Tribute to Derby County

I'll be honest with you. I've written over 300 posts here on English Soccer Talk since I started this site, and other than in my preseason predictions and my midseason summaries, I can't remember any posts specifically about Derby County or even mentioning that club in another post for more than a sentence or two.

Well, don't accuse me of not being an "equal opportunity" writer. I'm going to use this time to salute the Rams, who were officially relegated back to the Coca-Cola Championship after last weekend's round of games.

Derby County FC:

Just by the "eye test", and I like to think I know a little bit about this game, Derby County has been the worst Premiership team I've ever seen.

Too harsh? Don't agree with me? Ok, that's fine. Let me give you a few stats to prove my point.

1. With six games left to play, Derby needs at least four more points to avoid becoming the team with the fewest points total in Premier League history. Those four points would give Derby 15, which would equal the record held by the 2005-2006 Sunderland squad. Five points, obviously, would propel Derby over the top. Can you see them getting five points from a schedule including games against Everton, Aston Villa, West Ham, Arsenal, Blackburn, and Reading? I can't.

2. Derby has one win in 32 league games. If that figure stands, Derby would have the fewest wins for one team in Premiership history. That 2005-2006 Sunderland team managed to win a whopping three matches, which is the current low.

3. The Rams' -51, yes, you read that right, -51, goal differential is the third-worst in Premiership history behind Swindon Town's -53 in 1993-1994 and Ipswich Town's -57 the following season. Remember, Derby still has six games to eclipse that record, and two or three of their opponents score goals for fun.

4. Their manager, Paul Jewell, was recently rumored to be involved in a sex tape scandal. It's unclear whether there's actually any evidence of this or if it was simply tabloid fodder, but still, this is pretty funny. You would think the manager of a woeful Premiership team would spend his time thinking of ways to improve his side, or be out on the training field with his players, or just something involved with soccer.

Apparently not Paul Jewell, who would rather make a sex tape with, if you believe the reports, a woman who isn't even attractive. If he's that good from behind, if you know what I mean, Derby should've been able to come up with some better results this season.

Alright, I really don't want to bash Derby any more. As soon as they won the playoff final to gain promotion to the Premiership for this season, they basically had their ticket to return to the Championship next season. It's extremely difficult to come from the Championship and compete with the big boys, especially when the money in England's top flight is flying around like it is and there's such a financial and competitive disparity between the two leagues.

They also have two Americans, Benny Feilhaber and Eddie Lewis, on their roster, and I like that. Feilhaber hasn't gotten a chance to play much this season, which I don't understand. One would think Jewell would try and get his youngsters as much experience as he can because some of the veteran players, like Robbie Savage, for one, won't be playing for Derby next year, and surely Feilhaber can't be that much worse than who is playing ahead of him. Lewis has played signficant minutes for the Rams and hasn't looked bad at all, especially considering his age and the position he plays. Ryan Giggs on that left wing, he is not, but he's still serviceable.

The players also clearly haven't given up and packed it in for the season, and that's more than I can say for some players at Spurs and West Ham, for starters. Derby's fans continue to pack Pride Park as well and again, that's more than I can say about fans of teams in a better position than Derby, like Middlesbrough, Blackburn, Wigan, and others.

So long, Derby. You've been one of the worst teams in league history, but it's been nice knowing you, and good luck in the Championship next year.

"Grand Slam Sunday"?--Yeah, right!

The nonstop hype machine that is the media has been relentlessly shoving this Sunday's games between Arsenal-Chelsea and Liverpool-Manchester United down our throats for a week now, if not longer, and although I understand that they're just doing their job and catchy labels like "Grand Slam Sunday" are what sell newspapers and magazines and whatever else, I'm sick of it.

Here's the actual reality: Whenever "Big Four" teams play against each other, there's all kinds of pomp and buildup but the games themselves usually fail to deliver. They are often incredibly dull, and more times than not end up in draws, or maybe one team pushes across a scrappy, ugly goal to get the victory. Players and managers are afraid to get beaten and allow one of their fellow title challengers to take all three points, so they don't take many risks. Instead of playing to win, they play it close to the vest and the matches are not aesthetically pleasing, to say the least.

