MK Dons 1 Derby 3

This match is one, that in all honesty should have happened a couple of seasons ago with MK Dons threatening to make the jump up to the Championship since the days when Paul Ince was in charge. It's been a long hard slog up to this league and a couople of play-off defeats later here they are, for the firsst ever meeting between the two sides.

The starting 11's for both teams (@Ed_DawesBeeb)

Paul Clement made 3 changes from the team that drew against Burnley with Chris Baird, Stephen Warnock and Tom Ince returning to the fold replacing George Thorne, Craig Forsyth and Andreas Weimann. While I gather that Thorne had a bit of an injury and Weimann wasn't really involved in the game on Monday, I can't help but feel this was harsh on Forsyth who I don't think has put a foot wrong this season, especially defensively.

Anyway, off to the pub I went, only to find that the main match on the tele was between two little known teams called Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur and not my beloved Derby! To say I was shocked was an understatement, but I took it in my stride and settled down in a corner to watch the match on a much smaller screen, with no commentary. It was a cagey first 15 minutes or so with both teams feeling their way into the match - MK Dons were spraying the ball about with a confidence and competence belying their league position. Suddenly though the match burst into life. After neat interplay down the Derby right, Ben Reeves floated the ball towards the back post where Carl Baker beat Warnock to the ball. The ball dropped to Simon Church (who should have been called offside but wasn't), and he blasted it towards goal. Somehow, Scott Carson made a point-blank save and the ball was scrambled away for a corner.

Jason Shackell moves the ball on (@dcfcofficial)

This should have been the first warning shot about how this match was going to go. Everything that happened in that single move would be repeated time after time, again and again over the course of the match; whether it be the sharp, crisp MK Dons passing or the last ditch defending. As a riposte of sorts, Ince slipped the ball through to Martin who shot at the legs of former Derby loanee David Martin in the Milton Keynes net. Ince then skyed the ball over the bar when it would have been easier to hit the target, but that was as good as it got for Derby in a first half where they were given the run around by the championship newcomers.

You would have thought that given the way Derby were outfought and out thought in the first half, Clement would make changes at half time, but he didn't. Instead Derby came out with a renewed sense of purpose and after Warnock moved over the half way line for the first time in his Derby career, Derby were in front. Slipped in on the overlap by Jacob Butterfield, Warnock cut the ball back to the edge of the penalty area where Bradley Johnson slipped it past Martin and into the net for his first Derby goal. I wonder if I'm doing Warnock a disservice when I say that I think the ball came off by luck rather than design; it appeared that he was squaring the ball for Johnny Russell and had actually hit it behind him. Anyway, finally the break through.

Bradley Johnson (centre) celebrates his goal (@dcfcofficial)

With Derby in lead, surely no the shackles could come off and we would sweep past a demoralised Milton Keynes. Nope. Instead MK Dons roared back into life, pinning Derby into the penalty area and attacked with renewed vigour. Jake Forster-Caskey on-loan from top of the league Brighton found acres of space in between the back four and the midfield, shifted the ball onto Church who passed it to Josh Murphy. Murphy then took an age to control the ball in the box and with no hint of a Derby player closing him down fired the ball low past Carson into the net. Absolutely abysmal defending from all involved, it wasn't the first or last case in the match either.

The next let off for Derby came when a poor touch by Warnock forced him to run back towards his own goal. This on it's own is fine, but then he proceeded to fire the ball against Jason Shackell who moved forward to help him out. Ricocheting off Shackell the ball spun into the path of Church who with all the time in the world, with Murphy and Reeves to aim for and with Richard Keogh and Shackell scrambling to get back fluffed his lines. He passed it in between his teammates and the golden opportunity of the match was wasted. The storm was coming.

Johnny Russell runs onto the ball (@dcfcofficial)

Dean Lewington had a header tipped onto the post by Carson after getting the better of Keogh and Murphy was unluckily booked for diving after taking a tumble in the box near Carson. Derby were living very dangerously. Then Clement finally decided to make a change; off went Butterfield and Baird and on came Weimann and Hendrick with Derby switching to a 4-4-2 formation. Weimann made an immediate impact flicking for the onrushing Martin who moved the ball to Ince, with Ince shooting wide when he really should have hit the target. Russell then smacked the ball against the bar from distance.

One could that Derby were growing into the game having miraculously survived a 70 minute long onslaught; how much of that was down to Clement's tactical changes or just Milton Keynes tiring is up for debate. Derby's final and what in the end would be most telling substitution was to bring on Darren Bent for Chris Martin. With Derby monopolising possession a chance would always come our way and when it did it was really well worked. Ince played the ball back to Hendrick an proceeded to run off his man into space in the box where Hendrick threaded a perfectly weighted ball back into him. With one touch Ince opened up his body and played the ball across goal where Bent put the ball in the net, with Johnson queueing up behind should he miss.

With 89 minutes on the clock Derby had their noses in front once more, but there was still one more scare to come; an MK Dons corner was whipped right onto Carson, who under unfair attention from Dean Bowditch punched the ball towards his own net. Fortunately Weimann was there to poke the ball away with plenty of time to spare, not that it stopped the home supporters asking for a goal. Then in the final minute (the 96th to be precise), Ince nicked the ball after a sloppy touch from Diego Poyet, advanced on goal and confidently fired the ball into the net. 3-1 the final scoreline, but not a 3-1 performance that's for sure.

Derby players celebrate Darren Bent's goal (@dcfcofficial)

Great credit should go to MK Dons; they pressed us high up the pitch and moved forward with a tempo I haven't seen from a team since the first season of Steve McClaren's reign. Their obvious problem was finishing; to have 26 shots on goal with only 4 on target shows a huge amount of profligacy. They have everything about them to be a good team in this league; confident on the ball, pacey wingers and an astute manager in Karl Robinson. Everything except goals. I would hazard a guess and say that should Robinson receive an injection of cash Church would be one of the first players to be replaced. Although his movement and work rate are good, his decision making and finishing are poor; there is a reason he was released by a Charlton side that barely escaped relegation last year. There also seems to be a soft underbelly there; Forster-Caskey and Poyet are very lightweight combination in defensive midfield with the potetnial to be bullied and don't seem to offer much protection when they actully have to defend.

As for Derby, I think it's fair to say the term 'smash and grab' comes to mind. No Derby fan would be happy with that performance and indeed no Derby fan should be happy with that performance; a team with aspirations of getting promoted to the Premier League should be able to do the basics right such as find a Derby player 4 times out 5. This didn't happen today.

