Defensive Options

Now that we have added Jason Shackell to our squad there is much debate about how our defence will line up this season.

We have many options now for all of our back four positions. Alex Pearce, Richard Keogh, Ryan Shotton, Jake Buxton, Shackell will all be vying for the two centre back positions. No doubt that Jason Shackell will be an automatic choice, but who will partner him? 

Some will select Pearce as their preferred option, but don't rule out Keogh! Now we have a top class partner for him, he could indeed be a beneficiary of Shackell's return. Could we see the return of the player who was some dominant a couple of seasons ago? I'm sure Paul Clement will have that in his thoughts! 

Of course Alex Pearce hasn't joined us to warm the bench and he will be 'chomping at the bit' to get involved. 

It looks like we finally have some good competition to take centre! Jake Buxton and Ryan Shotton I feel will play a supporting role this season and not be first choices. I feel for Buxton as he always gives us 100%. 

The options at Right Back include Cyrus Christie, Shotton again and new boy Chris Baird. The latter fir me would be the choice, however versatility is the name of his game and he could easily slot in at Centre Half too and even play in the holding role.

It's the signing of Baird that could prove to be the best overall! He ticks so many boxes and could even be Clement's choice for skipper.

Behind the defence Scott Carson and Lee Grant will be competing for the goalkeepers Jersey. Of fans I have asked so far, they are split between the two.

Our big weakness last season was at the back and we do now seem to have the players to tighten things up! 

We have many different options!

The New Faces

So far six new players have been brought into Derby's squad for the new season. I say six, but two of them were of course on loan to us towards the end of last season.

Tom Ince a record signing from Hull City joined us on a permanent basis despite competition from Newcastle United. If he can produce the same form as he did in the loan spell hie will be a very big player for us in the months ahead.

Darren Bent returns and despite us having a proven goal scorer in Chris Martin, Bent offers a different option up front.

Alex Pearce came in from Reading and I have heard mixed reports about him. Obviously as a highly rated coach, Paul Clement's more qualified than most to judge the player.

Chris Baird who can play at full back, centre half or indeed in a holding midfield role is for me the signing that just might be the one that proves its value more than the others. He is a good experienced pro and will bring some leadership to the side. A candidate for captain?

Scott Carson has had some good times over the years and is a full England international. Most fans I speak to rate him highly although his time at Wigan wasn't the best spell of his career.

Andreas Wiemann has dropped down a division to join us and surely will provide a threat when we are going forward. He didn't quite set the premier league alight and now has a chance to make progress in a side with their eye on promotion.

Hopefully a few more players will be joining the squad between now and the start of the season. Centre half is a position that we struggled at during the run in last season and we have been attempting to address this by pursuing Jason Shackell from Burnley. So far we have failed to get him and I wonder if the price on him is now higher than we are prepared to pay.

Kenny's Crap!

There has been much banter over the last week about two players. One incoming and one outgoing at Derby.

Jamie Ward has joined rivals Nottingham Forest on a free transfer and Tom Ince has joined us for a record transfer fee.

No one who knows anything about the game would put Ward as the better player. No disrespect to Wardy, but he is edging towards 30 and has struggled with injuries in recent years.

He has been a player that has helped to carry the team in recent years. He was one of very few shining lights in the team when it was a mid table side. His determination and play was often a delight to see.

He has left us with some good memories and I for one wish him well even at our biggest rivals.

Tom Ince is a player that has developed over the years into an exciting young talent. Making his name at Blackpool he had dropped out of the limelight recently. Hull City barely used him and he struggled to make an impact at Forest. That was though under the management of Stuart Pearce who's direct tactics certainly didn't compliment the sort of game that Ince plays. 

Ince was very impressive for us during his loan spell and certainly added something to the team. 

Ex Forest player Kenny Burns has used the debate to take another swipe at our club. Nothing new there but the man talks complete drivel more often than not. 

I remember one of our players getting injured away at the City Ground a few years ago. He limped off and was out for a lengthy period afterwards. Burns on a local station doubted him being injured and called him a con man!

This is a man who was pleased enough to captain our side and pick up his weekly wages when he was far past his best. In fact he didn't impress at Leeds either. He too has enjoyed ex players functions with Derby. I think if we had signed Lionel Messi he would still say that a Forest signed player was a better deal. 

So where is Kenny Burns nowadays? Managing? Coaching? Co-commentating? No! He has a small column in a local newspaper in Nottingham though we get mentioned that often in it he may as well switch to the Derby Telegraph. 

Wheeling and Dealing

Well so far this summer we have signed six players. Scott Carson, Chris Baird, Alex Pearce, Andreas Wiemann, Darren Bent and Tom Ince.

Wiiemann was for a reported 2.5m and Ince for a club record 4.75m. For the first time in many years the club do appear to be splashing the cash.

