Brian of Nazareth

Derby having Nigel Clough in charge Well congrats on the promotion and good luck with the Rams :thup:

bartley_m

Nice one Simon, good luck with derby :thup:

Terk

cheers, brian and bartley i've got a feeling it will be a long long road getting the rams to the top of the premiership and a european final and i did think it was slightly ironic that i took over from nigel clough

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The situation when Rob found his way to Pride Park was not a good one. After sacking Nigel Clough following the 3-2 defeat to Preston, the team had capitulated 3-0 at Elland Road. Now resting four points from safety with only three wins to their name in 17 games, it looked like a long hard struggle was in front on Rob.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * English First Division - Sunday 14th November 2004********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2004/5 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Crystal Palace 18 6 2 1 18 8 4 5 0 19 8 37 2nd Nottm Forest 18 7 1 1 22 13 4 2 3 16 18 36 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Wigan 18 5 1 3 17 16 5 1 3 12 12 32 4th Cardiff 18 4 3 2 13 11 4 3 2 15 16 30 5th Sheff Utd 18 5 1 3 17 12 3 3 3 12 15 28 6th Luton 17 5 1 3 18 15 3 2 3 13 12 27 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7th Wolves 17 5 1 2 13 9 3 2 4 19 20 27 8th Reading 17 4 4 1 16 12 2 4 2 14 10 26 9th Watford 16 4 0 3 17 14 4 2 3 19 16 26 10th Bradford 17 3 4 1 21 15 4 1 4 14 15 26 11th Rotherham 17 5 2 2 21 14 2 2 4 11 14 25 12th Everton 17 4 2 2 17 12 3 1 5 20 16 24 13th Barnsley 17 3 5 0 14 9 3 1 5 14 17 24 14th Leeds 17 5 1 3 19 17 2 1 5 9 13 23 15th Q.P.R. 18 4 3 3 18 15 2 1 5 8 15 22 16th Portsmouth 18 3 3 3 12 13 3 0 6 15 21 21 17th Preston 18 4 1 3 12 14 2 2 6 15 26 21 18th Millwall 18 3 2 4 19 20 2 3 4 16 16 20 19th Tranmere 17 3 2 4 14 15 2 2 4 5 10 19 20th Sunderland 17 4 2 2 11 7 1 2 6 5 16 19 21st Chester 18 2 3 4 10 11 2 2 5 12 16 17 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------22nd Bristol City 17 4 2 3 14 10 0 2 6 9 18 16 23rd Norwich 16 2 3 3 13 14 1 3 4 12 15 15 24th DERBY 17 2 1 6 11 21 1 3 4 13 22 13 </pre>

