ilkleyram

No. It’s a three points would be fantastic, one point great and 0 points not the end of the world on to the next, game

No. It’s a three points would be fantastic, one point great and 0 points not the end of the world on to the next, game

No. It’s a three points would be fantastic, one point great and 0 points not the end of the world on to the next, game

No. It’s a three points would be fantastic, one point great and 0 points not the end of the world on to the next, game

I went viral. It was horrible! 

I think he turned down the opportunity. I think Jody wants to be a manager in his own right

Appears to be the EFL's point - name your PB and we’ll negotiate with them.
That is unless (very worse case scenario) there were/are no bidders - and the Binnies only put in a firm bid a few days ago - or the/any bids are contingent upon sorting out the mfc/WW situation or the administrators feel that if the mfc/WW situation is sorted out, preferably with them paid nothing, then the bids might increase in value and more bidders come forward to create an auction.
My bet (very much not itk) would be the last option - the administrators saying that they need the EFL to sort out their own mess first and the EFL saying it’s not their job. Arbitration would be a way through it if there’s no negotiation to be had and the EFL won’t get involved as judge and jury, but whether that can be done in quick time - hardly in mfc or ww's interests - remains to be seen. If it goes beyond mid March then we might run out of time and money.
It's going down to the wire. Probably.

Thats the entire argument, really.  You simply can’t correlate spending to results, some teams will spend more and do better, some will spend more and do worse.  So the EFLs argument (by precedent in previous judgments at least) is that punishments are awarded for overspending, but they are intended to be punitive to the team that committed the breach, they aren’t supposed to be corrective (I.e to readjust the league to compensate for other teams).  So there is simply no way for ‘Boro to prove that our overspending cost them in league position.

To those of you in despair or anger over today's announcement, stop.  However hard that may be try and stop. Think positive thoughts, deep breathe, talk, write on here, open the wine or whisky, kiss the spouse and children or dog, whatever it takes.  It was always going to be something along the lines we have heard and it is not (yet) bad news.  It could even be good news.
Every single negotiation I have been involved in - and there has been a fair few over my career much larger than that of our football club, though none as complex - has had one feature.  They’ve all gone down to the wire.  Every single one.  It’s human nature - all sides think they can squeeze a little extra.  Think Brexit (or every single negotiation with the EU ever).  We knew what was going to have to happen months and months and months out (and it’s still not finished) yet there they all were at one minute to midnight (and beyond) negotiating away, deadlines being pushed back and changed, deals being done, compromises reached. Think Northern Ireland or South Africa, Unicef or the United Nations. They’re all the same.
Our deal is about as complex as those given all the parties involved and all their different interests. There is no single ‘truth’ just as many truths as there are parties in the game. Cans will continue to be kicked down the road until the end game is reached and perhaps, just maybe, we are closer to the end game than we were this morning.  This is good news because it concentrates minds.  It’s also harder on us, who have considerable skin in the game but no direct involvement in the negotiations.
The reason we might now be in the end game come February 28th, is because that is when the Administrators say they run out of money.  At that point I suspect they have to liquidate us.  They can’t raise enough money by selling players in the next 4 days (which is good news) to run to the end of the season; they might be able to borrow funds but I suspect that option is reducing so I guess they are running out of options other than to agree a PB and get some funding that way.
The PBs will know that too and, if they stay interested, and why wouldn’t they having got this far, their opportunity to squeeze the deal is coming.
The incompetent EFL and their assorted hangers on are also having their minds concentrated.  I genuinely don’t believe the EFL want us out of business - there’s too much trouble for them in renegotiating the Championship table - not only prize money but also promotion and relegation.  We’ve taken good points off top teams; lost to lower teams - they’ll all have a claim in the outcome.  And by the end of February there will still be 30 points or so to play for, enough to change positions in the final table enough for our results to still influence.
So too Mel.  I don’t believe that he wants us to go out of business but he has a part to play and that will feed into his ego as well as his bank balance.  I have no idea how much he is currently worth, almost certainly a lot more than I am, but he has clearly signalled for a long time that his years of largesse were at an end so I would guess that he has much less than we all think he does and what he used to have. His is emotional attachment as well as financial.  So I don’t blame him one bit for continuing to have a role to play, if that is what he is doing (and none of us know).  And, unlike most I accept, I trust him still to do right by Derby County, despite the opprobium that goes his way.  We shall see.
But even when (if) a PB is announced, that is by no means the end of the game.  Negotiations will continue, possibly for months to come.  There will be good days and not so good. Cans will continue to be kicked but, hopefully, the immediate threat of liquidation will be temporarily lifted.  We will no longer have to think of Luton away as being our last match or Millwall as our last home match at Pride Park
We have a role - a really, really important one.  We have over the last 10 days successfully raised our case in all kinds of places that hadn’t thought of hearing or talking about us - Parliament, MPs, Council, BBC Breakfast, Talksport, Radio 5 Live, Radio 4 Today programme, national newspapers and all the rest.  Our job is to continue.  We HAVE to keep this going. They will all want to move on to the next big thing. Our job is to keep Derby County peacefully but consistently in the news. Keep the pressure on.   We need more from our local Radio station, our local celebrities and MPs; we need more from our councillors. We need to make the EFL and others understand the strength of feeling, feel the pressure again and again and again.  And we are the ones that can provide the pressure.

Little update as I’m a bit drunk and not much is happening on here ? Clara is doing absolutely amazingly, is surgery free and is now on track for her age. Oh and she’s also a proud big sister to Benjamin who is now 7 months old and is thankfully absolutely fine.
I’d just like to say thank you to everyone who helped me in our time of need, I was in a pretty bad place when Clara was born and this forum and this club kept me going.
thankfully everything is great now. 
this club can’t die and it WON’T die ?
much love to my Rams family ?❤️

