I must say I am amazed at some of the recent comments about Nigel’s management.

The poor beggar hasn’t even been at Derby for a year and already some people are casting doubt on him, and some are suggesting that he needs to go. Let’s look at his track record so far. He’s shifted a load of time-wasters out of the club, established a development squad aka the reserves, changed the training regime so that players are fitter and work harder, and changed the style of play to a passing game.

He has had some bad luck with injuries – but it would not surprise me if Clough were to be having a very hard look at some of the reasons for injuries and seeing if some could have been prevented. As he quite rightly observed, there is no clear pattern that you can point a finger at and say, 'this is what is causing the injuries', because they all vary.

He will also be marking the cards of some players and those that have a history will no doubt be moved on and those that have been injury-free prior to the current spate will be given another chance to re-establish themselves as fit players.

It would not surprise me if he were evaluating the performance of the medical staff to see if the specialists that service Derby County are up to it. Obviously, some decisions are no-brainers and they cannot be blamed for opting for a particular treatment, especially when this may affect the long-term health of the player. But other treatment decisions should be open to scrutiny to see if these were correct.

Clough also has had to contend with a losing mentality – something that Jewell could not get to grips with and this lingered long after PJ left. Hulse mentioned in the close season that this was only just beginning to be dispelled. My view is that the response this weekend against the Owls was evidence enough that the losing mentality has indeed been banished to the history books.

The response of the players after the debacle at Cardiff was just how professional footballers with pride in themselves should respond. They played with vigour and character. Changing the culture of a club (or an organisation for that matter) actually takes considerable time and sometimes several changes of staff.

As a senior manager myself, it took me more than two years to change the culture of the organisation I was managing – this required the recruitment of new staff and the introduction of several volunteers with a different mind-set as well as several small win-win situations along the way.

I’m pretty certain that Clough is still working on changing the culture and that may well be why he has certain personnel in his staff team who can keep reinforcing that message. From what I have seen and heard from Clough – he strikes me as someone who has very clear objectives, an understanding of how football should be played, know what he expects from players and has the necessary ruthlessness to dispense with those who don’t match up.

In my opinion, he is vastly preferable to Billy Davies and Paul Jewell with his approach. He may still be learning his trade at a higher level but the quality of the football played at Derby is something not seen since the days of Burley.

He will probably privately acknowledge that he makes mistakes, as we all do, but unlike the previous two managers, he will be steadfast in his approach. That in turn creates stability and consistency even if this means that we will lack creativity on the pitch or the ability to vary our game against opponents that negate our game plan.

All of these require a long-term perspective, something that we have not had at Derby County for a very long time. We should not be in a hurry to forget the little (insert your favourite unprintable description) chap who as soon as we won the play-offs was telling the world that his job was open to negotiation. Can you imagine Clough ever doing that? I can’t, and that is why we should stick with him at the very least to the end of this season before we start passing judgement.

And for the record, I share his belief that if you keep playing football and retaining possession, then eventually, you will win and draw more than you lose. And for me, that is why I would take Nigel Clough over the last two losers who brought us to the brink of financial disaster.

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