With so much debate amongst fans regarding GSE and the future of DCFC we asked Stuart Hughes a few extra questions for a match day special. As always he had plenty to say!
RamZone:
“It seems a majority of fans are angry and fed up with the way the club seems to be moving sideways at best and there were protests against the board after the Ipswich Town game. What should GSE do now? What should fans do now?”
Stuart Said:
First of all I’m not sure it is a majority or, at least, not a majority that want GSE to go. I think most fans want to see an improvement and an investment in quality players but I'm not convinced the majority of supporters want to see the back of GSE yet.
After all, who is there to buy GSE out? Peter Gadsby has tried to control a debt that was spiralling out of control; he brought in Adam Pearson to sort out the mess. Pearson couldn't sort it either and had to bring GSE in to clear the debt and get the finances under control.
Secondly, I’m pleased to hear RamsTrust distancing themselves from the protests and think it’s sensible that they are campaigning for assurances from GSE rather than looking to oust the board.
Say what you like about GSE, they are not crooks (it was right RamsTrust actively campaigned to oust the three Amigos) and I still believe GSE have the best interests of Derby County Football Club in mind.
Let’s take RamZone's two questions one at a time.
"What should GSE do now?"
Well I think it’s pretty clear what GSE should do now and, with apologies to those who protested against the board after the Ipswich Town game, I think Tom Glick and the board should carry on doing what they’re doing, only do it better.
GSE made some mistakes in the January transfer window and Tom Glick has held his hands up to them. Who hasn't made mistakes from time to time? And, like everybody else, GSE will learn from those mistakes.
In the current climate I think it’s absolutely right that the football club should be managed responsibly. Chester City and Ilkeston Town are but two examples of football clubs that have been wound up recently.
Portsmouth, Cardiff City and Crystal Palace all came very close to it last season and may not be out of the woods yet. Plymouth Argyle are the latest football club facing a far from certain future.
A big football club is going to be wound up at some point in the future and I don’t want it to be Derby County.
GSE and Nigel Clough have been quick to talk about the transfer window and some supporters have been equally quick to jump on this and accuse them of spin, spouting the same old rubbish, and of blatant lying.
Maybe it is the same old same old for a very good reason – that there is a plan and the football club are sticking to it. It might not be a plan to splash £2 million on this player and £2 million on that player but I still find it reassuring to know there is a plan … and a long-term plan at that.
Glick has said that the wage budget is where GSE want it to be and that there is money available for permanent signings. He says it was the manager’s decision not to bid over the odds for Gary Hooper (a player Celtic signed from Scunthorpe United for £2.4 million in the summer) and he says there is flexibility in the budget for loan signings and for permanent signings in the summer.
Clough has said all along that he’s looking to sign young, hungry players for the football club and reduce the overall age of the playing squad. He has said that he’s not prepared to risk the future of the football club by paying over the odds for players and he won’t sign players just for the sake of it if they don’t improve the squad or aren’t the players he wants.
The manager has made it clear that he won’t rush to bring a player in; if the players he wants to sign permanently aren’t available he won’t rush to bring any player in.
I’ve been behind that plan from the moment Nigel Clough was appointed because I saw how it worked for my home town club Burton Albion and I see no reason why it won’t work for Derby County too. John Brayford, James Bailey, Alberto Bueno and Tomasz Cywka have been good, young signings for the club.
It’s early days but Ben Davies looks like he will be a good addition too, he certainly adds a potency to our set-piece delivery we didn’t have before.
Don't get me wrong, I’m very disappointed that we appear to be weaker, not stronger, as a squad after this transfer window but one disappointing window doesn’t mean the plan is flawed.
Look at Watford - they've been through what Derby County are currently going through and have come out the other side with a hungry, young squad. The Hornets are currently 7th in the npower Championship, three points off the play-offs with two games in hand.
The emergency loan system gives Derby County an opportunity to plug the gaps in the squad short term and the Rams should have a lot of flexibility in the budget this summer without Commons and Robbie Savage on the wage bill.
Permanent signings will be required in the summer that add quality to the squad. Having missed an opportunity in the January transfer window GSE will need to deliver that this summer.
"What Should Fans Do Now?"
I understand the frustration and disappointment of the fans right now, and I share that disappointment and frustration, but I would urge them to forget protesting against a board that is here for the long term and focus on supporting the players, manager and coaching staff, and get behind the team.
It’s not that long ago that the team went on a superb run of form with just one defeat in ten games; a sequence that included seven wins. There was also the record breaking sequence of six consecutive home victories at Pride Park Stadium. A purple patch of form that saw us reach 4th place in the npower Championship and we were ten minutes away from going 3rd when the Rams played Burnley.
Despite the weakening of the squad, the starting eleven now is only three starting players different from the team then – Frank Fielding in goal, Shefki Kuqi or Luke Moore up top, and Kris Commons.
The football played during that impressive run was the best I’ve seen a Derby County side play since the days of Jim Smith and the Rams were playing consistently well too. In the last couple of games the Rams looked to be getting back to that same way of playing.
I thought we were unlucky not to draw against Nottingham Forest and should’ve beaten Ipswich Town. An end to this losing run is in sight, it won’t be long before we win again, and then our results can kick-on.
Yes we need to strengthen up front and at the back and there are other areas of the squad that will need to be addressed in the summer. Glick and Clough are all too aware of that and they are working hard to bring in loan players now and improve the squad further in the summer.
Disappointingly, the January transfer window represented a missed opportunity but it doesn’t mean the plan is flawed. Some of the fans who are calling for GSE to go now were also talking about promotion to the Premier League back in November.
Let’s not get one transfer window set-back out of all proportion.
Stuart Hughes is a local writer and Derby fan.
You can read more of his written work on his website www.stuarthughes.webs.com