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”.
