What the hell are you on about, Mostyn? It's just an interview with a journalist about the youth set-up at Derby. It's not a DCFC employee, it's a BBC journalist asking Clough about the Academy and the youth players, and Clough answering those questions.

An example from the interview:

"But we don't have a short-term view, otherwise why are we looking at 13-year-olds? I don't think we will be around but what we are trying to do is put structure in place that will benefit whoever is here in a few years.

"The academy should almost be ringfenced and whoever comes in next, I hope they have the sense to leave it alone and let it continue working. The problem will come if they change the philosophy totally and you have the first team playing one way and the academy playing another."

What's to disagree with?


FFS!

second sentence of your first quoted paragraph:-

"I don't think we will be around ..."

Well you and 666 are doing enough moaning for everyone. You even do it when we're winning.
The current run of results is playing right into your hands, so yet again another article to try and get support for your Clough out agenda.
I would agree that at plenty of clubs Clough would have gone.
Here MOST fans believe he is doing a good job considering the situation.
Performances have not been bad we have been unfortunate but it most cases it's down to the lack of depth in the squad.
The injury list rises and there is only so much kids can do.
Recently we have lost points from winning positions due to not being able respond from the bench when other teams bring on quality.
This is not down to Clough it's LACK OF INVESTMENT!
I'm sick and tired saying it and I'm sick and tired of having to respond to articles like this.

Is "the recent run of results" playing into our hands or justifying the criticism that those who operate sans-Clough coloured specs have seen since he started..?

The recent run of results is not dissimilar to other uns Your Nige has overseen and the excuses/accusations from him have been the same every week, only the 'culprit' changes.

Clough OUT

Maybe mostyn is like me and likes to write things from time to time that whip up a bit of controversy. I like controversy. However I don't let myself get wound up by stuff on here because its just opinion. We all have our own. Some I agree with, some I disagree with. Its just football mate, far more important things to worry about. Admittedly, some subjects do make me jump on my soapbox and have a rant, but only those subjects that I feel personally affect me do I get wound up by.

666 I don't recall Derby being odds on at the bookies to make the playoffs. In fact we were shorter odds to go down.
So what is that gets you so riled. We are about where expected.

He is so riled because Your Nige is keeping the visionary that is Terry Westley out of his rightful place in the pride park hotseat.

I think there will be a lot of toilet roll used between now and the final kick against Leicester .
Most fans I speak with have about had enough and it looks like some at the the club are trying to deflect some of the matter that is about to hit the fan. We cannot continue with things how they are folk are staying away and the club is perhaps bracing itself for a fans backlash , which could be on the cards for the cameras should the result be against them tomorrow.
I dont think the economic climate is fully to blame for the loss of over eight thousand on gates most fans would rather cut holidays and other entertainment before they stay away from football.
To be honest most are bored and sick of all the lies and false promises and no doubt this will be reflected in season ticket sales next season.
It matters not weather you are for or against NC , what does matter is that we need a new direction and quick.

Mostyn - I dont think there is any hidden message.

If "I don't think we will be around but what we are trying to do is put structure in place that will benefit whoever is here in a few years" is a message, it certainly isnt hidden.

Recent results have been poor but have coincided with injuries to several key players in what is, as we all know, a paper thin squad.

We'll be okay this season, but even I'll admit its finishing on a low key.

Winning tomorrow would help!

"The recent run of results is not dissimilar to other uns Your Nige has overseen"

The same could also be said of the periods where results have been good, of course. The nature of the game is that almost all teams have similar spells. Margins between defeat and victory are always pretty tight, and it doesn't take much to tilt the scales the wrong way.

As far as I can remember, all of the periods where results have slumped have coincided with us having a glut of injuries. It just shows how vulnerable we are - fine when at full-strength but with very little to fall back on.

Ill keep saying this...If you get rid of Nigel Clough who do you think GSE would aproach/appoint?...Nobody in a job (compensation)....Nobody out of a job with ambition (costs money..i.e Budget)...all they would do is appoint a down and out tramp of the football world. Whatever people think of Nigel Clough our football club is in better shape now than 4 years ago...i.e...youth players,assets on pitch..Nigel Clough is NOT perfect...he has his flaws....but he is NOT the problem...

I don't know why you bother Backo. Some Folks only hear/read what suits their agenda.
GSE will never get rid of NC, if they did they would lose another several thousand Fans for 2013/14. I sometimes wish they would, if only to see the reaction when the dark casm of League 1/2 open up before their eyes. For GSE to appoint a new Manager would show once and for all just what their ambition is for DCFC. I dread to think what their shortlist would look like.

Every Season under Clough has seen the same patterns, allbeit at differing times during the season. As soon as injuries, in particular to key players, become apparent we suffer a slump and plumet down the League. Fair play to 666, who predicted we COULD slump towards the foot of the table given our fixture list at the time, but looking back over the last four years it wasn't a risky prediction really.

With a Squad this small and inexperienced I don't see how anyone can be surprised when we stutter/choke.

