Dismal Derby, What a Wally and Sour Owners – Talk the Football League Column
- Sam Greasley-Machin
- Oct 3, 2019
- 4 min read
Derby’s Pride Park, credit WikiCommons (David Dixon )
The outright ridiculous situation at Derby has dominated news headlines within the Championship this past week while the situation surrounding Wally Downes FA suspension at Wimbledon is the news doing the rounds in the division below. Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson is still not over his club missing a trick in regards to the stadium sales at Reading, Derby and Sheffield Wednesday as his complaints to the league are dismissed and in more recent news the departure of Neil Harris at Millwall has certainly caused some shock, all of this and more in this weeks edition of the Talk the Football League weekly column.
Dismal Derby
The whole situation that has unfolded at Derby over the last week or so is nothing short of ridiculous and it couldn’t come at much of a worse time following their poor start to the campaign. How the events that ended up with their club captain Richard Keogh being injured following a serious traffic collision between Mason Bennett and Tom Lawrence while intoxicated is beyond absurd. In what was supposed to be a team-boding exercise to unite the side, in hope of better form, has done anything but and the fact it involves their captain is even worse.
With Keogh now out for 16 months due to an ACL and MCL injury it is a truly stupid situation to be in the Irish centre-half should have his captaincy permanently removed because no modern day captain should be seen boozing it up at the best of times, let alone when the football is bad His role is to be a leader to the whole squad on how to players should conduct themselves on and off the pitch, not the a prime example of what not to be. All the while encouraging younger players to do the same and allowing them to even break the law by driving while under the influence.
To make a PR disaster even worse the two drivers were allowed almost immediately back into the Rams line-up to face Barnsley despite one being under a criminal police investigation for driving while over the alcohol limit, that is of very poor taste from manager Phillip Cocu – although he insists they are not off the hook, that remains to be seen. Hardly inspiring to any of the other players let alone the fans.
Club statement: https://t.co/9nn5IHyNEy #AFCW — AFC Wimbledon (@AFCWimbledon) 25 September 2019
What a Wally
Wimbledon manager Wally Downes was suspended this week following the 58-year-old being charged by the FA as a result of bets placed on football matches. The League One gaffer is in breach of regulations in regards to betting on matches between 2013-2019.
The suspension comes at a difficult time for the London side who are winless this season and currently in the drop zone, so the club may have had an eye on replacing Wally regardless. The fact match betting is still on-going by managers in 2019 is crazy, there’s no need to risk a bit of extra money on the side at the expense of a job in which the additionl funds are minute to long term employment. It’s impossible to get away with and their are no excuses, nothing short of a long-term suspension from the FA would be just – the rules are clear.
Sour Owners
Steve Gibson, the owner of Middlesbrough, is quite clearly not happy with how Reading, Derby and Sheffield Wednesday pumped cash into their clubs via the sale of their stadiums to their owners, as mentioned in a previous column. Admittedly it is a shaded area and so the Boro owner complained to the league, an enquiry was made and concluded, as expected, that the clubs adhered to the rules as it doesn’t break any regulations and more importantly the EFL approved it themselves.
Gibson is now said to be suing the EFL, going by Derby’s statement, but quite frankly is clutching at straws. The entrepreneur seems like a child throwing toys out of the pram because he hasn’t managed to inject cash-flow in such a way. Middlesbrough have spent plenty in recent years and are now struggling slightly financially, but that is their own doing, now it’s time for other clubs to spend and Gibson doesn’t appear to like it. Well, get over it. There’s no chance he will be able to successfully sue an organisation over their own rules (that haven’t been broken).
EFL logo, credit:Wiki
Neil Harris’ unexpected departure
Millwall are currently managerless following the departure of Neil Harris. The London side haven’t set the world alight in the opening stages, but picked up 11 points in ten matches which is probably about right for them. The Lions currently sit 18th in the table, although the majority of their points came early on and results have began to decline.
However, Neil Harris has done a fantastic job at Millwall in recent years, perhaps even overachieving given the circumstances that saw them decline to League One. Harris looked to be building something at the New Den and is still a young manager at 42, it really seemed like he was going to be the man to take Millwall further up the division – but it is not to be. The former striker will no doubt have no trouble finding further managerial employment and leaves with the up most respect of the Millwall faithful.
Why not check out last weeks column here on the EFL talent lighting up the Championship this season, the sack race and the players and managers of the month for August. Don’t forget to follow Talk the Football LeagueTwitter to hear all the latest Football League news and join in on the discussions @TalktheFL.
By Sam Greasley-Machin
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