Nigel Clough - opinions from a Derby fan

[sitwell]

Eh ? you or me ,only one of us is quoting facts.

 

[JJ Sefton]

Eh ? you or me ,only one of us is quoting facts.

Judgey has somewhere to park his bike.

 

[Rampage]

Thanks for opinions guys. Forgot to come back on here after spending half a week smarting over a bitterly disappointing 2-0 defeat to Weeds.

I gives me absolutely no pleasure reading any of these comments of frustration, but I of course take them with a pinch of salt following a disappointing result. I mean we're sat top of the table at the moment but there are some posters on our forum calling for our top goal scorer to be dropped after failing to net in the past three games (two of which we won!). Some criticise fans for being fickle on message boards. That's unfair. It's just hearts ruling heads on text form.

Anyway, back to Clough. Believe it or not, despite our meteoric rise and our transition into league favourites, there are still a lot of Derby fans unhappy with Clough's sacking. There are those that feel he was sacked too early, and that it was particularly unfair to sack him after Forest. Some go further, and suggest enough green shoots were spouting at the beginning of last season to suggest this transition was coming anyway.

I myself feel that's a little simplistic. Bare with me on this, because this could be relevant to Sheffield United. What's changed in the past 12 months has been the revolution off the pitch in every regard after 15 months of hard work from our CEO. The Academy has been upgraded to Grade One Status. We've got a Recruitment Department leading bespoke scouting software and an international scouting network. We've built "footballing relationships", which has meant then when we go for a target, we get him. Our coaching has also come on leaps and bounds, and that's resulted in us being at the front of the queue for loan signings - Thorne, Ibe, Bamford, Wisdom, Keane, Butland - all of these players were out of reach before, but we got half of them before the local media could even link them with us.

That for me is where "the Clough debate", which rambles on, lies. Did Nigel Clough and his management team resist these off-the-field changes? Was Clough's sacking seen as a necessary part of this off-field revolution? Or was there simply a personality clash between our new CEO and Clough that made for an unworkable relationship? There are anecdotes of Clough laughing at the CEO on the coach trip home following our 1-0 away defeat to Forest at suggestions of bringing in new loan signings. If you believe such stories, that would be the straw which broke the camel's back.

However, there is one huge, great, big beacon of blindingly shining light which hasn't gone out since Clough left. The point is that the side which has carried us so far in recent months is still very much Nigel Clough's side, and almost all of our key players remain Clough's signings. If it's been revolution off the pitch, it's been evolution on it. 9 of the 11 which started May's play-off final were either Clough signings or players he'd hand-picked and moulded into first-team players from the Academy. George Thorne who started was also reportedly a Clough target at one point, leaving only Wisdom as a player which Clough had absolutely nothing to do with. His replacement this season has been a further improvement on him - Cyrus Christie - and again, he was a target for Clough.

I don't want to worry you further, but that was another problem with Clough. Thorne and Christie, however brilliant it was of Clough to spot their talents, will forever remain his "targets" and not his players at Derby. Too often we'd go for someone who would have brought something to the team, and we'd miss out. It would come from either Clough talking about his targets to the media (never, EVER understood that one), us offering a pitifully low amount, or simply giving up after the first bid. When George Thorne, our marquee summer signing, did his ACL in during pre-season, we thought our season was over. 2 weeks on, out of the blue give or take a tweet the night before, a loanee from Real Madrid turns up to replace him. I just don't see how that ever could have happened under the previous regime.

To see that Clough missed out on some key targets again this summer makes for some painful reading as despite the jury being out for me on him as a manager, he is the son of the legend, a Derby man, and will forever be responsible for turning around the worst team in history into something that was capable of playing stunning football - albeit with someone else finishing off the job. I really, really want him to do well at Sheffield United and put right some wrongs with us, so I follow your results closely. You're still in the promotion mix and there's time for many more corners to be turned. But as I read this thread, I get the sneaking suspicion that my worst fears may be coming true - that he's not learned from any of his mistakes with us.

