Gerry Daly

Comes over really well doesn't he. I'm looking forward to seeing him nailing down the CDM role this season

'Head of' implies that there is a team under you. Thats what it means where I work. So do we have other staff working for these guys?

Love Jamie Ward. I'd like to see him back involved with Derby in some way

Kris Sleeuwenhoek and Jason Kavanagh. This pair were pinched from Wolves and were supposed to be future superstars. I don't remember Kris playing at all for our first team and Jason had a minor career with us as a not tall enough but reasonable central defender 

So how does this fit with Bradley Johnson's role?

I didn't mind all that much when we sold Knight, but if we sell Bird to some ordinary Champ club I'll be gutted. Need to sign him up on a new 3 year contract pronto

1 hour ago, Chester40 said:

Bit like employing Michel Roux Jnr to work in your greasy spoon cafe and saying he takes too long to get the food out and isn't any fun on the staff night out. He was just on a different wavelength to the rest of the team. 

No. He was past it

24 minutes ago, MadAmster said:

Our budget last season was based on gates of 17K. We didn't overspend on the budget based on that size of crowd. Our actual average gate was 27295. That's 10295 extra tickets per game. Take £20 a pop as an average and that's £6M over and above the budget.

If there's a mistake in my arithmetic, I'd be pleased to hear what it is.

I am extrapolating some things here but using known fact as the baseline. Based on that 17K gate based budget, part of the business plan, agreed to by the EFL, was a maximum spend of, IIRC, £8M. Now, I am sure that if we had gone over that spend the EFL would NOT have relaxed the restrictions on fees etc. If we had overspent the budget, the EFL would not have relaxed a single thing. That leaves the circa £6M on the "extra" ticket sales. The only guess I used was the average ticket price of £20. Even if the average was £15, that's still £4.5M over and above budget.

I wouldn’t want to comment on the figures you use - for example I have never seen the figure of 17K attendances anywhere before - but I agree with the logic of your argument. We must surely have more money than we thought we would have or might have based on a worst case estimate that would have been used for the business plan. Nobody would have planned on the basis of 27,295 average gates for last season and every likelihood of the same if not even better this season. 

Yes Pembridge is a good shout. I thought Kitson was a miserable t*** as well

2 hours ago, BuckoBeast said:

Honestly don’t get the negativity. Risk free isn’t it? 

Totally agree. The negativity comes when people think that's all we are going to get. I'm still confident there will be several more signings - maybe 2 permanent and 2 loans in addition to Waghorn if we offer him a contract. Get Waghorn fully fit and he is a good third division player no question in my mind   

1 hour ago, alram said:

i think its clear we gambled for a quick return last year, we retained most players that had any value and went all in on older players with high wages - i think DC reaction early on in the season when he brought warne in quickly probably backs this up?

 

this season however the signings are much more league one than championship and we are cashing in on players that have any value left

Nah. I don't see it like that at all. I think we had no option but to cash in on Knight but who are these other players we are cashing in on?

I think we are improving the squad on last year, replacing some really past it players with ones that can do a job and giving the side a much better balance so we can be competitive but doing it on a tight budget. We have still to see the whole of the recruitment and we will know better then whether the budget was bigger this year. I think we have pretty much broken even so far. Lets assume though that as well as recruitment we give Bird, Wildsmith, Sibley and Cashin improved contracts. I bet we are looking to do so. That will cost 

1 minute ago, Brammie Steve said:

Everything else seems to pale at the mention of one name...........

Ravanelli!

Wrong thread. But he would have busted our budget anyway

Gut wrenching. If Morris could have just held his nerve for a little bit longer it was all coming together his plan for an academy based team

3 minutes ago, Tyler Durden said:

Think you've done a good job in muddling up totally ineffectual players with those whom the crowd disliked. 

