There is an old saying that; ‘a week is a long time in politics’. What is less well-known is the second half of that saying; ‘a week is also a long time in the career path of Derby County managers and coaches’.

That was brought home to us once more this week, when it was revealed right before Tuesday’s match at Cardiff that Nigel Pearson had been “suspended” by the club, after four months and just nine league games in charge.

Reports from various media outlets (alongside a rumour mill that is working overtime) suggest that the manager had a volcanic row with owner Mel Morris earlier in the week.

The football club then went into full clandestine mode and imposed a news blackout; the fans are left pretty much to draw our own conclusions as to what is happening and if we guess wrong, well that’s just too bad.

All we know for certain is that assistant manager Chris Powell is in charge of first team affairs at least for this Saturday’s match at Reading and that first team coach Inigo Idiakez has left the club.

While information is scarce, there are a few conclusions we can draw. First, it seems highly unlikely that Pearson will be back. He has been diminished by these events, as has the club, and only a very forgiving and optimistic personality - perhaps even a naïve one - would feel it a good idea to return.

Second, it may take a while to negotiate a payment in lieu of the remainder of Pearson’s three-year contract, so this could drag on for a while.

Third, Chris Powell has certainly not been given a ringing endorsement by the club in the wake of Pearson’s suspension, and it does not seem all that likely that Chris will have a long-term future with the club.

I have to admit that this has all come as quite a shock to me. Although there have been message board rumblings for a couple of weeks suggesting that it was time for Pearson to go, I thought there was no chance of that happening; his reputation and three-year contract — as well as the club’s need for stability - would surely give him at least a year.

But I was wrong, and in spades. And yet, the Rams’ decline is very real.

As recently as 17th May in the playoff match at Hull, we could believe that the Rams might reach the playoff final. The Rams were one of the best teams in the Championship and yet nine games later after the Blackburn match - with pretty much the same squad - we were one of the worst.

Every fan has their opinion on why the Rams have made such a poor start to the season. Obviously scoring goals has been a problem and much of the time we have not even looked capable of scoring goals.

I was particularly intrigued by one comment that Nigel Pearson made in his interview after the Blackburn match; “…we want committed performances; when we get those I can stand here and talk a little bit more about tactics, formations and all that nonsense people seem to get bogged down with. You know I’m not bothered with all that stuff, to be perfectly honest with you. We can’t even go there when I’m having to talk about the very, very basics, which should be a given.”

Can it be that the Pearson method is to not give the players precise instructions about the roles they are to play and that the players are drifting through games uncertain as to what they are supposed to be doing?

It is widely felt among supporters that the Rams lack leadership on the pitch; so if the manager will not tell the players what to do, and they do not tell each other, then we may have an explanation as to the team’s lack of direction.

This could help explain why it is that teams full of players less talented than the Rams are giving us the run-around: their players know far better what they are supposed to do in every situation, they have a plan, while ours do not.

Saturday the Rams are at Reading. The Royals are an interesting team; they have beaten Huddersfield and Brighton recently but were tonked at Brentford on Tuesday.

Reading rarely seems to be an easy opponent for the Rams but after Tuesday’s result at Cardiff we should certainly not fear them or anyone else for that matter.

Photo: Action Images

Derby County Polls