 

[Rampage]

The Derby fans who say he took them as far as he could,also say he cleared out the deadwood and the high earners and left them with solid foundations ...if that's the case then let him crack on and do the same for us,and if he is then found wanting then the next man will inherit a healthier United to the one which NC had when he walked in the Lane,and can progress us from there.

This, this and this again. Whatever anyone has to say about Clough, he's left both his clubs in much better positions than when he began. Burton Albion fans couldn't have dreamt where they are now when he took charge there.

Devil's advocate - what if your board is using Clough to sort out some of your long-term issues, before going for a bigger name and an off-field revolution with some serious investment a few years down the line? In other words - exactly what we've done? There's no doubt the coffers have been opened by our wealthy board since his departure, and from what I've read, you've got some investors who aren't short of a bob or two.

 

[Balham]

What I'm seeing from Clough this season is pretty much in line with what Rampage has to say. Clough comes across as a strong character with an iron set of rules that he expects every player to abide by. Does that help the team? I'm not sure.

I was heartened at the start of the summer when Clough talked about having a squad of "18 or 19" players supplemented with the academy youngsters. I'm not sure what's happened since then but we've now got 25+ senior pros on the books which has to be crippling our ability to add players under the SCMP.

There's also the strange situation with the signing and ostracising of Andy Butler which I would expect will ended by Butler moving on in January. In addition, I don't see what Paddy McCarthy is bringing to the team - he's a bombscare on the ball and given that last season's success was partly built on Maguire bringing the ball out from defence I can't see why we're persisting with him.

I never want to see a manager lose his job but I can't escape the feeling that Clough is underperforming at the moment. However, I doubt that will manifest into him getting sacked because who else is there that could do a better job?

 

[OllyBlade]

This, this and this again. Whatever anyone has to say about Clough, he's left both his clubs in much better positions than when he began. Burton Albion fans couldn't have dreamt where they are now when he took charge there.

Devil's advocate - what if your board is using Clough to sort out some of your long-term issues, before going for a bigger name and an off-field revolution with some serious investment a few years down the line? In other words - exactly what we've done? There's no doubt the coffers have been opened by our wealthy board since his departure, and from what I've read, you've got some investors who aren't short of a bob or two.

A nice thought, but we are in League One. There shouldn't be 'a few years down the line' type thinking in regards to the person who sets up the team to win us promotion or not.

 

[Aston max]

That's why Mowbray is the better option - behind Pulis

With all respect to nigel pulling us out of the Crap (which I think we are all grateful for ) I think it's time for the board to show ambition go get pulis!! look at the job he did at Stoke with no money (he might even do it to put 2 fingers up at his bestie Mr warnock ) and if the prince and his so called billionaire family back him properly (within the fair play rules) he's the man for the job
Yes I know he wants premiership but you never know? he needs the club selling to him ,and I think we all agree we are a bigger club than Stoke or palace! !

 

[Lord Bos of Eckington.]

With all respect to nigel pulling us out of the Crap (which I think we are all grateful for ) I think it's time for the board to show ambition go get pulis!! look at the job he did at Stoke with no money (he might even do it to put 2 fingers up at his bestie Mr warnock ) and if the prince and his so called billionaire family back him properly (within the fair play rules) he's the man for the job
Yes I know he wants premiership but you never know? he needs the club selling to him ,and I think we all agree we are a bigger club than Stoke or palace! !

Like the idea but there is no way on this gods earth , Mr Pulis would come and work for Mr Clough.

UTB

 

[Davie Blade]

BUMP for the OP,

Nail on the head
We were warned!

 

[robbiez666]

BUMP for the OP,

Nail on the head
We were warned!

scarily accurate

 

[SUFC Guy]

Just come across this again and wow! How accurate was he with so many of his statements?. Think this trend will continue for NC and his management.

