Gary Rowett is reportedly on the verge of securing the Derby County job, and his first game could pit him against Nottingham Forest.
Gary Rowett
According to a report in the Daily Mail, Gary Rowett is already in talks with Derby County about a return to Pride Park following Steve McClaren’s sacking.
Rowett has been out of work since being controversially sacked by Birmingham earlier in the season, and understandably, other clubs have come along since his departure from St Andrew’s.
The consortium interested in buying Nottingham Forest earlier this year were keen on Rowett, according to Sky Sports, but nothing ever came of the interest as the takeover fell through, leaving Fawaz Al-Hasawi still in charge at the City Ground.
At the time, Rowett hinted to the EFL Weekly Podcast that the structure in place at Forest was what put him off taking the role.
So with the 43-year-old now seemingly set to return to the Rams (via Mail) – he made over 100 league appearances for the club as a player – he could be handed the perfect opportunity to prove that he was right to avoid Forest as his first game as Derby boss will come against Gary Brazil’s men if he is appointed this week.
A win in that game will not only keep their faint play-off hopes alive, but it will also hand the squad a major boost and leave Forest looking over their shoulder with the bottom three within touching distance.
And if a victory did act as a springboard for Derby and have the complete opposite impact on their rivals, then Rowett will surely reflect that his decision to not jump at the first job available was definitely the right one.
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