Derby County star lauded for Pride Park impact - He's an "absolute beast" of a player | OneFootball

FLW's Derby County fan pundit discussed the impact of Ebou Adams

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Derby County will be competing in the 2025/26 Championship campaign after narrowly surviving the drop under John Eustace following promotion from League One the season prior.

On more than one occasion, the Rams appeared destined to suffer an immediate relegation back down to the third-tier but a run of six victories and just two defeats from their final 11 matches ultimately ensured Championship football at Pride Park once again for next season.

Derby dug deep in the final throes of the campaign and ended up finishing in 19th position, just one point above 22nd-placed Luton Town.

It was, of course, very much a collective effort, with many members of Eustace's squad - and the man himself, no less - deserving of immense credit for helping to keep Derby in the division. However, Ebou Adams stood head and shoulders above most throughout the entirety of the season and has been lauded for his impact after sealing a permanent switch to the East Midlands last summer.

Ebou Adams lauded for 24/25 Derby County impact

Derby supporters were rightly delighted when Adams returned to the club on a permanent basis from Cardiff City last July in a deal reported to be worth an initial £500,000.

The defensive midfielder flourished on loan during the second-half of the 2023/24 campaign as Derby gained promotion from League One as runners-up, and he has only further endeared himself to the Pride Park faithful ever since.

Adams was, pound-for-pound, one of the top-performing midfielders in the Championship.

His industry and tenacity in the midfield engine room was integral to helping Derby see games out, he ranked impressively high among divisional peers for tackles and duels won and interceptions, and he also added six goals to his account.

The 29-year-old was rightly named as Derby's Player of the Year, and he has been showered with praise for his impact throughout the season's entirety.

FLW asked our resident Rams fan pundit, Shaun Woodward, whether he believes Derby would have suffered relegation without Adams, and just how impressed he has been with the ex-Bluebirds midfield man since his return to the club.

Shaun acknowledged the wider impact of the whole side in Derby's end-of-season run to ensure survival, but admits that they were much more reliant on Adams earlier on in the campaign and that could have meant relegation without his services.

"Ebou Adams quite rightly got Player of the Year," Shaun told FLW.

"He is everything us fans want to see out on that pitch, he gives absolutely everything for the club.

"Blood, sweat and tears, every single week. He just doesn't stop.

"He's in both boxes, he's winning tackles, he's getting the ball back, he's intercepting, he's blocking, he's getting his head to things. He is just an absolute beast of a player.

"I'm not saying we would've gone down without him, because towards the end of the season, our defence behind him was insanely good and I include [Josh] Vickers in that as well when he came in. Nat Phillips, [Matt] Clarke, [Craig] Forsyth, [Kane] Wilson and the goalkeeper were equally impressive as him.

"But he is the heartbeat of that team, he makes us click, he makes us tick. Without him, it's not even worth thinking about where we could've been.

"I just think, as a team, towards the end of the season, every single player stepped up. Yes, he was the best of them throughout the whole of the season but I do think in the final 10-12 games of the season, the whole team stepped up alongside him and we weren't relying on him as much as we had been.

"That said, he did, for the course of the season, stand out as our deserved Player of the Year, and for those first 20-25 games, I dread to think where we would be without him."

Derby County have given Cardiff City serious Ebou Adams transfer regret

Adams' performances helped Derby to stay in the Championship at the expense of Cardiff, who, on many occasions, had looked set to finish above the Rams before eventually ending up six points behind them.

The former Forest Green Rovers star was deemed surplus to requirements in the Welsh capital, but that stance simply must be regretted now in hindsight when you look at how instrumental he was to a side that went on to seal survival.