count towards the monthly free allowance. Same with the Irish times website

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Good that we have a member who can actually give some real useful advice, instead of the usual cheap condescending barbs :)

Aston Villa preparing to re-ignite their interest in Hendrick according to today's Sun. £5m + a player.

There is more hope of me immolating myself than there is of that happening.

I'd probably have said the same thing if you told me Shane Long would be sold for £12 million but it happened.

I wish Shane Long never left Hull. Wrong move at the wrong time. Shades of Doyle moving to Wolves.

Hope Hendrick does leave but it seems like a stock rumour to me, as he has been linked with Villa before Sherwood's reign. Then again, they do have a tendency to sign similar aged British/Irish players from lower leagues.

Most clubs have staff in place to identify potential players regardless of whether the manager changes. He's at the point where he probably thinks he'll have to leave Derby and they'd be more likely to sell than before. It makes sense beyond just being a stock rumour, they'll have scouted him extensively already, Given will have had good reports about him, etc.

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Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

Most clubs have staff in place to identify potential players regardless of whether the manager changes. He's at the point where he probably thinks he'll have to leave Derby and they'd be more likely to sell than before. It makes sense beyond just being a stock rumour, they'll have scouted him extensively already, Given will have had good reports about him, etc.

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Makes a bit more sense than burning oneself alive anyways.

http://hereisthecity.com/en-gb/2015/...-derby-county/

Hendrick is a player with good pedigree but he does have a tendency to blow hot and cold during games.

He is technically a superb footballer and his skillset would allow him to make the jump up to the Premier League with ease. However, he is slightly prone to go missing during games and lacks the ability to play in a two-man midfield.

Nevertheless, should he sign, he certainly has potential Sherwood could work with in order to develop him into an established Premier League midfielder.

Linked with Celtic... that'd be a terrible move.

http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Derb...ail/story.html

How exactly can you be a technically superb footballer but lack ability to play in a two man midfield

I think Wes or Stephen Ireland would fit that description, but I think Hendrick has the physicality and athleticism necessary to play in a two man midfield. That said, few teams use pure two man midfield anymore, so it's a big ask of any midfielder to be put up against a good 3 man midfield in that role.

Yeah it's not so much that he can't, but he's just not as effective. Athleticism is one thing but a lot of his running is off the ball and finding pockets further forward, he wouldn't be the type that would control a game from the middle. He's more Frank Lampard than Paul Scholes! For Derby, he's at his best when himself and Hughes are given license to roam forward by the inclusion of a holding midfield player. His best game for us was undoubtedly the friendly against Italy, when himself and Meyler rotated the defensive/attacking responsibilities, with Hoolahan supporting Long up top. That was a two man midfield of sorts, depending on your perspective, but I think the combination of Meyler's defensive awareness and Hoolahan's natural instincts to drop deep suited him down to the ground. He started in a more conventional two man midfield in Glasgow and I really didn't like the look of it before a ball was kicked. On paper anyway, it was a conventional 4-4-2 with two recognised strikers in Long and Walters, even if Walters was dropping to the wing to win knock-ons to nobody. Hendrick's role was definitely a more defensive one which would certainly have suited Quinn or Meyler more, if you were to go down that road. We were outnumbered and outplayed and it was avoidable beyond belief, even acknowledging the absences of Whelan and McCarthy.

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Originally Posted by DeLorean

Yeah it's not so much that he can't, but he's just not as effective. Athleticism is one thing but a lot of his running is off the ball and finding pockets further forward, he wouldn't be the type that would control a game from the middle. He's more Frank Lampard than Paul Scholes! For Derby, he's at his best when himself and Hughes are given license to roam forward by the inclusion of a holding midfield player. His best game for us was undoubtedly the friendly against Italy, when himself and Meyler rotated the defensive/attacking responsibilities, with Hoolahan supporting Long up top. That was a two man midfield of sorts, depending on your perspective, but I think the combination of Meyler's defensive awareness and Hoolahan's natural instincts to drop deep suited him down to the ground. He started in a more conventional two man midfield in Glasgow and I really didn't like the look of it before a ball was kicked. On paper anyway, it was a conventional 4-4-2 with two recognised strikers in Long and Walters, even if Walters was dropping to the wing to win knock-ons to nobody. Hendrick's role was definitely a more defensive one which would certainly have suited Quinn or Meyler more, if you were to go down that road. We were outnumbered and outplayed and it was avoidable beyond belief, even acknowledging the absences of Whelan and McCarthy.

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I think he definitely revels in the licence to roam forward and arrive late into the box/edge of the box.

I think one of the other reasons he's more suited to a 3 man midfield (at present) is because he can be quite nervous in possession. Playing beside one man in midfield provides him with half the passing options that playing beside two does. The touch of composure will come to him, I'm sure, but at Derby someone like Will Hughes appears more confident in the tight spaces (again, in a three man midfield though).

I actually fancy him to develop into a very good midfielder at PL level if he can improve his composure and comfort on the ball at the base of midfield and when under pressure there.