StarterForTen

45 minutes ago, i-Ram said:

They only have a 180 degree reach. The other half is full of fish.

There's always....

7 minutes ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

And any investor looking at DCFC will likely also look at other championship and maybe league 1 clubs and think there's a similar potential with fewer issues to resolve.

You are absolutely correct on this, but there may be fewer 'candidate clubs' than you imagine.

Take Hull City for example, the cost of that acquisition (including debt) by the new owners is circa £55m-£60m - and they do not own their own ground of course.

If an investor wants to have a crack at football club ownership - and have the bottle to wade through the current stench we are in - DCFC is still an attractive option.

Mitigating risk is always on the agenda, and that means minimising initial exposure - hence the dancing currently underway.

48 minutes ago, Jimbo Ram said:

To get a club the size of Derby at even 70 million seems a bargain to me, including the ground, training facilities etc....put in to context they will be getting all of that for about 3/4 of Jack Grealish......

I often compare Derby with Southampton. The two cities are of similar size, so are each club's stadia, both have good training/academy provision and both draw support from a region.

For clubs of that size and marketing reach, I would say Southampton are towards the top of the performance expectation curve and Derby towards (or even at?) the bottom.

Southampton have recently changed their majority owner in a deal that values the club at around £220m. I don't think it is unfair to suggest that had Derby been in Southampton's position, a similar valuation would be expected for the Rams. Equally, I think it fair to suggest that going beyond that level (while not impossible) would be a stretch. In other words, 'becoming Southampton' is not an unreasonable ceiling of expectation for any potential owner to work to.

So, if a new owner were to acquire a 'reset' DCFC - including the freehold of the stadium and long leases on Moor Farm - for an overall outlay of sub £50m it could be argued that there is considerable investment headroom before the 'project cost' becomes untenable. An acquisitions expert like Mike Ashley will be aware of this and would be looking to reposition the 'DCFC business' to the Southampton FC level through justifiable investment inputs. Even investing £150m in the project would still offer good value... IF successful.

Of course, that is a big 'IF' attached to this thinking! The investment has to work!! As Mel has shown us so conclusively, investing £150m in no way guarantees the transition I have outlined.

But the entrepreneurs associated with a potential takeover will ALWAYS believe they can do it better than the person before and believe 100% that the road to becoming Southampton will be successfully travelled.

Which is why I have always believed a takeover will happen because, as @Jimbo Ramhas said, buying DCFC right now is a bargain!

1 minute ago, AndyinLiverpool said:

Isn't this just free money?

Palace are paying us o avoid a summer auction. 

Can’t see the problem here. A free agent in the summer so he’s leave for free then anyway.  The loan means he’s our player for just as long but the club get some cash now. Makes sense. 

16 minutes ago, Unlucky Alf said:

Just been visiting a friend at the Derby Royal Hospital, I went past a private ward and heard a Nurse say "All will be well Christian" I stopped and looked in ? Wow, I said to the Nurse is that the footballer who scored the 2nd Derby goal yesterday.

A simple nod of her head confirmed it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Would still be more mobile than old Wazza in his last few games as a player!

15 minutes ago, Brailsford Ram said:

In Middlesbrough, Wycombe and the corridors of the EFL we might be seen as the pariahs of English football but elsewhere we are seen for the moment by all decent football fans as everyone's second favourite team. Power To The People.

A terrorist in one person's eyes, is a freedom fighter in another's.

And the difference between either? Whoever wins gets to write the history!

7 minutes ago, Tombo said:

In summary, there may be good news. Or it could be bad news.

It could be today. Or possibly tomorrow. Or possibly by the end of the week.

It might drag on until the end of Feb. Or it might not. Or it might be the end of the season. Or also not.

And we could get a 15 point deduction next season. Then again, that could also not happen. Or it could happen this season.

And we've had some information from people who say they know what's going on. That said, they might not actually know.

So in summary, that's what we know about what's going on. Precisely absolutely nothing. But it's got us all riled up as it might be important.

Then again, it might not be.

That sounds like a transcript from every SAGE meeting about Covid infection trends from the last 18 months. 

15 minutes ago, Shipley Ram said:

BBC say free transfer

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/60111467

Few L2 clubs will be paying for player transfers these days. Perhaps there's a sell-on clause to share any future development.

1 minute ago, Indy said:

Parry has a vested interest because his deal with Boro means our punishment and it’s perception by Gibson directly influences whether the EFL might get sued by Gibson!