Backo.

Like SDS says.

I feared for us this season, after Shackell was sold. I think that we have often overachieved on the pitch, considering the squad we have. I accept that the squad is what Clough has built, and that there will always be players who in retrospect were not good signings, but what we have never been able to see under Clough is the ability to buy enough solid, reliable players to form the framework on which a team can be built. We only have a very few, players like Barker and Keogh, and when one or two are injured we suddenly have an absence of leaders on the pitch. These sorts of players don't grow on trees - they tend to cost in transfers or wages or both, and they don't emerge fully-fledged from the Academy.

Even when we have been in good form I have always said that we need to be firing on all cylinders to get results, in terms of fitness and energy. Our strength under Clough has been our tempo, playing quickly and closing down the opposition. We haven't the sheer quality to take opponents apart. If we drop the intensity slightly, through tiredness or injury, we are far less effective. Fatigue and injury take their toll more on us than other teams because of the lack of depth in numbers, the style in which we play and the lack of enough experienced players to see out games. It's very frustrating because the general standard of play has not justified the recent run of results.

I think Nigel says it how it is, quite a realist. It is the first time I have heard him say anything about the future without his mangament team being part of it so I can see what Mostyn means about a hidden message. Is he preparing to resign? What is for sure is that as a manager of the first team his results are not looking good and Wassall is holding his team together. Unfortunately, for Nigel to improve his team he has to go cap in hand to GSE to squeeze a few quid from the owners. GSE have screwed up everything they have done so far at Derby so that isn't going to happen. They could sell the name of Pride Park to get some cash (cos they are experts in that an all) to buy a decent player, it baffles me that they haven't. So Nigel can't improve his team so what does he do, where can he go from here?

Surely the obvious thing is the sale of an asset to improve the team, Iwas. Conspiracy theorists will say that GSE would pocket any cash, but history hasn't shown that GSE want to line their own pockets or asset-strip, just that they aren't going to provide a significant amount of new cash to strengthen.

None of us wants to see the likes of Hughes sold but I can't see that there is any current alternative, and this is a model used by clubs the world over with the exception of the very richest. Even Man U will sell an asset at the right price and use it to re-develop.

IF you had the choice, people, either Will Hughes in a Derby shirt next season or, say, 5 million in the kitty for Nigel Clough to spend on players, what would you choose?

Vidal it's how Southampton did it. Walcott, Bale, Oxlade-Chamerlain and others from their academy. They we still be getting appearance fees and a touch when they get sold on.
I would say it is one of the main functions of the Academy.

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I have used the Southampton example many times. Of course, theirs is an extreme case, but the principle is there. It's inevitable that if you have such a player that he will leave, and if it does happen, and if Clough gets a decent wedge to play with, then at least we will have a slightly different argument, namely whether he should have spent the money better!

That 5 million would have been handy early in January and then maybe we could have brought iN what was needed for the promotion push.
My honest hope and it's the only thing that makes football sense is that GSE didn't sell in January because they are going to invest in the summer.
Hendrick, Brayford and Hughes could all have gone but stayed. This Summer will be the defining time. GSE know that we aren't going to swallow the BS anymore so it'll be put up or f off time.

I would of sold Hughs in Jan, I thought he weakened our midfield and could get some decent dosh for him but I would say that Hughes is an exception rather than the rule. Our academy players are not going to bring in the millions we need to improve. We will see how much we get for Hughes. If we sell Brayford, can we get better for what we paid, if we can then why didn't that team buy the player we want instead. We will be replacing good professionals with more, 'could be good' type players and our team will decline.

For any type of success we need to hold on to Hendrick, Brayford, Bryson, Ward and build on that. I just can't see that happening under a 'sustainable' business plan.

You say that GSE don't have a history of lining their pockets with transfer fees. They haven't had any fees so we can't tell yet. I don't accuse them of asset stripping, I accuse them of sitting on their backsides doing nothing and earning a decent crust from us and the owners.

I meant that we have held on to some players when we could have sold, like Brayford when there was definite interest in January. This at least implies that players will only be sold at what is considered to be a good price rather than at any price to make a fast buck.

Whether the Academy players will bring in millions I don't know, but there is a range, from the likes of Hughes, who may indeed generate a very big fee, to the lower end where they may be good enough for our team and thereby save a significant outlay. Every little helps, I guess. The relative importance of this prudence depends on the wider financial restrictions in the game, which we still don't really know too much about. If there are still teams able to spend millions on players from external investors we will surely still struggle to compete based purely on Academy profits.

Iwas is right.
GSE is not running this club. GSE do not hold the purse strings they run it on behalf of investors. If they need money I expect they go to the investors and say we need a few quid. Our investors probably go "Who are you?" GSE say "We run that soccer club in England that you have a stake in"
The investors grumble that in these tough times they need to see a few quid back on their investments and the soccer club doesn't look at good bet so I'm not giving you any more.
Hence we have no money coming in.

Yep, that's about it.