Nonsense – the story that claims Rooney will oust Cocu
IT IS quite a headline.
“Man Utd legend Wayne Rooney in line for Derby job as Rams chiefs lose patience with manager Phillip Cocu”, sits on top of an article in The Sun.
The piece claims defeat by Watford tonight could spell the end for under-fire Derby County boss Phillip Cocu and that owner Mel Morris plans to turn to player-coach Rooney if the Rams lose.
A bit of background here. Before kick off at Norwich in Derby’s last game I became aware of rumours suggesting Cocu might be under pressure should the Rams suffer a fourth consecutive league defeat, having already lost to Reading, Luton Town and Blackburn Rovers.
Derby beat Norwich 1-0 at Carrow Road thanks to a resilient performance and a quality free kick from Rooney.
The victory was a relief, as it would be for any manager and set of players on a losing run.
I was told those rumours were “utter nonsense”, and that was stressed again to me earlier this week before The Sun article appeared late last night. The message this morning remains the same.
Cocu is very much part of a longterm plan. He has impressed those at the club and let’s not forget how he handled a difficult season on and off the pitch last season. His dignified calmness was applauded by many.
Of course, all managers, not just Cocu, are judged on results and Derby have not won enough games this season. But it is still early days, there have been mitigating reasons - injuries, new faces settling in etc.
Derby won their last game and will look to build on that when Watford visit Pride Park Stadium.
Fans are unhappy with what they see as an unhelpful article and have called for the club to respond.
Now, Morris has done so, in a radio interview.
He managed to avoid his reponse sounding like the dreaded “vote of confidence” too.
“I sent the article to someone last night and said there is fake news and then there is this!” Morris told Talksport.
“If you say to me, he (Cocu) is under pressure, yes he is under pressure but he feels that pressure himself, it is not pressure we are mounting on him.
“I have been in this situation before, poor results, and, obviously, everyone wants good results but we have a good understanding of what is behind some of the results we have had so far.
“We have had lots and lots of discussions around that, lots of meetings with the team and the rest of the coaches, and we have been given lots of visibility in terms of those things.
“We are very confident we have the right plans in place to turn things around.”
Asked if Derby lose to Watford, does Cocu stay in the job, Morris replied: “Yes, absolutely, we are not even close to discussions of that sort.
“So, pressure we are talking about is we need better results but better results come from better performances.”