To those of you in despair or anger over today's announcement, stop.  However hard that may be try and stop. Think positive thoughts, deep breathe, talk, write on here, open the wine or whisky, kiss the spouse and children or dog, whatever it takes.  It was always going to be something along the lines we have heard and it is not (yet) bad news.  It could even be good news.
Every single negotiation I have been involved in - and there has been a fair few over my career much larger than that of our football club, though none as complex - has had one feature.  They’ve all gone down to the wire.  Every single one.  It’s human nature - all sides think they can squeeze a little extra.  Think Brexit (or every single negotiation with the EU ever).  We knew what was going to have to happen months and months and months out (and it’s still not finished) yet there they all were at one minute to midnight (and beyond) negotiating away, deadlines being pushed back and changed, deals being done, compromises reached. Think Northern Ireland or South Africa, Unicef or the United Nations. They’re all the same.
Our deal is about as complex as those given all the parties involved and all their different interests. There is no single ‘truth’ just as many truths as there are parties in the game. Cans will continue to be kicked down the road until the end game is reached and perhaps, just maybe, we are closer to the end game than we were this morning.  This is good news because it concentrates minds.  It’s also harder on us, who have considerable skin in the game but no direct involvement in the negotiations.
The reason we might now be in the end game come February 28th, is because that is when the Administrators say they run out of money.  At that point I suspect they have to liquidate us.  They can’t raise enough money by selling players in the next 4 days (which is good news) to run to the end of the season; they might be able to borrow funds but I suspect that option is reducing so I guess they are running out of options other than to agree a PB and get some funding that way.
The PBs will know that too and, if they stay interested, and why wouldn’t they having got this far, their opportunity to squeeze the deal is coming.
The incompetent EFL and their assorted hangers on are also having their minds concentrated.  I genuinely don’t believe the EFL want us out of business - there’s too much trouble for them in renegotiating the Championship table - not only prize money but also promotion and relegation.  We’ve taken good points off top teams; lost to lower teams - they’ll all have a claim in the outcome.  And by the end of February there will still be 30 points or so to play for, enough to change positions in the final table enough for our results to still influence.
So too Mel.  I don’t believe that he wants us to go out of business but he has a part to play and that will feed into his ego as well as his bank balance.  I have no idea how much he is currently worth, almost certainly a lot more than I am, but he has clearly signalled for a long time that his years of largesse were at an end so I would guess that he has much less than we all think he does and what he used to have. His is emotional attachment as well as financial.  So I don’t blame him one bit for continuing to have a role to play, if that is what he is doing (and none of us know).  And, unlike most I accept, I trust him still to do right by Derby County, despite the opprobium that goes his way.  We shall see.
But even when (if) a PB is announced, that is by no means the end of the game.  Negotiations will continue, possibly for months to come.  There will be good days and not so good. Cans will continue to be kicked but, hopefully, the immediate threat of liquidation will be temporarily lifted.  We will no longer have to think of Luton away as being our last match or Millwall as our last home match at Pride Park
We have a role - a really, really important one.  We have over the last 10 days successfully raised our case in all kinds of places that hadn’t thought of hearing or talking about us - Parliament, MPs, Council, BBC Breakfast, Talksport, Radio 5 Live, Radio 4 Today programme, national newspapers and all the rest.  Our job is to continue.  We HAVE to keep this going. They will all want to move on to the next big thing. Our job is to keep Derby County peacefully but consistently in the news. Keep the pressure on.   We need more from our local Radio station, our local celebrities and MPs; we need more from our councillors. We need to make the EFL and others understand the strength of feeling, feel the pressure again and again and again.  And we are the ones that can provide the pressure.

We all have different coping mechanisms.  Enjoy the book

To those of you in despair or anger over today's announcement, stop.  However hard that may be try and stop. Think positive thoughts, deep breathe, talk, write on here, open the wine or whisky, kiss the spouse and children or dog, whatever it takes.  It was always going to be something along the lines we have heard and it is not (yet) bad news.  It could even be good news.
Every single negotiation I have been involved in - and there has been a fair few over my career much larger than that of our football club, though none as complex - has had one feature.  They’ve all gone down to the wire.  Every single one.  It’s human nature - all sides think they can squeeze a little extra.  Think Brexit (or every single negotiation with the EU ever).  We knew what was going to have to happen months and months and months out (and it’s still not finished) yet there they all were at one minute to midnight (and beyond) negotiating away, deadlines being pushed back and changed, deals being done, compromises reached. Think Northern Ireland or South Africa, Unicef or the United Nations. They’re all the same.
Our deal is about as complex as those given all the parties involved and all their different interests. There is no single ‘truth’ just as many truths as there are parties in the game. Cans will continue to be kicked down the road until the end game is reached and perhaps, just maybe, we are closer to the end game than we were this morning.  This is good news because it concentrates minds.  It’s also harder on us, who have considerable skin in the game but no direct involvement in the negotiations.
The reason we might now be in the end game come February 28th, is because that is when the Administrators say they run out of money.  At that point I suspect they have to liquidate us.  They can’t raise enough money by selling players in the next 4 days (which is good news) to run to the end of the season; they might be able to borrow funds but I suspect that option is reducing so I guess they are running out of options other than to agree a PB and get some funding that way.
The PBs will know that too and, if they stay interested, and why wouldn’t they having got this far, their opportunity to squeeze the deal is coming.
The incompetent EFL and their assorted hangers on are also having their minds concentrated.  I genuinely don’t believe the EFL want us out of business - there’s too much trouble for them in renegotiating the Championship table - not only prize money but also promotion and relegation.  We’ve taken good points off top teams; lost to lower teams - they’ll all have a claim in the outcome.  And by the end of February there will still be 30 points or so to play for, enough to change positions in the final table enough for our results to still influence.
So too Mel.  I don’t believe that he wants us to go out of business but he has a part to play and that will feed into his ego as well as his bank balance.  I have no idea how much he is currently worth, almost certainly a lot more than I am, but he has clearly signalled for a long time that his years of largesse were at an end so I would guess that he has much less than we all think he does and what he used to have. His is emotional attachment as well as financial.  So I don’t blame him one bit for continuing to have a role to play, if that is what he is doing (and none of us know).  And, unlike most I accept, I trust him still to do right by Derby County, despite the opprobium that goes his way.  We shall see.
But even when (if) a PB is announced, that is by no means the end of the game.  Negotiations will continue, possibly for months to come.  There will be good days and not so good. Cans will continue to be kicked but, hopefully, the immediate threat of liquidation will be temporarily lifted.  We will no longer have to think of Luton away as being our last match or Millwall as our last home match at Pride Park
We have a role - a really, really important one.  We have over the last 10 days successfully raised our case in all kinds of places that hadn’t thought of hearing or talking about us - Parliament, MPs, Council, BBC Breakfast, Talksport, Radio 5 Live, Radio 4 Today programme, national newspapers and all the rest.  Our job is to continue.  We HAVE to keep this going. They will all want to move on to the next big thing. Our job is to keep Derby County peacefully but consistently in the news. Keep the pressure on.   We need more from our local Radio station, our local celebrities and MPs; we need more from our councillors. We need to make the EFL and others understand the strength of feeling, feel the pressure again and again and again.  And we are the ones that can provide the pressure.

