It's more than a month since Wayne Rooney's shock decision to walk out on Derby County.
The former England and Manchester United star ended his drama-filled spell in the Rams hotseat shortly before the club were taken over by lifelong fan and local businessman David Clowes. Rooney had spent more than 18 months in charge during which time the club endured a myriad of off-field problems such as administration, a transfer embargo and ultimately relegation from the Championship.
Liam Rosenior, Rooney's assistant, has since picked up the baton and been placed in charge as interim boss. He has had to get busy in the transfer market, bolstering a wafer-thin squad. And despite his old boss having since departed to take up a managerial role at DC United in the MLS, Rosenior insists Rooney is still very much interested in goings-on at Pride Park.
"Myself and Wayne speak nearly every day," Rosenior said. "I'm really close to him, he has been really helping in my development as a coach in terms of management. If I was to speak about what I learnt about that experience with Wayne, we could be here for a few hours. Wayne was unbelievable, he gave me a lot of trust in the way that we played and in terms of the way we trained.
"A lot of people said to me you can’t be fully prepared until you’re in the job, what I learned from Wayne, he’s had an unbelievable career, dealing with pressure, dealing with the media, so that side of things I learned a lot from him. Now it’s up to me to learn all of the other lessons I’ve learned over the years and try and put them into practice.
"The word you had to be was adaptable - at every opportunity. A lot of managers I’ve spoken to said you probably had 10 years experience in one year. We didn’t have an owner, the club was close to liquidation, we couldn’t sign players, we had to work really hard on the way that we play."
Where will Derby finish in League One this season? Let us know in the comments
Neutrals and indeed Derby supporters are intrigued as to how all the new signings gel as the Rams prepare for their first season in the third tier since 1986.
A flurry of high-profile arrivals such as Conor Hourihane, Ben Chester and Korey Smith have given the supporters belief that they can mount a bid to win an immediate promotion back to the Championship. That belief was further enhanced when on Wednesday long-serving player Craig Forsyth committed his future to the club.
He said: "After last year, and the way it finished with relegation and things like that, I wanted to stay. With the new owner in place, I hope we can get back up at the first attempt and make it a good season."
The club's new era gets underway at home to Oxford on Saturday in their League One curtain-raiser.