No, sorry that can't be true. The last EFL statement clearly stated that withdrawal of the threat of action by Boro against the EFL; the launch of disciplinary action by the EFL against Derby; and the subsequent threat of legal action by Boro against Derby are completely coincidental matters.

Forest are like the lads loitering at the back of a feisty human rights riot. They aren't there for the cause, just to nick a telly out of the electrical shop when the rioters smash the windows.

Buchanan, Ebosele, Sibley? They won't care, as long as they can claim some form of looting trophy.

That looks like a Premier Inn car park… so perhaps not another Chelsea theft?!

6 minutes ago, Boycie said:

I think the ground is situated in a triangular piece of land surrounded by three railway lines, just north of Kew Bridge if I remember right?

It is indeed. And the project has largely been underwritten by the development of more than 250 flats at an average of £750k each. Being adjacent to Kew station allows that!

Ive visited the stadium when working with London Irish rugby club and what they have built on that parcel of land is boggling 

I reckon it will be £300k - but we do save his £27.50 a week YTS money

Wong era?

Regardless of what happens over the next six months, Lawrence will not be here next season and he isn't the definitive differentiation between staying up or being relegated.

Sell, make the saving and use the time to see if Sibley, Morrisson or even Jozwiak can fill that spot.

Three bidders are confirmed. Could it be that the mysterious third bidder is actually Mel?

The question raised in the EFL statement about identifying the preferred bidder before dealing with the club claims made me think that they may be worried Mel is still on the scene. They may be worried that he’s about to ‘have them on strings’ after all. 

2 minutes ago, DCFC Kicks said:

I don't understand why you'd want your biggest rival to disappear. Wouldn't it make the whole experience as a fan more boring? 

Would be like the El Classico suddenly becoming Real Madrid vs Espanyol. 

2 minutes ago, Eddie said:

At the moment, the EFL is Winston and Derby County are Julia. Middlesbrough are Big Brother.

Orwell was only one figure out in his book title too... he meant to call it 1884.

1 minute ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

I hope Ashley is vomiting in all the fireplaces of Middlesbrough as we speak.

They'll be full of their own vomit.

6 minutes ago, Animal is a Ram said:

As I understand it - this hasn't just been prepared for, it was actively proposed, but shut down due to the EFL not ruling on whether the claims by MFC and WWFC are football debts or not.

If they rule 'in favour' of those two, we're finished. Nobody will taken on that risk.

If they rule 'in favour' of DCFC, we're saved, but at the anger of MFC and WWFC who would, given their seemingly nuclear stance, probably attack the EFL and then the new owners again for good measure.

As David has shared on his excellent post, I believe the definition of a Football Editor is well covered in the EFL's Articles. I think they are going to struggle to stand up the MFC and WWFC current claims as anything other than potential liabilities.

I appreciate this might just kick the can down the road in facing future claims, but it gets the club past the Feb 1st hurdle.

Another interpretation of that thread suggests the Admins are preparing the ground to take the claims out of the equation with a Cross Class Cram Down action. To get one, a court has to believe that no party to the action is worse off than any other possible outcome - and it looks like the Admins are clearly illustrating that the alternative is liquidation and virtually nothing for all creditors.

A CCCD that offers to pay 100% to all current football debts and secured creditors; 25% to to other recognised creditors and strikes out the claims as non creditors would allow the Club to have a clear path forward and would fit into current EFL insolvency exit rules.

If the EFL attempted to block the transfer over the golden share to the new owners over the treatment of the MFC and WWFC claims they would be in breach of their own Articles and be in the firing line for a legal challenge.

4 minutes ago, Animal is a Ram said:

Interesting thread 

Interesting... and scary, in equal measure.

5 minutes ago, Unlucky Alf said:

I think he's just Bitter

Yeah, I've heard he's a 'glass half empty' kind of guy

3 minutes ago, StaffsRam said:

What bid?

The 'bid' to make a statement I presume

14 minutes ago, Sparkle said:

The EFL can back down and quickly they can also threaten to charge both parasite clubs with acting against the spirit of the league in fact they can impose anything they like based on our experiences 

All the EFL have to do is support the simple (and bloody obvious) fact that, as things currently stand, the claims made by MFC and WWFC are NOT considered Football debts, or indeed creditor debts of any standing.

They are potential future liabilities nothing more and, in a Cross-Class Cram Down action, could be wiped out completely by actions of the Administrators. In doing so, as these would not be Football Creditors, the exit from Administration could still follow the EFL's own Insolvency rules.