Derby County Administrators not ready to sack Rooney

 

Derby County’s administrators insist Wayne Rooney’s job is not under threat as they look to cut costs and there is already genuine interest in buying the stricken Championship club.

The Rams officially entered administration earlier this week, triggering an automatic 12-point deduction that sunk them to the bottom of the table.

Owner Mel Morris said the club lost £20million in lost revenue as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the administrators confirmed Derby’s debts run into ‘the tens of millions of pounds’ without disclosing the exact figure.

However, manager Rooney or anyone in the first-team squad will not be removed as a short-term cash-saving measure, with ‘positive conversations’ already held with the former England captain over taking the club forward.

Speaking to the media on Friday, Andrew Hosking and Carl Jackson from business advisory firm Quantuma, said they have every confidence Derby will fulfil all their fixtures this season.

However, they did not completely rule out a round of player sales in the January window to raise cash if a new owner can’t be found in the next three months.

On the prospect of jettisoning Rooney, Hosking said: ‘That has not come into our considerations at all, we need a manager to motivate the team.’

Jackson added: ‘We have held very positive conversations with Wayne and one or two other members of the squad.’

They confirmed short-term borrowing will be necessary to cover Derby’s day-to-day costs in the coming months and staff redundancies look likely.

Although Derby, who face the prospect of further points deductions, are highly likely to be in League One next season, there has been immediate interest in buying them.

READ ALSORooney heard about Derby administration plan on TV

Hosking said: ‘There is a considerable degree of interest in this club. A lot of it was expressed prior to administration.

‘Now that the club is in administration, notwithstanding the points deduction and clearly the distress to the supporters, the staff and suppliers to the club, we do consider that the position to be able to make a successful conclusion to the story is now really very, very practical.

Derby fixtures

Saturday Sheffield United (A)

September 29 Reading (H)

October 2 Swansea City (H)

October 16 Preston North End (A)

October 19 Luton Town (H)

October 23 Coventry City (A)