Tawanda Chirewa - Welcome To Derby County!

hello and welcome back to ramort podcast and we're here today after Derby have made their ninth signing of the summer doesn't really feel like nine um but ninth sign it is and we've signed to Wanda CH I don't know what to say Dave you got to help me early on I don't I realized I hadn't even checked how you even say his name cherea Towanda cherea to Wanda cherea there we go um thanks um looks to be an excited attacking midfielder um sort of went under the radar a little bit there wasn't much media report about it um which has been surprising because I think every Derby sign in The Season's been leaked weeks before so it's nice to have on sort of come under the radar and to tell us all about our new man because there's really not a lot out there is Dave as a party from Talking wolves how are you B I'm good thank you mate yeah good I wish we had made nine signings to be honest it's been a quiet and frustrating window for walls but um yeah thank you for having me on anyway no it's a pleasure thank you for giving up your time on a on a bank holiday Monday I hope I didn't uh you know interrupt your mini golf too much no it's fine no problems good stuff so he looks an exciting player off the B he looks an exciting player I mean started off his career at IP switch um obviously ended up at wolves on a on a free transfer could he give us sort of a bit of an overview what sort of player he is and and how he ended up at walls yeah yeah so sort of similar to this deal really it wasn't anything that was sort of rumored or linked as such um sort of walls had just announced a signing last year and it was pretty OB obviously it was going to be for like the under 21s predominantly um so between sort the start of last season because he joined I think he was joined actually officially just after the transfer window had closed um and up until Christmas he was by far the or one of the best players in the under 21 setup for wolves um and that led him on to becoming quite a permanent fixture within the Wolves Match Day Squad the walls First Team Match Day Squad not necessar not necessarily getting a lot of minutes but certainly always named on the bench and wolves had a little bit of a injury crisis and Squad depth crisis last year so that allowed him to have a lot more opportunities with the first team he still had appearances here and there for the 21s as well but um yeah like you mentioned probably better as an attacking midfielder maybe like a sort of a number 10 sort of type player but certainly could play a little bit deeper if you need him to as a sort of a central Midfield almost like a number eight or even out wide I think woles have tried him out wide as well um but very a very good technical uh footballer you know even came on in the black country Derby where we beat West Brom at jby you know he came off the bench in that game which was you know quite a big moment and started against Arsenal in the league as well where we put in a I mean our season was pretty much done there but we put in a pretty spirited performance and he he stood out to be honest in that game he's like a really solid player so um I didn't expect him to go out loan but it makes a lot of sense and I think at League one level he should in my opinion he should really stand out he should be a really good signing for Derby thankfully we got promoted last year oh you in the champ I'm so sorry but in in the champ in the championship even I no I still think he'd be in in a good good level in the championship as well sorry about that it's so good it's so good no I mean it's interesting that you say that um you know that he came on I was going to bring up that Arsenal game obviously his first sort of senior start um or his first Senior League start um for wolves I mean when we talk about what sort of player he is you mentioned he plays in the wide areas you have a lot of different type of Wingers don't you you've got your your cultured older sort of wide Mar he's not got a lot of pace sort of keeps the ball like your jack greish type of player but then you've got those that are like sort of electric Pace sort of thing what sort of Winger is he yeah I I would say he's more sort of like like you mentioned the F the first sort of style really he's not got a lot of pace um I think his technical abilities obviously how he stands out as a footballer um I I do remember when from there was a loose balling he was Chas he was chasing it and it was like he was running in timbering Boots he was like running in slow motion I think he almost got a laugh out of the walls fans he's like oh God but like in terms of you know he's a young lad still and I know it sounds Daft um but even as a young player sometimes it takes your while to actually find out how you can get to your top speed and and so on and I think he's still at that stage and that's why I think some solid men's football now a run this year you know men's football will will suit him quite well um I'm glad you corrected me and said you know the championship level because I certainly think at League one level he would have you know looked far too good and I felt like by January walls are quite ruthless with their loans if they know it's not going well either the player is not developing not getting his game time or the play style doesn't suit the player wolves will recall them in January so honestly if he's not breaking into the team or maybe Darby are really really struggling there may be a chance that he returns in January but certainly I I would say suits being in the Cent you know center of the park a bit more getting him on the ball a little bit more but I certainly don't see him as a type of player that's going to get the ball and beat your man repeatedly down the line anyway yeah it's interesting I'm just trying to think there as you speaking about where he'd fit into this derby team um we we tend to play we played a lot of 4-33 at the minute obviously that doesn't leave space for an attacking midfielder we shaked up in a 4-2 31 in a cup game maybe that's an