Wayne Rooney has had plenty of opportunities to walk away from Derby County but once again pledged his future to the club after their relegation to League One with three games remaining.
Upon the final whistle of the 1-0 defeat to QPR, sealed by Luke Amos’ late goal, the Rams manager did not yet realise his side had gone down, their fate sealed by Reading’s comeback to draw 4-4 with Swansea.
Derby are now an insurmountable 10 points behind Reading, but Rooney insisted he was “excited” at the prospect of guiding his players back to the Championship.
“I am disappointed, sad, angry, upset, but ultimately proud of the players, staff and fans, who have been excellent,” he said.
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“I said to the players after the game, ‘When you walk out of that dressing room, walk out with your head high. Don’t let your heads drop’.”
The club was deducted 21 points at the start of the season, 12 of them for going into administration, and a further nine-point penalty added for accounting breaches under previous owner Mel Morris.
That deficit has proven the difference and Derby would have been safe without those deductions; such an impressive job against all circumstances has not been lost on a number of suitors, with Rooney having been approached by Everton earlier this season but turning his former club down. He has also been linked with the vacant Burnley job following Sean Dyche’s sacking.
Rooney could not help but make reference to Morris, adding that “this is where we’ve been left by the previous owner and we’ve been trying to pick up the pieces”.
Derby’s joint administrators, who are responsible for overseeing the search for new owners, have named Chris Kirchner as their preferred bidder, though it has been a long takeover process and the club is not yet out of the woods.
Former Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has been circling, but he now looks unlikely to take charge.
After relegation was confirmed, Kirchner took to Twitter and said he hopes for a “quick turnaround” from the English Football League.
“They have had my financial info for some time,” he wrote. “The last bit for official “approval” is a two-year business plan for the club. Now that we know [what] division [Derby will be in], payout schedule, my team can finally complete it.”
Rooney added: “I’m sure Mr Morris watched the game at home. He’ll be disappointed himself, because we’ve tried to fix the mess he’s left us in as best we can.
“[The takeover] has to happen quickly,” he said. “I’m not stupid. I know Premier League teams and top clubs in the Championship are looking at some of our players.
“I need to be able to give them something, to offer them something to stay… I need to be able to bring the right players in for League One to make sure that we move this club forward again.
“I want to rebuild this club. But the takeover has to happen. If it doesn’t, I’m really unsure of my future and the club’s future. This takeover has to happen quick.”
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