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Who would have expected Hull City — tipped by many for relegation, myself included — to go to the Emirates Stadium and pull off one of the shocks of the season against the mighty Arsenal?
Every player on the Hull City side yesterday deserves a massive round of applause for the way they played in their shock 2-1 win over the Gunners.
This was no fluke. Far from it.

Hull defended valiantly, putting so many of their players behind the ball and breaking out on counterattacks whenever the opportunities arose. By flooding so much of their penalty area with defenders, Hull forced Arsenal to play wide. Hull was then easily able to defend the crosses coming in from the left and right wings and then knock the ball to safety.
Sure, this wasn’t a performance from Arsenal that we typically expect to see, but part of that has to be directed at Hull who prevented Wenger’s side from playing the type of game they thrive on. Theo Walcott for Arsenal had a poor game and looked very much like the player of last season instead of this season — spending too much time on the ball and being slow to react.
Going back to Hull, the players that generated such a herculean performance deserve to be mentioned, all 11 of them:
———————Myhill———————-
McShane——Turner—-Zayatte——Dawson
——————-Ashbee———————-
———–Marney———-Boateng———–
King————-Cousin————-Geovanni
The two goals scored by Hull were world-class. <a href="http:\/\/www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/1605226/" target="_blank">Geovanni’s 25 yard shot</a> into the top corner is one of the goals of the season thus far, while <a href="http:\/\/www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/1605229/" target="_blank">Daniel Cousin’s header</a> was wonderfully taken after a great leap.
While Hull’s goals were spectacular, the overall way they played against Arsenal wasn’t pretty by defending deep. But to play against Arsenal, this is exactly the type of performance that’s necessary that prevents the Gunners from playing their beautiful brand of football.
Incredibly, Hull City now sits in sixth place in the league with eleven points, which is exactly the same number of points that Derby County achieved during the entire 2007/2008 season. Hull have already beaten Arsenal, Newcastle and Fulham, and have drawn Everton and Blackburn.
Where Hull goes from here, no one knows. But what we have seen is a wonderful performance that just goes to show that if teams play with heart and confidence that even the lesser sides can overcame the giants. And this is exactly what the Premier League needs. Predictability? The Big Four? You’re having a laugh.
Be sure to read all of the <a href="http:\/\/epltalk.com/match-reports/" target="_blank">newspaper match reports for the Premier League games</a> throughout the season, as well as chatting live with football fans from around the world during today’s games in the <a href="http:\/\/epltalk.com/chat" target="_blank">EPL Talk Chat</a> — all courtesy of EPL Talk writer and host Johnathan Starling.

All Hail Hull City, Giant Killers Of The Premier League - World Soccer Talk

All Hail Hull City, Giant Killers Of The Premier League

<a href="https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/hull-qpr.jpg"></a><div><figure class="image"><a href="https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/hull-qpr.jpg"></a></figure></div>
Derby County have asked the Football League to look into QPR’s raising of ticket prices for traveling fans in this Saturdays upcoming Championship match. All clubs had agreed ticket prices before the start of the season, Derby fans were to be charged £30 for seating in the&nbsp;upper tier and £20 the lower tier in&nbsp;the upcoming match, but QPR changed that to £40 and £30 quid not counting concessions. Home ticket prices were also increased to a maximum of £50 to the least expensive of £20. Derby County was angered by this sudden price increase, as are the fans of both Derby and QPR. When Derby County received the tickets and it showed the price increase, Derby County refused to have thier fans pay the increase and had no issue with QPR’s appeal to the Football League to try and force Derby fans to pay the ticket increase. To show the price difference QPR’s match against Blackpool, Upper Tier seating is only £30 and Lower Tier seating £20.
The QPR Trust, QPR1st Supporters Trust has backed the Derby fans and said. “We fully sympathise with the response of the Board of Directors of Derby Football Club who are acting in the interest of their supporters and will be writing to both the Chairman of Derby and the Chairman of Derby’s Supporters Trust (as well as the Football League) making our feelings known.” The Football League has yet to make a decision about the prices, a ruling is expected sometime this week. When the ruling comes down I will post it here.
<a href="http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/d/derby_county/7622683.stm">http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/d/derby_county/7622683.stm</a>
<a href="http:\/\/www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/sport/QPR-fans-Rams/article-341588-detail/article.html">http:\/\/www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/sport/QPR-fans-Rams/article-341588-detail/article.html</a>
<a href="http:\/\/www.ramsfans.co.uk/images/QPR%20Tickets.pdf">http:\/\/www.ramsfans.co.uk/images/QPR%20Tickets.pdf</a>

