ColonelBlimp

Seriously?  We had warnings from day one from members of other clubs.  If you chose to ignore them, that's on you.
Both were more likely chancers than not, hindsight not required.
 

Seriously?  We had warnings from day one from members of other clubs.  If you chose to ignore them, that's on you.
Both were more likely chancers than not, hindsight not required.
 

https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/ 

As it stands now? With no points deduction?
I would say no, but it's marginal for me, bottom 5 definitely.
With a points deduction? Yes, absolutely if it's 6.
With no points deduction, a takeover and some players Rooney wants, I see mid-table.

As it stands now? With no points deduction?
I would say no, but it's marginal for me, bottom 5 definitely.
With a points deduction? Yes, absolutely if it's 6.
With no points deduction, a takeover and some players Rooney wants, I see mid-table.

As it stands now? With no points deduction?
I would say no, but it's marginal for me, bottom 5 definitely.
With a points deduction? Yes, absolutely if it's 6.
With no points deduction, a takeover and some players Rooney wants, I see mid-table.

I wouldn't have thought so, but maybe when we announce Messi they may change their minds.

Stearman and Jagielka might be training with the club, they might even sign up as squad players, who knows. There's no transfer fee and they're not going to demand massive wages are they at their ages? If they did, we wouldn't be able to sign them anyway.
But, you know, we need bodies in the CB position. We also need experience in the CB position. 
Who better than Stearman, Jagielka and Davies to teach our U23 CB's about that position? 

You say the squad is weaker, and it is numbers wise. However;
57 appearances between Roberts, Waghorn and Gregory managed a massive 9 goals. Not hard to replace. 
In midfield only Rooney and Holmes have left or stopped playing that had double figures appearance wise last season. Both will not be missed. 
Which leaves us with Clarke, Wisdom and Edmunson in defence missing.  
If we aren't capable of signing a striker who can score 10 in 40 odd games to replace the dross up front, a midfielder to cover the 'loss' of Rooney and Holmes and a couple of defenders then we will be in trouble. 
If Mengi can perform as well as Wisdom, we can get a replacement for Clarke, sign a decent midfielder and get a half decent striker, we will be no worse off. Possibly better off. 
It really isn't a lot to ask for. I'm sure if we sign 5 or 6 players, they will add more to the squad than what has left on the fraction of the wages. 
And I'm sure with the youth players having more experience, the management team having more experience, we'd get more points. Only my opinion, but I'm not really panicking.

https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/ 

Agree with this.

As it stands now? With no points deduction?
I would say no, but it's marginal for me, bottom 5 definitely.
With a points deduction? Yes, absolutely if it's 6.
With no points deduction, a takeover and some players Rooney wants, I see mid-table.

Maybe not a great comparison, so apologies, but when I look at how the EFL has conducted itself over the last few years and in particular with Derby they remind me of FIFA, or in particular Sepp Blatter.  Someone who orchestrated things to his benefit.  For decades he abused his position and it took years for him to finally be called out, eventually being done for a "breach of rules concerning duty of loyalty, conflicts of interest and offering or accepting gifts or other benefits". I think his buddy Valcke did similar. I also think this was the tip of the iceberg and many officials go away scot-free.  Now I'm not saying the EFL are doing exactly the same, but in principle, from everything I see, they're abusing their power, they're showing zero duty of loyalty to their members and appear to be on some sort of personal crusade to destroy one of the league's member clubs, for not making absolutely clear in their accounting notes what they had done, despite what they had done having been sanctioned by the EFL themselves so in theory they should have known what they were looking at in the first place.
Mel instigated a challenge to their power by seeking to unite all 72 clubs in asking the EFL to address a view that they weren't representing their clubs in the best way.  He also challenged the money flow for TV rights, again with the view this wasn't in the best interests of the member clubs. I believe that this, more than anything else totally riled the pompous buffoons at the EFL, who, like Blatter no doubt live a great lifestyle and don't want their power challenged to the extent they've made it a personal goal to see Mel, and unfortunately Derby destroyed. The irony is Mel was probably demonstrating the values the EFL should be following, but aren't.  Love him or hate him I do believe he's always had the best interests of this club at heart.
If we can sell, meaning Mel moves off the scene, they maybe, just maybe, some status quo will be achieved and we can go back to focusing on playing football, re-building this club, making news for what we do on the pitch, not off it, and maybe one day, in the not too distant future, getting back into the PL. 

Can I just say that Page 9 was brilliant.
 
Thank you.

"difficult to have sympathy for Derby given their indiscretions" - indiscretions originally approved by the EFL for 3 consecutive accounting periods.
"independent body has now opted to dole out a fine alone and not a points deduction like the twelve points Sheffield Wednesday were docked last year" - yeah, that's probably because the charge wasn't related to overspending ?
"clear examples of points being an appropriate sanction for such rule breaks and that should happen" - really? I don't think any club has ever been charged for using an improper amortisation policy. 
"that should mean the penalty being applied for last season which would see Derby relegated to League One" - based on what exactly? Because a verdict for SWFC was arrived at just after the end of last season and had their penalty applied to 20/21?
 
The problem is the perception of us "cheating P&S", which automatically means points deduction in people's minds.

