There used to be a time when I enjoyed seeing Derby, looking forward to Saturday no matter what kind of position we were sat in. Even in the dreadful Premiership season Saturdays were still quite enjoyable to go and watch your team play. But now? The enjoyment is wavering and I'm close to just not being bothered at all.
Nigel Clough, a man hired because of his surname (lets be honest) has taken this club nowhere in his 3 year tenure. Derby started this season playing some of the best football I've seen in my twelve years of watching them, annihilating teams at home especially and scoring for fun. Sat in 4th place, looking like a team to be reckoned with, we lose a couple of games on the bounce. The Norwich home game loss was down to a slice of bad luck, but this is when Clough decided to destroy our season. Singling out players to blame for our defeats, changing winning teams needlessly and as i currently type playing with a completely different formation to what saw us ripping teams apart earlier this season. Many signs he's learned absolutely nothing in his 3 years managing at Championship level.
I'll admit, he's made some very good signings recently. But for every Brayford there's a Porter, for every Cywka there's a Roberts. People may say he's not had the money to spend, but the squad he is currently working with are all players he signed or chose to keep, therefore it is HIS squad that is under performing. HIS tactical "know how" and his insistence on playing players such as Stephen Pearson who's about as useful as an inflatable dartboard. But right now, I'm fed up of it. In the twelve years I've been watching Derby, we have had three seasons that you can call "successful." An eighth placed Premiership finish and two top six finishes in the Championship, one of those leading to promotion. Every other season has been a relegation scrap, usually full of debt worries. Now we have what I see as a good squad and we're more financially secure now than we have been at any point over the last decade at least, yet we're still criminally under performing.
I still blame it on one man, Clough. A man who is by no means a tactician, a man who loves to slam his own players in public, a man who is a complete yes man, how i wish his Dad was around to help sort out this mess. This dire situation has had me considering not getting a season ticket next year for the first time, I can't see it improving much over the next few years with Clough at the helm, and i doubt the manager will change any time soon.
But supporting Derby is far more than a hobby and no matter what they're the club I'll always support, no matter what situation. Black and white forever.
