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Bill's Take: Steve Suffering From Rams 'Management Malpractice'
Thursday, 27th Oct 2016 06:05 by Bill Riordan

Last week, there was a comment by Steve McClaren in the Derby evening Telegraph to the effect that the Rams job this time around is harder than the first time he arrived as head coach.

In the article (read the full article by Clicking Here), Steve Mac talks briefly about his reasons for thinking this way.

Is he right? And if so, why is that and what should be done about it?

Unfortunately, I think McClaren is absolutely spot on, even though it should not really be the case.

When he first arrived in October, 2013 supporters’ expectations were not all that high. Nigel Clough had assembled a talented and well-balanced team, but the previous season they had only managed to finish tenth in the Championship.

The only million pound signing was Conor Sammon, who was already a bit-part player by the time McClaren arrived. Supporters were hopeful, and perhaps getting tired of waiting, but not demanding immediate promotion.

Since then, the Rams have made the playoffs twice, once reaching the Wembley final. Tens of millions have been spent on players, to assemble a squad most Championship clubs could only dream of.

The second reason for Steve’s job being harder this time around is that very transfer market spending. Large fees have been spent, and long contracts given to players who have not so far worked out.

McClaren’s ability to manoeuvre in the transfer market has been severely restricted. The real mistakes were made after McClaren left and he should shoulder no responsibility for that.

From the outside it looks as though the club panicked when Hughes and Bryson were badly injured at the start of last season and signed Johnson and Butterfield, even though they had Thorne and Hendrick as central midfielders; perhaps loan signings could have been used instead, if needed.

The following transfer window, of course, Derby signed Blackman and Camara who have yet to work out and to date can only be considered failures while the jury is still out on this season’s big signings of Vydra and Anya. McClaren may well look at the squad, scratch his head and mutter regretfully.

What is to be done? To finish in sixth place in the Championship, typically about seventy-four points are required. It can be a lot less; Leicester did it with sixty-eight in 2012/13, but about seventy-four would be more normal.

Right now, the Rams have fourteen points from fourteen games; so we need to be looking at making around sixty points from the remaining thirty-two matches. There are a number of combinations of results that would reach the target but to me the most likely would be seventeen wins, nine draws and six defeats, plus, we would need to get ahead of, and stay ahead of fourteen other clubs.

It is an awfully big ask and at the moment the Rams do not look anything like the form to get there. That is why we are in twenty-first place.

It seems to me that over the last seventeen months or so since McClaren left, the club has been the victim of what we might call ‘management malpractice’ in assembling the current squad.

None of us know who is responsible; most likely no single person is. But those who are now in charge of football matters need to begin putting it right. Whatever needs to be done to get some of the more recent signings off the books must happen soon.

I also suggest there should be no more permanent signings until we have a manager who looks like he might be here for a while. In the meantime, several of the Academy youngsters need to get some games: Max Lowe, Farrend Rawson, Callum Guy, Timi Max Elsnik; maybe Charles Vernam.

Some bold moves need to be made over the next year or so. If not, I hate to think where the Rams might be the next time Steve McClaren is appointed manager.

There are those seventeen wins that the Rams will need to finish sixth. Sheffield Wednesday at home on Saturday would be a great place to start.





Photo: Action Images



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