Derby County are back in the Championship, and have long-term ambitions of getting back to the glory days of old, but if they are to do so, the club’s new owner will need to follow a very different path to his predecessor.
The last 20 years have been a rollercoaster ride for Derby County, and not a particularly exhilarating one for the most part. From picking up the lowest-ever points tally in the Premier League era, to dropping into League One and being on the brink of financial ruin, Rams fans have not had it easy.
Paul Warne has certainly steadied the ship since taking over as Derby County manager, and led the club to promotion from League One last term to return to the Championship once more.
There’s a lot Paul Warne has got right, and some things he’s got wrong during his tenure at Pride Park, but former defender Curtis Davies believes the key to success for Derby now is down to how the owner, David Clowes, runs the club.
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Derby County have to be more careful in the transfer market
The big problem in the past with Derby was the mismanagement of former owner, Mel Morris. During his reign, the Rams made it to the Championship play-off final after recruiting heavily in the transfer market, but that gamble did not pay off.
Derby lost that play-off final, and with a bloated wage bill, the foundations began to crumble at the club, leading to transfer embargos, administration, and ultimately, relegation.
Now, with Clowes at the helm, the club is returning to a sense of normality and looks far more stable, but Davies has warned the owner not to repeat the mistakes of the past.
He told the Derby Telegraph: “This season was always about stabilising, making sure the club stays in the league, allowing David Clowes to get the fresh investment in — or a buy-out — and then the club can start to rebuild if they want to be fighting for the Premier League again every year, which every club does want to have.
“But I think with Derby, it’s a little bit different in the fact that it needs to be a bit more organic and a bit more, let’s say ‘timed’, rather than the way Mel Morris did it — buying all the best players in the Championship, putting them all on great money.
“That can’t happen anymore. I think it’s just about making sure they can stay safe and the next season it’s about building on from there if they’re able to get investors in.”
Luckily, Davies believes the Derby fans have been supportive and realistic going into this season, and should be happy that the club are settled in midtable as things stand.
Derby County made smart moves in the summer
It is already clear, at least based on the way Derby operated in the transfer market over the summer, that lessons have been learned from the previous regime.
Derby signed 12 players ahead of their return to the Championship, including regular starters like Jacob Widell Zetterstrom, Kenzo Goudmijn, Kayden Jackson, and Jerry Yates. Of those dozen new arrivals, though, the club only parted with funds for three, coming to a total of just over £3m.
That spend puts Derby 18th in the charts for Championship spending over the summer. While it’s more than their fellow promoted sides Oxford United and Portsmouth spent, it is still far less than many of the big-hitters in the league, including Leeds United, Hull City, and Norwich City who all spent tens of millions of pounds.
| Team | Expenditure (summer 2024) |
|---|---|
| Burnley | £41.86m |
| Leeds United | £27.04m |
| Hull City | £24.35m |
| Norwich City | £19.56m |
| Middlesbrough | £14.50m |
| Coventry City | £14.39m |
| Luton Town | £13.72m |
| Bristol City | £8.51m |
| Cardiff City | £7.46m |
| QPR | £6.52m |
| Sheffield United | £6.41m |
| Stoke City | £5.29m |
| Sunderland | £4.80m |
| Swansea | £4.65m |
| Millwall | £4.55m |
| West Bromwich Albion | £3.92m |
| Sheffield Wednesday | £3.48m |
| Derby County | £3.04m |
| Blackburn Rovers | £2.99m |
| Portsmouth | £2.84m |
| Watford | £2.74m |
| Preston North End | £2.36m |
| Plymouth Argyle | £1.81m |
| Oxford United | £1.52m |
If the Derby fans get behind Paul Warne and the players this season, and remain patient, the next few years could be huge for the Rams. This year, as Davies says, is all about consolidating their position in the Championship, and once that foundation is firmly established, they can look to push on and dream of bigger things.
The last thing the club needs, though, is to chase success at all costs, and end up right back where they were under Mel Morris.