Thats the trouble. But there are some who are in both camps

I definitely agree on Masson, but maybe it was just that his legs had gone and he was part of our general dismay about the rapid decline of the club. I was very disappointed that we swopped Leighton James for him though so he can stay on the list

I have another who I particularly disliked though, Kenny Miller. Just here for the money and couldn't give a s*** 

Lars Bohinen was a particular couldn't care less s***house as well. He could be involved somewhere 

2 minutes ago, ollycutts1982 said:

What did Stefan Schnoor do wrong? I thought he was decent in his time with us, unless I'm missing something.

I think Stephen Pearson gets into the side, skiving lily livered cheat. Mick Coop gets in both the all time worst 11 and this 11 ahead of Schnoor. I'd also promote Ravanelli from the bench to the starting 11. Very unfair on Keogh   

1 minute ago, eddy779h34 said:

They were better, if they could shoot straight it would of looked far different 

Just shut up and go away now and let us enjoy the performance, the win and the goals please 

11 minutes ago, eddy779h34 said:

I don't think so...... I thought Stoke were far the better team ....... Derby have got big problems in midfield and it needs addressing 

We are really lightweight and sit too deep. When Smith went off we were awful ... It has to be said, also we need more pace up front 

Rubbish. By far the better teams don't lose 3-0. As for your other ridiculously negative and unfounded comments dear me 

16 minutes ago, BathRam72 said:

Try living in Bath

Yeah bought a round for me and the Mrs in the Crystal Palace last Saturday. She had a double Bacardi and coke and I had a pint of London Pride. £17.50

5 minutes ago, Srg said:

Kane Wilson coming on. 

Yes and interestingly playing left wing back with Thompson switching with Corey Smith. 

13 hours ago, ilkleyram said:

Nope, not me. We’ve never argued.  But I bet you’re wrong and that the business plan allowed us to make a loss. Two reasons why I would conclude that. 1) because even the efl would recognise that it would be impossible for us to suddenly decrease our expenditure and remain competitive (given that our main outgoings are players wages) to such a degree that we make a profit, which is what you’re suggesting and 2) because the EFL’s own ffp rules explicitly allow clubs to make a loss year after year after year. The rules just try to limit the level of loss. It would be perverse - even for the efl - if they suddenly insisted that any business plan was predicated on us making a profit in our first year out of administration.

we have been prudent; we have probably exceeded our income targets/plans; we have managed our budgets and persuaded the EFL that we are no longer a financial basket case. But I bet our expenditure exceeds our income.

Well we can suspend further discussion on this but remember it for when the accounts are published. Then we will see. If I am proved wrong I will be happy to say so

1 minute ago, ilkleyram said:

And yet despite all the good news I would be prepared to bet quite a lot that our expenditure still exceeded our income and that our owner has needed to find ways of bridging the financial gap over the last year and probably next too  

 It’s not us who has to dig our hands into our pockets any more than we do,  it’s him. Even free transfers cost money. He’s being careful and thank the lord for that. 

If that's the case then every other club in our division will be bankrupt this season. I've had this argument with people before, maybe you were one of them. Lets be clear, the EFL would not have agreed to a business plan that was based us making a loss. I'd be prepared to bet my money on that. We know that last season's business plan was based on conservative income assumptions which were comfortably exceeded and we also know that the EFL were very happy with the prudence we showed, hence a loosening of the controls in place for this season  

1 hour ago, Needlesh said:

I don't think there's a L1 proven, free/cheap, 23-28 yo striker available.

So that's that.

Exactly. So having banked a bit of money last season from gates well in excess of the business plan, season ticket sales much higher than our one or two closest competitors and seval times higher than most, plus fees for Bielik and Knight, plus savings in wages on both its time to get our hand in our pockets and pay a fee or two. I want to see a couple of young Bobby Davison type speculative signings where we back the judgement of our scouting team. Please NOT any more over the hill players such as Sharpe or Rhodes where we look to squeeze the last few drops, or journeymen players like Collins and Washington. Lets have some IMAGINATION 

Yeah but that wasn't Rich's point. He was talking about the age of strikers we are being linked with and he is totally correct about that