Thanks OP

 

[Worksop II]

Mystic Meg or what !!

I think that may well follow Nigel to his next job

 

[Deleted member 1486]

Just come across this again and wow! How accurate was he with so many of his statements?. Think this trend will continue for NC and his management.

Thanks OP

I either missed this when it was first posted or totally forgot about it. It is spookily accurate, even as someone who thought he might (just about) have deserved another season I have to agree with almost all of the criticism of him contained in that post.

Half way through reading it I had to check it wasn't posted a week ago by someone from here taking the piss! Well played.

 

[metalblade]

A frighteningly accurate OP which if more proof was needed should convince the Clough supporters or a least those who's support was wavering that Nigel was never going to change his style, outlook or methods.

 

[AnonymousBlade1995]

i still think he would have learned from this season and took us up but if we have got karl robinson or adkins then i concede the board made the correct decision

 

[Blade56]

Time to put the Clough era to bed

 

[Leonardo Green]

i still think he would have learned from this season and took us up but if we have got karl robinson or adkins then i concede the board made the correct decision

What makes you think after all these years he was suddenly going to change for next season?

 

[Leonardo Green]

i still think he would have learned from this season and took us up but if we have got karl robinson or adkins then i concede the board made the correct decision

What makes you think after all these years he was suddenly going to change for next season?

 

[Leonardo Green]

.

 

[AnonymousBlade1995]

What makes you think after all these years he was suddenly going to change for next season?

After the Swindon game he conceded that we needed height, center backs, and a prolific goalscorer which i think added to this team would have done the job and took us up.

 

[Leonardo Green]

After the Swindon game he conceded that we needed height, center backs, and a prolific goalscorer which i think added to this team would have done the job and took us up.

Everyone could see this before Christmas, but it took the one that is supposed to be the expert until the end of the season to see this.

Kind of worrying don't you think?

 

[BushBlade]

I think the most salient point in the OP was that he wasn't the right man for us at that time, because we needed someone who did things quicker.
Whether you're pro or anti Clough I don't think you can argue with that.
All managers have their faults, particularly at this level, and we'll soon find out the flaws of the new bloke, whoever he is. For all Clough's faults, which were many, it was accepted by most Derby supporters that he was making progress, but, as with us, not quick enough.
Let's hope we're more successful at replacing him than Derby were.

 

[Davie Blade]

Sorry to pinch Roy's copyright but here's a view from the Rams forums:-

About time. Relegation fodder to play-offs in two seasons just isn't good enough.



They were relegation fodder in the same sense that Tottenham were before Redknapp took over there a few years back - tperformances/results were not a match for quality of squad or expenditure and they were bottom of the league (or thereabouts) but realistically there was no chance they were actually ever going to be relegated come the end of the season.


I remember Redknapp coming in and being praised for turning them around, making out that it was a miracle and he'd 'saved' them from a certain relegation battle - it was ridiculous!


Spent a lot of cash on our rejects and failed. Club that size expect more in that division, they aren't as apathetic as us.


Not surprised, considering the resources he's had for the third division he's failed miserably. Listening to some of the shef utd fans some of football he's severed up has been awful.




Spent a monster amount of money for that division and to not get promotion is a failure. Although it seems daft to spend all that money on so many new players to then sack him.


That said there fans were not happy, same complaints that we had about him


Clough bought all our best players! Get him back as scout, just don't let him near the training pitches!!!


Failed to get the biggest club in league 1 up.

League 2 at best but wouldn't be surprised to see him in the vanorama now!

but typical nigel.....he signs a centre half last summer and almost immediately bombs him out, then ends up with Alcock and McEveley in central defence for the play off decider.


I expect a shopping list of legzdins, steve davies and jamie ward might have been a step too far.


I have a few friends who are Blades.
Put it this way he'd make strange decisions (Ironic huh). Like losing a game and sticking a defender on, Putting a defender up front when drawing will not make a positive change ore negative then anything. Playing people out of position. I just laugh when he tells me most of the time I say 'Has Clough done.. yet' and he will be like yeah all the time!


