Clough The Board Apologist

[Jayram]

If you are unhappy about the signings then why is it not Clough's head you are calling for instead of GSE, I mean I could be wrong but I get the impression that Glick is just the businessman at the top that will try and sign the players that Nigel suggests.

Look back and you will see GSE have actually funded quite a few signings under both Jewell and Clough.

What Nigel has been given to spend is abysmal for a club at this level and with our potential. I do believe he is part of the problem in some ways, and it angers me the way he slavishly backs the boards actions, but how can I truly judge him when he has had so little to spend? He might be the exact opposite of Arthur Cox, a manager who was better working with peanuts than he was with millions.

This club is being slowly strangled to death by GSE, and while Glick may not be the decision maker, he is the highly paid mouthpiece for them and as such he is a legitimate target for our concerns.

[Day]

What Nigel has been given to spend is abysmal for a club at this level and with our potential. I do believe he is part of the problem in some ways, and it angers me the way he slavishly backs the boards actions, but how can I truly judge him when he has had so little to spend? He might be the exact opposite of Arthur Cox, a manager who was better working with peanuts than he was with millions.

This club is being slowly strangled to death by GSE, and while Glick may not be the decision maker, he is the highly paid mouthpiece for them and as such he is a legitimate target for our concerns.

That maybe so, but at the end of the day Nigel Clough is the man who made these signings that you say are taking us down.

Nigel himself has said that he knew what he was getting into when he came to Derby, now if he felt he couldn't do that job then he shouldn't of took the job on, if he feels now that he can't do the job with the finds available now then he should go and ask Glick for more money, if that request is rejected he should resign.

[ramblur]

.

Personally I feel it's come to the point where Nigel simply cannot find anymore young players that he feels can make the step up,

...the problem being that Nigel has clearly said we have enough young players (though there would now appear to be a vacancy) and is looking for permanents who are more experienced.The bid for Sammon may indicate that the more experienced player is beyond our price range and that we're having to go for the younger player we were trying to avoid.

[ramblur]

If you are unhappy about the signings then why is it not Clough's head you are calling for instead of GSE, I mean I could be wrong but I get the impression that Glick is just the businessman at the top that will try and sign the players that Nigel suggests.

Look back and you will see GSE have actually funded quite a few signings under both Jewell and Clough.

Funded to a very large extent by sales.

[CraigZ]

That maybe so, but at the end of the day Nigel Clough is the man who made these signings that you say are taking us down.

Nigel himself has said that he knew what he was getting into when he came to Derby, now if he felt he couldn't do that job then he shouldn't of took the job on, if he feels now that he can't do the job with the finds available now then he should go and ask Glick for more money, if that request is rejected he should resign.

Again, I agree - but I'd add that now is also the time for GSE to accept that running the club as they are is not constructive but actually destructive. At the moment Clough and GSE are backing one another - or 'the plan' at least - all the way into League 1. Time to accept that it takes money to move forward - money to retain your best players and money to recruit new players.

One or both parties seems incapable of accepting market conditions. It isn't that every player is overvalued, just that we're undervaluing every player.

[WilkoRam]

Nigel has signed in his time here (I'm not listing all the loans as I'll be here all day, just then permanent ones)

Croft (No place in squad anymore as he's not good enough according to Nigel)

Moxey (Sold as didn't make the grade according to Nigel)

Buxton (Solid, basic squad player - Injured all this season)

Pringle (Young, not really shown a lot yet but a developer)

Barker (A good defender, had a poor spell this season but all players do)

Deeney (Keeps a seat warm?)

Abalimba (Out on loan, youngster)

Hendrie (didn't last for long at all)

Anderson (Looked a good partner to Barker last season, injured all this season)

Brayford (Good right back and still time to improve even more)

Bailey (Good passer, good midfielder)

Martin (never played for us, out on loan)

Roberts (been poor and error prone so far for us)

Cywka (most assists in our team, good young player)

Doyle (youngster, developer)

Davies (too early to really judge)

So 16 in, 5 are either gone or out of loan at the moment. How do you rate the other players he's bought in?

[Day]

...the problem being that Nigel has clearly said we have enough young players (though there would now appear to be a vacancy) and is looking for permanents who are more experienced.The bid for Sammon may indicate that the more experienced player is beyond our price range and that we're having to go for the younger player we were trying to avoid.

