2007–08 Derby County F.C. season

Derby County

2007–08 season
Chairman	Peter Gadsby (until October) Adam Pearson (until January) Andrew Appleby
Manager	Billy Davies (until 26 November) Paul Jewell
Premier League	20th (relegated)
FA Cup	Fourth round
Carling Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Miller (4) All: Miller (6)
Highest home attendance	33,087 (vs. Reading, 11 May)
Lowest home attendance	30,048 (vs. Blackburn Rovers, 30 December 2007)
Average home attendance	32,432
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

The 2007–08 season was Derby County's 109th season in the Football League, their 65th season in the top division of English football and their first season in the top flight since the 2001-02 season. They were promoted after beating West Bromwich Albion 1-0 in the 2007 Championship play-off final.

After a very poor start to the season, manager Billy Davies left the club on 26 November to be replaced by former Wigan Athletic manager Paul Jewell. Jewell failed to turn things around for Derby and the club spent most of the season at the foot of the table, recording a club and top-flight record run of 32 league games without a win.

Derby were officially relegated on 29 March after their 2-2 home draw with fellow strugglers Fulham and Birmingham City's 3-1 victory over Manchester City left them 19 points away from safety with only 6 games left. This made Derby the first club in Premiership history to be relegated in March and only the second in post-war English Football league history.^[1] They also accumulated the league's lowest points total since the introduction of 3 points for a win.

Review

Despite producing a reasonably good performance in a 2-2 draw against Portsmouth on the opening day of the season, followed by a narrow 1-0 defeat away to Sven Goran Eriksson's Manchester City (the only two games which Derby spent outside the bottom three), Derby made an overall disastrous start to the Premier League season. Following their 6-0 defeat to Liverpool on 1 September, Irish bookmakers Paddy Power decided to pay out on the club to be relegated after just five games of the new season.^[2] The poor start saw fans accuse Gadsby and the board of failing to invest properly in players for the club. The repercussions of this saw Trevor Birch leave his position as Chief Executive on October 19^[3] and, on October 29, Gadsby stepped down as chairman to be replaced by former Hull City owner Adam Pearson.^[4] Meanwhile, results on the pitch weren't improving, with another poor performance away to Aston Villa followed up by a 5-0 home defeat against a West Ham United side ravaged by injuries. After taking just 6 points from 14 matches, with their only win being a 1-0 victory over future strugglers Newcastle United, Davies left by mutual consent after a meeting with Adam Pearson, taking nearly all of his newly assembled backroom staff with him.^[5] The move was seen to be more as a result of Davies publicly questioning Adam Pearson's chairmanship of the club in a post-match interview following a 2-0 home defeat by Chelsea than actual results (as Pearson publicly gave Davies his backing a few weeks previously), with some supporters suggesting Davies engineered his dismissal as he was unable to turn the club around. Within two days of Davies's dismissal, on November 26, Derby appointed highly-rated former Wigan manager Paul Jewell.^[6] He initially appointed Stan Ternent as his assistant but, when Ternant left to become Huddersfield Town manager in April, Jewell moved to appoint Chris Hutchings^[7] who had been his assistant at both Bradford City and Wigan.

Jewell was busy in the January transfer window, selling several players and bringing eight new players in, namely Everton defender Alan Stubbs,^[8] Argentine striker Emanuel Villa,^[9] ex-England international defender Danny Mills on loan from Manchester City, Blackburn midfielder Robbie Savage,^[10] French winger Laurent Robert, Tottenham's Egyptian midfielder Hossam Ghaly on loan,^[11] Genclerbirligi's Mile Sterjovski^[12] and Rangers goalkeeper Roy Carroll.^[13] Although performances improved, results didn't, with many at the club already accepting relegation by the end of December.

On January 28, it was announced that Derby had been purchased by American group General Sports and Entertainment, with Tom Glick taking the role of new President and Chief Executive.^[14] Derby's relegation was confirmed on March 29, the first time a club had been relegated from the division before April^[1] and sealing the club's first immediate relegation following promotion in its history. Poor results continued: a 6-0 home defeat at the hands of Aston Villa on 12 April is the biggest defeat at Pride Park and, by the season's end, Derby had recorded the Premier League's lowest points total^[15] and equalled Loughborough's 108-year Football League record of going through an entire season with only one win.