Funny how he hasn't changed one bit I see him as a brilliant manager to save a club or if u want mid-table with the odd flirt (Yes like Sheff-Utd this season) with play offs. Couldn't see him getting any further then that.


Clough's just not the man to get your promoted. It's kind of strange, but some managers just specialise in specific roles. Grayson gets teams up from League One, Allardyce keeps teams up in the PL...


Clough consolidates teams. That's his forte. If he went to someone like Rotherham, he'd consolidate them as a midtable Championship team for years.


As Mostyn points out, it might be worth giving him that sort of job if that's your target and arguably your limit.


Clough leaving is the best thing to happen to Derby in the last 20 years.


From the outside it looks a bit harsh as they were in relegation trouble when he took over - since then he's consistently had them on play-off form. Yet, I'd bet that things look different from a Blade's perspective. He's had a lot of money to spend and I'd guess he's thrown away a lot of points through negative tactics. I could easily imagine their board thinking, 'this bloke will never quite get us up - and he's boring the fans silly in the process'.


If Fawaz has any sense (which all evidence refutes), then he'd get Nigel in this afternoon. With no transfer budget and a squad in need of complete over hall, Nigel is the man for them. He'd also get a little more patience from the inbreds.


Don't anybody dare suggest he comes back here!


He had them competing and a couple of great cup runs.
From the outside it looks like a harsh decision .
But if the football was not good I could see where it would happen.
Same old argument I guess results or entertainment .
In the end he didn't get enough results to justify the lack of entertainment or style maybe.

Would have thought he deserved at least another season.

If either excellent league results or entertaining style (or both) were targets, he failed.

They were never close to challenging for an automatic spot and they were really boring
by any standard. Signing five Derby rejects (McEveley, Freeman, Coutts, Ben Davies
and Steve Davies) suggests that he couldn't or wouldn't move on and try fresh ideas.


Clough lasted longer than any Blades' manager since Gary Speed but the prince who is
bankrolling the club apparently wants something more tangible for his money.


There's a poll on one Blades' forum where the vote is almost 3 to 1 for "Clough out"
so it seems that his management (with the same collection of pals and relatives that
he had at Derby) didn't convince many folk that there was better to come.


Biggest budget in League 1 apparently. 20 points off 2nd place. Shit tactics, negative boring football by all.accounts. That's why Mr Personality has got the sack.



I think Clough's record at Sheff Utd isn't too shabby. He took over when the club was in crisis, in the relegation zone and got them a 7th place finish in League 1 in his first season. He also got them to both an FA Cup semi final and a League Cup semi final and was voted the LMA's FA Cup Manager of the Year. Then he got them in to the play offs in his first full season in charge last season. His win rate is 47.12%, again not too bad at all.


Just like with us and SM, it will be interesting to see how the record of the new Manager they bring in compares to Clough Jnr..…


Win rate is great if you actually win something.


If he'd had 46 games, his first season would have produced 75 points.
This season they got 71 points, so progress towards promotion seemed to stall as at Derby.

The owner is rich and far enough away to ignore the fans.
Perhaps he and his staff didn't believe Clough would succeed?

I think our current owners have been quite patient, perhaps too patient with Clough
after the third season - we were just treading water after that.

 

[alcoblade]

I think they've nailed it.

UTB

 

[sitwell]

Sorry to pinch Roy's copyright but here's a view from the Rams forums:-

About time. Relegation fodder to play-offs in two seasons just isn't good enough.



They were relegation fodder in the same sense that Tottenham were before Redknapp took over there a few years back - tperformances/results were not a match for quality of squad or expenditure and they were bottom of the league (or thereabouts) but realistically there was no chance they were actually ever going to be relegated come the end of the season.


