|
A 4-0 defeat at Southampton on September 29th 1979 saw Derby County
slump to the bottom of the First Division table. With the added concerns
of an ever increasing injury list, County manager Colin Addison moved
quickly and paid Coventry City £150000 for central defender Keith
Osgood. Although the twenty-four year old former England youth
international made a solid enough start to his Baseball Ground career,
he joined a club which in reality was already destined for relegation.
And so it proved; always in the bottom three in the standings, County
ended their eleven year stay in the top flight by finishing in 21st
place, five points below the safety zone. Osgood made thirty-two
appearances, including one as a substitute. He netted three goals, and
generally looked a much more confident performer when Roy McFarland
returned from injury to partner him at the heart of the"Rams" defence.
Osgood did not feature in the clubs 1980/81 pre season tour games, and
his subsequent return to the side in a 3-2 defeat of Chelsea coincided
with the start of his best spell for the club. With a lot of their squad
looking more comfortable in the surrounds of the Second Division,
County were unbeaten in twelve of their first sixteen games of the
campaign and eventually finished in sixth place. Keith scored with a
memorable free kick in a 2-1 win at Luton, and also tallied markers
against Watford, Swansea and Notts County - the latter two being from
the penalty spot. With his play being seemingly prone to lapses of
concentration, Keith again found himself in the wilderness at the start
of the following campaign.
By December 1981 he had made just seven first
team appearances for the season. He came off the bench in three games
and scored in the defeats by Luton and Norwich. Keith also notched a
brave diving header in a 1-1 draw with Chelsea, his last game at the
Baseball Ground. Unable to command a regular place in the side, Osgood
was soon sold to Orient, the £20000 fee representing a huge loss on
County's outlay. In all competitions he played seventy-four times for
Derby, including eight as a substitute. Keith scored ten goals, a
healthy tally for a central defender. (Mike Cockayne)
1972–1977 Tottenham Hotspur 113 (13)
1978–1979 Coventry City 24 (1)
1979–1981 Derby County 69 (10)
1981–1983 Leyton Orient 36 (0)
1984 HJK 10 (2)
1984–1985 Cambridge United 35 (1)
|