Player Performances

• Scott Carson - Very much a mixed bag today. On one hand he made some vital saves that kept us in the match and on the other his handling of crosses left a lot to be desired, especially towards the end of the match.
• Cyrus Christie - A decent performance, did well to contain the lively Murphy and didn't put a foot wrong really. Didn't get the chance to support the attack as much as he has done recently, but I think it' fair to say he's finally reached the form we saw from him at the start of last season.
• Richard Keogh - I might get a bit of flack for this but I think he was one of our poorest players today. Time and time again he was out muscled by his man on set pieces and some of his ball watching was criminal. Should have been much closer to Murphy for their goal, but wasn't so he was able to get away with a poor touch.
• Jason Shackell - As usual very vocal and dominated his men on set pieces. Struggled to deal with their movement up front, but at the same time was a calming influence towards the end of the match.
• Stephen Warnock - Made a fine assist for Johnson's goal, but that was the only time I can actually remember him going forward. Was out muscled a lot (I say this too often about him)  and showed poor awareness of his surroundings to fire the ball at Shackell from 5 yards away. I just don't see him doing anything that Forsyth can't do better. 
• Chris Baird - Back from injury so I should cut him a  bit of slack but I can't. Didn't move the ball forward as often as he should, but I can forgive that  as he's a defender by trade. What's harder to forgive is the amount of space he kept leaving between himself and the back 4. A better team would have punished us for this. 
• Bradley Johnson - What would appear to be the complete midfield performance. Helped out well when defending, passed the ball well and got a very good goal. Hopefully the first of many. 
• Jacob Butterfield - Seemed to get frustrated very easily and wasn't particularly influential. Thought he was lucky not to be taken off at half time as he was close to being sent off, but returned to play a lovely ball through to Warnock for the first goal.
• Tom Ince - Worked hard and never gave up but at times his first touch was non-existent. However, got absolutely nothing from the referee, and deserved his goal in the end, having had one incorrectly ruled out beforehand.

  

  Tom Ince celebrating his 96th minute goal (@dcfcofficial)

• Johnny Russell - Wasn't the greatest performance from Johnny. We got the usual hard work and he helped out Warnock a lot. going forward however was a different story; he struggled to get going and the only real thing of note he did in the opposition half was hit the bar. 
• Chris Martin - I feel I should be honest. This was in my opinion, Martin's worst performance in a Derby shirt, with a first touch like a baby elephant and being caught offside more times in this match than all of last season. A day to write off as a poor day at the office for him. 
• Andreas Weimann - Made a couple of nice flicks and took up some great positions in the box only to be let down by the ball in. His best contribution though was down the other end when he cleared Carson's mispunch off the line. 
• Jeff Hendrick - Much improved. Moved the ball on well and played a superb pass into Ince for the second goal. He's banging on the door for a starting spot next week.
• Darren Bent - Did what Darren Bent does best; scores goals in the box by being in the right place at the right time. He'll get more this season and I wouldn't be surprised if he starts next week. 

Parting Thoughts

• I suspect Clement may have a few big decisions to make next week with Bent having made a huge difference when he came on for Martin and Hendrick when he came on for Baird. Will he be brave enough to drop his captain to the bench? Having the armband shouldn't prevent a player fro being dropped, but we all know it somehow makes it an awful lot harder to do.
• Unlike in recent games, we were wide open at the back today and better teams would have taken advantage. If he wants to play Baird in defensive midfield Clement needs to change the formation so that Johnson sits next to him when we are defending. Thorne is the only player we have who play that role without any help from the midfield. 
• Fair play to the 3000 plus Derby fans who went to Milton Keynes, not an easy trip for such an early kick off, especially when you can watch it at home or in the pub.

Paul Clement's Excellent Adventure

With the sacking of Steve McClaren in May a job opportunity opened up in the Championship, a job that would tempt any unemployed coach. The immediate front runner was Paul Clement, the former assistant manager of Carlo Ancellotti at Real Madrid and indeed it had been rumoured that he would take over as boss even before McClaren left the club.  Therefore it was no great surprise when he was appointed Head Coach and it is the culmination of a long and very unusual route he's taken into professional football.

Steve McClaren was sacked by Derby in May 2015

The son of former England player Dave Clement, Paul was not so lucky in his attempts to become a professional footballer, not making higher than non-league, instead becoming a PE Teacher and taking his gaining his coaching qualifications. If I was being very harsh I would say he embodied the untrue stereotype that those who can't do, teach. From the age of 23 he worked both as a full time PE teacher and at the Chelsea centre of excellence. He was given his first full time job in professional football by Fulham where worked as a coach in the academy, returning to Chelsea after working for 7 years at Fulham. On his return to Chelsea he was initially appointed to the under-16's, but he quickly moved up the ladder until 2008 when the arrival of interim manager Gus Hiddink, precipitated his promotion from coaching the reserves to coaching the first team.

Although Hiddink would leave at the end of the season having won the FA Cup, Clement was kept on the staff by replacement Carlo Ancelotti. He stayed for 2 successful seasons as Ancelotti's assistant before trigger-happy owner Roman Abramovich fired the Italian. After a brief stint as Steve Kean's assistant at Blackburn, Carlo came knocking, looking for an assistant at his new club Paris Saint-Germain and Clement would follow. The famous saying "All roads lead to Rome" means that no matter what path you take you always end up in the same place. Well, in football this can be amended. For any successful person in world football, whether you are a player, a manager or a coach, the phrase is "All roads lead to Real (Madrid)". Whether that be playing for them or against them, or managing them or managing a team against them.

Paul Clement and Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea

Afters spending 2 seasons at PSG, 'Los Blancos' came calling for  Ancelotti and his able assistant followed him. After winning the Copa del Rey and the clubs 10th Champions League title in his first season at the club things looked good for Clement and Co. However a trophyless second season guaranteed Ancelotti's sacking - if there's one thing Real Madrid don't have it's patience. With Ancelotti taking a year long break to recover from back surgery, there was now no better time for Clement to strike out on his own.

John Peacock was Clement's first backroom staff addition

Upon his arrival at Derby Clement quickly set about bringing in his backroom staff. First to come was John Peacock, leaving his role as coach of the England under-17's to become first team coach. As a player, Peacock made over 200 appearances for Scunthorpe and after his playing career finished he had a stint as Academy Director at Derby County between 1998 and 2002. The word on the grapevine was that the FA weren't happy to lose him, which speaks something about how well regarded he was in the setup.

The next arrival was former Switzerland goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbühler as Goalkeeping Coach. With most of his career appearances coming at FC Basel, he is probably most well known for being the only goalkeeper in history to not concede a goal in normal time at the World Cup in 2006. His only coaching jobs before coming to Derby were several short spells as the Goalkeeper Coach of the Philippine national team. 

Pascal Zuberbühler arrived as Goalkeeping Coach

Derby started the season with the trio of Clement, Peacock and Zuberbühler in charge of first team affairs. On paper, it's a gamble; a Head Coach with no previous experience of being top dog, backed up by a First Team Coach who main coaching experience is teaching teenagers (albeit some very talented teenagers). It does have shades of when Phil Brown was in charge - a young rookie manager backed up by an inexperienced assistant, but without the upheaval behind the scenes that was a hallmark of Brown's reign.

