Press article:

Gaffer lets slip about nicknames - 28/10/2002

You'll never stop Des Walker - Talking

After his man-of-the-match performance against Nottingham Forest last weekend, Rob Lee's nickname slipped out to the Press. The manager has given him the nickname of Albert Tatlock. I think it is something to do with him always moaning - surely not! Many of the players in our squad are so young that they were probably not even born when Albert Tatlock was starring in Coronation Street. They think that Rob is called Albert because that's an old person's name to them and he is 36 with a touch of distinguished grey in the hair. But he did not look like the oldest player against Forest. He was outstanding. Rob had one or two different nicknames while he was at Newcastle United. He was known as "Dog" because he was always snapping around the midfield, breaking up play. Kevin Keegan, who was the manager at the time, also called him "General Lee".

There are one or two other nicknames for players at Derby, like "The Adams Family" for Murray and Bolder. You have to be a bit careful with the younger players when using nicknames but I am sure we will think of a few more as we go along. The Gaffer took the average age of the squad down to about 18 when we travelled to Millwall today. Three of the Academy players, all only 15, made the trip. When they got on the coach, they probably thought they were going to Alton Towers rather than the Lions' Den. Seriously, I'm sure it was a great experience for big Tom Huddlestone (pictured above), Lee Holmes and Nathan Doyle. It's great for them to be involved with the first team and they obviously have some talent. I wasn't sure what I was going to talk about on the coach journey down to London - I know nothing about PlayStation and all that!

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