Derby County - Bye bye Brolly

Article by e-Derby County's Ross Lowe

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Steve McClaren.

Go on, admit it. What do you think of when you hear that name? No doubt one of the first things to pop in your head will be an umbrella, opened up against the rain that siled down on a miserable night at Wembley back in 2007.

Some of you might choose instead to remember him as Schteeve McClaren, the chap from Yorskhire who insisted on using an unusual cod-Dutch accent while talking in English for a TV interview during his stint as manager of FC Twente.

Whatever your choice, it’s fair to say that the current Derby County head-coach has endured more than his share of barracking from the media and football aficionados down the years. As England manager he was consistently in the limelight and his failure to take ‘the best England team since 1966’ to the Euro 2008 Championships in Austria and Switzerland was viewed as the ultimate national disgrace. ‘The Wally With the Brolly’ became a moniker that stuck. The former Middlesbrough boss was ousted the following day and eventually set off for Holland and FC Twente.

More on that shortly. Let’s go back a step or two. To look at McClaren’s early career, you’d have to wonder how on earth this chap would end up in charge of the national side. His playing days were largely… well… uneventful. He played in the lower divisions for Hull City from 1979 – 1985. He then joined Arthur Cox’s Derby County.

Now – let’s take a look at that move. Again, his career here wasn’t much to write home about. He stayed at the Baseball Ground from 1985 to 1988, not a long stay at a club really – especially back then.

But it was an exciting period in Derby’s history, and Steve saw it all happen. Under Arthur Cox and his assistant Roy McFarland, the Rams became only the third team in history to rise from the Third Division to the First in successive seasons. Cox assembled a fantastic squad for peanuts, convincing First Division players such as John Gregory, Gary Micklewhite and Watford goalkeeper Eric Steele to step down two divisions to join the charge. The Baseball Ground was back to its noisy best. Teams hated going there. As the Rams rose in the following two years, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea all struggled there. Arsenal were beaten twice during their 1988/89 championship winning season by Derby County – the only team who managed that feat.

By then McClaren had moved on, but he’d learned enough from his mentors. He would return to Derby County years later as a young coach to manager Jim Smith, and again the two of them would get the Baseball Ground rocking. By taking them to the promised land of the Premiership they laid the foundations for the early Pride Park era and the football seen then, featuring players such as Marco Gabbiadini, Paulo Wanchope, Igor Stimac, Paul Simpson and Mart Poom was by far the best to entertain the crowds since the days of Cox a decade earlier.

McClaren was hot property. The wily old Bald Eagle Jim Smith was quick to admit as much. McClaren embraced new, innovative training methods and was one of the first to embrace statistical, analytical and psychological training practices.

All too soon, Manchester United came knocking at the door and McClaren was installed as Alex Ferguson’s number two. Between them, they won the Premiership title twice along with the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. Derby County meanwhile slipped away and were relegated to the Championship. Jim Smith was replaced, and the Rams were never the same again.

That is – until now.

McClaren came back to the Rams in September 2013. At this point, Derby were still in the Championship, having briefly flirted with the Premiership in an all-too disastrous season in 2007-08 under Billy Davies. The manager who had departed to make way for McClaren three days before was Nigel Clough, who had been at the helm for four and a half years.

The news of McClaren’s appointment was mixed. Yes – former Ram, great. Yes – former winner of the League Cup and a UEFA Cup finalist with Middlesbrough, brilliant. Yes, former United assistant and winner of the Eredivisie with FC Twente – fantastic.

But. Wally with the Brolly. Yep – him. The guy with the dodgy Dutch accent. Not to mention the fact that he’d spent 10 games as manager of Derby’s fierce rivals Nottingham Forest in 2011 and done a pretty appalling job there. The Forest fans were already sharpening the knives, as were the media.

A great many Derby fans, still reeling from the sudden sacking of Clough, were worried.

So. What did Steve do next?

A couple of masterstrokes, that’s what.

Firstly he assembled his coaching staff. Two former Rams who, like Steve, had gone on to develop their careers and achieve good things. None more so than his new goalkeeper coach Eric Steele who, along with McClaren, had tasted promotion under Arthur Cox and gone on to work at Manchester United, coaching the likes of Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar. The other notable appointment was Paul Simpson as first team coach, a former Ram who had buzzed up and down the wing at the Baseball Ground and Pride Park, first under Cox then Smith & McClaren in the 90s. A real fans-favourite back then, the last player to score a hat-trick in Rams colours and an up-and-coming manager who had gone on to taste moderate success as manager of Carlisle United, Shrewsbury Town and Preston North End.

All of a sudden a few ears pricked up across Derbyshire. This might not be such a bad appointment at all.

Still, McClaren had work to do to convince the fans that he was the right choice.

The first game after their arrival was a mid-week home match against Ipswich Town. Academy coach Darren Wassall took charge, and McClaren and co watched their new team from the stands. Derby were 14th in the table, and 4-1 down after 37 minutes.

A disaster looked to be on the cards, and yet what happened next will go down in Derby County folklore. Fifteen minutes prior to half time, Paul Simpson appeared by the dug-out and was seen speaking with Wassall. At half-time, McClaren himself went into the Derby County dressing room and spoke to the players. The formation was changed, Mason Bennett and John Eustace came on to replace Conor Sammon and Ben Davies respectively and bang – Derby County rescued the match and drew 4-4 to send the crowd home happy.

The McClaren era had begun. During December the Rams picked up 19 points from a possible 21 and McClaren was named as the Championship Manager of the Month. By the end of the season Derby County had finished a comfortable third in the table and had swept aside Brighton & Hove Albion with a 6-2 aggregate score in the Play-Off Semi-Finals to set up an enticing encounter with QPR at Wembley on the 24th of May.

And that’s how it currently stands. I refer to the ‘McClaren era’, but on paper this is still a very new thing. He’s only been back at Derby County for eight months, and where the club goes next depends on the outcome of one single exciting but ultimately nerve-shredding game against an experienced and expensive side at Wembley.

But the change that McClaren has brought about has been phenomenal. Derby’s style of play has completely altered. It’s attacking without being gung-ho; it’s entertaining but it is full of purpose. Derby County fully deserved their third place finish – they fully deserve their day at Wembley too.

And Steve McClaren fully deserves praise. He has banished the brolly – and the hope around here is that he can take Derby County on to the Premier League and continue to re-establish he reputation as the great coach that he once proved himself to be. The blend is right at Derby County right now – he has returned to a club that he knows, understands and appreciates. He has surrounded himself with like-minded men who are educated and experienced grafters. He has taken a group of players and got them fighting for their shirts, working hard and playing disciplined, intelligent, patient and enjoyable football.

Whatever the outcome at Wembley, the Rams have had a season to remember. Derby were the leading scorers in the Championship with 84 league goals. Simpson’s 18 year hat-trick record is gone – in fact three Derby County hat-tricks have been scored this season. Under McClaren, Derby have won 22 and drawn 8 of 37 league fixtures, including a memorable 5-0 demolition of Nottingham Forest at home.

The good times are back at Derby County again – and McClaren is a part of that once more, just as he was during the days of Arthur Cox and Jim Smith. It’s no coincidence – the rain has stopped and the brolly is long gone.

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