Gabriel Tamas knows about derbies

The biggest derby season in a West Midlands generation kicks-off at the Hawthorns.

But Gabriel Tamas will be taking it all in his stride tomorrow.

Having witnessed flares, fires and fighting in previous derby matches, the Albion defender is unlikely to be fazed if things get a little tasty between the Baggies and Blues.

But the Romania international is relishing his first taste of an English derby day, insisting the Premier League has its own unique atmosphere - even without the fireworks of eastern Europe.

Tomorrow's first of a dozen West Midland derbies in the region's biggest season in 27 years will be Tamas's umpteenth in a fifth different country.

Having played for Dinamo Bucharest against bitter rivals Steaua, Galatasary against both Fenerbahce and Besiktas, Celta Vigo against Deportivo La Coruna and Spartak Moscow against their many cross-city rivals, Tamas has witnessed some unforgettable derby scenes.

He recalled: "Playing against Rapid Bucharest is a derby. But the derby of derbies is Steaua against Dinamo. That rivalry has been going on forever.

"I don't think that will be like here - because the fans are crazy there. Compared to that, here is very nice. I want to play a derby here. Bucharest has everything - flares, flags a little bit of fighting as well.

"Turkey is something like Bucharest, but I don't have words for what it's like there!

"When I was there they were repairing the Galatasaray stadium, so we were playing in the Olympic Stadium, and for every game we had 75,000 to 80,000 people.

"And they were crazy - with flames, flags, flares and everything. But they are almost separate from the game, they are not like the fans here.

"In Moscow, Spartak didn't have a stadium so we were playing in the Luzhniky and it was very big.

"You could not hear the fans because there were 20,000 or 30,000 people there but it was in a very big stadium.

"That was not so intense, although if the stadium had been smaller it might have been different."

Tamas admitted that, at times, derby days in eastern Europe became intimidating for the players, especially when activities off the field threatened to scupper events on it.

But the 26-year-old is a huge fan of English crowds who, he insisted, have a unique bearing on the course of matches.

He said: "It is good to experience those things but when the referee stops the game and you think 'maybe we will continue, maybe not' then you are a little bit scared.

"I have been involved in many games like that. You don't leave the pitch but the referee stops the game because there are so many flames there is a lot of smoke, and when that happens you can't see the pitch.

"The referee stops the game and you wait for a few minutes. That happened in Bucharest and Istanbul. Here it is more normal. As a player I have been in many countries but none of the fans are like here where they are part of the game.

"In Turkey they have the flags and all that, but maybe as players they don't give you support when you are playing.

"Here it feels like all the fans are on the pitch with you and they want to push you on from the back. When you have supporters setting off flares and screaming and shouting, that's OK.

"But here it's nice to be able to go outside and see the crowds."

By Steve Madeley