One thing that could be noted is that amongst the coaching staff there was not a single face that a casual football fan would be able to recognise. In fact I dare say quite a few of the players would have had no idea who any of the coaching staff were and about their pasts, which could in turn make it difficult for Clement to gain that automatic authority that any successful leader needs. Also with none of the senior staff having had any experience of top level or even Championship football there's always the possibility that specific points are harder to get across in the changing room.

Kevin Phillips arrived in September as Assistant Coach

In a move that could be seen assuage fears of miscommunication, Kevin Phillips was brought in as Assistant Coach to Paul Clement from Leicester City. Phillips has a huge wealth of experience to draw up on; he made 660 first team appearances as a player, scoring over 282 goals and winning the European Golden Shoe for the 1999-2000 season. A prolific goal scorer in his playing career he was a well liked member of Nigel Pearson's coaching staff at Leicester City and respected by the players. I'm certain that every Derby player knows who Phillips is. Yes, even the much maligned Jeff Hendrick would surely have some clue. As someone who has been around the block, seen it all and done it all, he would be the ideal candidate to get any unwelcome opinions across to the players without much backlash. 

Will this new look team be able to deal with the high expectations of the fans and more so, the high expectations of our chairman Mel Morris? There have been mixed signals so far; a much improved defence to go with a less decisive attack. Draws seem to be the flavour of the day, week and month but I'm optimistic. My optimism has been misplaced in the past - I was certain we would beat QPR in the playoffs and I was also certain we would make the playoffs last season. Time will tell, I guess.

Derby 0 Burnley 0

When the fixture list came out at the start of the season I thought that Burnley would be the the last match I would see in the flesh before leaving for university. However, Rupert had other ideas and instead I was reduced to watching the match in a pub playing early 2000's R&B songs over the commentary. So here I was, watching my beloved Derby playing Sean Dyche's Burrnley to a soundtrack consisting of Nelly and other assorted rappers. Lovely.

Derby's Starting 11 (@Ed_DawesBeeb)

Paul Clement had decided to stick with the same defence that gained the team what was surprisingly it's first clean sheet of the season against Reading. 2 changes were made though; Jeff Hendrick who was ineffective on Tuesday was replaced by the returning George Thorne, whilst Tom Ince suffered a knock in training and was replaced by Andreas Weimann. Burnley set up with their customary 4-4-2 formation full of hard workers, looking to be able to hit Derby on the break with the pacey Andre Gray up front.

I must confess, I missed the first 10 minutes of the match ordering a drink at the bar, but I can only assume nothing of interest happened as it was still 0-0 when I found a comfortable spot to settle in. It was immediately clear that this would be like every other match at the iPro this season; Derby trying to force their way through a well organised outfit. I'd expect nothing less from a Sean Dyche team.

That's not to say Burnley didn't try to attack, as Gray tirelessly chased down inaccurate balls from his midfielders. It's just that the final ball was missing. It was the same with Derby on the attack, looking for a final ball that never presented itself. indeed, the best chances for both teams would came from set pieces, with Michael Keane having a shot blocked by George Thorne and Tom Heaton swinging for and missing a few corners.

Craig Forsyth marshalls George Boyd (@dcfcofficial)

It was a fairly even first half, but the odds shifted slightly in Derby's favour when Gray tweaked his hamstring and was taken off as a precaution just before half time. He was replaced by Rouwen Hennings, a man who offered nowhere near the pace or movement that Gray did. In response Derby did the obvious thing to do when the opposition has no one to run in behind; they moved up and began pressing higher up the pitch. We only saw a couple of minutes of this before the half time whistle went, but it looked promising as Burnley were penned back.

No changes at half time, but Dyche obviously had the opportunity drill his thoughts into his players as his team came out much more well organised than they were previously. As Derby dominated possession through the controlling Thorne and the tenacious Bradley Johnson and Jacob Butterfield. However for all the possession, I have to say Burnley looked comfortable only being really threatened at set pieces. Keogh should have done better when he came charging in at the near post, flick Johnny Russell's corner high and wide. He nearly did a lot better when he met another Russell corner at the back post, his header back across goal being cleared off the line by Tendayi Darikwa. It's most unlike Derby to be dangerous from corners, but then again, you have to get them past the first man to be in with a chance; something we don't do often enough.

George Thorne competes with Andre Gray for the ball (@dcfcofficial)

As Derby set up shop in the Burnley half of the pitch the inevitable happened; a mistake in the Derby defence led to a Burnley chance. Jason Shackell dived in to intercept the ball, but completely missed it and just like that George Boyd was in the box. Sam Vokes pulled back to the penalty spot and inexplicably Boyd proceeded to absolutely leather the ball at him, giving Vokes no chance of controlling the shot, which went over.

Later on in the macth, Weimann lost his man at a throw in by the edge of Derby's box and the ball was pulled back again to Vokes, who shot tamely into the arms of Scott Carson. Apart from set piece Burnley restricted us to shot's from outside the box, with Butterfield being the main culprit, blasting high and wide time after time. Thorne had a shot from a long way out that drew a save for the cameras from Heaton whilst Chris Martin had a last minute shot tipped away.

Jacob Butterfield tries to get past Scott Arfield (@dcfcofficial)

You know how they say that sometimes a 0-0 draw can be as exciting as a 5-4 match? Well this wasn't like that; it was 2 very competent teams cancelling each other out. Burnley will quite rightly see this a good point gained, whilst Derby will see it as a missed opportunity to gain ground lost on the early season leading pack. Burnley will be up around the playoffs this season; if they keep Gray fit they'll be dangerous and with Dyche organising the, they won't begin to ship goals - at least, not like we did at the end of last season.

Performances

 Scott Carson - wasn't tested at all. Made the saves he would have expected to, claimed crosses well, but some of his kicking let him down. That's 2 games in a row his kicking has been poor.

Cyrus Christie - Seems to be growing by the game. Looked much more solid defensively than in the past, and got forward really well. Whipped in some lovely crosses, causing Heaton no end of trouble.

Cyrus Christie challenges Michael Kightly for the ball (@dcfcofficial)

Richard Keogh - Did well running the with the ball out of defence when there was no passing option. Did well when put up against Vokes for the most part, but lost his man hen Vokes fluffed his lines late on.

Jason Shackell - Can't fault him in terms of organising the defence but looked a bit off the pace at times. Dominated in the air but his mistimed interception could have and on another day would have cost Derby a goal. Also, some of his passing forward to the midfield left a lot to be desired, more often than not being intercepted by Burnley or putting the midfielder in immediate danger. Leave Keogh to be the passing defender I think.

Craig Forsyth - Nothing got past him defensively. I've said it before and I'll say it again, he's one of the best left backs in the league when it comes to actual defending. Didn't really offer much going forward, but that might be because he hasn't played with Weimann on his wing before.

