StarterForTen

Absolutely none.
But we're adept on this forum at stitching a coat to a button...

Absolutely none.
But we're adept on this forum at stitching a coat to a button...

Absolutely none.
But we're adept on this forum at stitching a coat to a button...

Absolutely none.
But we're adept on this forum at stitching a coat to a button...

Absolutely none.
But we're adept on this forum at stitching a coat to a button...

Absolutely none.
But we're adept on this forum at stitching a coat to a button...

Absolutely none.
But we're adept on this forum at stitching a coat to a button...

Thank you Mr Beard, what an excellent post. This idea that Newcastle are under-achievers is poppy-rooster and their fans' right of entitlement is, and has always been, wholly misplaced.
They have potential to be greater - but none more so than Leeds, Everton, Villa, West Ham... the list goes on.
And of course, if you did the same exercise on Derby County, it would show our natural position to be a mid-table second tier side I expect.

But to be 'better' they need to be competing in the top six don't they, which would require hundreds of millions of pounds of expenditure (I won't call it investment as that alludes to a notion of getting a return!). They could go out and spend £100m in each of the next three transfer windows and quite feasibly STILL be a mid-table Premier League club - only now one with a huge debt.
Ambition is lovely but - as we Rams know all too well - can be a very dangerous thing.

It's fair to say that Mike Ashley does not project a likeable persona, but the 'Mike Ashley Ownership Model' is exactly what Derby County need if the club is to avoid another boom or bust ownership tenure.
If Mike Ashley did buy the Rams - and let's be honest, this is all absolute pie in the sky - he would probably do a decent job of getting them stabilised through some reasonable upfront investment, and then expect the club to punch it's weight - which in the current EFL set-up that is skewed massively by parachute payments means being a top ten Championship club.
That is Derby's reality without once again rolling the dice on an ownership that gambles on glory.
Football is broken.

Might that be because the owner refuses to spend above his budget? 
Might that be the exact opposite of what our recent owner has been criticised for not doing? 
☝ @StarterForTen said it so much better above!

But to be 'better' they need to be competing in the top six don't they, which would require hundreds of millions of pounds of expenditure (I won't call it investment as that alludes to a notion of getting a return!). They could go out and spend £100m in each of the next three transfer windows and quite feasibly STILL be a mid-table Premier League club - only now one with a huge debt.
Ambition is lovely but - as we Rams know all too well - can be a very dangerous thing.

It's fair to say that Mike Ashley does not project a likeable persona, but the 'Mike Ashley Ownership Model' is exactly what Derby County need if the club is to avoid another boom or bust ownership tenure.
If Mike Ashley did buy the Rams - and let's be honest, this is all absolute pie in the sky - he would probably do a decent job of getting them stabilised through some reasonable upfront investment, and then expect the club to punch it's weight - which in the current EFL set-up that is skewed massively by parachute payments means being a top ten Championship club.
That is Derby's reality without once again rolling the dice on an ownership that gambles on glory.
Football is broken.

Thank you Mr Beard, what an excellent post. This idea that Newcastle are under-achievers is poppy-rooster and their fans' right of entitlement is, and has always been, wholly misplaced.
They have potential to be greater - but none more so than Leeds, Everton, Villa, West Ham... the list goes on.
And of course, if you did the same exercise on Derby County, it would show our natural position to be a mid-table second tier side I expect.

Very good point. But could he not just turn it upside down...??
That wouldn't work for that tie though, would it?
Oh well, best call the whole thing off.

They have if you compare it to where they were 4 & 11 years before he arrived, but not really if you compare it to where they were 3 years or 7-10 years before!
Really they've just re-found the level they historically have played at for pretty much their entire existence before the Premier League came along.  A mid table (with a few deviations between upper & lower mid table) top tier team with mixed with a few spells in the second division.
They had some great times under Kevin Keegan and then Bobby Robson challenging for titles and that seems to be the cause for much of their delusion that they should be competing at the top end now, but that isn't the norm for them as a club and you have to go back to 1927 for the last time they were the champions of England.
In between Keegan & Robson they only finished 13th, 13th, 11th, 11th. After Robson left 14th, 7th under Souness then 13th in the season before Ashley.
Under Ashley they've have PL finishes of 12th, 18th, 12th, 5th, 16th, 10th, 15th, 18th, 10th, 13th, 13th, 12th.
They're exactly where they should be, and need to stop bloody moaning about it.

Turn it upside down, sorted.

It's fair to say that Mike Ashley does not project a likeable persona, but the 'Mike Ashley Ownership Model' is exactly what Derby County need if the club is to avoid another boom or bust ownership tenure.
If Mike Ashley did buy the Rams - and let's be honest, this is all absolute pie in the sky - he would probably do a decent job of getting them stabilised through some reasonable upfront investment, and then expect the club to punch it's weight - which in the current EFL set-up that is skewed massively by parachute payments means being a top ten Championship club.
That is Derby's reality without once again rolling the dice on an ownership that gambles on glory.
Football is broken.

There is one advantage for Ashley if he did buy Derby he wouldn’t have to buy another football scarf. ?

It's fair to say that Mike Ashley does not project a likeable persona, but the 'Mike Ashley Ownership Model' is exactly what Derby County need if the club is to avoid another boom or bust ownership tenure.
If Mike Ashley did buy the Rams - and let's be honest, this is all absolute pie in the sky - he would probably do a decent job of getting them stabilised through some reasonable upfront investment, and then expect the club to punch it's weight - which in the current EFL set-up that is skewed massively by parachute payments means being a top ten Championship club.
That is Derby's reality without once again rolling the dice on an ownership that gambles on glory.
Football is broken.

We have to remember that the role of HMRC is a revenue gatherer and they will always seek to bring in what they are owed, or as much of it as is possible. They are not the police or the judiciary; they don't seek to 'make examples' of failed businesses. They aren't even (overtly) political.
They will only ever move to liquidate a business if that was the only way of recouping more of the debt owed, so with a heavily indebted business with restricted asset value that doesn't look to be a very good option for them.
Of course, they won't just roll over. I suspect they will be the last injured party to yield and may well push this well into January to put pressure on a buyer who will be eyeing the Transfer window closing.

Bit not for long...

Bit not for long...

A few days of quiet and the void is immediately filled by negative speculation. This was never going to be straightforward. Everyone knows the club is in a mess, but rather than speculate on the small positives that wages have been paid for this month, they’re looking for extra funding to prevent further cuts etc and the fact there were interested parties at the game on Sunday we focus on the negative that we’ve not heard any news for a few days therefore it could be doomsday because we’re 2 weeks into administration and the club hasn’t been sold yet.
We all agree the longer this drags on the worse our situation could be but 2 weeks in is not the time to panic, if we’re still here in December and there is no sign of anything being sorted then it will look grim

What, THE Lem Sirrom? The guy who made his billions from the Crundy Crash game?