retired_amyslack

Season 8 (2008/2009)

Calhoun was becomingly increasingly fixated on capturing the Premier League title and this became his sole target for the season ahead. Several players left Derby during the summer including Traianos Dellas, Andy Johnson, Paul Evans, Luciano Zavango and Morton Petersen. In addition French youngster Jeremy Toulalan, who had never settled in England after his move, was allowed to return to France and Damien Delaney, who was in dispute with Brig regarding his future, was sold to Middlesbrough. Striker Lee Hughes was deemed surplus to requirements and made a move to Colchester.

Brig was keen to bring some fresh faces into the team too, particularly to bolster the defence and before the start of the season he made several interesting signings. Czech international goalkeeper Petr Cech came in from Marseille for £1.6M, young Greek defender Nikolaos Tobros joined from Racing Genk for £2M and the experienced Steve Finnan cost £6M from Arsenal. He also signed midfielder Kevin Nolan from Newcastle for £4.3M and German midfielder Jorg Bierbaum from non-league Regensburg on a Bosman. He was hopeful that his team would be able to challenge Liverpool for the title this year although the fans on Merseyside fully expected their team to defend the title, especially having forked out over £20M on players during the summer.

The season began in early August with Champions League qualification and a trip to Croatia to face Hajduk. Despite looking a little rusty early in the game, Brig’s team established a comfortable 3-0 lead for the return leg. Most of the Derby first eleven were rested for the home game and the second string played out a 0-0 draw to progress to the group stages. Calhoun’s league campaign got underway with games either side of the return leg, with contrasting results. A Skalidis hat trick was the highlight of the 4-1 win at Cardiff – the red card and subsequent 3-match ban for keeper Cech was crucial in the 2-1 defeat at West Brom. Brig didn’t exactly enhance his reputation with the FA after his formal complaint about the standard of refereeing, and despite upholding his complaint the disciplinary committee still rejected the club’s appeal to have Cech’s ban cancelled, or at least reduced.

Calhoun had cause for concern in the opening game of September as a double-booking saw a sending off for Riggott and Steve Finnan, who had made a splendid start to the season, suffered strained ankle ligaments and would be missing for up to a month. Despite that, Skalidis scored twice in a very good win at Sheffield Wednesday. The Greek striker continued to impress, scoring all the goals in the impressive 4-0 win at home to Chelsea. Further wins at Sunderland and at home to Man City followed and Derby ended the month in 3rd place in the table. Calhoun received the monthly managerial award and Skalidis the Player of the month. But the team did suffer a further injury blow as left back Giannis Kalogeras suffered a hip injury and would be out for 4 months. In the Champions League Brig persisted with sending out a second-choice eleven, with mixed results – a 3-0 defeat in Barcelona, a fine 6-2 win at home to BATE and an equally impressive 2-0 win at Marseille.

October proved to be a profitable month in the Premiership with 4 wins out of 4, including a 2-1 defeat of leaders Leeds that allowed Derby to take over at the top of the table. Middlesbrough, Everton and Arsenal also found themselves on the losing side as Calhoun’s team began to put together a good rum of form and Brig was once again lauded as the Manager of the Month. With Kalogeras out with a long-term injury, Wayne Bridge was prised away from Southampton for a £5M fee, all of which was recouped a few weeks later when Kalle Sone went to Arsenal for £7.5M. The Cameroon international had been becoming a disruptive influence in the team, with several of his teammates unhappy and Brig was quite prepared to let him go. The Derby second-string were also in action, gaining wins in the Champions League over both Marseille and Barcelona and coming from behind to complete an impressive 5-1 defeat of Newcastle in the League Cup.

Calhoun’s team went through November unbeaten in the league with wins over Huddersfield and Portsmouth and draws against Charlton, Blackburn and Man United. They remained top of the table, four points clear of a resurgent Leeds United. They completed the first phase of group games in the Champions League with a 2-0 win at BATE but in the second phase they lost their opening game 3-0 at home to Feyenoord. Still playing effectively a second-string for the non-league games they also progressed further in the League Cup with a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************ English Premier Division - Monday 1st December 2008********************************************** ***********************************************Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st DERBY 15 5 2 0 12 3 6 1 1 20 8 36 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Leeds 16 7 1 0 18 4 3 1 4 10 11 32 3rd Man Utd 14 4 2 0 9 3 5 2 1 15 7 31 4th Liverpool 15 6 2 0 16 1 3 1 3 6 6 30 5th Arsenal 15 5 2 1 17 8 3 2 2 12 9 28</pre>

