Derby County Supporters Club, Norway Branch

ROB Hulse has finally completed his move from Derby County to Queens Park Rangers.

The transfer, which was agreed shortly before Tuesday's deadline, has now been ratified by the Football League.

Hulse has signed a three-year deal with QPR, who are believed to have paid Derby £750,000 for the striker, plus add-ons.

The 30-year-old was into the final 12 months of his contract at Pride Park, so manager Nigel Clough decided to accept the bid for him.

Hulse, who joined Derby for £1.75m from Sheffield United two years ago, scored 31 goals in 96 appearances for the Rams.

KRIS Commons believes he can break back into the Scotland squad – despite being overlooked for the upcoming Euro 2012 qualifying openers.

Commons missed out on a place in Craig Levein's squad for the double header against Lithuania and Liechtenstein.

The Derby County forward has been capped six times for Scotland but the last of those came almost a year ago, in a World Cup qualifier against Holland in September 2009.

Since then, Commons has been plagued by injury problems but he has made an impressive start to the 2010-11 campaign.

He has scored twice in the Championship so far, although he limped out of the action with tight hamstrings shortly after giving the Rams the lead against Queens Park Rangers at Pride Park last weekend.

Commons, who hopes to be fit following the international break, admitted he was disappointed not to be called up to the latest Scotland squad.

"Looking at it, I was a bit disappointed not to be in the squad," he said.

"Of course, you always want to be involved in the international set-up.

"Right now, it's time for me to play well for my club, at home and away.

"I know there will probably be someone watching in the stands and I just need to put in good performances to get recognised again."

When Commons was last called up by Scotland, former Derby manager George Burley was the national boss.

So now the 26-year-old is hoping to impress Levein, who was appointed Scotland manager in December.

"The manager has a lot of experience in Scotland and no doubt he's got scouts watching players down here as well as up there," Commons added.

"I've been in touch with Scotland and they are aware I'm available.

"So now it's up to me to put in performances, stay fit and score goals. Hopefully, that will be enough to get me in."

After the current round of matches, Scotland's next two qualifiers are away to the Czech Republic and at home to World Cup winners Spain, on October 8 and 12 respectively.

"There are some massive games coming up and you only have to get involved once or twice and that can cement your place in the side for the next couple of matches," said Commons.

"So it would be nice to get involved in that but, first, I have to start playing better for Derby."

In the past, Commons, who played up front for Derby against QPR, has been used in midfield at international level.

The midfielders in the current squad include Charlie Adam (Blackpool), Scott Brown (Celtic), Graham Dorrans (West Bromwich Albion), Darren Fletcher (Manchester United), James Morrison (West Brom), Barry Robson (Middlesbrough) and Paul Hartley (Aberdeen).

"Scotland are a strong outfit," said Commons. "They have some good players who are playing in the Premier League or the SPL, so it's going to be tough for me to get back in there."

Commons' club future also needs to be sorted out as he enters the final season of his current contract with Derby.

The player stated his wish to remain at Pride Park in an interview with the Derby Telegraph in June and is set for talks about a new deal.

Rams chief executive Tom Glick said: "We had discussions with Kris and his agent in the summer and all parties agreed to leave it until after the transfer window closed.

"We are now at that point. We are conscious he is in his final year and we are delighted he says his future is at Derby County.

"I think we know if Kris can stay fit then he is a game-changer. He has shown a great willingness to help himself stay fit. We expect to be speaking to him about his future."

DERBY County midfielder Paul Green will get his first taste of competitive international action today.

Green has been named in the starting line-up for the Republic of Ireland in their opening Euro 2012 qualifier against Armenia in Yerevan.

The 27-year-old has three caps to his name so far after his debut in May, all of them in friendly matches.

Against Armenia, he is due to partner Stoke City's Glenn Whelan in central midfield.

National boss Giovanni Trapattoni said: "Paul is confident, he has good personality, he's quick and I like his mentality."

The Armenia match kicks off at 4pm BST and is being televised live on Sky Sports 1.

Ireland have another qualifier on Tuesday night, when they take on Andorra at the new Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

DERBY County say they have an agreement in place to sign West Bromwich Albion striker Chris Wood on loan.

The Rams were on the verge of landing the 18-year-old New Zealand international before the transfer window closed on Tuesday but injuries to other West Brom forwards held up the deal.

Roman Bednar and Ishmael Miller picked up injuries and Wood found himself on the bench for Sunday's Premier League clash against Liverpool at Anfield.

Wood could be available once the window for emergency loans opens next week, if West Brom's injuries have cleared up.

