Cameron Jerome will not be a Wembley hero for the second time in three years after his Derby County side were beaten by Fulham last night.
Going into Monday night’s play-off semi-final second leg, the Rams held a slender one-goal lead, given to them courtesy of a powerful Jerome header in the first leg at the weekend.
It wasn’t enough though as Fulham put in an excellent display to win 2-0 on the night and book their own place at Wembley. The other semi-final, Villa vs Middlesbrough is tonight.
That was Cam’s fifth goal in four games after a patchy start to his Derby career.
Having moved to Pride Park last January for a fee of around £2m, the 31-year-old striker has made 20 appearances and scored 6 goals, having managed just one league goal for City in the first six months of the season.
Jerome was, of course, the hero for Norwich City at Wembley in 2015 as he scored the first goal and took home the man of the match award, in Norwich’s 2-0 playoff win over Middlesbrough.
Looks like we’ll be seeing him at Carrow Road again next season.
In other news, Stoke City want to sign Angus Gunn on loan, according to the Daily Mail.
The 22-year-old was outstanding for Norwich, considering last season was his first in first-team football but he doesn’t seem destined for the Championship again.
I understand that Angus has already received loan offers from the Premier League for next year, although any decision will, of course, rest with his parent club, Manchester City. It could be that Pep Guardiola decides to keep him at the Etihad as a back up to Ederson.
Stoke are looking to replace Jack Butland, who they except to leave and naturally, Gunn is a great looking option. Paul Lambert is looking at a promotion challenging season and wants a quality replacement for Butland, who is a top keeper himself.
Loan deals are no longer the ”cheap option” with clubs demanding sizable fees to borrow their players and having proven himself, Gunn is likely to have plenty of options.
Sadly, it doesn’t look like we’ll see him in a Norwich kit again next season.
OTBC