Derby have been one of the best prepared sides for the Premier league in the Championship for a while now, but they seem to lack the mentality to get over the line.

After years of near misses under manager Steve McClaren including a play-off final defeat to QPR, the manager left for Newcastle and he was replaced by former Real Madrid assistant Paul Clement.

Derby spent big in the summer with the big money signings of Weimann, Shackell, Ince and in January they signed Nick Blackman who was enjoying some good form at Reading.

Derby started the season poorly before picking up and found themselves around the top two at the turn of the year, before hitting a purple patch and falling away a bit resulting in the sacking of Clement.

But in this open Championship season they have found their way back into fifth position but will need to find an excellent run of form to make the top two now.

Here are FIVE things we've learnt about Derby's season so far......

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PRESS THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE THE FIVE THINGS!

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Big money disappointments

For the most part Derby have not prospered from their signings with most of them proving underwhelming.

Like Middlesbrough, there was heavy investment at Derby in order to improve from last season's disappointment and seasoned Championship players were brought in to get the job done.

Jason Shackell was signed from Burnley but this proved one of the few successful ones as he has been one of the top centre backs in the league this season.

But big money signings Bradley Johnson, Tom Ince, Nick Blackman and Andreas Weimann have all been disappointing for Derby this season with there inconsistency matching their league position's fluctuation.

Impatience

There has been a level of impatience by the chairman Mel Morris, but this may be just as he has invested very heavily into the Derby first team this season to end a run of near misses.

He reportedly cancelled a break for the first team to go on when they lost to Reading at home earlier in the season, and has often ranted at the team when they have underperformed.

But perhaps the most impatient thing was the sacking of Paul Clement as Derby had never fell away completely, and there was belief that Clement could of turned it around but was never given the chance.

Clement is also young and instant success was always unlikely so Morris can be accused of being a bit unfair.

Kings of Inconsistency

Derby have a reputation of being bottlers which is perhaps deserved considering their shortcomings in recent seasons.

The final day defeat to Reading last season cost them a play-off place whilst their 1-0 defeat to QPR in the play-off final, a couple of seasons back was a serious chance missed.

The inconsistency this season cost Clement his job and was marked by their defeat to Portsmouth in the Capital One Cup.

This season they have pulled some great results off like the club's excellent 2-0 win at Hull who were previously unbeaten at home, but they also played dismally in the defeats at Middlesbrough.

They were also beaten at home by the MK Dons and slumped to a defeat to arch rivals Nottingham Forest.

They were on a good run recently until there inconsistency came in again and they lost 2-1 to an out of sorts Wolves.

Questionable tactics

Some of the criticism aimed towards the setup at Derby by the fans have been based on the poor tactics by Clement at times.

Players were not being utilised and instead being played out of position, like Bradley Johnson who flourished in the midfield at Norwich at the same level last season but now looks a different player.

Also the varying form of Chris Martin may be because the players behind him keep being change, and Clement not being aware of the best way to use him as he is the most important focal point of the Derby team.

Bottling it?

The tag that Derby have been trying to shake off for years still stays with them this season and deservedly so.

They have spent a lot of money this time around but the big money signings have been flops so far, and it looks like they may bottle it again.

At the turn of the year they sat in second and just one point off leaders Middlesbrough but they now sit in fifth, eight points off the leaders Burnley.

This is despite spending big in January with Blackman coming in and despite showing good recent form with Butterfield saying their confidence was back, the defeat to Wolves says otherwise.

Where will your season end up Derby fans? What have you made of it so far ? Leave thoughts and opinions below!