San Fran Van Rams

On its own, I actually agree with the 3 point suspended penalty. Not paying staff should never happen unless administration has been entered and even then it should be a last resort. 

The issue here is that there are historical examples of other clubs doing similar and going un punished, and Sheff Wed getting a seemingly a lesser penalty for a more severe crime. That doesn't sit right.

The fact this also impacts two clubs who have been in the EFL spot light in the last season speaks volumes too. This is the EFL waving it's 'big' (read small) dick around.

I also think Derby didn't appeal this as they probably didn't know what the Wednesday punishment was when they accepted it to get some breathing space. 

Out of interest, was it the EFL or the DC that set the punishment?

2 hours ago, Ted McMinn Football Genius said:

It’s our history and we should be extremely proud of their achievement. So for me I would love to see the images of our 1971-72 squad all around the ground.
It seems fitting on the 50th anniversary of the success of those legends, I strongly believe they should be at pride of place above the main entrance to PP in view of the Taylor/Clough statue.

This is so important, now more than ever. Because of the ongoing turmoil we are having to endure right now this for me means we should celebrate those lads of yesteryear far more than we have done as a club to date.

History is something that no one can take away from us, no matter who they are or who they think they are.

COYR ? ????

Would love to see this. Cant really go wrong with it either. Here's to hoping the new kit is a 50th anniversary celebration of our title winning kit too - would be ace.

Just a quick thought - can the EFL postpone our and Wycombe's first few games until the accounts are re-submitted so that a penalty can be applied to last season?

My (nascent) understanding is that the EFL are likely to appeal the DCs punishment of 100k fine (to change it to a points deduction). Subsequently, they can then punish us for any FFP rule breaking in the previous years accounts. 

If they can postpone games, is the worse case scenario here a deduction for last season to relegate us based on the resubmitted accounts, and then another points deduction at some point during the 21/22 season dependent on the appeal to the DC?

EFL could effectively relegate us twice and all because Mel had the gumption to challenge their TV money negotiations.

1 minute ago, Norman said:

I would also state, if we do fall outsiflde the permitted losses, we can argue we would have sold players to alleviate the losses. We are no longer in a position to change what happened years a go. Can't see this going anywhere to be honest. 

Appeal after appeal coming up. 

This for me is the question - if we do fail the FRS rules based on the resubmission, could we argue that spending decisions taken during that time period were based on a methodology that hadn't been questioned and we had assumed to be correct, and that we weren't acting in a subversive manner in when doing so? 

I'm not sure if there is any precedent in other walks of life on this but I guess its like being given a speeding fine when your speedo is 10mph out

1 hour ago, G STAR RAM said:

They are trying to increase club revenues by bringing a service up to a reasonable price, why are they not acting in the best interests of the clubs?

They are not acting in the best interest of the fans, granted. 

That's not what they're doing though is it? What they're actually doing is forcing a high price for non-iFollow clubs TV which will reduce their subscriptions in an attempt at forcing clubs to sign up to the iFollow platform from which I assume the EFL takes a larger share of the revenues (seen it quoted that only 80% of revenues from iFollow go back to the clubs). 

Be interested to see any pricing analysis that was done, although I'd assume they didn't do any (considering their ineptitude, x2 is quite easy maths i suppose).

I got an interesting response from the club when I cancelled:

'Unfortunately, this price increase has come from the EFL and not a decision made by DCFC.

I completely understand and share your frustration on this matter'

In my view, this is not the EFL acting in the interests of clubs, this is an anti-competitive price gauging matter to force clubs to use i-follow. Joke. Wouldn't be surprised if we see legal action. 

I've just unsubscribed. No chance I'm paying that, especially in off season. 

Surprised so many feel 25quid per month is reasonable, especially when you don't even know the number of games you'll get to watch given all the broadcasting restrictions. 

To put it into perspective:

- ESPN+ is $5 per month (~GBP 3.50)

- DAZN is $150 CAD (~GBP 87) per year, or $12.50 per month (~GBP 7)

(And I'm not even going to talk about Amazon subscriptions which now include sports)

Its outrageous the EFL feel they can justify 3-5x these prices for essentially 90-210 minutes of programming per week (restrictions not applying). AND, feel they can still charge these amounts in the offseason when there is literally nothing to watch on the platforms.

I could just about stomach GBP12.50 per month and I even thought that was expensive. To double that with absolutely no explanation is criminal. I'd be very surprised to see subscription volumes remain at 50% of what they are today, and I'm expecting clubs to take another hit at a time when they could do with all the income they can get. Be interested to know what consultation this got with clubs and what the initial position was. Once again, football is taking the mikey out of fans. What next, a 50 quid replica shirt? oh wait...

What. A. Guy. You could see how much it meant to him to get a result today in his after match interview. He was nearly in tears. 

I want him around the club for next season and years to come. 

4 hours ago, Kernow said:

The reason why I don't want us to play for a draw, is because we're playing an opponent who absolutely have to win. If we were playing a mid-table side with nothing to play for, and knew a draw would still keep us safe, then maybe that would be the right plan.

However, I have not seen anything from this current set of players or coaching staff which suggests we would be able to set-up and have the mentality and organisation to stay firm for an entire 90 minutes. Us trying to hold back an onslaught of pressure is going to result in a goal conceded at some point, and then what? We suddenly have to do something that we also aren't very good at, clawing our way back in to a game.

When we're drawing, there's too many ways the table can swing rapidly out of our favour in the blink of an eye. If we can win this game then we don't need to worry about anybody else. I don't want to be level with Sheffield Wednesday and constantly checking to see if Rotherham have taken the lead in Cardiff for the whole game. That might happen in the 89th minute, and then we give ourselves no time to win our own game.

Worry about ourselves first rather than trying to do the bare minimum please.

This. We have to play to win on Saturday, and win by a couple. We can't hold onto a one nil or a draw so unless we are two up, I won't be at all confident on Saturday. 

Given the form of us and those around us, I'm a weird state of being both resigned to being in league 1 and struggling in the Championship next year. Both could happen and I'd feel exactly the same way: extremely disappointed with how the last two seasons have turned out and disheartened at watching the worst football I've seen in a Derby shirt, with little light at the end of the tunnel.

I'll forever be a Rams fan but whatever happens, this is an extremely trying time to be Rams fan. 

For me a few big things come out of that interview. Whether it's a biased view from Thorne of his events or not is a another matter but:

- Derby's phsios do not come across well. They properly mucked up Thorne's rehab, didn't even do a proper medical for him when he joined and overall seemed to be a big factor behind his injuries. We've seen a lot of major injuries at Derby and I for one wouldn't be surprised if the medical team were the common theme behind them all.

- We know there was something dodgy about Rush given his sacking etc. The fact that Thorne had that clause points to numerous other players probably falling victim to the same problem. Anya being one, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were many others. Seems like it was all part of the big bet that we'd be promoted quickly and have mega prem money to spend... Wonder what other awful terms we signed...

- Lampards out right lying doesn't come across well. Don't know lamps side of the story and he always seemed 'one of the lads' but the way he cast out thorne wasn't good. Even if it was for money.

- Also thought it interesting that Keogh and Grant gained respect for Thorne when he turned down the U23 game when he first joined. Not sure if who was club captain at the time but it could very well have been Keogh... Doesn't look good for him either.

Glad to have found that podcast and will look forward to listening to more episodes, especially the Johnny Russel and Will Hughes ones!