IAN Evatt admits he was “terrified” of Derby legend Jim Smith when he started out in football.

The ‘Bald Eagle’ was coming to the end of a successful spell in charge of the Rams when he gave Evatt his Premier League debut at the age of 17.

Smith had already had a managerial career which spanned five decades and more than 1,000 games and Evatt recalls the impact he made on his burgeoning career.

“Jim was a scary guy but a proper football man,” he told The Bolton News. “He drove standards but I was petrified of him, absolutely terrified.

“I remember walking into his office and there was a huge decanter of whisky on the shelf, sifting my way through the cigar smoke. He was an incredible character and someone I really looked up to, he was a someone who really had an impact on me as a young man.”

Smith passed away in 2019 at the age 79 having managed 1,475 games – putting him 10th in the all-time list.

The Derby dressing room Evatt first experience was a heady mix of nationalities which had managed to keep the club in the Premier League for five seasons.

“There were some incredible players in there, Derby greats,” he said. “Paulo Wanchope, Dean Sturridge, Igor Stimac, Stefano Eranio, Francesco Baiano, Mart Poom – I could go on and on. It was just a great time to be involved with that first team squad and grow as a young player.

“I had Steve Round as my coach from about 11 years old to about 20-21 and he has gone on to have a brilliant career and is now assistant at Arsenal.

“Steve McClaren was assistant to Jim Smith at the time too – so there were some wonderful people to work with - it had been a real boom period for Derby, moving from the Baseball Ground, which was a brilliant old place.

“It is a similar place to Bolton because when you go around the town, everyone supports the club. It is an institution.

“I wish them all the success in the world, not to our detriment, but certainly in the future.”

Derby endured a tough nine-month administration and were relegated from the Championship last season, prompting a huge rebuild with more than a dozen new players in the summer.

In September the club changed manager from Liam Rosenior to Paul Warne, a move which Evatt believes will eventually bring them success.

“I think we can sympathise with what they have been through and it is good to see they have got themselves back on a solid financial footing again.

“They have the right man in charge in Paul Warne, who knows how to get out of this division, so I think they will be a force and if it doesn’t happen this season, then certainly in the future.”

Warne led Rotherham to three separate promotions from League One and Evatt has seen some tactical similarities in the way Derby have gone about their business this season.

“Paul hasn’t had a transfer window to recruit his own players yet but they have got some good ones, real experience that have played at a high level,” he said.

“It was 3-5-2 at Rotherham but now it is more 4-4-2. Their pressing identity is quite similar, they are aggressive, energetic, man-for-man at times. You have to be good in your individual duels and battles.

“There are similarities with what he’d done at Rotherham but what I would say is that the group he has, they have seen it and done it. There is great experience.

“I do think the longer he spends with them, the better they will get.”