QPR And Derby County In Ticket Price Row - World Soccer Talk

QPR And Derby County In Ticket Price Row

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The first weekend of the Premier League is over, and what an entertaining weekend it was. Thirty two goals and an average of 3.2 goals per match, and a few surprise results. Who said the Premier League was boring?!
Here are some of the highs and lows from this past weekend, as well as my two cents about the clubs who will hopefully gatecrash the Big Four this season:
Highlights:
<ul>
<li>Aston Villa playing a wonderful brand of football with Ashley Young, Gareth Barry and Gabriel Agbonlahor all putting in a fine performance.</li>
<li>Chelsea looks breathtaking and, gulp, exciting to watch, and could have even won the match 6-0 or 7-0.</li>
<li>Hull City made a brilliant Premier League debut against a woeful Fulham side.</li>
<li>Middlesbrough is the new Brazil, at least for one weekend.</li>
<li>Jonas Gutierrez, aka Spiderman, made one of the most impressive Premier League debuts I’ve seen in years. Simply sensational, and it’s such a delight to see a left winger with speed and dribbling ability who is willing to take on defenders.</li>
<li>Rodrigo Possebon played well in Manchester United’s midfield and was extremely confident.</li>
<li>Villa fans singing Agbonlahor’s name to the tune of Culture Club’s Karma Chameleon.</li>
<li>Gretar Steinsson‘s <a href="http:\/\/www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/1484024/" target="_blank">goal</a> for Bolton that was absolutely delightful.</li>
<li>Newcastle’s defense looked solid (when was the last time we could say that?). Especially impressive was Fabricio Coloccini.</li>
</ul>
Lowlights: 
<ul>
<li>The pitiful number of away Wigan fans at Upton Park.</li>
<li>Stoke’s defending made Derby look like Italy’s back four.</li>
<li>Manchester United looked unimaginative for much of their 1-1 draw against Newcastle.</li>
</ul>
Out of the Big Four, Chelsea was the only team that impressed. Arsenal was wasteful in front of goal (again). Liverpool was absolutely appalling and were only saved by the Fernando Torres wonder strike. Manchester United looked a shadow of themselves and were fortunate to come away with a draw in light of the Vidic foul on Jonas Gutierrez which should have been a penalty in the first half.
Sure, it’s early days so far and players are still a little stale after not playing competitive matches for a few months, but Man United and Liverpool will definitely have to step up their performances quite a bit despite the fact that many players are out due to injury and Olympics duty.
For those of you who are neutral fans of the Premier League, there’s already quite a lot of hope to find some quality attacking sides that will shake up the league this season and give the Big Four a run for their money. So far, Aston Villa, Middlesbrough, Hull City, Bolton, Newcastle United and Blackburn put in quality performances. Let’s hope this trend continues for the sake of unpredictability which is sorely missing in the Premiership.
What are your thoughts about the opening weekend of the Premier League season? What were your highs and lows? Click the comments link below and share your opinions.

Hope Springs Eternal For Big Four Gatecrashers - World Soccer Talk

Hope Springs Eternal For Big Four Gatecrashers

<div><figure class="image"></figure></div>While you’re enjoying EPL Talk, don’t forget to check out the sister sites in our network for a taste of German, Italian, Spanish, European and American soccer.
<a href="http:\/\/www.bundesligatalk.com/" target="_blank">Bundesliga Talk</a> has the statistics comparing Schalke to Atletico Madrid for the most enticing Champions League third round qualifying match. Another new article written by Bundeliga Talk correspondent Mark Moll is a piece on the new manager at Hamburger SV, Martin Jol, who lost 2-1 yesterday against Real Madrid in the 2008 Emirates Cup in London.
Prolific writer Lonnie Smetana at Champions League Talk has been busy previewing the most exciting matches in the Champions League third qualifying round stage, the latest transfer market activity in Europe and a roundup of the results from the third round of the Intertoto Cup.
If you’re a fan of Major League Soccer, Kartik Krishnaiyer writes on a near daily basis at <a href="http:\/\/majorleaguesoccertalk.com/" target="_blank">Major League Soccer Talk</a> about topics such as Cory Gibbs who may be heading to LA Galaxy, the list of MLS players playing in the Olympics, how the Mexican players are notorious sore losers when they get defeated by US club sides and/or the national team, and a very interesting article entitled, Does SuperLiga Have A Future?
Over at Serie A Talk, Kevin Walker has an interesting article about the Italian connection at Bordeaux, as well as rumors about Tiago leaving Juventus.
Yours truly has written an article about the Spanish influence at Swansea City under the website Championship Talk. Shakira Graham meanwhile writes about one of the best supported clubs in England, Derby County.
If you’re a fan of the world’s game, be sure to check out the sister sites on a regular basis.

