Mon 08 Jan - Posted in Feature
Time to read: 6mins
Gary Rowett has demanded that Derby County’s squad display the same humility which has been instrumental in their impressive rise up the Sky Bet Championship table this season.
Derby occupy second spot in the division following 26 matches of the current campaign.
Rowett’s side have, you could argue, found their way into the top two under the radar with 20 games left to play.
Is he complaining about that? Not at all!
The 43-year-old conceded a few months ago that the Rams had endured a relatively slow start to the campaign, but a run of 11 wins and only two losses from their 19 league games since mid-September have seen the side rocket up the table.
Consistent performances have been combined with consistent results and, ahead of this Saturday’s trip to Birmingham City, only runaway leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers have scored more and conceded less than Derby in the division.
Speaking to RamsTV in a feature-length interview reviewing the first half of the campaign, Rowett has been impressed with the way his side have conducted themselves so far this season.
He has regularly praised the drive and determination on display over the course of the campaign and, in particular, their focus.
Never too high after a win; never too low after a defeat. It’s a fine balance, but the Rams would appear to have it right now.
The Derby boss knows there’s plenty of work to do in the months ahead and he has made it clear that he wants more of the same as the games begin tick down.
He isn’t stupid; far from it. Rowett knows the games begin to carry more significance as May approaches but he has challenged his players to keep their humility and not fall foul of looking too far ahead.
He said: “I think the more you win and better you do, the more the spotlight is on you and every poor performance and defeat is extenuated. That is natural and part of the game.
“For me, we have to put it all to one side and not worry about things at all. My focus is on making sure we don’t stop doing what we do, regardless of the scenario, where we are in the table and what the outcome of the next result is.
“I want us to maintain that humility and make sure the group keep showing the same drive and determination for every game.
“I don’t want to focus on the end goal; it’s about the day-to-day process and maintaining it. If you start thinking too far forward you forget about the stuff that is so important on a daily basis.
“That’s the key for me and not feeling like we have achieved anything until we actually do. If we do achieve something, that’s another story.”
He added: “There’s a long way to go and just because we are in second place now it doesn’t mean we are going to suddenly cruise for the rest of the season. We have a lot of work to do to even stay in that top six.”
Rowett made several changes to his squad during the summer transfer window after taking charge towards the back end of last season.
The likes of regulars Tom Ince, Cyrus Christie and Will Hughes moved on to pastures new, as did Craig Bryson and Jacob Butterfield in loan deals on a hectic deadline day.
Experienced players with Premier League knowhow such as Curtis Davies, Tom Huddlestone and Joe Ledley - who joined as a free agent in September - were added to the ranks, in addition to Tom Lawrence, Andre Wisdom and deadline day recruit Sam Winnall.
When asked, the former Birmingham City boss has admitted he felt confident that the Rams would be capable of mounting a challenge at the top end of the division at the start of the campaign.
In order to make that happen, on top of what he describes as ‘maximising a lot of the parts’ and working hard on a daily basis to improve, Rowett is convinced that having a real togetherness on and off the pitch has proved to be vitally important so far this term.
He said: “I think the season (before a ball was kicked back in August) felt to most people that it was going to be one of a little bit of restructuring and going down a different route. You could say consolidation but that word would be unfair because, for a club of this size, we want to be challenging regardless.
“If you had asked me at the start of the season could we challenge, I would have told you that I believed that we could. If you’d asked me that question after the 4-1 defeat at Bristol City back in September I would have said I’m not quite sure we’re in that place at the minute. However, a few months down the line, we are and I am delighted.
“There’s been a lot of hard work behind the scenes from everyone; the players both in the team and out of it. We’ve worked hard to create an environment where people are together and pushing the same direction with a real spirit.
“I’m really pleased with where we are. When you look at our squad, if we managed to maximise a lot of the parts then we felt that we could at least be in with a shout.”
Does Rowett think that Derby are ahead of schedule at this moment in time?
In a nutshell, he does. However, it’s important to note the reasons why he is of that opinion.
The side had adopted a 4-3-3 formation for much of the previous four seasons but, since his appointment in March, that shape has seldom been seen.
On top of the personnel changes, the style of play has since evolved – but Rowett feels things have knitted together well with the 4-2-3-1 shape which has been deployed more often than not this term.
Derby are a far more resolute side this time around. The goals against column makes better reading while they haven’t suffered at the other end and scored goals on a regular basis.
Change takes time and patience, which can be hard to come by in modern-day football, was needed early on.
You could argue that Derby are reaping the rewards for being patient right now and they have proved to be capable of winning games in different ways.
As ever, Rowett isn’t getting carried away at where Derby find themselves at this stage.
He said: “I think it would be fair to say that we are a little bit ahead of schedule, mainly because there was a lot of change in the summer.
“We wanted to change the style of play and maybe at the start of the season it took the players a little while to get things how we wanted it to look.
“We don’t want it (the style of play) to be defensive and we don’t want it to look that way - but in order to build what we’ve got now we had to build in that sense and from the back.
“By winning games, you would have to be stupid not to think that the players have more belief in some of your tactics and the way you want to play.
“If we started losing a few games on the spin it would perhaps be natural for them to think about playing 4-3-3 again and play out from the back every time we get the ball.
“I think they have understood that this is a way that can win just as many games in the Championship and maybe be more flexible to win any game rather than just certain ones.
“It’s starting to come together nicely but I am doing this interview as a half-season review and it’s exactly that.”
