Jobless, new role, flying high - where every Derby County manager from the last 20 years is now
There have been 20 managers who have been appointed and then left Derby County in the last 20 years in what has been a somewhat dramatic roll call in the club's history.
There have been high-profile arrivals that did not work out, there were controversial sackings and to be quite frank, it has never been dull as far as managerial appointments go.
But what has happened to all the Derby managers over the last 20 years and where are they now? Some are still in work and others are still waiting for the phone to ring. Here DerbyshireLive takes a look at every manager and caretaker and what they are up to.
CLUBLESS, WINLESS, BACK AT PRIDE PARK: How six players released by Rams are getting on
READ MORE: Decisions facing Paul Warne as hint dropped after Lampard compliment
George Burley (March 2003 - June 2005)
The Ipswich Town favourite is sadly undergoing cancer treatment which was confirmed by the Premier League club this week.
The 68-year-old did a good job at Derby, taking the club from relegation battlers to the Division One play-offs in the 2004-05 season. It was a fine achievement given he spent no money on players. The Rams lost to Preston North End but any hopes of Burley taking the club back to the Premier League in the following season were crushed when the Scot resigned due to a strained relationship with Murdo Mackay who was the club's sporting director.
“I knew I was leaving Derby six months before I'd actually gone,” he told The Athletic. “There were a lot of things going on behind the scenes. It was more than just Tom leaving. I spoke to the chief executive (Jeremy Keith) and told him I couldn’t work with the director of football (Mackay)."
Phil Brown (June 2005 - January 2006)
Only lasted a matter of months at Derby in what was his first senior managerial appointment. His reign came crashing to a halt in January 2006 when they were beaten 6-1 by Coventry City in the league, followed by an FA Cup defeat to Colchester United.
Left the club in 19th position in Division One. Went on to manage Hull, Preston, Southend and Swindon. Had a spell managining in the Indian Premier League before he had another stint at Southend before moving to Barrow. Now manages Kidderminster Harriers in the National League North.
Terry Westley (January 2006 - June 2006)
Was handed the job in a caretaker capacity after Brown's exit but did not land the job on a full-time basis. At Derby he had been developing the club's young players such as Tom Huddlestone, Lee Holmes and Giles Barnes. The only other experience he had in the dugout before his spell at Pride Park was at Luton Town where he was sacked.
Became West Ham's academy director in 2014, but stepped down from the role in 2019 to take up a part-time position.
Billy Davies (June 2006 - November 2007)
The Scotsman enjoyed great success at Derby where he led them to the Premier League by beating West Brom in the playoffs. However, Davies has never been afraid to shoot from the hip and after a perceived lack of investment, Derby's struggle in the top flight led him to splitting from the club via mutual consent in November 2007.
He then had two spells with arch-rivals Nottingham Forest having been dismissed in 2011 only to return in 2013. Ironically, in what was a controversial second time in charge at the City Ground, he was dismissed after losing 5-0 to Derby in March 2014.
Has not managed since, but he has been linked to a couple of jobs. It was reported he went for an interview at Hearts, but did not land the role. Has been plotting a return to management.
Paul Jewell (November 2007 - December 2008)
Was tasked with keeping Derby in the Premier League, but it was a disastrous campaign in which the club set an unwanted record of 21 games without a win. They finished the season with a record low of 11 points, and just one win, which was gained under Jewell's predecessor Davies, equalling a 108-year Football League record.
He had to wait until the 2008-09 season to record his first victory which came in a 3-1 win over Lincoln City in the League Cup. Derby would go on to reach the semi-finals, but he resigned in late December 2008 after they lost 1–0 to Ipswich Town leaving Derby 18th in the Championship.
Joined Ipswich afterwards but after leaving Portman Road, he joined West Brom and Oldham as assistant manager. Became director of football at Swindon in the 2018-19 season, but left in 2021. His son Sam works as Director of Global Recruitment at Chelsea.
Chris Hutchings (December 2008 - January 2009)
After being assistant to Jewell for a third time, he was appointed caretaker boss at Derby but his only match in charge was a 4-3 win over Forest Green Rovers in the FA Cup. Once the Rams appointed Nigel Clough, Hutchings left Pride Park. Was last known as being a football coach at a school in Banbury.
READ MORE: Sky Sports pundit issues Derby County verdict amid one of the 'biggest mysteries'
David Lowe (January 2009 - January 2009)
While Derby awaited Clough's arrival, academy head coach Lowe took charge of one game which was a 1-0 win over Manchester United in the League Cup semi-final. Has worked at Manchester United and Wigan. Is now at Blackburn Rovers.