Expert Football Coverage From Around The Leagues - World Soccer Talk

Expert Football Coverage From Around The Leagues

Despite having the worst year that a football fan could have if you supported Derby County like I do, the loyalty showed by the clubs fans were &nbsp;recognized in a <a target="_blank" href="http:\/\/www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11096_3856241,00.html" title="Sky Sports survey" rel="noopener">Sky Sports survey</a>. Even as Derby only claimed one win last season (1-0 v Newcastle) the Derby faithful sold out Pride Park, usually sold out the Rams away allotment and then turned around and sold an impressive 22,000 season tickets for the upcoming CCC season. The survey showed that 53% of Derby fans watched at least 15 matches. Let me tell you as a Derby fan, that was not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination. That was more then any other club in England last season. While the pride of the players may have come into question a time or many, the pride of the fans in Derby County showed week in and week out. Congratulations to my fellow Rams fans for being the most loyal fans in England!

Pride Park Lives Up To Its Name - World Soccer Talk

Pride Park Lives Up To Its Name

<div><figure class="image"></figure></div>Sky Sports has announced its schedule of televised Championship matches for the first few months of the 2008/2009 season. Here’s the schedule:
<ul>
<li>Sunday, August 10: Nottingham Forest v Reading</li>
<li>Saturday, August 16: Bristol City v Derby County</li>
<li>Saturday, August 30: Watford v Ipswich</li>
<li>Saturday, October 4: Coventry City v Southampton</li>
<li>Saturday, October 25: Reading v QPR</li>
<li>Saturday, November 8: Southampton v Bristol City</li>
<li>Saturday, November 22: Nottingham Forest v Norwich City</li>
<li>Sunday, November 30: Swansea City v Cardiff City</li>
</ul>
Chances are quite good that these matches will also be shown on Setanta Sports for viewers in the United States.

2008/2009 Championship TV Schedule On Sky Sports - World Soccer Talk

2008/2009 Championship TV Schedule On Sky Sports

While officially the transfer window isn’t open yet clubs are making signings that will become official on July 1st. It might be a free transfer of a player who is out of contract or a transfer involving money or just plain rumors involving players and clubs, the silly season has begun for Championship teams. The busiest of the Championship teams is recently relegated Derby County with 5 new players signed and 5 players released/sold. Derby are also in the hunt according to various rumors for at least 2 more players while letting more of the relegated squad leave Pride Park.
Derby County In:
Kris Commons (Nottingham Forest) Free
Paul Connonly (Plymouth Argyle) Bosman
Paul Green (Doncaster Rovers) Free
Jordan Stewart (Watford) Free
Nathan Ellington (Watford) Season Long Loan
Ruben Zadkovich (Free) Free
Derby County Out:
Robert Earnshaw-Nottingham Forest £2,650,000
Ben Hinchliffe – Released
Michael Johnson -to Notts County Free
Lee Holmes – Released
Marc Edworthy – Released
Championship Transfers In:
Guillaume Beuzelin (Hibernian) to Coventry City Free
Sam Vokes (AFC Bournmouth) to Wolves Undisclosed
Marc Hudson (Crystal Palace) to Charlton Athletic Free
Ashley Williams (Stockport County) to Swansea City £400,000
Luke Steele (West Brom) to Barnsley Free
Lee Carsley (Everton) to Birmingham City Free
Radek Cerney (Spurs) to QPR Free
Peter Ramage (Spurs) to QPR Free
&nbsp;If you know of anymore that have been verified and not rumors let me know!

