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Billy Davies is the manager of Derby County.

William McIntosh "Billy" Davies (born 31 May 1964 in Glasgow) is a former Scottish professional football player and is currently the team manager of Derby County having been appointed on 2nd June, 2006 after departure from Preston North End.

Playing Career

He started his playing career at the Scottish club Glasgow Rangers where he spent six years before a brief spell with Swedish team IF Elsborg. He later played for St Mirren, Leicester City andDunfermline Athletic before finishing his playing career with Motherwell.

Management Career

Davies went on to manage Motherwell and he took them to the brink of European Football but was subsequently sacked after poor form. He was appointed manager by Preston in 2004 having been assistant to the previous manager Craig Brown.

He took Preston to the brink of the Premiership via the play-offs in May 2005. Despite a difficult start to the 2005/2006 season, Preston went on an unbeaten run, from September until February, which saw them go 22 games unbeaten - equalling the record set in the 1888 season by the double-winning 'Invincibles' side, leading some sections of the media to dub them 'The New Invincibles'. This helped the club qualify for the play-offs for a second successive season although Davies and Preston again failed to win promotion when they were knocked out by Leeds United after losing the semi-final second leg. This after claiming it was "Job Done" after the first leg.

Davies won Manager of the Month for the first time in English football for January 2006, having won all four league games played without conceding a single goal. In April 2006 he won the award for the second time in three months. Davies won three similar awards in Scotland whilst manager of Motherwell.

As his contract allowed him to explore employment opportunities at Premiership clubs Davies applied and was interviewed for the vacant management job at Charlton football club with Preston's blessing. However, despite Davies indicating to local press in Lancashire that the job was his should he want it, his application was unsuccessful. He then expressed a desire to speak with a competitor Championship club, Derby County which was refused on the grounds that Preston were only contractually obliged to allow Davies to speak with Premiership clubs. Davies then took legal advice and, eventually, after a suitable compensation package had been agreed between the two clubs, Davies was allowed to leave Preston North End, followed by most of his coaching staff including first-team coach Julian Darby.

Billy's new club, Derby County, struggled during the 2005/2006 season. However, they have been taken over by local business people, stabilised the finances and hope to improve under Davies' guidance. On the 22nd July, 2006 Billy Davies completed his first signing as manager of Derby, paying Luton Town a fee of £1 million for striker Steve Howard. The transfer is Derby's first £1 million plus transfer since 2001. The 2006/2007 season started well, with Davies winning Manager of the Month in November following 6 consecutive wins. Davies' return to his old club Preston on New Year's Day saw the Rams record a 2-1 victory ended Preston's run of 31 unbeaten games at Deepdale, which incidentally, was started by Davies whilst he was manager.

Despite various tabloid rumours concerning Davies and his happiness at Derby, he has continually stated his happiness at the club and has been rewarded by seeing the club top the Championship with just 4 weeks of the season remaining and being nominated for a third Manager Of The Month award (for March), to go with two wins earlier in the 2006/07 season.

• Billy Davies

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