Bruce gave an insight to the Hull situation when he said that he did'nt fully focus his players on the replay and that they had the final on their mind. With regard to Clement he was a complete rookie and left before facing 'the wall' whilst Pearson had shown at other clubs he could modify his tactics but did'nt get the chance at Derby. SM made the same mistake twice and had zilch flexibility. Facts are pointing towards GR falling into the same category.
Yes, Clement was a ‘rookie’ but the pattern was exactly the same...indifferent start...then virtually invincible (except for the Forest match)...go top on Boxing Day, after an abysmal performance at home to Fulham and then into inexplicable free fall until Clement was sacked, about six weeks later, leaving Wassall to try and pick up the pieces.
McClaren 1 looked like he could make match defining changes until Wembley imo...but Mc2 was another example of a Derby manager being hopeless from January onwards.