Morten Bisgaard is back in Denmark. Though close to a contract extension with the Rams during spring he was released at the end of the season and ended up signing with the Danish Premier League team Odense Boldklub (OB). So it is time to wrap up the three years in Derby.

Missing Derby

”We a had great time in Derby. We really liked living there. We had a nice house in Littleover and my wife got a job soon after we arrived. And our daughter was born at the Derby Hospital a couple of days after we lost the play off semifinal to Preston back in 2005,” Morten says. ”So after a short while we were fully integrated and enjoyed living there.”
When we last spoke he was busy moving to Derby. These days he is busy finding a place to live in Odense. Temporarily, the Bisgaard’s are living in a summerhouse.
”We miss Derby, I must say. We have great friends there and got along with everybody. I would have liked to have played for the Rams a year or two more. But it wasn’t to be that way, and now I’m looking to the future. It’s great to be back, and I’m very pleased to have signed with OB. It is the turning of a page, a new chapter for my family and I.”
Morten played for OB 1993-1998 and amongst his merit is the match winning goal for OB on Bernabeu when OB beat Real Madrid in the UEFA Cup on aggregate back in 1994.
”I haven’t kept myself up to date with the Danish Premier League since I left FC Copenhagen to play for Derby. OB is a very strong side so for now I’m just focussing on getting back into shape and eventually in the starting 11,” Morten says, referring to the accident that happened to him while on vacation in Udine, Italy – a place he knows well after spending three seasons there playing for the local club, Udinese, back in the 90s.
”I had a minor bleeding in the brain. Nothing serious, but still shocking. I had had a terrible headache for some days and luckily I went to see a doctor in Udine who sent me to the hospital. I was scanned and got the right treatment straight away, instead of flying back to Denmark which I had been thinking of. A trip by plane could have made it far worce. Now it’s all right and I’m fully fit. But of course, it takes a while to get ready for top flight football when you have been ill for three weeks.”

The friendly dressing room

”There were ups and downs in Derby. There always is in football. The first season under George Burley was really great and we were close to getting promoted. Unfortunately we lost in the playoffs to Preston, and the following year things slowly fell apart for some reason. It was George who had brought me to the club, he was confident in me, I played well and I was sad to see him leave. His successor Phil Brown didn’t quite feel the same way about me as George did, I’m afraid. In the end we were actually quite lucky not to go down. When Billy Davies arrived we all had to start from scratch and when he started buying midfielders, well, you know, you play the players you have bought yourself...”
Still, Morten played a total of 109 matches for Derby scoring 10 goals. And Billy Davies did play him, though in the end only occasionally.
”Billy Davies is like the Danish International coach Morten Olsen. He lives football, he breathes football, he is football. He is 100 % engaged in the club and fully devoted. And guiding Derby to the Premier League is the proof, he is a very talented manager,” Morten says holding no grudge to the manager who eventually signed players like Oakley, Jones and Pearson instead of using Morten.
”What I really liked the most about playing for the Rams is that nomatter how we were doing on the pitch, whether you were in the starting 11 or not, or even who our manager was, the dressing room was full of friendly people. I’ve been a pro for 15 years. It is certainly not like that everywhere.”

Iniz and other friends

”The best player in the side while I was with Derby was Idiakez. No doubt about that. Not only is he a dear friend of mine whom I miss, but he is a great footballer. Though we all got along well there are people you bond with more than others and in my case Iniz was one of them,” Morten says.
One should think that Iniz and Morten were midfield competitors. But then again, like Iniz Morten is a very selfconfident footballer and has every right to be that way. Not that he brags or claims to be something he is not. He is actually a very down to earth sort of guy. He is merely confident in the things he does on the pitch. ”Iniz and I are still mates. Boertin and Jackson, too. Funnily, Jackson is the only one of us still with the Rams and I suppose he isn’t going to place much now that players like Mears and McEveley have joined the club.”
As Morten said himself, he has been a professional football for many years. So when asked about the prospects of one Giles Barnes he says, ” I’ve seen quite a few very talented youngsters who didn’t make it. Giles has got a great potential but it is very important that he keeps both feet on the ground and doens’t get carried away. When you are young you have to be willing to learn. Giles is, he works hard, and if he keeps on like this he is either going to take Derby to a higher level or make it at one of the big clubs. This goes for Tom Huddlestone as well. I hope he makes it with the Spurs,” Morten says. ”I must admit it annoyed me when Tom played such a great match for Wolves when we met them in 2006. He was on loan from Tottenham. Why didn’t he stay with Derby instead of going to Spurs? I hope Derby won’t have to sell gifted players like that in the future.”

Avoiding relegation

”The media might say Derby is facing a losing battle but I don’t look at it this way. Derby’s chances of avoiding relegation are fine. It seems to me that Billy Davies knows which players to bring to strengthen the Derby side. And suddenly Derby aren’t financially under pressure. I think there is still need of an attacker more but the defence is good and the midfield is very strong. Jones, Oakley, Pearson and Barnes... They are all suited for the Premier League. And though it took a while for Steve Howard to settle I’m sure he can compete on the highest level. He just has to minimise the number of fouls he commits,” Morten says. ”And if you look to Wigan and Reading and compare their sides to Derby, well, tell me, why shouldn’t Derby avoid relegation?!”
I tell Morten I’m a little worried that the difference between the Championship and the Premier League is too big for us to cope with. Morten replies, ”of course, it isn’t going to be easy. It is in fact going to be tough. But I’m sure players like Andy Todd, Claude Davis and Robert Earnshaw will rise to the occasion, McEverly and Mears as well, and as I said Derby have a number of midfielders who have Premier League standard. I don’t think Derby is going to go down.”

Back in Odense

Morten is back in Denmark. He has signed with the Danish Premier League team OB where a close friend of mine, Michael Buchholtz, is employed – and he is the reason why I got in touch with Morten again. So here’s to you, Michael!
Odense is wellknown across the world for being the birthplace of the greatest fairytaleteller ever, Hans Christian Andersen – and it was like a fairytale when OB made it to the UEFA Cup group plays last season, coached by none other than ex-Ram Bruce Rioch. Last season OB ended up fourth in the Danish Premier League after bringing the Danish cup to Odense. So it is a very prolific side with a very ambitious board and a devoted bunch of demanding supporters he has signed with and there are great expectations to Morten Bisgaard. And Morten knows it.
”I’m looking forward to playing for OB and hopefully we make it through the UEFA Cup qualification again. And I would love to put my former club FC Copenhagen to the test. Everybody says they are going to be champions. But I’m not so sure about that,” Morten says. ”I’m not being naive when I say OB can make it as well as Derby can stay clear of relegation...”
Anyway, we agree on I call him again sometime during the autumn. And we agree on that we are going to talk about how great the Rams are doing. I’m looking forward to this conversation!