I remember Redknapp coming in and being praised for turning them around, making out that it was a miracle and he'd 'saved' them from a certain relegation battle - it was ridiculous!


Spent a lot of cash on our rejects and failed. Club that size expect more in that division, they aren't as apathetic as us.


Not surprised, considering the resources he's had for the third division he's failed miserably. Listening to some of the shef utd fans some of football he's severed up has been awful.




Spent a monster amount of money for that division and to not get promotion is a failure. Although it seems daft to spend all that money on so many new players to then sack him.


That said there fans were not happy, same complaints that we had about him


Clough bought all our best players! Get him back as scout, just don't let him near the training pitches!!!


Failed to get the biggest club in league 1 up.

League 2 at best but wouldn't be surprised to see him in the vanorama now!

but typical nigel.....he signs a centre half last summer and almost immediately bombs him out, then ends up with Alcock and McEveley in central defence for the play off decider.


I expect a shopping list of legzdins, steve davies and jamie ward might have been a step too far.


I have a few friends who are Blades.
Put it this way he'd make strange decisions (Ironic huh). Like losing a game and sticking a defender on, Putting a defender up front when drawing will not make a positive change ore negative then anything. Playing people out of position. I just laugh when he tells me most of the time I say 'Has Clough done.. yet' and he will be like yeah all the time!


Funny how he hasn't changed one bit I see him as a brilliant manager to save a club or if u want mid-table with the odd flirt (Yes like Sheff-Utd this season) with play offs. Couldn't see him getting any further then that.


Clough's just not the man to get your promoted. It's kind of strange, but some managers just specialise in specific roles. Grayson gets teams up from League One, Allardyce keeps teams up in the PL...


Clough consolidates teams. That's his forte. If he went to someone like Rotherham, he'd consolidate them as a midtable Championship team for years.


As Mostyn points out, it might be worth giving him that sort of job if that's your target and arguably your limit.


Clough leaving is the best thing to happen to Derby in the last 20 years.


From the outside it looks a bit harsh as they were in relegation trouble when he took over - since then he's consistently had them on play-off form. Yet, I'd bet that things look different from a Blade's perspective. He's had a lot of money to spend and I'd guess he's thrown away a lot of points through negative tactics. I could easily imagine their board thinking, 'this bloke will never quite get us up - and he's boring the fans silly in the process'.


If Fawaz has any sense (which all evidence refutes), then he'd get Nigel in this afternoon. With no transfer budget and a squad in need of complete over hall, Nigel is the man for them. He'd also get a little more patience from the inbreds.


Don't anybody dare suggest he comes back here!


He had them competing and a couple of great cup runs.
From the outside it looks like a harsh decision .
But if the football was not good I could see where it would happen.
Same old argument I guess results or entertainment .
In the end he didn't get enough results to justify the lack of entertainment or style maybe.

Would have thought he deserved at least another season.

If either excellent league results or entertaining style (or both) were targets, he failed.

They were never close to challenging for an automatic spot and they were really boring
by any standard. Signing five Derby rejects (McEveley, Freeman, Coutts, Ben Davies
and Steve Davies) suggests that he couldn't or wouldn't move on and try fresh ideas.


Clough lasted longer than any Blades' manager since Gary Speed but the prince who is
bankrolling the club apparently wants something more tangible for his money.


There's a poll on one Blades' forum where the vote is almost 3 to 1 for "Clough out"
so it seems that his management (with the same collection of pals and relatives that
he had at Derby) didn't convince many folk that there was better to come.


Biggest budget in League 1 apparently. 20 points off 2nd place. Shit tactics, negative boring football by all.accounts. That's why Mr Personality has got the sack.



I think Clough's record at Sheff Utd isn't too shabby. He took over when the club was in crisis, in the relegation zone and got them a 7th place finish in League 1 in his first season. He also got them to both an FA Cup semi final and a League Cup semi final and was voted the LMA's FA Cup Manager of the Year. Then he got them in to the play offs in his first full season in charge last season. His win rate is 47.12%, again not too bad at all.


