A fans forum with Nigel Clough this week revealed some interesting Rams news if a report on our own forum was anything to go by.

RamZone member ‘Stuartsays’ took the time to post a short report on the event held this week based on information passed on from someone in attendance. Far from Chinese whispers it reveals some interesting but not surprising facts.

The full report by Stuart makes interesting reading with information on Barnes, Hulse, Commons and more. It can be read on our forum here… so check it out!: http://www.clubfanzine.com/derby_county/v2.forum.posts.php?id_t=111715#1 .

There were some interesting points but the one that intrigued me the most was Nigel explaining that when he arrived and took training the players were surprised to be playing football.

It is nothing new for some coaches and managers to focus more on skill based drills and fitness based activities. Many have implemented such strategy but it definitely has never been proven be an advantage for a team to remove playing the game all together at training.

It seems Nigel was in a similar scenario to his father who was a great believer in a player having a ball at his feet as much as possible. Brian believed in football basics with players relying on instinct and playing their role rather than over complicated training and strategy.  It is well documented that when taking over as manager the first thing Brian did was remove the blackboard and replace it with a bag of balls.

Modern football relies heavily on preparation, planning and having tactics in place when facing your opposition but surely training by playing the game is a big part of any winning formula. Footballers became what they are because of their enjoyment and ability merging together to forge a career kicking a ball so why take that away from them?

Like all jobs, you can have the most talented employee at your disposal but if that employee is not enjoying what they do then chances are you will never get the best out of them. Similarly, take the enjoyment out of training and you end up with a player who may do his job but never with the flair or passion required to build a successful team.

With all the complications that come with the modern game one thing still remains the same. A player that is enjoying his football is more likely to excel and perform at his absolute peak. In turn an unhappy player might not only find his own performance slipping but end up passing his discontent onto team mates and it is fair to assume that is what had happened under Paul Jewell.

When Nigel arrived at Derby the results that followed proved to be the difference between safety and relegation. The football that resulted, especially from players  previously written off by manager and fans alike, show this difference in approach got the best out of a squad whose creativity and passion were squeezed out of them. Injuries eventually ground that passion down again but luckily it proved to be enough.

With injured players on the way back and new blood already flowing into the club this new attitude and approach will be tested over a full season. If Nigel can instil that same energy and passion he managed to extract from the Rams on arriving at Pride Park, then fans will have a lot to look forward too next season.

It would be a welcome change if more often during the 09/10 season there could be a smile on the face of players and fans at the same time. If for no other reason than to give something for Robbie Savage and the fans to wave their scarves about!

Try and tell me he wasn’t enjoying his football!!

Photo: Action Images

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