"Needs to move on" - Derby County urged to offload player as Rotherham United and Leyton Orient lurk | OneFootball

James Collins is on the radar of Rotherham United and Leyton Orient, and FLW's Derby fan pundit suggests it is time to let the striker go.

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…

Rotherham United and Leyton Orient are targeting Derby County's James Collins this January.

That is according to an X post from Pete O'Rourke, who claims that Rotherham and Leyton Orient are among a number of clubs interested in signing the forward this month from Derby.

The Rams currently sit 18th in the table and are just four points above the drop zone, but James Collins is not earning much game time, so a move away in this transfer window makes a lot of sense for all parties involved.

As for the interested clubs, Rotherham sit 13th in League One and Orient sit eighth, so signing Collins would give either club a big boost in their quest to finish as high up the table as possible.

Collins has been a good servant for Derby over the last couple of years, but perhaps it is time to move him on, as his contract expires in the summer, and it will free up space for a potential new signing.

Derby County fan offers James Collins verdict

FLW spoke to their Rams fan pundit, Shaun Woodward, this week to hear what he had to say about the James Collins development, and he believed that it was the right time to offload the much-loved striker.

"It's time for James Collins to move on. His legs aren't there for the Championship anymore. He did a great job last season of getting us promoted, but League One is his level now, I think most fans would agree with that."

"All Derby fans would wish him well, but he needs to move on. He wants to be playing at his age, he doesn't want to be sat on the bench every week, getting five minutes here and there."

"That does him no good at all, he's too good for that and he deserves better. For all parties he needs to move on, get some minutes under his belt and hopefully help a League One team to promotion."

"I think that would be great for everyone, and I wish him all the best."

James Collins has been very popular at Pride Park

Collins has earned the respect of the Derby fans over the last few seasons, and will likely be missed if he does depart this month. The experienced forward joined the club in the summer of 2022 following Derby's relegation to League One, and would go on to make a big impact in the division.

His first season saw the club finish just outside the play-offs, but in the following campaign they finished in second place and earned automatic promotion into the Championship.

Collins' 19 goals in all competitions made the difference for the Rams that season, as he finished the campaign as the club's top scorer and he scored some big goals alone the way.

This season, he has struggled for game time in the Championship, and has been mostly limited to cameos off the bench. If Collins was to depart this January, he would leave on good terms and it would benefit all parties, especially if he does end up at either Rotherham or Leyton Orient.