Just like with us and SM, it will be interesting to see how the record of the new Manager they bring in compares to Clough Jnr..…


Win rate is great if you actually win something.


If he'd had 46 games, his first season would have produced 75 points.
This season they got 71 points, so progress towards promotion seemed to stall as at Derby.

The owner is rich and far enough away to ignore the fans.
Perhaps he and his staff didn't believe Clough would succeed?

I think our current owners have been quite patient, perhaps too patient with Clough
after the third season - we were just treading water after that.

You are a Derby sorry Rams fan aren't you ? Your obsession is beyond belief ,is it Clough or Derby ? 905 of your post are Derby related ,99 % Clough ,what will you find to slag off if we don't get a Clough/Derby connected manager ?

Full of bullshit anyway the poll was 2/1 Clough in not quite the 3/1 Clough out you and your other sheep would like to believe or have you just picked out the bits that suit you and ignore the rest like the other bollocks you have posted before ?

 

[judge]

Sorry to pinch Roy's copyright but here's a view from the Rams forums:-

About time. Relegation fodder to play-offs in two seasons just isn't good enough.



They were relegation fodder in the same sense that Tottenham were before Redknapp took over there a few years back - tperformances/results were not a match for quality of squad or expenditure and they were bottom of the league (or thereabouts) but realistically there was no chance they were actually ever going to be relegated come the end of the season.


I remember Redknapp coming in and being praised for turning them around, making out that it was a miracle and he'd 'saved' them from a certain relegation battle - it was ridiculous!


Spent a lot of cash on our rejects and failed. Club that size expect more in that division, they aren't as apathetic as us.


Not surprised, considering the resources he's had for the third division he's failed miserably. Listening to some of the shef utd fans some of football he's severed up has been awful.




Spent a monster amount of money for that division and to not get promotion is a failure. Although it seems daft to spend all that money on so many new players to then sack him.


That said there fans were not happy, same complaints that we had about him


Clough bought all our best players! Get him back as scout, just don't let him near the training pitches!!!


Failed to get the biggest club in league 1 up.

League 2 at best but wouldn't be surprised to see him in the vanorama now!

but typical nigel.....he signs a centre half last summer and almost immediately bombs him out, then ends up with Alcock and McEveley in central defence for the play off decider.


I expect a shopping list of legzdins, steve davies and jamie ward might have been a step too far.


I have a few friends who are Blades.
Put it this way he'd make strange decisions (Ironic huh). Like losing a game and sticking a defender on, Putting a defender up front when drawing will not make a positive change ore negative then anything. Playing people out of position. I just laugh when he tells me most of the time I say 'Has Clough done.. yet' and he will be like yeah all the time!


Funny how he hasn't changed one bit I see him as a brilliant manager to save a club or if u want mid-table with the odd flirt (Yes like Sheff-Utd this season) with play offs. Couldn't see him getting any further then that.


Clough's just not the man to get your promoted. It's kind of strange, but some managers just specialise in specific roles. Grayson gets teams up from League One, Allardyce keeps teams up in the PL...


Clough consolidates teams. That's his forte. If he went to someone like Rotherham, he'd consolidate them as a midtable Championship team for years.


As Mostyn points out, it might be worth giving him that sort of job if that's your target and arguably your limit.


Clough leaving is the best thing to happen to Derby in the last 20 years.


From the outside it looks a bit harsh as they were in relegation trouble when he took over - since then he's consistently had them on play-off form. Yet, I'd bet that things look different from a Blade's perspective. He's had a lot of money to spend and I'd guess he's thrown away a lot of points through negative tactics. I could easily imagine their board thinking, 'this bloke will never quite get us up - and he's boring the fans silly in the process'.


If Fawaz has any sense (which all evidence refutes), then he'd get Nigel in this afternoon. With no transfer budget and a squad in need of complete over hall, Nigel is the man for them. He'd also get a little more patience from the inbreds.


