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'Raging inside' – Our verdict on the controversy dragging Derby County's name through the mud – Derbyshire Live, Derbytelegraph.co.uk

'Raging inside' – Our verdict on the controversy dragging Derby County's name through the mud – Derbyshire Live, Derbytelegraph.co.uk


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Phillip Cocu handled a difficult press conference with impressive calmness and dignity.

Fielding questions about two of his players, Tom Lawrence and Mason Bennett, being arrested andcharged with an alleged drink-driving offencefollowing a crash on Tuesday night cannot have been easy.

TheDerby Countymanager also had to talk about his skipper Richard Keogh beingout for the season due to a knee injurysustained in what a club statement described as a“result of an alcohol-related incident”.

Cocu must be raging inside.

He must be feeling hugely disappointed and hu gely let down by those players involved, and he has every right to feel that way.

Those players have let him down.

They have also let down chairman Mel Morris, the supporters, their team-mates and themselves.

This morning, Derby County Football Club finds itself splashed over front pages for the wrong reasons. The club’s name is being dragged through the mud.

Mistakes can be made in life, and a big mistake appears to have been made in this case. There can be no sympathy.

There is plenty of anger among the fans and plenty of suggestions of the severity of punishments that should be handed out, some more severe than

This should be left to the club to decide in a composed and considered manner, and once armed with all of the facts.

Initial outcry is understandable at difficult times and in difficult situations, but then clear thinking is important.

Lawrence, 25, was the match-winner in the opening game of the season at Huddersfield by scoring two wonderful goals. The Welsh international’s form since has dropped away.

Bennett, 23, has featured in most games, but he has started just once in the league.

How

Keogh will not be able to respond this season because his serious knee ligaments injury is likely to sideline him for a year or more.

He was Cocu’s captain, an international and is one of the senior players with experience stretching over more than 600 games in his career.

With that seniority and standing comes responsibility .

The injury leaves Derby without one of their most consistent performers in Keogh.

He has been ever-present in the League and he has been one of the team’s best players in a disappointing start to the season.

Derby say the players involved in the incident on Tuesday evening will be subje ct to a rigorous internal investigation under the club’s code of conduct and disciplinary procedures, and they will pay a heavy price for their actions.

Fans have made their feelings clear . So, too, has the chairman, I understand. Their ire and frustration is understandable.

Derby sit 18 th in the Championship with just one win in the League.

Cocu is not immune to criticism when the start to the season is analysed, but he has been dealt a tricky hand in his first three months or so in the job.

Pre-season, arranged before he was appointed, felt poorly structured coming on the back of an extended season last season due to Derby reaching the play-off final.

Injuries, and players playing catch -up from injuries, have not helped Cocu, and now he is having to deal with what he described himself as “bad news and a bad situation for everybody in the club”.

It is the last thing he needs as he searches for much-needed wins.

Not all fans have warmed to Cocu, nor to the team this season because of results, but he handled a difficult situation well on Thursday.

Tough times, and this is certainly such a time, call for togetherness – and togetherness is needed now because everybody connected with the club is in need of a lift after the past few days.

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