Nigel Clough (January 2009 - September 2013)
Clough's arrival at Derby was an emotional appointment as he trod the same path as his father, Brian, who enjoyed incredible success during his reign at the Rams where he won promotion to Division One and then made them league champions for the first time in 88 years.
"You've got a confident team. The team we took over at Derby that first season was very difficult," he said. "And we probably should've gone back after that four months. Once Burton had got promoted and we'd managed to keep Derby up, which was a great achievement, we probably should've left then.
"Because the writing was on the wall of what was happening with broken promises and things like that, things had changed so much in the first three or four months at Derby, where we'd been promised money in the summer, then it had been taken away, then it was even, 'we need to raise money'.
"That was an indicator of what it was going to be like for the next four years. So we probably should've gone back four months later, never mind seven years later or whatever it was.”
Derby finished 18th in his first season in charge but in 2011, he enjoyed a remarkable start to the campaign that saw the Rams sit second in the Championship. He subsequently signed a three-year deal but the form could not be sustained and they slowly slid back down the table. There were hopes they could reach the playoffs but defeats to Middlesbrough and Cardiff ended those chances as they finished 12th. In the following campaign he led them to 10th but in the September of the 2013-14 season, he left the club after three defeats in eight days.
After his exit from Pride Park, he moved to Sheffield United before he returned to Burton Albion. Now manages Mansfield Town where he led them to promotion last season. They are currently challenging for promotion.
Darren Wassall (September 2013 - October 2013)
The Derby favourite took charge of in a caretaker capacity after the exit of Clough. Was the club's academy manager at the time but he oversaw a remarkable 4-4 draw at home to Ipswich Town. It would not be his only taste of what it was like to be manager of Derby however as he went back to the academy after Steve McClaren's arrival.
Steve McClaren (September 2013 - May 2015)
After resigning from FC Twente where he had returned for a second spell and following a stint as coach at QPR, McClaren arrived at Derby on a two-and-half-year contract.
He went on to lead the club to the Championship playoffs after a fine campaign which saw them pick up 19 points out of 21 in December. They finished third in the table and went on to secure a place in the play-off final against QPR.
It was a season that many felt Derby had deserved to go up, but cruelly they were denied a return to the Premier League when Bobby Zamora scored a last-minute goal to shatter those dreams.
It was hoped they could go one better in the following campaign and after a strong start which saw them top the table, they also reached the League Cup quarter-final.
But form started to tail off in the back end of the season. Just two wins out of 13 meant they missed out on the playoffs which was rubberstamped by a 3-0 defeat at home to Reading on the final day when they only needed a point. McClaren blamed injuries, however there were continued links to the Newcastle job at the time too. He was then sacked at the end of the campaign before he joined the Magpies.
Paul Clement (June 2015 - February 2016)
Clement had just left Real Madrid where he was assistant to Carlo Ancelotti and worked alongside a host of stellar names. His appointment by Derby was regarded as a coup and Clement enjoyed a run of losing just one game out of 19 from September to December.
It was hoped that he would go onto challenge for promotion, but with the Rams fifth in the division, and being just five points behind leaders Hull City, he was sacked with the style of football deemed as one of the reasons for his exit.
Would go onto work alongside Gareth Southgate for England under-21s and was also head coach of Swansea in the Premier League.More recently he worked under Frank Lampard at Everton but is now set for Asteras Tripolis alongside Claude Makelele who was his assistant at Swansea.
Darren Wassall (February 2016 - May 2016)
After Clement left Derby, Wassall was appointed head coach on an interim basis until the end of the 2015-16 season. He won nine out of 18 league games Would go on to lead the club into the playoffs but they lost to Hull City over two legs.
Returned to his position as academy head after his spell was over. After a stellar 14-year service to the club's academy which saw them develop a host of talented young players during that time, Wassall left Derby last summer to join the EFL as the Head of Youth Development.
Nigel Pearson (May 2016 - October 2016)
Hopes were high at Derby when Pearson rocked up at Pride Park, particularly after his success at Leicester City but it was an ill-fated spell and he was suspended pending an internal investigation.
He left the club by mutual consent in October. Derby were 20th at the time. In a statement following his departure, Pearson said: "The speculation in some areas of the media has not made the separation a smooth one, and my suspension period has been difficult for both myself and my family.