George Thorne - Did what he does best; mopped up play with ease and spread it well. Controlled the match, but it was no surprise to see him go off early having just returned from injury.

Jacob Butterfield - A little bit disappointing. He found space well on several occasions only to cut inside and shoot wide instead of feeding the overlapping full back. Tenacious in trying to in back possession. Worked hard, but needs to work on his decision making.

Bradley Johnson - It's nice to have a physical presence in midfield who might not fall to pieces at a moments notice (no disrespect meant George). Much better in the advanced position he found himself today, he'll be a big player this season.

Andreas Weimann - Was full of running, harassing Darikwa at every opportunity. Got himself into good positions but the ball just didn't quite fall for him, especially when running onto Martin's flick-ons.

Johnny Russell -  Worked incredibly hard, I don't think I've seen anyone run that far since Craig Bryson was at his fittest  couple of seasons ago. Relentless tracking back helped Christie and some of his set pieces were wonderful. On the other hand, some of them were awful and his final ball was lacking. I wouldn't say it was a bad performance though, just a little uninspired.

Johnny Russell places the ball for a corner (@dcfcofficial)

Chris Martin - This was a frustrating evening for Chrissy. Battled well, often on his own against 2 aerially dominant centre backs. With balls being fired up to him at head height, he was always going to lose that battle. When the ball was played on the ground, he looked so much better. Was starved of space in the second half, with his flick-ons and late shot being the only real contributions he made in the last 30 minutes.

Jeff Hendrick - Came on for Butterfield and did exactly the same thing; had pot shots from distance. The only difference being that Hendrick got his on target. Made couple of surging runs with the ball.

Jamie Hanson - Replaced Thorne late on, so not long to impress. Was his usual nippy self while he was on the pitch.

Parting Thoughts

•  On the whole the defence looks good. The key word are 'Final Ball'. The amount of times we just can't find that killer pass is staggering. It will all click in time though.
• Thorne and Johnson will be must-haves in Clement's midfield this season. That leaves Hendrick, Butterfield and Bryson (when he gets fit) to fight it out for the final spot. That will be an interesting battle.
• MK Dons away next - another match on Sky, and an early kick off. I suspect the pubs near my flat will be making a lot of money from me this season.

Reading 0 Derby 1

Fresh on back of our morale boosting win against Preston North End, I decided on the spur of the moment to charge down south to watch Derby play Reading at the Madejski Stadium. On my drive down with a couple of friends I didn't doubt my decision, but I was beginning to wonder if it would all be worth it whilst waiting in the queue for tickets outside the stadium.

Reading themselves would have been full of confidence having battered Ipswich 5-1 on Saturday; no mean feat given Ipswich's cracking defensive record last season. It was also noticeable in that it was the first time since early April that Reading had scored in the league at home. Derby would have to be on their toes.

Derby's starting 11 (@Ed_DawesBeeb)

Paul Clement made 3 changes to the winning tam at Preston; out went the injured Chris Baird for Jeff Hendrick, with Craig Forsyth and Scott Carson replacing Stephen Warnock and Lee Grant respectively. The first 2 changes were no surprise really; Baird is essentially out for 2 weeks with concussion whilst Warnock looked exhausted after 60 minutes against Preston and had to eventually be replaced. The goalkeeper situation is interesting as it seems that Clement can't decide between Grant or Carson. They both have their strengths and weaknesses; Grant makes world class saves but isn't the best at claiming crosses, whereas Carson is the opposite, never likely the pull off a worldie but great at the basics.

No sooner had I got to my seat and the game was underway, referee Andy Davies blowing the whistle. Reading flew out the traps winning a couple of quick corners in the first couple of minutes which came to nothing, Derby clearing the ball with ease. It appeared that the tactics would be similar to Saturday, sit back deep and try to hit Reading on the break using the pace of Johnny Russell and trickery of Tom Ince. On the whole though it was a pretty dreary first half. Derby broke a couple of times, and Jacob Butterfield had 2 goal-bound shots blocked by the impressive Michael Hector and the experienced Paul McShane.

Jason Shackell competing with Orlando Sá (@dcfcofficial)

Other than that though, it was all Reading attacking-wise, but I have to be honest and say that I don't think the Derby defence was really threatened. Apart from a couple of long range shots from out wide that swerved all over the place, Carson didn't really have a save to make, and barely had to come and claim any crosses as Jason Shackell and Richard Keogh cleared them with ease.  Reading played some nice one touch passing in an attempt to play their way through the middle of the park but when it looked like there might be an opening the door was shut in their face.

Then just before half time came the turning point of the match. A long ball up from the back was cleared by Shackell  who fell too the floor under pressure from Orlando Sá. Sá's foot appeared to catch Shackell on the back as he hopped over him and Shackell was immediately up letting Sá know what he thought about it. The pair leaned  towards each other and then Sá jutted his head forward, with Shackell rearing his head back and looking at the linesman who couldn't have been more than 5 yards away. I would say that Sá's been on the receiving end of some classic kidology, but he should have known that any sort of headbutting movement would be punished by the referee. It was a shame really because it was an intriguing game up until that point, but Sá can have no complaints. 

Cyrus Christie ventures forward (@dcfcofficial)

There were no substitutions at half time but there was a clear change in the direction of the match; whereas in the first half Derby had been content to sit back and play on the counter, in the second they pushed up to the half way line taking advantage of their numerical advantage. Reading on the other hand, were all to aware of the problem they faced and as a result dropped back, barely getting out of their own penalty area.  
  
The old adage is that it's harder to play against 10 men than 11 and for a long time this was proved true. Having decided that a point would be a good result Reading shut up shop, leaving Derby to find the break through. On the whole it was a test of patience; everybody knew that a chance would come it would just bee a case of taking it. Derby spread the ball out wide and back to the middle trying to find a gap through the congested centre of the park, but Reading refused to be drawn out. Jeff Hendrick was replaced by Darren Bent who immediately set about trying to pull defenders out of position by running in behind and coming short as Derby went 4-4-2. 

The breakthrough came in the 69th minute. Bent came short dragging Oliver Norwood away from the centre of the pitch, a space which was immediately occupied by Martin. Butterfield fired the ball into Martin's feet, who then flicked the ball to the onrushing Ince who had drifted in off the wing. Ince almost overran the ball, but controlled it in the nick of time, throwing McShane off balance and poking the ball past Jonathon Bond in the Reading net. It was the only thing that went right for Ince all evening and it should do him the world of good. 
 

Tom Ince pokes Derby in front (@dcfcofficial)

Reading were forced to come out of their shell in search of an equaliser that never looked likely to appear; the only real chances I can remember them having in the second half was a header over the bar by Nick Blackman and a volley way over  by Chris Gunter. Reading will do well this season, they've added well this summer and have good strength in depth. I was particularly impressed by Hector who never looked like being beaten in the air or on the ground; Derby wisely targeted McShane as the weaker of the 2 centre backs. Stephen Quinn too, was his usual tenacious self in midfield. 

