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Manic Mondays - An old head
Manic Mondays - An old head
Monday, 13th Aug 2007 18:14

So, how was your Premiership experience? I was surprised to see a game of football break out amongst the pomp and circumstance.

The biggest disappointment for me came as the teams ran out onto the pitch, or should I say walked sedately like royalty. I've always liked to guess who was really up for the game by the way they came out of the players' tunnel. If they broke into a short, pumping sprint across the pitch I'd know that individual would come haring out of the traps when the whistle blew, whereas the slower ones were either confident or just disinterested.

Then the players turned and showed their backs to three quarters of the stadium (you lucky lot in the West Stand will probably feel you deserve to see their faces given your season ticket prices) and shook hands with each other to demonstrate how fair and sporting all these Premiership fellows are. Although if they took that ethos out onto the pitch and stopped diving or appealing for free kicks they know aren't genuine (yes Mr. Gerrard you know who you are) then we'd all be a lot happier.

However it seems to have been forgotten by all the national media and followers of other top flight clubs that most of us Rams fans do possess Premiership experience of our own. Five years out of the footballing elite isn't so long in the bigger scheme of things.

It is often documented how important this Premiership experience is on the pitch, and it certainly showed on Saturday. Matt Oakley, a veteran of many Premiership campaigns with Southampton, delightfully planted an early opportunity into the back of the Pompey net, and Andy Todd, travelling like an harassed salesman late for an important meeting, threw himself at a perfectly placed cross to give Derby a deserved late equaliser.

It certainly showed that Billy was talking sense when he said the three year plan needed revising now that we had won promotion earlier than expected and that some of the younger players would need time to break through into the higher league. (Although I was reminded recently by a more experienced journalistic colleague that the late, great Brian Clough never put much faith in three year plans – he always said he only worked on a one week plan, just win the next match young man.)

The way that the Premier League is fabled by TV pundits, as though it was Hollywood and superior in so many ways to all of its rivals, does make this particular fan, complete with his Premiership experience, quite sick. Because at the end of the day, it's always about the football – always has been, always will be. Whatever bells and whistles and shiny new attachments they add to the beautiful game are, in the end, superfluous.

Football glories in its unpredictability, in the sublime skill of those providing the on-pitch entertainment and the passion and one-eyed nature of each supporter's loyalty to their club. All of these were in evidence in abundance on Saturday and it was a fantastic day. A day we had all been waiting 75 days for, ever since the glory of the play-off final.

But even after all this build up my dad turned to me after 10 minutes and said ‘I wish he'd blow that damned whistle and then we could all go home happy with three points on the board'. Now that's what I call Premiership experience.

Photo: Action Images



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