Article on Derby County

[TheFL72]

 

 

Hi guys,

 

I am Josh Ilan, an aspiring football journalist and a long-suffering Barnet fan.

 

It would be much appreciated if you could read my article on "Derby County's Long Term Planning Finally Coming to Fruition". If you could rate article at the top of the page, that would be great - comments on either this forum or the blog would also be brilliant.

 

Here is a link to the article:

 

Thanks in advance and best of luck for the rest of the season,

 

Josh

[uttoxram75]

I've read the blog Josh. Its good to read an outsiders view of what's happening at Derby so thanks for that.

 

You will get varied responses as there is a section of Derby fans who don't rate Nigel Clough who don't recognise the constraints he has had to work under and others who question his tactics and man-management. There is also a section that believes he has done a good job in keeping our Championship status while rebuilding the club top to bottom, reducing our wage bill by 1/2.

 

There is, imo, a large group in the middle who have been very patient (in today's mad football world terms), who recognised that previous managers spent stupid money and handed out even stupider contracts on poor players and a big cleaning up job was required. Nigel was probably the right man to do that.  The question now is whether he has the tactical nous to get the best out of his squad - relatively small and lacking the investment of many of our rivals - but still his squad.

 

If it turns out right then we will have a decent season - not necessarily promotion - but play some good football and be in with a chance of the top 6 going into the last few games.

If it peters out to a miserable mid table finish then the pressure will mount and Clough may not be given the chance to finish the job.

[ilkleyram]

Hi Josh

Thank you for writing about us in a largely positive way. Apart from a few relatively minor factual errors - there are/were more than three players up for sale for example - it's a good record of how we have got to here.

Unfortunately you clearly haven't read this forum much. Had you done so you would know by now who will say what about the article because all the arguments about your description of our club over the last few years and our strategy since 'that' season have been replayed over and over again. In fact many of the topics whose titles suggest something completely different eventually end up discussing Nigel, the Board and their strategy and competence. The views are pretty polarised.

Thanks for starting it again though. It will keep us going for a while. And all the best to you and Barnet too.

Best wishes

Ilkleyram

[uttoxram75]

Btw Josh, I was at Wembley in 1972 when Stafford Rangers destroyed Barnet to win the FA Trophy! 3-0 iirc......

[Angry Ram]

I've read the blog Josh. Its good to read an outsiders view of what's happening at Derby so thanks for that.

 

You will get varied responses as there is a section of Derby fans who don't rate Nigel Clough who don't recognise the constraints he has had to work under and others who question his tactics and man-management. There is also a section that believes he has done a good job in keeping our Championship status while rebuilding the club top to bottom, reducing our wage bill by 1/2.

 

There is, imo, a large group in the middle who have been very patient (in today's mad football world terms), who recognised that previous managers spent stupid money and handed out even stupider contracts on poor players and a big cleaning up job was required. Nigel was probably the right man to do that.  The question now is whether he has the tactical nous to get the best out of his squad - relatively small and lacking the investment of many of our rivals - but still his squad.

 

If it turns out right then we will have a decent season - not necessarily promotion - but play some good football and be in with a chance of the top 6 going into the last few games.

If it peters out to a miserable mid table finish then the pressure will mount and Clough may not be given the chance to finish the job.

Good post. I class myself as someone who thinks Cloughs tactical and man-management abilities are poor to shocking. However I also think he has done a great job of building a decent side and steadying the ship. I will always be 100% behind his youth policy and his guts in throwing in young lads who he believes have the ability. This will always attract good youth prospects to the club as they will see an end game at DCFC.

This season is massive for Nigel, if we finish midtable and being erratic again with negative tactics, he MUST go. IF we finish just outside the play offs playing some decent flowing football home AND AWAY. I will be happy that this is still progression.

Over to you Nige... Ball firmly in your court.

[Angry Ram]

 

 

 

Hi guys,

 

I am Josh Ilan, an aspiring football journalist and a long-suffering Barnet fan.

 

It would be much appreciated if you could read my article on "Derby County's Long Term Planning Finally Coming to Fruition". If you could rate article at the top of the page, that would be great - comments on either this forum or the blog would also be brilliant.

 

Here is a link to the article:

 

Thanks in advance and best of luck for the rest of the season,

 

Josh

 

Josh..

