DavesaRam

I am surprised that there is barely a mention of John Newman, although there was nothing about him that is rememberable! The football he produced was incredibly dull IIRC, and he was even duller as a person.
My family ran a charity giving kids from broken homes a holiday they wouldn't otherwise get, and got Newman to open a Gala as a fund raising event. He was immaculately turned out in his sports blazer and trousers that were pressed using a steam roller, but all around him was an incredible personality vacuum. You could see people crossing over and walking away for fear that any life they had would be sucked out of them. Its probably no surprise that his football wasn't easy on the eye.
 

September 1969, Cloughs team had been promoted to League One, 9 matches unbeaten, away to Fairs Cup winners  (google it young uns) Newcastle United, travelled up on the Trent buses football special, travelled back on a different bus, but more of that later, 40,000 crowd.
David Craig Mackay was unbelievable!
You could see why Clough had persuaded  the 33 year old to sign for the club.  Organising, pointing, shouting, encouraging, passing short, passing long, crunching tackles and strutting around at the back like he owned the place and that clenched fist…………..magnificent.
Anyway, Roy Mac scored the winner, the bus got smashed up and my team Derby County were top of the league! 
 
………………..happy days. 👍🐏
 
 

And Dave Mackay who, after all, won us the top division.
And, no, it wasn't all Clough's team. The great man also said Mackay was not given enough credit.
Hard act to follow Clough and, especially, to cut through the turmoil at the club.
I wasn't happy at the time - I just wanted Clough back - but, now looking back, I think Mackay did an amazing job.

Lots of poor managers choosing crap teams but one man stands out who could have and should have but chose not to .. Frankie boy.. a complete fake

The title of this thread is ambiguous.  Is it inviting us to think of a "worse" manager than those listed (a relativistic judgement and matter of opinion, comparing one manager with another), or was the title a mistake and the intention was in fact to ask for who was the "worst" manager (in which case, only one name is needed to fulfil the request)?
"Those whom the Gods wish to destroy they first make mad".  And those whom they wish to make mad they first make managers.  As soon as any human being acquires power over others there will be problems.  Add to that the deadly cocktail of money, publicity and pressure to win that applies in football, and factor in the mostly under-educated nature of most footballers (with a few exceptions such as Roy Hodgson), and only those with either a huge ego or a vast inferiority complex or both would willingly step up.
I'm not sure if our history of eccentrics, egomaniacs, overachievers and underachievers is all that different from that of other clubs really, it's just that we know more about ours than about anyone else's.  Anyway, for what it's worth, here are my nominations.
Worst ever - Docherty, for all the reasons stated above.
Best ever - Cloughie, and you'll never be able to tell anyone of my generation any different.
Honourable mentions - Shteve Mac, Jim Smith & George Burley.
Dishonourable mentions - most of the rest for many different reasons.
 

Firstly, for context, my time as a supporter began with Cox, so with that in mind I know Tommy Doc is the worst, he destroyed a team I just didnt see it.
For me. Jewell. I get most of the money that was spent was spent by Davies, and like Natalie I'll come onto him in a moment. The football under Jewell was so atrocious we went a year without winning a match, we even had to pretend to score a goal just so us fans could have something to cheer about. I wont pretend to know where the money went or what was going on behind the scenes, but what I do know is that even relegated teams have some kind of dividend through parachute payments that gives them an advantage over Championship teams. We've all seen it enough times over the years, but what happened at Derby? We were hamstrung for years by getting promoted, how is that possible? Oh and was Liam Dickenson one of his?
Davies, I cant have him as one of the worst. Yes his demeanour was that of a wasp that has just been informed we've run out of salted caramel ice cream, yes as soon as we won promotion his focus was helping Ned Kelly with his gardening leave and not the team; but a team that had no right to be anywhere close, went up. Walking home in the rain after Southampton, the feeling as Jones' freekick went in against the Wendies, and that day at Wembley, all very special. He spent poorly, made the cardinal sin of destroying the team that got us promoted to try to keep us up, he still has a promotion on his record though.
I dont know if its other stuff, but Lampard keeps coming to mind. He took a team that finished 6th, added Mount, Tomori, Wilson and Ashley Cole and then led us to 6th, and I cant help but shake the feeling that a lot of the problems we have recently dealt with comes from there. But had too much fun that year to include him I guess.
Last one (thank goodness says the reader - you dont half go on) Pearson. Like a scaled down Doc, he took a team that was performing and rather than tweaking it, destroyed it. There was a fundamental issue with the team around resilience and February, there was also talk of characters in the dressing room; but he took 40 goals a season in Martin and Bryson (they were also so much more in how the team played) and loaned them to our rivals, what the actual? We never solved the Martin problem and that wasted some years of serious spending, which set the tone for where we are now.