To those of you in despair or anger over today's announcement, stop.  However hard that may be try and stop. Think positive thoughts, deep breathe, talk, write on here, open the wine or whisky, kiss the spouse and children or dog, whatever it takes.  It was always going to be something along the lines we have heard and it is not (yet) bad news.  It could even be good news.
Every single negotiation I have been involved in - and there has been a fair few over my career much larger than that of our football club, though none as complex - has had one feature.  They’ve all gone down to the wire.  Every single one.  It’s human nature - all sides think they can squeeze a little extra.  Think Brexit (or every single negotiation with the EU ever).  We knew what was going to have to happen months and months and months out (and it’s still not finished) yet there they all were at one minute to midnight (and beyond) negotiating away, deadlines being pushed back and changed, deals being done, compromises reached. Think Northern Ireland or South Africa, Unicef or the United Nations. They’re all the same.
Our deal is about as complex as those given all the parties involved and all their different interests. There is no single ‘truth’ just as many truths as there are parties in the game. Cans will continue to be kicked down the road until the end game is reached and perhaps, just maybe, we are closer to the end game than we were this morning.  This is good news because it concentrates minds.  It’s also harder on us, who have considerable skin in the game but no direct involvement in the negotiations.
The reason we might now be in the end game come February 28th, is because that is when the Administrators say they run out of money.  At that point I suspect they have to liquidate us.  They can’t raise enough money by selling players in the next 4 days (which is good news) to run to the end of the season; they might be able to borrow funds but I suspect that option is reducing so I guess they are running out of options other than to agree a PB and get some funding that way.
The PBs will know that too and, if they stay interested, and why wouldn’t they having got this far, their opportunity to squeeze the deal is coming.
The incompetent EFL and their assorted hangers on are also having their minds concentrated.  I genuinely don’t believe the EFL want us out of business - there’s too much trouble for them in renegotiating the Championship table - not only prize money but also promotion and relegation.  We’ve taken good points off top teams; lost to lower teams - they’ll all have a claim in the outcome.  And by the end of February there will still be 30 points or so to play for, enough to change positions in the final table enough for our results to still influence.
So too Mel.  I don’t believe that he wants us to go out of business but he has a part to play and that will feed into his ego as well as his bank balance.  I have no idea how much he is currently worth, almost certainly a lot more than I am, but he has clearly signalled for a long time that his years of largesse were at an end so I would guess that he has much less than we all think he does and what he used to have. His is emotional attachment as well as financial.  So I don’t blame him one bit for continuing to have a role to play, if that is what he is doing (and none of us know).  And, unlike most I accept, I trust him still to do right by Derby County, despite the opprobium that goes his way.  We shall see.
But even when (if) a PB is announced, that is by no means the end of the game.  Negotiations will continue, possibly for months to come.  There will be good days and not so good. Cans will continue to be kicked but, hopefully, the immediate threat of liquidation will be temporarily lifted.  We will no longer have to think of Luton away as being our last match or Millwall as our last home match at Pride Park
We have a role - a really, really important one.  We have over the last 10 days successfully raised our case in all kinds of places that hadn’t thought of hearing or talking about us - Parliament, MPs, Council, BBC Breakfast, Talksport, Radio 5 Live, Radio 4 Today programme, national newspapers and all the rest.  Our job is to continue.  We HAVE to keep this going. They will all want to move on to the next big thing. Our job is to keep Derby County peacefully but consistently in the news. Keep the pressure on.   We need more from our local Radio station, our local celebrities and MPs; we need more from our councillors. We need to make the EFL and others understand the strength of feeling, feel the pressure again and again and again.  And we are the ones that can provide the pressure.

To those of you in despair or anger over today's announcement, stop.  However hard that may be try and stop. Think positive thoughts, deep breathe, talk, write on here, open the wine or whisky, kiss the spouse and children or dog, whatever it takes.  It was always going to be something along the lines we have heard and it is not (yet) bad news.  It could even be good news.
Every single negotiation I have been involved in - and there has been a fair few over my career much larger than that of our football club, though none as complex - has had one feature.  They’ve all gone down to the wire.  Every single one.  It’s human nature - all sides think they can squeeze a little extra.  Think Brexit (or every single negotiation with the EU ever).  We knew what was going to have to happen months and months and months out (and it’s still not finished) yet there they all were at one minute to midnight (and beyond) negotiating away, deadlines being pushed back and changed, deals being done, compromises reached. Think Northern Ireland or South Africa, Unicef or the United Nations. They’re all the same.
Our deal is about as complex as those given all the parties involved and all their different interests. There is no single ‘truth’ just as many truths as there are parties in the game. Cans will continue to be kicked down the road until the end game is reached and perhaps, just maybe, we are closer to the end game than we were this morning.  This is good news because it concentrates minds.  It’s also harder on us, who have considerable skin in the game but no direct involvement in the negotiations.
The reason we might now be in the end game come February 28th, is because that is when the Administrators say they run out of money.  At that point I suspect they have to liquidate us.  They can’t raise enough money by selling players in the next 4 days (which is good news) to run to the end of the season; they might be able to borrow funds but I suspect that option is reducing so I guess they are running out of options other than to agree a PB and get some funding that way.
The PBs will know that too and, if they stay interested, and why wouldn’t they having got this far, their opportunity to squeeze the deal is coming.
The incompetent EFL and their assorted hangers on are also having their minds concentrated.  I genuinely don’t believe the EFL want us out of business - there’s too much trouble for them in renegotiating the Championship table - not only prize money but also promotion and relegation.  We’ve taken good points off top teams; lost to lower teams - they’ll all have a claim in the outcome.  And by the end of February there will still be 30 points or so to play for, enough to change positions in the final table enough for our results to still influence.
So too Mel.  I don’t believe that he wants us to go out of business but he has a part to play and that will feed into his ego as well as his bank balance.  I have no idea how much he is currently worth, almost certainly a lot more than I am, but he has clearly signalled for a long time that his years of largesse were at an end so I would guess that he has much less than we all think he does and what he used to have. His is emotional attachment as well as financial.  So I don’t blame him one bit for continuing to have a role to play, if that is what he is doing (and none of us know).  And, unlike most I accept, I trust him still to do right by Derby County, despite the opprobium that goes his way.  We shall see.
But even when (if) a PB is announced, that is by no means the end of the game.  Negotiations will continue, possibly for months to come.  There will be good days and not so good. Cans will continue to be kicked but, hopefully, the immediate threat of liquidation will be temporarily lifted.  We will no longer have to think of Luton away as being our last match or Millwall as our last home match at Pride Park
We have a role - a really, really important one.  We have over the last 10 days successfully raised our case in all kinds of places that hadn’t thought of hearing or talking about us - Parliament, MPs, Council, BBC Breakfast, Talksport, Radio 5 Live, Radio 4 Today programme, national newspapers and all the rest.  Our job is to continue.  We HAVE to keep this going. They will all want to move on to the next big thing. Our job is to keep Derby County peacefully but consistently in the news. Keep the pressure on.   We need more from our local Radio station, our local celebrities and MPs; we need more from our councillors. We need to make the EFL and others understand the strength of feeling, feel the pressure again and again and again.  And we are the ones that can provide the pressure.

