Ian Holloway has given an honest opinion about the abuse that Phillip Cocu has faced in just a short amount of time as Derby manager.

The former QPR boss spoke openly about the harsh pressure that new managers are now under and expressed his thoughts on the current situation at Derby County.

Cocu has only been in the job since the summer, but following a couple of bad results, has already faced certain backlash from various supporters.

The Rams sit 19th in the Championship and lost 3-0 to Brentford last Saturday. Cocu will be hoping that the current international break can give him a chance to get his ideas across to his new look squad.

Speaking in his Bristol Live column, Holloway said: "We travelled to Derby to talk to their new boss Cocu and then on to the North East to chat with Woodgate , who is in the early days of doing the same job at Middlesbrough.

"I found them both to be intelligent, likeable people, determined to bring their respective clubs success and with very firm ideas on how to achieve that.

"What shocked me is that they have already been on the wrong end of abuse from fans disenchanted with them being employed in the first place.

"Cocu was vilified during last Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Brentford, having seen a much-changed team go down by the same score to Nottingham Forest in a midweek Carabao Cup tie.

"He was sworn at and told in no uncertain terms to go back where he came from. These same so-called fans have inevitably taken to social media to voice their displeasure and will no doubt be hoping to influence their club’s board into making another change."

The Verdict

Ian Holloway is completely right in his thinking when talking about Derby's boss, Cocu. It's been just six games of the new season and for fans to be on a manager's back already is absurd, especially a new manager.

Cocu deserves time, and his record at his previous clubs is excellent and suggests that he can be successful at Pride Park.

It'll be interesting to see how the Rams fans react if they're to lose once more, but he deserves time and good teams aren't built overnight.