retired_amyslack

Season 8 (2008/2009) Continued

As November moved into December Calhoun had to deal with a growing injury list and by the middle of the month there were no less than eight players in the treatment room, including Cech, Finnan, Reid and Skalidis. But none of this seemed to affect the team as they reeled off five straight victories in the league. This run included a crucial 3-0 win at home to defending champions Liverpool, a game that Brig looked back on as a key moment of the season. He felt that as a result his players started to genuinely believe his message that they could compete with the best in the country and were genuine title challengers. With a six-point lead over Leeds and holding a game in hand, Derby were certainly in a strong position in the Premiership at the turn of the year. They also had further success in the League Cup – a 3-0 defeat of Luton taking them to the Semi Finals. Their only blip was a second consecutive defeat in the Champions League as they lost 2-0 at Dormund. Brig received the December Manager of the Month award in recognition of his team’s performance.

In early January Derby keeper Chris Kirkland accepted a contract offer from Middlesbrough and left the club. Brig responded swiftly, bringing in the experienced Andy Marshall from Portsmouth to provide cover. Their first action of the month was in the FA Cup and with Cech still out, the new goalie went straight into the team for the 2-0 win at West Ham. When league action recommenced most of the team’s key players were back from injury. Skalidis celebrated by scoring all three goals in the defeat of Aston Villa and then getting the only goal of the game at Middlesbrough and again at home to Sheffield Wednesday. Calhoun was delighted with his team’s form – not only were they unbeaten in 20 league matches but they had just completed a run of 10 consecutive clean sheets in all competitions. They weren’t always blowing the opposition away but Brig felt that the team’s ability to grind out wins was the sign of potential title winners. Another hat trick for Skalidis on the 3-1 defeat of Cardiff took the Greek striker to 28 goals in 20 games, an extraordinary strike rate. By coincidence, they faced the same opponents in the FA Cup, Skalidis on target again with two goals in the 3-0 win. In their last game of the month they were defeated 1-0 at Tottenham in the first leg of the League Cup Semi Final, their first defeat since early December.

It was no great surprise when both Calhoun and Skalidis featured in the monthly rewards after an outstanding January. With his team now 12 points clear at the top of the table, Brig felt that he had a great chance of achieving his ambition of lifting the Premiership title. But faint doubts began to surface when their first two games in February both ended in draws. Then in the showdown at nearest rivals Leeds things looked grim when Kevin Nolan was red-carded and Derby fell behind from the penalty spot. But Calhoun’s team showed great character to fight back and the ten-men powered to a magnificent 3-1 win. The manager’s outburst about the standard of refereeing earned him a £26,000 fine and a two-match touchline ban. With all of their cup commitments, the team played just one further league game that month and a 2-1 defeat at home to Everton ended their 25-game unbeaten run in the league. With Nolan suspended, Yakubu was deputising and when he received his second yellow card it was a turning point in the match. Brig’s views on the standard of refereeing, aired freely after the game, landed him with a further fin and extended his ban. At around this time Brig boosted his midfield with the acquisition of Paraguayan international Diego Gavilan from Walsall for £1M. The second string saw a fair amount of action too and they put in some decent performances. They beat the mighty Inter 1-0 at home in the Champions League and suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat in the reverse fixture. They then drew 2-2 at Man United in the FA Cup before triumphing 2-0 in the replay. They also found time to overturn the one-goal deficit against Tottenham in the League Cup with a 2-0 win to reach the final. With their main challengers faltering, Calhoun’s side kept a decent lead in the Premiership, despite dropping points.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************ English Premier Division - Sunday 1st March 2009********************************************** ***********************************************Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st DERBY 28 11 3 1 30 7 10 2 1 26 9 68 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Arsenal 28 11 3 1 29 13 7 2 4 22 16 59 3rd Liverpool 29 11 3 0 29 5 6 3 6 10 13 57 4th Leeds 29 12 2 1 31 9 5 3 6 17 16 56 5th Man Utd 28 8 5 1 19 5 7 4 3 27 18 54</pre>

shannon2007

You're in a similiar position to I was, just about shaken Arsenal off but no room to relax yet. Fingers crossed though

retired_amyslack

Thanks PM – as you’ll see we managed to hold them off.

