Ever seen a big balloon deflate slowly – not with a pop – but a slow and progressive withering away to almost nothing?

That probably sums up most Derby fans' feelings after the home defeat against QPR. No wonder Pride Park was just about empty by the final whistle.

Here is reality. We are likely to lose against Man Utd, and probably even against that team at the end of the Brian Clough Way as they'll be fired up by Billy Davies. Our dreams of sweeping aside everyone on our way to just below the play-offs, and maybe a Carling Cup final evaporated with the match against QPR.

One of the characteristics of Old Big Head's teams was the thrilling way they were able to sweep aside opposition as if they were mere Subbuteo models standing around watching. Those teams were very definitely based on OBH's charisma and sometimes they were alarmingly responsive to his moods and prone to collapse as they did at Elland Road in 1972 when they lost 5-0. I still remember the feeling of being almost physically sick at watching this abject defeat.

Nigel Clough is made out of a different mould and recent reports about Burton Albion suggest that rather than being charismatic like his dad, he favours a more low key approach which places high reliance on self-belief and self-determination.

He faces a formidable problem – many fans think that many players in the squad aren't good enough, but I suspect that given self-belief, many would perform at a much higher level.

That is the scale of the problem – how to turn around this sense of dejection and acceptance of defeat as something that comes naturally? We thought earlier in the season that Jewell had cracked it with that little run and that resilience was now part of the squad mentality. Somewhere along the line it disappeared and PJ identified himself as part of the problem and not part of the solution and so he went.

It is clear that there is going to be a culling of the squad before we can import any more people. For what it's worth, I think there will be some surprising decisions. Some players who the fans will rate fairly highly (there aren't any that they rate very highly at the moment to be honest) will be moving on as the management team find them not conducive to developing a more mentally disciplined atmosphere. And some who the fans hate and want to see depart will be retained because they do have that kind of mental resolve and determination to succeed.

It was interesting to read at the weekend of West Ham's “The Football Project” document in which they are working towards a total overall re-organisation of the club, including medical facilities to reduce crippling injuries, and how they buy and sell players.

One of the key aspects of this “project” is the need for a core first team squad of around 20 players plus goalkeepers and the reserve team to be for younger future talents. West Ham coach Zola focuses on football and is not involved in working with agents.

I wonder if there is something similar that Adam Pearson is already working on? NHC certainly has ideas of the optimum size of the squad he wants to work with. If it's like that of Zola's preference then we could see up to 8 or 9 players departing in the coming weeks. Some of the Academy players need to be looking at knocking at the door of reserve level games – and going out on loan to get experience, otherwise there is too much of a gap between the first team squad and the Academy.

Also, we do need to address the injuries – either we stop recruiting players with a history of injury or we deal with them better, or we get rid of those who are prone. Our record of injuries in the Championship must be one of the worst and if our performances are to improve, we need a far more settled team that plays together more regularly.

It is a big task but I think NHC and his team are up to it. And it will take time in a quiet and studied way without too much drama, ranting or touchline histrionics if what we've seen so far is any guide.

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