Monday 1 June 2015 17:19, UK
Highly-coveted, fresh and fashionable without ever kicking a ball competitively or making a signing, the man tasked with bringing one of English football’s sleeping giants back to the big time is something of an unknown entity.
After Steve McClaren was sacked last week following a disastrous end to the Championship season, Paul Clement makes the step from Real Madrid’s No 2 to Derby’s No 1.
But what do we know about the 43-year-old former PE teacher, and what is in store for the season ahead?
Clement’s interesting background - of being in the background…
Clement’s ultimate aim will be to join the club of successful managers - including Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho and Arrigo Sacchi - whose playing careers were less-than glittering or in some cases non-existent.
The son of former England defender Dave and brother of former Chelsea and West Brom defender Neil, Clement never played professionally himself, working as a PE teacher while studying for his coaching badges and working at Chelsea's centre of excellence.
He received his UEFA A licence in 1999, before becoming an academy coach at Fulham and helping Don Givens with the Republic of Ireland Under-21s in 2000.
He joined Chelsea in 2007 and was made assistant by Carlo Ancelotti in 2009 for two years, before briefly working with Steve Kean at Blackburn in 2011/12.
He was reuinted with Ancelotti at PSG in 2012, and followed the Italian to Real in 2013, initially working as first-team coach in their Champions League-winning campaign of 2013/14 and then as assistant manager.
Ancelotti's departure from the Bernabeu last week was always going to further cloud Clement's future, but a return home to England looked a good bet as the Wandsworth-born coach was linked with a host of Premier League and Championship clubs.
What is changing at Derby?
Sky Sports Rob Dorsett: "Mel Morris, former owner of App game Candy Crush and a Derby director since the year dot, has always been quiet and never got involved too much. He has suddenly gone from sleepy director to exerting much more influence, and together with Sam Rush as CEO, they have big ambitions and high expectations for the club.
"Morris is currently in negotiations with Rams chairman Andrew Appleby for a majority share and to take over himself. That will happen, maybe in the next week or so.
"Morris has basically chosen Paul Clement. A lot of the next 12 months or so will be about the relationship between Morris and the new head coach.
"Morris wants to be in the Premier League. He felt the speculation surrounding Steve McClaren and a possible move to Newcastle detracted from the end of Derby’s season, going from first in March to dropping out of the play-offs come May."
What will he find in his in-tray on his first day at the Rams?
Dorsett: "Top six is not a minimum requirement for Clement in his first season as a manager.
"When McClaren came in, he was given a five-year plan to get into the Premier League, but was sacked 18 months in. It’s fair to say the five-year plan has been hugely accelerated.
"They’ve spent a lot of money on the training ground and they have a Premier League-standard ground - everything is set up for the top flight.
"There are some question marks over the way the squad collapsed in the last two months of the season. I think they will focus a lot of defence, and a lot on Chris Martin. At the moment there is a massive reliance on Martin, and cover for him is imperative.
"They would also like to get Darren Bent signed up permanently, but defence is where they need to strengthen."
What Derby think of him...
Chief executive Rush spoke to Sky Sports about Clement on Monday, saying: "We know he's had an unusual journey through football, but he's been working in football since day one, and his achievements have been enormous.
"For Paul it's about his coaching abilities. And it's about what he can bring to Derby - he's a young, ambitious, inspirational coach, and we are an ambitious aspirational club.
"The club is set up in a specific way now, so that not everything will fall to Paul, but the coaching is 100 per cent down to Paul. The broader management skills he will fit in to. He'll have a very supportive board, and so I think he'll take to it very easily.
"It's more about adding - I had an initial sit down with Paul and his knowledge is very good.
"I don't want to saddle anyone with unrealistic expectations, we know Paul is ambitious. The board is ambitious, I'm personally ambitious for this club."
What Clement has said
On Cristiano Ronaldo (Guardian, 2015): “I remember when I worked at Chelsea and there was a kid who used to cheer his goals and I thought, ‘what an idiot, what is he doing? He’s training.’ But over 10 years later, I see the best player in the world cheering his goals in training, and I think, ‘I’m the idiot."
On Ancelotti’s influence (Guardian 2013): "Carlo gave me a chance and, being with him every day, I've learned so much."
On his expectations (FA, 2014): “Twenty years ago I would never have thought I would be in this position, so now I have an open mind to things and in the next ten, 15 or 20 years I don’t dismiss or rule out anything.”
On training techniques (Daily Mail, 2013): “Football is not complicated. We do not design or make up things. It’s not a circus. We try to keep things simple and very much related to the game."
