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The curtain has come down on
the Billy Davies era and the Rams now enter a brave new world with Paul
Jewell,
However, after one of the most rollercoaster tenure's of any Derby
manager ever, we thought it only right to review
the high's and lows of the Billy Davies months (Note:- not years as he
didn't make it to plural status!)
HIT - Billy puts Derby back on the map - After
years in the doldrums with faceless managers, Billy's motormouth
interview technique and general enthusiasm immediately raises the status
of the club and gets us back in the public eye.
MISS - Interview White Lies - Blatant lies abut
players being injured got a bit embarrassing. Witness also, "the keepers
spots up for grabs" - "Sorry Granty, Bywaters number1".
HIT - Late goals & grinding out results (in the
Championship!) - Billy installed an amazing inner belief and
fighting spirit in the team which lead to us stealing innumerable games
which we really should have drawn or lost. Quite what happened to that
spirit this season is anyone's guess!
MISS - Weird player vendetta's - Arturo Lupoli,
Seth, Earnshaw. Good players left out of the team for no good reason.
The more the fans clamoured for them to be in, the less likely stubborn
Billy was to pick them!.
 HIT
- The play off victory - Billy somehow rejuvenates the beleaguered
Rams from the shambles of Palace away to beat better teams in
Southampton & WBA and win the play offs. The final win was surely one of
the greatest days in the history of the club.
MISS - Post play off interview - Rather than to celebrate in the
normal manner, Billy chose to use his post match interview to rant about
Ned Kelly and his contract. We turned the twat off, cracked a few more
cans and whacked
the View album on!
HIT - Billy's early signings - Howard, Oakley, Lupoli, Leacock,
Bywater - everyone (ok maybe not Ryan Smith) was a winner.
MISS - Billy's signings from Boab Malcolm
onwards - Malcolm, Fagan, Macken, Teale, Earnshaw,
Griffin - everyone (ok not Dave Jones or Pearson) was a shocker.
HIT
- Big Dave U-turn - Literally tried to send the Big man to Coventry.
When it didn't work out, got him conditioned and turned him into one
of the most effective centre backs in the division.
MISS - Premiership backroom cronies -
Billy and Julian Darby made the Rams the most organised team in the
Championship. Billy's Premier league army of backroom cronies, headed up
by Craig Brown and Ned Kelly, turned us into a disorganised, unmotivated
rabble.
HIT
- Then & now, job done - Like him or loathe him, no one can deny
Billy performed a minor miracle at Derby and leaves us in a
significantly better state than he found us. Even though it might
not feel like it at the moment!
MISS - Premiership Surrender - We
know all about the background (Billy told us in every post match
interview from Spurs away onwards), but Rams fans really expected more
this season, even with the current squad. Billy's anti Adam Pearson rant
was surely a calculated way of keeping the relegation off his CV.
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