"I would like to take the opportunity to thank my colleagues who supported me during my short time at the club." Was last at Bristol City, but left the Robins in 2023. Has no new club.
Chris Powell (September 2016 - October 2016)
The former Derby full-back managed them in a caretaker capacity. Oversaw a 2-0 win against Cardiff City. An immensely popular figure within the game and particularly at Pride Park where he won the Supporters' Player of the Season award in the 1996-97 season, he then returned to his role as assistant following Steve McClaren's return to the club.
Derby will come across Powell again this season given he is assistant to Danny Rohl at Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship.
Steve McClaren (October 2016 - March 2017)
After leaving Newcastle United, McClaren was back at Derby for a second spell in charge and started off with a win over Leeds United. But he would not go on to see out the remainder of the season as he was sacked in March 2017 after a 3-0 defeat against Brighton.
He later returned to the club as technical director in 2020 but stepped down in 2021 when the club were in administration. He went on to become part of Erik ten Hag's coaching staff at Manchester United and is now in charge of the Jamaica national team.
Gary Rowett (March 2017 - May 2018)
Having played for Derby from 1995 - 1998, Rowett was appointed as manager in March 2017 and guided them to a ninth-place finish. In the following season, Rowett did a fine job of leading the club to second in the Championship at one point in the campaign amid hopes they would go on to secure promotion.
But a slump in form post-January saw them fall out of the top six. They did manage to finish in the playoffs, but were beaten by Fulham after winning the first leg. He then departed for Stoke in the summer with the Potters paying around £2m in compensation.
After Stoke he went on to manage Millwall before returning to Birmingham. Currently doing punditry work and is a columnist for DerbyshireLive.
Frank Lampard (May 2018 -July 2019)
Lampard was appointed on a three-year contract in May 2018 in what was his first managerial job and he added some excellent loan players including Mason Mount, Fiyako Tomori and Harry Wilson to the squad. He knocked Manchester United out of the League Cup with a win on penalties at Old Trafford as a fierce rivalry with Leeds began which included the infamous Spygate incident after then Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa admitted sending a spy to their training ground.
Lampard eventually guided Derby to the playoffs where they would meet Leeds in the semi-finals and led them to a 4-3 win on aggregate helped by a crushing 4-1 win at Elland Road which made it even sweeter given what had occurred in the campaign.
Derby would then face Aston Villa in the final but they lost 2-1 and their dreams of a Premier League return were over. Lampard then left to join Chelsea as manager and also had a stint in charge of Everton before returning to Chelsea as caretaker. Has been doing punditry work and is awaiting his next challenge.
Philip Cocu (July 2019 -November 2020)
Cocu's arrival was another high-profile appointment given the Dutchman's career that had led him to Barcelona. He had managed PSV where he had won the Eredivisie title and then defended it before joining Fenerbache.
He led Derby to a 10th-placed finish in his first season, but the style of football didn't go down too well with some of the fans. In the following season, and with the club bottom of the table, Cocu was sacked. Currently not managing.
Wayne Rooney (November 2020 - June 2022)
With Derby at the bottom of the table, Rooney, the legendary Manchester United and England striker, was tasked with keeping the Rams from falling out of the Championship and into League One.
He did that in his first season although it was in dramatic circumstances as a final-day draw against Sheffield Wednesday saw them scrape survival. But with the off-field problems beginning to bite, Rooney's job pretty much became nigh on impossible.
After deductions amounting to 21 points, the 2021-22 season was about as much as fighting fires as it was picking the team. The club was placed into administration and were hit with a transfer embargo.
Derby were eventually saved by local businessman David Clowes in the summer of 2022 after a disastrous takeover attempt by American Chris Kirchner failed. However, Rooney quit the club before Clowes arrived. He took up a job with DC United before coming back home to Birmingham City where he endured a nightmare spell in charge. He is currently managing Plymouth.
Liam Rosenior (June 2022 - September 2022)
Rosenior had been the right-hand man to Rooney during his time in charge and was given the job on an interim basis as the club tried to find its feet in League One after administration had left the club with just five professional contracted players.
But after Clowes' arrival, Rosenior lured the likes of Conor Hourihane, Korey Smith and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing to Pride Park. While he made a solid enough start, Derby failed to score a goal or win a game away from home.
He was eventually let go with Paul Warne coming into replace him. Rosenior went on to manage Hull City but was sacked despite guiding the Tigers to just outside the playoffs. Is now managing Strasbourg.
Join our new Whatsapp community! Click this link to receive daily Derby County content and breaking news. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice