The Demise of Derby

[gcdcfc28]

The downfall started when Jim Smith started signing rubbish like Mickel Beck and Bragstad.

Look at the quality throughout the team in 1996-99 and you'll see a massive decline thereafter .

We thrown into the mix players like Lee Morris, Adam Murray and later signed Ravanelli on 30 grand a week.

[Brammie Steve]

Well I don't think this should take long.

2002/2003 - first season in division 1, big wages, mercenaries - crippled by not being self-sufficient.

2003/2004 - trying to shake off a long hang-over part 2.

2004/2005 - 3 amigos take over and illegally rip us off (later end up in prison) - we did make the plays off mind.

2005/2006 - protests, bad feeling around the club - bad manager in charge...etc

2006/2007 - finally get a bit of financial support under billy davies and get promoted.

2007/2008 - too many half measures, bad choices and bad management as we're relegated to the championship with 11 points.

2008/2009 - Paul Jewell being clueless spending money on ***** yet again,

and since then we've been trying to do things the 'correct' way under Clough, cutting our big earners and working on the academy to do things correctly - slow growth, no quick fix.

A pretty dull affair, especially to write about.

well done ambitious!

A balanced assessment of the past few years.

Finance is, as always, the bottom line.

The case of an emerging football genius like Will Hughes is an excellent example.

In modern day football we have a lad who at 17 is on the verge of greatness. Nurtured by Mr Clough and Derby County.

A team like Derby can only keep him if prepared to pay him the "going rate".

As his value increases the temptation to sell to the highest bidder intensifies pro rata.

Do Derby pay the wages his skills command, possibly causing resentment throughout the rest of the players, to keep a potentially world class player? Or do they sell him at a (hopefully) future date at a fee which helps create financial stability within the club and enables the manager to invest in good Championship players in future.

Nigel is building a useful and entertaining Championship team and I for one am happier with this approach than the prospect of another humiliation in the boring Premiership.

[curb]

When was the perfect time in English football where the entire Football League mirrored clubs' fanbases?

That's not what I'm saying and you know it, there will always be times when the bigger clubs under achieve and smaller ones over achieve. We massively over achieved in the early 70's and we're massively under achieving now, as we did for the whole of the fifties, but what annoys me is that the whole club, management and fans alike have accepted it, and seem to revel in the mediocrity. It's bull****, because if someone came in for who was prepared to throw their money at it, brought in a decent manager and started signing Prem standard players they'd all be peeing their pants.

[Vince Hilaire]

In my book the demise goes a lot further back, to 1979-80. The Rams were intimidated by the arrival in Div 1 of a flashy Southern outfit, and attempted to blag a bit of the "Team of the Eighties" magic by signing up Dave Swindlehurst, and the rest is history. 'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />

[uttoxram75]

In my book the demise goes a lot further back, to 1979-80. The Rams were intimidated by the arrival in Div 1 of a flashy Southern outfit, and attempted to blag a bit of the "Team of the Eighties" magic by signing up Dave Swindlehurst, and the rest is history. 'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />

Swindle's 'tash was magnificent!!!!!!

Always liked Palace back then, remember the Malcolm Allison years and the "Team of the 80's" tag.

Now? Have no man love for you since I once spent several hours driving round sarf landon trying to find your fackin' ground on sam fackin supermarket car park. 'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/angry' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':angry:' /> 'http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':P' />

ps....Vince Hilaire was a raite decent player bitd!

[uttoxram75]

The downfall started when Jim Smith started signing rubbish like Mickel Beck and Bragstad.

Look at the quality throughout the team in 1996-99 and you'll see a massive decline thereafter .

We thrown into the mix players like Lee Morris, Adam Murray and later signed Ravanelli on 30 grand a week.

42k a week actually Ralph......destroyed us that did.

[Vince Hilaire]

I was gutted when we lost Swindles, but his form had dropped disastrously by then.

Yup, Selhurst Park must be the most anonymous hidden away ground in senior football. We like being a bit different, and the fact that we have a proper old school ground cunningly disguised as a heap of sh*te.

And Vince was always a joy to watch. He is the nearest comparison that Palace fans are able to make for Zaha, and ability to weave through a crowd of defenders and leave them for dead is certainly shared. One significant difference is that Vince was of slight build and easy to kick in the air, Zaha has been working on his upper body strength and is learning to hold his own against the hackers. Anyway, you lot will be able to judge for yourself tomorrow - enjoy!

[uttoxram75]

I was gutted when we lost Swindles, but his form had dropped disastrously by then.

Yup, Selhurst Park must be the most anonymous hidden away ground in senior football. We like being a bit different, and the fact that we have a proper old school ground cunningly disguised as a heap of sh*te.

And Vince was always a joy to watch. He is the nearest comparison that Palace fans are able to make for Zaha, and ability to weave through a crowd of defenders and leave them for dead is certainly shared. One significant difference is that Vince was of slight build and easy to kick in the air, Zaha has been working on his upper body strength and is learning to hold his own against the hackers. Anyway, you lot will be able to judge for yourself tomorrow - enjoy!

