Are there ways in which foreign players have improved their game by playing in England?
It’s fair to say that foreign players and coaches have brought more things to us than we’ve given to them. But there’s been a marked improvement over the years in their determination to come back from being behind. When Stefano Eranio first came over, we played Barnsley at Pride Park. They were struggling at the bottom of the table but we only just beat them, 2-1. He was very surprised at their players’ approach to the game and that they didn’t accept defeat as a foregone conclusion after we scored. I think foreign players have picked up that determination from English players. I know from talking to players like Igor Stimac, he loved the competitiveness of the English game and the fact that some relegation issues for instance are nearly always not sorted out until the final day because struggling teams will rally and fight to stay up. What’s your view of the practice of buying very young players from abroad, as some clubs have done? There are some young Scandinavian lads at Derby but