Season 8 (2008/2009) Continued

March was a pivotal month in the history of Derby County Football Club – riding high in the Premiership they were also still active in three other competitions. They were already in the League Cup final and had reached the Quarter Finals of the FA Cup. Despite losing three of their four Champions League group games they still had an outside chance of progressing to the knockout stages. Up to that point Calhoun had given the league title his top priority, fielding many second choice players for the other games. But as the season approached its climax he made a change in policy and decided to put out his best available eleven for each game. With the possibility of a historic double, treble or even quadruple, the manager felt the hand of fate on his shoulder. His policy produced some interesting results. A 3-1 win at Feyenoord kept their Champions League hopes alive and then a gritty 1-0 defeat of Dortmund made them a reality as they finished as group runners-up and would face Barcelona in the Quarter Finals. A comfortable 3-0 win at QPR took Calhoun’s team into the FA Cup Semi Final. They then faced Arsenal twice in a week. In their League encounter they fell behind when former Derby player Kalle Sone scored but Agahowa found an equaliser and the 1-1 draw at least did not allow their nearest rivals to close the gap. Then came the League Cup Final with Skalidis scoring a brilliant hat trick to secure Derby their first domestic trophy.

A packed April fixture list saw Derby’s playing resources stretched to the limit as they continued their search for silverware. Four league matches were played and all four ended in victory. Skailidis continued to bang in the goals and by the end of the month he had bagged 47 in all competitions. When Calhoun was forced to rest his first choice them the ever-dependable Stephen McPhee stepped into the breach. The Scot was also in great form and had found the net 20 times in 25 appearances. It was also a momentous month in Europe as Derby made their way to the Semi Finals of the Champions League. They paved the way with a stunning 4-0 win in their home tie against Barcelona with Skalidis scoring twice. The return leg was not without incident as Derby conceded an early goal and also had Agahowa sent off after his second booking. But McPhee clamed the nerves with a goal just after half time and although the Spaniards went on to win 2-1 on the night, Brig’s boys went through comfortably on aggregate. They met Club Brugge in the Semi and once again performed brilliantly at home, winning 3-0 in their lat game of the month. On the same evening they were crowned Premier League champions after both Liverpool and Arsenal failed to win their midweek league fixtures so it was quite a night at Pride Park. Their final achievement was a 2-0 defeat of Portsmouth to book their place in the FA Cup Final against Sunderland. Once again Calhoun and Skalidis were both recognised in the monthly awards as the plaudits rolled in for a brilliant Derby side.

With two out of four competitions under their belt, Calhoun’s team faced a packed fixture list in May but the manager was comforted by the fact that the league title was already sewn up so he could afford to pace his players for the big cup games. Being forced to play all of their games in hand meant that Derby had a punishing schedule of four league matches in just seven days, a situation that Calhoun described as “bureaucratic nonsense”. But nonetheless his team finished with three wins and a draw to set a new points total for the Premiership. The manager took the opportunity to blood some of his promising youngsters with good results. James Campbell, Jon Preston and Lee Andrews all did well, and at just 17 years of age the latter in particular looked like a real prospect for the future. They started the month with a trip to Brugge for the second leg of the Champions League Semi Final and a 1-0 win took them comfortably through to the final. In the FA Cup Final goals from Agahowa and Skalidis sealed an exciting 2-1 defeat of Sunderland to complete a magnificent domestic treble. The climax of the season was the Champions League Final against Inter and as so often happens in such critical games it wasn’t the most thrilling of matches. Brig was a little disappointed in his team’s performance as he felt that they froze to some extent and the Italians won a tight contest 1-0, denying the manager an unprecedented collection of trophies in a single season. England did have success in Europe however, with Chelsea taking the UEFA Cup with a 1-0 defeat of Milan.

