Derby County fan Ryan Hills documents how charismatic and charming Jim Smith took Rams to new level in latest book – ‘Groundwork’

JIM Smith is, arguably, one of the best managers Derby County have had in recent history, writes Kerry Ganly.

While the late, great Brian Clough brought silverware to the club and the likes of Roy McFarland, Dave Mackay and, more recently, Wayne Rooney achieved success of varying degrees – yes, Rooney was the man at the helm when the Rams were relegated to League One but it was through no fault of his own – it was the charismatic and charming Smith who was responsible for leading the way in the mid to late-1990s when it came to new ways of looking at the game, the introduction of sports psychologists and the infamous ‘Prozone’.

Ably supported by a team that included former England manager – and Rams boss – Steve McClaren, Smith and co. became world leaders in new formations, technology and football analysis. And, backed by chairman Lionel Pickering, the city and county would unite as a wave of mesmerising talent would pull on the black and white shirt of Derby County.

Rams fan Ryan Hills recalls this era fondly. Growing up in Leicester, friends would question his choice of football club. He said: “My dad was a huge Derby fan and so for me, there was only ever one team who I was going to support.

“My early memories are of worshipping icons such as Branko Strupar, Mart Poom and Malcolm Christie; a bargain buy from Smith, purchased from non-league Nuneaton Borough.”

Following the success of his debut book ‘Pride: The Inside Story of Derby County in the 21st Century’, Hills – a digital content writer who, after completing a sports journalism degree, spent three years working in Germany for the Paralympic Committee before returning to the UK to work on major sporting events including Wimbledon and the Commonwealth Games – has penned a second book analysing those years under Smith.

He said: “While I loved working on ‘Pride’, it was about a 20-year spell mired in turmoil and ultimately disaster. This period is neither of those things. It was one of hope, of genuine delight among the fanbase and of the ability to dream. And that’s what supporting a football club should be about.

“It’s more than 90 minutes, it’s a lifestyle. It’s a family, a bond you can never break. Yes, it can be tough, it can be horrible and it can infuriate. But life without it is not worth considering, especially after the turmoil we’ve all been through over the past 18 months.”

‘Groundwork: The Inside Story Behind Jim Smith’s Derby County’ is on sale from August 1. Published by Pitch Publishing, it can be purchased from the Derby County club shop and other retailers.

With forewords from Steve McClaren and ex-Rams captain Igor Stimac, the Derby Telegraph has exclusively published extracts from the book in its print edition. In the first one, we hear how Jim Smith and, latterly, Steve McClaren came to join Derby County:

“The latter days of Arthur Cox and the tenure of McFarland had flattered to deceive, the collective play-off failures and subsequent mid-table finish meaning Lionel Pickering’s early days of investment had failed. That was an awareness Smith would come in with, and the summer of 1995 was always destined to see him need to arrange a squad in the knowledge that many of those at the club would be moving on shortly.

“Writing in It’s Only a Game that his brief was simply to cut costs and achieve a mid-table finish, Smith would soon meet a selection of first-teamers disgruntled with life in Derbyshire. Craig Short, the man who had epitomised Pickering’s initial carefree attitude to squad spending, ‘was the first to knock on the door and announce, “I’m leaving. I’m going to Everton”’. The next player to present himself was Paul Williams, who was equally belligerent, declaring, ‘I don’t care who came [sic] in as manager – Alf Ramsey or Joe Bloggs. I’m on my way’

“The duo would leave, Mark Pembridge too as nearly £5m was raised in exchange for two part-exchange arrivals: Gary Rowett and Sean Flynn. Dean Sturridge would also look set for a departure to Torquay where he had spent previous months on loan, but they couldn’t raise the £75,000 asking fee. And while neither of the new faces were known particularly in the game, Smith knew what he was looking for in arrivals: fight.

“That was evidenced throughout his first transfer foray, with a succession of new players entering Raynesway who had endeavour over individual ability.

