Derby County: Nigel Pearson cited Watford FC recruit's "healthy" record - he was on the money | OneFootball

The former Rams boss did not get much right during his time at Pride Park, but the signing of Matej Vydra was an excellent one.

Nigel Pearson's time at Derby County was short and not particularly sweet.

Hired in the summer of 2016 to take the club back to the Premier League as he had done with Leicester City just two years prior, supporters were excited about another chance at a positive Championship campaign after a narrow loss in the play-off semi-finals a few months earlier against Hull City.

The Rams needed improvements to their squad after the 2013/14 team that had come so close to securing top-flight football at Wembley, only to be robbed by a late winner from QPR's Bobby Zamora, had slowly started to be ripped apart due to the standard passing of time.

Pearson and Derby left it late to make moves ahead of the 2016/17 campaign, waiting until the last few days of the summer window before bringing in Matej Vydra, Ikechi Anya, and Chris Weale, with the former of the trio going on to have a tremendous impact at Pride Park.

Pearson was right about Vydra's record

It can be said that the ex-Leicester manager failed to have the impact that he would have liked to have had during his time in DE24, but the decision to bring the Czech international to the club was an inspired one.

Vydra joined the Rams from Watford for £8m in August 2016, and it was a move that his new boss was proud to have made.

Talking to the club's media, Pearson explained the reasons why he brought the then 24-year-old to Pride Park.

He said: "We’re really pleased to sign Matěj Vydra – we hope that he will bring goals and energy to the team.

"His ability to exploit space with his pace is good and something that we need, while his goals record is pretty healthy as well.

"I hope that another fresh face will provide a lift to the dressing room. Without wanting to pile any pressure on him, coming into a new challenge here at Derby County, we hope that he can be the catalyst for us to start bringing some more positive results, which are obviously something that we need."

Vydra struggled in his first year for consistent goals and he did not seem to be the threat that many had hoped he would but it did not take long the following season for the forward to show his worth as one of the most dangerous attacking players in the Championship.

Vydra excelled in the 2017/18 season

While he struggled to bring the goals that he promised in 2016/17, the next campaign was one that was full of promise from very early on. Vydra scored his first of the year against Preston North End in just his second appearance of the season.

Three games later, he netted an excellent brace against Hull to show that the Rams were more than up for the promotion challenge under Gary Rowett.

The mid-point of the season was when the ex-Udinese man started to finally prove his worth, scoring seven goals in just six matches, including a hat-trick away to Middlesbrough, as Derby pushed towards the play-off places.

Rowett had made the Rams difficult to beat after taking over in March 2017 and Vydra was thriving under his guidance, playing in a second striker role just behind the experienced David Nugent.

Goals never truly dried up for the then 25-year-old but they did not come at the same pace as they had done at the start of the season, and he continued to show that he was a threat to anyone in the division.

A goal on the final day against Barnsley ensured that he won the Championship Golden Boot with 21 goals, in turn helping his side to a play-off spot, although they were beaten by Fulham 2-1 on aggregate.

Vydra left Derby in the summer of 2018, just two years after he had joined. He made the switch to the Premier League with Burnley for £11m, and while it may have come as a disappointment to Rams fans, Pearson's claim about his goal record when he first arrived had certainly come true.