Things do not appear to be going smoothly at Derby County at the moment.
Indeed, the only thing that looks to have gone smoothly is the club appointing Wayne Rooney as their permanent boss.
Aside from that appointment, there is a lot that isn’t running like clockwork at Pride Park.
Failures behind the scenes at Derby
The Rams are in the depths of a takeover that is yet to be resolved. A knock-on effect of that has been that the squad have yet to receive full wages for December.
The whole situation is best summed up in this tweet from the Telegraph’s John Percy:
On #dcfc ‘takeover’: players still been not paid and understand Derby have sought another loan from MSD. Money in bank now very low and a genuine threat of administration if this is not sorted ASAP.
— John Percy (@JPercyTelegraph) January 13, 2021
One of the ramifications of this is, writes The Sun’s Alan Nixon, that Derby County is in a quandary. They are seriously thinking about how to raise funds to pay these delayed wages.
What Nixon says in his story is that Wayne Rooney’s side will have to shed some players. Nixon says that the likes of Jason Knight and Louie Sibley “could be sacrificed” because of this concern.
Leeds United should steam in – Whelan
According to pundit Noel Whelan, in an interview carried by Football Insider, Leeds United should be all over Sibley in an attempt to bring him to Elland Road.
Whelan says that a certain ruthlessness is needed in matters such as this. Speaking to Football Insider, the pundit and match summariser says:
“You’re looking at deals, aren’t you? January is not a very good window to get people in so when a club is struggling financially and in the midst of a takeover, I think this is the time to strike. “
Whelan goes on to add that Sibley has been “raising eyebrows” and that he is being measured up by scouting networks and wondering whether to make that leap.
For Whelan, a former Whites striker, the answer is a very simple one: be bold and brave. He says of Sibley,
“I’m pretty sure Leeds United aren’t the only team looking at him as well. You’ve got to strike while the iron is hot and you’ve got to get in there first and make this happen.”
Whelan’s message, in light of the fact that others are likely interested, is that Leeds United cannot simply dillydally and prevaricate. For him, they need to go hard and go in fast.
