Relief at last; the football season is back after four months of utter boredom.

Hold on...Euro 2008?! When was that? Seriously though, were any of us really that interested in the European Championships? Sure there was some good football on display and yes I won a tidy sum thanks to Spain's triumph but aside from that it didn't really mean anything to me; without being able to watch England the tournament seemed dull and lifeless and whilst St. George's involvement in international competition usually ends in tears, at least it evokes a bit of emotion.

With that in mind the return of domestic action is almost enough to bring a joyous tear to the eye. The Rams of course are back in the second tier of English football after last season's utter debacle and even the most disinterested of Derby fan will have noticed things have changed some around Pride Park, both on and off the pitch.

THE BOSS

We'll start with the manager, Paul Jewell, the man who made the awful career move of taking over the USS Derby County last November under the pretence that everything about the club was geared towards top flight success, everything aside from the players that is. The likeable Scouser probably knew from the off that we were going to be relegated but even he couldn't seem to quite come to terms with the spinelessness and lack of effort that permeated the Rams squad of season 2007/2008.

With that in mind Jewell decided not simply to revamp the squad but replace it and set about making eleven (soon to be twelve) new signings in order to put together a side worthy of the shirt that the previous incumbents seemed to wear with complete disregard for anything but their own worthless hides.

Jewell had made no secret that promotion is this seasons target and he's never been one to mince his words or make false promises; this team is intended to win and whilst it is unlikely that so many new faces will all bed in seamlessly from the start, the clear aim is to provide enough competition for places so as to force every member of the playing staff to fight for their place; something they just didn't have to do last season.

The new arrivals, aside from Andrey Pereplotkin, and deportees are listed below, you probably know them all by now but here they are for the sake of an organised article: -

INS: Rob Hulse (Sheffield United, £1.75m), Liam Dickinson (Stockport County, £750k), Steve Davies (Tranmere Rovers, Tribunal), Kris Commons (Them, Free), Paul Connolly (Plymouth Argyle, Free), Paul Green (Doncaster Rovers, Free), Martin Albrechtesen, Jordan Stewart (Watford, Free), Ruben Zadkovich (Sydney FC, Free), Nathan Ellington (Watford, Loan), Przemyslaw Kazmierczak (Porto, Loan).

OUTS: Rob Earnshaw (Them, £2.65m), Kenny Miller (Rangers, £2m), David Jones (Wolverhampton Wanderers, £1m), Craig Fagan (Hull City, £750k), Ben Hinchcliffe (Oxford United, Free), Darren Moore (Barnsley, Free), Lee Holmes (Southampton, Free), Michael Johnson (Notts County, Free), Marc Edworthy (Released), Jason Beardsley (Notts County, Loan), Mo Camara (Blackpool, Loan).

Quite a list I'm sure you'll agree and there should be quite a few more kicked out in the coming weeks; Jewell has issued thirty-one squad numbers which represents a squad that is far too large given the financial constraints of life outside of the Premiership. I would expect another six or seven to be gone in the next six months with the likes of Stephen Pearson, Benny Feilhaber, Andy Todd, Gary Teale and Eddie Lewis simply overcrowding Moor Farm's admittedly numerous training pitches.

THE CAPTAIN

When I sat down to start writing this article the Derby County captain was still officially Robbie Savage but that is now no longer the case with Paul Jewell stating in the DET this morning that Alan Stubbs will be wearing the armband from here on in. Stubbs was the only real choice for me going into this season with Savage's future uncertain and pre-season choice Lewin Nyatanga not really a serious candidate.

Stubbs is a real backs-to-the-wall leader, a veteran who knows where to be and what to do and who carries himself with the air of solid professionalism that is noticeably absent from Mr. Savage's repertoire, especially given that appears that the blonde bomber has kicked up at not being an automatic first choice in Paul Jewell's team.

The only problem I can see for Alan Stubbs is fitness; the Championship season is a marathon and there are often three games each week. I would seriously doubt that Stubbs will be able to maintain that sort of the schedule without breaking down so expect to see the captain left out on occasion when the fixtures start piling up.

THE FINISHERS

Goals win games apparently; a little known fact that is backed up by our exploits last season when we managed just twenty league goals and unsurprisingly won just the one game. Rob Earnshaw and Kenny Miller were brought in to stick the ball in the net and five goals and a net loss of £1.4m a year later they're out as part of the summer purge.

