The Next Chapter unfolds at the iPro Stadium – a review of pre-season 2015

(c) Matt Reader – http://www.dcfc.co.uk

Derby County finished the 2014-2015 season remarkably woeful. Only two wins from thirteen and a leaky defence signalled the end for Steve McClaren’s reign as Head Coach.

Article by Fred Gough

The club had been one of the bookmakers and pundits favourites to return to the top flight for the first time since 2008 at the start of the campaign, however the dizzy heights got the better of Derby in the last third of the campaign and finished in their outside the play-off spots despite being one of the division’s regulars in the top six.

It was announced on 25 May that on the same day as his predecessor Nigel Clough had lost his job at Sheffield United, that after months of speculation the McClaren era was over.

Injuries to key players such as Chris Martin and George Thorne amongst others were cited as the reasons The Rams fell off the rails, so was the continuous link of Mike Ashley sniffing around to poach McClaren after Alan Pardew’s decision to return to Crystal Palace. However, there were probably deeper reasons that made the collapse from top spot to eighth occur.

To replace the 54 year old Yorkshire man, Derby moved for Paul Clement, son of former Queens Park Rangers and England player Dave and brother of West Bromwich Albion defender Neil. Paul’s resume clearly ticked all the boxes for Chief Executive Sam Rush and newly installed chairman Mel Morris (who has made money from being a director and or shareholder of many online businesses including King Digital Entertainment known to many as the developers of Candy Crush Saga) flew to Madrid to woo Carlo Ancelotti’s right hand man.

On 1 June, Clement was unveiled as the new Head Coach and packed his bags from La Liga to spend time focusing on the job he now had inherited from the former England manager. He spent the weeks leading up to pre-season familiarising himself with the new surroundings and watching videos of Derby’s performances in the last campaign as well as signing those he feel will deliver the same mentality he wishes to instil and working out his own strategies.

His first new appointment was to bring in a new fitness coach, Karl Halabi. Halabi had worked with Clement at the youth levels at Fulham & Chelsea and progressed to work with Brendan Rodgers at Watford and Reading. Clement would later bring in England Under 17 coach John Peacock back to Derby and Pascal Zuberbühler in to assist with first team affairs.

His first major player signing was no stranger to Derby, Darren Bent. The former England striker had spent the latter of the 2014-2015 campaign with Derby with a fine scoring rate, released by Aston Villa, Derby seized the opportunity to bring in the pacey experienced goal scorer. Alex Pearce who had helped fellow Championship side Reading get to the FA Cup semi-finals last season followed through the revolving door as Derby acted quickly to secure the transfers they wished to bring to the club.

Another former England international was next to arrive, Scott Carson joined from Wigan Athletic to provide stiff competition for goalkeeper Lee Grant. Andreas Weimann became Derby’s first paid transfer of the summer, the young Austrian international had been frozen out of first team plans by Tim Sherwood before joining the Rams to get a fresh start.

Chris Baird followed from the West Midlands, this time West Bromwich Albion to fill in the boots of the departed John Eustace. However Derby were still far from done in the transfer market as they began pre-season training. Will Hughes and new signing Baird were both given extra time away as their international duties had seen them play far into June, Chris Martin, George Thorne and Jake Buxton were all wrapped in cotton wool in case of reoccurring injuries however the players got equipped with the new Head Coach’s drills and exercises to get them back into the form professional sportsmen and women aspire to regain after a period off.

Only a few days after the start of pre-season training, another loanee from the latter of 2014-2015 arrived back at Derby County; Tom Ince.

The winger/forward had been high on the interest of Inter Milan last summer which would have meant following in his father’s footsteps at the Italian club, however moved to Hull City, Ince’s time at the KC Stadium was brief and didn’t fit into Steve Bruce’s plans in a disappointing relegation season for The Tigers but the former Manchester United central defender had said he had wanted Ince to assist bounce back to the Premier League this campaign.

Despite calling the former England under 21 international in for talks, Ince wanted to return to the East Midlands where he had been prolific scoring eleven in eighteen matches. Hull loosened their grip on the 23 year old as Derby broke their transfer record to land him on a four year deal for a transfer fee thought to be £4.75 million.

A full week’s work lead to Derby’s first pre-season match under Paul Clement, deciding on two different sets of eleven to face Grimsby, The Rams found the National League outfit an opposition already in fine form, as the Mariners won 2-1.

It was to be another week before The Rams would play again, this time travelling to Northampton Town to face the League Two outfit. The Rams head coach reshuffled the pack and gave new signing Chris Baird the captain’s armband. Derby’s Johnny Russell scoring his second of pre-season at Sixfields after his free-kick at Grimsby had Rams fans on their feet a week earlier.

Derby then travelled to Arnhem in Holland for a week’s tour, originally the Rams had been set to face Zwolle and Utrecht however local authorities in the Netherlands cancelled the first of these matches, so quick action was required and was decided that the English club would face German side SV Meppen instead. Tom Ince’s goal prior to half time gave them the win.

Meanwhile back in Derby, Sam Rush and Mel Morris were actively seeking The Rams’ seventh signing.

Jason Shackell had previously been at Derby County under Nigel Clough’s management lasting one season in 2011-2012 but had been a fans’ favourite for his style of defending and leadership, the 31 year old defender had been part of a rise of fortunes for Sean Dyche’s men at Burnley and been captain during their promotion in 2014 and solo year back in the Premier League last season and with one year to go on a contract the defender was a prized asset to the Lancashire side. Clarets’ boss Dyche was determined not to let him go but on the evening of 23 July; Shackell returned to Derby.

Fuelled by the confidence and pride that Paul Clement had started to bring back to Derby, the Championship side beat Utrecht at the Dutch side’s training ground before returning home.

Another hard week’s training took place before facing Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium, where a strong display brushed the League Two champions aside.

So onwards to Bolton Wanderers on 8 August; a quick glance back at the last couple of months would say that The Next Chapter at Derby County will be an exciting and interesting one.

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