Former Derby County manager Billy Davies seems to be tenuously linked with almost any vacant manager’s job outside the Premier League at the moment.

He is still jobless, however, and seems to have some way to go if he is to restore the reputation that was high enough last May for him to be touted as a possible successor to Stuart Pearce at Manchester City.

'Davies once remarked, admiringly, that Sir Alex Ferguson organised the defence at Old Trafford and let the forwards get on with it. This comment was an indication of the high regard in which Davies holds himself'


But even straight after Derby’s Wembley victory there were signs that trouble lay ahead. Speaking in an on-pitch interview whilst the celebrations went on all around him, Davies refused to commit his future to the Rams and tainted a great day for the club with anxiety over its immediate future.

He then went on to spend the majority of the summer securing decent contracts for as many of his cronies as he could fit onto the coaching staff, rather than trying to find the players who would have given Derby a fighting chance in the Premier League and perhaps have secured his managerial reputation.

A  lack of bottle has been shown in the Premier League, with Davies’s wide-eyed squad looking not only short on quality but also on guts, heart and, crucially, leadership.

The tactical limitations of Davies had been clear even in the Championship. Derby were well-organised at the back, although with experienced campaigners such as Darren Moore and Marc Edworthy in the side they had no excuse not to be, but never looked totally convincing going forward.

Humping the ball up to Stevie Howard and relying on the likes of Giles Barnes to produce sparks from the flick-ons seemed to be the only option. Even set-pieces were unimaginative, with the side too often relying on the quality of young midfielder David Jones’s delivery to create pressure.

Davies once remarked, admiringly, that Sir Alex Ferguson organised the defence at Old Trafford and let the forwards get on with it. This comment was an indication of the high regard in which Davies holds himself.

Comparing yourself, however indirectly, to the greatest manager to come from Govan (coincidentally also Davies’s home patch) betrays a deep-running egotistical streak. It is this egotism that has led to Davies falling out with just everyone with whom he comes into contact.

The way in which he left Preston North End seemed to alienate almost everyone at the club and all the fans. A source close to the board at Derby has indicated to me that there was a feeling amongst the directors as early as Christmas 2006 that Davies should go. It took a personal intervention from then chairman Peter Gadsby to prevent this, with Gadsby apparently stating that the Derby fans deserved stability.

When Davies did eventually leave Pride Park, when Adam Pearson took over as chairman of the club, his departure was prefigured by a bizarre mobile phone interview on Sky Sports News. During this strange conversation, Davies, in the roundabout, non-specific way beloved of all politicians, abrogated all responsibility for Derby’s performances. He blamed the board for not spending enough money and the players, his players let’s not forget, for not being good enough.

Shortly after that, another bizarre interview appeared, this time in the Lancashire Evening News. This time, Davies said that he wished it had been Preston, not Derby, that he’d taken to Wembley glory. All it served to do was make him even more despised in Lancashire and completely extinguish the flickering vestiges of warmth for him that still existed amongst Derby fans.

Meanwhile, Paul Jewell arrived at Pride Park and immediately identified a lack of leadership on the pitch as one of the Rams’ main problems. His keenness to obtain the services of Robbie Savage and then immediately making him club captain is ample proof of this.

Davies seemed to like ‘yes men’ in his squad. Nice guys like Matt Oakley and Howard who would unquestioningly gave their all and never queried the manager’s ideas. There was room for only one giant ego at Pride Park, it seemed, with the only strong personality Davies wanted around being his own.

Nice-guy journeymen do not keep you in the Premier League. His signings were either strange (Robert Earnshaw, who hardly ever played), past it (Eddie Lewis), totally out of their depth (Benny Feilhaber) or plagued by strangely persistent injuries (Andy Todd).

Other signings from abroad, such as Finn Mika Vayrynen, never actually materialised. Old mate Craig Brown’s appointment in a nebulous role as some kind of spotter of foreign talent was clearly a complete waste of time and money. Davies is clearly a competent, if tactically limited, coach. He seems to be good motivator, and incompetent managers do not get sides into the play-offs three years running.

But if he is to repair his damaged reputation he will need to find a way of working with others who are not his personal friends and who are prepared to challenge his view of what is best, whether they be directors or players.