Nigel's reactions to both the last two matches show how much he cares for the club, just what it needs after the last few appalling seasons. I like the way he admitted that he and his management team probably made a mistake in their preparation by planning to avoid defeat rather than planning to win but after the last few weeks that is understandable. It is a shame, once again, that the team conceed a goal in the dying minutes of a half, how many times has that happened not just this season but in previous ones too? As far as players coming in is concerned what club is going to let a player, particularly one they want to develop if there is perceived uncertainty at the club.

One of the most frequent comments made from the supporters around me most recently have been, why is Nigel Clough the only one who seems to think that a 'One up front' is a formation that works. It is so frustrating particularly in this horrible losing run to have a lone striker running about like a lost rabbit and then to see in the 2nd half against Leicester just how much difference the formation change not only gave the players, but the Pride Park atmosphere started buzzing again too.
Sadly we were 2 goals behind by that time and it was more than an uphill struggle. Surprisingly though, my depressed feelings were lifted by hearing Nigel on the post match radio interview, i understood a little more on their objective. I could then accept his realising the mistakes in their pre match planning and, I was even more lifted to hear about the passion for our club being mentioned of himself and his whole team behind him. Not that I doubted it, I just needed to hear it. I looked into those words quite deeply and my fading opinions of Management support actually were reinstated with acceptance again.
Everyone at the club from the board to the Management has worked on financial streamlining. For the supporter it has not resulted in what we pay to see however, after all of the effort to get the clubs debts lowered, after all of Nigel’s work to clear out some of the fodder and replace with maybe a less experienced or less talented choice, after all of this, I would prefer some stability at that level in the club rather than start sacking and replacing. As Nigel said yesterday, surviving this season means we should learn from this experience next season, if we don’t then possibly that’s the time for a change. In my opinion, bringing in a new board now, even if that was an option, would just throw us back into debt and turmoil. Bringing in a new Manager, who’s hands would be just as financially tightly tied by the way, would offer nothing more to the party and, at this stage in the season considering how long it would take to settle in, it could be disastrous. I just hope that the crowd get behind the team and play their part, Leicester fans just took the mickey about our silence..we support Derby dont we?

Of course Nigel cares for the club and no-one would ever dispute that. However the key question is - is he the right man? I can no longer see how any person who looks at the FACTS and puts aside the romantic notions and attachment to the surname can possibly defend him anymore.
Personally I do not like the fact that he admitted that 'we probably' got it wrong. No - why not man up and say categorically that HE got it wrong - absolutely no 'probability' or 'we' about it. Another game where we had little or no attempts on Goal - all down to the way he tinkered with the formation and / or players and / or playing positions. He can't stop himself tinkering. He alone has dismantled the side that had the one purple patch that we have enjoyed in nearly 4 years. Even then the formation (love it or hate it) was Metgod's idea not Nigel's (as the latter feely admitted in pre-season).

So are we now reduced to damning him by faint praise - because he finally admitted he 'probably' got it wrong! Unfortunately, the man has been mostly getting it wrong for the best part of over two years. The ONLY thing that has stopped him getting sacked is the sheer incompetence and cluelessness of GSE and the fact that most Rams fans (including myself) really do not like criticising him because of who his father was and the fact that he is Derby born and bred.

Well I am sorry (and it hurts to say this) but for me, that simply cannot be entertained anymore.

We keep hearing he needs time (we heard it last year and the year before that). If we give him any more time we will be in League One.

We keep hearing he has had his hands tied. No more so than most of the clubs in the Championship and even GSE have said that there is money to spend - so is Nigel choosing not to spend it?

Even when he does spend we get a poor return. The latest example is Ben Davies - a 29 year old journeyman who Nigel had been 'monitoring' for a long time. Apparently he has been brought in because of his dead ball delivery. Well I have seen every dead ball he has taken in recent home games and he is no better than we had before. I am sure Ben tries 100% and is a genuine player but is he really an improvement on what we had got? Remember both GSE and Nigel have clearly said that we will only bring in playesr who are better than we have got.

Next point - his comments on Radio Derby last night. For me this simply re-inforced why he should go and not why he should be backed. There is a well known saying about patriotism / nationalism being the last last refuge of a scoundrel. Well for me Nigel's comments about his love of the club were a poorly disguised (but deliberate) attempt to play on the heart strings of Rams fans when every other argument has been lost. I have no doubt that he loves the club - so do we all. However that is no longer a good enough reason to stick with someone who's record is NOT good enough. To continue to allow that is yet another act of extreme blind faith and the triumph of hope over experience! Where is the evidence that he will get it right? The purple patch was a run of home games where we beat teams who are now mostly below or around us. When the form or quality teams came calling we disappeared.

He also said - and get this for optimism / inspiration / whatever - 'if we finish 4th from bottom this year we can start again next year on the same number of points'. Oh woopy do! If that is the extent of his ambition then he should simply go and take all of his mates (sorry backroom staff) with him. We are DCFC for God's sake not another bumbling mediocre Championship side.

We as fans have slowly been brainwashed by GSE and Nigel into accepting mediocrity. Further, the 'it will take time' and '5 year plan' soundbites are nothing more than an attempt to keep deferring the day when GSE and Nigel should be brough to account and their record scrutinised. Tomorrow will never come in their world.

I blame GSE for the failure to understand the need to strke the appropriate balance between careful day to day financial managment and the need to invest in the playing assets.

However I also blame Nigel for simply showing no SUSTAINED EVIDENCE that he is up to the task. Any manager will have a purple patch. Any manager will have bad luck. He has shown profound and consistent failings in team selection / tactics / formation / late or inneffective substitutions / inability to change a game / inabiltity to motivate / favouritism and a tendency to publically slate players (often when their poor performance is as a direct result of his tactics or playing them out of position).

There are managers who are out there who I believe would do a better job than Nigel in setting up the present team and motivating them to play.

In view of the repeated failings, it is too risky too continue to wait and 'hope' or 'have faith' or 'stick with him'. Change is needed and quickly.