Despite falling at the final hurdle, it was still a magnificent achievement by Calhoun and his team and the manager was rewarded with the Premiership Manager of the Year award. Anastasios Skalidis scored 53 goals in all competitions, was the Premiership’s leading scorer and was the Fans Player of the Year. Jeff Whitley was voted N. Ireland Player of the Year and he remained an able deputy for Kristian Ravneng. There were many successes on the pitch – Skalidis was of course outstanding but Stephen McPhee also made a huge contribution, scoring 24 goals from 29 starts. Bridge, Finnan, Ravneng, Nolan and Cech were all worthy of note as well and Brig felt that he had a very good squad of players at his disposal. Petr Cech was voted European Goalkeeper of the Year but amazingly Skalidis was overlooked on the awards front.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************ English Premier Division - Friday 22nd May 2009********************************************** ***********************************************Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C DERBY 38 14 4 1 36 8 15 3 1 40 13 94 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Arsenal 38 12 6 1 34 17 11 3 5 32 22 78 3rd Man Utd 38 13 5 1 33 6 9 4 6 31 26 75 4th Liverpool 38 13 5 1 36 10 8 3 8 19 18 71 5th Leeds 38 13 3 3 36 15 8 4 7 24 22 70 6th Sunderland 38 15 2 2 45 11 5 4 10 22 31 66 7th Blackburn 38 14 2 3 37 16 5 5 9 22 30 64 8th Man City 38 12 5 2 22 9 5 5 9 17 20 61 9th Chelsea 38 11 3 5 36 19 6 4 9 21 31 58 10th Middlesbrough 38 10 6 3 34 18 3 5 11 16 34 50 11th Portsmouth 38 9 3 7 26 20 4 7 8 20 32 49 12th Aston Villa 38 9 5 5 33 22 3 7 9 18 28 48 13th Newcastle 38 7 7 5 23 21 4 6 9 11 25 46 14th Fulham 38 9 1 9 23 20 4 3 12 13 32 43 15th Everton 38 4 5 10 18 34 4 4 11 16 32 33 16th Huddersfield 38 4 4 11 18 30 5 2 12 17 40 33 17th Charlton 38 2 5 12 19 42 6 3 10 22 30 32 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18th R W.B.A. 38 6 6 7 23 22 0 6 13 15 34 30 19th R Sheff Wed 38 6 4 9 24 34 1 3 15 9 42 28 20th R Cardiff 38 5 3 11 16 24 2 3 14 13 30 27</pre>

retired_amyslack

Season 9 (2009/2010)

There were a few changes to the Derby squad during the summer. Centre back Anestis Anastasiadis accepted a contract offer from Arsenal and left the club. In addition midfielder Steve Thomson was deemed surplus to requirements and he moved to Charlton for £1.3M. The final departure was Jeff Whitley after contract negotiations ground to a halt and he left to pursue other options. This was balanced by the arrival of the veteran Taribo West on a free transfer together with experienced Italian central defender Cesare Natali who joined from Atalanta for £875K. But the biggest acquisition was the arrival of Argentinean international Julio Arca who signed from Sunderland for a club-record £10.75M.

As the season got underway keeper Cech was absent, representing his country at the Confederations Cup and the experienced Andy Marshall took advantage with some good performances. New signing Arca was also unavailable after taking a knock in pre-season training. There were long-tern injury problems for Steve Finnan who suffered a broken ankle in their opening league match and Francis Jeffers who tore a groin muscle whilst playing for the reserves. Despite that they made a reasonable start to the season, beating Arsenal to win the Charity Shield before winning at Sunderland in the league opener. Then Skalidis scored a hat trick in the home game against the Gunners before Calhoun’s team suffered a poor 2-0 defeat at early league leaders Fulham.

September was a busy and highly successful month for the club with a 100% record in the six games that they played, during which they scored 15 goals and conceded only two. They won all three of their Champions League group games, beating Rapid Vienna, FC Zurich and Feyenoord and Skalidis scored hat tricks in two of the three games. They also won the three games that they played in the Premiership, ending the month on top of the table with both Calhoun and Skalidis featuring in the monthly awards. Despite this success on the pitch there was a growing tension between the manager and some of his players. There were a few in the dressing room that resented what they saw as his harsh methods of discipline, arguing that as responsible professionals they should be given more respect. Calhoun paid little heed to their complaints, taking the attitude that if they didn’t like playing for England’s most successful team then they could sod off and go elsewhere.

October was a relatively quiet month with Derby having two weekends off because of World Cup qualifiers and FA Cup games, although most of their first team squad were in action for their countries. But nonetheless they still played half a dozen games, with four of them squeezed into the final ten days of the month. Another flawless month on the pitch saw Calhoun’s team win all four of their league games to establish a 6-point lead over chasing Sunderland. They also secured their place in the second group stage of the Champions League with two further wins, Skalidis scoring all four goals in the game at home to Rapid Vienna. Having scored 23 goals in 16 games he was once again lauded as player of the month with his manager gaining the 31st award of his career so far.