To those of you in despair or anger over today's announcement, stop.  However hard that may be try and stop. Think positive thoughts, deep breathe, talk, write on here, open the wine or whisky, kiss the spouse and children or dog, whatever it takes.  It was always going to be something along the lines we have heard and it is not (yet) bad news.  It could even be good news.
Every single negotiation I have been involved in - and there has been a fair few over my career much larger than that of our football club, though none as complex - has had one feature.  They’ve all gone down to the wire.  Every single one.  It’s human nature - all sides think they can squeeze a little extra.  Think Brexit (or every single negotiation with the EU ever).  We knew what was going to have to happen months and months and months out (and it’s still not finished) yet there they all were at one minute to midnight (and beyond) negotiating away, deadlines being pushed back and changed, deals being done, compromises reached. Think Northern Ireland or South Africa, Unicef or the United Nations. They’re all the same.
Our deal is about as complex as those given all the parties involved and all their different interests. There is no single ‘truth’ just as many truths as there are parties in the game. Cans will continue to be kicked down the road until the end game is reached and perhaps, just maybe, we are closer to the end game than we were this morning.  This is good news because it concentrates minds.  It’s also harder on us, who have considerable skin in the game but no direct involvement in the negotiations.
The reason we might now be in the end game come February 28th, is because that is when the Administrators say they run out of money.  At that point I suspect they have to liquidate us.  They can’t raise enough money by selling players in the next 4 days (which is good news) to run to the end of the season; they might be able to borrow funds but I suspect that option is reducing so I guess they are running out of options other than to agree a PB and get some funding that way.
The PBs will know that too and, if they stay interested, and why wouldn’t they having got this far, their opportunity to squeeze the deal is coming.
The incompetent EFL and their assorted hangers on are also having their minds concentrated.  I genuinely don’t believe the EFL want us out of business - there’s too much trouble for them in renegotiating the Championship table - not only prize money but also promotion and relegation.  We’ve taken good points off top teams; lost to lower teams - they’ll all have a claim in the outcome.  And by the end of February there will still be 30 points or so to play for, enough to change positions in the final table enough for our results to still influence.
So too Mel.  I don’t believe that he wants us to go out of business but he has a part to play and that will feed into his ego as well as his bank balance.  I have no idea how much he is currently worth, almost certainly a lot more than I am, but he has clearly signalled for a long time that his years of largesse were at an end so I would guess that he has much less than we all think he does and what he used to have. His is emotional attachment as well as financial.  So I don’t blame him one bit for continuing to have a role to play, if that is what he is doing (and none of us know).  And, unlike most I accept, I trust him still to do right by Derby County, despite the opprobium that goes his way.  We shall see.
But even when (if) a PB is announced, that is by no means the end of the game.  Negotiations will continue, possibly for months to come.  There will be good days and not so good. Cans will continue to be kicked but, hopefully, the immediate threat of liquidation will be temporarily lifted.  We will no longer have to think of Luton away as being our last match or Millwall as our last home match at Pride Park
We have a role - a really, really important one.  We have over the last 10 days successfully raised our case in all kinds of places that hadn’t thought of hearing or talking about us - Parliament, MPs, Council, BBC Breakfast, Talksport, Radio 5 Live, Radio 4 Today programme, national newspapers and all the rest.  Our job is to continue.  We HAVE to keep this going. They will all want to move on to the next big thing. Our job is to keep Derby County peacefully but consistently in the news. Keep the pressure on.   We need more from our local Radio station, our local celebrities and MPs; we need more from our councillors. We need to make the EFL and others understand the strength of feeling, feel the pressure again and again and again.  And we are the ones that can provide the pressure.

To those of you in despair or anger over today's announcement, stop.  However hard that may be try and stop. Think positive thoughts, deep breathe, talk, write on here, open the wine or whisky, kiss the spouse and children or dog, whatever it takes.  It was always going to be something along the lines we have heard and it is not (yet) bad news.  It could even be good news.
Every single negotiation I have been involved in - and there has been a fair few over my career much larger than that of our football club, though none as complex - has had one feature.  They’ve all gone down to the wire.  Every single one.  It’s human nature - all sides think they can squeeze a little extra.  Think Brexit (or every single negotiation with the EU ever).  We knew what was going to have to happen months and months and months out (and it’s still not finished) yet there they all were at one minute to midnight (and beyond) negotiating away, deadlines being pushed back and changed, deals being done, compromises reached. Think Northern Ireland or South Africa, Unicef or the United Nations. They’re all the same.
Our deal is about as complex as those given all the parties involved and all their different interests. There is no single ‘truth’ just as many truths as there are parties in the game. Cans will continue to be kicked down the road until the end game is reached and perhaps, just maybe, we are closer to the end game than we were this morning.  This is good news because it concentrates minds.  It’s also harder on us, who have considerable skin in the game but no direct involvement in the negotiations.
The reason we might now be in the end game come February 28th, is because that is when the Administrators say they run out of money.  At that point I suspect they have to liquidate us.  They can’t raise enough money by selling players in the next 4 days (which is good news) to run to the end of the season; they might be able to borrow funds but I suspect that option is reducing so I guess they are running out of options other than to agree a PB and get some funding that way.
The PBs will know that too and, if they stay interested, and why wouldn’t they having got this far, their opportunity to squeeze the deal is coming.
The incompetent EFL and their assorted hangers on are also having their minds concentrated.  I genuinely don’t believe the EFL want us out of business - there’s too much trouble for them in renegotiating the Championship table - not only prize money but also promotion and relegation.  We’ve taken good points off top teams; lost to lower teams - they’ll all have a claim in the outcome.  And by the end of February there will still be 30 points or so to play for, enough to change positions in the final table enough for our results to still influence.
So too Mel.  I don’t believe that he wants us to go out of business but he has a part to play and that will feed into his ego as well as his bank balance.  I have no idea how much he is currently worth, almost certainly a lot more than I am, but he has clearly signalled for a long time that his years of largesse were at an end so I would guess that he has much less than we all think he does and what he used to have. His is emotional attachment as well as financial.  So I don’t blame him one bit for continuing to have a role to play, if that is what he is doing (and none of us know).  And, unlike most I accept, I trust him still to do right by Derby County, despite the opprobium that goes his way.  We shall see.
But even when (if) a PB is announced, that is by no means the end of the game.  Negotiations will continue, possibly for months to come.  There will be good days and not so good. Cans will continue to be kicked but, hopefully, the immediate threat of liquidation will be temporarily lifted.  We will no longer have to think of Luton away as being our last match or Millwall as our last home match at Pride Park
We have a role - a really, really important one.  We have over the last 10 days successfully raised our case in all kinds of places that hadn’t thought of hearing or talking about us - Parliament, MPs, Council, BBC Breakfast, Talksport, Radio 5 Live, Radio 4 Today programme, national newspapers and all the rest.  Our job is to continue.  We HAVE to keep this going. They will all want to move on to the next big thing. Our job is to keep Derby County peacefully but consistently in the news. Keep the pressure on.   We need more from our local Radio station, our local celebrities and MPs; we need more from our councillors. We need to make the EFL and others understand the strength of feeling, feel the pressure again and again and again.  And we are the ones that can provide the pressure.