I always think players like Vince were far braver than the lads today. They used to get kicked up in the air with no protection from referees yet still tried to take on a thuggish full back.

I'm not there for this match, but with memories of Swindlehurst and boozers round Thornton Heath station flooding back I wish I was.

Have a good day and let us know your thoughts on the match fella!

[Hucknall Ram]

The downfall started when Jim Smith started signing rubbish like Mickel Beck and Bragstad.

Look at the quality throughout the team in 1996-99 and you'll see a massive decline thereafter .

We thrown into the mix players like Lee Morris, Adam Murray and later signed Ravanelli on 30 grand a week.

can I add Con Blatis

[Guest]

François Grenet over 2 million I think, and only a handful of games.

All managers make poor signings though, look at maguire, clubs like derby have there ups and down, we are just stuck in a rut, even in our darkest maxwell days it only took 7 years to rebuild the club and get it back into the tip flight and you have to go back to the 50's and 60's for a rivalled length in the lower leagues without any progress or decline.

[Boycie]

wasn't it near 3 million?

Like 3 million for Craig Burley.

[Woodys woman]

What a cock burley was/is

[Feed The Fish]

Maybe demise was the wrong word to use but growing up in the "glory years" of the premiership seasons, I guess I just got a bit carried away with the size and stature of the club and the fan expectations.

To me, I feel there has been a slight demise, especially in expectations as someone said earlier. Think I should have enough to write about with all of this and what I already had, cheers for all the tips.

[curb]

Maybe not a demise as such, perhards more a period of disillusionment. In twenty years time when we're back where we belong the GSE/Jewell/Clough era will be remembered as a period of apathy and underachievement.

[DCFCfranco]

Maybe not a demise as such, perhards more a period of disillusionment. In twenty years time when we're back where we belong the GSE/Jewell/Clough era will be remembered as a period of apathy and underachievement.

Or the when the foundations were laid for the best team in the world ever.

[inglorious02]

Why have we been seemingly overtaken by Crystal Palace? They were on the verge of bankruptcy a couple of years ago. Now they are top of the league. How did they overtake Derby in their development?

[Alph]

Why have we been seemingly overtaken by Crystal Palace? They were on the verge of bankruptcy a couple of years ago. Now they are top of the league. How did they overtake Derby in their development?

Yes but when the new FFP rules come in.....

Crystal Palace STILL won't give a ****.

[VulcanRam]

Why have we been seemingly overtaken by Crystal Palace? They were on the verge of bankruptcy a couple of years ago. Now they are top of the league. How did they overtake Derby in their development?

The answer might lie in the fact that at the beginning of last season Freedman found a system he wanted to play and stuck with it - it was always two defensive midfielders and two wingers, supporting the main striker and one playing off him. He had some of the players last season but not all, which is why they struggled a bit, particularly in getting service to Murray. This season, with the emergence of Zaha and the bargain that is Bolasie (200k from Bristol City, must be the best Championship buy of the summer), he has the wingers, and Murray with 15 goals already is thriving as a result.

The two defensive midfielders, Zedinak and Digachoi, are as good a pairing as you'll find in this league, and were last year really. They don't, thought, have much strength in depth so it will be interesting to see what happens when injuries and suspensions kick in, if they do. Funnily enough though, they actually look a better team outfit without some of the star names they have sold, or indeed had to sell, in recent times, such as Danns, Clyne and Moses.

Compare that to Derby, and I'm not sure Nigel still knows quite which is the best system (wide midfielders, wingers, one up front, two up front?) which is why we seem to be treading water a bit. He is getting there, we have had a more settled defence and midfield this season than for quite a while, but I'm also wondering about the quality? Compare Hendrick to Zedinak, Sammon to Murray, Bolasie and Zaha to any of our wide players (the nearest we have of that quality is Jacobs, and he will take this season to find his feet). Tbf though, Murray looked as poor last season as Sammon is looking at the moment in front of goal; would be interesting to see how Sammon reacted if he was presented with loads of chances)

So there's a pointer, they jut seem to be a year or two ahead with their defined plan of action, and this season it is, so far, paying dividends.

[Cisse]

Why have we been seemingly overtaken by Crystal Palace? They were on the verge of bankruptcy a couple of years ago. Now they are top of the league. How did they overtake Derby in their development?

Next we will be overtaken by Crawley Town or some such. Just wait and see.

[Bris Vegas]

People remember those PL years.. We were there for 6 seasons.. But of those 6 seasons only the 96/97, 97/98 and 98/99 seasons were we actually decent.. The 99/00 (36 points), 00/01 (42 points) and 01/02 (30 points) seasons were a major struggle for us..

I look at teams in the NPC and so many made a better fist of it than we did in the PL.. The likes of Blackburn, Boro, Bolton, Leicester, Charlton... We're pretty much in the same group as them.. None of us are any bigger than the other and none of us will become established as a top 8 side like Everton or Spurs..

We'll get our chance again one day..