"We are looking to go straight back into the loan market when it opens again," said manager Nigel Clough.

"We were very close to getting somebody in on loan. We had agreed the move and we will revisit that one. We will also chase up a few other inquiries once the window opens.

"We got quite a way down the road with West Brom and with Chris (Wood) as well – and we hope that as soon as West Brom's injuries clear up, we will be able to get him in.

"I think he fits the mould of the younger players we have. He is inexperienced but he has played international football.

"It is a pattern we are trying to follow of young, hungrier players.

"We will get frustrating times like Saturday when we were two up against Queens Park Rangers and when more experienced players might have seen the game out but the only way to get that experience is by going through it."

Derby have brought in Spanish forward Alberto Bueno on a season-long loan from Real Valladolid, while Rob Hulse, who was in the final year of his contract at Pride Park, is set to complete a move to QPR.

Clough felt the Hulse deal was right for Derby.

"Rob has got us goals in the last 18 months, and some very important ones as well, we cannot deny that," said Clough. "But we have to look at the overall deal for the club and ask if it is the right deal – and we felt it was at this stage.

"We will only do deals we think are right for the club. Rob had nine months left on his contract and it was unlikely we would have been able to agree a new deal with him, hence the outcome."

Clough would like a new face in before the Rams return to action against Sheffield United on September 11.

"By adding Bueno and with Chris Porter getting fit now, the pressure is off a little bit but we just need may be another one in," said Clough.

"Ideally, we would like somebody else in before our next game but they have to be right and somebody we want to put in the team.

"They have to be better than what we have got. And this isn't a daft thing to say but they have to be better than Dean Moxey.

"His two performances up front – we wouldn't play him there for 40 games – have been exceptionally good.

"The last thing we want is to bring somebody in, maybe from the Premiership, who doesn't give it that because we would then be worse off.

"Dean has played one-and-a-half games up front, he has scored one goal and been an absolute nuisance.

"We will follow up on calls. We are a big club, getting 25,000 crowds and playing a type of football a lot of Premiership managers will want their young players to come into, which is important as well.

"Bueno, I would say, wasn't even 50-50 about signing before he came to the game Saturday. He just came over to have a look but he watched the second half and loved the atmosphere, loved the game, loved Pride Park and said: 'I want to play here'.

"It is that sort of character we want to bring in."

THE sale of Rob Hulse was always going to split opinion.

That is not surprising, because there are two very different trains of thought as the Rams' leading scorer in the past two seasons heads for Queens Park Rangers.

Thirty one goals in 96 appearances for Derby, a strike ratio of one in three, is proof that a fit Hulse is a formidable centre forward at Championship level.

He has been Derby's arch goal threat by some distance since he signed from Sheffield United for £1.75m two years ago and his goals played a significant part in steering the Rams clear of deep trouble in the Championship.

His winning goals brought crucial points and he certainly enjoyed playing against Nottingham Forest.

Forest found it difficult to handle Hulse, who scored four goals in six appearances against the Reds.

He found the net in both wins at the City Ground in 2009 and his winning header at Pride Park in January put the skids under Forest's promotion push.

He showed his value in the game against Leeds United at Elland Road on the opening day of this season when his fine finish set up a 2-1 victory.

There is bound to be disappointment when a recognised player departs and Hulse's exit leaves the squad short of attacking options but there are other considerations in this case.

Hulse turns 31 next month and, of greater significance, he had entered the final 12 months of his contract.

Like it or not, Derby have been trimming their wage bill and many clubs are doing the same in the current tough economic climate.

Wage bills, not just at Derby but at clubs generally, have been far too high, just like ticket prices (but that is an argument for another day).

Football needs to return to the real world when it comes to finances and so greater prudence should be applauded.

Derby had said for some time they were not in a position to offer Hulse a new deal to match the one he was on, believed to be in excess of £15,000 per week.

His contract situation meant that, by December, he could start talking to possible new suitors and walk away on a free transfer at the end of the season.

Whatever you might think about the deal that has taken Hulse to QPR, being left without a bean for the striker in nine months' time would have been very poor business.

In the past, clubs had too much of a hold over players. Now, due to the Bosman ruling, players tend to hold all the cards.

How nice it would be to find a happy medium.

QPR have handed Hulse a three-year deal, which will take him close to the end of his career.

I might be proved wrong but I feel Derby fans saw the best of Hulse in 2008-9.

In the February of that season, he was the top striker in the Championship.

Niggling injuries and loss of form restricted his impact last season but, to his credit, he still scored a dozen goals.

As I said, there are two sides to this case.

