Profiles: The Men Supporting Gary Rowett

On Tuesday morning, Gary Rowett was confirmed as Derby County’s new manager.

The 43-year-old, a former Rams player between 1995 and 1998, has joined the club on a two-and-a-half-year contract and as part of the deal, he has implemented his own trusted backroom team to assist him moving forward.
Whilst Kevin Phillips retains his role, Kevin Summerfield (assistant manager), Mark Sale (first team coach) and Kevin Poole (goalkeeping coach), Joe Carnall (head of performance analysis) have all been behind Rowett from his days at Burton Albion, so dcfc.co.uk has taken an in-depth look at who the three men who are following the club’s new manager to support him once more in his latest venture…


The first thing to say here is that there were no obvious connections between Summerfield and Gary Rowett prior to when they worked together at Burton Albion.
Appointed as assistant manager in 2012 after he moved from Tranmere Rovers, Rowett wanted someone with experience and, importantly, a man who could get the job done.
He said at the time: "What I think I had to do with this appointment was not go down the route of bringing in someone who was a mate of mine that perhaps couldn't do the job well.
"The crucial thing we needed to add to the team was experience, someone who has experience at this level and at higher levels and has a good idea of what it takes to get promotion.
"He's a good guy to have in the office. He's good fun, he's got a really nice character about him. And he's got the experience and success as an assistant."


Prior to working with Rowett, Summerfield achieved promotion on three occasions – with Plymouth Argyle in 2002, Sheffield Wednesday in 2005 and Swindon Town in 2007.
He came to close to adding a fourth with Rowett as their first spell working together proved to be a fruitful marriage, as they led the Brewers to two play-off finishes, narrowly missing out on promotion to Sky Bet League 1 on both occasions.
He moved with Rowett to Birmingham in October 2014 as his assistant once more and left St Andrew’s alongside him in December 2016.
As a player, Summerfield enjoyed a 19-year career in the game that saw him play for seven clubs – taking him from the West Midlands, to the Welsh Capital and the south-coast.
Beginning at West Bromwich Albion as a trainee, he went on to play for Birmingham City, Walsall, Cardiff City, Plymouth Argyle and Exeter City and Shrewsbury Town as a forward and midfielder – amassing nearly 400 career appearances.


Derby’s new first team coach's association with Rowett goes right back to 1991, when their paths crossed at Cambridge United during the 1991/92 campaign – where they worked under John Beck’s Machiavellian tactics, but it appears that their former boss has had a big influence on their respective coaching careers.
“I was talking about this with Mark Sale. He played under John at Cambridge and Preston. We look back at those times and, as crazy as it was, we’ve both taken a hell of a lot from Becky,” Rowett explained.
“I know what people say about John’s philosophy. And yes, he did like a direct game. But it was largely based on statistics, which is interesting now, isn’t it?
“One thing is certain, though. Anyone who was at Cambridge will look back and respect what he gave us in terms of ethics and standards. John taught us the value of work, of togetherness, of being a team. It got us all a long way.”
Fast forward 18 years and they were reunited in 2009, when Rowett’s coaching career began with Burton Albion. Sale was the Brewers’ youth team manager at the time.


From there, Rowett made Sale his first team coach after he took up the managerial reins in May 2012 and the pair have worked together closely ever since, holding the same role at Birmingham City.
Described as a typical football journeyman, he was giant forward that represented 16 clubs in a career that stemmed over 17 years.
His most notable success came with Colchester United where he helped the U’s achieve promotion from the Third Division via the play-offs.
Sale was also promoted with Northwich Victoria from Conference North towards the end of his career in 2005/06.
During his playing days, the Burton-born striker was told he had Hodgkin’s Disease, cancer of the lymph nodes, in December 1999 – at the age of 27 – but went on to make a full recovery after undertaking chemotherapy.


Out of three coaches joining Rowett at Derby County, Kevin Poole is a name that Rams supporters will recognise the most.
He was brought to Pride Park Stadium in 2005 by Phil Brown as a goalkeeping coach, although he was also a registered as a player too – at the age of 42 – and went on to play seven times as Derby staved off relegation.
He wasn’t done there and was actually still playing at the age of 50 as he turned out on the substitutes bench for Burton Albion in a League 2 game – his manager at that time? Gary Rowett.
At that time, he said: “Kevin has been joining in with training occasionally and he’s still really sharp.


“As a League Two club, we don’t have the money to bring somebody in for a month when we need a bit of extra cover now and then.
“He’s been costing us a fortunate in chocolate Hobnobs – that’s what I used to persuade him.
“Pooley probably wasn’t that keen to come back, because at 50 he probably feels he’s not up to it.”
The pair were placed in temporary charge of the Brewers in 2012 and after Derby’s new boss got the permanent job at the Pirelli Stadium, Poole reverted to being his goalkeeping coach – a role he also held when he moved with Rowett to Birmingham City.
Rowett and Poole also played together at St Andrew’s for two years between 1998 and 2000 and the Blues are just one of nine clubs the goalkeeper turned out for over his prolonged career.

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