DERBY FAN'S VIEW: disloyal Rowett is jumping ship when we need stability

Yesterday, I warned Derby Cvounty fans to be careful what they wish for because a section of them have been complaining about manager Gary Rowett's style of football all season.
If he jumps ship, Gary Rowett can expect a chorus of boos from Derby fans when Stoke City visit next season, says our blogger Andy Buckley-Taylor. (PHOTO BY: Mark Fear Photography).If he jumps ship, Gary Rowett can expect a chorus of boos from Derby fans when Stoke City visit next season, says our blogger Andy Buckley-Taylor. (PHOTO BY: Mark Fear Photography).
If he jumps ship, Gary Rowett can expect a chorus of boos from Derby fans when Stoke City visit next season, says our blogger Andy Buckley-Taylor. (PHOTO BY: Mark Fear Photography).

As his appointment at Stoke City edges closer, perhaps it’s time for those of us who backed Rowett when things weren’t going well to have our say.

In January, when he was linked with the Stoke job, he signed a lucrative new contract to keep him at Derby until 2021. Two of his quotes at the time were:

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“I’m massively committed to getting this team back into the Premier League. Whether that is quickly or whether it’s a few years. That’s the aim, that’s the plan.”

“I’ve got a really good relationship with the team and people at the club, so for me, it was a natural thing to do.”

Rowett also told the media that Derby was the job he wanted.

As we often find, and is certainly the case here, words are very cheap, and loyalty is becoming extinct more quickly than a white rhino! He has jumped ship just at a time when the club needs stability.

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It looks like the team will face a tremendous challenge to avoid dropping into the bottom half of the division next season and perhaps Rowett simply hasn’t the bottle for the challenge. I feel his actions are of an opportunist and someone who can pump out words to suit the occasion.

He was respected as a player and was liked by the majority of the crowd. The operative word there is ‘was’. The Derby supporters hate disloyalty and when he visits with Stoke, he can expect a chorus of boos!

Yes, Stoke are going to have a massive budget with which to bounce straight back into the top flight, but nothing is guaranteed. Ask those who have failed and there are plenty of them.

I’ve nothing against Stoke as a club, but if Rowett isn’t a success, there will be more than a few sniggers coming from Derby.