Jourdan

Let’s just win games of football.
That’s the best way we can send a message to the EFL, Mel or anyone else.

Let’s just win games of football.
That’s the best way we can send a message to the EFL, Mel or anyone else.

Let’s just win games of football.
That’s the best way we can send a message to the EFL, Mel or anyone else.

Let’s just win games of football.
That’s the best way we can send a message to the EFL, Mel or anyone else.

Everything will be fine.
Rooney’s at the wheel.

Everything will be fine.
Rooney’s at the wheel.

Why didn't Stephen Pearce, just once, knock on Mel's door and say "You know this FFP malarkey..."
What a ducking poo accountant he is

That's somewhat different to surviving a 21 point deduction with a squad/manager who've only won 4 games of football in 6 months of play.

With us currently being on a run of seven games without a win and weeks away from probably our toughest run all season, the suggestion that the appeal is a non starter and our points deduction will total -21 seems a fight-ending blow.
If what is being reported comes to fruition, we would be 18 points from safety. We play five of the current top 6 and six of the current top 10 in November and December. For Rooney and the players, the timing of this news couldn’t be worse and things could get really ugly if the group become particularly disillusioned.
There is still hope when you crunch some numbers. The four teams above us are trending for a finish of 41 points or fewer and one would suspect they are unlikely to improve too dramatically. Other teams could stutter too. We still have 78* points to play for, which always gives us a long shot but evidently it will take something inspired from here on in.
But still there is a sense of what could have been. The first 17 games have been a series of missed opportunities and if only moments. We have squandered winning positions in a third of our games. We have drawn a number of games where on the balance of play we could have won. 
Say we had beaten Peterborough, Preston, Forest and Luton, that alone would negate this incoming points deduction. It does make you wonder.
Hope now rests with the administrators and their ability to secure a positive, timely takeover and for the new owners to enact change.
January to early March represents our best chance of putting a positive run of results together from here on in. So new owners, maybe 1-2 new players, and dare I say a new manager appointed with a view to hitting the ground running come August could give us a chance of at least going out in a blaze of glory.

You make some valid points. Rooney has shown some commendable qualities - fight, enthusiasm, commitment, leadership. But isn’t that the minimum you would expect from someone in his position?
I also disagree that most managers would have walked away. Instead I suspect most managers would have tried, much like Rooney, to rise to the challenge and possibly had more tools to deal with the situation.
I think we all accept that Rooney has had difficult circumstances to deal with. Relying on loans in January? Having to assemble a squad under an embargo? The club hurtling into financial ruin? Very difficult indeed.
But ask yourself, is this job going to get any easier for a manager with his lack of experience and know how? League One will be no cakewalk and I am sure many clubs will be rubbing their hands at the prospect of welcoming us to the division and piling on the pain.
We will need someone switched on and with the knowledge and experience of having what it takes to succeed in that division, surely?

I would like to think once the ownership is settled, the club will start making moves to map out the futures of our current players.
If we can start next season with Bird, Sibley, Williams, Ebosele, Solomon, Cashin, Watson, Hutchinson and Stretton, it would give us something to work with at the very least.
I am also hopeful that as long serving players, the likes of Roos, Davies, Forsyth and Kazim would be keen to extend their stay, be a guiding hand, and help us to bounce back.
Outside of those players, I would expect big changes. Knight, Buchanan, Bielik and Jozwiak will surely all be sold in the coming months. Lawrence, Shinnie, Byrne and Marshall will leave on free transfers. Morrison and the embargo boys will surely go too.
The worry for me is, what does Rooney know about League 1? Does he have any idea what works or a particular aptitude for lower league football? How will his experience of almost exclusively top level, elite football help us going forward?
Personally I would be looking at someone with a proven record in League One and someone who has built a squad in the lower leagues that can reasonably compete when the step up comes along.
We need someone who can do what Mark Robins has done at Coventry, for example.

I make it 7 non-parachute clubs promoted from 15 spots. Huddersfield, Brighton, Wolves, Norwich (1st time around), Sheff Utd, Leeds and Brentford. 
Looking at League One/Championship, the rate of promotion soon after relegation is much higher there. No parachute payments either (at least I don't think so). 
As I've said, parachute payments should make a massive difference, but they don't seem to.

It doesn't seem fair, you're right. Given this massive advantage, why don't all teams that are relegated from the PL get promoted straight away? 

1. A stable new owner in place with money.
2. Keep hold of our youngsters in January and start blooding them gradually in the first team in preparation of more game time next season.
3. Recruit a new manager, young but with experience and already a track record of delivering results and winning football matches. Ian Evatt isn’t a bad shout.

1)a new manager (sorry guys but I don’t think Rooney is what we need in league 1) with an eye for up and coming players who won’t cost a fortune (as young Clough achieved)
2)Stable ownership who are in for the long haul
3)attractive progressive and entertaining football.

Mods!
I think we need a poll on who is really to blame for DCFC's current prediciment!
a) Mel Morris
b) @Curtains
c) All the fans
d) Richard Keogh
I mean, we all know the real answer (it's d) but it'd be fun to see the results.

