Malcolm Christie believes Paul Warne had a ‘game-changer’ in his Derby County squad who defined the promotion outcome.
Derby County finished on 92 points in League One to win promotion back to the Championship.
David Clowes is already laying the foundations of his summer plans having watched a £250,000 bid get rejected by Cardiff City for fan favourite Ebou Adams.
Paul Warne knows the second-tier step up is going to be so difficult and has already accepted he’ll need to offload a lot of players, including many of the 12 out of contract, to stand any chance of staying in what he describes as “the best Championship in years”.
Derby have a lot of deadwood to clear out but they also have a solid base to build from defensively with Eiran Cashin and Curtis Nelson complementing their ‘game-changer’ in attack.
Malcolm Christie believes Nathaniel Mendez-Laing was a ‘game-changer’
Derby’s promotion to the Championship was built from a solid defensive base and clean sheet-keeping machine.
Golden glove-winning goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith shut out his opponents 20 times in 40 matches while the Rams conceded a league-best 37 goals.
Warne pieced together a solid platform so his attackers could express themselves in transition, with record-breaking Nathaniel Mendez-Laing duly obliging.
The 32-year-old broke a 28-year record for most assists in a single campaign at Derby (16) and topped the chart for most goal contributions (25), beating Portsmouth’s Colby Bishop and Charlton’s Alfie May (24).
Indeed, Mendez-Laing was a game-changer and that is a term used to describe him by former Rams striker Malcolm Christie.
Speaking on the Rams Daily podcast, Christie said: “You look at the key players, and you look at players that are game changers when you’re setting out that starting XI.
“Who are the players that are gonna make the difference? I remember Steve McClaren used to talk about defining moments, who was going to create them moments in a game and it tended to be Mendez-Laing.
“If you give him the ball in open space, he would not be afraid to take on the player. He’s good at the channel runs, and he’s pretty good in front of the goal as well.
“So, I line that up to the level he’s playing at because we all feel and believe he was a Championship level player; he’s going to get that opportunity with Derby County next season.”
Derby County need attacking quality to play alongside Nathaniel Mendez-Laing
The step up to the Championship will be difficult and currently, Derby don’t have the requisite firepower to trouble the opposition.
Warne’s men scored just 78 goals in League One, putting them level with title winners Portsmouth, while Oxford (79), Barnsley (82), Bolton (86) and Peterborough (89) have all scored more goals.
Mendez-Laing has carried most of that goal-scoring weight alongside top scorer James Collins, but that attacking duo need further help in the second tier, otherwise, goals could be hard to come by.
It is therefore important that Warne targets his attack as the main area to strengthen this summer as their strong defence will keep opponents out but quality at the top end will win them matches.
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