Sam Rush Visit

Sam Rush took time out of his busy schedule to talk to students at the University of Derby.

Sam was asked a number questions varying from his relationship with owner Mel Morris to what his thoughts are on current manager Steve Mclaren.

He wasn’t too happy about the fact that Derby have had five managers in the past 15 months, but is hoping now that Steve has returned from his stint at Newcastle and Sam believes that Steve was the reason for Derby’s resurgence in 2013, and that maybe this year will be a positive one. He wants “the season to last”, which obviously means that they are challenging the teams at the top end of the table rather than at the bottom which is where they currently occupy.

When asked whether or not the EFL Trophy will be beneficial to the clubs on both sides of the fence, he was in agreement that the competition is a great idea as it gives young players the game time that they need however the crowds have been disappointing and this is down to the structure of the competition in his opinion. Sam however, didn’t offer any concrete solutions as to how this can be rectified. He does praise the work of competition organisers of the football league and the premier league as he states that the Premier League 2 and other competitions have aided greatly with the development of Derby’s U23’s as they’ve played the big Premier League sides like Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur as well as playing international sides like PSV Eindhoven and Benfica.

He feels that Derby will be a lot better following their win against Leeds on Saturday, and he seems to think that Steve’s return will energise the place and will bring back the ‘Derby’ style of football and he still thinks that Chris Powell will still have a big part to play in the club as he is greatly respected by the club and by Mel.

Finally, Sam wanted to thank Mel for all his work he’s done for the club and that he epitomises the local man who is giving back to his local club. He has done this by putting money back into the club for its development, for example he has invested money into the academy that It’s now a category one academy, one of the very few Championship clubs with this status.