The controversial chairman has backed his managers regularly at Derby County, but not every signing has come off as hoped.
Derby Chairman Mel Morris
With the summer preparations for clubs in the Championship well underway, it seems set to be yet another exciting transfer window for Derby County, who have been massively financially backed by their chairman Mel Morris since he arrived in 2014.
However, not all of his money has been spent wisely, and Morris will be hoping that manager Gary Rowett can bring in players who hit the proverbial ground running and become successes. Here are five players who have been signed in the Mel Morris era who haven’t quite worked out for the club.
Ryan Shotton
Ryan Shotton’s career at Derby County is more remembered for a tweet than his footballing ability. Days before the home fixture with fierce rivals Nottingham Forest – which Derby went into in great form, winning their previous three league matches, whereas Forest hadn’t won in two months – Shotton tweeted, “It’s awfully quiet over in Nottingham!” and Forest promptly won 2-1 with a 92nd minute winner. Combined with the fact that Shotton was average at best for the Rams since signing from Stoke City in 2014, it was probably best for all parties concerned when Gary Rowett – then at Birmingham City – signed him for the Blues in 2016.
Derby County’s Andreas Weimann in action against Middlesbrough’s Tomas Kalas
Andreas Weimann
Quite why Derby fans were under the illusion they’d be getting a goalscorer when they signed Weimann from Aston Villa is perhaps a question that will never be answered given he’d scored 24 in 129 for Villa in all competitions, but that’s the expectation that had for him when he signed in 2015 for £2.75m, as reported by ESPN. Reality soon struck and four goals in 40 appearances later, coupled with some pretty poor performances, saw Weimann booted out to Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan, where he scored three in 13. Whether Rowett will give him another chance remains to be seen, but he’s hardly been brilliant for the Rams.
Abdoul Camara
Camara is a strange one as he has flattered to deceive on many occasions, but hasn’t delivered a great deal for the club. The Guinea international signed in January 2016 for £1.25m, as reported by BBC Sport, but failed to score a league goal in his 19 appearances in the Championship, of which only three were starts. According to the Mirror, as reported by the Derby Telegraph, if there are no bids this summer for Camara, the club will cut their losses on him and release him from his contract, which may be the best conclusion for all involved.
Derby’s Nick Blackman and Burnley’s Stephen Ward
Nick Blackman
Oh dear. In Blackman’s entire career, he’s only ever had three fairly prolific spells – one at Motherwell, with Blackman scoring 10 in 22, one at Sheffield United in League One, where he hit 14 in 33, and finally at Reading in the 2015/16 season, where he scored 13 in 28. That form at Reading promoted Derby to sign him in January 2016, for a fee believed to be £2.5m as reported by The Guardian, but Get Reading reported that the overall fee could hit the £3m to £4m bracket with add-ons. In short, the move has been a disaster. Blackman has made 29 appearances for the club, scoring once, and – like Camara – the club are now supposedly willing to just get rid of him, according to the Mirror, as reported by the Derby Telegraph.
Ikechi Anya
For £4m, as reported by BBC Sport, it’s understandable that Derby fans should expect more than one goal and three assists in 27 appearances for a flying winger – especially with the money thrown at the rest of the team around him. However, Anya – like Camara before him – has flattered to deceive at Pride Park since moving from Watford in the summer of 2016, however there is hope for him yet. Given Anya’s impressive work rate, he is bound to impress Gary Rowett for that reason alone, so may well get given another crack of the whip next season.
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