posted May 12, 2008

i dont hopw any one can say every one is goin to go straight bk up look how crazy the champiuonship is ! Were about to see eitehr Hull or Bristol city in the prem as well ! The likes of Cov, Incester wedesday sheff utd charlton cardiff and wolves all competing for the same dream !

When u have Forest and maybe Leeds and swansea comign up u have a league thats very tight no clear cut rubbish no clear cut good ! Another crasy season lays a head !!!

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posted May 12, 2008

I can't believe anybody can support the Blues board. Bunch of skinflints trying to do the bare minimum year in year out to avoid a revolution. When will the Blues fans learn that they are milking the club. Brady made me laugh the most two seasons ago:- "If we get promotion we're going to spend, spend, spend!". All I can say to her is "Liar, Liar, Liar!" Don't fall for it anymore Blues fans. I admire your revolt. Don't let it go by. The only way to change these people is through their wallets. Boycott. Boycott. Boycott.

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posted May 12, 2008

The Medici? Not quite..but Gold and Sullivan do have a huge dome fixation.

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posted May 12, 2008

On the Reading issue, I'd like to add that URRZZZZZZ got it spot on with his assessment a little earlier (In reply to the 'elm park factor') - One of the most sensible views I've seen here !.

Like any other fan that has seen his team relegated, I was (& still am) gutted, however, you take the good with the bad & keep supporting your team...

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posted May 12, 2008

This is what happens when you don't think the PL is predictable

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posted May 13, 2008

I don't usually post on these sort of things but feel that someone with sense needs to actually clear up what has happened at Derby this season. As we're not one of the big four it's difficult for anyone who doesn't follow the club to actually understand what has happened thanks to the nature of national football coverage.

For one Davies wasn't sacked - he left by mutual consent. Following the Chelsea home defeat he made disparaging comments about the then borad (particuarly chairman Adam Pearson) which where designed to make his position untenable. He wanted out of the club as he didn't want a Premiership failure on his CV. What came out at the end of his reign as boss was just what a mess he had left the backroom in - there was nothing resembling an efficient scouting network in place and the academy had suffered a lot aswell. Thankfully Davies took his (largely ex-preston) backroom staff with him. Jewell has not only had to sort things out on the field but also behind the scenes has well - implementing a whole new academy and scouting network setup, not things you want to have to contend with when you have one of the most out of its depth squads in the history of world football.

Which brings me to the squad. In August 06 Davies ha dmainly been trying to build a squad capable of finishing mid table in the Championship following Phil Brown's disastorous reign in the previous season. When he was suddenly faced with a promotion challenge he had to change his transfer policy and in the following Jan 07 brought in several players with one eye on the Prem. All (except Mears) have proved to be dreadful signings and have either been sold or will be sold over the summer to fellow Championship clubs. The side we had last season was a very workmanlike team with a distinct lack of skill but - the Championship being the low quality division it is - we managed to get promoted by virtue of everyone else being even worse. Over the summer Davies then had to try and turn what was essentially a midtable Championship got lucky into one that could compete with the Prem.

Bearing in mind Sunderland spent £50m on a side which already had premiership players and stayed up by three points the £13m the Derby board lavished on the squad (rather than the promised £50m) was no where near enough - it worked out even worse when Davies made appalling bad signings like Todd, Griffin and Earnshaw. He completely failed to utilise the foreign market (we paid for 1 goal Earnshaw what Blackburn paid for 20 goal Santa Cruz) and as such strode into the league without a pray from day one. Additionally Davies had certain favourites within the squad, was tactically naive and wasn't commited to the cause anyway (he announced staright after the playoff final whistle that he might leave and made comments in the press in january that he wish it had been PNE he'd took up instead). Although his eventual leaving may seem like an error it was entirely justified and made no difference to what would have been a dreadfully pitiful season anyway. If anything promotion covered up what a shambles the club was at the time, being mismanaged behind the scenes by a deceptively incompetent self absorbed manager and governed by a board with big promises but short arms and long pockets.

This brings us to Jewell - a much better manager than Davies in everyway. He has worked hard to implement a solid behind the scenes at the club and by all accounts has done it exceptionally well. Those ciritcising his Jan signings - who exactly is going to join a club on 8 points in January? Under the circumstances he did pretty well. Yes he hasn't won but to be honest Clough, Paisly and Ferguson combined wouldn't have got much more than an extra 5 or 6 points out of such a pathetic bunch of half hearted players. Jewell should be judged on the summer - his Derby career starts now in the eyes of anyone with a shread of sanity.

