Post
by Paul Waine » Sat Nov 02, 2019 11:40 am
The Times, Friday 1-Nov:
Derby County sacked captain Richard Keogh as he did not wear seatbelt
Richard Keogh was sacked by Derby County for not wearing a seatbelt in a car accident that led to the arrest of two of his team-mates.
The Times has learnt of the specific details surrounding the sudden termination of the long-serving Derby’s captain’s contract after he was seriously injured in the crash in September.
Derby have not dismissed Tom Lawrence and Mason Bennett despite both players pleading guilty to drink-driving in the wake of an accident that left Keogh with a serious knee injury.
The 33-year-old is expected to be on the sidelines for 15 months and the circumstances that have led to a decision that has been condemned by other players have now emerged.
Keogh was sacked after refusing to accept a pay cut from £29,000 a week to £3,000 a week while he was out injured. Derby detailed a number of reasons why he was guilty of “gross misconduct” to explain the sacking of the central defender, who was made club captain the day after he signed from Coventry City in 2012.
Among them, The Times has been told, was his failure to wear a seatbelt to ensure his safety in a moving vehicle.
Derby have said that he has 14 days to appeal against the decision and Keogh, with the assistance of his advisers, is now consulting an employment lawyer. Sources close to the player claim that he is stunned by the club’s refusal to pay for his medical rehabilitation.
The same sources also claim that he has been a loyal servant to Derby, having never previously had any disciplinary problems with the Sky Bet Championship club. Derby stand to save about £2.5 million by sacking Keogh, who made 356 appearances for the club, as he has the remainder of this season and next on his contract.
Keogh, who has won 26 caps for Ireland, was left unconscious after Lawrence crashed into a lamppost on the A6 near Allestree, Derby, on September 24 after a team dinner.
Lawrence and Bennett both later pleaded guilty to drink-driving, but escaped with club fines of six weeks’ wages — in addition to Derby magistrates’ court ordering the players to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work, giving them a 12-month community order and banning them from driving for two years.
In a statement Derby said that they had “completed the disciplinary hearing regarding Richard Keogh in respect of his involvement in the events of Tuesday, 24 September” and that his contract had been “terminated with immediate effect”.
“As we have said from the outset, the club will not tolerate any of its players or staff behaving in a manner which puts themselves, their colleagues, and members of the general public at risk of injury or worse, or which brings the club into disrepute,” Derby said.
The treatment of Keogh has shocked some fellow professionals. Jeff Hendrick, the Burnley midfielder, and Harry Arter — who both played alongside Keogh for Ireland — have spoken out in his defence.
Arter, the midfielder on loan at Fulham from Bournemouth, tweeted: “So the one left unconscious in the car and not arrested gets sacked.”
Hendrick, who played with Keogh at Derby for four years, retweeted Arter’s post and said: “Agree. Talk about kicking a man (the captain) while he is down instead of helping him through this physically and mentally tough time.”
The club are also waiting to hear whether it will face disciplinary action from the Football League if it is deemed they have breached financial regulations.
Derby are among a number of clubs who have been accused by rivals of exploiting a loophole in the rules that has allowed them to buy their stadium to make themselves compliant.
The Football League have ordered an independent valuation of the club’s Pride Park Stadium.
Derby have consistently denied breaching any regulations.