With Derby County’s season finishing on a low point of four consecutive defeats, supporters expected significant squad improvement during the close season.

Manager Nigel Clough and CEO Tom Glick knew fans had made it clear that better players were needed, so all eyes were now focussed on the club to see if the declarations of intent would be followed up with transfer action.

Derby didn’t waste much time, as loan striker Jamie Ward, one of the few bright sparks of the season, was secured on a two-year permanent deal from relegated Sheffield United on Monday.

Many Rams fans couldn’t understand quite how struggling Blades boss Micky Adams could fall out with and discard Ward, who has been committed, busy and effective for Derby since joining on loan. He is an all-action player who scores goals and could be an important player next season.

Jamie wasn’t exactly complimentary about his treatment under Adams at Bramall Lane - and confessed he wouldn’t shed any tears about his ex-boss now being dismissed from his position as manager of the Blades. Ward wants to move on with his career and repay the Rams for showing their faith in him.

Derby agreed terms with Millwall for the other loan striker who arrived this year at Pride Park Stadium, Theo Robinson. He will join on July 1st; I can’t give Theo the same expectant fanfare that Jamie Ward was accorded, because at the moment, Robinson appears to be more of an athlete, a speed merchant, than a footballer. He needs to make his mark and become more productive.

There’s also a question mark about his commitment, having joined Millwall only weeks before he came to Derby on loan, declaring he wasn’t happy at The New Den. Derby needs settled and dedicated players, as we have endured a mixed bunch of loanees and contract-hoppers recently.

Robinson’s finishing has been dreadful on occasion; it is one attribute to arrive in a goalscoring position faster than anyone but another skill to have the composure to put the ball away and convert a good proportion of chances. He is young enough to learn through the right coaching and attitude but I cannot see him immediately as anything more than a squad player.

One Derby County arrival who is assured his place is the new goalkeeper. As anticipated, Blackburn’s England Under-21 goalie Frank Fielding agreed a three-year deal with Derby and hopefully he can make the recent instability between the posts a thing of the past. He impressed during his two loan spells at Derby.

It remains to be seen if the Rams can obtain a fee for former No. 1 Stephen Bywater, who might taste play-off glory once again during his current loan spell with Cardiff City.

As suspected, the injury-prone striker Chris Porter has not been offered a new deal by Derby. He had been prolific in bursts when fit but as Derby draft in new strikers, Porter must look for pastures anew. Young striker Gregg Mills has been released too, as has midfielder Arnaud Mendy. Derby’s loanees, Brad Jones, Daniel Ayala and Alberto Bueno will return to their parent clubs, too.

Doncaster’s Billy Sharp, one of the £1m+ strikers linked with Derby, is wanted by Ipswich Town. Tractor boys’ boss Paul Jewell, the ex-Rams boss who spent money like water (with nil result) at Pride Park Stadium, had a £2.3m bid rejected by Donny.

Rams’ centre half Shaun Barker has been confirmed as Derby County captain for 2011-12. He has the leadership qualities to take the Rams upwards; who would be vice-captain to step in if Shaun misses the start of the season? A young captain, like Miles Addison or John Brayford, perhaps?

Reserve defender Jake Buxton has had his contract extended until summer 2012.His contribution to Derby’s season in 2010-11 was a 10-minute substitute’s appearance at Bramall Lane in February. No, I couldn’t quite work that last one out, either, folks!

The current ‘new’ signings (three ex-loanees) brought in by Messrs Clough and Glick are all players that helped Derby to finish a lowly 19th in the Championship table - so fans will expect them and their erstwhile new colleagues yet to arrive to do a lot better with Derby in 2011-12.

Just as owners GSE have reinforced their backing for manager Nigel Clough, despite his poor statistics (especially this season), Clough is holding on to the players that were available to him on loan late on in season 2010-11 - so the message, for better or worse, remains ‘stick by me!’

Clough is no doubt hoping to get some continuity and team spirit together, though I’m hoping that the words to the John Holt song that I took for the title this week won’t be as unhappy: “Stick by me and I’ll stick by you, when you cry, I cry too…”

The Rams’ spin machine had its ball-bearings oiled again, as the ‘early-bird’ season ticket renewal deadline arrived this weekend - as there was a declaration that several more bids had been lodged with clubs for experienced players. Fans await some ‘roof-raising’ signings.

However, those mooted to be of interest to Derby include Watford’s John Eustace, who had a remarkably ordinary 10-game loan spell with Derby two years ago; Derby lost 6 of those games. He picked up 12 bookings this season. Quite how that signing would send the ticket office tills into a giddy spin evades me, I must say!

Eustace - though he became Watford’s Player of the Year in 2009-10 - is a merely a ‘hod-carrier’ that sometimes found the weight too heavy to carry at Derby. We will need some artisans - but please let us have a ‘artist’ or two as well for some entertainment and creativity!

Leicester City striker Martyn Waghorn, the player that the Foxes almost loaned to the Rams, is also being linked again with the Rams. City messed Derby around for a month regarding Waghorn and finally declined to let the player move on loan.

Waghorn will probably move on this summer and I expect Sven will be gone from the Walker Stadium by Christmas; the income (and pay-offs) from his usual two contracts per season funds his interesting lifestyle and he has a comprehensive wanderlust to pursue.

