Johnny Russell rose to prominence as a popular figure at Derby County, with the Scottish winger now claiming he played ‘close to perfect’ under one manager.
Derby County captured Johnny Russell from Dundee United in the summer of 2013.
Fresh from lighting up the Scottish Premiership with 13 goals and five assists in 32 appearances for Dundee, Russell was ready to challenge himself in the Championship.
The fleet-footed winger obliged by scoring nine goals in the second tier to help book their place in the Championship play-off final, where they lost heartbreakingly to Queens Park Rangers.
Derby played some excellent football during that campaign under the tutelage of Steven McLaren, with Russell now claiming he played some of the best football of his career.
Johnny Russell explains how Derby played ‘close to perfect’ in 2013/14
Russell was signed by Nigel Clough, the Championship’s longest-serving manager at the time.
However, he was relieved of his duties in October and replaced with former England manager Steve McLaren, or the ‘The Wolly with the Brolly’, as he’s more commonly known.
The decision to sack Clough and put McLaren in his place was a shock to many, though the current Manchester United assistant did deliver some of the best football Pride Park has seen in years, culminating in a play-off finish.
Although Derby were beaten in the play-off final, Russell believes they were enjoyable times and for playing football the right way, it was ‘close to perfect’.
Delving into his time with Derby on The Rams Review podcast, Russell said: “I had to learn on the job and learn very quickly because I knew if I didn’t adapt in the new system we were going to play; I knew if I didn’t adapt or change my game, my time there was going to be very short.
“I’m not one for quitting or throwing the towel in so I got my head down, learned on the job and I think most people would agree, in recent memory, that’s the best football they’ve seen and the best football I’ve probably played as a whole.
“So, they were enjoyable times and obviously the end of the season didn’t finish the way I feel we deserved, but just for the product of actually playing football the right way, I think that was close to perfect for me.”
Where is Johnny Russell now?
Russell left Derby in January 2018 and was captured by MLS side Kansa City for a fee in the region of £250,000.
The former Scottish international departed Pride Park after making a whopping 203 appearances, scoring 34 goals and laying on 34 assists.
Supporters were sad to see the exciting winger depart the club after nearly five years, though he’s since become a prolific player in the MLS.
For Kansas, he’s produced an impressive 65 goals and 35 assists in 212 matches, six years after joining.
Russell is now aged 34 but he still terrorises defences like he did at Derby, with his wand of a left foot coming to fruition in the MLS.
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