An Evening with Gary Rowett

[Rev]

28 minutes ago, sage said:

Not that kind of ring.

I gave that kind of ring to Beyonce. Nagged me for ages. Made a real song and dance about it. 

Don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable, either.

[sage]

1 minute ago, reveldevil said:

Don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable, either.

They don't want mass fan protests. 

[TheresOnlyWanChope]

1 hour ago, sage said:

Watch last years goals

Well I've watched this season and his shooting has been awful. I mean just awful. 

[TheresOnlyWanChope]

1 hour ago, tomsdubs said:

Honestly what are you watching? Mostly this season they've been blocked because of our slow ponderous play. Under Clement his goals were absolute missiles, he can also shoot with both feet. That goal against Burnley away was class.

Seriously there were three home matches in a row I counted 3 ballooned over the bar, 2 feebly wide and another blocked. I'm sorry for every good shot maybe 5 poor efforts 

[cannable]

Who was it that sent a letter to the club telling them how to shoot properly again? 

[StringerBell]

1 hour ago, tomsdubs said:

Honestly what are you watching? Mostly this season they've been blocked because of our slow ponderous play. Under Clement his goals were absolute missiles, he can also shoot with both feet. That goal against Burnley away was class.

That's true. A lot of his goals or good attempts have come at the end of long passing moves where we've shifted the ball about and created him some space. Have we stopped doing that this season?

[Red Ram]

13 hours ago, DesertRam said:

Any other attendee's - would love to know what you have gleaned from this?

I was at this too, so since you asked, here are the main points he covered. I didn’t take notes so this is all from memory and I'm paraphrasing so ti may not be 100% accurate, and I've probably missed some stuff out too. As Needles says, nothing particularly controversial but here goes : -

• Once he became aware of Derby's interest he jumped at the chance and this ended any possibility of him going to Norwich. He didn't mention the Forest job.
• In response to a question about relationships with owners and 'managing upwards' (OK I'll admit to asking that one), he came up with a nice one-liner along the lines of "I better be careful with that loaded gun you've just handed me". Went on to say that actively maintaining a good relationship with owners/chairman is an inevitable part of the modern game at any club. Any owner investing large amounts of money is understandably going to want to keep an eye on what's going on. Even Ben Robinson, who was a very supportive chairman, would question him if he didn't agree with his decisions. Joked that at Birmingham he was "sacked for winning too many matches" but with the benefit of hindsight they'd probably done him a favour.
• Added that all managers need time and ultimately any manager needs to be trusted to get on with the job once the parameters are set. However, he's always happy to discuss his approach with anyone and that includes owners/chairman because he's got nothing to hide and anyway he thinks it's healthier to have an ongoing dialogue (compared with the initial period he spent at Birmingham when there was effectively no-one running the club).
• His approach to formations and tactics is best characterised as entirely pragmatic. He has a slight 'default' preference for 4-2-3-1 but is only really interested in what works and what wins matches. He likes to adjust formations and tactics dynamically within matches to respond to what's happening on the pitch (which we saw put in to practice to good effect during the Fulham game - my words not his).
• The ideal first team squad size is around 20 on the assumption that two players are likely to be injured at any given time which means that all available first players will be in the 18. Two or three players from the under 23s can then be used flexibly to make up any temporary shortfalls "as long as they're good enough". However he acknowledged that in practice it would be difficult to reduce squad size with players on long contracts etc so there wouldn't be a massive clear out in the summer and that's definitely not the message he wants to give to the players - it will be more of a process of 'natural attrition' over a period of time. However he did add that some players may well choose to move on and also mentioned that we might conceivably get big money bids for some of our players. He gave the example of the Hendrick to Burnley deal as being excellent business for Derby.
• On managing players, his approach is openness and honesty. His door is always open and he attaches a lot of importance to telling players personally if they're not going to be in the side.
• On player recruitment, Chris Evans will not be replaced for the foreseeable future because he sees identifying and evaluating signings as a key part of his own role and wants to do a lot of this himself. There's no one specific profile for the type of players we’re looking for. Could be from Premier League, Championship or Lower Leagues. Could be UK or overseas (which he did successfully at Birmingham with Maikel Kieftenbeld). He's more interested in the attributes of the player and whether he fits in with the squad. CHARACTER is just as important as ability with respect to player recruitment. He's looked at why Derby have fallen short in recent years and will be looking to recruit players that can help address those specific issues.  He's already produced a list of players he'd like the club to pursue over the summer. He doesn't envisage being mainly restricted to players registered with one specific agency (this was in response to a specific question about Wasserman which didn't mean much to me).
• On the academy, he wants and expects to see academy players breaking through to the first team, otherwise there's not really much point in having an academy (unless it's to sell players before they break into the first team).
• He recalled Igor's debut away at Tranmere when we lost 5-1 and they "found out that Igor didn't like to mark"! Jim Smith switched to 5 at the back immediately afterward and the rest is history. In the aftermath of the victory against Palace when they got promoted to the Premiere League he jumped on Marco Gabbiadini's back (not wearing his kit) and the News Of The World printed a photo with the headline "Gabbiadini celebrates with fan", much to the amusement of the rest of the squad!
• He talked of Jim Smith's exemplary man management skills where players would go into his office angry because they knew they weren't going to be in the team for the next match and would somehow come out with a smile on their faces without quite knowing how Smith had managed to do it.
• In terms of data analysis and stats, he makes use of them to some extent and has brought his Head of Analysis with him from Birmingham. They use data to assist in the recruitment of players but the most important data for them is what he called the 'physical' data which I assume relates to fitness and performance measures for individual players. They have 8 KPIs which they track throughout the week to measure 'marginal gain'.  He's less interested in data from matches (OPTA etc) as he's not really convinced there's much correlation between the various metrics and winning matches. He pointed out, for example, that Leicester City won the Premier League whilst consistently having lower share of possession than virtually all the other teams in the league. Overall he seemed very focused on fitness in general and work-rate in particular and has told the players we need to be the hardest working team in the division
• Managing supporters expectations is not an issue for him. Expectations are the inevitable consequence of success so really it's his job to create expectations rather than manage them. He certainly succeeded in raising mine!

