sheeponacid

Make a bid for Middlesbrough and then take them down to the National League North.

Nice!
 
 
 

Spend 110 of it on rescuing the club...
Then face a barrage of criticism and snide comments about me cutting and running whilst trousering a million quid for myself. 
 

We need to sell virtual tickets at £5 each.
There's a lot of other teams supporters laughing at us right now but the real football world normally stands as one and would purchase tickets over the next few games to help us. 

We have a few posters who have agreed to gift a ticket or 2 to someone who cannot afford to go. You can PM me if you you want to go but genuinely can't afford to buy a ticket or two. Due to Covid you will need a fan id and an email address. We can get the ticket emailed to you.
Your PM will be dealt with in strictest confidence. We have all had times when we haven't been able to afford to go, we are all Derby and will help each other.
    

Well if he wins we can use this as precedent to sue QPR and Villa!

Earnshaw is so irrelevant I'm surprised his opinion is even recieved publicly. 
I don't know about Westwood because I can't stay awake whenever golf is menti-Zzz
Wycombe also crying and while they may have a point about the whole situation being dragged out I think they should also consider the possibility that they got relegated for not getting more points themselves. Maybe sometimes people should focus on themselves more

Yes, I was bought up on a council estate in chaddesden, I think I know about poor

Raising the money to purchase the club is only half the battle, the other half is having enough cash for working capital to finance ongoing operations for at least 12 months and also to reach an agreement with the creditors. I think the HMRC could be convinced to drop their claim if it was a supporter group taking over, also the EFL would take a more sympathetic attitude to football debts.
So here would be my thoughts and actions
1. Nominate a core of people with business and financial experience to reach out to the administrator to get sight of the books, there will already be a data room as the club have had a number of potential purchasers over the past months, creditor situation is straight forward as those numbers will be in the hands of the administrator. 
2. After going through the numbers prepare a business plan laying out cash forecast requirements for purchase and ongoing trading.
3. Having identified total cash required  open a subscription for people to buy shares in the club minimum £50 per share total  initial offering say 1 million shares, even the poorest fan could afford 1 share, the most well off 100 shares plus so there would be a good distribution amongst the fan base, the money would not be collected unless any offer for the club was accepted and enough promises of cash made.
It would be a simple process but the execution would depend on getting a good deal on the purchase price and a good response on the share offering.
 

Quite true, LeedsCityRam
Trolling and cynicism has little place if fans want successful, meaningful action and effective participation.
One big shake-up needed if fans really wished to revive the whole idea!

I just feel we need to do something not sleepwalk to oblivion

I think it’s clear from many of the replies that when people think of “fan ownership”, what they have in mind is forum polls selecting the team sheet.
 
The most disagreeable fan base in the country could make a success of running their club if the set up is correct.

"Once you can fake the sincerity, the rest is easy" - Tony Blair.

Yep. Some people recognised this early on, most didn't. 
My concern crystallised when we signed Shackell back for about £2.5m rising to a potential £4m. We then gave him a three year deal, meaning it would expire when he was 35. Given that he came from a PL club the wage wouldn't have been buttons. I just thought that was madness, but the consensus was 'if he helps us go up it's worth it'. That kind of logic used over and over again has led to this.
In a way I don't blame people for getting swept up it it all, but the lack of questioning of it all at the time amazed me given how recently GSE had steady the ship after the last round of reckless spending.

Three classic comments from the interview:
1) My putting the Club into Adminstration gives it a better chance of finding a Purchaser it desperately needs. Mmmh. Really not sure it does Mel. Let’s be honest it is much more the case that you are simply not prepared to put any more money into the club, notwithstanding you are still comfortably in the top 500 richest people in the UK.
2) No one can continue to put money into the club (£3m pm, down to £1.5m pm more recently) in perpetuity. Mmmh. I wonder who created the income/expenditure imbalance and indebtedness? Any ideas Mel?
3) I’ve been prepared to sell the club for £15m less than I bought it for. Mmmh. Did the club have a Stadium and a decent team when you bought it Mel?
I have had little time for this guy since around 2016, and today he confirmed all my worst fears.

Rooney has been paying for all away travel and accommodation out of his own pocket. He is a credit to our club. 

Probably plenty but, here’s a novel idea, let’s not pre-judge or speculate. Let’s hear it first then, if appropriate, we can let rip.