In contract to his approach in the previous season when he often rested his key players between league matches, Calhoun made a conscious decision not to make such drastic changes in personnel this campaign. Having achieved his burning ambition of winning the Premiership he felt that he could afford to take a more balanced view this season and he introduced a policy of only changing the team around when forced to because of injuries, fatigue or loss of form. His approach did not seem to be reducing his team’s competitiveness as they went through November with just a single defeat, although the 1-0 loss at home to Liverpool did allow their nearest rivals to stay in touch in the league. Leeds, Tottenham and Chelsea were all defeated in the Premiership and Millwall were dumped out of the League Cup. They completed their first phase of Champions League games with a 4-1 win at FC Zurich to keep their 100% record in the group. They got off to a fantastic start in the next round of group matches with a superb 5-0 win at home to Milan. By this time they were playing without goal machine Skalidis who suffered a bad injury in the win over Leeds and would be out for at least two months. But Stephen McPhee stepped in, scoring twice against the Italians. Despite the success on the pitch there continued to be a deal of unrest amongst the players. Finnish midfielder Kristoffer Wekstrom, consigned to the reserves at the start of the season, made a £4.3M move to Rangers and Spanish international Gerard, a key figure in midfield, was placed on the transfer list at his own request.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************ English Premier Division - Monday 30th November 2009********************************************** ***********************************************Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st DERBY 14 6 0 1 15 3 6 0 1 12 3 36 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Liverpool 12 4 1 0 11 3 4 1 2 6 5 26 3rd Fulham 13 6 0 1 14 6 2 1 3 5 6 25 4th Sunderland 13 4 2 1 9 6 3 2 1 8 7 25 5th Man Utd 12 4 1 1 11 6 3 1 2 7 4 23 6th Leeds 14 4 2 2 9 7 2 3 1 9 8 23</pre>

retired_amyslack

Season 9 (2009/2010) Continued

The Derby bandwagon showed no signs of being derailed during December as they profited from a busy month in the league by winning all five of their Premiership matches. This included a terrific 5-1 demolition of Sunderland at the end of the month, a team that were their nearest title challengers at that point. They kept their fine European form intact with a very good 2-0 win at Real Madrid but made an early exit from the League Cup, losing 2-1 at Fulham after extra time. Spanish midfielder Gerard was snapped up by Valencia with £4M in compensation being paid, all of which and more went on the purchase of 27-year-old Scotsman Stephen Pearson from Motherwell. Now holding a commanding 12-point lead over Newcastle, Calhoun’s side were well on track to retain their Premiership title and yet all was not will within the club. The unrest amongst the players had transmitted itself to the boardroom and Chairman Tommy Nolan was seriously concerned about the situation.

January saw Calhoun’s team continue their march towards further trophies. They gained emphatic FA Cup wins over Notts County and Stoke, winning 5-0 and 4-0 respectively. They did suffer their 3rd league defeat of the season when they lost 2-1 at Everton and were held to a 1-1 draw at Fulham but their 15-point lead over Newcastle still looked pretty secure. But it seemed that the more success the team had on the pitch, the more the players resented their manager’s authoritarian approach. He certainly kept his players on a very short leash and had no time for what he saw as the media obsession with “image”, refusing to allow his players to enter into any external sponsorship deals. They in turn felt that their manager should treat them with more respect and stop interfering in their off-field activities.

Derby continued to make progress in February and despite drawing two of their four league matches, they still maintained a healthy lead over the chasing pack. They moved smoothly into the FA Cup Quarter Finals with a 3-0 win at West Brom. In the Champions League they were held 2-2 at Club Brugge but recorded an important 1-0 win in the return fixture at home and required just one point from their remaining two group games to progress. But Calhoun’s relationship with some of his playing staff showed no signs of improving. Centre back Claudio Terzi was dropped to the reserves after his lacklustre approach in training. Forward Lucas Cornwall had a private meeting with the manager to complain about his lack of first team opportunities – this lead to a move to Walsall for a nominal fee. Reserve striker Mark Fox went public with his concerns and was immediately transfer listed – the phrase “rotting in the reserves” did not sit well with his manager. The signing of midfielder Scott Parker from Newcastle for £10M gave a clear signal to his squad – you may not be happy playing for Derby County but there are plenty of other players out there who would jump at the opportunity.

During March there were signs that Derby were beginning to falter slightly. They suffered a 1-0 defeat at Man United in the league and then lost both of their remaining Champions League games against Inter and Real Madrid. Fortunately other results in their group meant that they held on to second place and qualified for the Quarter Finals anyway. They recovered somewhat to bear QPR in the FA Cup Quarter Final and then had a decent win over Chelsea in the Premiership. Just before the close of the transfer window, the experienced former Liverpool man Jamie Carragher joined from Celtic to provide further cover at the back.