The strange thing was that this was a squad which should certainly not have been languishing so low. God only knows how awful Nigel Clough's management must have been to sink them so far. The squad at his immediate disposal was one of mid-table quality at least, and with £8M being made available by the board for further strengthening, Rob was confident that he could first keep them in the division past the end of this season, and then in the 2005/06 campaign, lead them forward for a promotion push.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** Derby County - Sunday 14th November 2004********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== Squad============================================= ================================================== =No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Adams, Wayne D RL ENG 22.1.80 24 - - £150 1.6.05 £24K 3 Ball, Michael SW/D LC ENG 2.10.76 28 1 - £5.25K 23.5.07 £700K 12 Boertien, Paul D L ENG 21.1.76 28 - - £4K 30.6.05 £95K 26 Brooker, Paul AM/F RL ENG 25.11.73 30 - - £425 22.5.07 £575K 6 Bulman, Dannie AM RC ENG 24.1.76 28 - - £4.7K 10.6.06 £300K 8 Donnelly, Simon F RC SCO 1.12.71 32 10 - £7K 14.5.06 £170K - Doyle, Nathan M C ENG 21.6.84 20 - - £725 14.6.06 £190K 20 Elliott, Steve D C ENG 29.10.75 29 - - £4K 9.6.06 £700K 28 Gallacher, Paul GK SCO 16.8.76 28 3 - £5.75K 2.6.08 £775K 14 Gray, Matt S C ENG 4.9.81 23 - - £275 15.6.05 £120K 39 Hampel, Oliver DM RC GER 2.3.82 22 - - £300 21.6.06 £160K 1 Hankinson, Michael GK SCO 4.7.80 24 - - £1.3K 2.6.07 £325K 22 Holmes, Lee AM L ENG 25.11.84 19 - - £4.1K 17.6.05 £110K 4 Huddlestone, Tom DM C ENG 18.10.83 21 - - £7.75K 16.6.07 £625K 27 Hume, Iain F RC CAN 31.10.80 24 13 6 £19.75K 24.6.07 £1.2M 25 Istead, Steven M C ENG 5.7.83 21 - - £9K 5.5.09 £950K 5 Konjic, Muhamed SW/D/DM C BOS 14.5.67 37 51 2 £10K 17.6.05 £10K 23 Kuduzovic, Fahrudin M C BOS 10.1.81 23 - - £4.1K 10.6.08 £450K 16 Labarthe Tome, Gianfranco S C PER 20.9.81 23 - - £2K 8.6.06 £1.5M 15 Lewis, Joe GK ENG 15.2.84 20 - - £825 13.5.09 £130K 18 Miglioranzi, Stefani AM LC BRA 20.9.74 30 - - £6K 12.6.07 £800K 37 Mills, Pablo D C ENG 23.3.80 24 - - £5.5K 1.6.07 £325K - Molloy, Barry DM C NIR 24.1.80 24 - - £2.2K 23.6.07 £180K - Moran, Ryan D/DM RC ENG 16.9.78 26 - - £975 22.6.05 £75K 34 Pavan, Luca DM RC ITA 14.9.85 19 - - £275 13.5.08 £190K 13 Powell, Darren D C ENG 10.3.73 31 - - £10.25K 3.5.07 £400K 19 Rafaela, Robertino D C HOL 25.3.81 23 - - £300 4.6.07 £300K 24 Smith, Jay SW/DM C ENG 29.12.78 25 - - £13.75K 27.5.08 £350K - Smith, Matthew D R ENG 27.2.79 25 - - £800 11.6.06 £150K 9 Smith, Tommy F RC ENG 22.5.77 27 - - £14K 22.6.06 £1.4M 17 Tate, Alan D RC ENG 2.12.79 24 - - £10.5K 15.5.08 £550K 7 Wehrman, Kasey DM C AUS 16.8.74 30 27 4 £7.5K 20.5.08 £900K 2 Whing, Andy D R ENG 17.11.81 22 - - £2.3K 16.5.09 £550K </pre>

With six clear days before he had to play a game, Rob set about scouring the transfer market for quality to bring in. The first calls he placed were to Anfield as he had been alerted that veteran defender Stephane Henchoz was looking for a new challenge. Well, Rob certainly had a challenge on offer and after a £300,000 fee was negotiated with Liverpool, Stephane agreed personal terms quickly and immediately raised the quality of the squad. Also mentioned in the negotiations for Henchoz, was Liverpool's young Scottish left winger Robbie Foy. The U-21 cap thought he was more than ready for first team football, but the Liverpool management thought he was pish so it took only a £200,000 bid to tempt them to let him go and twenty four hours after Stephane became Rob's first signing, Robbie became his second.

A number of players available on a free transfer were brought in on trial and put in the reserves to see if they could impress. But none were signed before Rob made his debut as Derby manager in a home tie against fellow relegation strugglers Bristol City. His ultimate plan was to make Derby into Premiership champions, and this was the beginning of the long road towards that.

Peacemaker7

Well done on the Derby job, its all plain sailing now

Terk

November 2004 - February 2005

Typically for a crunch relegation six-pointer, the game against Bristol City was a poor affair but still tense throughout. With Derby having conceded three or more goals on five occasions already that season, Rob was most concerned with the defensive performing well, and new boy Henchoz did a lot towards tightening them up and making the eventual 0-0 draw possible. The first goals scored under Rob coincided with the first conceded as a bisit to Sheffield United finished in a 3-3 draw before wins over Watford and Luton rounded off a good opening in his new job.

Defeats to Tranmere (1-0) and Millwall (3-2) (both away from home) put a dent in the side's progress, but they were soon moving up the ladder again as they claimed four straight wins. The run started with a 2-0 over Cardiff before moving on to a 4-1 over Norwich. A 6-0 over Rotherham (despite having goalkeeper Paul Gallacher sent off with the scores tied at 0-0) impressed the fnas somewhat, and a 3-2 success at QPR followed.

