Smith blames poor planning

Todd was Smith's assistant at Derby

Former Derby boss Jim Smith has said Derby's problems are the result of poor planning by the club's board of directors.

And he said he was not surprised by Colin Todd's sacking as Derby manager on Monday.

Todd was sacked just three months after being promoted his position as Smith's assistant manager at Pride Park.

I feel more sorry for the fans than anyone

Jim Smith

Smith left the club after turning down a position as director of football and is now assistant manager to Roland Nilsson at Coventry City.

"Nothing surprises me in football," said Smith.

"The pressure is on any manager who is not doing well - more so in the Premier League than any other division because the directors are looking at the loss of revenue that it entails.

"At the end of the day the catalyst for all this happening is the fact that they (the directors) haven't sat down and thought it out at the beginning of the season.

"There is not enough work done collectively between boards and management so that they organise better.

'Great club'

Smith said that he felt sorry for Todd and for the fans of the club.

"I am closer to the Derby people and fans probably more than any club I have been involved with.

"They have been fantastic to me and the club is a great club - I feel more sorry for the fans than anyone."

Smith said he does not think that Fabrizio Ravanelli would be able to succeed as player-manager at the club.

"It's a difficult job to take as a player-manager in the Premier League.

"You can't do the two jobs - not if you're managing properly - and the one thing that suffers is playing."