To those of you in despair or anger over today's announcement, stop.  However hard that may be try and stop. Think positive thoughts, deep breathe, talk, write on here, open the wine or whisky, kiss the spouse and children or dog, whatever it takes.  It was always going to be something along the lines we have heard and it is not (yet) bad news.  It could even be good news.
Every single negotiation I have been involved in - and there has been a fair few over my career much larger than that of our football club, though none as complex - has had one feature.  They’ve all gone down to the wire.  Every single one.  It’s human nature - all sides think they can squeeze a little extra.  Think Brexit (or every single negotiation with the EU ever).  We knew what was going to have to happen months and months and months out (and it’s still not finished) yet there they all were at one minute to midnight (and beyond) negotiating away, deadlines being pushed back and changed, deals being done, compromises reached. Think Northern Ireland or South Africa, Unicef or the United Nations. They’re all the same.
Our deal is about as complex as those given all the parties involved and all their different interests. There is no single ‘truth’ just as many truths as there are parties in the game. Cans will continue to be kicked down the road until the end game is reached and perhaps, just maybe, we are closer to the end game than we were this morning.  This is good news because it concentrates minds.  It’s also harder on us, who have considerable skin in the game but no direct involvement in the negotiations.
The reason we might now be in the end game come February 28th, is because that is when the Administrators say they run out of money.  At that point I suspect they have to liquidate us.  They can’t raise enough money by selling players in the next 4 days (which is good news) to run to the end of the season; they might be able to borrow funds but I suspect that option is reducing so I guess they are running out of options other than to agree a PB and get some funding that way.
The PBs will know that too and, if they stay interested, and why wouldn’t they having got this far, their opportunity to squeeze the deal is coming.
The incompetent EFL and their assorted hangers on are also having their minds concentrated.  I genuinely don’t believe the EFL want us out of business - there’s too much trouble for them in renegotiating the Championship table - not only prize money but also promotion and relegation.  We’ve taken good points off top teams; lost to lower teams - they’ll all have a claim in the outcome.  And by the end of February there will still be 30 points or so to play for, enough to change positions in the final table enough for our results to still influence.
So too Mel.  I don’t believe that he wants us to go out of business but he has a part to play and that will feed into his ego as well as his bank balance.  I have no idea how much he is currently worth, almost certainly a lot more than I am, but he has clearly signalled for a long time that his years of largesse were at an end so I would guess that he has much less than we all think he does and what he used to have. His is emotional attachment as well as financial.  So I don’t blame him one bit for continuing to have a role to play, if that is what he is doing (and none of us know).  And, unlike most I accept, I trust him still to do right by Derby County, despite the opprobium that goes his way.  We shall see.
But even when (if) a PB is announced, that is by no means the end of the game.  Negotiations will continue, possibly for months to come.  There will be good days and not so good. Cans will continue to be kicked but, hopefully, the immediate threat of liquidation will be temporarily lifted.  We will no longer have to think of Luton away as being our last match or Millwall as our last home match at Pride Park
We have a role - a really, really important one.  We have over the last 10 days successfully raised our case in all kinds of places that hadn’t thought of hearing or talking about us - Parliament, MPs, Council, BBC Breakfast, Talksport, Radio 5 Live, Radio 4 Today programme, national newspapers and all the rest.  Our job is to continue.  We HAVE to keep this going. They will all want to move on to the next big thing. Our job is to keep Derby County peacefully but consistently in the news. Keep the pressure on.   We need more from our local Radio station, our local celebrities and MPs; we need more from our councillors. We need to make the EFL and others understand the strength of feeling, feel the pressure again and again and again.  And we are the ones that can provide the pressure.

To those of you in despair or anger over today's announcement, stop.  However hard that may be try and stop. Think positive thoughts, deep breathe, talk, write on here, open the wine or whisky, kiss the spouse and children or dog, whatever it takes.  It was always going to be something along the lines we have heard and it is not (yet) bad news.  It could even be good news.
Every single negotiation I have been involved in - and there has been a fair few over my career much larger than that of our football club, though none as complex - has had one feature.  They’ve all gone down to the wire.  Every single one.  It’s human nature - all sides think they can squeeze a little extra.  Think Brexit (or every single negotiation with the EU ever).  We knew what was going to have to happen months and months and months out (and it’s still not finished) yet there they all were at one minute to midnight (and beyond) negotiating away, deadlines being pushed back and changed, deals being done, compromises reached. Think Northern Ireland or South Africa, Unicef or the United Nations. They’re all the same.
Our deal is about as complex as those given all the parties involved and all their different interests. There is no single ‘truth’ just as many truths as there are parties in the game. Cans will continue to be kicked down the road until the end game is reached and perhaps, just maybe, we are closer to the end game than we were this morning.  This is good news because it concentrates minds.  It’s also harder on us, who have considerable skin in the game but no direct involvement in the negotiations.
The reason we might now be in the end game come February 28th, is because that is when the Administrators say they run out of money.  At that point I suspect they have to liquidate us.  They can’t raise enough money by selling players in the next 4 days (which is good news) to run to the end of the season; they might be able to borrow funds but I suspect that option is reducing so I guess they are running out of options other than to agree a PB and get some funding that way.
The PBs will know that too and, if they stay interested, and why wouldn’t they having got this far, their opportunity to squeeze the deal is coming.
The incompetent EFL and their assorted hangers on are also having their minds concentrated.  I genuinely don’t believe the EFL want us out of business - there’s too much trouble for them in renegotiating the Championship table - not only prize money but also promotion and relegation.  We’ve taken good points off top teams; lost to lower teams - they’ll all have a claim in the outcome.  And by the end of February there will still be 30 points or so to play for, enough to change positions in the final table enough for our results to still influence.
So too Mel.  I don’t believe that he wants us to go out of business but he has a part to play and that will feed into his ego as well as his bank balance.  I have no idea how much he is currently worth, almost certainly a lot more than I am, but he has clearly signalled for a long time that his years of largesse were at an end so I would guess that he has much less than we all think he does and what he used to have. His is emotional attachment as well as financial.  So I don’t blame him one bit for continuing to have a role to play, if that is what he is doing (and none of us know).  And, unlike most I accept, I trust him still to do right by Derby County, despite the opprobium that goes his way.  We shall see.
But even when (if) a PB is announced, that is by no means the end of the game.  Negotiations will continue, possibly for months to come.  There will be good days and not so good. Cans will continue to be kicked but, hopefully, the immediate threat of liquidation will be temporarily lifted.  We will no longer have to think of Luton away as being our last match or Millwall as our last home match at Pride Park
We have a role - a really, really important one.  We have over the last 10 days successfully raised our case in all kinds of places that hadn’t thought of hearing or talking about us - Parliament, MPs, Council, BBC Breakfast, Talksport, Radio 5 Live, Radio 4 Today programme, national newspapers and all the rest.  Our job is to continue.  We HAVE to keep this going. They will all want to move on to the next big thing. Our job is to keep Derby County peacefully but consistently in the news. Keep the pressure on.   We need more from our local Radio station, our local celebrities and MPs; we need more from our councillors. We need to make the EFL and others understand the strength of feeling, feel the pressure again and again and again.  And we are the ones that can provide the pressure.

