This time last season Derby County were fifth in the Championship, having suffered just their second loss of the season to Nottingham Forest. They were just about to launch into an eight-game unbeaten run which would put them top of the table come Boxing Day.

But their start to the 2016/2017 campaign has been a shock for one of the usual in-form teams in the second tier of English football. An opening day draw against fellow promotion rivals Brighton & Hove Albion was not unexpected, but defeats to promoted sides Barnsley and Burton Albion soon followed and saw the Rams drop down to 22nd place, their lowest standing in the Championship since August 2012.

More worrying for the fans is the instability at the head of the club, with Derby working under their fifth manager of 2016 and the shock re-appointment of Steve McClaren just eighteen months after he was sacked.

What's going wrong at the iPro Stadium, then? Well, here are FIVE things...

A Lack Of Goals

'Defending starts from the front' is what they say, so perhaps it's right to question the Derby frontline as the main source for their diminished threat this season.

For the past three seasons, Derby have been amongst the top-scoring clubs in the Championship with striker Chris Martin scoring 60 goals across these campaigns. But, after failing to find the net in the first six games of the season, manager Nigel Pearson sent him out on loan to fellow-Championship side Fulham just minutes away from the transfer deadline on the 1st September. His replacements were Matej Vydra (a £12m purchase from Watford) and James Wilson (on a season-long loan from Manchester United) and, so far, they have failed to replicate the scoring form of the departed forward, with just two goals from Vydra the only contribution from them both. Meanwhile, Martin currently sits on five goals for the London side, placing them in eighth position at the start of November.

Unable To See Out Results

While their form has improved recently with just one defeat in seven, their last two losses have seen them overcome in the dying moments of games.

A 1-1 draw against Bristol City in September saw them drop two points after an Ikechi Anya goal seemed set to give them the win at Ashton Gate. But, despite the home side not offering much of a threat during the match, it was a simple tap in for Aaron Wilbraham in the midst of stoppage time at the end of the game which settled the tie.

The following weekend saw Vydra give the Rams a 1-0 lead against Blackburn Rovers with 20 minutes to go, but goals from Marvin Emnes and Danny Graham meant that the opposition took all three points instead. More recently, a game against Huddersfield Town (in which Derby showed little threat anyway) ended with another stoppage time goal, this time from Elias Kachunga. While not their most damaging statistic this season, in their position they can scarcely afford to drop any points.

Manager Merry-Go-Round

One step forward, two steps back. Steve McClaren was sacked by Derby following a drop in form in the second half of the season which meant they missed out on the play-off zone by just one point. He wasn't good enough for the club back then, and many would question what has changed since.

Both Paul Clement and Nigel Pearson produced lower win percentages following his dismissal, and their fifth-placed finish last season owed more to academy manager Darren Wassall maintaining form over the last leg of the season after a poor run of form under Clement.

But McClaren came back to the club in October full of regret over his previous performance. Just one loss since his arrival has led to them moving three places up the table to 16th (and a brace from winger Tom Ince against Wolverhampton Wanderers could be the answer to their goalscoring problems) but such a 'honeymoon' period for an incoming manager is certainly not unprecedented, particularly in the Championship. It is certainly a gamble bringing back a former manager with good history at the club (Reading's acquisition of Brian McDermott last term lasted just six months as his second reign at the Royals proved anti-climatic) and it is unlikely that they will be repeating the play-off final finish they managed in 2014 under McClaren anytime soon.

Financial Struggles

UEFA Financial Fair Play (FFP) came into force several years ago to ensure football clubs in Europe wouldn't fall into the same problems that sides like Portsmouth faced.

Between 2008 and 2013, Derby's owners, General Sports, invested over £35m in the Rams. But this has been curtailed ever since and, even with Derby maintaining one of the bigger fanbases in the second tier, income from ticket sales and TV deals haven't quite made up the shortfall - in 2014/2015 they lost £5.6m, just short of the six million threshold allowed under the FFP regulations.

But the drop was £7m higher than the previous season's finances. With television money playing such a huge role for English clubs nowadays, a drop in form will almost certainly lead to a drop in money which might make the end-of-season reading in 2017 slightly harder. While they remain debt-free currently, the fact that Chris Martin's loan includes a £9m sell-on fee could indicate that the club need money more desperately than thought.