Earlier this season I discussed in this column my surprise at how slowly the Rams were becoming Steve McClaren’s team, in as far as the signings he had made.

An example is the team which faced Fulham in the home Championship match on 23rd August; even though Steve had been manager for close to a year, the starting eleven contained only one McClaren signing, Cyrus Christie.

The other ten starters were all Nigel Clough signings. What made this unusual is that managers generally want to impose their personal stamp on the team by quickly replacing the players they inherited with players of their own choosing.

Clough himself looks to have brought in about twenty players since he became Sheffield United manager shortly after McClaren took the Derby job. The number of McClaren signings in the team is growing, but only slowly.

The starting eleven on the weekend against Birmingham, contained just four McClaren signings in Christie, Albentosa, Mascarell and Ince. Is this a good or bad thing?

Last season, McClaren loan signings made significant contributions to the Rams, with Andre Wisdom, George Thorne, and Patrick Bamford all doing well. This season Jordan Ibe, Tom Ince and Darren Bent have made useful contributions.

But what of the permanent signings Steve has made?

By my reckoning, Steve McClaren has made seven permanent signings; Cyrus Christie, Lee Naylor, Ryan Shotton, Raul Albentosa, Stephen Warnock, George Thorne and Simon Dawkins.

I was not sure whether Zak Whitbread qualified as a McClaren signing, so I made an executive decision to omit him. Also, I have not included Alefe Santos, Ivan Calero and others who were signed to the development squad.

So, what of my Magnificent Seven? Cyrus Christie started brightly, but is having some struggles maintaining his regular right-back spot. Ryan Shotton has generally been a utility backup defender rather than a regular.

George Thorne has tragically missed all but two Championship matches this season due to injury. Simon Dawkins is obviously a talented player, but has rarely looked like becoming a first team regular. Warnock has yet to start a league match, while Albentosa has started once in the league. Lee Naylor — and I mean the bloke no disrespect — was a waste of money.

In short, not one of Steve’s permanent signings has yet made a sustained contribution to the Rams. The transfer fees paid for these seven totals somewhat over five million pounds, yet the heavy lifting at Derby is still being done by Clough signings.

Where is the Chris Martin in this Magnificent Seven? Where is the Jamie Ward or Johnny Russell? Where is the Craig Bryson, John Eustace or Craig Forsyth?

All of us are looking closely at the league tables and the upcoming fixtures, to try and determine how the season might finish for the Rams. Will our club be playing in the Premier League next season or the Championship?

None of us knows, but one thing is for sure: wherever the Rams play next season, we are going to need to sign players who are more effective than Macca’s Magnificent Seven have shown us so far.

Photo: Action Images

Derby County Polls