Paul Clement says he will bring his own style to Derby
Saturday 6 June 2015 17:34, UK
New Derby County head coach Paul Clement says he will look to stamp his own personality on the Rams squad but will draw on his experience of working with some of the best managers, coaches and players in the world.
Clement left Real Madrid recently after the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti and was by the Italian’s side for six years at Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and in Spain, during which time they won the Premier League, Ligue 1 title and Champions League.
He started coaching at senior level at Stamford Bridge, being promoted by then-boss Guus Hiddink and he has vowed to draw on all he has learned over the best part of the last decade at the top of world football.
“I have my own personality and certainly won’t be trying to pretend to be anyone else,” he said. “I have to let my own style come through.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some very good managers, coaches and players and over my time I’ve made sure I’ve taken the good, the not-so-good and the bad out of all of those and I’ll be dipping into that experience in this role.”
Clement was speaking at his unveiling at Derby, where he replaced Steve McClaren who was sacked after failing to lead the team to the Premier League, and said taking charge of his own side is something he has dreamed of for some time.
He said: “Managing has been something I’ve had a burning ambition to do for a long time, or particularly since my work at senior level.
“For a long time I worked in developmental football and I enjoyed that very much but then I had an opportunity to step up at Chelsea, initially with Guus Hiddink and then Carlo Ancelotti and then I followed him after.
“I really enjoyed it and over the years I thought at some point I would like to have the opportunity to be a head coach and this is a fantastic opportunity to me.
“It is a big step, but it is one that I’m excited about. It is one that I think I have the skills to be able to deliver. I wouldn’t have done it otherwise.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my time as an assistant, I worked at some fantastic clubs with some great players and it was an honour for me to assist Carlo for six years. He is a great man who gave me a lot of confidence and belief that I could do this job and I’m really looking forward to it and can’t wait to get started.”
Clement said he would have to make adjustments to life in the Sky Bet Championship after years spent working with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
However, he believes he has the skillset and experience to tackle a different challenge with Derby.
He added: “My background is quite varied. In recent years I have worked with some very, very talented players, no question about it, who were competing right at the top of the game.
“But before that I had a brief spell at Blackburn Rovers, we were in a relegation fight when I was there, and I’ve worked with young players and I think at all those levels a very important quality is to have patience and I’m sure that’s going to be needed in this role as well.”
Clement admitted to speaking with a few other interested clubs but said that the Derby job was one that interested him straight away.
He said: “There were some other clubs that I had some discussions with but very early on for me Derby really did interest me.
“It’s a club with tradition, very strong supporter base, great infrastructure and having spoken to Sam (Rush) and Mel (Morris) and their vision for moving this club forward, I was really excited to be a part of it.
“I think it’s a good squad. I’ve been doing some research into them and over the next couple of weeks there will certainly be some due diligence done in terms of learning about the current players and other players that are possibilities to come and improve the squad. But the club has certainly moved forward in the last two years.
“They’ve come close, particularly the season before last in the play-off final, were at the top of the table for such a long period (last season), and just fell away at the end. So it is a good squad and I think we’ve got a great chance to be successful here.
“It is a fresh start. We start the 46-game programme off with zero points. I have the luxury of coming in nice and early so have June to plan, pre-season with six weeks to work with the players on the philosophy of play, the style of play, and formations.
“So we are going to be well prepared going into the start of the season and hopefully we’ll all be full of confidence when that first whistle goes.”
