Derby County now find themselves standing on the very brink of the deepest black hole - and that’s not just League One.
Relegation is the very least of their problems as Wayne Rooney casts his eye in the direction of the only man who can pull them back from the edge. It's going to take the signature of American tycoon Chris Kirchner to throw them the lifeline they are so desperately looking for. Even if Kirchner seals the deal, there are untold obstacles still in the way of the crisis-hit club; not least the vultures circling looking for easy pickings on their best players.
Rooney will be praying to hang on to the likes of young stars like Jason Knight and Max Bird who have been thrown in at the deep end of a hopeless Championship relegation fight and flourished. Kirchner moved quickly after the side’s relegation was confirmed to describe what Rooney has had to contend with as an “impossible” task.