Not bad.. I have one comment though on whether Cloughs 'plan' will work. The seeds he has planted will probably grow into flowers somewhere else. We will look after them until they start to blossom and then some big old Premier gardener will come along a pick them. Okay if we invest in some flowers ourself but what happens if we keep relying on the seeds? We never really move forward we will just become an academy for someone else.

[Mostyn6]

I think it's been overlooked that we were still not safe from relegation with a few games to go last season and that going into the last couple of games I think we could've finished anywhere as low as 20th, so I think mentioning finishing 10th so 'glowingly' is a bit flattering.

 

That said, Nigel has totally transformed the philosophy of the club. We are no longer so erratic in our business.

 

I have, and will always have a couple of concerns about Nigel Clough until he addresses them. His main quality may prove to be ultimately his undoing. He is fiercely loyal, especially to his coaching staff, maybe this could stem from his father's regrets regarding his relationship with Peter Taylor, but Clough is too loyal to some of his coaching staff and in five years has never made a change to the set-up. Our previous manager, old Poison-Dwarf himself, has proven that with the right coaching, average defenders can be organised and very effective. If we had this, we'd already be in the Premier League, but our defence is still as disorganised after 5 years as it was under Paul Jewell, just with harder working players.

[t'oldu]

Metgod

[McRamFan]

Its a good artical and is probably what the board is trying to show to the rest of the league, however as mentioned you will always get a very different reaction when the actual fans read it. Some will nit pick it, some will agree and use it to justify what is going on and some will use it to imply the NC and the board are pulling the wool over peoples eyes and the club is going nowhere fast!

 

Stick to your writing style and principles and avoid working for Murdoch and you will be fine.

[cheron85]

 

Here is a link to the article:

 

 

Nice article... Interesting to see an outsiders view of the club... Lots on this board are negative about various parts of our set-up (board, manager, players, staff, etc etc) but interesting to see that a keen football fan looking in on us sees mostly positives...

 

Only thing I'd suggest is that we don't stick to 4-3-3... I'd say 4-4-2 was our 'default' setting last season...

[SantosHalper]

Good artile, Josh. I sent you a PM.

[Pearl Ram]

Yeah, good article Josh, I sent you a tenner, honest.

[notts_ram]

 

 

 

Hi guys,

 

I am Josh Ilan, an aspiring football journalist and a long-suffering Barnet fan.

 

It would be much appreciated if you could read my article on "Derby County's Long Term Planning Finally Coming to Fruition". If you could rate article at the top of the page, that would be great - comments on either this forum or the blog would also be brilliant.

 

Here is a link to the article:

 

Thanks in advance and best of luck for the rest of the season,

 

Josh

 

Firstly, respect to you for spending the time to produce the article you have penned. In its content, the things I would debate are:-

 

1. Clough is described as being forward thinking, driven and calculated. I think this is extremely flattering praise for Clough.

2. Rigidly sticking to a system or belief can be a positive, however when it is not working then you need someone to have the courage to alter things and recognise that changes are required - we are at this point now and probably were a season ago under Clough

3. I have no conviction that Clough is in the final stages of his masterplan to lead us to the Premiership. Indeed am yet to be convinced that Clough or the board have a feasible, robust blueprint at all.

4. This season will be one of progress and development - again am unconvinced other then we are flat lining

 

Would welcome your feedback

[BOB BIGGS]

I think it's been overlooked that we were still not safe from relegation with a few games to go last season and that going into the last couple of games I think we could've finished anywhere as low as 20th, so I think mentioning finishing 10th so 'glowingly' is a bit flattering.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Factually correct, no argument with that . And yet we were only 7 points [3 positive results] away from the play offs. Funny old League. Leicester finished 6th and were only 5 defeats away from relegation.

 

What does it all mean? 6th,10th. 20th -  pretty much all the same.

Mine's the last bit!

[uttoxram75]

Firstly, respect to you for spending the time to produce the article you have penned. In its content, the things I would debate are:-

 

1. Clough is described as being forward thinking, driven and calculated. I think this is extremely flattering praise for Clough.

2. Rigidly sticking to a system or belief can be a positive, however when it is not working then you need someone to have the courage to alter things and recognise that changes are required - we are at this point now and probably were a season ago under Clough

3. I have no conviction that Clough is in the final stages of his masterplan to lead us to the Premiership. Indeed am yet to be convinced that Clough or the board have a feasible, robust blueprint at all.

