World Soccer - UK (2021-10)

B

efore theseasonhad

evenbegun,some

bookmakershad

stoppedtakingbetson

Derby Countybeing

relegatedfromthe

Championship.

Andwhocouldblamethem?The

clubhasspentthesummerinturmoil,

dealingwithfines,court casesand a

transferembargo.Lastseasonthey

stayedupthankstoa pointsdeduction

forSheffieldWednesday.

Itwas a raremomentoffortunefor

a clubthathassuffered onecrisis after

anotherin recentyears.Thepandemic

hasbeentoughoneveryEFLteam,

butnonehavehadtheirproblems

compoundedbybadluckandbad

decisionsquiteas much as Derby,

whoseissuespredateCOVID.

Howdidthingsbecome so bad?It is

difficulttoknowwhereto start.Owner

MelMorrishasbeentryingtosellthe

clubforat least12 months.Hissix

years in charge have seen theclub

contrive to throwawaypromotion

onmultipleoccasions,reachingthe

play-offsthree times.At thestart of this

year, he toldtheMailonSundaythat

owningtheclubhadcosthim£200m

• certainlynotthe first persontothrow
  a fortuneatchasingPremierLeague
  promotion,andnotthe last.
  Themoneyhasbeenrunningoutfor
  sometime,withthe clubcomingupwith
  increasinglycreativewaystocontinue
  spending.In 2018 , Morrisboughtthe
  stadium,Pride Park, for£80mand
  leaseditbackinordertoboost income
  andaccountfor themountingdebts.
  Then,whenWayneRooney arrivedin
  August 2 01 9,heworenumber 32 – a
  reference to bettingsite 3 2Red,whose
  sponsorshiphelpedfundthesigning.
  InNovember 2020 , Morrisagreedto
  selltheclubtoSheikhKhaled,acousin
  ofManchesterCityownerSheikh
  Mansour. Things were goingbadlyon
  thepitch,withmanagerPhillipCocu
  replacedby Rooney,buttheprospect
  offreshinvestmentofferedhope.
  Butby December,the takeover had
  stalled,andplayers’salarieswerenot
  beingpaid.InJanuary,Rooney deferred
  hisown wages(believedto be around
  £90,000-a-week)toensurehisplayers
  werepaid. By March,thedealwasoff
  and,when a secondtakeoverbidfell

throughinMay,thefuturelookedbleak.

Justtoaddtothe financialwoes,that

monththeywerealsoorderedtopay

£2.3mtoformercaptainRichard

Keoghforabreachofhiscontract.

Havingnarrowlyavoidedrelegation,

theclubwerehitwitha£100,000

fineforfailingtocomplywith FFP

rules,andorderedtoresubmittheir

accounts for 2016 , 2 01 7 and 2018.

A points deduction,whichwouldhave

seenthemrelegated,was even on the

cards,and theclubwasplacedunder

severetransferrestrictionsuntilthe

accounts were in order.

Overthesummer, thebadnews

didn’tstop.Rooneymadeitontothe

frontpagesofseveralnewspapersafter

a seriesof photosofhimata partyin

a hotelroomwereleaked. In thesame

week, he wasall over thebackpages

forinjuringone of hiskey players,Jason

Knight,after joininginwithtraining.The

RepublicofIrelandmidfielderwas ruled

outfor threemonths– badnewsatthe

bestof times,butCounty’ssquadwas

alreadyseverelydepleted.

Duringpre-season, Knightwasone

ofjust nineseniorsplayerscontracted

tothe club.Severalfreeagentscame

inontrialand,just beforetheseason

started,manywerehandedcontracts.

Theonlyproblemwasthatno wages

couldbeoffered;untiltheclubcould

confirm what they wouldbeallowed

tospend,thepaperwasleftblank.

Deals were eventuallysorted for

a numberof players,includingformer

EvertondefenderPhilJagielkaand

Rooney’s oldManchester United

team-mateRavelMorrison.But in

anothertwist,ex-Turkey forwardColin

Kazim-Richards,whohad extendedhis

dealattheclubinFebruaryforthe

2021 -22season, tore hisAchillesinjust

hissecond league gameofthe season.

Inspite of everything,theseasondid

notstartas disastrouslyasexpected,

withfourpoints from thefirst three

games.There have been encouraging

performancesfromMorrison,among

others,andRooneyis hopeful he can

succeedwheresomanyothershave

failedingettingthe best outofthe

hugelytalentedmidfielder.

Offthepitch,thereis still much

toresolveand,atthetimeofwriting,

a pointsdeductionisstill possible.Itis

settobea longseason,probablythe

greatesttestof Rooney’s career.

JamieEvans

DerbyCounty

Championshipclubfaceanuncertainfutureafteraturbulentyear

PeoPleandPlacesinthenews

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