Plymouth came to Pride Park and claimed a 1-1 draw in the third round of the FA Cup, and the Division Two outfit would go on to storm the replay 4-1. But it mattered not to Derby as league progress continued with wins over Barnsley (2-1) Nottingham Forest (2-1) and Chester (4-0) as they moved into February.

A visit to Bradford saw another win put on the books as they took a 2-0 success away from Valley Parade, but their superb form came to a crushing end as Watford visited Pride Park and left with a 3-2 win thanks to a hat-trick from young midfielder Andy Ferrell. February picked up again, however, as its final two games yielded wins over Sunderland (3-0) and Wolves (2-0).

From 24th to 9th in three and a half months was no mean feat and Rob was already becoming a hero of the terraces of Derby. There were even a foolhardy few who were beginning to dream of promotion that very season, but they were forgetting about the inevitable slump in form which every side had to go through.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * English First Division - Tuesday 1st March 2005********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2004/5 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Crystal Palace 33 10 5 1 33 12 8 6 3 32 19 65 2nd Nottm Forest 34 12 2 2 38 22 7 4 7 27 34 63 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Luton 34 10 3 4 36 25 7 5 5 22 21 59 4th Reading 33 10 6 1 28 13 4 7 5 27 22 55 5th Wigan 34 10 4 4 34 25 6 3 7 21 27 55 6th Watford 34 11 0 6 43 33 6 3 8 32 34 54 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7th Rotherham 34 8 5 3 35 25 7 4 7 25 27 54 8th Leeds 33 12 1 3 36 22 4 4 9 23 30 53 9th DERBY 34 9 2 7 33 26 6 4 6 31 32 51 10th Wolves 34 8 5 4 28 23 5 3 9 29 37 47 11th Sheff Utd 33 8 3 6 30 23 5 4 7 22 28 46 12th Portsmouth 34 8 6 4 28 25 4 3 9 20 31 45 13th Everton 34 7 6 4 29 23 5 2 10 28 30 44 14th Barnsley 33 4 10 2 24 20 6 3 8 29 32 43 15th Bradford 34 4 5 8 28 32 7 4 6 31 32 42 16th Millwall 33 6 2 8 29 36 6 3 8 35 33 41 17th Q.P.R. 34 7 5 4 31 25 4 3 11 18 33 41 18th Cardiff 33 7 3 6 25 25 4 5 8 22 31 41 19th Tranmere 34 8 4 5 27 21 3 3 11 11 24 40 20th Norwich 33 5 5 6 22 22 5 4 8 25 28 39 21st Sunderland 33 8 2 7 23 24 2 6 8 15 28 38 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------22nd Preston 34 8 3 7 27 30 2 4 10 22 40 37 23rd Chester 33 6 3 7 21 19 2 4 11 18 34 31 24th Bristol City 34 6 6 6 26 25 0 5 11 11 27 29 </pre>

Terk

thanks, PM. looking good so far at least :thup:

T!mbo

Loving you work Türkiye :thup:

Good luck with this attempt holding out (although your reputation does slightly precede you )

That Derby squad looks like it needs serious work. :/

Can't see Ball lasting long there, what with him being a former Toffee and a former 'Ger

Terk

cheers, timbo good to see you around these parts. at least i have a repuation for something

the squad's hardly brilliant, but it's certainly better than bottom of the table fodder. too many mediocre players making far too much money, though.

and to make things even worse for michael ball, he had a loan spell at hibs in this game whilst he was at rangers. not that i'd be so petty as to drop a player because of who he's played for, but he's pretty much screwed

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March - May 2005

With twelve games still to go in the league campaign, there were a few around Pride Park, including Rob, who felt that a push into the play-off spots might not be at all beyond them. They were, after all, only three points behind Watford who sat in 6th place. It would need a hellishly good run of form to the end of the season, though, and Rob still expected in the back of his mind for their to be a slump in fortunes before the 46 game mark was reached.