Avenue will go down I think last year we ended up playing a 352 a lot which obviously has a pretty defined attacking Midfield role so maybe this is us building to go back to that back three he's sort of the the missing piece of the puzzle but I mean let's talk about his progression a little bit because you mentioned that you were you were quite surprised to see him go out on loan did you really think that sort of this season he'd be able to break into that first team I I was probably more surprised uh because that there hadn't really been any rumors or links about it to be completely honest but it it it makes sense like I said at the start I think um although the walls results haven't been great the first couple of weeks of the Season our depth at the moment with the players that we've got he he's quite strong we've got other players in that Central Area so he'd pretty much be fifth or sixth choice at the moment but I know wolves and Gary O'Neal in particular really R him you know you know broken at on International level for Zimbabwe as well and done quite well there um so it makes sense he needs he needs to be playing consistent football a player that good and that you know that stage of his career there's no point in him playing under 21 games every week um so he needs to be out there he needs to be playing men's football 46 games or obviously a little bit Le now in the championship plus Cup games is a long season so I don't think walls are going to be expecting him to play every single minute of every single match but certainly to be in and amongst it you know in the match day squads for Derby and I think that'll be a big boost for for Towanda as a person and his career as well because if you can you know excel at Championship level already which I think wolves and I I think he can do um you know I think that's a big step for him in his career if he's good mate he's going to play every minute yeah I hope so I hope so yeah I'm glad you mentioned you know his International uh well sort of Debut he made his debut um can't remember who it was against but in his second game he scored didn't he against South Africa and I I watched that goal back earlier took it really well really quick feet inside the box I think Darby is sort of building a collection of obscure African nations at the minute because we've got a a namibian international as well and a gambian international so Zimbabwe is a nice addition to that collection um I mean it's kind of hard when when a player's played so few games um but we ask ever on this anyway um sort of his best moment at wolves was was there ever a moment where he thought yeah this guy's got it um like I say his first team appearances haven't been you know he hasn't had that many I think the Arsenal game genuinely was because he started that game it was a real surprise it was almost a lottery at times for who was going to play for wolves because there was that many injuries and that many concerns and he started that game and you could probably find over over on social media or YouTube um just IND ual clips from that match if you typ into and tray or Arsenal and he was he held his own he had a really solid game of football could certainly see he was a player that felt comfortable as if he'd been playing in the Premier League for quite a while um so for me that's probably one of his standout moments I've watched him a couple of times for the 21s like I said he just runs the game he you know the game if W if Towanda played well walls under 21s would play well I think he's good at the from from penalties situation uh you know scored a few penalties as well so like I said technically a very very good footballer and I think if he can play a lot of men's football he's quite slight in terms of build he's quite skinny so if he buls out a little bit I think he could be like a really decent you know number eight number 10 type player I am really interested I'll keep a close eye with how he gets on Championship level this year it's interesting some of the stuff you're saying there he's quite slight Daria very very defensive and I want to say very very defensive I mean possibly the most defensive team I've ever seen yeah um we sit back a lot we we sort of Camp towards the edge of our own box and if we go a goal up it's all about work rate it's all about graft and winning the ball back is he one of those players that's going to put that effort in I think so yeah I think he he almost has he saw probably has the ability or um the attributes to become that sort of box-to-box type player I think you know certainly got the energy um Gary O'Neil certainly got that out of a lot of players and that's that's sort of something walls have looked at the last 12 18 months or so obviously Towanda was signed during that period they were looking at Players had the right attitude um the right ethic and work rate so I have no doubt the fact that he was signed by walls last year and in it amongst the first team last year that he's going to have those sort of attributes and I think that will like I said that'll be big for his progression as a footballer you know not every football team in the world is a free flowing attacking team so he's going to learn a lot you know he's learn about positioning learn the defensive side of things the uglier side of things especially being down in the championship um with the physicality so I think that will be big boost for him but like I said if if he gets to the stage where in January walls aren't really liking it with how he's playing and walls will will have you know sanctioned this loan knowing how Derby are playing don't get me wrong um I wouldn't be surprised to see um him called back but if he's getting lots of game time and Derby you know still in an okay position in the in the league then hopefully have him for the full season hopefully he can continue his progression oh I don't like the sign of that we've been stung by too many January recalls from Lo well it's it's been strange walls have had some strange loan deals to begin with players going abroad and stuff like