These 3 points will be valuable ones at the end of the season; it's always harder than it should be playing against 10 men. Most importantly though, we didn't look stretched defensively against a team with good striking options; Matěj Vydra has proven his class in this league in the past, but he was rendered ineffectual by Derby. This defensive solidity bodes well for this season - teams get promoted on the back of good defences. 

Performances 

Scott Carson - Did what was required. Made a couple of saves from difficult long range shots and commanded his box well. Only downside was some of his wayward kicking, particularly on his left foot.

Cyrus Christie - Appears to be Clements first choice right back now. Did very well defensively and after the break got forward to support the attack well.

Richard Keogh - Absolutely superb. Defensively solid, he was instrumental in carrying the ball out of defence in the second half; one run from the edge of his box into the opposition half stands out in the memory.

Paul Clement and Richard Keogh after the match (@dcfcofficial)

Jason Shackell - Did well to shackle (pun intended) Vydra and got under the skin of the hotheaded Sá. Could have made an arse of himself for the red card by falling over, but resisted the temptation.

Craig Forsyth - Very good. Didn't get beaten very often by the dangerous Tshibola and was a valuable outlet after half time, charging forward and supporting the attack at every opportunity.

Bradley Johnson - Didn't look comfortable at defensive midfield, he took too long on the ball and some of his tackles left a lot to be desired. However, he wasn't afraid to throw his weight about and we've needed that for a while. Looked better when moved forward after Hanson came on.

Jeff Hendrick - Made some good runs forward but the game seemed to pass him by. didn't get long in the second half to impress before he was hooked for Bent.

Jacob Butterfield - Tenacious in defence in the first half, but didn't get on the ball often enough. Came to the fore in the second half when he was able to turn on the ball and look for balls to thread through the Reading defence.

Tom Ince - I can't help but feel sorry for him. It's obvious that he's working hard both in defence and in attack but apart from the goal, absolutely nothing came off for him. He's a marked man, but while this is the case we should take advantage of of the space he'll create for others.

Johnny Russell - Wasn't the irrepressible player he was against Preston but he still offered n outlet. On more than one occasion he weaved is way through the Reading defence only for the final ball to not quite work out.

Chris Martin - Was outfought in the first half by the massive Hector, wasn't helped by the head height balls going up to him. In second half did well dropping deeper to try and pull Reading defenders out of position. Lovely ball for Ince's goal.

Darren Bent - Did well. Looked a threat from the moment he came on with his movement. Invaluable movement for the goal to create space.

Jamie Hanson - did okay replacing Butterfield. Picked up a daft booking and panicked a couple of times, hoofing the ball clear. Was disciplined in his position allowing Johnson to move forward.

Andreas Weimann - Worked hard when he came on, but didn't really have enough time to impress.

Parting Thoughts

• It's a nice feeling to not be worried every time the opposition come forward like I have been in previous seasons. This new defensive solidity is a far cry from the end of last season.
• Bent showed why he's always useful to have around, pulling players out of position. He'll get plenty of chances this season to score goals.
• 2 goals and 1 assist this week for Martin, proving why for me he's one of the best strikers in the Championship, as if 20 goals in each of the past 2 seasons wasn't enough proof.  

Preston 1 Derby 2

I was in the unusual position yesterday of actually being able to go to an away match - these days only come about once in blue moon for me, so I eagerly grasped the opportunity to be stuck in traffic on the M6 for well over an hour. The things we do to support our club.

Upon arrival in Preston, I discovered our starting 11:

    Derby's starting 11 (@Ed_DawesBeeb)

So, 5 changes from the team that slumped to defeat against Leeds. George Thorne, or 'Gorgeous George' had not recovered from his injury against Leeds and as a result our captain Chris Baird was to deputise in holding midfield. As a result, in came Cyrus Christie at right back with Stephen Warnock arriving in place of Craig Forsyth at left back. Surprisingly as well, Lee Grant was given a starting position in goal, replacing Scott Carson. Out also went Jeff Hendrick and Jamie Hanson, for deadline day arrivals Jacob Butterfield and Bradley Johnson.

Barely having got to my seat, the match started. There were the usual opening exchanges with each team feeling out the other, with it quickly becoming apparent that Derby were not going to dominate possession like we normally have. The team seemed happy to drop back deep and only press when Preston ventured towards the box. How much of this was pre-planned by Clement is hard to say, but I suspect it was partly forced by personnel changes; with Thorne injured and Will Hughes out for most likely the rest of the season, we lack someone who can dominate the midfield. In choosing Baird to fill the Thorne-shaped hole in midfield Clement went for experience instead of the youthful exuberance of Hanson. With two new additions in midfield with someone who is by trade a defender, it was always unlikely that we would win in the possession stats; the understanding between players required for that to happen hasn't been built yet.

Paul Clement was forced into making changes to his starting 11

Preston set up with a 3-5-2 formation, looking to overwhelm Derby in midfield and for the most part it worked. One of the drawbacks for them however was that when Derby broke down the wings their wing backs were unable to get back in time. Russell in particular, terrorised Preston captain Tom Clarke, giving a masterclass of incisive, purposeful running in the first half. Although in Clarke's defence, the wing back in front of him, Marnick Vermijl, gave him no protection whatsoever. Compare that to the opposite wing where Tom Ince, who I'm sure everyone will agree is a far more talented player than Russell, wasn't given an inch of space by Greg Cunningham. 

Derby's first goal came from a classic counter attack  with fortuitous beginnings. Shackell sliced a clearence straight to Russell who proceeded to charge around Clarke and over the half way line. He then launched a superb 30 yard, cross field ball right in to the path of the oncoming Chris Martin. Martin's first touch killed the ball and hee then rolled the ball under the keeper. A lovely goal, a perfect example of how to counter attack and remarkably the first time Derby have taken the lead this season. 

As always happens after a team scores a goal, Derby immediately went in search of another. This time Ince received the ball and proobabbly should have shot straight away wwith his right foot, but he opted to wait for the onrushing Johnson, who's poked effort drifted wide. After this, the first half bacame a game of cat and mouse, with no team really looking like breaking the other down. Preston's best bet was to get the ball to the lively Daniel Johnson who's forays down the Preston left were promising. Indeed, after cutting inside he lashed the ball towards goal but it was deflected into the arms of Grant. A warning shot. 

New signing Bradley Johnson (@dcfcofficial)

Before half time, Derby had a second goal. Russell again was the supplier, galloping from his own half of the pitch after picking up a loose ball. It seemed that sooner or later a Prston player would get in the way, but it didn't happen; he just kept running straight through the midfield towards the understandebly terrified Paul Huntington. After spinning Huntington, Russell was brought down and Derby had a free kick from the edge of the 'D'. Martin immediately stomped over, placed the ball down and blasted a curling shot towards the far corner. Such was the pace on the shot I'm not suure the keeper would have saved it even if he'd seen it coming. 

