Ever since the three Amigos were ousted, Derby County has been in a “re-building” process.

Billy Davies took over int the time of the Gadsby era and one of his announcements was that it would take at least three transfer windows to get Derby County on an even keel and those windows were part of a three year plan.

He concentrated on creating a team that was hard to beat if somewhat unedifying to watch and many fans would go home shaking their heads at how we had managed to win.  The result was that we got into the play-offs and despite being outplayed by two better teams in Southampton and West Brom, we still won both.

Davies then embarked on a different kind of re-building, recruiting a vast backroom team, including a previous Scotland team manager who apparently produced nothing of any note in his tenure.

Davies also went on a spending spree using Monopoly money which was supposed to materialise sometime in the future, buying a set of misfits with little or no apparent consideration of whether or not the players were of any benefit to Derby County whatsoever.

What Davies also failed to do in any shape or form was to build up relationships within the club and it became well-known that he was much disliked, if not hated.  Allied to his inappropriate comments after the play-off final, it became a matter of time before he was moved on.  Pearson’s arrival was the catalyst for the removal and replacement of the manager.

Another kind of re-building was by this time needed – we were bottom of the Premiership and any kind of morale was completely absent.  If we were to escape the unwanted tag of ‘worst-ever’, fresh blood and a new kind of mentality that took no prisoners was urgently needed.

Step forward an affable chap called Jewell who had mixed fortunes at previous clubs, but a decent track record of taking up Wigan, a small, unsung club.  He embarked on a kind of transfer spree but would not (or couldn’t) move on those who were not performing. 

One result was a failure to eradicate the losing mentality and the unwanted tag became reality.  Another was to have a bloated squad filled with underperforming players – more severe souls would contend that these were un-performing rather than underperforming.  Whatever.  The monopoly money came and went and instead of PJ leading us to a sustained challenge to the upper reaches of the Championship, he was then subjected to a tawdry media exposure. 

Arguably this effectively ended his credibility and from then on more and more stories emerged of players being banished to the Moor Farm equivalent of Siberia.  There was no squad cohesion, very highly paid players were not performing, and there seemed to be no clear progress to some kind of footballing plan other than ‘suck it and see’.  And more often than not, it didn’t work.

Of the two managers, most fans would prefer to have an evening with Jewell in their local supping a few pints with this engaging, humorous and blokey chap.  But he couldn’t deliver and he went.

And so, here we are again, in a yet another process of re-building.  This time it is a very different kind.  It is about paring down to the bone, getting rid of high salary earners, scouts that don’t produce anything other than fat expense claim forms, people who are not team players.

Clough is also a different kind of manager – polite and friendly without the blokeish qualities of Jewell but also without the irascibility of Davies.  But some players have missed or misunderstood the bit of ruthlessness that he possesses, with the consequence that they found themselves dumped outside Pride Park unceremoniously. 

He appears to have also re-built – or rather – created a new kind of squad team spirit that means that everyone works for each other.  In a strange kind of way, the injury crisis has probably speeded up that process.  It – I suspect – has created a kind of siege mentality that SAF so successfully started out with at Aberdeen and latterly at Old Trafford.

I think this suits the American owners – they have worked hard to develop a kind of community and local spirit while wanting to create a dynasty.  They understand the business of running a sports club – people have to have some sense of ownership for it to be successful and appreciated within the community.

Father Brian knew and understood this.  He played to the gallery – he knew that the media adored him and disliked him in equal measure.  But he also created a fierce loyalty to the club from local people and the truth is, we do feel slighted by the uneven-handedness and negative bias of the media towards us, Derby County and its fans.

And even were we to be successful again in the Premiership, there is every possibility that the media would treat us with its customary disdain.

So the re-building process is not just about the team but also other factors.  My view is that it has got off to a good start – most of the time-wasters have gone.  There is a stronger emphasis on local community – even if it is sometimes misplaced.  The team do show appreciation to travelling fans (the away experience is more enjoyable than being at Pride Park).

The rest of the season will show how the team, the club and the community respond to what has been achieved so far.  And in my opinion, the portents are good.

Photo: Action Images

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