Episode Summary
Hosts
Graham Dunn, Jamie Rooney
Phil Craig
Guest(s)
Release Date
25 September 2025
Duration
65 min
In this episode of By Far The Greatest Team, Graham Dunn and Jamie Rooney and guest Phil Craig turn their attention from Derby County’s Clough-era greatness to their infamous 2007–08 Premier League season — a campaign that ended with just 11 points, the lowest total in English top-flight history.
The hosts unpack what went wrong: poor recruitment, managerial instability, and a squad simply out of its depth. They revisit the chaotic sequence of events that led from Billy Davies’ promotion to Paul Jewell’s doomed rescue mission, analysing how structural missteps and financial realities collided to produce one of football’s most unforgettable disasters.
But this episode goes deeper. Derby’s collapse becomes the lens through which Graham and Jamie explore football’s greatest failures — stories that transcend results to reveal human resilience, fan loyalty, and the absurd beauty of sport’s unpredictability. From Darwen FC (1898–99) — the early pioneers who fell apart under the pressures of professionalism — to Schalke 2020–21, a modern superclub’s implosion, and Brechin City 2017–18, whose winless campaign redefined Scottish endurance, the discussion charts the universality of failure in football.
It’s a darkly comic, oddly inspiring journey through the underbelly of the game — proving that greatness isn’t only found at the top of the table.
Takeaways
Derby County’s record-breaking Premier League disaster (2007–08)
Why managerial decisions and player investment shape survival
Darwen’s pioneering history and tragic Football League exit
Schalke’s financial and on-pitch implosion in 2021
Brechin City’s winless nightmare and what it says about football’s unpredictability
Schalke 04 (2020–21) – The Fall of a Giant
Few collapses in modern football compare to Schalke 04’s 2020–21 disaster. Once a Bundesliga powerhouse and Champions League regular, Schalke began the season still haunted by years of financial mismanagement, over-reliance on debt, and a post-COVID cash crisis. The result was catastrophic.
Four managers came and went — David Wagner, Manuel Baum, Christian Gross, and Dimitrios Grammozis — as the team spiralled into chaos. Injuries, dressing-room splits, and boardroom panic became the soundtrack to a season defined by despair. Schalke went 30 league games without a win, equalling Tasmania Berlin’s infamous record from 1965–66.
Their 5–0 loss to Freiburg in May confirmed relegation after three decades in the Bundesliga. Fans outside the Veltins-Arena wept. For a club that once dreamed of challenging Bayern, it was a public unravelling.
Tactically, Schalke were disjointed — a 4-2-3-1 that collapsed under pressure, bereft of confidence or leadership. The spirit of players like Sead Kolašinac and veteran Klaas-Jan Huntelaar couldn’t mask deeper issues: a broken recruitment model, excessive wages, and short-term thinking.
Yet even in humiliation, Schalke’s story resonated. German football prides itself on fan ownership and stability — Schalke’s fall was a warning that tradition alone cannot protect against mismanagement. Their relegation became an act of reckoning, forcing the club to rebuild its identity from the ruins.
Main Topics
Iconic Moments
From Champions League regulars to Bundesliga relegation
Financial crisis and post-COVID mismanagement
Four managers in one chaotic season
Tactical breakdowns and dressing-room unrest
Rebuilding identity after total collapse
30-game winless streak
5-0 loss to Freiburg confirmed relegation.
Notable Manager
David Wagner, Manuel Baum, Christian Gross, Dimitrios Grammozis.
Notable Players
Sead Kolašinac, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Amine Harit, Ralf Fährmann.
Style of Play
4-2-3-1, disjointed, reactive, low block, long ball, chaotic
Disjointed 4-2-3-1; low confidence, weak pressing, chaotic transitions
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