QPR Report Interview: The Derby County Perspective

-
April 18, 2011

QPR REPORT INTERVIEW - A DERBY COUNTY FAN PERSPECTIVE

Ian Hayes of Derby County Mad - www.Derbycounty-mad.co.uk has very kindly offered this interesting perspective of Derby County on and off the field


Starting simply: How long have you supported Derby County?

Have supported the Rams for over 40 years


How long have you been involved with the DerbyMd Website? How did you get to be there?

Been the editor of Derby County mad for over ten years. This is my second spell as editor


How do you get on with the other Derby fan sites: Are there any serious inter-board conflicts (as there certainly are between certain QPR boards!)?

No real conflicts with other Derby County unofficial websites but it does annoy me when someone from a rival site places a link to that website without asking permission or actually letting us know they have left the link.


Who is (or are) Derby biggest Rival (or Rivals)? I presume it's Nottingham Forest - and that teams such as Notts County and Mansfield really don't factor in?

The Rams biggest rivals is Nottingham Forest. The link with Brian Clough and all the success he had with a lot of former Rams players still rankles to this day with Derby County fans, it should have been ours. The link with the Clough family is still very fresh with our present manager Nigel Clough.

Even the section of the A52 which links the two Cities has been named after Brian Clough, but Derby are the only club to have honoured Brian Clough and Peter Taylor with a large statue which stands outside Pride Park. Taylor being an important part of the League Championship (now Premiership) Title the Rams won in 1971-72 season and the European Cup success' at Forest, but sadly forgotten at the City Ground.


Are you happy with your Clough Junior and team and how things are? - Can you explain/do you understand how things got to this point? Were you happy when Clough became manager? What did you think of John Gregory!

At present I am not too happy with Nigel Clough as manager. He has made some surprising and puzzling decisions lately, although injury and sales of key players, without replacement, by the owners has had a devestating effect on the team Clough has been able to turn out.

Like everyone, I was pleased to welcome Nigel to Pride Park, given his family conections to the club. However he appears to be a puppet manager for the American and Canadian owner of the club, having to work to their wills and financial restrictions.


What do you think of the current - and previous- Owners? WHY are they involved? WHO ARE THEY?! What do you expect? Could they realistically have done more to boost your chances?

The current owners are very good businessmen, getting our debt down to manageable levels, but may have gone too far trying to reduce the wage bill, selling or letting go seasoned and quality players, Rob Hulse being a prime example and the failure to negotiate a new contract with Kris Commons, both being the clubs leading scorers when sold.
They tried to replace these players with loan signings but have not managed to get either a settled or gelled side since.

I have no idea why these people bought the club, as most don't have a clue when it comes to English football and it is begining to show as the club yet again looks set to be just outside the relegation area, rather than challenging for the top six places. A promised £50m investment never materialised when they took over the club but have agreed to invest further into the clubs playing staff next season.............I won't be holding my breath for that promise.

Perhaps a special focus on the ABC Loan - We were both recipients of the shadowy loaners...Just as we've both had "interesting" off-the-field events happening at our two clubs!

The ABC (Panamerican) loan would have finished the club if it wasn't for a local businessman and his colleagues taking over the club and sorting this sorry affair a few years ago. Legal action was taken against the then owners and directors at the club resulting in three of them getting prison sentences. The reult of the 'Three Amigo's' as we called them plunged the club into sever debt. Thankfully the owners who took over managed to get us promoted to the Premiership and the riches it provides, or the financial situation could have been even worse when the present owners took over.


How do you think Derby treats its fans? Appreciates them? Listens to them? Screws them?

Not sure about this but I think you could say the owners have treated the supporters like mugs, realing out the same speal for the last couple of seasons. It's designed to keep the crowd numbers up and I have to say has worked well. However fans are now beging to wise up to their tactics and has resulted in a charm offensive in the last couple of months, promising to bring in players to get us competative and up into the top six next season, or you can ask for your season ticket money back before the season starts.
I am still not sure I can believe them and who can say what amount of money and players will bring that sort of success?

So maybe the owners are screwing the fans, time will tell early next season I suppose.


