It's never boring at Derby County, is it?

Just when they thought their Championship status was secured for the 2021/22 season after a final day draw against Sheffield Wednesday, a new curveball has been delivered which could change everything.

After waiting for an answer since September, the EFL have reportedly won their appeal against the Rams after the club were initially not harshly punished for not following amortisation rules - which saw the club have £30 million worth of losses over three years wiped out.

The best case scenario for them is a financial penalty - however a points deduction is also realistic and if that's placed upon them for the season that has just been completed, then the Rams will be playing League One football next season.

When the division they're playing football in is confirmed though, Wayne Rooney will be looking to strengthen his squad but he will be hoping that none of the players he brings in turn out like these 10 transfer flops from the past - let's take a look.

Dickinson played for several non-league Manchester-based clubs as a youngster before joining Stockport County in 2005, and it was Edgeley Park in the 2007-08 League Two season where he became prolific at scoring and attracted Derby's attention.

The Rams purchased him upon their relegation from the Premier League for £750,000, but instead of being given a chance in the squad he was farmed out on loan multiple times that season, including to Blackpool and Leeds.

Derby made a big loss on Dickinson as they sold him a year later to Brighton, and after sticking around in the EFL for a few years the striker made it back into non-league with the likes of Stalybridge Celtic and Droylsden.

Albentosa was a mid-season signing in 2015 as he came in to strengthen the Rams' defence - but he barely made an impact.

The Spaniard made just eight league appearances and by the summer he was back in his native country with Malaga - who were plying their trade in La Liga at the time.

Albentosa remained on the books at Pride Park for another year as that's when his loan expired, and it was then where he switched permanently to Deportivo La Coruna.

Derby fans were expecting big things from Albentosa when he arrived but he delivered very little in his eight games.

How did a Peruvian end up in English football so earlier in his career?

Derby fans were probably wondering the same thing after seeing Tome play - he'd played just three times for Huddersfield in 2003 but Derby were suitably impressed to give him a two-year contract.

Tome never amounted to much though and he only ever made three First Division appearances for the club, and his contract was ripped up in 2004, over a year after he joined.

Tome ended up back in his native country following his English expedition, and he's definitely one of the more forgettable Derby players of the 21st century.

Before signing for Derby in 2008, Zadkovich had previously played in England earlier in his career with QPR and Notts County before returning to Australia with Sydney FC, and it was there where he gained his first Australia cap.

Derby brought him back to British shores in 2008 and he was expected to add something to the Rams' midfield in the Championship.

He failed to do much though and in his 18 months at Pride Park, Zadkovich made just five league appearances and spent much of his time injured - his contract was terminated in January 2010 and he returned to Australia.

Then-teenager Doyle was set to go through the American college programme before being picked up by Derby in the summer of 2010.

Despite showing promise, Doyle was sparingly used and his 14 Championship appearances in his first season - mainly off the bench - were the most he ever got in one campaign.

The American-born Irishman fell more and more out of favour and in 2013 he ended up joining MLS side D.C. United on loan before making it permanent a year later.

Considering he was a promising college prospect it was written in the stars really that he would end up back in America, but Doyle never made the impact that was expected at Pride Park.

Speaking of Irish players called Conor, Derby snapped up Sammon from Wigan in 2012, despite the fact he only scored one goal in the Premier League in 32 outings.

Sammon's record in the Championship for his first season at the club wasn't too bad as he bagged eight goals, but it would soon go downhill.

After just two goals in 37 matches in 2013-14, the striker would soon drop down the pecking order and was loaned out to the likes of Ipswich and Sheffield United until his contract expired.

For a fee of around £1.2 million, Sammon was a real bust at Pride Park.

Blackman was another player who never lived up to his price-tag, having joined from Reading in 2016 for over £3 million.

The attacker had scored 11 goals for the Royals in the first half of the 2015/16 season and you'd have expected him to deliver the same for Derby, but it never quite worked out like that.

Blackman went scoreless for the second half of the campaign and then played just nine Championship games the following season, scoring once before being farmed out to Maccabi Tel Aviv on loan - a club he now plays for permanently.

It's not a transfer that will be looked back on very fondly - especially for the money that was exchanged.

Morris became the fourth most expensive teenager in British history when swapping Sheffield United for the Rams in 1999 for £3 million, having scored eight goals for the Blades.

A scoring record of 17 goals in 92 games wasn't the worst but wasn't the best, but he failed to live up to the hype and the price-tag when it was all said and done.

Most of those goals came in the First Division after Derby were relegated in the Premier League in 2002, and on a personal level Morris had a downward trajectory in 2004 when he left for Leicester and then dropped down the leagues even further.

Whilst not the worst footballer to play for the club, he definitely wasn't the best investment.

Another Aussie to make this list, defender Blatsis joined Derby in 2000 after spending five years at home with South Melbourne.

His time at Pride Park would be a complete bust though - he made just two Premier League appearances for the club and that same season he joined he was sent out on loan to Sheffield Wednesday of the First Division.

Derby had gotten rid of him permanently just one year after arriving as he joined Colchester United, and even they didn't keep him around for long.

Maybe after Zadkovich and Blatsis, Derby and Rooney should keep away from any Australian players...

Perhaps one of the most prolific scorers in the 21st century in the Football League, Earnshaw proved with West Brom between 2004 and 2006 that he could bag in the Premier League as well, and he returned to the top flight with Derby in 2007 - breaking their transfer record in the process with a £3.5 million move for the Welshman.

Unfortunately for the Rams, Earnshaw couldn't replicate his form and he scored just once in 22 Premier League outings as they went back down to the Championship with 11 points in 38 games.

Earnshaw also moved on as well - Derby's big rivals picked Earnshaw up and he went on to fire in goals at the City Ground for years - so much so he's probably now an unpopular figure at Pride Park.