Under pressure Rams boss Jewell is lottery winner

Not Paul Jewell.

On Tuesday evening,hours before his Derby team played a Carling Cup second round tie at Preston North End, Jewell announced he would be selecting the new skipper from a hat.

Derby County manager Paul Jewell has taken a unorthodox approach to choosing a captain

In recent times, Robbie Savage has been relieved of the duty when dropped from the team, then recalled to the side and handed back the captaincy.

But nothing had worked for the club who had gone 35 League games without a win.

Instead, Derby’s manager, fighting to save his job at Pride Park after a poor start to the season, pulled his squad together and told them that he would draw lots for the next captain.

Despite having experienced senior professionals in the side such as former Manchester United and Northern Ireland goalkeeper Roy Carroll, Scotland winger Kris Commons, former Sheffield United striker Rob Hulse and Denmark defender Martin Albrechtsen, Jewell did not consider any of them worthy of the captaincy after a dreadful start to the Championship season.

Instead, he drew the name of right-back Paul Connelly from the hat, a player who had not even started a game for the Rams since his move from Plymouth Argyle on a free transfer.

As motivational tactics go, it was fairly unusual but hats off to him because it appeared to work as Derby progressed to the third round after Paul Green’s 40th-minute strike.

Savage was not even on the bench at Deepdale and he has since told team-mates he wants to leave the club and move to a club in Dubai ‘because it is too cold in England’.

It is not the first time the Wales midfielder has fallen foul of Jewell.

Last season, with the club doomed to relegation, Savage drove into the club’s training ground in his £150,000, Mercedes CL AMG decked out in club colours — a move that did not go down well with his teammates.

During last season’s 4-0 defeat by Reading, Jewell turned to Savage at half-time and asked him to check if the showers were hot.

When Savage asked ‘Why?’

Jewell replied:‘Because you’re going in them’ and substitute the midfielder.