Fri 10 Nov - Posted in Breaking News
Time to read: 3mins
After a perfect month, Gary Rowett has been named as the Sky Bet Championship Manager of the Month for October.
The Rams boss led the club to four successive wins – defeating local rivals Nottingham Forest (2-0), as well as Sheffield Wednesday (2-0), Norwich City (2-1) and Leeds United (2-1).
The run of results lifted Derby County on to the cusp of the play-off positions going into the November international break as Rowett beat off stiff competition from Phil Parkinson, Dean Smith and Ian Holloway to come out on top for the managerial award.
Speaking to RamsTV about the honour, the 43-year-old said: “It always feels strange because there are so many staff working hard behind the scenes, and the players worked hard to achieve the month that we had, so I accept it on the behalf of everybody.
“It’s been an exciting month, it looked very difficult on paper, we had two very tough away games, but we’ve had a fine set of results.
“The players are responding well, we’ve shown that we’re capable of winning games in this division, but we’ve got to maintain that consistent form and polish off some of those performances moving forward.”
George Burley, the former Rams manager, chairs the Sky Bet Manager of the Month judging panel and speaking about Rowett, he said: “Gary has shown that Derby are genuine promotion candidates in October and won maximum points from their four games.
“The squad he has built up during the summer looks strong enough to be challenging for promotion this season.”
Sky Sports’ EFL pundit Don Goodman added: “When Derby lined up against local rivals Nottingham Forest for their first game of October, it was billed as a crucial game for both managers, with the teams occupying 14th and 15th spot in the division.
“Four games later, Rowett’s Derby side put together a run of great performances and dragged themselves into the Play-Off places.''
Sky Bet EFL trader Mikey Mumford said: “Eight goals and 12 points represented a great return for Gary Rowett in October.
“The Rams boss deserves enormous credit considering the opposition the four victories came against three sides with promotion aspirations of their own.
“Rowett looks to be getting his message across at Pride Park, his side are on the cusp of the top six and have been well supported to reach the Play-Offs at 7/4 following an excellent month.
“Gary played for The Rams for three years, he’s passionate about the football club and his experience and knowledge looks like giving Derby a serious tilt at promotion.”
Richard Keogh, the Derby skipper, had also been nominated for the October Player of the Month award, but was beaten in the end by Wolves striker Leo Bonatini after the Brazilian scored five goals in just four matches.