“Darryl Powell, a stalwart of his Portsmouth side, would arrive for £750,000. Exciting forward Ron Willems joined from Swiss side Grasshoppers for less than half of that. Then there was just enough time to bring in a new skipper.

“Robin Van Der Laan wasn’t your typical mid-1990s Football League signing. The Dutchman arrived in Britain after serving a long suspension in his native Netherlands, and his first port of call in England was the sunny streets of Port Vale.

“Now a coach for Manchester United’s academy, Van Der Laan has made the UK absolutely his home from home, with Derby his second stop. ‘I was out of contract,’ he remembers, ‘so we went on holiday to America, and my sister-in-law was housesitting for us. I said, “Listen, if anyone comes into contact or any clubs when I’m out, just let me know.”

“And I got a new offer from Port Vale but I thought, professionally, if I want to achieve things and play as high as possible, I would have to move to a bigger club. The first two weeks we were on holiday and nobody contacted me, and in them days it was a little bit different because most managers signed players at the end of the holidays so they don’t have to pay them all the way through the summer.

“And then we had Portsmouth, West Brom, and I ended up provisionally signing for West Bromwich Albion and that was going to end up going to a tribunal. The deal was made with West Brom, which was a player exchange plus cash, and I trained there for a week before getting the call that John Rudge had spoken to Jim Smith with a better deal for Port Vale, and was I willing to go and speak to Derby.

“Derby had been trying for the last few years at that time to get up into the First Division, they spent a lot of money and didn’t really get there, so I knew they were very ambitious and it was a great opportunity to come on board at that time. I spoke to Jim and we made a deal with Lee Mills going the other way.’

“In actuality, when considering the incomings across the summer months, it was relatively serene for the contract-makers. Powell, Rowett, Flynn, Van Der Laan and Willems. Steady footballers, some of whom had been proven at various levels and some who were striving for their first real breakthroughs.

“Just like another man who arrived: Steve McClaren. It’s known what became of McClaren, but turn the clock back to the very beginning of his coaching career. Semi-retired after injuries at Oxford United, it was there that McClaren first began to plant the seeds of a career which would take him to the pinnacle of European football.

“Speaking in the midst of the liquidation threat, McClaren proudly joined a Zoom call sporting his Derby County club jacket. Recently departed to Manchester United after his fifth spell in various capacities, and even opting to work unpaid in 2022, he is a man who has been one of few (almost) constants across 35 years of the club. McClaren said, ‘I’d almost finished playing and I was injured, when I had an opportunity to take a coaching role at Oxford. I was youth coach and reserve coach for maybe four years and it was a great grounding, and I loved it.

“The connection with Jim is quite interesting because Denis Smith was manager at the time, but because Jim had an affinity with Oxford and he lived in Woodstock, at games he used to come to the Manor Ground.

“We’d call the manager’s office “The Bunker” because there were no windows and, after every game, managers would come in and Denis would invite any manager who was at the game to come on in. So, Jim always used to come for a drink. And at that time, I was, well, I was the drinks man. So I was kind of like the water boy.

“Jim used to come in, I used to do the rounds of, “What do you want to drink? Jim, what do you want to drink?” “Oh whisky, water and three ice cubes.” And I used to say, “OK, no problem.” So every time, whisky, water, three ice cubes were delivered to him. And eventually I got to know when he was coming in and instead of him asking as soon as he sat down, there was a whisky, water and three cubes of ice. So that’s how we got to know each other.

“‘He knew Maurice Evans very well and Maurice was the chief scout at Oxford and kind of my mentor in my early coaching days. So they knew each other, Maurice gave me good references and Jim always kept an eye on me, when Maurice said, “If you ever get a job again, you want to take Steve.” So I said to Jim, “Why did you take me?” and he did laugh and said, “Well I liked your smile when you delivered the whisky, water and three cubes of ice. And then Maurice gave you a good reference. So, I thought you were a good lad and apparently a good coach.” And that’s how I hooked up with Jim initially.’”