Meanwhile, one red-top daily newspaper claimed that Derby County are recruiting the much-travelled (and much-sacked) Paul Hart as a ‘technical director’ to reinforce Tom Glick’s backroom team; well - there isn’t really a backroom team or board at all at Pride Park Stadium for Clough to relate to beyond Moor Farm. Whether the Hart rumour is true, or indeed if there will soon be further executive local control over football matters at Derby, remains to be seen.

One ex-Ram without a club is ‘defender’ Claude ‘Clod’ Davies. He’s been released by Crystal Palace but did pay us back earlier this season for the heartache caused when appearing in Derby’s defence under previous management, when he gave us some typically comic moments playing for our opponents as we thrashed Palace 5-0 last September.

Robbie Savage may have retired from his playing days but you can’t keep him out of the news. As well as an emotional appearance on BBC1’s ‘Late Kick-Off’ Football League magazine programme on Monday, when he was surprised to be the subject of a mini-documentary, he’s just won a prestigious radio award. See the link: http://risingstar.sony.co.uk/

He’s been joint host of Radio 5 Live’s ‘606’ post-match chat show and he has scooped a Sony DAB ‘Rising Star’ Award, as has Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood in another category. There’s no doubt that Ronnie plays guitar better than Robbie played football but both guys are great on the radio (Ronnie is on Absolute Radio with a rock programme) and are fresh talents on the airwaves.

The Championship play-offs are locked in stalemate after Swansea City held Nothingham Forest to a 0-0 in Nottingham and Cardiff holding Reading to the same score, in the semi-final first legs. Next week will see the decisive return games that will decide who plays at Wembley for the prize of promotion.

It was FA Cup Final day on Saturday, with the buy-success-at-any-price Manchester City regime aiming to win their first trophy, and combative, determined Stoke City looking to upset the odds. It turned out that City lifted the trophy 1-0 with a late goal, halting brave Stoke’s hopes and making it a Manchester double as Manchester United drew 1-1 with Blackburn Rovers to pip Chelsea to the Premier League title.

The football authorities, superficially concerned about some of the status and glitter being lost from the world’s greatest football cup competition, need look no further than themselves for the reasons it is being eclipsed - as they themselves allowed four Premier League fixtures to be played on Cup Final day.

The tradition of the FA Cup Final as a special day that concludes the English football season has been sold off by weak, incompetent governance to the all-consuming television screening demands of media rights ownership. Agreement to play top-flight fixtures that are crucial to both title and relegation issues on the same day can only further degrade the famous old Cup. 

What a way to celebrate the 130th anniversary of the competition! FA and Premier League honchos should hang their heads in shame - but they will repeat the malpractice next year having said that it will help to facilitate a gap between domestic fixtures and the 2012 Euro Championships.

The English football authorities have probably also bitten off more than they can chew with the latest World Cup bidding bribes allegations scandal, after Lord Triesman’s verbal evidence to the CMS Commission.

Sunday brought intense Premier League excitement, West Ham being relegated with a game to spare after Wigan Athletic came from 2-0 down beat the Hammers 3-2.

The inquests and the repercussions will reverberate loudly around the Boleyn Ground following West Ham’s demise.

So will the sound of expensive sports cars departing as their star players demand a transfer and scoot off to alternative Premier League clubs - not to mention a depleted Championship crowd rattling around the cavernous Olympic Stadium in Stratford, East London should the Hammers fail to bounce back to the top flight rapidly!

Within half an hour of relegation, West Ham’s owners had dispensed with the services of their hapless manager Avram Grant, whom to me always looked like he’d be better suited to a role in Dracula movies. Now, Hammers’ owners Gold & Sullivan will have to rewrite their own horror script - for an escape from what they call the ‘nightmare’ of Championship football!

With just one game to go, Birmingham, Blackpool and Wigan must now battle to escape the drop - with Wolves and Blackburn hoping that they don’t get dragged back into the bottom three places.

The 2011 Carling Cup is at St Andrews, Birmingham, the Premier League trophy is at Old Trafford and the FA Cup is at Eastlands…and wooden spoons for two other Premier League relegation places remain in the balance!

But what of Derby County? Well, we’ve got The Derbyshire Senior Cup and the totesport.com Central League divisional trophy…beggars can’t be choosers, eh? Make no mistake, Rams fans will expect a bigger slice of the action next season.

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In RamsWeek 20 last season, manager Nigel Clough continued to juggle with his squad. After dispensing with Teale and McEveley, goalkeeper Lewis Price and forward Lee Hendrie also left the club.

Doncaster Rovers full-back Gareth Roberts joined the club and it was rumoured that Derby had offered £800k for the Crewe Alexandra pair of James Bailey and John Brayford. There was talk of strikers Billy Sharp or Gary Hooper joining the club - but talk was all it was.

Leicester City and the Trees were edged out of the play-offs in the second legs of the Championship semi-finals, with Agent DJ Campbell, the ex-Ram loanee, shooting Forest down for Blackpool to aim for Wembley glory!

Chelsea completed the FA Cup and Premier League ‘double’; relegated Pompey teetered on the brink of extinction and Preston North End faced a winding-up petition.

David Beckham presented FIFA with England’s World Cup 2018 ‘bid book’ and Lord Triesman resigned from his post as FA Chairman after the Sunday press had ensnared him in a bribing allegations trap.

Some things don’t change!

Photo: Action Images via Reuters

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