Blood and thunder derby

It’s fitting that the Football League, the world’s original league football competition, recommenced after the international break with a blood and thunder derby in a season that is already providing plenty of discussion points.

That they have to take a break for internationals is indicative of the quality of players plying their trade in England’s second tier, proving that, after its foundation in 1888 after Aston Villa’s William McGregor wrote to other teams to suggest a formulated season, it goes from strength-to-strength.

The current league leaders, Nottingham Forest, locked horns with a team that many believe should have been promoted last season, arch-rivals, Derby County.

There are a number of leading figures that have crossed the divide and featured for both teams, including the Ram’s current manager, Steve McClaren who is proving himself after a turbulent few months in charge of Forest.

Of course the most famous of all was Brian Clough and the 10th anniversary of his death was marked by both sets of fans by a round of applause in the 10th minute.
Thereafter, the unusual serenity and mutual respect between both sets of fans was raucously cast aside.

Derby have tweaked their side over the summer, building on the solid foundations set last season after McClaren took charge, while Forest have undergone a radical overhaul under their iconic manager, Stuart ‘Psycho’ Pearce.

This fixture has produced plenty of animosity in recent seasons to the point when even the managers have fought on the touchline. With tensions running high a red card was likely to be produced and Derby were, perhaps, fortunate that they had to wait until the 86th minute before their numbers were reduced, the sixth time in the last eight matches that the referee has had cause to use the ultimate sanction.

Jake Buxton’s rush of blood came at a poor time with Derby in the ascendency, Ryan Shotton having equalised after Britt Assombalonga’s excellent strike eight minutes earlier. Earlier, man-of-the-match, Mikail Antonio, had tormented Shotton, creating pressure for Forest without any clear-cut opportunities. Derby’s goal provided additional energy while Nottingham-born Leon Best came close on another couple of occasions having been brought on after Forest’s opener.

With fans united in their demonstration of respect for Clough a draw, in their 94th meeting, was a fitting result, although it was Derby who retained the Brian Clough trophy, founded in 2007, following their 5-0 demolition of Forest in the last fixture.

While Forest lead the Championship the form team are currently Norwich City who moved to second after systematically dissecting (after slipping to a 2-0 deficit) another side relegated last season from the Premier league, Cardiff City. An opening day loss to Wolves has been quickly forgotten as Norwich have remained unbeaten since, a run which includes an away victory over local rivals, Ipswich Town.

Behind them is a Wolves team reaping the reward of consistency under the care of the manager that guided them out of the First Division last season, Kenny Jackett, who received the Manager of the Month Award despite not having the best record for the month.

This justifiably rewarded the quality of the competition they have overcome, defeating each of the sides relegated from the Premiership in an opening run that must have looked formidable in pre-season.

In fact, Wolves could have gone top of the table this weekend if they had not suffered a blip in providing beleaguered Blackpool their first point of the season.

This seamless transition has been achieved with virtually the same young team that won promotion, a side that famously excluded many of their highly-paid stars. Having finally managed to remove them from the wage bill, Jackett has built the least-porous defence in the division.

Another surprise package hoping to emulate Burnley’s success last season is Charlton who rose to fifth after defeating fourth-placed Watford in the weekend’s other top match. 

Maintaining a 100 per cent home record Charlton Athletic are the only other team in addition to Forest to remain undefeated.
 
They have achieved this thanks to the goals of Angolan hit-man, Igor Vetokele, who was voted as Player of the Month for August. The showdown against Watford was the first time he has failed to score although he did win the penalty that proved the difference between the two sides.

Milwall, under charismatic manager, Ian Holloway, and Bournemouth, have seen early-season promise subside in recent games and now sit mid-table.

At the other end of the table no-one is surprised to see Blackpool given the lack of players at their disposal in the early matches, although their first point at the weekend saw them slide off the bottom.

That place is now occupied by Fulham who have also managed only one point in their six matches. Benefitting from the same largest-ever parachute payments as the other relegated teams they raised eyebrows in spending £11 million (BD6.82 million) on the acquisition of Ross McCormack.

A fifth defeat in six outings, the latest at Reading not helped by the early sending off of another ex-Leeds forward, Matt Smith, led to the Fulham faithful calling for the dismissal of their increasingly unpopular German manager Felix Magath.

Another Championship behemoth drawing ridicule from opponents is Leeds United who, under the turbulent tenure of Italian owner, Massimo Cellino, have already changed their manager.

The ‘unripe watermelon’, David Hockaday, at least managed to outlast Brian Clough by 26 days before being sacked after 70 days in charge. Of course, the next appointment, whenever that is, may not be the last as Cellino famously appointed 36 different managers while in charge at Cagliari in his native Italy.

Leeds United’s former majority stakeholders GFH Capital, an investment firm and subsidiary of Bahrain’s Gulf Finance House, bought the club from Ken Bates in December 2012, and had its share of controversial headlines to deal with.