Derby County

Derby warned off boss Calderwood
Aberdeen director of football Willie Miller has dismissed reports linking manager Jimmy Calderwood with Derby. "I don't like rumour or innuendo about my manager," Miller told BBC Scotland. "We've had no contact from anybody. It would be unwanted contact. "Jimmy Calderwood is committed to this club. He's building a team and we're persuading players of a certain quality and stature to come here. "There's no indication that Jimmy's got anything other than that in his mind." It has been reported that Derby director of football Murdo McKay may turn his attention to Calderwood if Billy Davies cannot be persuaded to leave Preston.

Davies close to new Preston deal
Preston manager Billy Davies has confirmed he has been offered an improved contract and is hopeful the situation will soon be "concluded". "I have been offered a substantially improved contract to stay at Deepdale," Davies told BBC Radio Lancashire. "I was offered the new deal less than a week ago by the club and it was the first time any discussion had taken place about a new deal." Preston chairman Derek Shaw said he is hopeful of a "satisfactory outcome". Davies, who took charge of Preston last August and took them to the Championship play-off final, had been strongly linked with Derby and Scottish side Hearts. Preston have offered Davies a long-term deal as oppose the his current one-year rolling contract - and a hard copy is now with his lawyer. Shaw added on Preston's website: "We've had very constructive discussions and feel very confident of a satisfactory outcome." Derby have now turned their attention to Yeovil boss Gary Johnson. Preston moved quickly to open talks with Davies' representative, Mick McGuire of the Professional Footballers' Association, after George Burley quit as the Rams boss last week. Shaw rebuffed an informal approach by a Derby director at a meeting of Championship chairmen where he made it clear that Preston were keen to retain the highly-rated Davies.

Derby near talks with Yeovil boss
Yeovil have given managerless Derby permission to talk to boss Gary Johnson as the Championship side look for a replacement for George Burley. "The board of Yeovil Town have given Derby permission to make an official approach to Gary Johnson," read a Glovers statement. Derby chief executive Jeremy Keith said: "We realise we need to make an appointment as quickly as possible. Johnson has taken the Glovers from the Conference to League One. The former Latvia national team manager took over at Huish Park since June 2001. Johnson was strongly linked with Coventry last season prior to the Sky Blues appointing Micky Adams and signed a new three-year contract with the Glovers in April. Derby have been linked with several managers since Burley resigned, including Johnson, Preston boss Billy Davies, Tranmere manager Brian Little and Middlesbrough coach Steve Round. But Rams chief Keith has refused to discuss specific targets, saying: "We think it's inappropriate to be naming names. "We're pursuing our recruitment process and any clearances we need before speaking to candidates will be obtained in the proper manner."

Campaign calls for Clough statue
A Nottingham campaign backing a bid for a statue of Brian Clough has begun. The ex-Nottingham Forest manager died in September 2004 and there have been calls for a permanent memorial to one of football's legendary characters. The Brian Clough Statue Committee is being backed by Forest and chairman Paul Ellis told the Nottingham Evening Post he hoped to raise around £60,000. "There's been a tremendous reaction. We hope people will take the campaign to their hearts," he said.

Penney rubbishes Derby job link
Doncaster boss Dave Penney has ruled himself out of the running to be the next manager of Derby County. Penney, 40, who spent four years at Derby in the late 1980s, says he wants to continue his work at Rovers. "As I'm a young manager and because of my time as a player at Derby, people have made the connection," Penney told the Derby Evening Telegraph. "I've got three years left on my contract here and as far as I'm concerned the job is only half done."

Brown 'has talks with Rams board'
Bolton assistant boss Phil Brown is believed to have had talks with Derby about becoming their next manager. BBC Radio Derby reports that the Rams directors were hoping to have made an announcement on Monday and Brown, 46, was thought to be their first choice. But Yeovil boss Gary Johnson is still in the frame for the job and had talks with a Derby director while on holiday. Tranmere's Brian Little and Doncaster's Dave Penney have ruled themselves out of the running for the vacancy. Derby chief executive Jeremy Keith had said the club would find a successor to George Burley quickly - but it is now two weeks since the Scotsman quit. Brown worked alongside Bolton boss Sam Allardyce at Blackpool and has been his assistant at Wanderers since October 1999. He was linked with Burnley before Steve Cotterill was appointed last year. Johnson has won plaudits for taking Yeovil from the Conference to League One and turned down the chance to talk to Coventry before Micky Adams took over in January.

Brown named as new Derby manager
Phil Brown has been unveiled as Derby's new manager after leaving his role as assistant boss at Bolton. Brown, 46, has agreed a three-year contract with the Rams and he takes over from George Burley, who resigned early in June. He worked alongside Bolton boss Sam Allardyce at Blackpool and has been his assistant at Wanderers since late 1999. Brown was also linked with the Burnley job before Steve Cotterill was appointed last year. Former Bolton defender Brown has played a key part in the club's recent success and last season he helped them qualify for Europe for the first time in their history. But he has made no secret of his ambition to test his own managerial skills. Derby and Bolton are thought to have already agreed a compensation package.