Some fans have raised concerns about meeting future Financial Fair Play Limits and question whether we could end up like our neighbours across Brian Clough Way and face an embargo for breaching the rules in the future.

This coming January sees any penalties imposed to clubs for over spending last season and we are expected to meet the limits once again.

This coming seasons spending will come into play a year in January, however rather than be limited to just 6m of losses, the rules change. 

An allowance of 13 or 39m over the past three seasons is the figure to meet. Should last seasons accounts be similar to the previous ones Derby will be approximate 24.8m under the limit with this coming seasons losses to be added. 

This does allow us quite a bit of room for manoeuvre and there is also an increased limit of investment injected by owners too.

Mel Morris has increased his stake in the club and is flexing his financial muscles, however it is believed that the club are still sticking to a planned budget and will not out the clubs finances at risk by gambling away money that will put them at risk from receiving sanctions from the league.

Revenue has been increased in recent years and the financial management of the club has been responsible. Because of this we are now in a stronger position in the transfer market. It would go against everything the club has said in the past to risk penalties by knowingly breach FFP!

It's Clement Time!

Well the worst kept secret was revealed on Monday when Paul Clement was named as the new boss of The Rams.

He comes with a wealth of experience at the highest level in club football albeit as a number two.

There is no doubting his credentials as a coach and he was indeed a lot of clubs trying to get his signature on a contract. There is however, a lot of first class coaches who failed to make it as a manager or head coach. 

I am hopeful that this isn't the case with Clement. He should have good contacts having worked at Real Madrid and he shouldn't have a shortage of players wanting to work for him.

Derby County have moved on in the last couple of years. The agenda is far more ambitious today. 

After the spending spree of Paul Jewell the books had to be put back in order. Getting the finances into a healthy state and avoiding the drop appears to have been the first part of the plan. 

We then moved on to make a serious challenge for promotion for two seasons. This as achieved as well as staying within the constraints of the financial fair play regulations. 

The task for Paul Clement will be to push on and attain premier league status. There will be more money to spend this season as the FFP rules are loosened. 

We have already been linked with several players and the signs are there that Sam Rush once to get Paul Clement and new players in place asap. 

Sack for Mac

One year after losing in the Play Off final, Steve McClaren finds himself unemployed again.

If anyone had suggested that I would be writing this back in the beginning of March I would have laughed in their face too!

Top of the division and five points clear and a squad strengthened by the aditions of Tom Ince, Jesse Lingard and Darren Bent. 

Then it all went wrong. The team looked awful on the pitch. A far cry from the football that they had played up to that point which was some of the finest I'd seen in years.

Why did it go wrong? Well, we all have our own theories and it's not a perfect science in coming to a conclusion, but in my own opinion McClaren brought about his own downfall.

Being linked to other jobs is no surprise. In fact most managers would be disappointed not to be head hunted after the way in which he turned our club round. However, not to give a simple and clear yes or no when asked about the Newcstle job to me showed a lack of respect.

It showed a lack of respect to Sam Rush who took the gamble and gave him a chance to be a number one again when other clubs were taking a wide berth. 

It showed a lack of respect to the players who had put the graft in and took his team to the top of the championship table.

It showed a lack of respect to the 30,000 fans who were packing out the iPro Stadium.

"Pure speculation" is not a definitive answer to a simple question and for that he has paid the price. His team, our team, went into free fall and he has lost his job.

I agree entirely with the decision to sack him. Once you have people doubting your commitment you are in a no win situation. 

I thank Steve for giving us some attractive football to watch, but curse his lack of judgement and respect. 

Should He Stay or Should He Go

Steve McClaren yesterday stated that he is to remain as Derby Head Coach and that the position at Newcastle never interested him. 

Now wasn't that painless! After months of speculation the rumour linking him with the Tyneside club has finally been put to bed. 

Why he couldn't have been as clear as this earlier heaven knows. Of course there are still many fans who still gave a suspicion that he was tempted to move north. 

Ever since he was answering the questions or in fact not giving a definitive answer, speculation has been rife that he would be making his way through the exit door. 

His inability to kill the rumours earlier has seen many Rams supporters lose trust in the gaffer. It's now up to him to regain that trust. Obviously he will be linked to vacant positions following his success up to March, but greater clarification sooner on his position should any other club show interest. 

What McClaren has to do now is to carefully strengthen the team in various position with defence being a priority. 

He brought in Ryan Shotton, Cyrus Chrustie, Raul Albentosa and Stephen Warnock during the season and none have proven to be up to the job thus far. 

Grant has looked awful in goal recently and we either need Eric Steele to work some magic or look elsewhere. 

There is a big job ahead! So many gaps to fill and players to offload baring in mind that financial fair play has to be complied with yet again.