BLUE SCENE: Euro travels lessen derby build up

Oct 19 2007

HAS this been one of the most low profile build-ups to a derby game for quite some time? Normally the nerves and the wind-ups start a good couple of weeks in advance, but this Goodison encounter seems to have almost crept up on us.

The fact that this seems like another stop-start season has probably been a factor.

The last campaign seemed to be over before it really began, and this one seems to be going the same way, with these interminable breaks and odd scheduling of games meaning that you never feel like there’s a chance to get a good head of steam up. The internationals over the last fortnight could have a more direct impact on Saturday’s game given that a number of players from both sides have travelled a long way and been involved in some tiring matches.

Perhaps from an Evertonian point of view at least, we have had a bit more going on this season than normal, so we have had less time to get fixated on any one domestic fixture. There have been the Kharkiv epics to occupy us for a start, followed by the UEFA Cup draw and the subsequent queuing for Larissa tickets and frantic efforts to get hold of the cheapest available planes, trains and automobiles to Nuremberg.

That’s all positive too, because we can get a little too hung up on the derby, however, anyone from either side who says it isn’t important – usually after they’ve been beaten – is naïve or simply a downright liar. Come Saturday morning you will wake up, smell the air and a primeval part of your brain will automatically sense that it is derby day. There is always that strange calm before the storm, as everyone you meet on the way to the pub or the ground looks slightly subdued and lost in their own thoughts. The traditional greeting on such mornings tends to be either: “What do you reckon?” or: “I hate derbies.” Anyone bold enough to pipe up with, “I fancy us today,” is generally answered with groans and accused of being a Jonah. As both sides know to their cost, pride very often comes before a fall on derby day.

Finally, the oldest tradition is that ‘the formbook goes out of the window’ on such occasions. If that’s the case then, both sides should produce some sensational stuff tomorrow, because they have been pretty mediocre in the run up.