In football, it is very often about what happens next – the next match, the next result and, in this case, the next arrival(s) through the door at Pride Park.

Young Spanish forward Alberto Bueno has come in on a season-long loan from Real Valladoild and looks an exciting addition but a the squad still needs bolstering with at least two more new faces to give manager Nigel Clough more options than he currently has at his disposal.

CHIEF executive Tom Glick has defended the sale of Derby County striker Rob Hulse.

Hulse's move to Queen's Park Rangers, where he will sign a three-year deal, was still to be ratified by the Football League late last night.

The fee for the 30-year-old is undisclosed.

Derby have dismissed reports coming out of London that the fee is £400,000 rising to £800,000 and I understand they will receive around £750,000 rising to well over £1m depending on how the player and Rangers fare this season.

Hulse and Luke Varney, who has joined Blackpool on a season-long loan, have left Pride Park in the past week and Glick has confirmed that the Rams' wage bill is about where they want it to be at just below £10m.

But he says it remains one of the highest in the Championship.

The decision to sell Hulse, who has been the club's leading scorer in the past two seasons, has not gone down well with some fans who believe the club's owners should loosen the purse strings and show more ambition when it comes to signing players.

On Hulse, Glick said: "We had an offer for Rob that came in late.

"We presented it to the manager (Nigel Clough) and coaching staff and they made the judgement from a football stand-point that this was an offer that was right to accept.

"We are conscious he has been our leading scorer in the past two seasons but the things Nigel and his team would be thinking about is that Rob will be 31 in a few weeks and has got nine months to go on his contract.

"All this would have been taken into account in terms of whether Rob would be a player for the future of the club or whether it was right to make a change.

"The decision has been made that somebody else is going to be the target man to take us to that next step and this is the right time to part ways.

"Of course, we expected a backlash to the sale but, ultimately, we have the same objectives as the supporters – to compete for the play-offs, for promotion, to win promotion and to stay up in the Premier League.

"We owe it to them to have the discipline and strength of our convictions, and the manager, the coaching staff and the scouting team are more than capable of making the right recruiting decisions.

"We have the same objectives as the supporters and all the decisions we are making are being based on those objectives.

"But we have to have some budget discipline and that is where you get the separation, because some supporters would rather you spare no expense, gamble and go for it.

"I think there are too many examples showing that strategy doesn't work."

Glick said Derby will do business when the window for emergency loans opens on Tuesday.

"There are going to be more and better players available, because of the Premier League's 25-man squad rule," added Glick.

"We are after a couple of specific targets.

"I think if we had a fit squad, questions about loosening the purse strings would not be coming up.

"The question is more apt when we have a number of guys carrying injuries but they are not serious injuries, apart from Steven Davies.

"We have a temporary injury problem but the squad is not as lean as it seems at the moment.

"Nigel wants to run a tight squad. He wants to have all the players engaged and with a chance of getting in the side.

"I think we have shown a willingness to invest in the squad.

"We continue to run one of the highest wage bills in the League. We have brought in eight players this summer, investment has been made in this window and we have spent quite a bit of money on Alberto Bueno. He is not an inexpensive player."

Glick said Derby had made offers for other players during the transfer window, including Scunthorpe United striker Gary Hooper, who signed for Celtic.

"If Hooper had come for what we bid for him, it would have been a big fee but he chose to go somewhere else and part of that was to do with wages," said Glick.

"And you have to, as you would in any deal, walk away from the table when you feel it has gone past what good value would be."

Derby bid "well over" £1m for Hooper but Celtic got their man by splashing out £2.5m.

Glick dismissed reports that the Rams had bid for Notts County's attacking midfielder Ben Davies but confirmed that the player is one the manager is keen on.

DERBY County have agreed to sell striker Rob Hulse to Queens Park Rangers for an undisclosed fee.

As Spanish forward Alberto Bueno arrived at Pride Park on a season-long loan from Real Valladolid yesterday, Hulse was in talks with Rangers and undergoing a medical.

The move went right to wire last night when the transfer window closed at 6pm and the deal is subject to Football League approval and clearance today.

"Derby County can confirm that a deal has been agreed in principle for the transfer of Rob Hulse," said a club statement.

Rangers have offered the 30-year-old a three-year deal.

Hulse's contract at Derby was due to expire at the end of this season, when he would become available on a free transfer.

He has been leading scorer in the past two seasons and struck in the victory over Leeds United at Elland Road on the opening day of the current campaign.

An Achilles problem has kept him out of the last three games including Saturday's 2-2 home draw with Rangers.