I've been to similar events with Clough, McLaren and Clement and I would say Rowett came across much better than any of the above. Clement was perhaps more analytical but Rowett came across as more of a 'people person' and we came away with the distinct impression that he'd be very good at man management and handling the players. Overall I'd say Rowett's approach is more similar to Nigel Clough's than any other manager since (good news from my point of view), particularly in relation to the emphasis on 'character' during the player recruitment process, which I think we've perhaps lost sight of when spending Mel Morris's money.

So as Needles says, the overall impression was that we're in very good hands. My only personal concern  was about Will Hughes. I'd hate to see him leave ('one of our own' etc) but since Rowett mentioned the possibility of big money bids for some  of our players and given that Hughes isn’t in the team at the moment I can't help but wonder whether Hughes was who he might have had in mind. That said we do have a few other high value assets such as Ince and Martin but it's hard to think of too many others apart from perhaps Vydra who only joined this season and appears to fit with the way Rowett likes to play.

Overall though we came away with a very positive impression and a increased sense of optimism about next season and beyond. Looks like Mel Morris might have got this one right - let's hope he's Mel's first long term appointment.

[rynny]

3 hours ago, TelTheRam said:

Was it before Mac was sacked ?

No because of his sacking.

[Ninos]

3 hours ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

He notably shines in a losing team sometimes. I just could see sizable bids for Ince from low PL teams and him wanting to go in a way that I can't see pl teams meeting our valuations of Hughes based on his form this season. We've also got him on a long contract now.

Unless either/both GR and Hughes want out dead set then I don't think it'll happen. Which will hopefully give us one more season of him.

 

Good observations RW but there is no way that hughes won't be on a premier league team next season and I'd imagine he had something written in his contract to that effect. Both merseyside teams have been heavily linked in the past. GR not playing him makes no sense except that he knows something about the future.

