Odds for Derby Country to Stay Up

And other crazy football bets

It’s fair to say that Wayne Rooney is doing a decent job at Derby County under the circumstances. Despite all that’s going on behind the scenes with the financial issues and players leaving left, right and center, the former Manchester United, Everton and England striker has devoted himself to a seemingly lost cause.

But is it really a lost cause?

Derby were hit with a 21 points deduction at the start of the season, which everyone logically assumed had resigned them to relegation before a ball was kicked. Despite this though, Wayne Rooney has kept his side ticking over - and their win over Sheffield United on Saturday saw them move off the bottom for the first time this season.

The Rams have won four of their last five games - drawing the other one - meaning that they are now the most inform team in the Championship outside of the top 6. They now sit above Barnsley, second from bottom, on 14 points.

If it weren’t for the points deduction, they would currently be 11th in the table, just seven points off the playoff spots. This is all quite remarkable for a club that is crumbling behind the scenes.

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Can Derby County really stay up?

There is a fairytale element to this story, conjuring up images of man-of-the-people, and fabled warrior, Wayne Rooney, leading his band of downtrodden misfits into battle against the odds and triumphing of stronger, superior, and better armed foes.

However, for all the good work that has been done thus far under the circumstances, we do have to look at the reality. The Rams are still eight points short of safety and both of the other two teams in the bottom three, Peterborough and Barnsley, have two games in hand on them. Additionally, the four teams currently sitting above the drop zone all have a game in hand over Derby as well.

But let’s swing the pendulum back in a more positive direction

Four of the five teams currently sitting above Derby are winless in their last five, while Derby are undefeated in their last five, with four wins and a draw. If Derby can continue their recent run of form under Wayne Rooney while the others continue to flounder, then climbing out of the bottom three come the early onset of Spring isn’t totally out of the question.

Derby Country to stay up - betting odds

As things stand, Derby County is still odds on for the drop with the majority of UK bookmakers, with some not even taking bets on them going down. That being said though, there are some bookies who now have Barnsley tipped ahead of them for the drop, at odds as short as 1/6.

A big factor on Derby Country staying up will be whether or not they can hold on to their manager Wayne Rooney until the end of the season. Rooney is currently the favourite to get the Everton job on a permanent basis at odds of 5/2 with Betfred.

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However, there are reports strongly suggesting that Wayne Rooney is willing to stay at Derby County until the end of the season. Everton have announced the appointment of Duncan Ferguson as an interim manager for the next few games, but it is as yet unsure if he’ll remain in charge until the end of the season.