Or it could be as someone mentioned above we have a poor scouting network, are the scouts not looking in the right places?

Or is it just a case of Nigel being very picky with his players, he's often said he wants to bring in players that want to play for Derby County, now let's be honest I don't think we have the same pulling power as did a few years ago.

Experienced Championship players you would hope would have ambitions of going to the next level, at the moment we look unlikely to make that step up. Given the choice of signing for Derby, Forest or Leicester right now as much as it hurts me to say...we would be 3rd choice.

[CraigZ]

Given the choice of signing for Derby, Forest or Leicester right now as much as it hurts me to say...we would be 3rd choice.

Not if we offered the highest wages of the three. Let's not forget that Sol Campbell and Sven were at Notts County last year.

[Day]

Not if we offered the highest wages of the three. Let's not forget that Sol Campbell and Sven were at Notts County last year.

Leicester have plenty of financial muscle behind them right now, add to that the Sven factor I can't see us being able to compete with them.

Forest, 3rd in the table 2 games in hand and win those they go top, Billy Davies would be seen as a manager more likely to take a club up than Nigel Clough. Wages we maybe able to match right now if rumours are to true that ND wants his higest earners to take wage cuts if they want to stay on.

Derby, worst team in Premiership history, we come down and spend endure another relegation battle, next season was slightly better finishing 14th, this season we don't look like doing much better. Sorry I just don't see us having the pulling power that we used to.

[CraigZ]

Leicester have plenty of financial muscle behind them right now, add to that the Sven factor I can't see us being able to compete with them.

Forest, 3rd in the table 2 games in hand and win those they go top, Billy Davies would be seen as a manager more likely to take a club up than Nigel Clough. Wages we maybe able to match right now if rumours are to true that ND wants his higest earners to take wage cuts if they want to stay on.

Derby, worst team in Premiership history, we come down and spend endure another relegation battle, next season was slightly better finishing 14th, this season we don't look like doing much better. Sorry I just don't see us having the pulling power that we used to.

With the financial structure we currently have in place, we'll continue to struggle to compete against any club in our division for signings and we'll continue to lose any players who stand out.

[ramblur]

Or it could be as someone mentioned above we have a poor scouting network, are the scouts not looking in the right places?

Or is it just a case of Nigel being very picky with his players, he's often said he wants to bring in players that want to play for Derby County, now let's be honest I don't think we have the same pulling power as did a few years ago.

Experienced Championship players you would hope would have ambitions of going to the next level, at the moment we look unlikely to make that step up. Given the choice of signing for Derby, Forest or Leicester right now as much as it hurts me to say...we would be 3rd choice.

...yet there seem to be several examples of decent players going to Championship clubs who have little chance of going to the next level this season.

If you want an extensive scouting network,it has to be paid for.

[VulcanRam]

Nigel has signed in his time here (I'm not listing all the loans as I'll be here all day, just then permanent ones)

Croft (No place in squad anymore as he's not good enough according to Nigel)

Moxey (Sold as didn't make the grade according to Nigel)

Buxton (Solid, basic squad player - Injured all this season)

Pringle (Young, not really shown a lot yet but a developer)

Barker (A good defender, had a poor spell this season but all players do)

Deeney (Keeps a seat warm?)

Abalimba (Out on loan, youngster)

Hendrie (didn't last for long at all)

Anderson (Looked a good partner to Barker last season, injured all this season)

Brayford (Good right back and still time to improve even more)

Bailey (Good passer, good midfielder)

Martin (never played for us, out on loan)

Roberts (been poor and error prone so far for us)

Cywka (most assists in our team, good young player)

Doyle (youngster, developer)

Davies (too early to really judge)

So 16 in, 5 are either gone or out of loan at the moment. How do you rate the other players he's bought in?

In my opinion, of those, Barker, Moxey, Brayford, Anderson, Bailey, Roberts, Ben Davies and Cywka are good enough at this level, giving Clough a success rate on that list of 50 per cent in terms of starters.

[Day]

If you want an extensive scouting network,it has to be paid for.

It also has to be requested by the manager, I wouldn't of thought he's brought Crosby, Garner across to save money, I also wouldn't of thought he's given his brother the scouting job to save on a few pennies either.

