Derby County recruitment team and John Eustace slammed - "There's a disconnect" | OneFootball

FLW's Derby fan pundit feels that the recruitment team and John Eustace need to up their game following a poor opening month of the season

It's been a massively disappointing opening month to the 2026/27 campaign for Derby County, both on and off the field.

Especially when considering how much hope and optimism there was in the really early stages of the summer. The Rams brought Bobby Clark back for £6 million after a brilliant loan spell last season, and Saudi Arabian government official Turki Alalshikh's investment seemed a done deal.

The latter would ultimately fall through earlier this month, and the momentum in the transfer market has seemingly ground to a halt at Pride Park, which has had its effect on the field, too.

Sheffield United ended up hijacking the moves of Ben Brereton Diaz and Hamza Choudhury in the past week, and Derby would then make it four games without a win in all competitions to open the campaign, losing comprehensively at home to Swansea City.

Derby County fan pundit addresses the side's poor start to the campaign

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Not only have Derby failed to win so far this season, but they've also dropped points and were knocked out of the EFL Cup at home to two newly promoted Championship sides in Cardiff City and Lincoln City.

While Charlton Athletic are the only side in the EFL to have won their three league games, a defeat on the opening day to them didn't seem a good result at the time, and the performance against Swansea was concerning, to say the least, with no shots on target all game.

Shaun Woodward, FLW's Derby fan pundit, is rightfully worried about how John Eustace's side have started the campaign.

"The results so far this season have been unacceptable," Shaun told FLW.

"We've conceded at least two goals a game, we've played three of the four at home, and we've failed to beat two sides who got promoted.

"We've also lost to a Charlton side who many predict will be near the bottom and were played off the park by Swansea in one of the worst performances I've seen in years, especially at home. There was no fight, no leaders in there; we didn't have a shot on target for 90 minutes.

"It was a truly woeful performance, and I hope it can be a watershed moment for the team, and we can turn it around on Tuesday, because we're in serious trouble now unless things change."

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With the momentum that Derby had towards the end of last season, the question remains as to where all of that has gone and what is to blame for this less-than-ideal start to the new season.

Not only have the results not been as expected, but the failure to bring in certain targets following that takeover collapse is also a bit of a concern.

"We can blame things on the takeover not happening, the fact that it looks like we put all our hopes on that happening for transfers, although the club has come out and said that didn't change our targets, but something's not right," Woodward continued.

"We've missed out on Brereton Diaz and Choudhury and a number of other links, too. Something's not right behind the scenes, but I don't think it's on David Clowes."

Indeed, the fan pundit isn't pointing the finger of blame at the current owner, instead the people under him as to why recruitment has either failed or been relatively underwhelming outside of the Clark deal.

Clowes is benevolent amongst Derby fans, having saved the club from administration back in 2022. The lifelong Rams fan can almost do no wrong at times, and Woodward feels that this is down to those who run things day-to-day.

"I think Clowes sets a budget and leaves the rest to it," Woodward added.

"He doesn't run the day-to-day, and Stephen Pearce (Derby CEO) and the recruitment team are the ones who need to take a long look at themselves as well as John Eustace and the squad, too. It's a collective thing.

"Are they doing their jobs to the best of their abilities? At the moment, it doesn't look like they are. There's a disconnect, something doesn't feel right, and a lot needs to change, quickly."

Derby County are in for a busy final day of the transfer window — fan pundit hopes recruitment team can "up their game"

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Derby's starting 11 for their 3-0 defeat at home to Swansea was concerningly weaker than what it looked like towards the end of last season.

Granted, the Rams played the loan market to perfection last year, but not many would have predicted Lars-Jorgen Salvesen and Corey Blackett-Taylor to be starting league games, especially this early on in the season.

Woodward believes that at least three, possibly even five new faces need to be through the door by 11pm on Tuesday, and worries about the prospects of this season if deals aren't made.

"We've got to bring in three, four, five new players who can improve that starting 11, and if we don't, we're in serious trouble," the fan pundit concluded.

"I'm not putting this on David Clowes, but the people he employs aren't doing their jobs properly, and they need to up their game massively, or we'll be in for a long season."

Alongside deadline day, Derby have a big matchup with Portsmouth to deal with at Fratton Park. The first three points of the campaign, combined with a few new faces, could give some much-needed hope and optimism for the months ahead.