Paul Clement named Derby manager: Former Real Madrid assistant replaces Steve McClaren on a three-year deal
43-year-old Clement joins the Rams after leaving Real at the end of the season
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Your support makes all the difference.Derby have appointed Paul Clement as their new head coach, the Sky Bet Championship club have announced.
Clement has signed a three-year deal at the iPro Stadium and replaces Steve McClaren, who was sacked by the Rams a week ago.
The 43-year-old left his role as assistant coach at Real Madrid on Friday following Carlo Ancelotti's departure as head coach last week.
Clement worked with Ancelotti at Chelsea and Paris St Germain before the duo moved to the Spanish capital in 2013 and has also served as the Blues Academy coach and briefly as Blackburn's assistant head coach four years ago.
Derby led the Championship in March but a wretched run of form saw them eventually finish eighth and miss out on a play-off place at the end of the recently-completed season, and Clement will no doubt be expected to succeed where McClaren failed in guiding the Rams back into the top flight for the first time since 2008.
"I'm incredibly excited to be joining Derby County as Head Coach and I am looking forward to meeting the players and getting started," he told the club's official website.
"This is a massive club with fantastic facilities and a superb fan base who deserve success.
"Having spoken with (chief executive) Sam Rush and the owners I firmly believe we share the same desires and ambitions and that is to once again make Derby County a Premier League club."
It is the first managerial role for Clement, who had been linked with the Sunderland manager's position following the departure of Dick Advocaat, and Rush is pleased to have secured his services.
"Paul Clement is one of the most in-demand coaches in world football and I am delighted that he has agreed to join Derby County as our new Head Coach," Rush said.
"He is hugely respected, has exceptional relationships throughout football and tremendous coaching experience at some of the very best clubs in Europe.
"He is the perfect appointment at the next stage of Derby County's development and we are looking forward to the coming season with a great deal of optimism."
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