There's not been many dull moments at Derby County in the 2020/21 season, and the club will be happy to see the back of it after the shocking last few months that unfolded.

The Rams were in and around the relegation battle all season thanks to Phillip Cocu's work at first, and after showing initial promise in his first managerial role, Wayne Rooney couldn't arrest the slide which started once again in March.

County only confirmed their place in the Championship for next season with a final day of the campaign draw against Sheffield Wednesday, but that's only half of the story.

It's likely that they'll start next season with a points deduction after an EFL appeal found them guilty of financial misconduct relating to player amortisation, proving that even when their season is done on the pitch, there's always something off of it to make things interesting.

Let's look back at Derby's season and look at nine things we've clearly learnt about them.

When Cocu was sacked back in November, the pretty obvious transition seemed to be to hand Rooney his first managerial role.

He was made a player-coach for that exact reason and after losing his first two matches as caretaker boss, England's all-time leading scorer removed himself from playing duties to focus on the touchline full-time.

It seemed to pay dividends as Derby went on a six-match unbeaten run and in another six game stint between January and February, the Rams won five matches out of six.

Of course the form since March hasn't been great, but that could be put down to a number of factors which isn't just Rooney's fault - he does lack experience but he's learning on the job and he does need a summer to try and improve the team.

Several areas of Derby's squad needs strengthening this summer - providing the funds are in place to do so - and none perhaps more-so than up-front.

Options have looked thread-bare for most of the season, with Colin Kazim-Richards, Lee Gregory and Martyn Waghorn being the only natural strikers in the second half of the campaign.

Whilst Kazim-Richards has perhaps surprised many fans, Gregory will likely be heading back to Stoke whilst Waghorn's contract expires this summer - he only scored five times in the Championship this season.

Serious bolstering will be needed ahead of next season if County want to be a promotion-pushing team again, and money will probably have to be spent as well.

Clarke signed a four-year deal at Brighton back in 2019 after joining from Portsmouth, however he's still yet to play a game for the Seagulls as he's been on loan at Derby for the last two seasons.

At this point it feels unlikely that Clarke will ever get a game for Albion, so it would be perhaps in County's best interests to try and pursue a permanent move for the 24-year-old.

Of course Clarke was part of a defence that finished 21st in the Championship, but he's still a classy operator and it's not just all down to one man that they faltered.

Again though it all depends if Derby have money to spend as another takeover attempt looks to be on the rocks, and Clarke would likely cost a couple of million pounds.

Takeover sagas have rumbled throughout the whole season and it cannot have helped matters on the pitch.

The first one saw the EFL approve a purchase attempt by Abu Dhabi-based Sheikh Khaled back in November 2020, but after months of delays and no funding proof, Mel Morris eventually pulled the plug on the deal in March.

Not long after that saw Erik Alonso emerge onto the scene and within weeks a deal was agreed between Alonso and Morris - but even that has hit the rocks now with the Spaniard reportedly not providing proof of funding to the EFL.

It cannot have helped matters on the pitch for the last few months with all of the uncertainty and hopefully it is all sorted before the 2021/22 season begins as they cannot afford any more unsettling times.

Throughout all the struggles of this season, one thing has been proven and it's that Derby's academy structure is still very important when it comes to the senior squad.

Looking at the 20-man squad for the game against Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend, there were seven academy graduates in there - albeit most were on the bench - but it proves that Rooney has trust in them if needed.

Derby's actual under-23 team have done well in the Premier League 2 competition as well, finishing in sixth position ahead of giants such as Liverpool and Manchester United and the same position was achieved in the under-18's Premier League as well.

It proves that the future is still bright at Pride Park providing they can keep their talents away from the big clubs.

Twice a manager of Derby, McClaren was brought back to the Rams in the role of 'technical director' back in November to assist rookie manager Rooney.

It was an agreement made between owner Mel Morris and Derventio Holdings - the group of Sheikh Khaled's who were set to take over the Rams before the deal collapsed - which saw McClaren return to Pride Park but whatever work he's been doing hasn't been reciprocated on the pitch.

There's an argument to be had now that McClaren isn't needed at Derby anymore - Rooney could perhaps do with some more experience on his actual coaching staff rather than an 'advisor' and it's unclear as to what McClaren's input actually is, so it may be time to part ways with him for a third time.

One of the problem positions at Pride Park seems to be between the sticks, with last year's signing David Marshall now being 36 and Kelle Roos not exactly being the most convincing of stoppers when called upon.

There was a noticeable sense of concern on social media from Derby fans on Saturday when it was revealed that Roos retained his place in the starting line-up, and that points towards a change needing to be made.

Marshall is still a solid-enough goalkeeper for his age but a younger model may be needed, especially in case of injury, or else the Rams could leak a lot of goals yet again next season.

One of the surprise stories of the 2019/20 campaign was the sudden emergence of Louie Sibley onto the scene.

The teenager had been a regular in the under-23 side and also the UEFA Youth League for the Rams, and in the final game in March 2020 before COVID-19 halted the season for months, Sibley was given his first senior start and made an instant impact by scoring against Blackburn Rovers.

Derby and Sibley had to wait three months for their next game but he stunned everyone by netting a hat-trick away at Millwall and many thought a star had been born.

Similar impacts were expected this season but it just hasn't happened for Sibley - maybe he has become a target due to his form at the end of last season but in 30 appearances he's scored just once and has only completed 90 minutes once as well.

He still has a heck of a lot of time to develop as a player but this campaign will be seen as a disappointing one for him.

Rooney may have joined Derby past the peak of his powers, but last season showed that he still had so much quality.

He scored five goals and created three more in 20 Championship appearances and he was generally a calming influence in the midfield and was a leader to the younger players around him.

Rooney pulled himself out of playing duties following a loss to Middlesbrough in November which is when he decided to take the managing side of the job seriously, and even though most of his 10 appearances this season before retirement ended in defeats he was still missed on the pitch.

If the 35-year-old was still a part of the playing squad then it's doubtful that they would have been in a relegation battle on the final day of the season - but we'll never know if that would be the case.