The Curious Case of Saul Deeney – Part 28

Here’s something you don’t see very often. Ramspace favourite ‘Saul Deeney’ and ‘World Class’ in the same sentence.

The Curious Case of Saul Deeney

Football is such now that the concept of the long serving player is petty much defunct. The Bosman rule and increasingly tighter budgets in all levels of football means that players will either move on for a better deal or get moved off the payroll long before many of them could even spell the word testimonial.

Derby County are no different and thus there is not one single player (academy graduates excluded) who has been here longer than our manager. However when you look at our long servers, you might be surprised to find Saul Deeney pretty much at the top of the list and about to start his 5^th (fifth!!) season at Pride Park.

Non-League Nigel – Part One Saul Deeney

It has been a long time since the Rams have signed players from non-league football. Malcolm Christie is the most obvious example in recent years although that was over a decade ago now. Before that we are looking at the likes of Phil Gee, Martin Taylor, Kevin Francis and Martyn Chalk. Nigel Clough spectacularly reversed this trend in the 2009/10 season with the triple signing of Saul Deeney, Jake Buxton and Ben Pringle.

Non-league players have been unfashionable for years but now, with the likes of Chris Smalling, Alex Baptiste and George Boyd all doing well, the stigma appears to be diminishing. Nigel Clough has taken some criticism for his non-league triple swoop so in this three part article, we take a look at the success, or otherwise, of the signings.