Chris Martin blasts in a free kick (@dcfcofficial)

Half time came and went with no incident, although just after the break Preston made changes; Stevie May on for Vermijl and Eoin Doyle on for the anonymous Will Keane. This change signalled a change in formation that threw Derby of balance, with Preston going 3 up top, forcing Derby deeper. Matters weren't helped when Clement took off Butterfield for Hendrick, opting to increase the physicality of the midfield. Instead, Derby found it even harder to find and hold onto the ball. 

Simon Grayson then made his final throw of the dice, bringing on winger Chris Humphrey for John Welsh. Preston took control, but did not really threaten Grant's net until late into the second half. Joe Garner's snapshot hit the post and rebounded into Grant's arms, and a Doyle shot on the turn was superbly turned round the post. 

With 8 minutes to go, Baird and Garner clashed heads in the Derby penalty area and a lengthy stoppage ensued. An unconscious Baird would eventually be stretchered of the pitch and taken to hospital where he was later given the all clear. This left Derby in an awkward position as at this point Clement had uused all of his substitutions, with Andreas Weimann and Craig Forsyth having replaced Ince and Warnock respectively. 

Having to play the 13 minutes of stoppage time with 10 men, Derby battened doown the hatches. In the 5 minute of injury time, Weimann had the chance to wrap up all 3 points but his powerful shot from the edge of the area was too close to the keeper and it was pushed away. It looked like Derby might be punished for this when, with several minutes to go a shot by Johnson was deeflected into the net by Shackell, but Derby held on to take the spoils. 

Jacob Butterfield congratulates Chris Martin (@dcfcofficial)

A vital win. Even though the performance wasn't the greatest, those 3 points will go along way to settling people down and taking some pressure off Clement's shoulders. To be honest though this is the game we should be winning if we want promotion this season. It looks a bit grim for Preston I have to say; they have a lack of pace at the back and their defence doesn't look comfortable playing the ball out from the the back. To make this worse they don't appear to have the physical presence up front to allow them to play it long which is what will happen if teams wise up and press them high up the pitch. However, I understand Jermaine Beckford wasn't fit for them and if he get fit his goals could fire them to safety. 

Performances

Lee Grant - Looked confident, pulling off the types of saves we've come to expect from him and claiming crosses. Was helpless for the goal, there's nothing you can do about those.

Cyrus Christie - A bit of a mixed bag really. On one hand he tried hard too support Ince going forward, but his crossing  left a lot to be desired. Defensively, he did reasonably well, but he showed Johnson inside too often instead of forcing him out to the touchline. 

Richard Keogh - Did well against a nippy Joe Garner who gave up competing with Keogh for the ball after about 20 minutes. As usual put his body on the lin, but it seemed as if he was panicking towards the end of the match (I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on this one, I was to far away too bee completly sure).

Jason Shackell - Dominated Garner when he moved away from Keogh. Did very well to keep his cool as he kept getting sly digs from th Preston number 14 when the referee wasn't looking.

Stephen Warnock - Did okay, wasn't really tested defensively. Didn't go forward at all, in fact, I don't think he left the Derby half all match. At times, was muscled off the ball far too easily for a man of his build and experience. 

A combination of Lee Grant and Stephen Warnock clear the ball (@dcfcofficial)

Chris Baird - Did what he was expected to do, marshalled the defense and gave the ball to more talented ball players when given the chance.


Jacob Butterfield - I was impressed with what I saw. He looked comfortable with the ball on either foot (a rare talent these days) and willing to try risky passes in the opposition third. Not sure why he was taken off, but it's no coincidence we struggled to keep the ball after he went off.  

Bradley Johnson - Looked good, willing to run forward without the ball and provide Martin with support up front. Snapped into tackles, not afraid to throw his weight about annd certainly not afraid to shoot. One thing I could perhaps say is that on several occasions he was sow to get back and cover in midfield. In particular, for Johnson's goal, he should have been there to block the ball, before it reached Shackell.

Tom Ince - A frustrating afternoon for the talented winger. He was doubled, even tripled up on for parts of the game, but on the other hand he should have released the ball quicker on several occasions. He looks a player short of confidence, but at the same time, he's tracking back and putting a shift in. Things will click in time. 

Johnny Russell - If that cross for the first goal had been done by Rooney, we'd never hear the end of it. Absolutely superb vision and technique. His decision making was also much improved than ver the past couple of weeks. Understandably tired in the second half. 

Johnny Russell takes on Tom Clarke (@dcfcofficial)

Chris Martin - Gave a masterclass in the target man role up front, giving all 3 of Preston's centre backs a game single handedly. Whether he was dropping deep or running beyond, he had them grasping at thin air at times. Superb taken goals, especially the first one, making it look easy to control that type of ball on the run. He should be taking free kicks from now on.

Jeff Hendrick - Looked a bit off the pace when he came on, struggling to keep the ball. Made one good run to set up Weimann for a shot towards the end of the match, but by and large the game passed him by.

Andreas Weimann - tried hard when came on, eager to impress. Should have done better with his chance.

Craig Forsyth - not really on the pitch long enough to make an impact. 

Parting Thoughts

• Have Derby been struck by a gypsy curse stating that all midfielders will get injured this season? By my count, in 6 league games this season Derby have had to make 7 enforced changes in midfield during the game due to injured players. 
• I really like the new 3rd kit. In fact I like all the kits this season, it's just a shame about the sponsors logo. 
• I can't believe there were people saying we should sell Russell in the summer. He's really proving his worth so far this season, with Ince not currently providing the goods on the opposite wing. 

Mel Morris Takes Control

I woke up the other morning to shocking news;  a lifelong Derby County fan had bought the entire club. I must admit that my first thoughts were 'What type of rich are we now? Are we Arab oil money rich, American Corporation money rich or Asian entrepreneur rich?' These are the stereotypes that tend to apply to incoming owners these days. Then I read the name and I wasn't particularly shocked at all. It's a long line of events that have led to this situation, so I hope you indulge me as I tell you all a story.

In January 2008 Derby County was sold by local businessman Peter Gadsby and his consortium to holding firm General Sports & Entertainment (GSE). These two excellent articles by David Conn in the Guardian provide background information as to the state of the club before GSE arrived and the understandable scepticism of some fans when Gadsby sold the club. For those short on time, the articles can be summed up in 3 main points:

1. The owners before Peter Gadsby and his consortium used the club as a cover for money laundering and subsequently defrauded the club over the course of their ownership. I'm sure many fans who were around at the time need no introduction to 'The Three Amigos', Andrew Mackenzie, Jeremy Keith and Murdo Mackay. The club was in £54 Million of debt when Gadsby bought the club.
2. Although he cleared some of the debt, Gadsby did not have the cash flow to maintain keep a lid on the clubs finances. He promptly sold the club to GSE in January 2008 for a fee in the region of £20 Million - the same amount he bought the club for. At this point Derby were bottom of the Premier League under the stewardship of Paul Jewell, having already won the only game they would win in that catastrophic season.
3. GSE was primarily an operating firm that basically ran the club, allowing most of the investors to remain anonymous. Andy Appleby, the founder of GSE became chairman of the club with Tom Glick becoming the new CEO. 

