Sam Rush: Rams won't be a soft touch
NEW chief executive Sam Rush has warned clubs that Derby County will not be a soft touch in the transfer market.
Transfer talk has already surrounded talented young midfielder Will Hughes and defender John Brayford.
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Sam Rush
Hughes is attracting interest from a number of big clubs in the Premier League.
He has been linked with Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, while Fulham boss Martin Jol said recently that as many as 10 top-flight clubs are watching the 17-year-old.
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The January transfer window is open and speculation is rife but Rush is in a defiant mood as he takes up his role at Derby.
"I can assure everyone that there is no way any players will be leaving this club in any way unless we decide so," he said.
"I am not joining a club that needs to sell its best assets.
"I think there is perhaps a view about Derby, that Derby could be a soft touch, that Derby is a club that has sold its assets in the past cheaply.
"If ever Derby County has been perceived to have been a soft touch before in the transfer market, those days have finished.
"Derby County is not going to be a soft touch."
Rush is the successor to Tom Glick, who left Derby in the summer to become chief commercial and operating officer at Manchester City.
Rush, who played rugby for Saracens, was previously president of the Wasserman Media Group's football division, based in London.
His role involved overseeing the management of "more than 400 of the sport's biggest stars from the US, UK and across Europe".
He is a trained lawyer, who has worked in the sports business industry for more than 15 years.
He officially started his new job earlier this week but he has been attending Derby's matches this season on a regular basis and is excited by the challenge ahead.
"It is an honour to be offered the chance to join Derby," he said.
"A huge number of things about the club appealed to me. I have had long discussions with the ownership and, for me, I am joining a club that is going forward."
On the subject of transfer speculation and reports in recent weeks saying that the club needs to raise £1.8m, Rush said: "That is absolute nonsense.
"I think it has been some years since Derby have had assets that have been courted by teams in the Premier League and other big clubs.
"It strikes me as perhaps an opportunity to look to unsettle Derby but that certainly won't be happening on my watch."
Manager Nigel Clough said there have been no bids for any of his players.
Asked after the victory over Middlesbrough if there had been a lot of scouts from other clubs at the game, Clough smiled: "Not sure. I didn't see the list but there has been at our games so far this season.
"We'll turn our phones off for a few days!"
Rush has confirmed that former chief executive of the Rams and Derbyshire County Cricket Club, Keith Loring, will spend time working with Derby in a consultancy role.
Comments
by Nicho
Saturday, January 05 2013, 12:30AM
“I think we all need a touch of reality at the moment, here's why....According to Sam Rush 50 million has been put into the club by the investers, whilst there may be some cute accounting tricks to write of their debts they will still want a return of their money.
Nigel Clough is doing a great job with the resources given to him and whilst he will have to sell some players to get back the investment, hopefully the youth academy will continue to produce some really good players for the team.
I think Nigel Clough is on the verge of turning Derby County into something really special, not just a great team but a great club, no-one wants a return to the old days of changing managers or a change of board so hopefully the Americans are good on their word that they are in it for the long haul as we need both their money and stability.
It may take Nigel Clough all of the ten year programme to achieve the clubs goals and ambitions and l hope we all can remain behind him and the team.
The present team is still very young and it is going to be a steep learning curve and with fluctuations of form but you'll see a huge difference in them when they get near playing a 100 games or so.
I know that there are many doubters out there and have their opinions but l would ask them to think for a moment...how would you run the club if you owned it?”
by Hipp0
Friday, January 04 2013, 1:08PM
“He is a trained lawyer and his job is to sound good and play things up. I sincerely hope the optimism is well founded but if we do sell, expect the reasons to be dressed up in semantics.
But give him a chance, he will be judged on his performance rather than his words soon enough”
by andrew20102
Thursday, January 03 2013, 9:10PM
“Good to have another comment from the hierarchy that the club is not looking to sell its assets anymore. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt and take them at face value for the time being. They do seem to be a genuine lot which is not an adjective I have used too often over the last 40 years when weighing up Derby's boardroom members.
What a player Will Hughes is! I see Barcelona on the box over here in Spain every week and Messi can't top that run of Hughes into the Leeds box the other week. Hughes kept the ball glued to whichever foot was furthest away from the incoming tackles as he sprinted into the area before unleashing a piledriver that came back off the post. And what about his 30 yard run without the ball to make a fantastic sliding tackle in the same match? Messi never does that so Hughes could end up being priceless. He must be worth £10 million today; £15 million by the summer and £20 million by the summer following, 2014. We should hold on to him until then and hopefully he will stay at that time because he will have helped to get us back into the Premier League.
The team is knitting together really well now and large strides forward are happening. Keep it together and continue to improve areas as and when necessary and the club will be back in the Premier League for a very long time before long.”
by sjn50
Thursday, January 03 2013, 9:08PM
“at least when we were the worst side in history, we didnt slide all the way to the 3rd div like florist and then get beat in the play-offs by the mighty yeovil.”
by wilko10
Thursday, January 03 2013, 8:47PM
“Hollowway is chancing is arm with a bid like that for Bryson, hope rush tells palace to take a running jump”
by staffsram
Thursday, January 03 2013, 7:33PM
“Well if that's correct then the test of Mr Rushs' resolve has come a lot sooner than he would have liked.”
by ramification
Thursday, January 03 2013, 7:05PM
“According to 5 Live Palace have have put in a bid os £600,000 for Bryson (dont like the sound of that)”
by bogwashram
Thursday, January 03 2013, 2:47PM
“This is along the same lines as Glick's opening statement, and plenty of statements after. He is the face of the board, so he will be breaking good and bad news to the fans. He needed to open well and say there is no deficit to cover, but essentially we know from his job posting online that he is expected to invest in, build, and capitalise on young players. So, Hughes is his first test. We need to hold on to him for as long as possible while also making sure we get a good price if (and unfortunately when) we do sell.
I will not be coming back to quote this when we do sell Hughes, it was necessary to inform other clubs we are not skint and that they can get a cheap deal. Good first hand, Mr Rush.”
by MISTAWOOD
Thursday, January 03 2013, 1:02PM
“Whenever we do sell Will Hughes it absolutely has to break the record fee we received for Seth, which was £7m.
Anything less and I reckon we'd be guilty of being 'a soft touch' once again.”
by ramification
Thursday, January 03 2013, 12:36PM
“Jmaddog Thank you for the congratulations can i thank you Florists for spending 3years out of the last 6 in Div3 well done”