Wayne Rooney has opened up on what it was like to be Derby County’s manager during their period of heavy points deductions, which eventually led to them being relegated to League One.
The Rams’ stint in the third tier of English football looks set to end this weekend, as all they need is a point at home to Carlisle United, who are bottom of the league, to secure promotion back to the Championship. But the journey down to this level certainly won’t be forgotten.
Derby had a total of 21 points taken off their tally in the 2021/22 season. They were handed nine for breaching profit and sustainability rules, and then another 12 when the club went into administration, as per the Derby Telegraph.
Had they not been given these heavy penalties, then they would have finished 17th in the second tier, instead of 23rd.
| Championship table (2021/22) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | P | GD | Points | |
| 20 | Birmingham City | 46 | -25 | 47 |
| 21 | Reading | 46 | -33 | 41 |
| 22 | Peterborough | 46 | -44 | 37 |
| 23 | Derby County | 46 | -8 | 34 |
| 24 | Barnsley | 46 | -40 | 30 |
The man in charge of Derby’s team, at the time, was the former Man United and England legend. This was his first job as a manager in professional football, and, even though he wasn’t able to save them from going down, the now 38-year-old made a right good go of it.
The former Rams boss has opened up on what it was like to be at the helm of a team that was in freefall due to its financial issues.
Wayne Rooney on what it was like to be Derby manager during points deductions
The former England striker served as one of the pundits for the Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool on Wednesday night. Everton has faced two points deductions this season due to financial rule violations, resulting in an eight-point deduction from their total.
During the broadcast, presenter Kelly Cates asked Rooney about his experience leading Derby during challenging times, similar to what his childhood club Everton is currently undergoing. “It’s challenging,” remarked the former Birmingham City manager. “We faced it in two separate instances at Derby. First, we had 12 points deducted, followed by another nine points a few months later.
“It’s extremely tough for everyone involved at the club. Staff members were losing their jobs, facing redundancies. All we could do was maintain calmness and be transparent with the players and staff about the situation, providing them with as much information as possible.”
“I believe Sean [Dyche] has done an excellent job [with Everton]. Without [the points deduction], they would have been comfortably safe. So, I commend him for his work.”
When asked by Jamie Carragher if he used the deductions as motivation for the players, he responded: “I believe in fostering a strong mentality. [Jose] Mourinho excelled at this by instilling an ‘everyone is against us’ mindset. While we do try to cultivate that, I preferred not to dwell on it too much.
“I focused more on positivity. We could control what happened on the pitch, but there wasn’t much we could do about off-field matters.
“I encouraged the players based on their training, my belief in their abilities, and how well I felt they could perform. So, my approach was more about providing encouragement.”
Wayne Rooney almost keeping Derby up should be talked about more
Seven points. That was the gap between Derby and safety in the 21/22 campaign. That’s only a third of the amount of points that they had been deducted across the season.
Overcoming a points deduction isn’t easy. Yes, teams like Everton, and Reading in the EFL, have been able to do it this season, and their siege mentality, as Rooney referred to, will have helped them a lot. But that doesn’t take away from the mammoth challenge that the Evertonian was asked to overcome at Pride Park.
Before their relegation, Derby narrowly avoided dropping down a division by just one point. If Sheffield Wednesday hadn’t faced an 18-point deduction that season, Derby would have been relegated a year earlier.
Rooney didn’t have a star-studded team to work with. The squad wasn’t as strong as the 2018/2019 team that reached the playoff final but lost to Aston Villa.
Despite this, Rooney managed to improve the team’s performance by effectively adding 11 points compared to the previous season.
Unfortunately, this improvement wasn’t sufficient to prevent relegation. However, it’s important to acknowledge that they were on the brink of survival despite facing severe penalties, including two points deductions.
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