 

Tom Glick

 In their first full season owning the club GSE gave Paul Jewell a substantial war chest for transfers and wages, some of which was their own money but most of which came from parachute payments after relegation from the Premier League. It seemed the club were backing up their promise to make Derby County 'a global brand'. However, even after a massive influx of signing which took the total number of players in the squad up to and beyond 40, the team struggled. In December 2008, just under a year after the GSE takeover Jewell resigned, leaving the club precariously placed just above the relegation places and saddled with a huge squad of players on big money contracts.

Paul Jewell resigned less than a season after GSE bought the club

This was a recipe for disaster so GSE made the smartest move possible - they recruited Nigel Clough to be manager from Burton Albion, who at the time were romping towards the title in the conference and were about to get promoted to the Football League for the first time in their history. This signified a big change in the clubs strategy and it was speared by CEO Tom Glick. Having been burned by Paul Jewell the new order of the day was to cut costs, an unpopular move amongst some fans but a necessary one. By hiring ' Our Nige', the son of legendary manager Brian Clough, the club brought in a man who would be given time by the fanbase to enact the recovery operation that would take years.

Years went by with Clough cutting costs and improving on league finishes. However, at the same time, attendances fell season on season with fans concerned at the lack of ambition by the owners and the Cloughs seeming refusal to be more attacking on the pitch - going in depth on Clough's tactics is another discussion for another day. A ritual developed of Clough buying young, unheard of players and players with a point to prove and then selling them on for a profit, whilst at the same time paying off the more expensive signings that predated his tenure.

Things changed when Glick, was headhunted by Manchester City to become their new Chief Commercial & Operating Officer. The club spent months searching for a replacement and found him in Sam Rush, International COO of Wasserman Media Group. I think it's fair to say that nobody had heard of Rush before he was appointed CEO. As a side note, a look at the comments section for the article linked shows the disillusionment of some fans towards the ownership group. Well if nobody knew who Rush was before we all do now.

Sam Rush (pictured) replaced Tom Glick as CEO

After a mixed summer transfer window, with the likes of Chris Martin arriving on a free from Norwich balancing the loss of the ever-dependable John Brayford to Cardiff, Rush made his mark in style. After a very average start to the season and a 1-0 loss to arch rivals Nottingham Forest, Clough was sacked. This decision caused uproar amongst sections of the fanbase and even those who wanted Clough gone admitted that the timing of it was poorly done. Before the season Clough had said that for the first time in his reign he had a side capable of reaching the play offs and it seemed that the majority of fans had been willing to give him the season to prove it.

The club then appointed Steve McClaren as manager resulting in an upturn in results while on an increased budget. At the same time £22.5 Million of loans was converted into equity essentially leaving the mortgage on the iPro stadium as the only debt. In the same source it states that in the financial year before £6 Million of loans were converted to equity, which would coincide with the arrival of Sam Rush. This suggests that either Mr Rush was the one to drive a policy of debt removal and increased investment from the shareholders or the investors themselves had grown restless with the stagnation of the club, and were eager to see a return on their money.

During the McClaren's first season as manager there were a couple of major changes behind the scenes; the arrival of Chris Evans as Director of Football to oversee player recruitment and tellingly, McClaren was brought in as Head Coach and not Manager.

New Derby County owner, Mel Morris

 Who is Mel Morris?
Mel Morris or Mr Melvyn Morris to use his full title is best known for making his money from the mobile game Candy Crush Saga. The game is produced by King Digital Entertainment, a company in which Morris holds a 12% stake which is valued at £400 Million. A life long Derby fan having being born and raised in Littleover, there's no question the club is close to his heart. To say he made all his  money from Candy Crush would be to belittle a long, varied  business career; he founded internet dating website uDate which he would later sell for £100 Million and currently has shares in an internet security company called Prevx. Morris had also been part of the consortium of local investors led by Peter Gadsby and was a director at the club from 2006-2007.

The day before the play off final Mel Morris was appointed as a director of the club having bought a 22% stake in the club, while at the same time becoming co-lead investor. This lead to an injection of funds as well as more visibility amongst the investment group who up until now had remained mainly anonymous, apart from Andy Appleby and the effervescent Brett Wilson. Following the 2014-2015 season Morris was appointed Chairman, replacing Appleby who remained a director. This move fuelled rumours that had been swirling for a while that Morris was preparing to buy the club outright. At the same time McClaren was sacked with club failing to reach the play offs and Paul Clement was brought in as Head Coach.

At around the same time Morris invited a group of fans to the club to explain his long term plans and the clubs long term plans. The response of the fans who went can be read on this link, but the overall consensus seems to be that the future is bright. Following a summer of huge investment, Morris bought the club outright from the American investment group on the 3rd of September 2015.

Former Nottingham Forest owner Nigel Doughty

My reaction to this news was mixed. A lot of fans are excited to have a fan as the owner of their club, someone who knows the area, what the fans are like and the history of the club. I agree that it's important to have some local input on matters I worry when fans of clubs buy them outright. Actually I will change that to when individuals buy clubs. History shows that sometimes people can have more money than sense hen it comes to running clubs they grew up supporting, especially when they run them with no opposition. One example of this is that of Nigel Doughty at Nottingham Forest who during the duration of his reign spent millions upon millions trying to get Forest to the Premier League with little apparent strategy. I'm sure I could have used a less emotionally charged example than that one, but it was the first that came to mind. With no people looking at the club like a business then there is always the potential for things to go wrong. However, I'd give Mr Morris the benefit of the doubt before assuming the worst; there's every chance this could go wonderfully well, like at Crystal Palace.

It should be noted that Brett Wilson has tweeted that he is still a lender of the club and fully engaged and indeed so are the former owners. So it might actually be the case that although Morris owners the club outright, he's still in contact and taking on board the thoughts of the previous owners.

Morris has spoken of developing something he's called 'The Derby Way'. This is a catch-all term basically meaning that everyone in the club is on the same page and pulling in the same direction. In terms of how this affects on the pitch performances, the idea is that every age group from the under-7's up to the first team plays the same way. Also, should a head coach leave, the new coach would be expected to make the team play the same/in a similar way; similar to how Swansea pick their managers. As the coach is just in charge of on the pitch affairs, they don't have total control of the club, so if a coach were to leave the stability of the club would not be in question - this is why McClaren and Clement are referred to as Head Coach and not Manager.