Hulse joined the Rams from Sheffield United two years ago for £1.75m.

He was one of a glut of summer signings made by Paul Jewell who desperately tried to reshape the squad following relegation from the Premier League.

Eighteen goals (15 in the League) in his first season was a significant contribution to keeping Derby in the Championship and he was named player of the year.

He rejected a £4m move to Middlesbrough 12 months ago but injury disrupted his pre-season training and he made a slow start to the 2009-10 campaign.

Niggling injuries and form saw him dip in and out of the team but his 12 goals still proved invaluable.

He scored winners against Coventry City, Reading and Nottingham Forest as the Rams eventually finished the season in 14th place.

Hulse has been linked constantly with moves away from Derby in the past 18 months.

Among the clubs reportedly interested in him during that time were Burnley, Leeds, Coventry City and Blackpool.

He has scored 31 goals in 96 games for Derby and is set to be reunited with Neil Warnock, who he played for at Sheffield United.

As one striker is set to depart, another has arrived.

Rams manager Nigel Clough has described the signing of Bueno as a real coup.

The 22-year-old started his career with Real Madrid and joined Valladolid last summer for 3m euros.

"We're delighted to welcome Alberto to Derby County and it is a real coup for us that we've managed to bring him here," said Clough.

"A lot of hard work has gone into this deal and it is great news we've managed to secure his signature because other teams across Europe were interested in him.

"He is going to need time to adapt to the English game, but we believe he will bring something to our team and make an impact."

Bueno has teamed up with the rest of the Derby squad at their training camp in Marbella.

The emergency loan window for Football League clubs opens next week and the Rams are expected to do business.

Rangers have also confirmed that they have signed former Derby County winger Tommy Smith from cash-strapped Portsmouth.

The three-year deal is due to be ratified by the Football League today.

SPAIN'S World Cup-winning coach, Vicente del Bosque, told Derby County to sign Alberto Bueno if they could.

Derby have landed the 22-year-old former Real Madrid forward on a season-long loan from Spanish club Real Valladolid.

Coach Johnny Metgod's contacts played a big part in the deal.

Metgod, who was a member of Holland's backroom staff at the World Cup this summer, played for Real Madrid and knows del Bosque.

"Alberto was a player recommended to us and Johnny went to see him in action," said Rams manager Nigel Clough.

"That is the advantage of having Johnny on our coaching staff. He has a wide range of contacts throughout Europe, which is something we can tap into when it comes to player recruitment.

"We've been to watch various players in Spain and Europe over the last year but this is the first where we've put a deal together.

"You have to look at whether the player can fit into our team and also adapt to life in England and on both accounts Alberto fits the bill.

"Johnny was impressed with what he saw of Alberto, and he has had some glowing references from the people we have spoken to.

"Johnny knows the Spanish national coach Vicente del Bosque and he gave Alberto a strong reference.

"He recommended we sign Alberto if we could.

"When you have someone of that ilk recommending the player, you have to sit up and take note."

Bueno was a prolific scorer for Madrid's youth team and went on to play for their reserves. He made three appearances for the first team and scored on his debut for Madrid in the Spanish Cup.

The youngster joined Valladolid 12 months ago for 3m euros but the club were relegated from La Liga at the end of last season in which he played 20 games and scored one goal.

Bueno has represented Spain at under 17, 19, 20 and 21 levels.

Metgod believes Derby's style of play this season with their 4-2-3-1 formation helped to land Bueno, who watched the Rams' home game against Queens Park Rangers at the weekend.

"It was good for Alberto to see us play and from speaking to him, he was impressed," said Metgod.

"If he had seen something like a long-ball game, I think doubts would have been in his mind.

"He knows it will take time to adapt to living in England and playing in the Championship.

"We have to give him time but he is a talented and gifted individual who can make the adjustment.

"He is a skilful, technical player, who has good vision. He likes to get at defenders and get past them.

"He can slot easily into any of the three attacking midfield positions or up front."

Derby midfielder Arnaud Mendy has joined League One club Tranmere Rovers on a month's loan.

The 20-year-old Frenchman joined Derby in 2008 from FC Rouen and was regular in the Academy and Reserve teams.

His one senior appearance came as a substitute in the home victory over Sheffield Wednesday last season.

"This is a good opportunity for Arnaud to go out and get some first-team football under his belt," said Clough.

Striker Greg Mills has extended his loan at AFC Telford until January 3.

The 19-year-old forward has scored three goals in six appearances for the Blue Square Bet North side.

"Greg has been performing well for Telford and they are very pleased with his contribution in the early part of the season," added Clough.