DERBY COUNTY

Last season was diabolical. Phillip Cocu lost his way and had to go, but the cash- strapped club eventually appointed its marquee player, Wayne Rooney, to take his place. A late- season collapse seemed destined to send us down, and we were extremely lucky to survive on the final day. Then there were the two failed takeover bids... The big talking point among the fans is whether Mel Morris can find somebody competent to take the club off his hands and start the job of rebuilding from scratch. This season will be different to last because the squad is even weaker than it was at the end of last season.

Our most underrated player is attacking right- back Nathan Byrne, a bargain from Wigan last summer. Look out for Jack Stretton [ below], a young striker who has caught Rooney’s eye and gained experience on loan at Stockport last season. The pantomime villain will be the EFL – and potentially Mel Morris, unless he’s finally able to sell the club to a credible buyer. The one change I’d make would be conducting a full review of the club’s senior recruitment, which has been dire in recent seasons.

Our key player will be Colin- Kazim Richards [ above]. He was seen by some as a joke signing last summer, but the globetrotting veteran made a mockery of such cynicism. The fans’ opinion of the gaffer is that his inexperience, coupled with the inherent weakness of his squad, started to show well before the end of the campaign. There would have been few complaints had he been sacked before the final weekend, although I do have some sympathy for him. At least we know that he won’t shy away from the challenge. If he left, he should be replaced by

Steve Mcclaren, who’s already on the payroll having been appointed as an advisor around last season’s first aborted takeover. We’ll finish 24th, unless our legal saga with the EFL can be resolved in time for a rebuild.