Round Relishing Rams Return

Steve Round’s playing career was cut short by injury but he has established himself as one of the English game’s most exciting and innovative coaches.

Steve Round’s playing career was cut short by injury but he has established himself as one of the English game’s most exciting and innovative coaches.

Round, now 44, recently ended his six month sabbatical from the game after 18 successive seasons working as a coach in the Premier League.

As a player, Round was a full-back who progressed through the youth system at Derby County, but injury forced a premature retirement and he only made nine league appearances.

Hanging up his boots at an early age, Round openly admits his hopes and dreams were left in tatters. 

With a decision to make he discovered a thirst for coaching, something he describes as ‘the next best thing’ to playing professionally.

His first opportunity as a coach came under Jim Smith, where he crossed paths, for the first time, with Steve McClaren, then Smith’s right-hand man.

From there, Round flourished and in 2001 he made the difficult decision to move to Middlesbrough to join McClaren at the Riverside Stadium as his number two.

Success followed and, in 2006, he followed McClaren onto the coaching staff of the England national side.

The pair struck up a solid relationship and, in July 2013, he followed Moyes to Manchester United, who replaced the departing Sir Alex Ferguson.

Sadly for Moyes the dream move to Old Trafford failed to work out and in April 2014 he, and Round, left by mutual consent.

Cue Round’s break from the game, but he’s refreshed and ready to go again.

After re-establishing his links with McClaren and Derby County a few months ago by joining the coaching staff as a part-time coach, he is determined to play his part in bring the good times back to ‘his’ club.

Speaking exclusively to Rams Player, Round said: “I took a phone call from Steve McClaren asking if my six months were up in November.

“He asked me to come in as a guest coach, do a session with the players and get a feel for the place.

“He wanted me to do one session with the forwards in December and I really enjoyed it.

“The players were receptive; they wanted to learn and improve.

“There’s a good environment here; we have good talent and it was a pleasure to work with them.

“I went home to my missus that night and I said to her ‘I really enjoyed that ‘.

“I then had another phone call from Steve a week later asking me to do another session as the players really enjoyed it.

“By then I had secured some media work with Sky Sports and BBC Radio Five Live, so we talked about getting Christmas out of the way first.

“I then agreed to come in part time to help Steve and the rest of the staff on the coaching field a few days a week.

“He wanted to do some individual work and help improve the players, which appealed to me.”

Returning to Derby is clearly something very special to Round.

He believes he has a love affair with the club and is enjoying every single second of pulling on the iconic Ram on his trainingwear.

He said: “It is a cliché to say the first result you look for is this or that - I have about six or seven – but Derby County is close to my heart.

“The only job I haven’t had here is the manager; I’ve done a lot of jobs.

“This is a great club with great support and a wonderful stadium.

“Derby is a thriving city and it is changing a lot but I am glad to be back.

“I have a love affair with Derby County and I am enjoying every second of it.”

As Round explained earlier, he has held a number of media commitments in recent months, as a pundit.

In addition those appearances and spending time with Derby in his part-time coaching role, he has gone back to University to further his coaching education.

He explained: “I’m doing a master’s degree in Sport & Directorship, Sports Law and Sports Business.

“Having a break from the game gave me a lot of time to reflect on a lot of different issues; it was valuable time for me and to, for example, pick my children up from school.”

“It is a busy time for me as well, but I can control my own calendar which I haven’t been able to do before.

“Football is so all encompassing; it can take over your life and you never get a minute as you strive to be successful.

“At Everton with David Moyes we were out watching games and in Europe; and at Manchester United I was all over the world.

“I think I had two days off from 280 at United.

“Now I can control my diary; Steve will ask me to come in on a Monday and a Thursday for example and I’ll watch the home games too to see the team.

“I go to University on a Wednesday, which is a day off at Derby, so I go and do that.

“As long as you are organised, it’s fine.

“There are some top people on the course at Manchester Business School like Ashley Giles, Sean O’Driscoll and Mark Chilton.

“I have learnt a lot, the business and legal side, the directorship side, and I have learnt a lot about modern leadership and strategies.”

Reflecting back on his playing career with Derby, Round has many happy memories.

Although his career was short-lived, he was proud to represent his hometown club.

He said: “It was about 1986/87 that I signed on as an apprentice and then progressed to the reserves and the first-team before I got injured.

“However, I was very proud to play for Derby County, as my hometown club, and a lot of my family and friends are big Rams fans.

“After my career ended I made the decision to go into coaching and I have been very fortunate to have some great experiences.”

Round says being forced to accept his playing days were over was mentally destroying.

He credits having good people around him as one of the reasons behind coming to terms with the news and also forging a new career for himself.

He said: “It was devastation to be honest really; all your dreams and aspirations from six years of age are ended in an instant.

“It was mentally destroying and the hardest thing I have had to go through.

“At that stage, you have to decide whether you wallow in self-pity or rise to a new challenge and push forward in the right direction.

“Fortunately I had some good people around me at the time to help me through.”

Round’s desire to coach began at a young age, stretching back to his days as an apprentice at the Baseball Ground.

He revealed: “I was in to coaching as a youngster and at the age of 18, it was something I was keen on.

“Gerry Summers was the Youth Team Coach at Derby and as part of my apprenticeship I had to do my preliminary coaching badges.

“I really enjoyed it and he asked me to get involved with the Under 12s and Under 14s in the evenings.

“We had a team in the local area called Derby Phoenix who were playing against boys at something like Under 12 level, so I was managing them at the age of 18 and by the time I turned 21 I had my full licence.

“I had an interest in coaching so when the injury happened, it seemed like the next step for me was to move into that field.

“I had a few years of rehabilitation because the most important thing for me was to get back playing, but that didn’t happen.

“At that time Arthur Cox and Roy McFarland both left and Jim Smith came in as the new manager of Derby County.

“I was sort of running the youth team with Steve Taylor and Jim asked me to come on full time and as he wanted promote from within.

“He wanted people from Derby coaching the Derby players and offered me a full-time job as a coach, which I am forever grateful for.”