Three points won, £60m lost?
Derby 1 Bournemouth 0
JOHN WRAGG
WAYNE ROONEY said he will not walk out on Derby if their £60million takeover collapses.
The Rams got a lifeline on the pitch last night, but the club’s overall future is heading towards crisis.
Poland star Krystian Bielik gave Derby only their second home league win in 16 games since June, and Rooney’s first since becoming permanent boss.
It breathes fresh life into their bid to beat the drop, but a financial meltdown is looming with the possibility of Sheikh
Khaled’s big buy out not happening.
Derby are believed to be looking for other investors having begun negotiations with the Sheikh – who previously failed to buy Newcastle – in April and tiring of waiting for him to come up with the money since October.
The club has been put under a transfer embargo after being unable to pay players their wages last month, and owner Mel Morris wants out.
“I’m not aware of any change in the takeover, but I will speak to Mel Morris and our chief executive Stephen Pearce,” said Rooney.
“As far as I’m aware it is still trying to get done. My understanding is that all the paper work was signed and we are waiting for it to happen unless anything has changed during the game.” Asked if the takeover failing would change his decision to manage the Rams, Rooney added: “No, not at all.
“Ideally, I want players in, we need players in.
But if we can’t get players in, I believe in my quality to get the best out of those who are here.”
None of this felled Bielik. He took a bang on the head early in the game that needed a cuts man, a tidy up and a clean shirt with no number on it – but Bournemouth knew who he was, alright. It was a simple goal from Bielik, put in from a few feet when the Cherries failed to deal with a 32nd-minute corner.
It was also Bielik’s pass that sent Lee Buchanan away a minute earlier, which brought a good save out of Asmir Begovic. In the second half, Bielik had a powerful drive blocked and Matt Clarke had a header kicked off the line.
The Cherries have gone three games without a win now, and manager Jason Tindall said: “We are like Liverpool, we’ve gone from free scoring to not scoring.”