It's usually the games you wouldn't have expected that turn out to be the most exciting, games that feature relatively mid-to-low table sides. The potential for gain and reward far outweighs what they could lose so you usually see a more aggressive, attacking, up-and-down game. Last year just six points separated 11th place Aston Villa from 7th place Bolton, and only two points divided 7th and 9th place Portsmouth. There's nothing wrong with 9th or 11th, but 7th means the UEFA Cup and there's an added financial bonus there as well as the prospect of European competition. Teams will often scratch and claw for that and when four or five teams are in the running for one or two spots like they were last year, that's when you see exciting games because those teams need results; they can't afford to share the points.

Listen, I'll be watching these games this Sunday just like I know the rest of you probably will. I also know that I'm not likely to see a beautiful display of soccer; the term "Joga Bonito" doesn't apply to games like these. I believe both the Arsenal-Chelsea game and Liverpool-United match will end up 1-1. Honestly, I can't even watch Chelsea when they're playing weaker opponents like Derby or Sunderland, so I really am not expecting too much from the Blues-Gunners affair. Liverpool are coming off a big win over Marseille on Tuesday, they have momentum and confidence on their side, and they're at home. Manchester United are the better team overall though and when you add all those factors together, you get a draw.

There are some gems in the rough that I'm looking forward to on Saturday. Believe it or not, I think the Derby-Middlesbrough game is huge and both teams could desperately use the three points because they're each a candidate for relegation, Derby obviously more so. A draw won't do either of them much good and their talent level is relatively equal, so look for that game to be pretty free-flowing. You would have to believe the Portsmouth-Tottenham game will be a goalfest, maybe 3-2 or 4-3. West Ham is starting to get healthy again and they host Everton for the second time this week (Everton won 2-1 at Upton Park in their Carling Cup quarterfinal tie); I think that will be an exciting game as well.

Tune into those two games on Sunday, sure, but if you want to see 90 minutes' worth of action and fast pace, check out those Saturday games I mentioned as well. Don't believe the "Grand Slam Sunday" hype. "Stupor Sunday" will probably be a more fitting description.

Jewell Joins Derby, McLeish Matriculates at Birmingham

Well, this news would matter more to me if these teams were any good.

Derby will be going down regardless; they are simply the worst Premiership team I've seen in years and Paul Jewell won't be able to save them this season.

I picked Birmingham to join Derby in the Championship next year as well, and that was with Steve Bruce at the helm, who I believe is a good manager and possibly could've kept the team up. Alex McLeish turned the fortunes of the Scottish national team around and even though they just missed out on qualifying for Euro 2008, whoever is hired as the next manager will inherit a pretty stable, solid situation and team that has a good chance to qualify for World Cup 2010. As far as McLeish goes, however, I don't think Birmingham made the right choice in hiring a guy who hasn't managed in England before, much less the Premiership, in the middle of the season. It's one to manage in Scotland and at Rangers, where success is easier to attain than it is in the Premiership, and it's another to manage a team that doesn't have the same talent level as even other squads in the bottom half of the table. If McLeish keeps Birmingham up, it'll be by the skin of their teeth and nothing more.

Goodbye, Billy Davies

As I predicted back on November 5th after Chris Hutchings was sacked by Wigan ("Billy Davies Next to Go?"), Derby County has ended Davies' tenure at the East Midlands club by "mutual consent", aka "take this buyout gratefully and we won't say we fired you."

Derby have just one win in the Premiership this season and have been held scoreless in six consecutive matches and seven out of their last eight. Their problem, as one pundit on FSC put it the other day, is that they're playing the same style of soccer as they played in the Championship, and that simply doesn't work. It's one thing to play the likes of Barnsley and Burnley and Stoke City (no disrespect to those clubs) and it's another to play Chelsea and Manchester United and Liverpool; any Premier League team for that matter. Derby's defense has been atrocious and they currently have a -28 goal differential. Most importantly for a team that was basically condemned back to the Championship before this season even started, they weren't showing any progress under Billy Davies and the change needed to be made.

This now makes five managers who started the year with a club to have left by "mutual consent" or been sacked (Chris Hutchings, Jose Mourinho, Sammy Lee, and Martin Jol), not counting Steve Bruce, who left Birmingham for Wigan. You would have to say that Gareth Southgate at Middlesbrough and Sam Allardyce at Newcastle are now the odds-on leaders in the sack race.