Felt Cocu was completely undermined by the bizarre arrival of Rooney, who he then had to play, so every game was effectively with 10 men. That's a pretty tough gig. It's impossible for the football not to have been dull with Rooney in the team, slowing everything down to walking pace. 

I think Cocu has some valid justifications for his performance such as Joinersgate which definitely impacted our season. Think this one is a little harsh....

Yes but he was a… you know what. 

And Colin Todd - lots of rumours about his.. integrity let’s say. 

1) Tommy Docherty - for destroying a good squad and replacing it with dross.
2) Billy Davies - famous for saying that as we held the play-off trophy aloft he thought it should have been Preston-coloured ribbons on the cup, not Derby’s. He then blamed Gadsby for limiting the transfer budget to explain his awful signings for the next season. He forgot to mention that he went on holiday for two weeks as soon as the transfer window opened, and by the tome he got back all the players we should have gone for had been signed by other clubs. He also tried to take on the Premiership with hoofball. 😡
Frank Lampard - yes, I know he got us to the play-off final, but with the loan players he was able to bring in we should walked the league. Strings were pulled to make him look good so he could go to Chelsea, who wouldn’t have been able to sign a complete rookie. And as we approached the final, Chelsea came sniffing, but he wouldn’t have bern able to leave the Rams if he had got us promoted. So he didn’t get us promoted. Come final day in his head he was already off, hence leaving Waghorn and young Jack on the bench, and only bringing them on when it was too late.
And having sold us down the river he then kept us hanging on until more of the transfer window had gone than Billy Davies had done.
Poor Phillip Cocu had no chance, only meeting his new squad halfway through their pre-season tour in America. And the only players he could sign were of the “you’ll have to do, there’s no-one else” category.  He didn’t stand a chance. And despite the desperation of the Joswiack and Beilick signings, Mel had blown huge amounts on the Lampard project, setting us up for the misery we are only now starting to come out of.As such I would put Lampard as our worse manager of all time because of what followed.
Even so, there are only two things about Lampard that I don’t like - both his faces.

1) Tommy Docherty - for destroying a good squad and replacing it with dross.
2) Billy Davies - famous for saying that as we held the play-off trophy aloft he thought it should have been Preston-coloured ribbons on the cup, not Derby’s. He then blamed Gadsby for limiting the transfer budget to explain his awful signings for the next season. He forgot to mention that he went on holiday for two weeks as soon as the transfer window opened, and by the tome he got back all the players we should have gone for had been signed by other clubs. He also tried to take on the Premiership with hoofball. 😡
Frank Lampard - yes, I know he got us to the play-off final, but with the loan players he was able to bring in we should walked the league. Strings were pulled to make him look good so he could go to Chelsea, who wouldn’t have been able to sign a complete rookie. And as we approached the final, Chelsea came sniffing, but he wouldn’t have bern able to leave the Rams if he had got us promoted. So he didn’t get us promoted. Come final day in his head he was already off, hence leaving Waghorn and young Jack on the bench, and only bringing them on when it was too late.
And having sold us down the river he then kept us hanging on until more of the transfer window had gone than Billy Davies had done.
Poor Phillip Cocu had no chance, only meeting his new squad halfway through their pre-season tour in America. And the only players he could sign were of the “you’ll have to do, there’s no-one else” category.  He didn’t stand a chance. And despite the desperation of the Joswiack and Beilick signings, Mel had blown huge amounts on the Lampard project, setting us up for the misery we are only now starting to come out of.As such I would put Lampard as our worse manager of all time because of what followed.
Even so, there are only two things about Lampard that I don’t like - both his faces.

