"Like Igor Stimac" - Claim dropped on Derby County star Eiran Cashin | OneFootball

FLW's Derby County fan pundit hails young centre-back Eiran Cashin, claiming there is 'panic' when he isn't in the squad.

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…

Having made their overdue return to the second-tier, Derby County currently find themselves familiarising themselves to Championship life, finding their feet in mid-table.

For a side that have so typically boasted a tight-knit squad containing a wealth of exciting young talent, Paul Warne's Rams are a figure of quantity over quality.

With an average age of 27.6, Derby currently have far and away the oldest average playing age in the league. Combining this with the fact that they are among the teams with the least assured squad selection makes it desperately difficult to conclude that anything coherent or long-term is being built.

That isn't to say that Warne isn't doing a fine job, Championship stability is a perfectly reasonable target this season, and it may well have been the over-reliance on young talent that got them into this mess in the first place.

But who, if anyone, stands out in this most dissonant of squads?

"You can't afford to have Eiran Cashin out of the side"

We asked our Derby County fan pundit, Shaun Woodward, if there was a current player at the club reminiscent of a former Rams legend.

While conceding that it may be contrived to compare the current iteration of Derby County to better days gone by, Woodward spoke highly of Irish defender Eiran Cashin, likening him to a 90s icon.

"It's really hard to compare any of our players to legends of the club because we are just an average Championship side at the moment, but, to me, if I am going to compare any current player to an ex-legend of the club, I'd probably go for someone like Eiran Cashin.

"He's very much like Igor Štimac, a kind of ball-playing centre-half, really good on the ball and can start attacks.

"Just the kind of player that all the fans love, he gives his all for the club, he's calm and composed and someone that if he isn't in the team you do panic a bit

"I thought the same with Igor. When he wasn't in the team, you looked around and thought... there aren't many replacements for him.

"I think most of our players could miss a game, and it doesn't really affect us much, whereas for me, Cashin, you can't really afford to have him out of the side."

Glowing praise for Eiran Cashin

While the name Igor Štimac may mean nothing to the layman, the Croatian was a true statesman in the early days of Pride Park.

Štimac played for Derby between 1995 and 1999, coinciding completely with their most successful period in the modern era, securing promotion with the Rams in 1996, and being present for their highest Premier League finishes to date (eighth and ninth respectively).

To be compared to a player that evokes such fond memories is a tremendous endorsement to Cashin, who, at just 22, has now played over 130 games for the Rams.

A product of the Derby County academy, Cashin has gone from strength since winning the U18 Premier League in 2019. Cashin has won the Rams' young player of the season two years running, whilst also entering the League One team of the year is 2023-24.

If Cashin does stay, his leadership-like qualities and relationship with the fans make him seem destined for captaincy. For now, though, he'll just be looking to keep his boyhood club afloat.