Carl Sagan

Look on the bright side. Win this and even if we get liquidated we get to keep the Brian Clough Trophy for ever!

1 hour ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

I was with you until the day I realised the eye wasn't the curly horn thing.

Still one of the greatest ever threads. That alongside the expose of American Ram supporting different clubs are my favourite two.

Here's Robbie on Twitter talking about current goings on: 

11 hours ago, Duracell said:

3.5 years?? I can't believe that Jordon Ibe's career will last longer than Derby County Football Club.

Too soon!

10 hours ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

No way in hell is Jason Knight going for 8 million in our situation.

Very disappointing after all the good stuff today, but Ed is a shockingly bad interviewer. I appreciate his disclaimer for the Radio Tees guy at the start, but then he didn't ask any sensible questions or challenge anything properly. Pretty much the same with Coughig. A very bad let down.

9 minutes ago, Ellafella said:

Boro fan MP SPEAKING now.

8 minutes ago, ollycutts1982 said:

Boro fan MP on now. Saying no Boro fan wants Derby to go out of business but defends the claim. Says he wants the administrators to engage with Boro. 

4 minutes ago, David said:

Actions speak louder than words was a great response to him. 

2 minutes ago, Leeds Ram said:

Andy Mcdonald is exactly the type of MP who would fall hook line and sinker for Gibson's worthless statement 

Echo what everyone's said about the urgent question and having the debate. It shows the idiocy of Parliament that, now the Sports Minister has turned up, he can't step in instead so he's sitting there but his sidekick is having to do the talking.

The Boro fan MP says Boro are prepared to be realistic about their claim. Someone needs to stand up now and say the Boro claim is completely unrealistic and would totally destroy the integrity of a sport if it were given any merit whatsoever.

Boro need to be called out rather than trying it on as Gibson has.

4 minutes ago, Rev said:

I don't see anything in that statement to get het up about, it's just a statement of fact.

Wycombe can get in the bin, their claim is too late and hasn't been communicated even to the EFL.

Boro have a claim predating administration, so have to be dealt with, even if that dealing with is like a small child demanding sweets at a supermarket checkout.

The fact that our administrators haven't dealt with it is on them, all the EFL are needing is proof of funding until the end of the season, everything else can be dealt with between now and then.

It's obviously too complex and difficult a job for them, so we'll probably cease to exist in our current form fairly shortly.

Another magnificent Mel Morris decision to appoint them, I get the feeling he only opens his mouth to change feet.

The point is there would be zero need for Admin to provide proof of funding till the end of the season if the club came out of administration and became the responsibility of new owners who have separately provide their own proof. But the EFL are refusing to allow that to happen and instead trying to force a fire sale before the end of the window to ensure we won't be able to compete. With one breath they say "rules are rules" when their own insolvency rules say it's entirely at their discretion. With another breath they say they can't intervene in claims between member clubs, yet they also say they've invited all parties in for comment. If they're being honest then their claim is if they don't force Derby to be liquidated, Middlesbrough might sue the league which then might see the EFL being finished. I wish what I thought of the Bamfords would make it past the swear filter.

Here's the statement ddirectly:

https://www.efl.com/news/2022/january/efl-statement-Derby-county/

Full of weasel words from the EFL. For instance, point 11 they claim the Administrators accepted the additional 9 point penalty. Wasn't this only because the EFL kicked the appeal into the long grass so we had absolutely no choice if continuing to function as a club?

I'm glad they say we say the Boro and Wycombe claims are "spurious". It is appalling they have no view on them, haven't even seen Wycombe's. but won't let us deal separately with them outside the EFL framework and through the courts.

14 minutes ago, JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta said:

Given the speed at which the EFL arbitration processes move when they involve DCFC we'll need to find the funds to keep ourselves going until 2024 before a takeover can be concluded

Exactly this. The EFL plan is always to kick things into the long grass to prevent Derby moving forward. Hence why we were forced to drop the appeal against the points deduction. We're not helped by the Administrators appearing completely spineless. The EFL, Boro and Wycombe are manifestly in the wrong and they should come out and say so.