Season Summaries So Far

Due to this international break, the most critical one of the year for many countries across Europe (particularly two of the British sides--England and Scotland), we're 11 days away from the next round of games in the Premiership. Teams are roughly a third of the way through the season with either 12 or 13 games played, and I figured it'd be a good time to come out with a brief capsule for each team, starting at the bottom of the table and working my way to the top. I'll have, in parentheses, my preseason prediction as to where I thought these teams would finish at the end of the year. Some, I'm proud to say, are spot-on or pretty close to it; others are pretty far off as I either greatly overestimated or underestimated the talent and coaching that those teams have. The plan is to come out with two a day, which will take us right up to November 24, the next set of games.

Bringing up the rear, we have Derby County:

20. Derby County (My preseason prediction: 20th)

There really isn't too much to say about this team other than the obvious: they are awful. Derby have a -26 goal differential in their 13 games played; in fact, they have yet to score a goal away from Pride Park this season and have been shutout in their last five Premier League games. Their only win of the season came against perennial underachievers Newcastle, and the Rams were eliminated in the second round of the Carling Cup by Blackpool, who currently sit in 19th place in the Coca-Cola Championship. It's a new excuse after every game for manager Billy Davies; it's one thing that your team "deserved" a result in one game or another, it's another thing to actually get a result and Derby simply haven't been on the right end of many games this season.

Benny Feilhaber and Giles Barnes, two promising young players for the Rams (Barnes especially), have combined to make 4 Premier League starts this season. If you're going to go down, which Derby most certainly are, at least play some of the younger players so that they can get some Premier League exposure and experience. The more they play and the better they play, the more money Derby can make when they sell them and that's important for a team that doesn't generate a lot of revenue on their own.

19. Wigan Athletic (My preseason prediction: 18th)

Wigan are another club in desperate straits. Chris Hutchings started the year as the manager who was supposed to guide Wigan into the post-Paul Jewell era but 13 games into the season, he's gone. Jewell has since ruled out a return to Lancashire and it looks like former Everton, Ipswich and Oldham manager Joe Royle has emerged as a favorite for this job.

If Royle takes over, he'll inherit a club in disarray. Jason Koumas was counted on to play a much larger role than he has up to this point; he's looked downright lazy on the field this season and as Wigan's biggest signing this summer, he hasn't lived up to expectations. Antoine Sibierski and Marcus Bent, two retreads if there ever were some, are co-leading this team in scoring with 3 goals apiece. Titus Bramble, of all players, has started every Premiership game this season and he's a detriment to any team's back four. Wigan also were knocked out of the Carling Cup at home to a lower-league side (Hull City-11th in the Championship; the crowd at that game was a meager 5,440). If the Latics are going to stay up, they'll need to do a better job away from home (1 draw and 6 losses at the JJB so far).

Billy Davies Next to Go?

Let's face it, the Premiership is a business. In a business, it's expected of those in charge to produce results and if they don't, something has to be done about it.

Pundits across the world gave Derby County almost no chance to stay up this season; some went as far as to predict that the Rams would set a record for the fewest points ever in a Premiership season (Sunderland-15; two years ago). At this point in time the former certainly appears it will be true, and though at their current pace Derby will end up somewhere in the neighborhood of 18-20 points, that's just not good enough.

At some point in time, those in charge have to be held accountable and manager Billy Davies really isn't getting it done with Derby. His team has a goal differential of -21 after 12 games and have yet to score a goal on the road. Their only victory of the year came against perennial underachiever Newcastle and in all honesty, the Magpies were unlucky not to come out of that game with a point. They were knocked out of the Carling Cup in the second round at home against Championship newcomers Blackpool.

Even if ownership is resolved to the fact that they will be going down, it's important to not show this to the players and to make every effort to try and turn things around. Changing managers could inspire the team enough to snatch a few points in the run of upcoming games and in the long run, a point here, a point there may be the difference between the Premiership and Championship. Billy Davies simply isn't getting his message across to his players and when you look at the roster, they're a better team than they've showed thus far. You have to bring in a fresh face to get the most out of the players.

Billy Davies appears to be the odds-on favorite in the "sack race", though certainly you could make a case for Gareth Southgate as well. If you're going to change the manager at all, you have to do it before the situation gets completely out of hand and all hope is lost. If you're a Derby fan, you have to get this poor run of form nipped in the bud before you're condemned to life in the second tier of English soccer.

Feilhaber Secures Work Permit

Brazilian-born American international midfielder Benny Feilhaber has been granted a work permit by Britain's Home Office, clearing the way for him to complete his move to Premiership new boys Derby County from Hamburg SV, a Bundesliga club. A player must take part in 75% of his country's international games in the last two seasons to get a work permit and Feilhaber doesn't meet that requirement, which is why he had earlier been turned down.