Eaton Ram's reference to Rams Trust has made me wonder whether we could get something out of the EFL through a letter along the lines of the one sent to the Club recently signed by Rams Trust, Punjabi Rams, Ryan Hills etc.  The letter could ask the EFL:
How their approach meets with their stated aim of protecting clubs, particularly in respect of Derby.  Can they give any examples of where they have acted in good faith towards the club? What reassurances they can offer to DCFC staff whose jobs are under threat through the continued uncertainty Can they explain why an accounting technicality should lead to people losing their livelihoods, even when those people have had nothing to do with accounting procedures etc Is it their intention to continually appeal against any decision that does not go their way?  If so, can the explain the moral justification for such an approach? Can they also provide justification for deciding to reject an accounting practice that they had previously accepted when signing off the accounts?  Do they feel any responsibility for having made what they now seem to consider an error, and if so what redress are they making as a result? what, if any responsibility, do they feel towards the fans of DCFC, and do they understand the effect their actions are having on at least some of them? They have been reported to be keen to see Derby relegated.  Can they explain to the Derby fanbase whether this is in fact the case, and if so, their justification for acting in such a way? Etc Etc I think a letter coming from specific groups rather than an individual stands a better chance of getting a response.  That response is very likely to be that it's all Derby's fault, and that people will lose their jobs etc due to the clubs actions etc, they have to be fair to the other clubs blah blah.  However, it may be worth a try?

The ones that states, resistance is futile.

If 4000 supporters donate the price of one match ticket £25 we would raise the 100k. I would gladly do it. Think it would say a lot and raise a lot of positive publicity if paid with an open letter to the press stating our disgust at the way the efl are behaving. Any money raised over the target sum to be donated to breast and prostrate cancer research. I would gladly pay. 

How many more clubs are the EFL going to forcibly attempt to send into liquidation once they finally move on from us?
Their failings as an organisation have seen the end or became within a whisker of seeing the end of a handful already, there's no sign of of any conscience or sense of responsibility from them though.
They'd rather sacrifice an entire club with over 120 years of history to appease one or two playing crybaby on the assumption that we've somehow gained an advantage over them (an advantage that in reality we haven't. even. bloody. gained) and save face by constantly appealing until they get someone to tell them they're 'right'... but that's not enough, no, they then want to appeal and appeal and appeal until someone finally agrees to implement their ridiculously OTT punishment.
They've already cost us far more than anything our methods could possibly have cost anyone else.
Protecting your member clubs my arse. They don't even know the meaning of the word. Absolute ducking scum more akin to the mafia than a sporting body.

Nope, I watched the opening monologue from Andrew Neil and tbh think they will attract the average guy in the street that feels they can't say what they want to say anymore because literally everything offends someone and the disillusioned 'red wall' labour voter that just wants someone to listen to them and not be subject to globalist/London centric wokery that is a million miles from their daily life.

A few thoughts on this.
I always enjoy seeing a new player from the Academy break into the first team, and in recent years some of them have been excellent - Bogle, Lowe, Sibley, the list goes on.
If we are headed for a short term future in which we are strapped for cash, it's the only way to survive in the Championship as far as I can see, because it seems that big money purchases are out of the question for now.
The other side of the coin is this however.  Running an Academy takes money, and most of the players we produce won't make the Rams first team.  To some extent we are developing players who then get sold before we have seen them at their best, and for less money than they will soon be worth (unless we insert valuation or sell on clauses in the contract when they are sold).  Therefore, in order to produce a Bogle or a Lowe we are spending probably more money than it would cost to sign an established 25-30 year old journeyman.
One more thing that I've noticed.  All the players that have emerged from the Academy in recent years seem to be the same type of player - skilful, quick, exciting going forward BUT also defensively fragile and liable to not be in position when we are under the cosh and about to concede from yet another set piece.  (To be fair, Max Bird has proved the exception to this rule I admit).
Where are the goalkeepers, centre backs, big #9s etc coming up from the Academy?  Or do we preselect, when they are young, boys who might become the next Will Hughes but not the next Curtis Davies or Scott Carson or CKR?  Or is it that only the quick, skilful players show up for trials?  If so, what are we doing to try to find other types of young players?   We need those kind of 'solid' players coming through as well as the skilful midfielders, of which we seem to have an abundance. 
For example, would we sign up a very young version of Akinfenwa to the Academy?  People may scoff at this example, but the fact is that the guy has had a 15 year professional career and scored a lot of goals, albeit at a lower level.  Would we sign a very young version of Peter Crouch either?  Or even Gazza?
The ability to spot talent that is housed within a non-standard individual (non-standard mentally &/or physically) was surely part of the genius of Peter Taylor.  Teams used to be full of characters, eccentrics and strange looking people - Nobby Stiles, anyone?  Archie Gemmill?  Would those types get signed now, or do we always go for the slim, athletic, average to tall height, skilful rather than solid or gutsy type of youngster, and thereby miss potential in other positions in the early stages?  Are we at risk of producing an assembly line of Hughes/Bogle type clones because they are easier to spot at a young age than a potentially great GK or CB or big #9?
I don't know the answer I admit, but I have worked in education and I do know enough to know that guts, character, resilience and a determination to improve often count for more in the end than natural talent.  How then does one judge guts, character, resilience and determination in an 11 year old?  If the next Jamie Vardy turned up at the Academy would we be able to spot him?  I hope so!

Mickey Mouse wears a Derby County watch I hear.

Mickey Mouse wears a Derby County watch I hear.

Mickey Mouse wears a Derby County watch I hear.

FIFY
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