The slight drop in form of the previous month proved to be a temporary blip as Calhoun’s team stormed through April, retaining their Premiership title with three league wins, the title being clinched with a 4-0 demolition of Aston Villa. They also booked their place in the FA Cup Final when they beat Newcastle 3-1 in the Semi and progressed to the last four in the Champions League after a comfortable 4-2 aggregate defeat of Feyenoord. Calhoun’s team now stood just four games away from a possible treble and were widely recognised as one of the top outfits in Europe. But still there was disharmony in the squad. Goran Pandev was agitating for a move, citing his failure to settle in the area as the main factor. Midfielder Ishmail Yakuba had several run-ins with his manager and he was made available for transfer and moved to the reserves. Derby Chairman Tommy Nolan was becoming increasingly concerned about the friction between players and manager and his relationship with his manger was starting to deteriorate.

retired_amyslack

Season 9 (2009/2010) Continued

It was perhaps just as well that the Premiership title had been secured because in May Derby’s league for collapsed. They lost to Portsmouth, Charlton and Man City and their only win came against Leeds. But in their defence they had to play nine games in the month, a consequence of their success but a situation that Calhoun described as “ a nonsense – I see no reason why we should be forced to play so many games at the end of a punishing season”. With one leg of the treble in the bag his team faced Blackburn in the FA Cup Final and ran out fairly comfortable 2-0 winners. Their Champions League Semi Final against FC Bayern produced one of the all-time classics. In the home leg they fell two goals behind to a rampant Bayern inside the first 30 minutes and Calhoun could see his dream of a treble vanishing before his eyes. But just before half time the visitors had their keeper red-carded when he brought down Marco Ferreira in the area. Skalidis converted the resulting penalty to put his side back in the game. The Greek scored again ten minutes after the restart and Julio Arca completed the recovery for a dramatic 3-2 win. The second leg would prove to be equally absorbing. Once again Bayern started brightly and by the break they were 2-0 ahead on the night and leading on aggregate. But Calhoun’s team kept coming forward and two goals in the last 15 minutes from Tobros and Agahowa tied the score and secured a 5-4 overall win.

The Champions League final against Barcelona was on a par with the Man United/Bayern match of 1999, such was the remarkable conclusion. Derby looked seriously out of sorts (Calhoun later blamed it on exhaustion after a mammoth season) and with 20 minutes remaining they faced a two-goal deficit. But Barca had reckoned without the Greek God Skalidis – the striker scored twice in the last minute of normal time to take the game into extra time. Sadly the Derby miracle did not quite materialise as Patrick Vieira scored a golden goal in the first period to win his team the trophy.

Despite falling at the final hurdle in such heartbreaking circumstances, it was still a wonderful season for Derby County Football Club and for Brig Calhoun. He had taken his team to the pinnacle of success and built a squad of players that were respected and coveted throughout Europe – and all this in less than 7 years in charge. On the playing front there had been some fantastic performances this season. Their strikers were peerless - Skalidis scored 46 goals in 36 starts, McPhee got 26 in 27. In midfield Parker was key after his arrival – Calhoun had been unable to register him for the Champions League but was sure that his team would have won if Parker had played. Bridge and Ravneng were outstanding wingbacks and Lee Andrews, just turned 18, could cover for either of them and looked like being even better. The squad was packed with internationals – ten of his players were off representing their countries in the 2010 World Cup.