When he first said his job was to bring the dignity and pride back to the club a while ago, I raised an eyebrow, particularly given what happened later that evening.
Wayne Rooney has many talents, but I thought that was something of a stretch.
Yet in a time of crisis, it turns out he is actually a real leader, and has the emotional depth and intelligence to become a figurehead.
I wanted him gone last season, even started a thread saying so, but recent events have made me re-evaluate his contribution.
He's the leader of the resistance, and today was a test he pulled off with aplomb.
More tests lie ahead, somehow this might not be the darkest moment, but I now see we've got a steady hand on the tiller.
 
 

I wasn't impressed with Rooney last season.
This season I think he's one of the very bright lights at Derby.
He could easily walk away but he's committed to managing the club.
He's drawing or winning a number of games.
I'm glad he's managing the club

Do you know what, it’s a really difficult decision for me. We are looking at this with those hindsight goggles on but there was such a ridiculous amount of bad luck and I agreed with a lot of the decisions at the time.
- Nigel Pearson appointment. He built the team that Leicester won the league with but he tried to change our style of play too soon and the players couldn’t handle it + there was some racism issue with his son.
- Clement. One of the highest regarded coaches in Europe, came to us from Madrid. Percentages say that should have worked. 
- Mac. Did well for us every time he was here, sabotaged us when Newcastle showed interest.
- Lampard. Massively raised the profile of the club and some of the players we could attract through him - look at where they are now. On the flip side all pf his permanent signings were terrible and but for a weird team selection at Wembley and the obvious should I stay/go period, could have been the one to get us to the promised land. 

I am also not buying this theory that the buck stops with him on transfers. You don’t expect the owner to say yes/no to spending money based on the quality of a player. They don’t know enough about the technical side of the game. If a manager tells you this player is the missing link to get us to the prem but by the way mr Blackman will cost X million, that is the fault of the coach not the owner.
Joinersgate. Albentosa getting home sick. The unexplainable disappearance of ability from players like Anya, Butterfield, Marriott, etc who (forget the fees) were all good players before coming to Derby.
 
I don’t want to be the voice of reason because I’m as angry as everyone else and of course there is the flip side of the argument with some extremely poor commercial decisions, but I do find myself feeling for Mel. I honestly believe every decision he has made has been in the best interest of the club, it just hasn’t worked out for him. And unfortunately now he has to fall on his sword. But it doesn’t make me hate the man… 
 
p.s I don’t expect people to read this in full, but emotions are running high at the moment and it made me feel better getting it off my chest.

I have had one of the best nights of my life at Leeds in the play offs.
For that I am abstaining. I will never forget that night for as long as I live. Just like Man U away ok now isn’t good but we’ve had a ride and at the end it wasn’t our money.

Think a lot of people are readjusting their views today. Can we confess in one safe place?? 
I kinda said all along Mel was spending unnecessarily and at inflated prices but that's not to say I was complaining. 
However, got to hold my hands up and say Rooney has acted with a lot of class today. Said all the right things....for him to find out via Sky is an absolute disgrace. 

Disgusted at some fans really. How come trashing Caroline Flack was wrong, and look what that led to, and yet it’s perfectly fine to say what they like about Mel Morris? 
He’s human, he gambled and lost. 
If I lost one of my family I’d be devastated, if it was my money all gone I’d lose sleep, but over football? Not a chance. 

Excited at the prospect of seeing a resurgence of Derby County Football Club.
So many things have been shaken in the past year and there is a need to “Awake and strengthen that which remains.”
Fifty years ago we were the top team in the country.
Forty years ago Forest ruled the roost.
Recently our manager was the most successful player in England.
Forever changes…..that’s life!

Putting aside Rooney's wages and the financial questions to one side.
Seeing Rooney walk would be a disaster, it really would, not that I would blame him for a second if he was to walk, from a selfish point of view I hope his loyalty will not be tested by all of this.
For those wanting Rooney out, just think for a second, we're entering admin, the clubs future is unknown, how many experienced managers will look and think this is a great opportunity?
How many will walk in and have knowledge of our squad, the likes of Dylan Williams, Jack Stretton, Festy Ebosele, these are not household names but are now tasked with playing a part in turning round a minimum of -5 points.
Regardless of fans thoughts on Rooney, his tactics, his misdemeanours off the pitch, performances this season have improved. 
If his fight and loyalty can rub off on the players we stand a far better chance with him than without. 
Surely even those that want him gone can see now is not the time. Even if you can't show him any love, at least be able to tolerate him.
Thankfully in the ground he's been given incredible support so far this season, that HAS to continue and would be nice to see it extended online here and across social media to help create the siege mentality needed to stand any chance of staying up.