Derby County boss Wayne Rooney is happy to continue at Pride Park as long as he is given sufficient backing to make required changes to his squad, according to TEAMtalk.

The 36-year-old has endured major off-pitch turmoil in the East Midlands over the past year, with the Manchester United legend previously needing to contend with a transfer embargo during the summer before they entered administration in September.

Because of this and the restrictions that came with it, the Rams' manager was unable to make any additions during the January window in their fight against relegation and were forced to let more players go, depleting what was already a threadbare squad.

 

 

Despite their brave battle against the drop, their poor form in recent months ruled out any chance of them managing to pull off the great escape despite previously looking like favourites to survive in February.

Rooney has remained committed to the cause at Pride Park though, even with a takeover deal yet to be sealed, though Chris Kirchner is thought to be closing in on finalising this agreement.

As per a report from TEAMtalk though, he will demand backing from American businessman Kirchner if he is to remain head coach, with the 36-year-old needing to bring in a huge number of players to compensate for previous losses.

This report adds that he's expected to remain in the East Midlands throughout the summer period despite interest from former club United.

The Verdict:

It will be almost impossible for Rooney to do his job unless he is given the backing to make a sizeable number of additions because he won't have the squad depth or quality needed to be competing at the right end of the table.

Although some players like Curtis Davies may want to remain in the Midlands, others including Tom Lawrence may head for the exit door following their relegation to the third tier so this will give the Rams' boss plenty to be getting on with in the coming months.

Some would argue he should be realistic and accept the fact he needs to rely on some of his younger players, but many including Festy Ebosele and Luke Plange have already gone so there will be a need to invest in the academy too.

It will certainly be an unenviable task to try and get a squad of players together before the start of pre-season and because of this takeover delay, the club has probably missed out on some of their free agent targets already.

However, the prospect of playing for Rooney is an attractive one so he just needs the backing to go with it if he wants to be successful during this upcoming transfer window and beyond.