44 minutes ago, Half fan said:

Thanks for the link. I have just written to my local Rushcliffe MP Ruth Edwards.

Good stuff. I'm originally from Rushcliffe and family tell me Ruth Edwards is normally very responsive. Let's hope it's the case here.

It's things like this that are the EFL's additional price for allowing us to exist as a club, when their 21 points deduction has failed to guarantee relegation. The corrupt nature of it all makes me furious.

Do we have a choice but to give in to the EFL blackmail? It seems not. In which case, Jason goes with our blessing and love and respect, and let's hope we get the highest price possible so we can keep hold of the others.

28 minutes ago, In_The_Dark_Ram said:

Aware of other threads, welcome the calls for action and petition - just placing some useful MP contact info in one place that doesn’t get lost within a thread – perhaps admins could compile a pinned/locked ‘DCFC Needs You’ post that gathers together the things supporters can do?

Emails to MPs DO make a difference.

Enter your postcode to find your MP: https://members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP

When you email be polite and include your address with postcode.

Here’s four local MPs – DCFC matters beyond the city:

1.       Derby North - amanda.solloway.mp@parliament.uk - Conservative

2.       Derby South - margaret.beckett.mp@parliament.uk - Labour

3.       South Derbyshire - heather.wheeler.mp@parliament.uk - Conservative

4.       Burton - kate.griffiths.mp@parliament.uk - Conservative

 

What to say? Up to you, be polite, but things like:

·       The importance of the club for you, your family and community etc.

·       How you feel the fans and city are being punished and EFL seemingly more obstructive than constructive to the future of a founding member of the league.

·       Ask what your MP is doing to help save DCFC.

·       Ask your MP to raise the issue with the EFL.

·       Ask your MP to raise your serious concerns with Nigel Huddlestone MP - Minister for Sport, Tourism, Heritage and Civil Society.

 

Given the Middleboro FC claim is a big issue, if your MP is Labour perhaps ask them to raise this with the Middlesbrough MP - Andy McDonald

Given the Wycombe FC claim is an issue, if your MP is Conservative perhaps ask them to raise this with the Wycombe MP – Steve Baker

 

I’m sure others might have ideas, be useful to have a copy and paste email by someone who knows the details better than me.

 

Great post.

Another way to contact your MP is the https://www.writetothem.com/ website. Doing it this way ensures you are forced to include all the necessary details for the MP (so they have no excuse for ignoring you) and tracks the submission meaning if they don't respond their statistics look poor. 

1 hour ago, GuiseleyRam said:

The goals! https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/12516901/Derby-2-0-sheff-utd

Cheers for that. But what shocking editing by Sky, not showing Festy's run for the second. I despair of these people at times.

Proud to be a Ram tonight. Take that, EFL!

20 minutes ago, dabber said:

Can the typo in the last line be corrected?

to move forward from this aswful mess.

And the misspelling of Middlesbrough and adding the EFL into the main text. But I presume once people sign thing's you can't retrospectively change what they've signed. 

Also I agree with the comments this would have been better to go on the Government site. 

But I didn't think to begin one so I'm grateful to Adam for giving it a go and applaud him for that. 

Someone called Adam Boddington (very possibly on here) has created a petition asking for the Sports Minister to look at the situation between Derby, Middlesbrough and Wycombe. The EFL is mentioned in the petition title:

https://www.change.org/p/sports-minister-for-england-sports-minister-to-look-into-the-ongoing-situation-between-the-efl-Derby-county

Well done Adam for starting something off.

4 hours ago, Ellafella said:

...to not take an air of gloom into the stadium tomorrow and let it pervade and transmit to the players. We need to go "once more to the breach dear friends...stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage; then lend the eye a terrible aspect;...".

Really need to lift up those players, remain steadfast, look the storm in the eye and make the noise of a united fanbase. We have nothing to lose. Just keep that support going; it helps that there'll be a big crowd of Blades there who may well spark us off.

Show the football World and the EFL that we will not be cowed. Convince Rooney we are still behind him 100%. 

