The Dutch media were very protective of Phillip Cocu when he took over at Derby County.
After a ‘hellish’ time in charge of Fenerbahce, when the manager lost the dressing room and was subject to overbearing outside pressures, it was insisted Cocu had asked for ‘guarantees’ that he wouldn’t be undermined.
At the time, De Telegraaf stated about the problems at Fener: ‘The three Turkish trainers in the staff had made a conspiracy against Cocu and his assistants. They constantly provided secret information from the dressing room to the outside.’
There was worry that Cocu being forced to have an Englishman on his coaching staff would make the same scenario possible again. Not so long after he took over, Cocu was presented with player-coach Wayne Rooney, which obviously prompted further worry in the Netherlands.
Inevitably, Rooney is mentioned as a possible successor, but there appears to be calm from Cocu’s camp this time, with no messages being sent to the Dutch media to defend him.
That would suggest that regardless of Derby’s current situation, the manager himself, and those who represent him, haven’t been informed of an impending exit.
