“I feel for the players. We've taken 52 points and in normal circumstances we'd be safe by now. We've paid the price for what the previous owner has left behind. It's no-one's fault – not mine, not the staff, not the players' – other than the previous owner. We're paying the price and I'm sure it's a sad day for Mel (Morris) too because I know he's a Derby fan. I'm sure he'll be very disappointed.”
“I'm proud. Which is a strange feeling because of everything we've been through. There's so many positives for us to take. Of course it's disappointing to go down but the overall feeling is pride.”
Those were the inspiring words of then Derby County manager Wayne Rooney after his side suffered relegation on the penultimate matchday of the Championship season. The Rams put up a valiant effort in the second tier despite a 25-point deduction due to financial problems and then declaring bankruptcy. Had the circumstances been normal, you'd have imagined 14 wins and 13 draws would have been enough for a fairly solid mid-table season, and for a side assembled on a shoestring budget and comprised of a ragtag group of academy graduates, want-aways and half of Rooney's phone contacts, Derby did their best in trying times.
But English football is a cruel mistress and didn't pity those at Pride Park, who will enter the season in League One, tipped as one of the favourites to go back up straight away amongst most League 1 predictions. The scenery has changed drastically though — Rooney has moved on, taking an offer to join MLS side DC United who he represented as a player, and while it's a rare opportunity for an English coach to ply their trade on foreign shores, it left Derby in a state of disarray with a disjointed plan and even greater lack of identity. Nonetheless, Lee Rosenior has taken interim charge as the Rams pursue a permanent solution.
You get the sense that when the wheels finally get in motion, Derby could well become a relentless winning machine, and that a figure in the dugout would just be the final cog in the engine. The squad has vast experience and the additions of James Chester, Conor Hourihane, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, and David McGoldrick, players with over 1,000 combined appearances in the Football League, will leave them with some of the best squad depth despite having one of the highest average ages in the league.
Games will come thick and fast when the season gets underway on July 30th, and with no pauses to accommodate the World Cup in the third tier, squads will be tested to their absolute limits.
Although the atmosphere might take a dent while playing in League One, and away trips to Port Vale and Forest Green are certainly less glamorous than what they were used to in the second tier, the Pride Park faithful have a reputation for making their home ground a fortress, and seeing their bitter East Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest playing in the Premier League this term under Steve Cooper will only motivate the supporters more to try and get their side back where they feel they deserve to be.