Agree entirely. But I also think at some point there should be a media-friendly protest against the EFL. And the media should be alerted to be sure they cover it. What form to take? I'm not sure, but we need to start doing something public/visible to bring to national attention the need to save our club and that the EFL is trying to kill us.

It's been said before, but the expectations management by the admins and by Rooney has been terrible. Many weeks ago (and ever since) it was all "imminent" but nothing has transpired. We have a hard deadline approaching of the end of the transfer window, after which there is no opportunity to bolster revenues through player sales to keep the club in existence. It seems highly unlikely there's enough in the pot to keep trading through until the summer window reopens and most of our players will be out of contract then anyway, thanks to the EFL ensuring that was the case.

Today I'm deeply pessimistic. It feels as if we're running out of road. 

4 hours ago, Bob The Badger said:

FTFY

 

Aren't you funny, Bob? As well as totally deluded.

You've surely seen what's been enacted by a Labour government in Wales? Even now, Chester had to call their FA Cup game off because some of the ground is across the border and Labour doesn't allow such things.

And Starmer's clamour to be part of the EU Medicine's Agency makes his attitudes pretty clear. https://fullfact.org/health/keir-starmer-european-medicines-agency/

Labour constantly criticized Kate Bingham who headed up the UK vaccine procurement. Not a chance they would have done anything similar. 

1 hour ago, TimRam said:

Unfortunately ads for the film now state that unexpected contrast.

Boo! Isn't that crazy?

Having seen it once already, I took great delight arranging a group of friends to go, telling them we were off to a new Tarantino film. They had no idea and spent the first half hour thinking it would be one of his regular films (if there can be such a thing). 

On 11/01/2022 at 07:45, Chester40 said:

From Dusk Til Dawn

First hour or so of slow but entertaining road movie can be skipped, start from Salma Hayek dancing and the **** hitting the fan in the club.

Fascinating. Is it the contrast between the parts that makes the movie, or is it two films shoehorned together?

The terrible thing is if we'd had Starmer we'd have been way slower to acquire and then distribute vaccines, and massively stricter on authoritarian lockdowns. You can understand why Boris has survived to date, because however bad he is, all the other options appear worse. And one thing we need at the top is optimism and positivity and the ability not to bow to every media clamour going. 

Yes Boris deserves to go, but be careful what you wish for. Of the people vying to step in, it probably comes down to a choice of Sunak, Truss or Patel. Would people rather have one of them? The perceived wisdom is that the voters factor in our PM's behaviour but like him for other reasons. And the visceral hatred of him by the left is funny because he is by far the most left-wing Tory going, which is why he was able to win London twice when it is a Labour city through and through.

Politicians have an inflated idea of their own position in the country. In the Westminster Village they don't see it, but not many people would recognize Starmer, Sunak, Truss or Patel in the street if they walked past them. Everyone would recognize Boris. That is his gift and the political reality, and to his slight credit he has kept things more open than in Scotland and Wales. Derby County wouldn't exist had we locked down again. It will be interesting to see what happens. PMQs tomorrow could be decisive.

8 hours ago, Foreveram said:

Hull game live on sky

Couldn't resist...

I would say neither. Let Boro and Wycombe take legal action if they think they have a case, and be laughed out of court.

However, I voted the phoenix simply option because no one is going to pay them money on top of our massive debts to buy the club. If the EFL really insists any purchaser must settle with them before we're allowed to function as a club, then we will cease to function as a club so phoenix is the only option.  

1 hour ago, i-Ram said:

I still think this is being blown out of proportion by too much weight being given to Percy’s tweet/article. The statement by BAWT doesn’t seem half as sensational, and the key is getting a preferred bidder selected who is prepared to take the Middlesborough claim on (through the courts if necessary). They are owed nothing until a Court awards them such status. No Court is going to do that, and Gibson knows it. He will have no desire to waste money on Costs.

If (of course a big if) Nixon is right, the EFL won't agree to any business plan to let us out of administration without having agreed terms with Boro and Wycombe before this, apparently because that's what Boro and Wycombe want.