Clough out, McDermott in?!?

Many fans of football were surprised with the sacking of Brian McDermott earlier this week. Football is a results business, so it is perhaps no real surprise at all that he got sacked. However, considering what he achieved with Reading the decision is hard to take by many. He has become a victim of his own success, much like Nigel Adkins months prior. Such is McDermott’s stock however that unhappy fans of other clubs may start wishing for such an unemployed manager. Off the back of the McDermott sacking, a friend of mine tweeted “There’ll be a few in the Championship who speed up removing their manager”. Whilst I am not in any way suggesting the Derby board are looking to get rid of Nigel Clough, it is perhaps a fitting time to assess his standing at the club.

The Rams haven’t won in 8 games and have alarmingly gone from comfortably flirting with the top half of the table, to contemplating gate crashing the race to League 1 (Don’t do it!!). Somewhat more alarming is the manner in which things have transpired in recent weeks. Poor defensive displays continue to go hand in hand with shyness in front of goal, all with a threadbare squad (whilst Nathan Tyson, Theo Robinson and Tom Naylor are out on loan).  

Tactical decisions have been baffling. The decision to persist with Adam Legzdins in goal, despite his declining form in recent weeks is a strange one (although I am definitely not placing all the blame on him; that would be absurd and unfair). The idea of having two competitive goalkeepers though is that they push each other. Stephen Bywater’s form deteriorated towards the end of his Rams career because he had no serious threat to his Number 43 jersey in Saul Deeney. In Frank Fielding, Legzdins is up against a legitimate contender. A change in goalkeeper is perhaps now necessary, and that’s no slight on Legzdins as he has largely impressed during his 30 games stint. He will come back stronger from his experience – assuming that he is actually dropped any time soon. Michael Jacobs has recently found himself out in the cold. History suggests with Clough that once a player is out in the cold, he struggles to find true warmth again. Such warmth cannot be achieved by wearing a Slanket or a Onesie either.

If Clough ever has to write a CV, then he will not be able to include “Impressive away record with Derby County”. He has managed the Rams 104 times away from home in competitive action, with a return of 22 wins. Under Billy Davies in the promotion season, there were 12 away wins. Under George Burley in the 04/05 season, there were 12 away wins. Performances on the road this year have perhaps warranted more, but the results don’t lie. For some reason, Derby have been poor away from home under Clough. It wouldn’t be such an problem if they didn’t have to play 23 games away from Pride Park every season.

It is no secret that finances at Pride Park are tight. Clough’s biggest success at Derby - aside his successful knee to the back of Billy Davies’ leg - has been assembling a competitive, and potentially very good team with very little to play with, wonga wise. Many managers under such constraints may not have stuck around for as long as Clough. Remember Mark Hughes who walked away from Fulham believing they were not ambitious enough? He ended up at money bags QPR. Fine job he did there too... So it’s testament to Clough that he is even in a position to still be sacked.

However, whilst Derby are not the Bill Gates of the football world, they’re hardly the man stood outside Tesco’s every day trying to sell Big Issue’s either. The £1.2 million spent on Conor Sammon shows that money has been available. Sammon is a bit like Marmite, in the sense that most people don’t tend to like him. Judging him on goals alone, he has been an expensive failure. His game isn’t about scoring goals though, and it’s not his fault that the Rams spent an unusually large amount on a striker that doesn’t score goals. That fault lies with the manager.

What also lies with the manager is the annual decline in form. Derby’s seasons have an air of inevitability about them. The moment fans start to dream of a playoff push, form deteriorates and at best the season turns into a bit of a relegation battle, and at worst it turns into a nothing season. Zero excitement. Sadly, whenever Derby find themselves in the play-off places in November-January, it’s hard to enjoy because you just know it is unsustainable. Unlike Cardiff City who usually give their fans hope until late April before crashing and burning, Derby fans tend to know in early February that it’s another wasted season.

In Clough’s defence, the football Derby have played this year has generally been aesthetically pleasing, more so than previous seasons and under previous managers. He can spot a good player for a cheap price (he can also spot a striker that doesn’t score for £1.2 million, before you mention it!). He has given youth a chance and been rewarded, and as already mentioned, he’s working with at least one hand (metaphorically) tied behind his back when it comes to money. Clough is a Derby man. He cares about the club and another disappointing season will undoubtedly annoy him as much as it does the paying punter.

However, things are going stale and attendances are going down quicker than Gareth Bale in the box. Increased season ticket prices don’t help, but a football city such as Derby would undoubtedly attract 28,000+ regularly if there was a reason to believe better things were to come. Would a manager like Brian McDermott with an impressive track record be able to improve things? Or would he be stifled be financial constraints and prove Clough to be a better manager than his track record suggests?

Football super fan Albert Einstein once described insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. The same thing is happening over and over again at Derby, with the same results. For anything to change, does there need to be a change in management? With good managers in the market, many Derby fans may now believe the answer to that question to be “yes”.