But there were negatives – the attitude of some senior players was a big issue for Brig, as was what he saw as a lack of support from his Chairman. In tending to side with the players, Tommy Nolan alienated his manager in a way that was to have dire consequences for his club.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************ English Premier Division - Wednesday 26th May 2010********************************************** ***********************************************Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C DERBY 38 15 2 2 48 12 12 2 5 36 17 85 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Liverpool 38 10 8 1 39 14 9 6 4 20 18 71 3rd Man Utd 38 14 3 2 31 12 8 2 9 23 22 71 4th Newcastle 38 15 1 3 34 17 5 9 5 20 19 70 5th Leeds 38 12 5 2 25 10 7 6 6 26 29 68 6th Sunderland 38 14 3 2 36 11 5 5 9 18 27 65 7th Arsenal 38 12 4 3 34 16 6 5 8 20 29 63 8th Man City 38 11 6 2 27 9 4 7 8 16 22 58 9th Fulham 38 12 3 4 36 22 4 5 10 13 24 56 10th Blackburn 38 9 7 3 18 8 2 8 9 20 28 48 11th Chelsea 38 6 8 5 15 17 6 2 11 27 37 46 12th Crystal Palace 38 6 7 6 24 34 3 10 6 18 19 44 13th Stoke 38 7 6 6 19 16 3 6 10 14 27 42 14th Tottenham 38 7 5 7 24 27 4 4 11 17 28 42 15th Middlesbrough 38 5 7 7 17 23 5 3 11 16 27 40 16th Portsmouth 38 5 10 4 20 20 2 7 10 20 37 38 17th Aston Villa 38 6 4 9 23 25 2 6 11 12 33 34 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18th R Everton 38 5 7 7 26 22 2 5 12 17 34 33 19th R Huddersfield 38 5 6 8 26 31 1 6 12 14 36 30 20th R Charlton 38 3 5 11 19 34 4 3 12 13 28 29</pre>

retired_amyslack

Season 10 (2010/2011)

As the summer of 2010 progressed things were coming to a head between Calhoun and his Chairman. The Board were increasingly concerned about Brig’s determined effort to control his players. They saw Yakuba, Hughes and Pandev all sold when they refused to knuckle down to the manager’s regime. Alarm bells really started ringing when Steve Finnan, Marco Ferreira and Andy Marshall all refused to renew their contracts. In an acrimonious meeting with the Board at the end of June, Calhoun issued a “back me or sack me” ultimatum. When the Board refused to provide their unequivocal support Brig Calhoun shocked the world of football when he resigned as manager of Derby County.

The shock waves reverberated around the club – the supporters were stunned, the players delighted, the media astounded. The papers could not believe that Brig had walked away from a club that he had taken to the pinnacle of success – winners of two Premiership titles, two FA Cups, the League Cup, the UEFA Cup and the European Super Cup, as well as two consecutive appearances in the Champions League Final. The consensus was that he had could no longer handle life at the top level and had bowed to player pressure.

But Brig was not to be out of the game for very long. Even as he was preparing to take his family on a summer break he was contacted by Dick Knight, the Chairman of Brighton and Hove Albion. Knight had an intriguing proposition - having lost long-term manager Steve Coppell to Stockport, the Second Division outfit were in the middle of a search for a new manager and Brig was asked to take charge of the hunt. Furthermore Knight requested that he take an advisory role with the club to ease the new man into the club. Brig was intrigued by the offer and agreed to meet the Chairman. Brighton had slipped form the First Division in 2006 and had been struggling to get back there ever since, just missing out in the playoffs two seasons earlier. After spending a day at the club, meeting various staff members and undertaking a short review of the playing squad Brig made Knight an offer of his own. “Call off the manager search. I like what I’ve seen and I want to take over.” Stunned by the news, Knight was quick to agree and in July 2010 Brig Calhoun was instated as the new manager of Brighton.

It was a move that few inside or outside the game understood. But Brig’s reasons were simple – after the difficulties he had with the players at Derby he wanted to get back to basics, to work with raw players that he could develop and mould into his own image. And so the Calhoun era began for Brighton.

Brig inherited a 41-man playing roster, the club had money in the bank and there were transfer funds available. But he didn’t rush into making any changes – he wanted to see what he had at his disposal already before dipping into the transfer market. His first opportunity came during a pre-arranged pre-season tour of Italy. Dragging his family along, Calhoun treated the week as both an opportunity to assess his players and a way to give his wife and children a week in the sun.

At the end of the three-match mini-tour Calhoun was quite pleased with what he had seen. Playing lower-league opposition they had won two games and drawn the other but it wasn’t the results that were of interest. Brig saw signs that he could coax some decent performances out of his existing squad, especially after he had worked with them on their formation and tactics. The main weakness that he saw was a lack of firepower up front and his first priority would be to get some strikers on board. Before the start of the season he had agreed deals with the much-travelled Isaiah Rankin and the prolific St. Johnstone marksman Peter MacDonald, both on free transfers.

retired_jkat116

Enjoying this a lot, KUTGW fella :thup:

retired_amyslack

Thank you cantona.