To replace them Paul Jewell has clearly gambled; Rob Hulse, Tito Villa, Nathan Ellington and Liam Dickinson are our attacking quartet for this season and whilst that looks a quality group on the face of it, they each carry significant question marks: -

Villa made a decent impression last season, particularly in the air, but it's far from guaranteed that the surprisingly small Argentinean is going to cut it in English football. I personally believe he will but until he does, he has to remain a question mark. Tito is unlikely to be considered first choice however and will probably get more time to adapt coming off of the bench.

The first choice pairing will surely be new arrivals Rob Hulse and Nathan Ellington, the pair that have started the last three friendlies. Both come with impressive track records and who should be in the prime of their careers. However, both of these careers have taken a step backwards in the past eighteen months; Hulse suffered that horrific double leg fracture at Stamford Bridge and returned to last season only to make twenty-four appearances without scoring whilst Ellington has never hit the heights since his free scoring Wigan days, notching just four goals last season at Watford.

Both come with promise though; Hulse has scored plenty in spells with West Brom, Dirty Leeds and indeed Sheffield United and appeared to still be recovering for the better part of last season. He's looked fit and sharp in his appearances this preseason and should be the perfect target man for whom this season's key man, Nathan Ellington, can play off.

Ellington is for me the key to success this season, the difference between promotion and mid-table drifting, more so than Kris Commons or even Giles Barnes. Ellington, when on form, should be a twenty-five goal striker in this league and has been in the past and if he can be again then the Rams should have what no-other team in the league (aside from possibly Birmingham) has; the ability to score a shed-load of goals.

The last member of what is a potentially devastating quartet is Liam Dickinson who comes in from Stockport County on the basis of a tremendous showing in last season's League Two playoffs. Dickinson appears to be a rising star within the English game, jumping from non-league to Stockport to us in just three seasons and has the attributes to go to the very top.

Dickinson comes with both pace and power and towers over most professional footballers; if he can adjust to the difference in quality that comes with being a Championship striker then it's possible that Dickinson could in time mean more to us than any of the others or he could fail to bridge the gap and become Izale McLeod, such is the fine line between success and failure, international stardom or lower league mediocrity.

So if things play out like we hope goalscorers shouldn't be a problem; we have four players who all offer something different and have something to prove, a theme which is something of a constant in Paul Jewell's new look squad.

THE PROVIDERS

Ok so we might have just have the strikers but who is going to create the chances? Who is going to chip with that ten or so goals from midfield that make all the difference?

May I present Kris Commons; you may have heard of him and who he used to play for. Commons is the man on whom Paul Jewell will rely on to provide that something special, that trick or pass that opens up the opposition. Commons is sort of player whom the promotion candidates look to in order to put us above the mid-table hoof-mashers that saturate the second tier.

Commons is obviously not a sure thing given his injury history and questionable work ethic but he has ability; the ability to go past defenders and make something happen. We had no such player last season once it became apparent that David Jones wasn't going to be considered. Giles Barnes was that man the last time we were in the Championship and I look forward to seeing both of them in the same team.

Kris Commons is vital to this season, as its unlikely Barnes will be at the club once the January transfer window is shut, but he is thankfully not alone; he has help in the form of young Steve Davies, a very talented youngster in from Tranmere.

Davies has looked very promising this pre-season, scoring a belter at Burton and impressing with his ability to run at defenders and cause problems with his movement and intelligence. In fact he looks much like another former Tranmere star, Wigan's Jason Koumas and if turns out to be anything like the Welsh playmaker Paul Jewell may have found himself another star out of almost nothing.

Also coming in to cause some damage will be Latvian winger Andrey Pereplotkin, who should join on loan later this week. All we've seen of the little twenty-three old is an hour's showing against Utrecht but if that's anything to go by then Pereplotkin could be another gem in the making.

Of course I've only barely mentioned Giles Barnes who if fit and ready to play for this club is probably the best player in the Championship; however we know what he offers and since I doubt he'll be here much longer I haven't got an awful lot to say other than it would be interesting to see Jewell fit Commons, Barnes, Davies and Pereplotkin into the same side, which shows just how much depth we may actually have all of a sudden.

I would expect Commons and Barnes to be starting if fit whilst Davies and Pereplotkin may have to get used to coming off the bench for at least the first half of this season which strikes me as being no bad thing.

THE ENGINE ROOM

So now we can create and score goals; excellent. Now who's going to do all the donkey work in midfield? On the face of things it would appear Paul Green and Przemyslaw Kazmierczak are earmarked for that duty; Green comes in on a free from Doncaster whilst Kaz is on loan from Porto.

