rumours that an independent disciplinary appeal came down in favour of the EFL in the ongoing dispute over the club's amortisation policy after Derby has won the initial ruling in September 2020, with Wycombe Wanderers owner Rob Couhig ready to go to court over the matter. In a statement, the EFL said that Derby's "policy was not in accordance with accounting standard FRS102 because it failed to accurately reflect the manner in which the Club takes the benefit of player registrations over the lifetime of a player's contract." Derby stated they were disappointed by, but respected, the verdict. Derby were handed a fine of £100,000 over their accounting policies, though the EFL retained their right to appeal and were considering pushing for a retroactive points deduction, which would see the club relegated; the EFL stated they had prepared interchangeable fixture list for the following season for Derby and Wycombe. Wycombe owner Rob Couhig accused Derby of "systemic cheating" and stated his intention to sue Derby for "£10m-£15m of potential losses" should Wycombe be playing in League one in the coming campaign. The Rams lost their second court case in 24-hours when it was announced that former-captain Richard Keogh, who had been sacked in 2019 following his involvement in a highly publicised drink-driving incident, had won a settlement against the club and would be paid £2.4m in wages owed to him as he was found to have not committed "gross misconduct". As the inquisition into Derby's poor season started, one report by The Athletic suggested that former-boss Phillip Cocu, who had been highly impressed by the high pressing style played by Leeds United and Brentford in their victories at Pride Park toward the end of the previous season, had attempted to emulate the style at the club and had, as a result, ‘exhausted’ the players in pre-season. With the Erik Alonso takeover going into a second month, numerous reports suggested that his "right hand man" Tajinder Sumal had quit No Limits Sports Ltd. Alonso deleted his Twitter account after being accused of reposting a property seen on TikTok to suggest it was his own house and being unable to provide proof of funds to the EFL, with many now seeing the takeover as being unlikely to proceed, with an unnamed American consortium the new favourites to assume ownership of the club, with more than one party interested in buying the club.