Millwall manager Gary Rowett has suggested that it seemed inevitable that Derby County would have to enter into administration given the situation with Mel Morris having to fund the club to keep them where they were.

Rowett managed Derby during the 2017/18 season and he led the Rams to the play-offs where they were beaten over two legs in the semi-finals by Fulham.

That was during a period after a lot of money had been invested into the squad in the first few years of Morris’ ownership of the club as he attempted to take them back into the Premier League.

However, following Derby’s failure to secure promotion under Rowett, they then missed out again under Frank Lampard in the 2018/19 campaign when they lost in the play-off final to Aston Villa.

That left the Rams were left needing to cut costs in the last two seaons under Phillip Cocu and now Wayne Rooney, with Morris looking to find a buyer for the club.

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The Rams have seen some potential takeover deals fall through over recent times and that has now led to them being placed under administration.

 

 

Speaking to London News Online, Rowett has suggested that administration was seeming inevitable with the way things were going at Derby. While he also added that Morris had done a lot to try and take them into the Premier League early on his tenure before financial issues hit.

He also added that he hopes that the Rams can now work their way through the issues and get back on track.

He said: “It’s a really difficult one. To see a club like Derby go into administration, from the stuff I heard from behind the scenes it seems like that might have been inevitable in the end. I don’t think Mel could just have been expected to keep funding the club really to keep it where it was.

“People will have different opinions about what has happened. It is a great, great club – I spent a lot of time there as a player and a coach. It’s a club I still follow, because I live locally.

“I really hope it gets back to where it should be.

“Essentially Mel wanted to try and get the club to the Premier League and spent a lot of money early on, the intention was there to give the community that bit of pride and get the club back to the Premier League.

“I hope they can work their way out of it. On the pitch they have performed well and tried their best, which must be hard in terms of not getting distracted.”

The verdict

This will be a difficult situation for Rowett to be watching on from afar as Derby endure major issues off the field at the moment.

The Millwall manager would not have been anticipating this situation happening at Derby when he was in charge there only a few seasons ago now. However, as he suggests here it had been seeming ever more likely over the last few weeks and months.

The fashion in which Derby’s finances have spiraled out of control are worrying to see and it is now the supporters, staff and playing squad that are going to suffer through a very challenging period.

A club like Derby should not be in this position and they will hopefully be able to find the right solution to get back on track as soon as possible.

Rowett knows all about the potential that Derby has a football club and he is right to praise the players and Rooney for the work that they have been doing to not let off-the-field issues distract them on the pitch so far this term.