Mark Warburton issues praise for Derby County man following QPR clash

Queens Park Rangers boss Mark Warburton has praised Wayne Rooney for managing to keep his Derby County side together despite facing considerable off-field turmoil this season, speaking to the Brent & Kilburn Times.

Rooney was faced with problems from last summer when a strict transfer embargo prevented the Rams from replacing some of those who had departed during the same window, not being able to recruit the players needed to compensate for previous losses.

They started the season in a promising fashion despite this though, although there was worse to come when the East Midlands outfit were placed into administration by Mel Morris in September, something that not only caused disruption off the pitch but also on it as they were deducted 12 points.

That tally went from 12 to 21 after they were handed a fresh nine-point sanction in November for breaching the EFL’s profitability and sustainability rules – and things didn’t get much better after that despite brave on-field performances as they saw the likes of Phil Jagielka and Graeme Shinnie leave during the winter window earlier this calendar year.

This may have played a part in their poor recent form over the past couple of months, failing to do enough to force their way out of the relegation mix and after yesterday’s late loss against the R’s, they can no longer make up the deficit to survive.

However, Derby boss Rooney’s opposite number Warburton had nothing but nice things to say about the 36-year-old after the match.

He said to the Brent & Kilburn Times: “He’s probably experienced more as a manager in these nine to 12 months than most experience in nine or 12 years.

“All credit to Wayne and his staff for keeping a squad together, keeping the belief and producing the