Rooney confesses to tough time keeping Derby County alive

Derby County manager Wayne Rooney has admitted its been rough trying to keep the Championship side alive and afloat.

As manager of Derby, Rooney carries responsibilities far heavier than anything he experienced during his years as centre forward and captain for Manchester United and England.

Derby, one of English football’s great institutions, face imminent liquidation if a buyer cannot be found soon.

Already in administration with debts of £60 million, the club are forecast to finally run out of money by the end of the month.

While they do continue to stumble forwards, Derby labour in the Championship under the weight of a 21-point deduction.

It is a chaotic, desperate scene and in the middle of it all stands Rooney, a rookie manager who is still only 36. Yesterday, speaking on a 35-minute Zoom call from Derby’s training ground at which he has been known to sleep at night, he was a voice of calm reason, a voice with a clear understanding of what is at stake.

‘Derby is more than a football club,’ Rooney said.

‘It gives everybody in this city hope. It gives kids the right to dream. It gives young players opportunities. It’s incredible that it’s been left in this situation.

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‘It needs to remain in the football pyramid. If not there will be a lot of hearts broken.’

Footballers are not always empathetic by nature. The world they know and come from is competitive, cruel and often unfair. It pays to be selfish. Rooney thrived at the top end of it on the back of rare talent and an insular streak. Now, as he prepares to lead his team in an East Midlands derby game at Nottingham Forest today, he is relying on something softer and deeper.

Rooney is on the list of preferred interviewees at Goodison Park and did his best to duck the inevitable questions about that on this occasion.