Don't anybody dare suggest he comes back here!


He had them competing and a couple of great cup runs.
From the outside it looks like a harsh decision .
But if the football was not good I could see where it would happen.
Same old argument I guess results or entertainment .
In the end he didn't get enough results to justify the lack of entertainment or style maybe.

Would have thought he deserved at least another season.

If either excellent league results or entertaining style (or both) were targets, he failed.

They were never close to challenging for an automatic spot and they were really boring
by any standard. Signing five Derby rejects (McEveley, Freeman, Coutts, Ben Davies
and Steve Davies) suggests that he couldn't or wouldn't move on and try fresh ideas.


Clough lasted longer than any Blades' manager since Gary Speed but the prince who is
bankrolling the club apparently wants something more tangible for his money.


There's a poll on one Blades' forum where the vote is almost 3 to 1 for "Clough out"
so it seems that his management (with the same collection of pals and relatives that
he had at Derby) didn't convince many folk that there was better to come.


Biggest budget in League 1 apparently. 20 points off 2nd place. Shit tactics, negative boring football by all.accounts. That's why Mr Personality has got the sack.



I think Clough's record at Sheff Utd isn't too shabby. He took over when the club was in crisis, in the relegation zone and got them a 7th place finish in League 1 in his first season. He also got them to both an FA Cup semi final and a League Cup semi final and was voted the LMA's FA Cup Manager of the Year. Then he got them in to the play offs in his first full season in charge last season. His win rate is 47.12%, again not too bad at all.


Just like with us and SM, it will be interesting to see how the record of the new Manager they bring in compares to Clough Jnr..…


Win rate is great if you actually win something.


If he'd had 46 games, his first season would have produced 75 points.
This season they got 71 points, so progress towards promotion seemed to stall as at Derby.

The owner is rich and far enough away to ignore the fans.
Perhaps he and his staff didn't believe Clough would succeed?

I think our current owners have been quite patient, perhaps too patient with Clough
after the third season - we were just treading water after that.

Summed it up quite succintly
more than us anyway

 

[Woodwardfan]

Sorry to pinch Roy's copyright but here's a view from the Rams forums:-

About time. Relegation fodder to play-offs in two seasons just isn't good enough.



They were relegation fodder in the same sense that Tottenham were before Redknapp took over there a few years back - tperformances/results were not a match for quality of squad or expenditure and they were bottom of the league (or thereabouts) but realistically there was no chance they were actually ever going to be relegated come the end of the season.


I remember Redknapp coming in and being praised for turning them around, making out that it was a miracle and he'd 'saved' them from a certain relegation battle - it was ridiculous!


Spent a lot of cash on our rejects and failed. Club that size expect more in that division, they aren't as apathetic as us.


Not surprised, considering the resources he's had for the third division he's failed miserably. Listening to some of the shef utd fans some of football he's severed up has been awful.




Spent a monster amount of money for that division and to not get promotion is a failure. Although it seems daft to spend all that money on so many new players to then sack him.


That said there fans were not happy, same complaints that we had about him


Clough bought all our best players! Get him back as scout, just don't let him near the training pitches!!!


Failed to get the biggest club in league 1 up.

League 2 at best but wouldn't be surprised to see him in the vanorama now!

but typical nigel.....he signs a centre half last summer and almost immediately bombs him out, then ends up with Alcock and McEveley in central defence for the play off decider.


I expect a shopping list of legzdins, steve davies and jamie ward might have been a step too far.


I have a few friends who are Blades.
Put it this way he'd make strange decisions (Ironic huh). Like losing a game and sticking a defender on, Putting a defender up front when drawing will not make a positive change ore negative then anything. Playing people out of position. I just laugh when he tells me most of the time I say 'Has Clough done.. yet' and he will be like yeah all the time!


