During his post-match live stream following Derby County’s 3-0 Championship loss to Middlesbrough on Wednesday evening, The Athletic’s Derby reporter Ryan Conway addressed Steve McClaren’s current level of control at Pride Park after he was appointed as the Rams’ new technical director and advisor to the board.
Derby are yet to appoint a permanent successor to Phillip Cocu, who was sacked by the East Midlands club earlier this month, with a four-man interim coaching team of Liam Rosenior, Wayne Rooney, Justin Walker and Shay Given currently in charge at Pride Park.
McClaren, who has managed Derby twice in the past, is one of the names that was discussed as a potential successor to the Dutchman and earlier this week, the 59-year-old did return to the club, but in a different role and as per Sky Sports, this will become his permanent role once Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehayan‘s impending takeover of the Championship club is completed.
After the news broke that the ex-Rams manager would be returning as the club’s new technical director and advisor to the board, Derby suffered this 3-0 league defeat to Middlesbrough and in his post-match live stream, one viewer asked Rams reporter Conway if he thinks McClaren “will start to take more control” and the journalist then revealed that the 59-year-old hasn’t wasted much time in exerting some control over the club following his return, saying:
“He’s already taken a bit of control because he had a communication line down to Rosenior tonight, was my understanding of that. I think if you watched the RamsTV feed, Owen Bradley had made that clear as well.
“Part of that is good, because Steve McClaren, at this level, and with Derby, has done good jobs, is a good manager, an experienced manager. My problem comes that you’ve got Rosenior, Walker, Given, Rooney and now McClaren – that’s five voices.
“At some point, five voices, it’s just mixed messages, it’s just not all going in, I just don’t know. That, to me, is part of the problem.”
Are you happy that McClaren is back at Derby?
YES
NO
TIF Thoughts on what Conway had to say about McClaren’s current level of control at Derby…
Derby achieved a third-place finish on the Championship table in McClaren’s first season as manager of the club, the 2013/14 campaign, and the Rams have failed to finish as high as that in England’s second-tier since that season, so perhaps it was a wise decision for the club to bring him back in some capacity.
However, he is not the manager or a coach at present, and while it’s unclear exactly how much influence he had on the Rams’ on-field performance on Wednesday, perhaps it would be better for him not to try and exert too much control during games, and let the four-man coaching team that is in place do their job.
On one hand, yes, McClaren’s experience could be valuable for the current coaching team but could it serve as a distraction during games if he is trying to influence the team’s performance?
Additionally, we feel that Conway may well be right in saying that too many voices and potential mixed messages could be a hindrance to the team’s performance, as opposed to a boost.
It is normal for a team to have multiple coaches, but it doesn’t seem that there is a designated head coach in the current Rams set up and adding McClaren into the mix could confuse the situation even further.