From what I've seen Green is more the terrier type that Robbie Savage was supposed to be; he's been the best player on display in the friendly's I've seen and appears quite ready to make the jump up to Championship football.

On the other hand Kaz seems the sit-and-dictate type, bringing the ball out of defence and starting attacks off from a deeper midfield position. The Polish international has understandably looked somewhat off the pace since his arrival and it make take a little while for him to adjust to the speed of the English game.

He will definitely need to be stronger than he was against Utrecht when he sometimes looked a soft touch despite his massive stature but then it's hard to judge with friendly games. Come Saturday we'll start finding out just what we've got here.

Then of course we come to Robbie Savage...

THE MALCONTENT

Savage is paid approximately £25k a week to dominate midfield and provide an inspirational presence on the field for the Rams; thus far he's done neither and now appears to have thrown a hissy fit at not being an automatic first choice.

Whilst a great portion of Ramkind would like to see Savage gone it strikes me that we need someone like him but I don't see how we can afford to pay Premiership wages for a player to simply sit on the bench. Paul Jewell is saying all the right things about how Savage is the same as everyone else and that he should simply knuckle down and win his place but since when has Robbie Savage been just another player? The spotlight follows him around and always will do and he has always been the centre of attention; that he appears not to be at the moment appears to have riled the former Leicester hatchet man enough for Paul Jewell to strip him of the captaincy in favour of Alan Stubbs.

I'm not really sure what to make of the whole Robbie Savage situation; on the face of it he should be one of the key men in this seasons promotion push. He was brought in to be the man for this team, the presence that was to drag the team over the top but it just doesn't look like happening.

The importance of this is critical because team chemistry is vital when the fixtures start coming thick and fast and every man is needed to pull together and grit it out; if one of those players doesn't want to be here then its last season's mess beginning anew.

Hopefully this matter will be sorted soon, one way or another.

THE STOPPERS

Build from the back; that was good enough for Brian Clough so it should be good enough for us. Alan Stubbs I've talked about as being the rock but we'll need others to stop the opposition, to prevent the massacres that occurred last season. Stubbs is likely to be joined in central defence by Martin Albrechtesen, the versatile man in from promoted West Brom; the Dane is another big lad who also has a bit of speed about him as well as an air of calmness with which he carries out his task.

I would expect these pair to be the mainstay at centre-half, backed up by Claude Davis, who I'll refrain from criticizing here, and Dean Leacock, who appears to be in limbo somewhere between defence and midfield. Youngster Lewin Nyatanga and Miles Addison will also hopefully takes steps forward should they be given a deserved chance but that will likely only happen in the event of injuries.

At full back we have four options, two on each side; on the left are Jay McEveley, the powerful Scot with a good left foot and no brain to speak of, and Jordan Stewart with none of those attributes but lightning pace to get him out of trouble. For me this battle is a wash with either likely to be just as good as the other.

At right back things are a little more intense with Tyrone Mears, one of the few to get any sort of credit last season, contested by Paul Connolly from Plymouth who looks a solid defender. With his group comes options; Mears and Stewart are both exceptionally quick on the overlap whilst I would figure that McEveley and Connolly are more defensively sound; either ways it's good that Jewell has real options for a change.

Defending was a real problem last season with the likes of West Ham, Reading and Aston Villa all scoring four or more at Pride Park and yet we've only signed three players in this area; instead relying on addition by subtraction since Darren Moore is gone and Claude Davis is no longer likely to be first choice.

The defence will be better this season, that is obvious; Martin Albrechtesen should ensure that but it seems to me that Paul Jewell has decided to concentrate largely on scoring more goals than the opposition which suites me just fine. Leicester had a better defence last season than West Brom and we know (and laugh at) how that ended up so I'll be happy with a bit of attacking intent and to Hell with defending, Kevin Keegan style!

THE KEEPER

Roy Carroll is the number one and Stephen Bywater and Lewis Price currently contest the backup spot. I still rate Bywater and wouldn't argue if he were first choice so I think we're pretty well off in this position.

Carroll didn't do a lot wrong after coming into the side last January and Lewis Price looked decent enough during his run leading up to Christmas so I wouldn't worry too much about the goalkeeping situation this season so long as the defence does its job this time around.

THE TEAM

So after all this waffle who do I see as first choice? Well when everybody's fit it looks something like this...

Carroll

Mears Stubbs Albrechtesen McEveley

Barnes Kazmierczak Green Commons

Hulse Ellington

Dynamite.

I'm a bit more optimistic now; see you on Saturday!

Photo: Action Images

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