vicky-27 Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 Derby County : The Slow Build Starts Now Derby ended their season today performing in the same way they have for the majority of games this season. That is: started brightly, had the better of the game for significant periods, created plenty of chances, gifted goals to the opposition, lost heavily to average at best opposition. On the post match phone in I heard some guy, inexplicably, having a go at Nigel Clough saying he was sick of his team selections and reluctance to make substitutions. More worryingly,the guy sounded reasonably intelligent and not under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. Whilst everyone is entitled to their opinion, I just thought this was crazy and a great example of how so many clubs find themselves in trouble. 'Boom or Bust' is a term recently quoted by Gary Crosby (our assistant manager) and sums up Derby County perfectly over the last 5 years or so. Relegation scrap or Promotion charge, new manager every season, new squad every summer, new Academy structure every 5 minutes and a boardroom with more cabinet re-shuffles than an IKEA stock take! Nigel is spot on when he says what we need more than anything is stability. Pending the arrival of the Cartoon Army (a.k.a. The new Leeds), Derby are by a distance the biggest and best supported club outside the Premier League.To that end, we are well within our rights to expect to be in the top half of the Championship. As for getting out of it, it pains me to say, it could take some time. Outside of the odd blip (like us under Billy Davies), there are two proven ways of success in the Championship. You come down, tweak the team and bounce straight back (West Brom, Birmingham) or you build it over a couple of seasons (Stoke, Wolves). If you try the first option and fail, you need to adjust your expectations and tell the fans what you are doing. If you decide to have one final punt in your last parachute payment year, it's a real death or glory as failure can spell oblivion (see Southampton, Charlton, Leeds). If you go for the slow build phase, the key point is to hold your nerve. If it was down to the majority of Wolves fans, Mick McCarthy would have been sacked last season. Equally I don't think many Stoke fans were too overjoyed when Tony Pulis was re-appointed. At Derby we've already been told we won't be signing any Premiership players, outside of season loans, this summer. Our bloated squad's getting slashed and we are going for young hungry players coming to Derby to better themselves & not just to stick an extra £5k a week on their wages. Nigel says our one objective next & every season is to be better than the season before; which seems a sensible philosophy to me. Lets hope the majority of Rams fans agree and give him the time to build something solid. Finally as a complete aside, I just wanted to mention my amusement at Cardiff's debacle. Being touted for automatic promotion 3 weeks ago, their spectacular implosion has left them without even a stab at the play offs. Every time we play the bluebirds, Dave Jones is equally ungracious in victory or defeat and I find him one of the most smug manager's in our league. All together - "going up and you mucked it up". Good read - found in the Times - so what are your hopes ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
premierram Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 Like nige said the team was the team he could put out when alby was out he didnt want to start with the young lad fair enough. Your gonna get people questioning subs and tactics thats football everyone has an opinion. One things is for sure clough needs to ship out the dead wood who dont want to play for this club cause there is a lot of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Day Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I hope Nigel knows what he's doing, end the season mid table above and beat Forest, Leicester and Leeds home and away. The test to see how good Clough really is starts now............... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vicky-27 Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 I hope so to it's going to be a tough season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Day Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I think its going to be tougher than alot of people expect, some Derby fans think we have a right to be in the top half of the table fighting for the play offs but thats crap. Sheff United, Reading, Burnley, Preston, Cardiff, Swansea, Ipswich, Bristol City all very good teams this season and apart from Swansea they are all established top half teams. Theres also 3 to come down out of WBA, Boro, Hull, Newcastle and Sunderland, all of which have strong squads, apart from Newcastle who will have to ship out alot of earners but they will be able to attract better players than any club in this league so shouldn't struggle if they do come down. I'm hoping for a finish between 10th and 15th next season, with 15th being more realistic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vicky-27 Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 Will be even harder with the clubs coming down as well - my prediction for this season was 13th - and i don't expect any higher than that for next season, it's going to take time to build the squad again - like starting from scratch really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramona Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 As long as we don't go down and finish above Forest, having played FOOTball with players that give their all - I'll be happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEM Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 That works for me too Ramona. Just finish above Forest is the only demand, the rest I just hope for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boycie Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 The trouble is, when you finish below halfway you tend to have lost a lot of games. The general thought is that one area is to blame, ie defenders, then you have to sort that, give time to gel and go again. I would expect Nigel to be given more time by our supporters that any other manager could hope for. He tells the fans exactly who he thinks played a crap game so we know where he stands. He has been critical of players that he hasn't signed so far. It will be interesting to see how he goes on when most, or all of the players have been brought in by himself. I think he will still be openly critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CumbrianRam Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Kick out the deadwood pre-season. Then a top half finish with positive goal difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Day Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Originally posted by Boyciniho;13809 The trouble is, when you finish below halfway you tend to have lost a lot of games. The general thought is that one area is to blame, ie defenders, then you have to sort that, give time to gel and go again. I would expect Nigel to be given more time by our supporters that any other manager could hope for. He tells the fans exactly who he thinks played a crap game so we know where he stands. He has been critical of players that he hasn't signed so far. It will be interesting to see how he goes on when most, or all of the players have been brought in by himself. I think he will still be openly critical. I disagree, if we're in the bottom half of the table by Christmas I think the fans will be on his back and the boo boys will be out in force. Theres a percentage of Derby fans who want instant success, I get the impression they think we deserve to be in the Premiership as we're Derby County. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derbydan Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 mid table / top half and i would be more than happy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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