Andrew Hosking says there is 'considerable degree of interest' in Derby; Hosking says there is no doubt over the futures of Wayne Rooney and his coaching staff; Derby have been deducted 12 points for entering administration
Thursday 23 September 2021 13:02, UK
Derby administrator Andrew Hosking says tough times are ahead but the championship club does have a long-term future.
Hosking added there is no suggestion manager Wayne Rooney and his staff will not remain in place and said there was 'considerable interest' in the club.
But he also warned that the weeks and months ahead will not be easy, with the club beset by financial difficulties.
The Championship side confirmed on Wednesday that Hosking, Carl Jackson and Andrew Andronikou from Quantuma would serve as joint administrators, a move which triggered an automatic 12-point penalty from the EFL.
Derby now sit bottom of the table on -2 points, six adrift of Nottingham Forest in 23rd place.
Hosking, who confirmed he had spoken to club staff, and to the first-team squad and manager Rooney since his appointment, said: "A club of this magnitude is such that it does have a viable future moving forward.
"No one's underestimating the task ahead of ourselves, because clearly there will need to be some difficult decisions made over the coming week or two in terms of whether we need to consider if there need to be any efficiencies made during that period.
"But there is a considerable degree of interest in this club.
"A lot of it was expressed prior to (entering) administration.
"Now that the club is in administration, notwithstanding the points deduction and clearly the distress to the supporters, the staff and suppliers to the club, we do consider that the position to be able to make a successful conclusion to the story is now really very, very practical.
"We don't consider the obstacles that we face at this stage insurmountable."
Hosking was asked whether Rooney's future, or that of his coaching staff, could be in doubt, with the club unable to sell players until January.
"Not at all," he said.
"We need a manager to motivate the team and that has not come into our consideration at all."
The administrators said they would have to evaluate the necessity to approach the players over a wage cut on a month-by-month basis.
