AOB: Football Chairmen are stupid: Part 2

Just to briefly get back on my high horse about idiotic chairmen, I will now add Derby’s new supremo, Adam Pearson, to my list.

The Rams did have one of the countries best up and coming managers in Billy Davies (pictured). His success at Motherwell, Preston, and obviously Derby, probably indicate he’s a fairly competent bloke. However, he’s been given the boot because, rather unsurprisingly, Derby are getting tonked by all and sundry in the Premiership and look set for a swift return from whence they came.

I wonder why that is? Could it be because Davies created a team that was greater than the sum of its parts, and now finds itself a bit out of its depth? I struggle to believe Mourinho, Wenger, or indeed new man Paul Jewell would be able to keep a squad containing great footballing luminaries like Andy Todd, Eddie Lewis, and Claude Davis in the top division.

I have nothing against Jewell, and hope he succeeds at Pride Park, but it seems to me the Derby board are indulging in a change akin to shuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic. One only has to look at Watford, now storming away at the top of the Championship after getting relegated last year, to realise that sometimes it’s necessary to take one step back before moving forward again. The Hornets, under the guidance of Adie Boothroyd, probably got promoted quicker than they thought they would, but with a years’ experience, and armed with their hefty parachute payment, are now better set to make a go of things in the big league if they are promoted again.

Derby would have been well advised to follow suit. While Jewell is a competent manager with a good record, the inevitable changes a new appointment brings could set their club back another year or two.