Derby County: American gamble went wrong but Nigel Clough is partially to blame: View | OneFootball

After impressing a Derby County scout while playing for US College team Creighton Bluejays in 2009, Conor Doyle was tipped to become Nigel Clough's next big thing for the coming years but his English soccer dream was not all that it could have been.

Now 32, Doyle is starting to come to the end of his playing career. The Texan is currently playing for South Georgia Tormenta in the USL League One - the third tier of the USA's football pyramid. However, he has enjoyed spells in the MLS with D.C. United and Colorado Rapids.

Despite this, his dream was to play in England, whether that be in the Premier League or finding his feet in the EFL, and so, after just a handful of college exhibition matches, he was signed by Championship side, Derby County, in the August of 2010.

On signing for the Rams, Doyle said: "It's been crazy. I was preparing for my first college season, and all of a sudden I'm playing in my first Championship season.

"I definitely didn't expect to be doing this at 18. I really wanted this to happen, and I hoped it would, but I never thought it would happen at such a young age."

Starting off the Doyle Derby dream

Doyle featured 14 times for Nigel Clough's Derby in his first season in England, playing across the frontline as a target man. He started in two of the Rams' first five matches of the 2010/11 season; however, a lack of goals proved to be his downfall as appearances started to dry up for the 6-foot-2 man.

He failed to come off the bench in seven of Derby's next eight Championship games, and would not even make the matchday squad in a 0-0 draw away at Swansea City. And after such a promising start to life at Pride Park, Clough would give the American just ten minutes of league football for the rest of 2010.

International football and a disappointing end to a first year in England

Despite a lack of game time, Doyle, who could represent both the United States and the Republic of Ireland, got his first taste of international football. He featured for both sides, however, he made his debut for the country of his birth first.

After featuring in three friendly matches, the Derby man went to the 2011 CONCACAF U-20 Championship in Guatemala. Doyle played every minute of the USA's three matches, scoring twice - once against Suriname in a 4-0 win, and in a 2-1 loss against the hosts as his side exited at the quarter-final stage.

At 19 years of age, Doyle played six more times in the second half of the season, starting three times and assisting his first goal, with Steve Davies heading in from a right-footed corner as the Rams ran out 2-1 winners at home to Swansea City.

Clough's side finished 19th at the end of a disappointing season, avoiding relegation to League One by just seven points as the Rams still reeled from a club-shattering 2007/08.

Second season syndrome

After an underwhelming first year in England, Doyle had been hoping to hit the ground running in the 2011/12 season but he failed to play in the first nine league matches, making the bench just once in this time.

Derby started the season brightly though, and found themselves third in the Championship after eight games, a point off top-of-the-table Southampton - winning six and losing two.

Doyle made his first cameo of the campaign in a 4-0 loss away at Leicester City, coming off the bench in the final minute of the heavy defeat. This became his role in a season of dismay.

Despite having signed the young American just a season prior, Clough did not put his faith in Doyle. This inevitably lead to his downfall at Derby, as he struggled to gain momentum week to week - playing the vast majority of his football for the U21s side.

A lack of game time was in part due to the new blood coming out of Moor Farm, Derby's bespoke training ground. Mason Bennett and Callum Ball ousted Doyle from his position as an impact substitute, with both looking like more exciting prospects to the manager.

The beginning of the end at Derby

Now 21, Doyle was entering his third year of his East Midlands stay. He had yet to register a goal for the first team and still had just one assist to his name.

Doyle made his debut in the FA Cup against Tranmere Rovers in a third round 5-0 win at home. There he came off the bench to assist a 16-year-old Bennett, as the Rams pushed aside the League One outfit.

That was as good as it would get for Doyle in his final year at the club. He played just 65 minutes across two Championship matches, with all but one of those minutes coming against Huddersfield Town in September 2012 - his final league appearance in England.

Nigel Clough played his part in a disappointing spell

After such a promising start to his career, a combination of poor form and distrust from Clough would see Doyle pushed to the exit door. Without key gametime, the 21-year-old struggled to develop in what could have been a new legacy in England.

Despite his role as a target man for Creighton Bluejays, Clough did not settle on a position for the young American. Doyle was deployed in several areas of the pitch for the Rams, including a spell at holding midfield during the 2011/12 pre-season. A move that failed to prosper the desired result, with him moving back to his more advanced role for the rest of the campaign.

He also faced a month and a half on the sidelines after suffering a ruptured appendix in October 2012. Clough highlighted the damage it made to his development at the time: “Conor was in a lot of pain and we were all shocked when we realised just how serious things had got and that he required an operation.

“It’s a blow for him because he’s one of the young players we have on the books that are progressing nicely below the first-team.”

Doyle struggled to make an impact in the U21s on his return and, despite a one-year extension at the end of the 2012/13 season, he would head back to his native country, on loan at D.C. United, a move that came too late.

Luck played it's part but Clough's management - not backing him regularly enough and playing him in a string of different positions - was a factor in his struggles.

A return to the USA

The loan spell in the US Capital proved to be somewhat of a success for Doyle. He made 14 appearances for the side, scoring his first two senior goals in his first five matches in the MLS.

His maiden goal came in a 3-1 victory at home to Montreal Impact, before scoring once again against Impact two weeks later, this time on the road. He was also part of the side that won the US Open Cup, his first and only major trophy to date.

But the rapid start did not continue for the Texan, as he went two years without a goal, after securing a permanent move with United at the end of his loan.

In 2014, Doyle suffered a major injury. While training, the 22-year-old tore the meniscus in his right knee, ending his season early with surgery being required to repair the damaged ligaments.

Doyle returned for the 2015 season, where he played all but nine matches of the regular MLS season. The former Ram scored twice in the league, as D.C. reached the quarter-finals of the MLS Cup, where they were eventually knocked out by New York Red Bulls, losing 2-0 on aggregate.

In 2016, Colorado Rapids agreed a deal to trade the forward-come-midfielder to the Mountain States. But, once again, Doyle faced a lack of game time as his time in the MLS came to a stuttering end.

Eight years on, and at the age of 32, the once hopeful youth prospect is playing out the final seasons of his career in the lower tiers of the American football pyramid. He jumped from team to team, featuring for; Colorado Springs Switchbacks, Puerto Rico FC, Jacksonville Armada, Chattanooga Red Wolves, Union Omaha and finally settling at South Georgia Tormenta for 2024.

His career in England at Derby County eventually proved to be a false dawn. Derby's management team should have managed Doyle differently, taking the pressure off the striker by introducing him into the academy teams early before making his first-team debut.

However, Doyle will always be able to look back with pride at everything he achieved to reach the second tier of the English game.