Yesterday we told you the bookies were always right and that Paul Ince would be the next Derby manager. Today we lick our wounds and apologise as we bring the news that Paul Jewell has bee installed as the new Derby boss. Here are the chaps (well Daniel Taylor) at The Guardian to confirm the news.
Paul Jewell has been offered the chance to save Derby County from relegation after the club rejected the idea of replacing Billy Davies with Paul Ince. Jewell is expected to be given a 3½-year contract worth around £1.5m which would be halved if the club was relegated. He will be named as the Premier League bottom club’s manager at Pride Park this morning.
Quite a coup for Derby, who are all but relegated already, to get probably the best out-of-work manager around at the moment (obviously excluding Jose). He may not save them but he will almost certainly bring them back up.
So, why did the bookies get it so wrong, refusing to take bets on Ince because they were so sure he had the job already? Well, all we can say is they were almost right.
Adam Pearson, the Derby chairman, spent yesterday speaking to candidates and, though impressed by Ince, Jewell’s experience gave him the edge. Iain Dowie, the Coventry manager, and Geraint Williams, a former Rams player now in charge of Colchester, had also come under consideration but it was a two-man contest. Chris Hutchings, sacked by Wigan this month, is expected to be Jewell’s No2.
He made the right choice, there is no one who will doubt that Derby are in a much better position than they were 48 hours ago.