The Silly Season Is Off And Running - World Soccer Talk

The Silly Season Is Off And Running

It’s been a while since I wrote an update, largely because there has only been a few new moves to bring you up to speed on. Largely deals have been getting bogged down with work permit issues, medicals and arguments over terms and fees. The action has started to pick up in the last few days so let’s have at it.
Let’s start with Marlon King, who was to have joined Fulham at least a week ago but his move fell through after he had “failed a medical” though the player denies that happened. King was quoted by the BBC as saying: “I think the two clubs were trying to renegotiate the fee, it had nothing to do with me, but when I picked up the papers I see I had failed a medical! I know my body is 110%. I didn’t fail a medical. I’ve been playing for a season and a half now and scoring goals – nothing has changed. As far as I’m concerned and Wigan are concerned, I didn’t fail a medical. I had a medical at Wigan and everything went smoothly, so I decided to make the switch.”
In any event, King is a good signing for Wigan who are lacking in the striker department and he should bring them a few goals as the look to climb up out of the relegation fight. Wigan have also signed former Tottenham left-back Erik Edman from French club Rennes and done a loan deal for defender Maynor Figueroa from Honduran club Deportivo Olimpia.
One player leaving the JJB is Denny Landzaat who was sold to Feyenoord for £1m. The transfer ends an 18-month stay in Wigan for the Holland international, for whom Wigan paid AZ Alkmaar £2.3m in July 2006. It’s a bit of a surprising move as Landzaat had made 54 appearances for the Latics, including 48 starts in the Premier League. He scored five goals, three of which came this season.
Tottenham are making some moves to bolster their defence though one could wonder how good the moves will be. Middlesbrough centre-back Jonathan Woodgate is in talks with Tottenham Hotspur over a move according the BBC website. The 28-year-old has been linked with Newcastle in recent days but Spurs are now believed to be closing in on his signature. Sky Sports News is also running a story that Tottenham want to sign Barcelona defender Carlos Puyol. Personally, I find that one a little more far-fetched than the Woodgate story.
Spurs are also chasing Rangers left-back Alan Hutton though it is suggested that it may be to arrange a pre-contract agreement for a summer move to White Hart Lane rather than an immediate move.
In the on-again, off-again department, Derby County’s attempts to sign Northern Ireland international keeper Roy Carroll from Rangers have hit a snag as Rangers have not yet released the 30-year-old from his contract. Rangers want to be sure they have another backup in place before allowing Carroll to leave.
Derby also ran into problems when they tried to sign Australian midfielder Mile Sterjovski. They were forced to attend a Home Office hearing to plead their case after the 28-year-old fell short of the criteria to gain an automatic permit. The permit was ultimately granted and Sterjovski, who can play either as a right winger or as a striker, has signed an 18-month deal with the Rams.
As has been <a href="http:\/\/epltalk.com/arrivederci-rolando-bianchi/">written about on this site</a> in more detail, Rolando Bianchi has joined Lazio on loan from Manchester City until the end of the season with a view to a permanent move. Georgios Samaras is also been rumoured to be moving to Birmingham so City are going to be woefully short of options up front but there has been talk of them bringing Bayern Munich striker Lukas Podolski in on a short-term loan deal. Podolski has fallen down the pecking order at Bayern but is still seen as having a long-term future with the club.
Bolton have signed Portsmouth midfielder Matt Taylor on a three-and-a-half year deal for an undisclosed fee. Taylor, who is 26 years old and can play either left-midfield or at left-back, only started four league games this season as he fell behind Nico Kranjcar as first choice on the left side of midfield. I think he’ll prove to be a good signing for Bolton as he can whip in some good crosses as well as score a goal or two himself. Taylor was Bolton’s third January arrival after the signings of midfielder Tamir Cohen from Maccabi Netanya and right-back Gretar Steinsson from AZ Alkmaar.
Birmingham’s persistance resulted in them landing two new players — striker James McFadden from Everton (for a reported £4.75m with another £1m based on add-ons) and left-back David Murphy whom they coaxed away from Scottish club Hibernian for a £1.5m fee. It took multiple bids to get both players but Alex McLeish was determined to get those players and now has them. McFadden performed heroically for Scotland when McLeish was in charge and he’ll need to repeat some of those heroics to get Birmingham out of the drop zone. They are currently only out of the bottom three on goal difference and do not have any room for error down the stretch.
Fulham have had most of the complicated transfers this January. First, the Marlon King deal went south for whatever reason, then their transfer of Daniel Cousin was put on hold as Fifa regulations do not allow a player to turn out for three clubs in a season and the striker featured for Lens before his summer move to Rangers. Cousin appeared once for Lens for just 20 minutes and Rangers hope Fifa will be sympathetic and allow the move to go through.
Finally, the Cottager’s move for Eddie Johnson was held up over work permit issues but those have been resolved and Johnson now becomes the fifth U.S. player on Fulham’s roster. As is its policy, MLS did not disclose the amout, but it is reported that the transfer fee for Johnson is the largest MLS has ever received for a player. There are rumours that the fee was between $4 and 6 million US. It will be interesting to see if Johnson can hit one of his hot streaks that carried Kansas City for large parts of last season. Fulham are sitting 19th and in desperate need of some hope.
That’s it for this edition. I’ll do a complete recap once the transfer window closes on the 31st.

ALL POSTS TAGGED "derby county" - Page 2

General

All Hail Hull City, Giant Killers Of The Premier League

Derby County

QPR And Derby County In Ticket Price Row

General

Hope Springs Eternal For Big Four Gatecrashers

General

Expert Football Coverage From Around The Leagues

Derby County

Pride Park Lives Up To Its Name

Bristol City

2008/2009 Championship TV Schedule On Sky Sports

Barnsley

The Silly Season Is Off And Running

General

Transfer window update: Deals finally getting done