Another disappointing season has finished at Pride Park. Despite a purple patch before Christmas, to often the loyal fans went home disappointed and angry and many were saying that they wouldn't renew again.

Everyone has their opinion as to who is to blame - the board for their perceived lack of investment on the pitch have been cast as the villains of the piece.

Listening to the BBC Radio Derby Monday moan in programme, many fans feel that "our Nige" has been hamstrung by the boards penny-pinching ways and sale of key players.

Other fans though question Nigel Clough himself. His criticism of individual players after games, his training methods and his choice of coaching staff, his lack of a plan B and using players out of position - many fans feel he's out of his depth at a Championship club.

The board have held up their hands and said that results this season were not good enough and have implied that they will be making money available to the manager to rebuild his team for a serious go at the Championship. They have even said that if fans are not satisfied with their efforts they will return season ticket money to disgruntled fans.

They have said that Nigel Clough's job is not under threat and that he is the man for the job- but is Clough up to rebuilding a team he says needs 8-10 new players and outgoing Captain Robbie Savage says needs £10m of investment?

Past Managers

How does Nigel Clough's record stack up against our past managers? We've had 34 Managers at the club. Below is a table showing the bare statistics including how many points they achieved per game (PPG), 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw.

Name                             From        To    P    W    D    L    PPG

Harry Newbould        1896        1906    376    151    81    144    1.4

Jimmy Methven        1906        1922    498    202    117    179    1.5

Cecil Potter        1922        1925    137    62    34    41    1.6

George Jobey        1925         1941    629    273    140    216    1.5

Ted Magner        1944         1946    11    9    2    0    2.6

Stuart McMillan        1946        1953    346    146    73    127    1.5

Jack Barker        1953        1955    64    12    16    36    0.8

Harry Storer, Jr.    1955        1962    332    137    67    118    1.4

Tim Ward         1962        1967    219    72    59    88    1.3

Brian Clough         1967        1973    289    135    70    84    1.6

Jimmy Gordon         1973        1973    2    1    1    0    2.0

Dave Mackay         1973        1976    158    70    44    44    1.6

Colin Murphy         1976        1977    35    7    15    13    1.0

Tommy Docherty         1977        1979    78    24    21    33    1.2

Colin Addison         1979        1982    105    33    28    44    1.2

John Newman         1982        1982    35    6    13    16    0.9

Peter Taylor         1982        1984    66    19    22    25    1.2

Roy McFarland         1984        1984    9    4    1    4    1.4

Arthur Cox         1984        1993    453    184    108    161    1.5

Roy McFarland         1993        1995    93    40    21    31    1.5

Billy McEwan         1995        1995    1    0    0    1    0.0

Jim Smith         1995        2001    281    99    88    101    1.4

Colin Todd         2001        2002    17    4    2    11    0.8

Billy McEwan         2002        2002    2    0    0    2    0.0

John Gregory         2002        2003    55    16    9    30    1.0

Mark Lillis         2003        2003    1    0    0    1    0.0

George Burley         2003        2005    107    39    25    43    1.3

Phil Brown         2005        2006    33    7    14    12    1.1

Terry Westley         2006        2006    16    4    6    6    1.1

Billy Davies         2006        2007    69    31    14    24    1.6

Paul Jewell         2007        2008    58    13    15    30    0.9

Chris Hutchings         2008        2009    1    1    0    0    3.0

David Lowe         2009        2009    1    1    0    0    3.0

Nigel Clough         2009         ----    122    37    27    58    1.1

On the basis of the above table, Nigel does not look as if he's doing that well- But he’s not that bad either - Similar to Terry Westley and Phil Brown and actually below the Doc - 1.1 points per game is a not a good statistic by any standards.

Lies, damn lies and statistics is a famous quote and cynics would say you can prove anything with statistics so lets look a little deeper - On the above table for example Brian Clough is only our 5th best manager

It's worth noting that the number of games that the manager gets to achieve is total is wildly different for each. There’s also the consideration of the league that the games were played in.

Ted Magner for example managed for 11 games during World War 2 and didn't lose any. These were only friendly games however. If we factor in the number of games played and the league they were played in and eliminate all of the temporary managers, the table looks like this:

Name                         P    W    D    L    PPG

Dave Mackay        158    70    44    44    1.61

Brian Clough        289    135    70    84    1.59

George Jobey        629    273    140    216    1.51

Stuart McMillan        346    146    73    127    1.48

Billy Davies        69    31    14    24    1.47

Cecil Potter        137    62    34    41    1.45

Harry Newbould        376    151    81    144    1.42

Jimmy Methven        498    202    117    179    1.36

Jim Smith        281    99    88    101    1.30

Arthur Cox        453    184    108    161    1.30

Harry Storer, Jr.    332    137    67    118    1.25

George Burley        107    39    25    43    1.19

Tommy Docherty        78    24    21    33    1.19

Roy McFarland        93    40    21    31    1.14

Tim Ward        219    72    59    88    1.13

Colin Addison        105    33    28    44    1.09

Peter Taylor        66    19    22    25    1.08

Nigel Clough        122    37    27    58    1.02

John Gregory        55    16    9    30    0.93

Colin Murphy        35    7    15    13    0.93

Terry Westley        16    4    6    6    0.91

Paul Jewell        58    13    15    30    0.88

Phil Brown        33    7    14    12    0.86

John Newman        35    6    13    16    0.72

Jack Barker        64    12    16    36    0.69

Colin Todd        17    4    2    11    0.67

Nobody should take such arbitrary tinkering too seriously but interestingly it confirms my suspicion that Dave Mackay was a much-underrated manager and that we may seriously regret letting Billy Davies go to Forest.

It's also interesting that all of the managers below 1.0 PPG have paid with their jobs one way or another - though not all were sacked, some resigned and John Gregory won a judgement against the club for unfair dismissal.

Clough is only 3 more defeats away from dropping below 1 PPG on this arbitrary scale - and he's already had longer in the job than those below him.

Do I think we should let Nigel Clough go? I didn't think we should have appointed him in the first place. If it had been say Neil Webb at Burton Albion he would not even have been considered. It's only the Clough name that got him the job and got the fans support.

Having said that however, I'm not one for dismissing the manager - it's seldom made us a better team over the years. I am in favour however of getting some assistance for Nigel. Not necessarily a Director of football - more of a Taylor to his Clough.

Brian Clough himself was never as good a manager without Peter Taylor and it's clear Crosby and Metgod are not of the same calibre.

The name Steve McLaren has been bandied about as a director of football but what about Jim Smith? The Bald Eagle could always get the best out of players. What about Peter Taylor? Peter Taylor the former U21 coach of the England team I mean? Bradford has just released him.

Whatever the board decide to do, it needs to be done quickly. If Clough brings in players that don't gel quickly, get injured pre-season or under perform a string of defeats may see Clough's position as untenable. Then you would have a new manager wanting time to settle and bring in his own players - which could lead to another season like this one.

Time will tell.

Is Nigel The Man For The Job? - Can He Succeed At The Rams?

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ramsand added 15:29 - May 13 Great article, Mick. Must have taken a lot of research to write this. Both interesting and frightning, really. I knew Nigel was pretty far down the list, but I never imagined he was behind Tommy Docherty, who in my memory was the worst we've had. Wrong there, obviously. He is in fact mid table!
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ramdanj added 11:00 - May 14 Agreed Mick. Great article and a real eye opener in terms of how much rope the club has given Nigel in terms of time against results. So far it seems a Clough or Taylor alone cannot make it at the Rams. Perhaps Peter Taylor (the other one) as assistant manager now he is available would be a good idea ;0)
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