Making plans for Nigel

Can a man called Clough restore Derby to former glories? Peter Beagrie talks Football League...

Beagrie talks Football League - and answers YOUR questions

I really enjoyed the performances of Derby County and Burnley in the Carling Cup this week as they gave Manchester United and Tottenham a real run for their money. I fancied Burnley to win on the night against a very fragile and fickle Tottenham, but once they scored the first goal they rammed home the advantage and overturned the 4-1 deficit. Unfortunately justice wasn't done and they were cruelly denied a cup final appearance in the last two-and-a-half minutes of extra time. As for Derby, I gave them less hope than Burnley, even though Nigel Clough's men led 1-0 from the first leg. Derby were always going to face an uphill struggle against a United team who have two or three extra gears to go into and they can be buoyed by the fact they launched something of a comeback in the second half on Tuesday. However, the Carling Cup run will not make up for Derby's torrid season in the Premier League last year. That experience will stay with them for a while and with Paul Jewell in particular. He said not to judge him in the Premier League because the damage had been done (even though he had a huge number of games left when he took over) and given the lattitude he had in the transfer market, everybody envisaged he would bring in people to reshape and refocus the club. That just never happened, things continued to spiral downwards and Paul left the club dismayed and distressed that the players he'd bought failed to pick up the challenge. A lot of players fell short of the standards expected from them.

Hotseat

Now the hotseat is occupied by the straight-talking, deep-thinking Nigel Clough. It's a very astute appointment by Adam Pearson as it will get the juices flowing among the fans and bring back the feel-good factor. Whether or not he will have the know-how to manage in the Championship is another question. He's certainly got the coaching capabilities, but he's operating in a different market now. The players he was looking at for Burton Albion would have been nowhere near the standard he needs for Derby County, but once he's got his scouting network in place then I'll judge him. It's a tough job because of the weight of expectation that always comes at a club with a lot of tradition, but it's multiplied for Nigel because so much of that folklore was written by his father. It's an amazingly brave choice for Nigel to go there and put himself alongside an absolute legend. Brian Clough was such a big character and was the most outspoken and avidly watched manager of his generation. He was a one-off and he was the only one able to manage in that style. Nigel's way will be calculated, well thought out, structured and passionate. I played with him for England Under-21s many, many, many years ago and he was very understated, but very intelligent on and off the field. He will manage in a cool, calm manner - but don't confuse that calmness for softness; he will have a ruthless streak. He's already made changes and he knows he will have to make more to bring success to a club that hasn't really enjoyed any since his father was in charge.

Consolidate

Their aim for this season must be to consolidate and maintain their Championship status for next year. This is a very unforgiving and competitive league and if you get into the mindset that you have a divine right then you can quickly find yourself struggling to keep your head above water. If Derby are to turn things around they need to take a leaf out of Miles Addison's book. Addison is a young man with tremendous ambition, work rate and attitude who is only matched by the lad alongside him, Paul Green. We saw against Manchester United how much acreage those two covered and they've now got to drag some of the more experienced players along with them. It should be a bit embarrassing for the experienced pros that those youngsters are setting a level of performance that those experienced players are falling short of. One player who can be alleviated from much too much blame is Rob Hulse who took a while to recover from a disastrous injury, and it's interesting to note that Kris Commons has been played just behind Hulse in the last few games. Perhaps he and Giles Barnes can work in tandem in a five-man midfield behind the lone striker and then you could have Green, Addison and Robbie Savage in the engine room. That would give them plenty of options. Clough knows the size of the task and he knows the club needs fresh blood and new ideas. He will bring optimism to Pride Park and it's up to the players to grasp this opportunity and start turning the club around.

Peter answers your questions...

To send Peter a question on the Football League, send an email to skysportsclub@bskyb.com or use the feedback form below... IT SAINT LOOKING GOOD
As people may be able to tell, Southampton Football Club are on the down. We were once a Premiership club and I accept that's no more but we are still a big club with a big fan base. However, at the Doncaster game there was protest among the home fans. As a fan myself I am deeply concerned about the club and am wondering if you could suggest anything that can be done to save us from relegation and keep us in the Championship? Jamie Ireland (Southampton fan)
PETER REPLIES: I'd like to offer you some hope, but I don't think I can! St Mary's seems to have become a white elephant for them in terms of their home form, they've had dog's luck with injuries and it seems everything is conspiring against them. I applaud them for the fact that they do play total football, but when you're down at the bottom you need to battle and scrap and sometimes you need to get the ball as far away from your goal as possible, as quickly as possible. I'm sorry to be the purveyor of doom, but I can't see even a little bit of bright light coming through the dark clouds. I tend to agree with the vast majority of Southampton fans, they have turned into a selling club and it's only a matter of time before Surman, Lallana and McGoldrick move on. It'll be interesting to see what happens in this transfer window because Southampton have a balancing act to perform. Do they cash in on their best young players and use the money to bring in some knowledge and experience to try and maintain their Championship status? Or will that just put more supporters' chins on chests and put them at risk of relegation? Whatever they do they won't please everybody. RANGERS RISING
I commented recently on the improvement you will see from QPR after our owners finally opened the chequebook and our win at Derby says something. I reckon Reading and Birmingham will take the automatics with Wolves and Preston definites for the play-offs. Then any two from Sheff Utd, Crystal Palace, Cardiff and QPR. What do you reckon Peter? Can QPR get there? Darryl Garvey (Queens Park Rangers fan)
PETER REPLIES: At the start of the season we all thought they were going to sign some well-known players but that hasn't really happened. They've gone for experienced Championship players and they haven't signed a Championship-level 'Robinho' despite the wealth of their owners. I don't think they do have what it takes to reach the play-offs unless there is an influx of players in January. They'll be hoping that win at Derby is a turning point but I think there are better sides in the division. I was hoping they'd find a more fluent style under their new manager but they still play with one striker at times and they do struggle to score goals. They are solid at the back but for all the glamour attached to the club, there has been a lack of entertainment on the pitch. I agree with some of the other clubs you mention though Darryl. The top two will definitely come from Wolves, Birmingham and Reading. Sheffield United look the part at the moment and along with Preston they are the form side in the Championship. I think that leaves one play-off spot and I'd say teams like Burnley and Crystal Palace are far better than QPR. You can also throw Cardiff into the mix who have drawn a lot of games, along with Swansea who I also believe are stronger than QPR. I feel Rangers will need significant improvement if they are to beat those teams to a play-off spot. BATTLE OF THE BACKSIDES - UPDATE Last week we established the battle of the backsides in League One as we find out who will be the sharpest shooter - Dean Windass or Lee Trundle. Well Trundle got off the mark in a fine away win for Leeds at Brighton, while Deano's Oldham were on the end of a 5-0 drubbing at Hereford (although he did come on and hit the post). That truly is going from the sublime to the ridiculous!