Sunday 22 March 2009

An Englishman abroad

Extract from my guest blog over at Soccer City FC:

Flashback to last August and the English transfer window saw plenty of shock moves - Robinho to Man City perhaps being the highlight.

But one transfer that nearly slipped under the radar was arguably one of the most surprising of the whole summer.

English full back Tyrone Mears, whose Derby side had finished bottom of the Premier League the previous year, swapped the East Midlands for the French Riviera with a shock loan move to Marseille.

Not a bad swap I’m sure you will agree. Such was Mears’ desperation to complete the move that he skipped Derby training and flew to France for a trial without permission. His boss at the time, Paul Jewell, was understandably miffed and fined him six week's wages, claiming he had ‘insulted’ the club.

Insulted or not, it was a remarkable transfer for the former West Ham and Preston defender, especially when you consider Derby had amassed a record low points total in their 2007/08 Premier League campaign and had begun their Championship season with a home defeat to Doncaster.

A knee ligament injury had threatened to derail Mears' dream move and he only made his debut last weekend after an injury to defender, Laurent Bonnart. But things would get better for Mears in the following match.......

Read the rest of my guest blog voer at Soccercityfc.com

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