When Tom Clarke signed on from Huddersfield Town in the summer of 2013 he believed he was joining a club with a bright future.
As he begins his fourth year in PR1 he can show evidence that he initial assumptions were correct...
It will be on sale from inside and outside the ground and from the club’s ticket office on Tuesday, still for just £3 – it truly is value for money, so make sure you pick up yours this midweek.
There continue with our fantastic new sections including the latest part of the serialisation of the new graphic book ‘The Rise Of The Invincibles’, the heart-wrenching section about the effects of WW1 on football 100 years ago, 13 pages of content about our opponents and the use of well over 200 images packed in to the perfect bound tome with its new ‘matt finish’ cover.
You can read a lot more from Tom in Tuesday’s 100-page edition of edition of The One And Only, we also have exclusives with former North End and Rams favourite Youl Mawene, Derby’s Craig Forsyth on his comeback from injury and his hew addition to the family; as well we have features with Chris Maxwell, Callum Robinson, Simon Makienok, Ben Pearson and Liam Grimshaw.
“The main difference between the Championship and League One is that one or two moments of real quality can be your undoing. In League One there were only one or two players who could do that; in the Championship every team has players who can change the game and last season when we played Derby here early on they were an example of that when two pieces of quality won the game. You can find you are top for a whole game and then a little bit of quality from the opposition can put you behind and that’s something we have to work on. It is about concentration and being able to punish teams when we are in good areas – that’s something we need to improve on.”
“Last year was always going to be a tough season. We had a difficult start and there were some big teams in there. It was a new experience for a number of younger players, but I thought we coped well with it. As the season progressed we kept things tight, grouped together and we were pleased that we finished where we did.
“When I first came this club needed Championship football. It was all geared up and ready for it, with work going on behind the scenes and thankfully we could do the job on the pitch to warrant what was going on off the pitch. We were pleased to be the players to do it and to bring Championship football to those fans who wanted it – it was much needed and we are all together now and everything is working nicely.
“It was a dream come to true to join the club when I did. It was a perfect opportunity for myself and I feel that I grabbed it with both hands and have kicked-on. I have managed to make quite a few appearances and been part of a team that has progressed and hopefully with the signings that have come in this summer and the lads that we already have here – we have a good group – we can achieve more.
“Every year has been a progression for me and for us as a club. I have said before in interviews that every season we have gone that one step further – the first season we got to the Play-Offs and lost in the semis, the next year we got to the Final and won and then to finish in the top half in the first season in the Championship was a tremendous season for everyone and we want to build on that again this season.
The next target is to maintain that upward momentum in the ‘difficult second season’ that often the media like to talk about, but the 28-year-old thinks the squad is well-equipped to achieve the target of further improvement.
It will be on sale from inside and outside the ground and from the club’s ticket office on Tuesday, still for just £3 – it truly is value for money, so make sure you pick up yours this midweek.
There continue with our fantastic new sections including the latest part of the serialisation of the new graphic book ‘The Rise Of The Invincibles’, the heart-wrenching section about the effects of WW1 on football 100 years ago, 13 pages of content about our opponents and the use of well over 200 images packed in to the perfect bound tome with its new ‘matt finish’ cover.
You can read a lot more from Tom in Tuesday’s 100-page edition of edition of The One And Only, we also have exclusives with former North End and Rams favourite Youl Mawene, Derby’s Craig Forsyth on his comeback from injury and his hew addition to the family; as well we have features with Chris Maxwell, Callum Robinson, Simon Makienok, Ben Pearson and Liam Grimshaw.
“The main difference between the Championship and League One is that one or two moments of real quality can be your undoing. In League One there were only one or two players who could do that; in the Championship every team has players who can change the game and last season when we played Derby here early on they were an example of that when two pieces of quality won the game. You can find you are top for a whole game and then a little bit of quality from the opposition can put you behind and that’s something we have to work on. It is about concentration and being able to punish teams when we are in good areas – that’s something we need to improve on.”
“Last year was always going to be a tough season. We had a difficult start and there were some big teams in there. It was a new experience for a number of younger players, but I thought we coped well with it. As the season progressed we kept things tight, grouped together and we were pleased that we finished where we did.
“When I first came this club needed Championship football. It was all geared up and ready for it, with work going on behind the scenes and thankfully we could do the job on the pitch to warrant what was going on off the pitch. We were pleased to be the players to do it and to bring Championship football to those fans who wanted it – it was much needed and we are all together now and everything is working nicely.
“It was a dream come to true to join the club when I did. It was a perfect opportunity for myself and I feel that I grabbed it with both hands and have kicked-on. I have managed to make quite a few appearances and been part of a team that has progressed and hopefully with the signings that have come in this summer and the lads that we already have here – we have a good group – we can achieve more.
“Every year has been a progression for me and for us as a club. I have said before in interviews that every season we have gone that one step further – the first season we got to the Play-Offs and lost in the semis, the next year we got to the Final and won and then to finish in the top half in the first season in the Championship was a tremendous season for everyone and we want to build on that again this season.
The next target is to maintain that upward momentum in the ‘difficult second season’ that often the media like to talk about, but the 28-year-old thinks the squad is well-equipped to achieve the target of further improvement.