Derby chief executive Sam Rush insists Paul Clement will impress as manager

Derby County chief executive Sam Rush is confident new manager Paul Clement will be an ideal fit for the Championship club.

The former non-league player worked on the coaching staff at Chelsea under Carlo Ancelotti and then Fulham as well as with the Republic of Ireland U21 team.

But Clement took the step up to work with the Chelsea first-team under Guus Hiddink, and after a brief spell assisting Steve Kean at Blackburn, the 43-year-old was reunited with Carlo Ancelotti at Paris Saint-Germain.

Prior to leaving Stamford Bridge, Clement was assistant manager to the Italian, and following a year in the French capital the duo took charge at Real Madrid.

As well as winning league titles and domestic cup competitions in England, France and Spain, Clement played his part in helping Madrid to become European Champions for a record tenth time.

Rush said: “Paul Clement is a hugely talented individual, a young coach, but he has achieved a lot in last decade or more. We know he's had an unusual journey through football, but he's been working in football since day one, and his achievements have been enormous.

“This is a guy whose won just about all there is to win in football at Chelsea, PSG and Real Madrid, but sometimes have to take a step back to move forward. We are very lucky to have him, but we feel it's a very good match, and we're looking forward to future together.

“I think it's not untypical now for the top coaches to have been not the best players, we've seen a lot of examples of that.

“But for Paul it's about his coaching abilities. And it's about what he can bring to Derby County Football Club - he's a young, ambitious inspirational coach, and we are an ambitious, aspirational club, so hopefully together we can achieve great things.”

Although Clement’s appointment as a replacement for Steve McClaren may surprise some fans, Rush does not too the move as a gamble.

“I don't think so. The club is set up in a specific way now, so that not everything will fall to Paul, but the coaching is 100% down to Paul,” Rush said.

“The broader management skills he will fit in to. He'll have a very supportive board, and so I think he'll take to it very easily.

“The squad has been together a couple of years now amd been hugely successful. It's a high performing group, but we have a lean first team. It's more about adding – we had an initial sit down with Paul and his knowledge is very good.

“He was at Chelsea a couple of years ago, and Fulham before that, so his knowledge is good and has a good overall knowledge of the club and the state we are in.

“I don't want to saddle anyone with unrealistic expectations, we know Paul is ambitious. The board is ambitious, I'm personally ambitious for this club - so are the players who've missed out on promotion narrowly for each of the last two years.”