Middlesbrough centre-back Sol Bamba has said Wayne Rooney is in a personal 'win-win' situation at fellow Championship side Derby County because of the Rams' current situation, speaking on the BBC Football Daily Podcast.

The East Midlands side currently sit at the bottom of the table going into this afternoon's tie away at promotion-competitors Sheffield United, after formally going into administration this week and automatically being deducted 12 points.

With this, they are currently nine points adrift from safety and are set to be docked a further nine points for breaching financial rules, all but consigning them to relegation this term barring a miracle.

This is a major shame for a Derby County side that had started reasonably well despite their transfer restrictions, only being able to recruit five new players after losing six loanees from last term and several other players on the expiration of their contract, including Martyn Waghorn.

They suffered further blows with an injury to Jason Knight in pre-season and Colin Kazim-Richards being stretchered off with an Achilles injury during the 2-1 loss against Peterborough United last month.

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For the East Midlands side as a whole, this has been a catastrophic past few months but Middlesbrough defender Sol Bamba sees one positive from his situation for Wayne Rooney individually.

Speaking about the situation on the BBC Football Daily Podcast, Bamba said: "Now he’s (Rooney) manager, he’s doing his best, he’s doing well, but what else can he do?

"It’s his first job. He doesn’t want to look like he’s leaving the ship when the ship is in trouble.

"He’s in a good position because, either way, he’s winning.

"Everyone is going to say ‘Derby are in trouble, it’s nothing to do with Wayne Rooney’."

The Verdict:

You can understand where Bamba is coming from and if you look at it in a cynical way, this is a free hit for Rooney to work with his side and gain more managerial experience without the usual pressures it brings.

So for him, it will be a major benefit for the long-term future and with the current situation they're in, he's unlikely to get sacked before the end of the season. And it wouldn't make sense for him to jump ship with no other opportunities seemingly coming his way right now.

However, you have to feel for him to some extent, though many would feel a lot more sympathy for the staff around the club who are currently in danger of losing their jobs because of their administration.

Not just the players, but ordinary people who rely on their respective roles at the East Midlands side to put food on the table for their children, refuel their cars, pay their mortgages and deal with the other costs in life.

Considering how friendly Rooney seems to be with those people, he will be feeling that anguish and morale in the dressing room will inevitably be low after this week's news about the points deduction. So it's not the perfect situation for the 35-year-old, despite one individual benefit.