March began with a trip to Goodison Park to face pre-season title favourites Everton. The mid-table position that the Toffees found themselves in was hardly what their fans had expected, and Rob knew the game would be tough. He didn't, however, expect to be 2-0 down at half time. But a great fight back saw goals from Dennis Bergkap and Robbie Foy recuse a point from the trip to Merseyside. Four days later, Reading called at Pride Park and goals from Kasey Wehrman and Nacho Novo sent them packing with only a 2-0 defeat to speak of.

A trip to high flying Wigan was another potential banana skin, but a terrific first half blitz saw them into the break 3-0 up thanks to goals from Bergkamp, Wehrman and Kevin Lisbie. The home side did pull one back in the second half, but it was too little too late to stop Derby making it five games unbeaten. Mid-table Portsmouth were next up as Derby returned home, and the team from the south coast were dispatched with a very confident performance and goals either side of half time from Pascal Johansen and Neil Wood.

Bristol City were the opponents in Rob's first game in charge of his Derby side, and the two had fought out a tense 0-0 draw. Since then, their fortunes had differed drastically, and Derby were the huge favourites for their second meeting of the season at Ashton Gate. And rightly so as they, after falling behind to Lee Miller's first half goal, came roaring back and won through efforts by Foy, Bergkamp and Lisbie. Leaders Crystal Palace were next on the agenda, and another comeback was needed as the Selhurst Park club raced into a two goal lead on their home ground. But a Kevin Lisbie double and goals from Pascal Johansen and Marco Delvecchio saw Derby drive away from London with the three points in their pocket.

Derby were now looking very good for a play-off spot, and they continued their excellent form with wins over Sheffield United (1-0) and Preston (1-0) thanks to goals from Micah Hyde and Leon Knight respectively. A 3-0 trouncing of Leeds at Pride Park put them up into second place and dreaming of automatic promotion and draw against Luton (1-1) and Tranmere (2-2) ensured their place in the Premiership for the 2005/06 season. A win against Norwich with goals from Wehrman and Bergkamp rounded off the season, and a haul of 30 points from the final 36 had enabled Derby to do what had seemed impossible. From 24th to 2nd in 29 games was some feat, and now Rob had the major challenge of assembling a squad good enough to survive in the Premiership.

Terk

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * English First Division - Tuesday 7th June 2005********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2004/5 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C Crystal Palace 46 15 6 2 50 23 12 6 5 43 30 93 2nd P Derby 46 13 3 7 43 28 11 6 6 47 40 81 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Nottm Forest 46 15 4 4 49 27 8 4 11 32 42 77 4th Reading 46 13 8 2 38 18 7 8 8 37 32 76 5th Rotherham 46 13 5 5 48 31 8 6 9 27 30 74 6th P Wigan 46 12 6 5 44 34 8 7 8 36 41 73 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7th Leeds 46 16 2 5 48 31 6 4 13 34 47 72 8th Everton 46 10 8 5 40 31 8 3 12 36 40 65 9th Sheff Utd 46 13 3 7 43 30 6 5 12 29 39 65 10th Luton 46 11 5 7 43 35 7 6 10 26 33 65 11th Watford 46 14 0 9 56 46 6 4 13 42 52 64 12th Barnsley 46 9 11 3 37 28 7 4 12 36 44 63 13th Norwich 46 9 6 8 33 31 8 5 10 38 39 62 14th Q.P.R. 46 12 6 5 50 34 5 4 14 24 42 61 15th Portsmouth 46 10 9 4 37 32 6 4 13 28 43 61 16th Bradford 46 7 7 9 37 37 8 5 10 38 43 57 17th Tranmere 46 11 6 6 36 28 4 6 13 18 34 57 18th Sunderland 46 11 2 10 34 36 5 7 11 26 43 57 19th Chester 46 11 3 9 37 27 5 5 13 25 41 56 20th Cardiff 46 10 4 9 37 36 5 7 11 32 43 56 21st Wolves 46 10 6 7 40 36 5 5 13 34 49 56 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------22nd R Millwall 46 8 3 12 41 51 6 4 13 45 50 49 23rd R Preston 46 8 6 9 33 38 4 6 13 31 52 48 24th R Bristol City 46 6 9 8 33 35 2 7 14 19 38 40 </pre>

OMDave

What a turn-around! From bottom in November to an automatic promotion spot in June. And with Pascal Johansen playing an important part :eek:

No limits to what a determined Scouser can achieve, eh? Good luck in the Premiership :thup: