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 Paul Finds Grass Is Greener At Pride Park... For Now!Thu 02nd Feb 2012 15:42 by Daniel J Sewart The piece of news during the transfer window that pleased me most did not involve a new player coming in but instead one that was already here and remained so after the deadline. Despite concerns that Paul Green may be moved on as contract talks had seemingly reached an impasse – it seems either clubs were not as interested as the Rams had thought or had decided signing him on a free at season’s end would be a better deal. But few Rams fans would have thought when he was left out of the squad at Barnsley, that we would ever see Mr. Green in a Derby shirt again. It was a pleasant surprise to find out the exact opposite. My only gripe with the handling of the situation is the message that it sends to fans. The fact that keeping Green on ice in case of a potential move was seemingly more important than winning a football match that would have put the club within touching distance of the top six. It would be nice to think victory that three points and keeping one of your better players, rather than chasing what could only have been a minimal transfer fee and a few months of saved wages, would be more of a priority. I should be getting used to it by now but it’s just a shame DCFC cannot seem to recognise the cynicism and negativity these types of scenarios cause amongst supporters. Or perhaps they do and just doesn’t care? I’ll let you answer that one! Whatever the case there is no doubt that Derby is a better team with Paul Green in the squad even if his form can sometimes wildly fluctuate between sensational and ordinary. The fact remains that if the Rams have any aspirations of pushing for a spot in the play-offs then the youthful enthusiasm will get you so far but experience and quality cannot be undervalued especially in big matches. With international experience under his belt Green is an invaluable influence for a growing list of youngsters to look up to. Paul has not been at his best in recent weeks but that may be a result of not knowing where he would be come the end of January. With his future at the Rams now settled till seasons end and the possibility of negotiating an extension at the Rams or his agent working on things behind the scenes for a smooth transition in the off season – perhaps now we will see a relaxed Green who will produce the goods for the remainder of the campaign. Nigel Clough seemed happy enough with Paul staying at Derby: "If something had come up after we had played at Barnsley we would have had only an hour and that would not have been long enough to get things done or even react from our point of view". "We're happy to have Paul with us for the rest of the season and he will come into contention again this weekend." Good luck to Paul for the rest of the season – returning from a possible career ending injury and having to worry about his footballing future cannot have been easy – hopefully now he can now put it all behind him and help the Rams push for a prized top six position.
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