Derby boss Brown makes time plea
New Derby boss Phil Brown has told the club's fans to give him time to succeed after stepping up from his position as assistant manager at Bolton. "If I had a message to the fans it would be to give me time to prove myself," said Brown. "As Sam Allardyce became a higher-profile manager at Bolton there were times when I was left in sole charge of the training ground up there. "Now I'm already thinking of appointing my own number two." Bruce Rioch, a former Derby player who has presided over more than 600 games as a manager, is the favourite for the position. "To mention names at this stage would be inappropriate but I can tell you it's someone who's older and been there, bought the T-shirt, the whole hit," said Brown. "He'll be someone who will watch out for me and stop me getting into situations before they even develop. "It's a top, top priority for me and I hope to make an appointment in the very immediate future. "I'll also be bringing in other new people but my number two is my most important signing." Brown revealed that he had several interviews before being offered the job but had no hesitation in accepting the challenge. "During my spell as caretaker at Bolton I was really pushing the board hard to give me the job on a full-time basis but Sam got the job after coming in from Notts County," he said. "He took me aside and said 'I want you to be my number two, I don't want you to be a number one somewhere else'. "I wasn't going to tout myself around because that would have undermined the partnership with Sam but I have had interviews in the past - one for a position in the Premiership and two at Championship clubs. "But I had to go through five interview sittings to get the job here at Derby and when I told Sam he said 'go out and grab it Phil, go out and prove to everyone you're good enough to be a number one'."

Mackay to continue in Derby role
Murdo Mackay is to continue in his role as director of football at Derby. Mackay offered his resignation when former Rams manager George Burley quit, but new boss Phil Brown insists he will continue working with him. "Murdo is going to stay on a permanent basis. I had long talks with him and he is a very important member of my backroom staff," Brown said. "I'm not part of the politics which went on before I came. Who was involved or what happened is not my concern."

Boss search delays Rams accounts
Derby chief executive Jeremy Keith says the club's accounts have not yet been released because of the time spent searching for the new manager. Keith told BBC Radio Derby: "When we made our statement we had a manager. "We've spent so long on the recruitment process that the things we needed to deal with before the accounts could be published have slipped down the agenda. "Now we have a new manager the accounts are back on the agenda and it should not be long before they are published."

Johnson on track for season start
Derby defender Michael Johnson is confident of being fit for the start of the new season after returning to pre-season training on time. Johnson was stretchered out of the Rams play-off semi-final, first leg at Preston with medial ligament damage. But he told Derby's website: "The knee injury is fine, and a scan has given me the all-clear to join in. "A good pre-season sets you up for the rest of the campaign, so I'm delighted I made it for the first day."

Smith says Rams are keen to start
Striker Tommy Smith says Derby are ready to put the disappointment of last season's play-off semi-final defeat to Preston behind them. Smith insists there is a diference from last year's pre-season, when Derby just avoided relegation. He told the Rams' website: "There's a buzz about us this time and it shows the confidence coming through. "It took a while to get the play-off defeat out of my system but now I'm refreshed and itching to come back."

Pre-season tour cancelled by Rams
Derby County manager Phil Brown says the club had no option but to cancel their pre-season tour to Norway. "We're not going because it would have meant playing two matches in five days over there," he told BBC Radio Derby. "The games would have been sandwiched into a week when we've got Mansfield on the 16th and Birmingham on the 23rd. "I don't think it would be right to ask the players in what is a small squad to play that many games and it would be likely to give us injuries."

Derby deny interest in key pair
Derby director of football Murdo Mackay has outlined the club's determination to keep key duo Inigo Idiakez and Grzegorz Rasiak. Championship rivals Wolves had reportedly made a £2m bid for the pair. But Mackay said: "We haven't received any Wolves offers for Inigo or Grzegorz - and they are players that we would want to keep." Rasiak scored 16 goals in 35 games for the Rams last season, while Idiakez was a key figure in midfield. Meanwhile, Rams goalkeeping coach Malcolm Webster and chief scout Simon Hunt are close to linking up with George Burley at Hearts. Prior to moving north the pair are negotiating an end to their Pride Park contracts.

Derby snap up Davies on loan deal
Derby County have signed Middlesbrough central defender Andrew Davies on a season-long loan deal. Boro have retained the right to recall the 20-year-old after six months. Rams boss Phil Brown told BBC Radio Derby: "I'm very excited by what I see and he has come to us with the blessing of Steve McClaren. "He is a young ambitious defender who wants to play football and was not getting the chance to do that regularly at Middlesbrough."

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