We usually expect that every managerial appointment is made with a long term plan in mind, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that one manager will stay in the job for long.
Sometimes a club can get itself in a mess and it needs the experience of a wise old head to come in and go back to basics in many ways. It means you won’t be treated to free flowing football, but it could be enough to prevent relegation.
That’s the situation that Derby County find themselves in now after Phillip Cocu was sacked after guiding them to the bottom of the Championship.
Wayne Rooney is one of the players tasked with taking control of the team for now, but a report from ESPN has suggested that his plans to land the job on a permanent basis could be scuppered for now.
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It’s believed that the club is set to be bought by a businessman from the UAE and their initial priority is to avoid relegation at all costs, so Rooney’s lack of coaching experience and badges is likely to count against him.
That’s not to say that he has no chance of winning the job, but it’s believed that the incoming owners are looking at other candidates who have experience of guiding a club away from the relegation zone in this situation.
Their situation is grim just now but it’s not a total disaster as a couple of wins would take them out of the relegation zone, but they do need to act swiftly.
We’ve seen it too many times where a team dithers with their managerial choices and they can be cut adrift if they take too long, so Rooney may need to focus on his playing career for now.