Feilhaber was also eligible to represent Austria on the international level and turned down approaches from their coach, Andreas Herzog, to play for them.

After his second season playing for UCLA, Feilhaber was selected to play for the US U-20 team in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, hosted by the Netherlands. An impressive performance there led to a move to German club Hamburg SV that same year but he has appeared in only 9 league games for their senior team since he signed.

Feilhaber is doing what Eddie Johnson should've done: take advantage of interest from a Premiership club. Johnson's development as a player has been stunted by continuing to play in MLS. Yes, he's one of the league's top strikers and won't have any problem continuing to be one if he stays in MLS, but it won't make him any better of a player and it hurts his chances to play for the US National Team. Feilhaber turned in a breakout performace at the Gold Cup and turned some heads across the world. Moving to Derby County is just a stepping stone for him; nearly everyone is an agreement that Derby will be relegated from the Premiership after this season, but a good year (and he'll get more than his share of playing time) could result in moving to a bigger club, one that is a Premiership mainstay. He joins another talented young player, Giles Barnes, in the Rams' midfield, and fellow Americans Carlos Bocanegra, Brian McBride (captain), Clint Dempsey (who all play for Fulham), Tim Howard (Everton), Brad Friedel (Blackburn), Marcus Hahnemann, Bobby Convey (both at Reading), Johann Smith (Bolton), Jonathan Spector (West Ham), and Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa) in the Premier League.

Premiership Preview: 20 Teams, 10 Days--20. Derby County, 19. Birmingham City

Over the next 10 days, starting from the bottom, I will preview my predicted order of finish for each of the 20 Premiership teams. I'll summarize their major transfers in and out, take a look at how their schedule sets up, and explain my reasoning for where I believe they'll end up in the table after this season.



19. Fellow Premiership returnees Birmingham City also should end the season with a return ticket to the Championship. The Blues spent only one season back in the second tier of English soccer, but manager Steve Bruce (aka Jay Leno, more on that later) will have to do a wonderful job of coaching to keep this club up.

Birmingham made a couple of solid moves this summer, including bringing in the young Dutch midfielder Daniel de Ridder and making Fabrice Muamba's loan deal from Arsenal permanent. Stuart Parnaby provides depth with his versatility at the back. Steve Bruce also appears confident that they will sign midfielder Hossam Ghaly from Tottenham by this weekend, but the move that now appears unlikely is the acquisition of Mido, also from Tottenham. The departure of DJ Campbell is the only real loss to a side that finished runners-up in the Championship last season.

If Birmingham are to have any hope for staying up, they'll need big seasons from their strikers, Cameron Jerome and Mikael Forssell. Forssell has been a disappointment since he made his loan deal from Chelsea permanent in 2005, scoring just 4 goals in 35 league games since. Jerome is a very talented young player but scored only 7 goals in 37 league games in 2006. Radhi Jaidi, a Tunisian defender, scored 6 goals in 37 league games for Birmingham by comparison, so increased production from the strikers will be vital for Birmingham.

August opens up with a bear of a match at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea is undefeated for 2+ years of league games. The rest of the month shapes up far easier for the Blues, but in September they play Bolton, Liverpool, and Manchester United in successive weeks (Bolton and Manchester Utd. at home). With the new year comes Manchester United, Arsenal, and Chelsea also in consecutive weeks, with the first two of those games away from St. Andrew's. The home stretch of games is manageable enough, and even if Birmingham can take care of business in those games, they'll still need to steal some points from games in which they'll be the heavy underdogs.

Bottom Line-Birmingham will be a lot closer to safety then they will be to 20th place, but they still will be relegated.



20. Bringing up the rear, I've got Derby County. Back in the Premiership after a five-year absence, the Rams have a tough season ahead of them. They've brought in no real players of note, though Robert Earnshaw could turn out to be a decent buy, and on top of that, they'll start the season without talented midfielder Giles Barnes. Barnes looks certain to miss the season opener at home against Portsmouth, and is highly doubtful to play in either of the two consecutive away matches after that.