As for next season I expect we'll do OK. People keep saying this team would struggle in the champ - well it's better than the one that got promoted. These are players devoid of confidence in the Champpionship they wouldn't have gone on such a run and would be playing not only with belief but also against sides like Burnley and Blackpool - teams who won't punish the odd mistake in the way Utd or Arsenal do. Half our goals against this season have come from mistakes, not great opposition play and I believe this side would be comfortably placed in the playoffs - it would certainly be better than anything I've seen from Hull, Bristol or even Stoke this season. I'm not going to make concrete predictions for next year because there's a good chance we'll have 11 different players on the field but we won't go down. People who say we will have a very basic knowledge of football and how it really works.

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posted May 13, 2008

I have been a blues fan for nearly 45 years and i am sick and tired of hearing year after year what a big club we are and what a huge potential we have.
I have seen managers come and go with the same empty promises and i have seen owners pledge to push the club to great heights.
Every time the same result, the loyal, paying supporters are let down.
I was glad Steve Bruce went. I was frustrated by his kick and rush style of play. He managed to coach any skill out of a player in a very short time.
We will see how long it takes him to turn a good looking Wigan side into negative long ball outfit.
I also hope Sullivan, Gold and Bradey go to.
They don't give a monkeys about Birmingham as a football club. All they want is a return on their money.
I dream of the day we get someone into St Andrews who has a passion for the club and will to succeed.
We had one once called Trevor Francis. Look what they did to him.
So i say to all Blues fans, vote with your feet. Hit them where it hurts them most.
Don't worry about their feelings. They don,t worry about ours.

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posted May 13, 2008

YoJimboTheRam; a very good own perspective of Derby County and its misfortunes although you do contradict yourself in the last two paragraphs - please take a look. In one statement you say the players have been pathetic and in another you seem to defend their ineptitude while calling for 11 new signings to start next season; not sure where you are with all this.

Additionally, I'm confused by your tunnelled judgement of Hull City et al. All three sides you have referred to would lead Derby a merrry song and dance in the position you're in now as would any of the top 12 clubs presently in that league and without some very clever foot work by someone in the close season the club is going to struggle. believe me.

What also strikes me as odd is that you say 11 new players are required as though they'll just drop out of the sky. A fair call based on the evidence last season and what you say about the abilities in the side that went up to the Premiership but where are these replacements going to come from if you're after anybody who can do anything more than trap a bag of cement. Sorry, they don't come in droves and certainly not to clubs outside the Premiership, therefore, I'm afraid you'll be caught between a rock and a hard place if you go up that avenue and rest assured will finish up with players who might have occasionally delivered in the past and on paper could do the business but in reality will bring nothing to the party.

Of course we at Hull City know this all too well over the years and our bit of success to date and I hasten to add, nothing more, has come from some quality young blood and experience from players who know how to play to the hidden agenda of the Championship with the abilities to step up to the mark should it be required N.B. Windass and Barmby. Derby will have to beat this type of side that is endemic in the CCC to stand a chance of even a top half finish and if you don't you'll be staring down the smoking barrel of relegation. I find such cutting references as yours and others, since you're not alone, about Hull, Stoke and Bristol City being indicative of the standard in the Championship to be typically off the relegated terraces and to say if one thinks Derby will go down again means you don't understand football just seems to me to be coming from somebody who is exactly of that ilk. Sorry my friend but carry on living the dream it's your right of course.

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posted May 13, 2008

If Leeds come up from League One, next season's championship could be even tighter than this season, with Charlton, Sheff Utd, Crystal Palace, etc all looking to go up along with this season's relegated teams....

My prediction for the championship next year:

Birmingham: champions.
Charlton: automatic.

Play-offs: Crystal Palace, Watford, Sheff Utd, Q.P.R.(!)

I am of course assuming that Steve Coppell leaves Reading; if he stays then they've got a chance up there. Q.P.R. are the team to watch next season, they are the dark horses of the championship....

Relegation: Coventry, Barnsley, Blackpool.

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posted May 21, 2008

Thats the sort of comment i would expect from a one brain celled, southern, shandy drinking nomark.

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