You should be ashamed of yourself Curtains. To be honest, I blame you nearly as much as I blame for Mel Morris for our predicament.

With us currently being on a run of seven games without a win and weeks away from probably our toughest run all season, the suggestion that the appeal is a non starter and our points deduction will total -21 seems a fight-ending blow.
If what is being reported comes to fruition, we would be 18 points from safety. We play five of the current top 6 and six of the current top 10 in November and December. For Rooney and the players, the timing of this news couldn’t be worse and things could get really ugly if the group become particularly disillusioned.
There is still hope when you crunch some numbers. The four teams above us are trending for a finish of 41 points or fewer and one would suspect they are unlikely to improve too dramatically. Other teams could stutter too. We still have 78* points to play for, which always gives us a long shot but evidently it will take something inspired from here on in.
But still there is a sense of what could have been. The first 17 games have been a series of missed opportunities and if only moments. We have squandered winning positions in a third of our games. We have drawn a number of games where on the balance of play we could have won. 
Say we had beaten Peterborough, Preston, Forest and Luton, that alone would negate this incoming points deduction. It does make you wonder.
Hope now rests with the administrators and their ability to secure a positive, timely takeover and for the new owners to enact change.
January to early March represents our best chance of putting a positive run of results together from here on in. So new owners, maybe 1-2 new players, and dare I say a new manager appointed with a view to hitting the ground running come August could give us a chance of at least going out in a blaze of glory.

Am sure a lot of supporters still are to be fair.
Personally I'm beyond that emotion now, have to say am very weary and tired and any energy I have isn't going to be profitably served venting my spleen at the club owner who predominantly got us into this situation.
That still won't change anything, for me the person now has gone from the club and maybe in a few years time I'll reflect in a more balanced way about their tenure.
I've even grown weary of having debates with the same posters on here trying to defend the indefensible as again banging your head against a brick wall serves no purpose. 
Time to move on.

We start taking ruthless actions now with existing players and instead of saying they're just OK actually saying OK isn't good enough, stop avoiding the current issues and get better ones in.
A manager that will be able to get the group of players left at his disposal galvanised into a coherent operating unit. I've left this one deliberately vague as I'm not sure whether Rooney is or isn't the person to do this at this juncture. 

The Derby County fantasy of playing in League 1 just so you can get to go to "proper football grounds" is very strange. Honestly blows my mind that anyone could think of anything positive to playing League 1 football.
Why aren't we angry that this has happened to our club?
We've slated past players for being "spineless". Our fans seem just the same, we've just rolled over and let the people who have done this walk out the front door with a goody bag.
 

You make some valid points. Rooney has shown some commendable qualities - fight, enthusiasm, commitment, leadership. But isn’t that the minimum you would expect from someone in his position?
I also disagree that most managers would have walked away. Instead I suspect most managers would have tried, much like Rooney, to rise to the challenge and possibly had more tools to deal with the situation.
I think we all accept that Rooney has had difficult circumstances to deal with. Relying on loans in January? Having to assemble a squad under an embargo? The club hurtling into financial ruin? Very difficult indeed.
But ask yourself, is this job going to get any easier for a manager with his lack of experience and know how? League One will be no cakewalk and I am sure many clubs will be rubbing their hands at the prospect of welcoming us to the division and piling on the pain.
We will need someone switched on and with the knowledge and experience of having what it takes to succeed in that division, surely?

I would like to think once the ownership is settled, the club will start making moves to map out the futures of our current players.
If we can start next season with Bird, Sibley, Williams, Ebosele, Solomon, Cashin, Watson, Hutchinson and Stretton, it would give us something to work with at the very least.
I am also hopeful that as long serving players, the likes of Roos, Davies, Forsyth and Kazim would be keen to extend their stay, be a guiding hand, and help us to bounce back.
Outside of those players, I would expect big changes. Knight, Buchanan, Bielik and Jozwiak will surely all be sold in the coming months. Lawrence, Shinnie, Byrne and Marshall will leave on free transfers. Morrison and the embargo boys will surely go too.
The worry for me is, what does Rooney know about League 1? Does he have any idea what works or a particular aptitude for lower league football? How will his experience of almost exclusively top level, elite football help us going forward?
Personally I would be looking at someone with a proven record in League One and someone who has built a squad in the lower leagues that can reasonably compete when the step up comes along.
We need someone who can do what Mark Robins has done at Coventry, for example.

A new contract? Shouldn’t that be earned?
Rooney has a year and a half on his deal. There is no need to offer him a new one, unless he achieves something exceptional. Like survival against the odds, for example.
If we do get relegated to League 1, the owners have to seriously consider if Rooney is capable of moving us forward. Stability for the sake of stability helps no-one.
If there is someone they consider to be better equipped to do that, they would be foolish to put all of their eggs in the Rooney basket.
It is an unforgiving league, one Rooney will likely have little to no knowledge of. We see big clubs struggle to get to grips with it very often. There would be an added incentive for teams too, a target on our backs, of course. Rooney’s Derby and so on.
Do we really need the circus? The distractions? Do we need someone at the helm who has to find his feet and learn quickly? 
It would be a big risk to stick with Rooney.