Paul Jewell used the word pitiful but I call it unforgivable.

Whatever may or may not have been wrong with the club last August, whatever decisions have been taken since, that group of players could and should have done much better.

One day, a psychology student will write their thesis about this wretched season.

Recently, both Paul Jewell and Peter Gadsby have given an insight into what has been wrong with Derby County FC behind the scenes and there's obviously a huge task ahead both on and off the field.

It's difficult to know where to start to dissect the season and the reasons behind our catastrophic season are many and complex. For a start, we WERE promoted too soon. The squad wasn't ready and neither was the club as a whole. We'd come a very long way very quickly and there was no way really that we were properly prepared. Nevertheless, you have to take your chances as they come along and the club is now much better placed financially than it would have been.

Mind you, there's now a counter argument to that, as much of that extra money is going to have to be spent on getting the current squad off the books and rebuilding a new one, only to get us back to where we were two years ago.

Blame for this abject season needs to be laid at many doors. Firstly, the Premier League has moved on enormously since we were previously members under Jim Smith's leadership. The Board was probablty a little naïve, unable to adequately finance things and maybe in hindsight, should have confronted Billy Davies before the season even started. Yes he'd just gotten us promoted but then Real Madrid fired Vicente del Bosque just one day after he'd guided them to their 29th league title didn't they?

In hindsight, I believe Billy Davies must shoulder much of the responsibility for this season's dire showing. His signings the previous January did little, if anything to improve the squad and take it to the next level. Some would even argue they made the squad worse. I also think he quickly realised he was out of his depth and started to prepare to bail out. People have criticised Paul Jewell for slating the squad so publicly this season and whilst I think that might not have been the wisest, if most deserved thing to do, Davies had already slammed the players as not being good enough on many previous occasions. He'd sowed the seed before he departed and left his successor with what proved to be an impossible task.

Jewell however, has also no doubt also made many mistakes. None of his signings ever showed they could turn the ship around and they need to be told they have until next January's transfer window to earn their place at the club. His motivational skills were also obviously found wanting but ultimately, once the players cross that white line there's only so much a manager or coach can do and it's the players themselves who I hold most to blame and who I'll find it most difficult to forgive for this wretched season.

I accept that when you get into a rut, it's difficult to get out of it again. When confidence has gone you become frightened to do the things you would normally do. I accept that if youi come into an environment where morale is low you can find yourself being dragged down to that level.

Ultimately though, those players are in the public eye, not only in and around Derby but nationally... and because of the excesses of this season, now internationally. Don't they have ANY pride or self-esteem? How do they go home to their families and explain another abject performance? What do they say to their children when they ask what the score was in dad's game? Maybe they want to get away from Derby as fast as they can but how do they expect to get another club when they have a season like this on their CVs?

As I said at the top of this article, somebody at some point is going to write a thesis about the psychology of this group of players. I've certainly spent a few hours pondering what's in their heads and I just can't fathom them. Rams fans have always been pretty good with ex-players when they return to play for the opposition. We have long memories and we don't easily forget the efforts put in while wearing that white shirt but this lot are going to cop some flak, I'm sure. Maybe they're too thick-skinned or stupid for it to register with them though.

I've spoken to friends and read on messages boards where people have said they're embarrassed to admit they're Rams fans this season. Well I'm not embarrassed. I'm just as proud to be a Rams fan as I ever was. It's that group of players who should be embarrassed. They should be embarrassed by their own performances and they should also be embarrassed by not being worthy of the great fans who've stuck by this club over this dreadful season and who've yet again dug deep to buy their season tickets when their better judgement must have been screaming “NO! NO! NO!” at them.

I'm sure I'm not much different to any other Rams fan who knew this season was going to be hard and who knew relegation might well be at the end of it but I also thought we might bloody a few noses along the way. I thought we might be able to take a bit of satisfaction from going down with all guns blazing on a couple of occasions but sadly not. Surely, regardless of how badly that group of players has played this season, they're not without some semblance of ability?

One thing is for sure, the fans won't stand for seeing too many of those faces around in August. It's not going to be cheap to rebuild the squad though, hence my comment about us having been promoted too early... even when you take the Premier League money into account. In my opinion, several of those players are going to have to be made free agents and their contracts are going to have to be bought out just to get them off the club's book. Paul Jewell has intimated he too is well aware of this by stating he doesn't intent to “carry any passengers”. That's going to eat into what money we have available for new signings but he really has to bring some exciting names in. With respect to them, Rob Hulse and Jordan Stewart are hardly inspiring.

Anyway, for the time being those are just rumours. I like to deal in fact so I'll wait to pass judgement until some official announcements have been made. Mind you, due to the abyssmal season we've had, I'm actually more keen to see the retained (or rather, released) list than I am to hear of new signings.

The title of this column was borrowed from the Metallica track of the same name - that's how many of this season's squad will remain in my memory.

© Steve Tickle 2008

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