Derby Reaction: Fourteenth

Here is the reaction of the two managers.

Steve Bruce

There was a lot of hype and an edge to the game with return of Paul Jewell and there was always a worry that Derby can't always carry on getting beat and we wanted to make sure that it wasn't going to happen here today. I don't think there was any question that if there was a team going to win today it was us, it was just a matter of taking one of the chances.

Paul Scharner: Scored a goal to cap his man-of-the-match display

It's been difficult once again with the pitch but they are trying their best on it, and at times it is frustrating but you have to give them a pat on the back for their endeavour to get a result. They kept sticking at it, and the ball has been bouncing around their knees. But in the end I thought we were comfortable once we got the breakthrough.

It was his [Edman's] first game in eight weeks and he has that bit of experience. It allowed me to push Kevin Kilbane up into his proper position and I thought he was very good there, he was always a threat.

I have to put reigns on him [Scharner] because you know what he is like, he wants to play everywhere, he wants to play left wing, right wing, centre back and centre forward. That is his nature, but the one thing about him is that he has a goal in him and today's goal could be vitally important.

That's his [Valencia] first goal for us in over a year and he has to improve on that. He was great today and he was a threat all afternoon and I thought he was arguably our best player. It is not easy for him when he wants to run with the ball on our pitch and the ball is jumping up.

The pitch has just fallen to bits, and I'm not going to blame the rugby. I think there was a fault two years ago when they re-laid it on top, but I think they are going to rearrange a Rugby League game in June and dig the whole thing up and start again. That's all we can do, and the groundsman has worked all hours to try and get the pitch right. He deserves a pat on the back.

Paul Jewell

I can't defend that performance - it was absolutely disgraceful. I expected better than we have shown today. The new players have come into a team low on confidence but I will take responsibility because I pick the team. I wil tell you something though, next year this team will be unrecognisable.

The only reason there haven't been more changes is because we have to wait until the summer. As a group of players they aren't good enough for the Premier League and show a lack of belief and desire. Some of them are believing their own publicity without actually giving performances and that includes some of the players I have brought in. On today's showing some of these players don't deserve to be part of Derby County.

If I thought that was wholly my team I would walk away because it's killing me on the touchline. Monday to Friday it's no problem but on Saturday they just can't produce performances and today was the worst performnace I have seen in the Premier League.

I have got to try to improve it for next week and this is the most frustrating part of my career. I can't tell you how angry and disappointed I am about that performance. That Derby County team has got my name on it and we have 3,500 Derby supporters here today and if I'd been playing out there I would have been embarrassed.

They are miles short and I think some of them thought they were good players and they are being found out now because they aren't as good as they thought. I will draw on all my experience and ability to turn this round and give Derby something to be proud of.

The Table

Latest match Saturday, 23rd February 2008		Pld		Home						Away						Overall						Pts	GD
				W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A
1	Arsenal	27		12	2	0	31	8		7	5	1	25	12		19	7	1	56	20		64	+36
2	Manchester United	27		12	1	1	32	5		7	3	3	23	10		19	4	4	55	15		61	+40
3	Chelsea	26		8	5	0	23	8		8	2	3	15	9		16	7	3	38	17		55	+21
4	Liverpool	26		6	6	1	29	11		6	5	2	14	8		12	11	3	43	19		47	+24
5	Everton	26		8	2	3	24	11		6	3	4	17	12		14	5	7	41	23		47	+18
6	Aston Villa	26		8	2	4	24	17		4	6	2	24	17		12	8	6	48	34		44	+14
7	Portsmouth	27		4	7	2	16	10		8	1	5	21	16		12	8	7	37	26		44	+11
8	Manchester City	26		9	3	1	21	11		3	5	5	13	18		12	8	6	34	29		44	+5
9	West Ham United	26		5	5	3	16	13		6	2	5	15	10		11	7	8	31	23		40	+8
10	Blackburn Rovers	26		5	4	4	13	13		5	5	3	19	20		10	9	7	32	33		39	-1
11	Tottenham Hotspur	26		6	2	4	33	22		2	6	6	15	19		8	8	10	48	41		32	+7
12	Middlesbrough	27		4	4	5	14	18		3	4	7	11	23		7	8	12	25	41		29	-16
13	Newcastle United	27		5	5	4	18	23		2	2	9	12	29		7	7	13	30	52		28	-22
14	Wigan Athletic	27		6	2	5	17	14		1	3	10	9	28		7	5	15	26	42		26	-16
15	Sunderland	27		7	3	3	17	13		0	2	12	9	33		7	5	15	26	46		26	-20
16	Bolton Wanderers	26		5	4	5	17	12		1	3	8	9	23		6	7	13	26	35		25	-9
17	Birmingham City	27		3	5	5	15	16		2	3	9	12	24		5	8	14	27	40		23	-13
18	Reading	26		6	1	6	14	19		0	3	10	16	34		6	4	16	30	53		22	-23
19	Fulham	27		3	5	6	18	23		0	5	8	7	22		3	10	14	25	45		19	-20
20	Derby County	27		1	3	9	8	24		0	3	11	5	33		1	6	20	13	57		9	-44

Next Game

Next up for the Latics is Manchester City at the City of Manchester Stadium next Saturday evening. The 5.15pm kick off is as a result of the game being shown live on Setanta Sports.