Derby County – A Championship side ready for the Premier League?

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The past decade has been one of misery and failure for Derby County. The gigantic mess and catastrophe of the 2007/08 Premier League season is the primary eyesore for most, with the Rams picking up a measly 11 points and becoming statistically the worst team in Premier League history in the process. In the years since then, the club has been through a gruelling process of finance management and squad rebuilding, whilst still battling to avoid being relegated to League 1 – a fate that looked worryingly likely between 2008 and 2012. However, the club is now in a position seemingly impossible just three years ago, with the transformation back into the big club that Derby has always been now complete.

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Derby County have been in a barren run of success in recent years, with a solitary Play-off final victory in 2006 under Billy Davies the only highlight of an otherwise miserable 10-15 years for the Rams. The club was in a disastrous state following the ill-advised Premier League venture in 2007/08, with mountainous debt and a huge squad full of high paid, averagely talented players. Nigel Clough was hired in January 2009 and; along with the new American ownership group GSE (General Sports & Entertainment), saved the club from a fate that hardly bears thinking about. The wage bill was slashed, the debt all but written off, the club was slowly but surely balanced and steadied on and off the pitch, and the academy once again started creating promising talents for the first team – such as Jeff Hendrick, Will Hughes and Mark O’Brien. It was tedious, boring and at times awful, but the hard work put in by former CEO Tom Glick, current CEO Sam Rush and Nigel Clough has paid off and the club is now reaping the awards.

Derby have been a transformed club in the last three years, challenging for promotion in every of the last three seasons (including this one) and; as of this season, have at long last been able to challenge other clubs financially in the transfer market and get the players we need. A large part of this financial muscle is down to Derby-born millionaire Mel Morris, with the Candy Crush creator King Games’ owner pumping in £25 million in transfer fees so far this season, not to mention the unknown millions he has invested into the training centre and academy, transforming the complex into what one FA Youth Set Up visitor described as “one of the top ten in Europe”. The club has been sitting in the top ten of the Championship almost permanently since October 2013 (when Steve McClaren’s ill fated reign began) and seem to have gathered a squad with the crucial attributes of youth and experience – surely a club ready for promotion and ready to become a Premier League regular.

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However, as recent campaigns have shown to the delight of other clubs, the Rams have come agonizingly close to the promised land on two occasions now – unjustly losing 1-0 in the 2014 Play Off Final to QPR to a last-gasp Bobby Zamora goal and then capitulating in the final months of last season, having been five points clear at the top of the Championship in February, winning just two of the final 13 games. This disaster led to Steve McClaren’s sacking and the hiring of unproven but promising Paul Clement – Carlo Ancelotti’s number two at Chelsea, PSG and Real Madrid – an impressive CV. All has seemed positive this season, with the Rams going on an impressive run of only one loss in 19 games between September and January, 13 of those ending in victory for the Pride Park outfit. However, the Rams have endured an awful January, gaining a single point at home to Reading in a 1-1 draw and a solitary close fought FA Cup victory away at Hartlepool (2-1). This has led people to once again think that Derby are ‘bottling it’ for the third season running. Are the Rams really ready for the Premier League?

It is all too easy to think the ‘wheels are coming off’ or drastic changes are needed (many fans call for ‘Uncle Mel’ to spend big every time Derby lose a match), but the bigger picture needs to be looked at. The Rams have failed to beat all but one of their promotion rivals this season – an impressive 2-0 victory away at Hull City being the only victory against a fellow top two contender. Having said this, they have only lost two of their games against these rivals (2-0 away at Middlesbrough and the unluckiest 4-1 loss you will ever see away at Burnley), a fact many fans seem to ignore. Derby have largely been solid against the top teams, usually picking up a point at least, sticking to the adage that if you can’t win then don’t lose. The team is currently low on confidence and seems to have forgotten how good they were in the Autumn months, looking shaky and nervous – something not helped by the impatience of many Rams fans. There is certainly a lot of pressure on the team, not helped by the £25m price hanging over the heads of the players, but the fans need not worry.

The club is primed for the Premier League, if it takes another season to get there then that will be for the best. Stability is absolutely vital in any team vying for promotion, otherwise it can fail spectacularly as it did in 2007/08, with managers and teams needing to be settled in order to gain success. The core of this team has been the same for the past couple of seasons (players such as Lee Grant, Richard Keogh, Jeff Hendrick, Johnny Russell and Chris Martin have been almost ever-presents in recent campaigns). However, there has been a lot of change in the squad, with nine players coming in over the summer and another two this January. It took a while for this squad to get going but it is an immensely strong squad, brimming with talent and led by a very promising manager in Paul Clement, given stability this squad can really go places, it just desperately needs unconditional support from fans and Board – something it has apparently been guaranteed.

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Derby County are a club absolutely primed to be a Premier League regular; even if my opinion comes from a view with somewhat rose tinted glasses, with a strong academy, phenomenal facilities, a large fan-base and a squad that many clubs in the Championship would kill for. Rewards may not be realised instantaneously, but the club needs to give Clement some time and show what he can do. He didn’t get that impressive CV by accident and so if it’s not this season then that can only be a good thing. The team currently needs a boost, but every club in the league has had a blip this season, as teams always do. The Rams are screaming out for a chance at the big time again and now is the time to do it, it’s rare that any Championship club can be in such a fine state of affairs, particularly one that was such a shambles a comparatively short time ago.

Featured Image: All rights reserved by Mark Adams