Season 10 (2010/2011) Continued

Competitive action got underway in mid-August and Brig’s team played five times before the end of the month. They won their first three league games but lost their final game at home to Wigan at the end of the month. They were also dumped out of the League Cup at the first hurdle, losing 3-1 at Bradford. The manager’s initial impression of his players was mixed – keeper Kiriakos Stamatopoulos looked very capable, Simon Bryant looked good in the holding midfield role and David Theobald was a solid centre back. The experienced Danny Higinbotham worked well on the left of defence, new boys Rankin and MacDonald had both got amongst the goals and forward Wayne Purser looked like he could operate as a withdrawn striker. Those apart, no one else particularly impressed. Calhoun was struck by how many defensive-minded midfielders he had and in his mind he began to draw up a shortlist of positions to improve. His shopping list included another centre back and perhaps a couple of creative midfielders.

Calhoun addressed some of his short-term playing requirements by bringing in two players on loan deals - centre back Tony Sharpe from Birmingham and attacking midfielder David Evans from Luton. Sharpe came straight into the starting eleven and performed impressively. Brighton completed their September league programme unbeaten with four wins and a draw and finished the month is second place in the table, a point behind Hull. The team was starting to respond to Calhoun’s methods and he was particularly pleased with the 3-2 win at Colchester. Two goals behind at half time, a Calhoun blast during the break turned things around to such an extent that they ended up with a 3-2 victory. It was also very satisfying for the new man when his team beat Steve Coppell’s Stockport 1-0 in their last game of the month. Midfield stopper Bryant missed most of the month through injury but Dean Whitehead made such an impact as his replacement that he was voted Player of the Month. Whitehead was one of several players who had been marginalised under the previous regime but who now featured in the first team squad, Stamatopoulos being another. Both players had been transfer listed at their own request and both now reversed those decisions and seemed much more settled.

October saw Calhoun’s team really hit their stride as they won six of their seven league matches, drawing their final game of the month at home to Coventry. The run included an excellent 3-1 win at leaders Hull and Brighton had now established a narrow lead at the top of the table. Calhoun was the runaway winner of the managerial award for the month and their run of 12 games unbeaten this season established a new club record. Wayne Purser had a stellar month in his advanced midfield role, contributing four goals and looking increasingly comfortable in that position. MacDonald was also a regular goalscorer and Rankin never failed to contribute when called upon. Nominally a defender, Scotsman David Clarke was really shining in his position in midfield, so much so that Brig received an offer of over £1M from Bristol City. After much consideration he turned it down even though the club could do with the money. The running costs were outstripping the income significantly and his early season transfer funds had dried up. This came home to bite him when both of his loan signings were sold off and he couldn’t bid for either of them. Evans made a move to Millwall and Sharpe, whose presence in defence would definitely be missed, went to West Ham.

November was an eventful month for Brighton as there were several changes in the playing squad. Calhoun replaced the departed Sharpe with another loan signing, bringing in centre back Christopher Edwards from Motherwell. However this proved to be a very shot-lived deal as having played three games for his new club he was promptly sold to Ipswich. At the same time Brig received some very tempting offers for some of his players and took the decision to cash in on some of them to boost the club’s finances. So centre half David Theobald went to Sheffield Wednesday for £850K and midfielder Chris McGroarty moved to Charlton for £850K. His toughest choice came when he received bids for influential player David Clarke but he decided that £1.2M was too good to turn down and the player went off to Aston Villa. All three players were sold for at least double their theoretical valuations so it was a good piece of business. But then again all three were in his first choice eleven so he would have to hope that his decision wouldn’t backfire on him. Two further loan deals were agreed to bolster the centre of defence with Neil Turner coming in from Arsenal and Alexandros Theodorou from Aston Villa. Results on the pitch didn’t seem to be badly affected with two draws and a win in the league and a 3-1 defeat of Barnsley in the FA Cup. They still held first place in the table and, along with Hull, were beginning to pull clear of the chasing pack.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************ English Second Division - Tuesday 30th November 2010********************************************** ***********************************************Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st BRIGHTON 19 6 2 1 18 6 8 2 0 25 8 46 2nd Hull 19 8 0 1 21 8 6 4 0 19 11 46 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Boston Utd 19 7 1 2 20 13 5 1 3 12 10 38 4th Stockport 19 6 2 1 18 5 4 3 3 13 11 35 5th Bristol Rovers 19 8 0 2 27 10 2 4 3 9 10 34 6th Wycombe 19 7 0 2 19 8 3 4 3 12 13 34</pre>