Colin Kazim-Richards on target but Derby denied by late Coventry equaliser
Derby County 1 Coventry City 1
Wayne Rooney reiterated his desire to become Derby’s permanent manager and appealed to the prospective new owners to make a quick decision after talking up the side’s performance against fellow strugglers Coventry, even though a stoppage-time equaliser denied him a victory and stretched Derby’s current sorry form to 11 matches without a win.
“As I said before, I am confident in this role and would love to do the job,” Rooney said, having witnessed his team deliver “a much better performance” even though the outcome of his second match in interim charge was the same as the first. Then, a Wycombe Wanderers equaliser limited him to a single point last Saturday.
“It has been my ambition long term to go into management and I feel ready.”
Rooney admitted that he had been given no clear steer as to whether the takeover of the club by Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehayan, a cousin of Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour, will see him remain in charge but wants his position to be resolved as soon as possible.
“I know I will still be here as a player come what may but the quicker the new owners are in place the better, because a decision has to be made.
“I think it [the takeover] is close, hopefully very close. I have to prepare as if I will be in charge for the next game because that is what I have been asked to do and the players need to have something to work towards.
“But the quicker it is decided the more plans we can put in place for the future.”
Since Phillip Cocu was sacked just over two weeks ago on the back of Derby’s poor start to the season, former manager Steve McClaren has returned to Pride Park as technical director, which is seen by some as increasing the likelihood that Rooney will be confirmed in the post, although other sources suggest John Terry is being lined up for a first crack at management.
A win to boost Rooney’s claims seemed to be on the cards after much-travelled striker Colin Kazim-Richards scored his first goal in English football for almost eight years, heading home with seven minutes left. His last came in February 2013 while on loan at Blackburn from Galatasaray.
Teenager Jack Stretton had a chance to seal the victory but hammered against the bar before Gustavo Hamer drove home an equaliser two minutes into stoppage time to salvage a point for Coventry, who are unbeaten in four matches.
“It is frustrating because we created chances and the performance deserved the three points,” Rooney said. “But I have told the players they can go home with heads held high because they were much better than they have been of late.”
Coventry manager Mark Robins felt his side should have had a penalty in the first half when Callum O’Hare was brought down by Derby ‘keeper David Marshall but conceded that Derby should have been given one in the second half for a foul on Tom Lawrence.
Derby County (4-2-3-1): Marshall; Byrne (Davies 90), Wisdom, Clarke, Buchanan; Bielik, Bird; Holmes (Stretton 80), Knight, Lawrence (Jozwiak 80); Kazim-Richards. Substitutes not used: Roos (gk), Forsyth, Shinnie, Sibley, Whittaker, Davies, Hector-Ingram.
Coventry City (4-1-4-1): Wilson; Dabo, McFadzean, Hyam, McCallum (Ostigard 85); Kelly; O’Hare (Bakayoko 89), Hamer, Shipley (Jobello 77), Giles; Walker (Biamou 77). Substitutes not used: Camp (gk), Rose, Allen, Sheaf, Bapaga.
Referee: Dean Whitestone (Northamptonshire)
Booking: Derby: Kazim-Richards, Holmes, Bielik, Clarke. Coventry: O’Hare.