Funny how he hasn't changed one bit I see him as a brilliant manager to save a club or if u want mid-table with the odd flirt (Yes like Sheff-Utd this season) with play offs. Couldn't see him getting any further then that.


Clough's just not the man to get your promoted. It's kind of strange, but some managers just specialise in specific roles. Grayson gets teams up from League One, Allardyce keeps teams up in the PL...


Clough consolidates teams. That's his forte. If he went to someone like Rotherham, he'd consolidate them as a midtable Championship team for years.


As Mostyn points out, it might be worth giving him that sort of job if that's your target and arguably your limit.


Clough leaving is the best thing to happen to Derby in the last 20 years.


From the outside it looks a bit harsh as they were in relegation trouble when he took over - since then he's consistently had them on play-off form. Yet, I'd bet that things look different from a Blade's perspective. He's had a lot of money to spend and I'd guess he's thrown away a lot of points through negative tactics. I could easily imagine their board thinking, 'this bloke will never quite get us up - and he's boring the fans silly in the process'.


If Fawaz has any sense (which all evidence refutes), then he'd get Nigel in this afternoon. With no transfer budget and a squad in need of complete over hall, Nigel is the man for them. He'd also get a little more patience from the inbreds.


Don't anybody dare suggest he comes back here!


He had them competing and a couple of great cup runs.
From the outside it looks like a harsh decision .
But if the football was not good I could see where it would happen.
Same old argument I guess results or entertainment .
In the end he didn't get enough results to justify the lack of entertainment or style maybe.

Would have thought he deserved at least another season.

If either excellent league results or entertaining style (or both) were targets, he failed.

They were never close to challenging for an automatic spot and they were really boring
by any standard. Signing five Derby rejects (McEveley, Freeman, Coutts, Ben Davies
and Steve Davies) suggests that he couldn't or wouldn't move on and try fresh ideas.


Clough lasted longer than any Blades' manager since Gary Speed but the prince who is
bankrolling the club apparently wants something more tangible for his money.


There's a poll on one Blades' forum where the vote is almost 3 to 1 for "Clough out"
so it seems that his management (with the same collection of pals and relatives that
he had at Derby) didn't convince many folk that there was better to come.


Biggest budget in League 1 apparently. 20 points off 2nd place. Shit tactics, negative boring football by all.accounts. That's why Mr Personality has got the sack.



I think Clough's record at Sheff Utd isn't too shabby. He took over when the club was in crisis, in the relegation zone and got them a 7th place finish in League 1 in his first season. He also got them to both an FA Cup semi final and a League Cup semi final and was voted the LMA's FA Cup Manager of the Year. Then he got them in to the play offs in his first full season in charge last season. His win rate is 47.12%, again not too bad at all.


Just like with us and SM, it will be interesting to see how the record of the new Manager they bring in compares to Clough Jnr..…


Win rate is great if you actually win something.


If he'd had 46 games, his first season would have produced 75 points.
This season they got 71 points, so progress towards promotion seemed to stall as at Derby.

The owner is rich and far enough away to ignore the fans.
Perhaps he and his staff didn't believe Clough would succeed?

I think our current owners have been quite patient, perhaps too patient with Clough
after the third season - we were just treading water after that.

How I agree with all those comments. Spot on and they've known him for years and years.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Very interesting to read this thread right through. Well worth a good read. all about phases of the Clough era and much about our characters on this forum.

 

[judge]

You are a Derby sorry Rams fan aren't you ? Your obsession is beyond belief ,is it Clough or Derby ? 905 of your post are Derby related ,99 % Clough ,what will you find to slag off if we don't get a Clough/Derby connected manager ?

Full of bullshit anyway the poll was 2/1 Clough in not quite the 3/1 Clough out you and your other sheep would like to believe or have you just picked out the bits that suit you and ignore the rest like the other bollocks you have posted before ?

 

[Blade82]

I hope we get a report on Adkins from a southampton or scunny fan and not a reading fan!