To those of you in despair or anger over today's announcement, stop.  However hard that may be try and stop. Think positive thoughts, deep breathe, talk, write on here, open the wine or whisky, kiss the spouse and children or dog, whatever it takes.  It was always going to be something along the lines we have heard and it is not (yet) bad news.  It could even be good news.
Every single negotiation I have been involved in - and there has been a fair few over my career much larger than that of our football club, though none as complex - has had one feature.  They’ve all gone down to the wire.  Every single one.  It’s human nature - all sides think they can squeeze a little extra.  Think Brexit (or every single negotiation with the EU ever).  We knew what was going to have to happen months and months and months out (and it’s still not finished) yet there they all were at one minute to midnight (and beyond) negotiating away, deadlines being pushed back and changed, deals being done, compromises reached. Think Northern Ireland or South Africa, Unicef or the United Nations. They’re all the same.
Our deal is about as complex as those given all the parties involved and all their different interests. There is no single ‘truth’ just as many truths as there are parties in the game. Cans will continue to be kicked down the road until the end game is reached and perhaps, just maybe, we are closer to the end game than we were this morning.  This is good news because it concentrates minds.  It’s also harder on us, who have considerable skin in the game but no direct involvement in the negotiations.
The reason we might now be in the end game come February 28th, is because that is when the Administrators say they run out of money.  At that point I suspect they have to liquidate us.  They can’t raise enough money by selling players in the next 4 days (which is good news) to run to the end of the season; they might be able to borrow funds but I suspect that option is reducing so I guess they are running out of options other than to agree a PB and get some funding that way.
The PBs will know that too and, if they stay interested, and why wouldn’t they having got this far, their opportunity to squeeze the deal is coming.
The incompetent EFL and their assorted hangers on are also having their minds concentrated.  I genuinely don’t believe the EFL want us out of business - there’s too much trouble for them in renegotiating the Championship table - not only prize money but also promotion and relegation.  We’ve taken good points off top teams; lost to lower teams - they’ll all have a claim in the outcome.  And by the end of February there will still be 30 points or so to play for, enough to change positions in the final table enough for our results to still influence.
So too Mel.  I don’t believe that he wants us to go out of business but he has a part to play and that will feed into his ego as well as his bank balance.  I have no idea how much he is currently worth, almost certainly a lot more than I am, but he has clearly signalled for a long time that his years of largesse were at an end so I would guess that he has much less than we all think he does and what he used to have. His is emotional attachment as well as financial.  So I don’t blame him one bit for continuing to have a role to play, if that is what he is doing (and none of us know).  And, unlike most I accept, I trust him still to do right by Derby County, despite the opprobium that goes his way.  We shall see.
But even when (if) a PB is announced, that is by no means the end of the game.  Negotiations will continue, possibly for months to come.  There will be good days and not so good. Cans will continue to be kicked but, hopefully, the immediate threat of liquidation will be temporarily lifted.  We will no longer have to think of Luton away as being our last match or Millwall as our last home match at Pride Park
We have a role - a really, really important one.  We have over the last 10 days successfully raised our case in all kinds of places that hadn’t thought of hearing or talking about us - Parliament, MPs, Council, BBC Breakfast, Talksport, Radio 5 Live, Radio 4 Today programme, national newspapers and all the rest.  Our job is to continue.  We HAVE to keep this going. They will all want to move on to the next big thing. Our job is to keep Derby County peacefully but consistently in the news. Keep the pressure on.   We need more from our local Radio station, our local celebrities and MPs; we need more from our councillors. We need to make the EFL and others understand the strength of feeling, feel the pressure again and again and again.  And we are the ones that can provide the pressure.