On Ince you're right he will prob go. Newcastle no doubt ? You say it was voodoo between him and Mac but he seems to play his best with Bent in there (and Baird behind), both vanilla players who let Ince shine. Then look at the contrasting reaction by Ince when Bent scores versus nuge. But you knew that 

[Warren Hobhead]

2 hours ago, Davide said:

Seriously there were three home matches in a row I counted 3 ballooned over the bar, 2 feebly wide and another blocked. I'm sorry for every good shot maybe 5 poor efforts 

I've seen him rattle the woodwork a few times, or force the keeper into great saves. Of course, lots have been off target or blocked too. I think him having to play deeper this season has took his goal threat away, sadly. But in his two appearances for GR he's made the sort of driving runs of last season and at Forest was denied a great goal whilst Tuesday instead of shooting he quickly played Russell in who nearly scored. 

 

He hasn't had long under GR but already he looks less cautious. Same goes for Johnson. He too looks a yard quicker, more alert. 

 

I never envisaged such a quick turnaround so hats off to Rowett. I really like the look of our midfield again, and we've barely seen Hughes yet so more to come. 

 

Would love to see Butters follow Johnny and get off the mark at last this weekend. If he plays of course. I've always said these are good players and that's why I am never seen on here hammering any of them. And whilst I enjoyed Mac as manager, and Clement, I always wished we'd play a bit more direct, more on instinct rather than playing safe and cautious. 

 

Again, I wasn't sold on GR initially upon appointment, but he's winning me over. Looking forward to a trip to Brum on Saturday.

[tomsdubs]

2 hours ago, Davide said:

Seriously there were three home matches in a row I counted 3 ballooned over the bar, 2 feebly wide and another blocked. I'm sorry for every good shot maybe 5 poor efforts 

Seriously, picking out one player in a side that has been dreadful going forward most of the season is stupid. I know which games you mean, the team confidence was rock bottom. When the team is firing Butterfield is the best long shot in the side by a mile.

[RamNut]

Its never a good idea to sell will hughes 

Several seem to need a head examination.

[cannable]

33 minutes ago, RamNut said:

Its never a good idea to sell will hughes 

Several seem to need a head examination.

I thought the same when we sold Idiakez and Smith.

[MackworthRamIsGod]

I think Ince will be sold in the summer and I also think it could be time to cash in on Hughes.

Newcastle have been linked with both players in recent times and are about to receive a large sum of premiership money.

25 million should do it for the two of em.

[RamNut]

More nutters.....

[ramsbottom]

16 hours ago, RamNut said:

More nutters.....

As much as I'd hate to see the lad leave, I think it's rather telling that GR put Butterfield on instead of him on Tuesday night.  Let's face it, if you're wanting to get control of a midfield, you put Hughes on, but he didn't.  I don't think GR fancies him 

[EnigmaRam]

Or he could be protecting him if he's still got a minor injury.

[EnigmaRam]

17 hours ago, MackworthRamIsGod said:

I think Ince will be sold in the summer and I also think it could be time to cash in on Hughes.

Newcastle have been linked with both players in recent times and are about to receive a large sum of premiership money.

25 million should do it for the two of em.

Did you mean £25 mil each? I'd comsider that with a hefty sell on clause.

[eddie]

On 06/04/2017 at 11:15, Nuwtfly said:

Might get a lot of hate for saying this but, if the right price comes up, I think now might be the time to sell Hughes. Unbelievable player but if he doesn't fit the GR system then maybe it's time to cash in. 

I get the impression that reputations mean nothing at Derby now, and that places have to be earned. A couple more cameos like Tuesday (or an injury) and Hughes might get a start.

[jagerbob]

19 hours ago, MackworthRamIsGod said:

I think Ince will be sold in the summer and I also think it could be time to cash in on Hughes.

Newcastle have been linked with both players in recent times and are about to receive a large sum of premiership money.

25 million should do it for the two of em.

This would be fine if we had thwarted several bids on Hughes but we havent. Despite his promise, numerous clubs have seen him for what he is, and decided against bidding for him.