Playing squad

Squad at end of season

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Lewis Price 2 DF Marc Edworthy 4 DF James McEveley 5 DF Dean Leacock 6 DF Michael Johnson 7 MF David Jones 8 DF Alan Stubbs 9 FW Emanuel Villa 10 FW Robert Earnshaw 11 MF Craig Fagan 14 FW Kenny Miller 15 MF Eddie Lewis 16 MF Gary Teale 17 DF Andy Todd 19 DF Claude Davis 20 MF Lee Holmes 21 MF Mile Sterjovski 22 MF Benny Feilhaber

No. Position Player 23 DF Darren Moore 24 DF Tyrone Mears 25 MF Stephen Pearson 27 DF Danny Mills (on loan from Manchester City) 28 MF Giles Barnes 29 GK Ben Hinchliffe 30 DF Lewin Nyatanga 31 GK Roy Carroll 32 DF Miles Addison 33 DF Mitchell Hanson 34 MF Matthew Richards 35 DF Jason Beardsley 40 MF Hossam Ghaly (on loan from Tottenham) 41 FW Paris Simmons 44 MF Robbie Savage (captain) — MF Ruben Zadkovich

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 3 DF Mohammed Camara (on loan to Norwich City) 8 MF Matt Oakley (to Leicester City) 9 FW Steve Howard (to Leicester City) 12 FW Jon Macken (to Barnsley) 18 DF Andy Griffin (to Stoke City)

No. Position Player 20 MF Lee Holmes (on loan to Walsall) 21 DF Bob Malcolm (to Motherwell) 26 MF Laurent Robert (to Toronto) 30 DF Lewin Nyatanga (on loan to Barnsley) 43 GK Stephen Bywater

Starting 11

Only considering Premiership starts

• GK: #43, Stephen Bywater, 18
• RB: #24, Tyrone Mears, 22
• CB: #23, Darren Moore, 29
• CB: #5, Dean Leacock, 22
• LB: #4, Jay McEveley, 21
• RM: #25, Stephen Pearson, 23
• CM: #8, Matt Oakley, 19
• CM: #44, Robbie Savage, 16
• LM: #15, Eddie Lewis, 22
• CF: #14, Kenny Miller, 30
• CF: #11, Craig Fagan, 17

Transfers

In

• Danny Mills - on loan from Manchester City
• Laurent Robert - free transfer
• Robbie Savage - £1.5m, from Blackburn Rovers
• Emanuel Villa - £2m, from Tecos UAG
• Hossam Ghaly - on loan from Tottenham Hotspur
• Mile Sterjovski - undisclosed, from Genclerbirligi
• Roy Carroll - free transfer from Rangers
• Alan Stubbs - free transfer from Everton
• Ruben Zadkovich - free transfer from Sydney FC

Out

• Steve Howard - £1.25m, to Leicester City
• Matt Oakley - £500k, to Leicester City
• Andy Griffin - £300k, to Stoke City
• Jon Macken - £200k, to Barnsley
• Michael Johnson - loan to Notts County
• Bob Malcolm - free transfer, to Motherwell
• Laurent Robert - free transfer, to Toronto