To those of you in despair or anger over today's announcement, stop.  However hard that may be try and stop. Think positive thoughts, deep breathe, talk, write on here, open the wine or whisky, kiss the spouse and children or dog, whatever it takes.  It was always going to be something along the lines we have heard and it is not (yet) bad news.  It could even be good news.
Every single negotiation I have been involved in - and there has been a fair few over my career much larger than that of our football club, though none as complex - has had one feature.  They’ve all gone down to the wire.  Every single one.  It’s human nature - all sides think they can squeeze a little extra.  Think Brexit (or every single negotiation with the EU ever).  We knew what was going to have to happen months and months and months out (and it’s still not finished) yet there they all were at one minute to midnight (and beyond) negotiating away, deadlines being pushed back and changed, deals being done, compromises reached. Think Northern Ireland or South Africa, Unicef or the United Nations. They’re all the same.
Our deal is about as complex as those given all the parties involved and all their different interests. There is no single ‘truth’ just as many truths as there are parties in the game. Cans will continue to be kicked down the road until the end game is reached and perhaps, just maybe, we are closer to the end game than we were this morning.  This is good news because it concentrates minds.  It’s also harder on us, who have considerable skin in the game but no direct involvement in the negotiations.
The reason we might now be in the end game come February 28th, is because that is when the Administrators say they run out of money.  At that point I suspect they have to liquidate us.  They can’t raise enough money by selling players in the next 4 days (which is good news) to run to the end of the season; they might be able to borrow funds but I suspect that option is reducing so I guess they are running out of options other than to agree a PB and get some funding that way.
The PBs will know that too and, if they stay interested, and why wouldn’t they having got this far, their opportunity to squeeze the deal is coming.
The incompetent EFL and their assorted hangers on are also having their minds concentrated.  I genuinely don’t believe the EFL want us out of business - there’s too much trouble for them in renegotiating the Championship table - not only prize money but also promotion and relegation.  We’ve taken good points off top teams; lost to lower teams - they’ll all have a claim in the outcome.  And by the end of February there will still be 30 points or so to play for, enough to change positions in the final table enough for our results to still influence.
So too Mel.  I don’t believe that he wants us to go out of business but he has a part to play and that will feed into his ego as well as his bank balance.  I have no idea how much he is currently worth, almost certainly a lot more than I am, but he has clearly signalled for a long time that his years of largesse were at an end so I would guess that he has much less than we all think he does and what he used to have. His is emotional attachment as well as financial.  So I don’t blame him one bit for continuing to have a role to play, if that is what he is doing (and none of us know).  And, unlike most I accept, I trust him still to do right by Derby County, despite the opprobium that goes his way.  We shall see.
But even when (if) a PB is announced, that is by no means the end of the game.  Negotiations will continue, possibly for months to come.  There will be good days and not so good. Cans will continue to be kicked but, hopefully, the immediate threat of liquidation will be temporarily lifted.  We will no longer have to think of Luton away as being our last match or Millwall as our last home match at Pride Park
We have a role - a really, really important one.  We have over the last 10 days successfully raised our case in all kinds of places that hadn’t thought of hearing or talking about us - Parliament, MPs, Council, BBC Breakfast, Talksport, Radio 5 Live, Radio 4 Today programme, national newspapers and all the rest.  Our job is to continue.  We HAVE to keep this going. They will all want to move on to the next big thing. Our job is to keep Derby County peacefully but consistently in the news. Keep the pressure on.   We need more from our local Radio station, our local celebrities and MPs; we need more from our councillors. We need to make the EFL and others understand the strength of feeling, feel the pressure again and again and again.  And we are the ones that can provide the pressure.

To those of you in despair or anger over today's announcement, stop.  However hard that may be try and stop. Think positive thoughts, deep breathe, talk, write on here, open the wine or whisky, kiss the spouse and children or dog, whatever it takes.  It was always going to be something along the lines we have heard and it is not (yet) bad news.  It could even be good news.
Every single negotiation I have been involved in - and there has been a fair few over my career much larger than that of our football club, though none as complex - has had one feature.  They’ve all gone down to the wire.  Every single one.  It’s human nature - all sides think they can squeeze a little extra.  Think Brexit (or every single negotiation with the EU ever).  We knew what was going to have to happen months and months and months out (and it’s still not finished) yet there they all were at one minute to midnight (and beyond) negotiating away, deadlines being pushed back and changed, deals being done, compromises reached. Think Northern Ireland or South Africa, Unicef or the United Nations. They’re all the same.
Our deal is about as complex as those given all the parties involved and all their different interests. There is no single ‘truth’ just as many truths as there are parties in the game. Cans will continue to be kicked down the road until the end game is reached and perhaps, just maybe, we are closer to the end game than we were this morning.  This is good news because it concentrates minds.  It’s also harder on us, who have considerable skin in the game but no direct involvement in the negotiations.
The reason we might now be in the end game come February 28th, is because that is when the Administrators say they run out of money.  At that point I suspect they have to liquidate us.  They can’t raise enough money by selling players in the next 4 days (which is good news) to run to the end of the season; they might be able to borrow funds but I suspect that option is reducing so I guess they are running out of options other than to agree a PB and get some funding that way.
The PBs will know that too and, if they stay interested, and why wouldn’t they having got this far, their opportunity to squeeze the deal is coming.
The incompetent EFL and their assorted hangers on are also having their minds concentrated.  I genuinely don’t believe the EFL want us out of business - there’s too much trouble for them in renegotiating the Championship table - not only prize money but also promotion and relegation.  We’ve taken good points off top teams; lost to lower teams - they’ll all have a claim in the outcome.  And by the end of February there will still be 30 points or so to play for, enough to change positions in the final table enough for our results to still influence.
So too Mel.  I don’t believe that he wants us to go out of business but he has a part to play and that will feed into his ego as well as his bank balance.  I have no idea how much he is currently worth, almost certainly a lot more than I am, but he has clearly signalled for a long time that his years of largesse were at an end so I would guess that he has much less than we all think he does and what he used to have. His is emotional attachment as well as financial.  So I don’t blame him one bit for continuing to have a role to play, if that is what he is doing (and none of us know).  And, unlike most I accept, I trust him still to do right by Derby County, despite the opprobium that goes his way.  We shall see.
But even when (if) a PB is announced, that is by no means the end of the game.  Negotiations will continue, possibly for months to come.  There will be good days and not so good. Cans will continue to be kicked but, hopefully, the immediate threat of liquidation will be temporarily lifted.  We will no longer have to think of Luton away as being our last match or Millwall as our last home match at Pride Park
We have a role - a really, really important one.  We have over the last 10 days successfully raised our case in all kinds of places that hadn’t thought of hearing or talking about us - Parliament, MPs, Council, BBC Breakfast, Talksport, Radio 5 Live, Radio 4 Today programme, national newspapers and all the rest.  Our job is to continue.  We HAVE to keep this going. They will all want to move on to the next big thing. Our job is to keep Derby County peacefully but consistently in the news. Keep the pressure on.   We need more from our local Radio station, our local celebrities and MPs; we need more from our councillors. We need to make the EFL and others understand the strength of feeling, feel the pressure again and again and again.  And we are the ones that can provide the pressure.