Nigel strikes me as a man that want's people around him he knows and can trust, say he got the job at Man Utd, it really wouldn't suprise me if he took Crosby, Garner and his brother with him.

[davenportram]

In my opinion, of those, Barker, Moxey, Brayford, Anderson, Bailey, Roberts, Ben Davies and Cywka are good enough at this level, giving Clough a success rate on that list of 50 per cent in terms of starters.

Not too bad a record really when you consider all the signings except Barker have been wither Freebies or cheap from lower divisions. - disppointing that Moxey has gone as he was half decent.

I think Ben Davies has the potential to be the best signing yet. Decent free kicks and corners - improved alot from Forest game- and seemed to go into the dangerous areas. Not afraid to have a pop and does something that we were missign from a creative player - tackle and track back. When Roberts had pushed pressuring there ball carrier, Davies straight away tracked their runner and filled the left back spot, something Commons never did leaving Moxey and Roberts exposed

[JohnClement]

We are conceding at least 2 goals in every game. We have lost 9 out of 11 games, yet we sell our only regular goalscorer, and sign no replacement or any defenders. Presumably the board and management have a plan to get us relegated. Frankly I cant see how this is going to turn around.

[ramblur]

It also has to be requested by the manager, I wouldn't of thought he's brought Crosby, Garner across to save money, I also wouldn't of thought he's given his brother the scouting job to save on a few pennies either.

Nigel strikes me as a man that want's people around him he knows and can trust, say he got the job at Man Utd, it really wouldn't suprise me if he took Crosby, Garner and his brother with him.

Or perhaps he realises that money's so tight that employing more scouts woud further reduce an already meagre budget?l

[Day]

Or perhaps he realises that money's so tight that employing more scouts woud further reduce an already meagre budget?l

Clough has already said he knew what he was getting himself into when he came to the club, would you come if you knew you couldn't afford the staff you want around you?

Or has he employed the people he's worked with for years at Burton?

I'd say the latter, and don't forget he brought in Metgod who has contacts (Bueno signing), I wouldn't of thought he would be here on a couple hundred quid a week.

[ramblur]

Clough has already said he knew what he was getting himself into when he came to the club, would you come if you knew you couldn't afford the staff you want around you?

Or has he employed the people he's worked with for years at Burton?

I'd say the latter, and don't forget he brought in Metgod who has contacts (Bueno signing), I wouldn't of thought he would be here on a couple hundred quid a week.

He may have known what he was initially coming into,but perhaps he had a reasonable expectation that,having sorted the mess out,he might be backed a little more thereafter?He's already said that a club our size should be able to fund a decent signing every year,which seems to indicate he wasn't told at the outset that we wouldn't.

[The Ram]

From DET website:

Clough has defended the work in the transfer window of chief executive Tom Glick and Mal Brannigan, who is vice-president, finance.

"When you lose Kris Commons in the transfer window and we don't bring a player in, it (reaction of the fans) is inevitable," said Clough.

"But all I will say is that Tom Glick and Mal Brannigan could not have worked any harder, like us all, to try to get players in during the window and we just couldn't manage it."

'We just couldn't manage it?' What a pathetic statement, a real indicator of how **** we are under GSE in my view.

It is clear Nigel is the boards puppet and broadly agrees with the direction they are taking the club in, so as far as I'm concerned he is as much a part of the problem as they are.

Good post Jayram, and I agree with you

Sums our Club up, Glick & Co. just aren't doing it. If I don't do my job I get the sack. Yes its difficult but that is why Glick earns £450,000 per year.

There is NO excuse.

[Day]

He may have known what he was initially coming into,but perhaps he had a reasonable expectation that,having sorted the mess out,he might be backed a little more thereafter?He's already said that a club our size should be able to fund a decent signing every year,which seems to indicate he wasn't told at the outset that we wouldn't.

Possibly.

I honestly don't know, all I was getting at is that everyone pipes up GSE spin as soon as Glick opens his mouth and we get the usual Yanks out of my club posts all over the forum. I'd like people who are accusing Glick of lying to actually backup what they are saying.

I get the impression some people have made they're mind up that GSE are pure evil and made a scapgoat for everything, take last nights game for example, I can't remember who started it but it ended up being GSE's fault we lost last night due to a lack of ambition blah de blah.

It gets very tedious especially straight after the full time whistle has just blown.