that but we had a couple last year in the championship Dex emisi played for Robin last year and he he started off really well but they were obviously doing quite poorly in the in the league and they recalled him but the thing is with Dex to they were using him the fans were using him almost as a scapegoat so I think wol didn't like that and obviously craw him back and he went up to Scotland in the end but I think you know fairly local um you know Darby is not a million miles away from wolver Hampton so just it makes a lot of sense I'm surprised deals between the two clubs don't happen more often to be completely honest yeah maybe start something yeah maybe it will maybe it will but when we're both in the Premier League you know what I mean it'll um I mean you've got to talk about him as a as a person as well um one thing we've had sort of throughout this this whole season Paul War loves to say ah we've signed him because he's a great fit in the dressing room so do you think he'll be a great fit in the dressing room yeah and going back to what I said earlier w have almost you know this I'll use a quite it's not even polite sort of a no idiot policy at the moment in terms of the signings ever since we've had this sort of new sporting director a couple of years ago that's sort of something they've really looked towards because under previous regimes we signed a lot of players who we still sort of have now just the attitude was completely wrong and so on so I'm sure you know he's gonna have that and um I mentioned you before we started I've not watched it in its entirety but there is a podcast from a walls fan that he did with toand chera a lot of it is about him as a player and what he does to prepare for football matches and so on and he comes across you know I don't think a young lad would do that interview if he's not down to earth and so on so certainly think if Derby fans want to take 20 minutes half an hour to skip through that they'll certainly learn a lot more about toand Traya with him as a person but like I have no doubt as a footballer that he can you know make an impact for Derby anyway perfect yeah wait till the end of this one before you go and do that that's of course no sounds good I'll definitely go and have a listen straight after this and I guess it's the same with with all players especially younger players there's always going to be sort of aspects of their game that are not quite there a little bit raw um is there anything about this game that probably needs a little bit of work um obviously I've not seen tons and tons of minutes of him but I still like I said the physicality side of things I'll be interested to see you know maybe I'll check in with you you know a month or so of time to see how how you think he's got on but certainly technically I think he's more than good enough he's riding of the game his passing vision and even in front goal you know he scored quite a decent amount of goals as a midfielder from the 21s from what I remember um but just maybe that physical side of things and I'd be very intrigued to see how he gets on in the championship um look you don't have to be a fast player when you play football you know some of the best players in the world just you know use obviously use their feet and use their Vision you know that's the that's the the main thing so if Towanda can do that and use his ability on the ball then I have no doubt you know he could be a success but yeah just physically I think uh and that's probably why walls have sent him out to Derby in the championship just to you know to test him a little bit more and get him a lot more what I would say men's football rather than being in part of the under 21 setup yeah he's definitely come to the right place then don't think there's anywhere better in the championship for that side of the game and and I guess the the the last question we've got David is to do with you know what can we expect from at Derby and do you think that he's going to succeed here um yeah I'm hoping I think a lot of walls fans will be because I think this one may have gone under the radar like I said there there wasn't any link sort of prior to the move and I hadn't it hadn't really gone to the top of my mind that he would go out on loan but it certainly makes sense I think it's a good move for both Derby County and Towanda as well um I think I think and I hope it should be a success for us you know he's very highly rated IP switch I think they were very disappointed that he he moved on would have been intriguing if he stayed there obviously with how well they did last season whether you know he would have got much game time in that team but um certainly I think he's got the ability to show what he can do in the championship so yeah I'm hoping that we we stay in touch and you're telling me how good he is and fers crossed walls obviously keep him with you boys until the end of the season anyway yeah I'm sure he will and yeah let's hope he can have that impact that we desperately need Dave thank you very much for joining us um very grateful for your time um if people want to find more about yourself and and the stuff you guys do where can they find you so yeah it's all over at talking wolves so uh at talking wolves on all the socials YouTube as well do a very similar sort of thing to this so um yeah I'm sure I'll catch up with you throughout the season anyway to see how toand is getting on but yeah thank you for having me man perfect no worries at all so yeah thank you so much everyone for listening if you did enjoy please do leave a like please do subscribe we do these for every new player and we've got loads of other cool stuff as well um currently Ram salker running over 3,900 kilometers um to raise money for Derby Food For Thought Alliance it's the distance of every away game this season so you could drop a they should be very grateful um because my legs are dying and yeah basically that is it hopefully toand comes in he can be the man and make the difference so yeah thank you very much everyone for listening and thank you very much