To those of you in despair or anger over today's announcement, stop.  However hard that may be try and stop. Think positive thoughts, deep breathe, talk, write on here, open the wine or whisky, kiss the spouse and children or dog, whatever it takes.  It was always going to be something along the lines we have heard and it is not (yet) bad news.  It could even be good news.
Every single negotiation I have been involved in - and there has been a fair few over my career much larger than that of our football club, though none as complex - has had one feature.  They’ve all gone down to the wire.  Every single one.  It’s human nature - all sides think they can squeeze a little extra.  Think Brexit (or every single negotiation with the EU ever).  We knew what was going to have to happen months and months and months out (and it’s still not finished) yet there they all were at one minute to midnight (and beyond) negotiating away, deadlines being pushed back and changed, deals being done, compromises reached. Think Northern Ireland or South Africa, Unicef or the United Nations. They’re all the same.
Our deal is about as complex as those given all the parties involved and all their different interests. There is no single ‘truth’ just as many truths as there are parties in the game. Cans will continue to be kicked down the road until the end game is reached and perhaps, just maybe, we are closer to the end game than we were this morning.  This is good news because it concentrates minds.  It’s also harder on us, who have considerable skin in the game but no direct involvement in the negotiations.
The reason we might now be in the end game come February 28th, is because that is when the Administrators say they run out of money.  At that point I suspect they have to liquidate us.  They can’t raise enough money by selling players in the next 4 days (which is good news) to run to the end of the season; they might be able to borrow funds but I suspect that option is reducing so I guess they are running out of options other than to agree a PB and get some funding that way.
The PBs will know that too and, if they stay interested, and why wouldn’t they having got this far, their opportunity to squeeze the deal is coming.
The incompetent EFL and their assorted hangers on are also having their minds concentrated.  I genuinely don’t believe the EFL want us out of business - there’s too much trouble for them in renegotiating the Championship table - not only prize money but also promotion and relegation.  We’ve taken good points off top teams; lost to lower teams - they’ll all have a claim in the outcome.  And by the end of February there will still be 30 points or so to play for, enough to change positions in the final table enough for our results to still influence.
So too Mel.  I don’t believe that he wants us to go out of business but he has a part to play and that will feed into his ego as well as his bank balance.  I have no idea how much he is currently worth, almost certainly a lot more than I am, but he has clearly signalled for a long time that his years of largesse were at an end so I would guess that he has much less than we all think he does and what he used to have. His is emotional attachment as well as financial.  So I don’t blame him one bit for continuing to have a role to play, if that is what he is doing (and none of us know).  And, unlike most I accept, I trust him still to do right by Derby County, despite the opprobium that goes his way.  We shall see.
But even when (if) a PB is announced, that is by no means the end of the game.  Negotiations will continue, possibly for months to come.  There will be good days and not so good. Cans will continue to be kicked but, hopefully, the immediate threat of liquidation will be temporarily lifted.  We will no longer have to think of Luton away as being our last match or Millwall as our last home match at Pride Park
We have a role - a really, really important one.  We have over the last 10 days successfully raised our case in all kinds of places that hadn’t thought of hearing or talking about us - Parliament, MPs, Council, BBC Breakfast, Talksport, Radio 5 Live, Radio 4 Today programme, national newspapers and all the rest.  Our job is to continue.  We HAVE to keep this going. They will all want to move on to the next big thing. Our job is to keep Derby County peacefully but consistently in the news. Keep the pressure on.   We need more from our local Radio station, our local celebrities and MPs; we need more from our councillors. We need to make the EFL and others understand the strength of feeling, feel the pressure again and again and again.  And we are the ones that can provide the pressure.

We all have different coping mechanisms.  Enjoy the book

To those of you in despair or anger over today's announcement, stop.  However hard that may be try and stop. Think positive thoughts, deep breathe, talk, write on here, open the wine or whisky, kiss the spouse and children or dog, whatever it takes.  It was always going to be something along the lines we have heard and it is not (yet) bad news.  It could even be good news.
Every single negotiation I have been involved in - and there has been a fair few over my career much larger than that of our football club, though none as complex - has had one feature.  They’ve all gone down to the wire.  Every single one.  It’s human nature - all sides think they can squeeze a little extra.  Think Brexit (or every single negotiation with the EU ever).  We knew what was going to have to happen months and months and months out (and it’s still not finished) yet there they all were at one minute to midnight (and beyond) negotiating away, deadlines being pushed back and changed, deals being done, compromises reached. Think Northern Ireland or South Africa, Unicef or the United Nations. They’re all the same.
Our deal is about as complex as those given all the parties involved and all their different interests. There is no single ‘truth’ just as many truths as there are parties in the game. Cans will continue to be kicked down the road until the end game is reached and perhaps, just maybe, we are closer to the end game than we were this morning.  This is good news because it concentrates minds.  It’s also harder on us, who have considerable skin in the game but no direct involvement in the negotiations.
The reason we might now be in the end game come February 28th, is because that is when the Administrators say they run out of money.  At that point I suspect they have to liquidate us.  They can’t raise enough money by selling players in the next 4 days (which is good news) to run to the end of the season; they might be able to borrow funds but I suspect that option is reducing so I guess they are running out of options other than to agree a PB and get some funding that way.
The PBs will know that too and, if they stay interested, and why wouldn’t they having got this far, their opportunity to squeeze the deal is coming.
The incompetent EFL and their assorted hangers on are also having their minds concentrated.  I genuinely don’t believe the EFL want us out of business - there’s too much trouble for them in renegotiating the Championship table - not only prize money but also promotion and relegation.  We’ve taken good points off top teams; lost to lower teams - they’ll all have a claim in the outcome.  And by the end of February there will still be 30 points or so to play for, enough to change positions in the final table enough for our results to still influence.
So too Mel.  I don’t believe that he wants us to go out of business but he has a part to play and that will feed into his ego as well as his bank balance.  I have no idea how much he is currently worth, almost certainly a lot more than I am, but he has clearly signalled for a long time that his years of largesse were at an end so I would guess that he has much less than we all think he does and what he used to have. His is emotional attachment as well as financial.  So I don’t blame him one bit for continuing to have a role to play, if that is what he is doing (and none of us know).  And, unlike most I accept, I trust him still to do right by Derby County, despite the opprobium that goes his way.  We shall see.
But even when (if) a PB is announced, that is by no means the end of the game.  Negotiations will continue, possibly for months to come.  There will be good days and not so good. Cans will continue to be kicked but, hopefully, the immediate threat of liquidation will be temporarily lifted.  We will no longer have to think of Luton away as being our last match or Millwall as our last home match at Pride Park
We have a role - a really, really important one.  We have over the last 10 days successfully raised our case in all kinds of places that hadn’t thought of hearing or talking about us - Parliament, MPs, Council, BBC Breakfast, Talksport, Radio 5 Live, Radio 4 Today programme, national newspapers and all the rest.  Our job is to continue.  We HAVE to keep this going. They will all want to move on to the next big thing. Our job is to keep Derby County peacefully but consistently in the news. Keep the pressure on.   We need more from our local Radio station, our local celebrities and MPs; we need more from our councillors. We need to make the EFL and others understand the strength of feeling, feel the pressure again and again and again.  And we are the ones that can provide the pressure.