Results

Premier League

Date	Opponents	Home/ Away	Result F - A	Scorers	Attendance	Position
11 August 2007	Portsmouth	H	2 - 2	Oakley [5], Todd [84]	32,176	7th
15 August 2007	Manchester City	A	0 - 1		43,620	14th
18 August 2007	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0 - 4		35,600	19th
25 August 2007	Birmingham City	H	1 - 2	Oakley [51]	31,117	20th
1 September 2007	Liverpool	A	0 - 6		44,076	20th
17 September 2007	Newcastle United	H	1 - 0	Miller [39]	33,016	19th
22 September 2007	Arsenal	A	0 - 5		60,122	19th
29 September 2007	Bolton Wanderers	H	1 - 1	Miller [19]	31,503	20th
7 October 2007	Reading	A	0 - 1		23,091	20th
20 October 2007	Fulham	A	0 - 0		22,576	19th
28 October 2007	Everton	H	0 - 2		33,048	20th
3 November 2007	Aston Villa	A	0 - 2		40,938	20th
10 November 2007	West Ham United	H	0 - 5		32,440	20th
24 November 2007	Chelsea	H	0 - 2		32,789	20th
1 December 2007	Sunderland	A	0 - 1		42,380	20th
8 December 2007	Manchester United	A	1 - 4	Howard [76]	75,725	20th
15 December 2007	Middlesbrough	H	0 - 1		32,676	20th
23 December 2007	Newcastle United	A	2 - 2	Barnes [6], Miller [52]	51,386	20th
26 December 2007	Liverpool	H	1 - 2	McEveley [67]	33,029	20th
30 December 2007	Blackburn Rovers	H	1 - 2	Oakley [27]	30,048	20th
2 January 2008	Bolton Wanderers	A	0 - 1		17,014	20th
12 January 2008	Wigan Athletic	H	0-1		31,658	20th
19 January 2008	Portsmouth	A	1-3	Nyatanga [4]	19,401	20th
30 January 2008	Manchester City	H	1-1	Sun Jihai (OG) [46]	31,368	20th
2 February 2008	Birmingham City	A	1-1	Villa [89]	25,924	20th
9 February 2008	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0-3		33,058	20th
23 February 2008	Wigan Athletic	A	0-2		20,176	20th
1 March 2008	Sunderland	H	0-0		33,058	20th
12 March 2008	Chelsea	A	1-6	Jones [72]	39,447	20th
15 March 2008	Manchester United	H	0-1		33,072	20th
22 March 2008	Middlesbrough	A	0-1		25,649	20th
29 March 2008	Fulham	H	2-2	Villa [10], [80]	33,034	20th [R]
6 April 2008	Everton	A	0-1		36,017	20th
12 April 2008	Aston Villa	H	0-6		33,036	20th
19 April 2008	West Ham United	A	1-2	Mears [65]	34,612	20th
28 April 2008	Arsenal	H	2-6	McEveley [31], Earnshaw [77]	33,003	20th
3 May 2008	Blackburn Rovers	A	1-3	Miller [18]	26,110	20th
11 May 2008	Reading	H	0-4		33,087	20th

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	Home/ Away	Result F - A	Scorers	Attendance
6 January 2008	Round 3	Sheffield Wednesday	H	2 - 2	Miller [38], Barnes [45]	20,612
22 January 2008	Round 3 Replay	Sheffield Wednesday	A	1-1 [aet, pen 4-2]	Miller [47]	18,020
26 January 2008	Round 4	Preston North End	H	1-4	Earnshaw [55]	17,344

Football League Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	Home/ Away	Result F - A	Scorers	Attendance
14 August 2007	Round 2	Blackpool	H	2 - 2 [aet, pen 6-7]	Camara [63], Fagan [101]	8,658

References

1. ^ ^{a b} McNulty, Phil (2008-03-29). "Derby 2-2 Fulham". BBC Sport. http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7309363.stm. Retrieved 2008-03-29. 
2. ^ "Paddy Power pays out on Derby relegation". Teamtalk.co.uk. 2007-08-31. http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,3015_2697302,00.html. Retrieved 2007-09-04. 
3. ^ Birch leaves Derby chief exec job BBC Sport Online
4. ^ New Derby chairman backs Davies BBC Sport Online
5. ^ Bily Davies leaves Derby by mutual consent Times online
6. ^ Paul Jewell appointed Derby manager Telegraph
7. ^ "Hutchings set to take Derby role". BBC Sport. 2008-04-24. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/derby_county/7364460.stm. Retrieved 2008-04-24. 
8. ^ "Stubbs Brings Steel". dcfc.co.uk. 2008-01-31. http://www.dcfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10270~1230028,00.html. 
9. ^ "Rams sign Argentine striker Villa". BBC Sport. 2008-01-04. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/derby_county/7166848.stm. 
10. ^ "Savage completes switch to Derby". BBC Sport. January 9, 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/blackburn_rovers/7166114.stm. 
11. ^ Jacob, Gary; Lansley, Peter; Szczepanik, Nick (2007-11-01). "Hossam Ghaly recruited for Derby’s rescue effort". London: Timesonline.co.uk. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article3168714.ece. 
12. ^ "Derby complete Sterjovski signing". BBC Sport. January 24, 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/derby_county/7180692.stm. 
13. ^ "Carroll Extends Derby Stay". BBC Sport. 22 February 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/derby_county/7258258.stm. 
14. ^ General Sports and Entertainment Takeover - BBC Sport
15. ^ "Dismal Derby take Cats' sad place in the record books". Sunderland Echo. 2008-03-29. http://www.sunderlandecho.com/sport/Dismal-Derby-take-Cats39-sad.4095005.jp. Retrieved 2008-03-29. 

External links

• Derby County FC official site
• Derby County FC on Soccerbase