I would vote George Thorne every time he played in his first season with us. If he’d been born with knee joints he could have been the England captain.
I think I’m going to go away and cry now. 😢

1) Tommy Docherty - for destroying a good squad and replacing it with dross.
2) Billy Davies - famous for saying that as we held the play-off trophy aloft he thought it should have been Preston-coloured ribbons on the cup, not Derby’s. He then blamed Gadsby for limiting the transfer budget to explain his awful signings for the next season. He forgot to mention that he went on holiday for two weeks as soon as the transfer window opened, and by the tome he got back all the players we should have gone for had been signed by other clubs. He also tried to take on the Premiership with hoofball. 😡
Frank Lampard - yes, I know he got us to the play-off final, but with the loan players he was able to bring in we should walked the league. Strings were pulled to make him look good so he could go to Chelsea, who wouldn’t have been able to sign a complete rookie. And as we approached the final, Chelsea came sniffing, but he wouldn’t have bern able to leave the Rams if he had got us promoted. So he didn’t get us promoted. Come final day in his head he was already off, hence leaving Waghorn and young Jack on the bench, and only bringing them on when it was too late.
And having sold us down the river he then kept us hanging on until more of the transfer window had gone than Billy Davies had done.
Poor Phillip Cocu had no chance, only meeting his new squad halfway through their pre-season tour in America. And the only players he could sign were of the “you’ll have to do, there’s no-one else” category.  He didn’t stand a chance. And despite the desperation of the Joswiack and Beilick signings, Mel had blown huge amounts on the Lampard project, setting us up for the misery we are only now starting to come out of.As such I would put Lampard as our worse manager of all time because of what followed.
Even so, there are only two things about Lampard that I don’t like - both his faces.

1) Tommy Docherty - for destroying a good squad and replacing it with dross.
2) Billy Davies - famous for saying that as we held the play-off trophy aloft he thought it should have been Preston-coloured ribbons on the cup, not Derby’s. He then blamed Gadsby for limiting the transfer budget to explain his awful signings for the next season. He forgot to mention that he went on holiday for two weeks as soon as the transfer window opened, and by the tome he got back all the players we should have gone for had been signed by other clubs. He also tried to take on the Premiership with hoofball. 😡
Frank Lampard - yes, I know he got us to the play-off final, but with the loan players he was able to bring in we should walked the league. Strings were pulled to make him look good so he could go to Chelsea, who wouldn’t have been able to sign a complete rookie. And as we approached the final, Chelsea came sniffing, but he wouldn’t have bern able to leave the Rams if he had got us promoted. So he didn’t get us promoted. Come final day in his head he was already off, hence leaving Waghorn and young Jack on the bench, and only bringing them on when it was too late.
And having sold us down the river he then kept us hanging on until more of the transfer window had gone than Billy Davies had done.
Poor Phillip Cocu had no chance, only meeting his new squad halfway through their pre-season tour in America. And the only players he could sign were of the “you’ll have to do, there’s no-one else” category.  He didn’t stand a chance. And despite the desperation of the Joswiack and Beilick signings, Mel had blown huge amounts on the Lampard project, setting us up for the misery we are only now starting to come out of.As such I would put Lampard as our worse manager of all time because of what followed.
Even so, there are only two things about Lampard that I don’t like - both his faces.

