Former Manchester United football star, Wayne Rooney is having a difficult time managing Championship side, Derby County that narrowly escaped relegation last season.
Based on the current situation at Derby County in which the club lacks enough professional footballers ahead of the 2021-2022 Championship season, the former England international said most football managers in his shoes would have resigned.
He however stressed that he would not abandon the club and vowed to stay back to help the club fight through the current state of things at the Championship side.
The situation at Derby County is so bad that Wayne Rooney has only nine registered senior players to work with ahead of the coming season. It is so bad that two of the nine senior players are goalkeepers.
Before now, the Championship side was banned by the English Football League (EFL), the body in charge of league football in England, from offering players permanent contracts. The ban only gave the club the opportunity of giving free agents a year contract and signing players on 6 months loan deals if they have less than 23 professional players.
EFL banned the club from making permanent deals after the club failed to submit audited accounts for 2016, 2017, and 2018, with the club facing an August 18, 2021 deadline to resubmit the documents.
But since EFL lifted the ban five days ago, the club’s board has not started making moves to bring in more professional players ahead of the club’s first Championship game of the season which is on August 7 against Huddersfield.
In an interview with Sky Sports News, Wayne Rooney said he does not know the players he would work with ahead of the coming season. Hence, he urged those who are responsible for signing players at the club to do their job before things get out of hand.
“It’s other people which I can’t control who need to make bigger decisions that I do.
“All I can do is try to bring some dignity and pride back to this club. It is clear that has gone in the last few years and it is my job to bring that back. I need other people to do their job.
“It’s not ideal, it has been very difficult not knowing what my squad will be in two weeks when the league starts. However we can, we need to get that sorted.
“If I am being honest, it would be easy for a manager in my situation to walk away. It’s a challenge for me, I’m a fighter. I am grateful to Derby for giving me this opportunity and I will do everything I can to get the club through this.
“If we can’t bring players in over the next two weeks I do not know how we field a team to start the season.
“I haven’t got one center-back signed to the club, there are two very young players in the U23s and U18s. It would be impossible for me to field a team.”
Wayne Rooney played for Derby County between 2020 and 2021 before he was made the head coach of the club on January 15, 2021, after the sacking of coach Philip Cocu.
The former England international pushed County until the last game of the Championship last season before the club could secure their place in the English second-tier league.
Wayne Rooney – Manchester United | Premier League Era
— CF Comps (@CF_Comps9) July 17, 2021
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