Three months after the club went into administration, Derby County are still stuck in the same situation as they were at the end of September.

Since Mel Morris placed the club in the hands of Quantuma, Wayne Rooney's side have rallied on the pitch but away from it it has been a frustrating tale.

A preferred bidder has still not been named, with American businessman Chris Kirchner seemingly leading the race to bring County out of financial trouble.

 

 

 

 

But after the administrators weren't in a position to accept his offer earlier in the month, Kirchner pulled out of the race - despite being backed by Rooney to become the club's new custodian.

Separate consortiums led by former Derby chairmen Peter Gadsby and Andy Appleby are thought to be in the running and the administrators have provided their latest update to Rams fan group Black & White Together.

The admins have detailed that there are 'excellent discussions' but legal issues are still preventing anything immediate happening, and that patience is required.

The Verdict

Derby fans have remained patient for some time now - and patience is going to have to grow even further.

It won't just be supporters who are feeling the nerves though - Wayne Rooney will want some closure sooner rather than later and despite good results on the pitch he will want to strengthen his squad in January.

That looks unlikely to happen at this point with legal issues meaning that a takeover can't go ahead just yet.

Kirchner looked at one point to be the ideal man for Derby but now he's out of the equation it suddenly looks a bit more unclear - this saga could still rumble on for a while.