Heard Derby's chairman Adam Pearson on BBC Radio 5 live this morning. He obviously doesn't have a clue what real football is about. Basically he admitted that he was interested in this idea of playing a game abroad purely for the money and 'the brand' and that it was great for them because Derby's owners were now Americans. Alexei Lalas made a really good point yesterday that apart from the top 3 or 4 clubs the rest are relatively unknown in the States, and there's only room enough for a few brands out there. Does he really think Derby can create a global brand to compete with others ? Is he mad ? When questioned about the English-based Derby fans he made the point that fans love to follow England to the West Indies for the cricket, so his thinking is therefore that all Derby fans will do the same. He presumably thinks all fans have the same income as he does. Come on Pearson, wake up and smell the coffee... http://www.midfielddynamo.com
No disrespect intended to Derby, but nobody in America has heard of them except hard-core EPL fans. Derby-Sunderland in Miami would draw 15k. Now if it was Derby-Man United they'd sell the stadium out, but nobody would be there for Derby.
Adam Pearson getting excited about playing abroad is a laugh! We're so bad the Samaritans call Paul Jewell after every game to see if he's feeling OK...