The Madness of Derby County

Last updated : 01 August 2008 By Rams Mad Editor

Stephen Bywater
Stephen Bywater, is it madness to sell him for £200,000 when the Rams are so short on cover for the goalkeeping position?
Is it just me, or are there other Rams fans out there that think the world has gone mad, or at least the footballing World of Derby County?

I only ask because it seems madness to sell goalkeeper Stephen Bywater for a miserly £200,000 to Tottenham Hotspur (again benefiting from a knock down price for a Rams player), when we now have to look out for a loan goalkeeper because of an operation to the Rams number two keeper, Lewis Price.

With Price out for a few weeks following surgery on his cartilage the Rams must rely on Roy Carroll being, and staying fit if a replacement for Bywater isn't found in the next week.

Derby would have to field 18 year old Ross Atkins as substitute goalkeeper on the opening day of the Championship season if no alternative can be found for a loan spell. Atkins is a product of the Derby County Academy system with no previous first team experience.

Only at Derby County could this situation exist and why is Stephen Bywater so keen to move to Spurs? It is hardly a chance of a lifetime, with players in front of him in the pecking order and a season of bench warming in the offing.

Rumours of discontent in the Derby camp may have prompted Paul Jewell to have sold Bywater but shouldn't the club have come first? With Bywater contracted to Derby surely a season long loan with a recall option would have been a far better way for Bywater to leave and for Derby County to have covered the position?

Ah! Well with just over seven days till the Season starts I am sure there will be yet more surprises on the roller coaster that is Derby County Football club but when will we get one that the fans like and understand?...