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The no-so-magic roundabout of managerial departures continued to turn at an unforgiving pace on Monday (26/11/07) as Billy Davies, the manager of the Premier League's bottom club Derby County, received his P45 after 18 months in charge at Pride Park.

In truth, Davies has over-achieved massively with "The Rams", guiding them to an unlikely promotion last season they narrowly avoided relegation to the third tier in 2005/06 - their sixth relegation battle in seven years, in either the top flight or second tier.

But Derby have looked hopelessly out of their depth during the first third of the Premier League season, winning only one match, suffering ten defeats, and sitting at the foot of the table having scored just five goals whilst conceding 33, putting them on course to go down as one of the worst teams of the Premier League era.

The final straw came with their 2-0 defeat against Chelsea on Saturday (24/11/07), an unfair game to get the sack on the back of, but an inevitable conclusion nonetheless when Davies criticised the club's transfer policy, demanding six new players to give them a chance of staying up and claiming that he hadn't spoken to the newly-appointed Derby chairman Adam Pearson.

"He is a very busy man", said Davies with more than a hint of sarcasm and frustration.

Given that there is 50 million at stake for surviving in the Premier League, and that relations between manager and board were at breaking point, the Derby board would argue that immediate action was required.

But if the Pride Park hierarchy were that unhappy with the fiery Scot, why did Pearson publicly put on record his admiration for Davies, going as far to say that if Derby were relegated, then the man they have just got rid of would be the most ideal to bring them back at the first time of asking.

It was a far cry from when Davies arrived in a blaze of glory, landing at Pride Park on a helicopter having taken Preston North End to successive Championship play-offs in 2005 and 2006 on a minimal budget.

His initial target was consolidation for Derby, yet the new faces, including eccentric goalkeeper Stephen Bywater, towering centre-forward Steve Howard, and influential central midfielder Matt Oakley, gelled quicker than expected.

Derby had targeted the Premier League in three seasons, yet come Christmas 2006, were occupying an automatic promotion slot alongside Birmingham City.

Sunderland's remarkable resurgence under Roy Keane during the second-half of the season, combined with a lack of depth

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