4. This season will be one of progress and development - again am unconvinced other then we are flat lining

 

Would welcome your feedback

 

Ahh Notts Ram......this where we differ. IMO, Nigel knows exactly what he's doing, how he wants the team to play, the philosophy of the club, everything.

I honestly think he wants us to play a variation of the Ajax/Holland teams of the early 70's....Total Football....that's the era he grew up watching and what influenced Johnny Metgod.

 

The issue is that to achieve that dream would take 10 years. I know that has been mentioned but its not realistic. It would be unprecedented in the modern era for anyone to have that amount of time without gaining promotion or winning trophies.

[ilkleyram]

Ahh Notts Ram......this where we differ. IMO, Nigel knows exactly what he's doing, how he wants the team to play, the philosophy of the club, everything.

I honestly think he wants us to play a variation of the Ajax/Holland teams of the early 70's....Total Football....that's the era he grew up watching and what influenced Johnny Metgod.

 

The issue is that to achieve that dream would take 10 years. I know that has been mentioned but its not realistic. It would be unprecedented in the modern era for anyone to have that amount of time without gaining promotion or winning trophies.

 

 

Wenger's getting close!

[Mostyn6]

Ahh Notts Ram......this where we differ. IMO, Nigel knows exactly what he's doing, how he wants the team to play, the philosophy of the club, everything.

I honestly think he wants us to play a variation of the Ajax/Holland teams of the early 70's....Total Football....that's the era he grew up watching and what influenced Johnny Metgod.

 

The issue is that to achieve that dream would take 10 years. I know that has been mentioned but its not realistic. It would be unprecedented in the modern era for anyone to have that amount of time without gaining promotion or winning trophies.

 

 

I would like to think that was true, but if it was, the whole team would play it, and would play it for longer than 30 minutes per game before resorting to hoofball and clearing the lines. The fact that our defenders more often than not, pass into an area as opposed to a team-mate, and the fact that our neat intricate passes are restricted and only really evident in the middle third of the pitch, I would say, without wanting to cause an argument with you, that I doubt this passing game is the ambition of the manager. If I see it ever stretching into either area, in particular the opposition's area, then I will change my mind, but the passing stops (going forward) at 40 yards from goal and becomes something else.

[uttoxram75]

I would like to think that was true, but if it was, the whole team would play it, and would play it for longer than 30 minutes per game before resorting to hoofball and clearing the lines. The fact that our defenders more often than not, pass into an area as opposed to a team-mate, and the fact that our neat intricate passes are restricted and only really evident in the middle third of the pitch, I would say, without wanting to cause an argument with you, that I doubt this passing game is the ambition of the manager. If I see it ever stretching into either area, in particular the opposition's area, then I will change my mind, but the passing stops (going forward) at 40 yards from goal and becomes something else.

Just basing it on the evidence of the type of players he's tried to bring in here. The obvious short term squad fillers aside, he's either signed or brought in on loan (off the top of me head.....)

 

Barry Bannan

Tom Carroll

Jake Livermore

Alberto Bueno

Tom Cywka

prepared to break the wage budget to keep Commons,

 

apart from defenders he's not chosen 6 foot + Stoke type frankensteins....if anything he has been accused of preferring lightweight players.

 

if he was intent on hoofball then he would have gone for that type surely?

 

Anyone who can't see that must be............

[Mostyn6]

Just basing it on the evidence of the type of players he's tried to bring in here. The obvious short term squad fillers aside, he's either signed or brought in on loan (off the top of me head.....)

 

Barry Bannan

Tom Carroll

Jake Livingstone

Alberto Bueno

Tom Cywka

prepared to break the wage budget to keep Commons,

 

apart from defenders he's not chosen 6 foot + Stoke type frankensteins....if anything he has been accused of preferring lightweight players.

 

if he was intent on hoofball then he would have gone for that type surely?

 

Anyone who can't see that must be............

 

 

Well, I've regularly accused Clough of not playing the type of game to suit the players. Traditionally, the ball has been hoofed up to the earholes of Hulse, Porter, Davies, Sammon and now Martin, with their back to goal. I mean, how often in the last 5 years have you seen posters critical of the striker for not winning headers? It was a recurring theme for Hulse, Davies and Sammon.

 

We seem to have a default movement of going out wide and trying to cross so far this season, whereas that was a ball up to the earholes of our most advanced forward.

 

With us signing Russell, I'd really hoped we'd be playing the through ball and breaking the offside trap, threading through passes for Russell to run on to.

[Mostyn6]

ps.. Livermore