September trips to Liverpool and Arsenal won't help the Rams get off to a much-needed good start, and they also play Tottenham on the road in August as well as Reading the first week of October. Everton, Newcastle, Bolton, and Portsmouth (all UEFA Cup spot contenders) make up 4 of the first 5 home games. The run-in towards the end isn't much easier, as Derby plays Manchester United and Chelsea on consecutive weekends in March and finish up with Blackburn and Reading (Blackburn away, Reading home). It looks fairly certain that Derby won't get off to a good start, and with a pretty tough schedule towards the end of the season, they'll have to make hay during the winter months to have any chance of staying in the Premiership.

Bottom Line-Derby will head back down to the Championship. No if's, and's, or but's.

New Uniforms Galore

We'll start off with a team on the South Coast, Portsmouth. Their new home jersey looks very similar to last year's edition; the only real addition to this jersey is the presence of gold/yellow as an accent color, replacing white (though white can still be found around the collar). White shorts and red socks finish off the home kit and all-in-all, it's a classy, more modern kit that still reflects some of the club's history.
Jersey designer: Canterbury


Blackburn Rovers will also be debuting a new home jersey this fall. The club had already released a home jersey manufactured by Lonsdale which was supposed to be their new jersey for this year as voted on by fans, but they've scrapped those plans and signed a contract with Umbro instead. Once again, one large blue stripe and one large white stripe are the focal points of this jersey. A bit of red can be found near the neck as well. In my opinion, this is one of the uglier jerseys I've seen. Blackburn shouldn't be credited for flip-flopping manufacturers; they had a deal with Lonsdale and had already come out with a jersey, it should've been honored.
Jersey designer: Umbro


I have mixed feelings towards Derby County's new home shirt. On one hand, it's tight, slim, and not ruined by a sponsor who wants their logo blown up across the front. On the other hand, it's a bit plain and almost resembles white Under Armour. The shorts are all black, and the away uniform will be what you see here in reverse (black shirt, white shorts). Adidas wasn't very creative when they came up with these uniforms, to say the least.
Jersey designer: Adidas


And to finish up, here's a look at Charlton Athletic's new away jersey, which will replace their black away jersey from last year (that black jersey now becomes their third jersey). It goes on sale beginning July 18, but honestly, why would people it? The stripes are clashing with each other ("seahawk blue" and "denim" are not a good combination) and there's no red anywhere in the jersey, which is Charlton's traditional color. Puzzling choice of colors, to say the least.
Jersey designer: Joma


Images courtesy of http://www.football-shirts.co.uk

Derby County On To the Premiership

In a game that was not as up-and-down or exciting to watch as advertised, Derby County made a 61st minute goal by Stephen Pearson stand up and held on for a 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion. Talented English youngster Giles Barnes, who surprisingly did not start today, came off the bench and provided a brilliant low cross to allow Pearson to literally slide the ball home. It was Pearson's first goal in a Derby uniform and you can't imagine how much it meant for his side and for the fans who had longed to see Derby back in the Premiership.

Graham Poll handed out 8 yellow cards in total today (5 to Derby, 3 to West Brom), though a few of them were questionable; I'm not sure if they merited a yellow card but Poll is one of the better referees in England in my opinion so I trust his judgment. Poll has stated that he will retire, and many managers will be happy to see him go as he been the center of many a controversy over the years, most notably the World Cup game in 2006 between Australia and Croatia where he handed out three yellow cards to the same Croatian player before dismissing him.

Great crowd at Wembley today. The new stadium can hold 90,000 for soccer and the official attendance was 74,993, which is great for a Championship final, considering neither team is based near London.

Congratulations to the Rams, it's back to England's top flight for them next season after a five-year absence.

Stephen Pearson's goal can be found here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x23y91_10-pearson

Coca-Cola Championship

This Monday, May 28 (Memorial Day here in the US), West Bromwich Albion and Derby County will square off to determine the third team to join Birmingham City and Sunderland in the Premiership next season. Beautiful new Wembley Stadium in London will host this game, which is sure to be hotly contested as two Midlands rivals clash for the third time this season.

The two teams split their two games earlier this season; each squad won on their own home ground. These meetings took place much earlier in the season (Nov. 4 and Dec. 2) however, and I have a feeling this third game will be the best one of them all considering the stakes.

The game will be televised at 9 AM on Setanta and is a must-watch for true soccer fans. Games in the Championship are often very high-paced, up and down affairs and so this should be a good 90 minutes of action.

Personally, I'm tabbing West Brom to win this game, as they've been on solid form lately (4 wins in a row). A Derby win would not surprise me in the least because these types of games are always unpredictable, so it should be a great game to sit down and enjoy this Monday.