Jewell not just a firefighter

12 April 2012

New Derby manager Paul Jewell accepts he is getting a reputation as something of a firefighter at struggling clubs but believes he has more to offer than that.

The 43-year-old was unveiled as Billy Davies' successor at Pride Park on Wednesday on a three-and-a-half-year contract and was immediately charged with saving the Rams from relegation from the Premier League.

"I don't want to be a firefighter all my life," said Jewell. "I don't mind a fight - the best teams in the world have to be able to fight and if it is good enough for Liverpool, Arsenal and Man United to fight it is certainly good enough for Derby."

It is a job he performed superbly with Bradford (in 2000) and Wigan last season but the task this time around will be all the more difficult.

When Jewell was battling against the drop with his former clubs he had actually taken them into the top flight in the first place.

Now he has to pick up the pieces of the Rams' disastrous season which sees them bottom of the table with just six points from 14 matches.

But having ended his six-month exile from the game since quitting the Latics having kept them up on the last day of the season he is relishing the new challenge, even if he has bigger ambitions for the club.

"I have been in two relegation scraps with Bradford and Wigan but we don't need snookers yet so we are not adrift.

"Bradford staying up against all the odds was an achievement and I was very proud of that. In the first year with Wigan we got to a cup final (the Carling Cup) and finished 10th so I didn't feel like Red Adair then but I certainly did last year.

"I said if we stayed up the second year it would be a bigger achievement and people didn't understand but you look at teams like Reading and the 'second year syndrome' is difficult. I haven't got that challenge here. I am starting with a disadvantage points-wise."

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