Kelly`s eye number two at Rams?

The saga continues for the Rams over David Kelly`s move to Pride Park to be Billy Davies number two, and the Rams boss believes the situation has reached breaking point.

Davies wants Kelly, with whom he worked at Preston North End, as his assistant manager at Pride Park. Kelly was disappointed when he was overlooked for the top job at Deepdale when Davies left last year and the job was given to former Ram Paul Simpson. He has been on ‘gardening leave’ since then and Simpson has said he doesn`t want him involved at Preston.

Davies said that Rams chairman Peter Gadsby had contacted his opposite number at Preston, Derek Shaw, in an attempt to resolve the matter. ‘The chairman is in talks with the Preston chairman and we are trying to reach an amicable agreement to get David Kelly out,’ said Davies.

‘The board are now putting immense pressure on me to move on and bring in an assistant manager if this can’t sort itself out in the very near future.
‘David Kelly understands that, I understand that and I’ve not got a problem with it because I won’t go into the new season without an assistant manager and we are now at breaking point.

‘I have told Ned he is one of three very good options. I have approached the other two and spoken to them.
‘It is now time to stop playing games, to be quite frank. If it can be done, I will be delighted because he is the one that I want.

‘But if it can’t be done, he knows that I need to move on and appoint someone else.
‘It’s got to happen quickly. We are talking days now – by the weekend without doubt. He knows the situation.
‘We are not calling anyone’s bluff. We are in negotiations and it is either a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’. If it is a ‘yes’, I will be delighted to welcome him into the club.’

Davies added; “If it wasn’t my former club it would have been done by now.
‘Now we’re in two different leagues, and I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way, I’m hoping that will help the matter.

‘Ned has got a contract at Preston. He has never broken that contract and now they have got an agreement to sort out between them.
‘Derby County want to take him on and we have made an offer to do a deal with Preston.
‘Until they can get together and negotiate whatever they have got to negotiate, it is a Catch-22 situation.’