1) Tommy Docherty - for destroying a good squad and replacing it with dross.
2) Billy Davies - famous for saying that as we held the play-off trophy aloft he thought it should have been Preston-coloured ribbons on the cup, not Derby’s. He then blamed Gadsby for limiting the transfer budget to explain his awful signings for the next season. He forgot to mention that he went on holiday for two weeks as soon as the transfer window opened, and by the tome he got back all the players we should have gone for had been signed by other clubs. He also tried to take on the Premiership with hoofball. 😡
Frank Lampard - yes, I know he got us to the play-off final, but with the loan players he was able to bring in we should walked the league. Strings were pulled to make him look good so he could go to Chelsea, who wouldn’t have been able to sign a complete rookie. And as we approached the final, Chelsea came sniffing, but he wouldn’t have bern able to leave the Rams if he had got us promoted. So he didn’t get us promoted. Come final day in his head he was already off, hence leaving Waghorn and young Jack on the bench, and only bringing them on when it was too late.
And having sold us down the river he then kept us hanging on until more of the transfer window had gone than Billy Davies had done.
Poor Phillip Cocu had no chance, only meeting his new squad halfway through their pre-season tour in America. And the only players he could sign were of the “you’ll have to do, there’s no-one else” category.  He didn’t stand a chance. And despite the desperation of the Joswiack and Beilick signings, Mel had blown huge amounts on the Lampard project, setting us up for the misery we are only now starting to come out of.As such I would put Lampard as our worse manager of all time because of what followed.
Even so, there are only two things about Lampard that I don’t like - both his faces.

1) Tommy Docherty - for destroying a good squad and replacing it with dross.
2) Billy Davies - famous for saying that as we held the play-off trophy aloft he thought it should have been Preston-coloured ribbons on the cup, not Derby’s. He then blamed Gadsby for limiting the transfer budget to explain his awful signings for the next season. He forgot to mention that he went on holiday for two weeks as soon as the transfer window opened, and by the tome he got back all the players we should have gone for had been signed by other clubs. He also tried to take on the Premiership with hoofball. 😡
Frank Lampard - yes, I know he got us to the play-off final, but with the loan players he was able to bring in we should walked the league. Strings were pulled to make him look good so he could go to Chelsea, who wouldn’t have been able to sign a complete rookie. And as we approached the final, Chelsea came sniffing, but he wouldn’t have bern able to leave the Rams if he had got us promoted. So he didn’t get us promoted. Come final day in his head he was already off, hence leaving Waghorn and young Jack on the bench, and only bringing them on when it was too late.
And having sold us down the river he then kept us hanging on until more of the transfer window had gone than Billy Davies had done.
Poor Phillip Cocu had no chance, only meeting his new squad halfway through their pre-season tour in America. And the only players he could sign were of the “you’ll have to do, there’s no-one else” category.  He didn’t stand a chance. And despite the desperation of the Joswiack and Beilick signings, Mel had blown huge amounts on the Lampard project, setting us up for the misery we are only now starting to come out of.As such I would put Lampard as our worse manager of all time because of what followed.
Even so, there are only two things about Lampard that I don’t like - both his faces.

At 40, I've just gone and bought my first ever season ticket. Thought I'd sign up here and share the good news.

And magicking his weave!
 

Just paid for mine and for two of my kids’ tickets. Way hay!!!
Come on new season, let’s be having you!

I would vote George Thorne every time he played in his first season with us. If he’d been born with knee joints he could have been the England captain.
I think I’m going to go away and cry now. 😢

I would vote George Thorne every time he played in his first season with us. If he’d been born with knee joints he could have been the England captain.
I think I’m going to go away and cry now. 😢

I suggest no commenting on responses. People are allowed to express anger, mock or real, about "jokes". This sort of post is why the forum bosses felt compelled to get rid of the "rolls eyes", because people were banging on about it, when it would be so incredibly useful at times. In fact I say:
Bring back the rolls eye response!

I wonder if I said that I self-identify as a child whether I would be able to  pay at the child’s season ticket price?

I wonder if I said that I self-identify as a child whether I would be able to  pay at the child’s season ticket price?

I would vote George Thorne every time he played in his first season with us. If he’d been born with knee joints he could have been the England captain.
I think I’m going to go away and cry now. 😢