Who are you Dangermen/Most valued/most overrated/most underrated players?

Not sure we have dangermen since the sale of several of our players over the season but players to watch are Daniel Ayala, on loan from Liverpool, a very good Spanish defender. I am sure all QPR fans will appreciate Robbie Savage, take time to boo him roundly as it may be your last chance, as he retires at the end of the season. :-)


Who would you say was the greatest Derby player that you yourself personally saw? (You can name more than one if it's that close!)

Most Rams fans of an age will tell you it was striker Kevin (the King) Hector, but respect has to be given to Winger Alan Hinton and defenders Colin Todd and Roy MacFarland. A more modern day hero was Igor Stimac, who almost single handedly took the Rams up into the Premiership for the first time.


Prediction for season promotion/relegation places - And how would that compare with pre-season prediction? In your heart of hearts, what were you expecting pre-season forDerby?

Promotion: QPR, Norwich and Reading...... Relegation Sheffield United, Sc**thorpe Crystal Palace

Pre-season we were promised improvement on last season, which looked a good shout when we reached third spot earlier in the season but poor management and ownership have seen the team alter with loan players coming and going and the team nose dived.

To be completely honest I couldn't see there being improvement in the squad with the limited, or non existant, budget we had to sign players. We continued to sign lower league hopefuls and sell seasoned internationals, so we had a poor season, which I expected


What is your view and the general Derby view of QPR (If we even feature in your consciousness) or of Neil Warnock? (Any Derby Fan view of our Club Chairman (and former Sporting Director and Agent, Gianni Paladini)

Not sure we have a collective view of QPR. Personally you have to have respect for Mr Warnock and the side he has assembled there. Always happy to see the passion and commitment Neil has on matchdays, he is a true charactor of the game and good luck to him and the club when you go up to the Premiership


What are your past Encounter Memories - Best Memory/Worst Memory of Past Derby-QPR- Encounters? Who is your favourite QPR Player over the years? (And your least favourite)? We share managers Tommy Docherty and Jim Smith and John Gregory and players such as Leighton James and Don Masson and Dean Sturridge, John Gregory, Gary Micklewhite, Gordon Hill, Steve Wicks. And several others.

My most vivid memory of playing QPR was the 4-2 defeat at Pride Park last season. It marked the unveiling of the Steve Bloomer Bust at the ground, something I had been working on for many years. A great day, shame about the result :-)


Are you looking forward to playing QPR?

Very much, the Rams always tend to play well against the better teams in the division and hope we can give you good game on Monday evening.


SCORE PREDICTION for QPR-Derby

QPR 1- DERBY 1


Where, realistically, do you think Derby will be in five years time?

Simply no idea, having trouble predicting what type of Rams side will turn out on a game to game basis. Hopefully we will be able to get a settled and competative side and maybe re-visit the Premiership for the eighth season.


Do you have any advice for QPR fans, in the event that we do go up? (Spend more/spend less; keep the manager; change the manager, etc)

You need a settled team who play together well and for each other. If you then build slowly, adding better players in areas you are weak then with luck you will survive in the Premiership. Derby County were ill prepared for life in the Premiership when we last went up. Spending practically nothing and paying the price with the lowest points total the Premiership ever saw.

Above all enjoy the Premiership, it can, as we proved, be a nightmare place to be with the wrong team, manager, or ownership but it can be magical to see the Worlds top players at your ground week after week.

What one or two questions do you wish I had asked you (and how would you have responded?!)

Question: Do you think Nigel Clough is the manger to take you forward?

No, he shows little of his fathers fire and ability to command the board-room. He has been placed in a very difficult position this season, with lack of money for transfers and constantly having to loan players, or sell those who are comfortable and competent in the side. Any other manager would have walked away given the circumstances and kept their self respect but Nigel apparently never said a word preferring to toe the line whilst his squad was reduced and not replaced.

And that's it!!

Very Many thanks to Ian Hayes of Derby County Mad - www.Derbycounty-mad.co.uk . Very best of luck for the season (after today)

Read more: http://qprreport.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=inteveiws&action=display&thread=21829#ixzz1NA3ncmTF