What I will say is that my concerns outlined above aren't backed by evidence. Going based on what has been said in the press about Morris and by Morris, the clubs looks to have a sensible, long term plan for the future. Morris says he wants to built a Derby County that can stay in the Premier League, whilst at the same time have 50% of players home grown - this suggests burning ambition. However, statements like "you don't employ a first timer and give him only 5-10 games" show he has a sensible head screwed on his shoulders. All in all, I'm cautiously optimistic about the direction the club is going behind the scenes.

All figures have been checked using the accounts filed to Companies House. The page for Derby County can be found here, they make for fascinating reading if you're into that sort of thing or if you've got an afternoon to kill.

Sacking Steve

I had originally intended to start this blog before the start of the season but events conspired against me.  However, now it's the international break and there's a nice gap in which to reflect on the first month of the season and the various happenings of pre-season.

The big story of pre-season was of course the sacking of Steve McClaren and the departure of his coaching staff. It was a bold move by CEO Sam Rush, but it had an air inevitability about it; rumours had been swirling around in the press for months about McClaren ditching Derby for Newcastle. McClarens steadfast refusal to rule out leaving; empty lines such as "I'm under contract at Derby" and his very foggy memory of what he had said in the past didn't inspire confidence amongst supporters. This was combined with a catastrophic collapse of form (2 wins from the last 13 matches is relegation form), that saw Derby drop from 5 points clear at the top of the table at the end of January, to missing out on the playoffs on the last day of the season.

To say this slump was caused solely by press speculation would be grossly oversimplifying the situation. Injuries to key players in the spine of the team knocked the stuffing out the team; John Eustace picked up a knee injury in January (out for the season), his replacement in Defensive Midfield Omar Mascarell injured some tendons in his foot in March (out for the season) which led to George Thorne being rushed back from the cruciate injury he had picked up in pre-season. Thorne was promptly back on the treatment table 2 matches after his return with a thigh strain - too much too soon. Jake Buxton, a man who would rather run through a brick wall than concede a goal, succumbed to a back problem in March (he would later require surgery to clear it up) and Chris Martin hurt his knee in early February.

Chris Martin's injury contributed to Derby's slide down the table

While all of these injuries hurt, the most painful were the ones to Martin and Buxton. It has been well documented by both supporters and opposition managers (looking at you Uwe Rössler) that Martin makes Derby tick - without him the quick passing 4-3-3 formation that Derby play goes to pot because no one holds the ball and moves it on like him. It was quickly apparent that the team would struggle to adapt even with Darren Bent as a replacement. It was here that McClaren made mistake, trying to play Bent in that type of role and system; why would you try and make a player who has made a career out of running in behind the defence and poaching goals in the 18 yard box play as a target man. It was apparent that a change in formation was required but this change never came, instead fans were treated to a more short lived experiment of playing Johnny Russell up front on his own when Bent was injured. A tireless and willing runner he may be, but Russell will never be a lone striker. When Martin was brought back from the treatment room towards the end of the season it was painfully obvious that he wasn't fit and he seemed to have put on a lot of weight during his rehabilitation.

During the post-season rush to find out what went wrong I think one of the most-overlooked things was the injury to Buxton. Admittedly, Derby had already started stuttering by the time Bucko's season was called to an end but the performances were still there. The results hadn't shown it but Derby were still creating chances, yet they were failing to take them and losing by the odd goal. Then 'Bucko' got injured and things got a lot worse - without his regular dependable partner beside him, Richard Keogh (who came in for a lot of undeserved stick at the end of last season) was caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Now Keogh had to cover his Right Back partner like he had been doing all season, whether that was Cyrus Christie or Ryan Shotton, and try to form an instant partnership with Raul Albentosa (a man who by all accounts, didn't speak basic English) at Centre Back.

Steve McClaren looks on as Derby lose to Reading

This struggle led to numerous defensive mix-ups, in turn leading to the team losing confidence. Then in a bizarre turn of events, McClaren decided that to try and fix the defense by moving Craig Forsyth, an excellent marauding Left Back (one of the best in the league in my opinion), to CB and shifting Keogh to RB. This didn't work. Shifting 'Fozzy' to CB negates one of the best aspects of his game, his ability to support the attack and replacing him with Stephen Warnock, a man who is a good 5 inches shorter, removed the potential of lofting ball out left with the hopes of getting a flick on. While moving Keogh out to RB did shore up the right hand side to a degree, his presence was missed in central defense and a CB pairing of Albentosa and Forsyth had communication problems - probably not the biggest surprise with Albentosa not speaking English and Forsyth having the temperament of a newborn kitten.

There were other worrying team selections; playing Warnock, a man who has always and will only ever be a LB, in Defensive Mid being one and the decision not to drop Lee Grant after he made mistake after mistake after mistake being another.

It wasn't all bad during the second half of the season; the arrival of Tom Ince on loan from Hull City provided a spark, with goals flying in left, right and centre from the Howitzer attached to his left leg. Bent, even though he was played in a system clearly not suited to his talents still scored a decent amount of goals  while Jamie Hanson was given his first team debut against Norwich and made several other appearances, never looking overawed or out of his depth. On the whole though, the second half of the season was bad, followed by bad, followed by worse.

Jamie Hanson was one bright point towards the end of the season

McClarens sacking split the fans, with some believing this would be a mistake that would come back to haunt the club, whilst others thought it would be best for both parties if they went their separate ways. I myself was in second camp. Steve McClaren did a great job at Derby for the first year or so of his reign; he instigated attractive, easy on the eye, attacking football that was a joy to behold - it was certainly the best football that I had seen Derby play during my time as a season ticket holder. There was no better feeling than watching Derby blow away the opposition; performances like the 5-0 demolition of Nottingham Forest and battering Birmingham City 4-0 away from home will live long in the memory.

However, this was when the going was easy, when the lucky breaks went for Derby and injuries to players were non-existent. Managers prove themselves when things aren't going well and the second half of the season was the time when McClaren needed to prove his worth. Baffling team selections, an inability to halt the teams slide from the summit of the table and a refusal to shut down rumours about the Newcastle job, to me, rendered his position untenable.

After his sacking McClaren released a statement saying he didn't believe "rumours linking me to the Newcastle United job were a factor in the team's performances". Rumours coming out of the club suggested that McClaren had lost the support of some key players in the dressing room, by refusing to explicitly rule out going for the Newcastle job. It must be disheartening to say the least, to see your manager refuse to commit to the club if you were recently persuaded to sign a new contract under the assumption he would also remain loyal to the club. Also, slightly baffling was the admission from McClaren that he'd rebuffed an approach from Newcastle in January, despite Sam Rush saying that there had been no approach when asked about the situation in March. To add more fuel to the fire, despite having said that he was never interested in the Newcastle job, upon his later arrival in the northeast, McClaren said he'd always wanted the job.

In the end, I think everyone got what they wanted; Sam Rush got the chance to try find manager who might be able to drag the club up into the promised land of the Premier League, whilst McClaren was able to move into the job he'd always wanted.