Tamworthram

2 hours ago, TheresOnlyWanChope said:

I am expecting Rotherham to win some of their games in hand. We are in an awful position. I expect Rotherham to survive, hopefully we can get 2 wins at least but I have no confidence anymore. Playing nicely is all well and good but we need wins. 

I don’t think Rotherham will survive. I also fear our fate will go down to the last game of the season with us needing to win to be certain.

3 minutes ago, True Ram said:

I think we will get 8 points out of the remaining games 

Heck, I like you optimism and hope you're right. Four or five for me.

2 minutes ago, matty1986 said:

I don't disagree, and like many, still have the nightmares from Reading 2015. 

I just don't necessarily see the game being a 'winner takes all' 90 minutes for both sides.

Whether that is better or worse is of course debatable.

Exactly, it could help or hinder our case but, your post suggested if we can't beat a team playing without pressure when there is enormous pressure on us then we deserve to go down.  We deserve to go down if we finish in the bottom three. 

Just now, Jimbo Ram said:

Don’t think Reading had anything to play for when they beat us on the last game of the season and kicked us out of the play offs did they ?

Exactly

1 minute ago, eezzeetiger said:

If you don't stay up....i will have nothing to do next season

Is that an admission that all you're interested in is how Derby are doing??

14 minutes ago, matty1986 said:

There is every chance Wednesday wont have anything to play for by the time out game arrives.

If we still need 3pts and can't get them in that scenario, we will deserve everything that will ensue.

It's been said many times before that just because a team have nothing to play for they should be walkover. Quite the opposite on many occasions. 

If it does come down to us needing to beat Wednesday and with them having nothing to play for, we'll be anxious and nervous whilst they'll be able to play with free of any pressure.

18 minutes ago, Jimbo Ram said:

Are we wanting a 0-0 draw or a big win for Coventry?

I'd prefer a draw.

4 minutes ago, Oldben said:

How much would it cost to do a complete rebuild of the team, to something able to complete for a top 2.

I can't think of any area of the team that wouldn't require improvement, given this season. 

Is it a good idea to tell the world you have a lot of money to spend.

Other clubs will rub their hands together and say, happy to charge you more than market value for players.

If this money exists, I'd wonder whats happening about buying the ground.

Doesn't not owning the ground mean you don't get the full money from sponsorship and merchandise, which is a big reason to own the ground.

Derby will need some very good scouts, but those scouts will think we can charge more since we know the team has deep pockets

Why would merchandising sales and sponsorship have anything to do with who owns the stadium (apart from naming rights of the ground itself)? If you operate a shop from leasehold premises you don’t have to pay a portion of your sales to the landlord. Advertising within the ground may be a different story but I guess that depends on the terms of the lease. It could be that all the club have to pay is rent.

14 minutes ago, Warwick Ram said:

Personally I am sceptical of Mel’s judgement. Surely it is his judgement that has taken us from being certainties for promotion to fighting relegation with big financial problems.

Yes, I know CoVID has had an impact but it wasn’t CoVID making us sell the ground to his sister company to avoid FFP.

I actually think Mel wants out now at any cost. He doesn’t care who buys it he just wants the money.

On reflection he made some bad choices with managers and it has cost us.

We’ve never been certainties for promotion. 

10 hours ago, Chester40 said:

He wouldn't? He would be aware its  probably a great way to lose money hand over fist... So it's either a vanity project or he plans to asset strip or resell quickly as a reserve plan ? 

Maybe so but, whilst we might respect his honesty none of us would be best pleased if he’d come out and said it’s just a vanity project or,  if the club doesn’t get promoted within a certain period of time I’ll just sell everything I can and bail out.

At the end of the day it’s just words and the test will be how he plans to get us promoted especially given P&S rules. So, I wouldn’t question his business acumen by those few words. That must already be in doubt by the fact he’s planning to buy a championship football club ?

26 minutes ago, Chester40 said:

'He plans to recoup his investment with promotion to the Premier League' .....seems a really high risk financial strategy for any serious businessman? 

How else would an investor in a championship club recoup any significant investment? Also, he’s probably trying reinforce his ambition to get us up there.

2 minutes ago, Rammy03 said:

And we think Derby are bad. Yes we don't play open attacking football but at least we don't get embarrassed and concede 5. 

Not until Saturday at least 

27 minutes ago, Bald Eagle's Barmy Army said:

If we can't beat them at home, we deserve to go down and as much as I'd hate it, we wouldn't deserve to stay up. 

What, even if we beat Norwich, Blackburn, Swansea and Preston or, they both lose every other game apart from beating us? 
 

I know neither of those things are likely to happen but it just reinforces the point that the teams that “deserve to go down” are simply those that end up in the bottom three regardless of how they actually perform against each other. 

2 hours ago, Bald Eagle's Barmy Army said:

Ah yes, Wycombe was a tough one ?

Very funny. Obviously I was referring to the likes of Watford, Reading, Norwich and Bournemouth in that run of games.

8 hours ago, Rampage said:

Cannot see Rovrum winning only two out of ten games

They’ve only won two of their last ten although, admittedly, there were some tough ones in that run.

25 minutes ago, desirelines said:

Just wait until we finish the season 5 points clear of the relegation zone and get slapped with a -6 fine from the EFL. ?

Isn’t the deadline for a points deduction in the same season the 4th Thursday in March meaning it’s too late now for a deduction this season?

23 minutes ago, plymouthram said:

Every Championship side must have made a loss this season and I am certain we have not spent freely.

I wasn’t suggesting we have spent freely. I was replying to a comment that suggested we required a big investment in the summer. I was saying I didn’t think the EFL would allow such free spending even if P&S rules were relaxed in any way.

32 minutes ago, JfR said:

I'm not that concerned about Wednesday. They had 8 losses in their previous 10 games before today. If we let a team like that turn an 8 point deficit around in 6 games, we don't just deserve relegation, we deserve winding up.

Deserve winding up? Don't talk soft.

4 minutes ago, CornwallRam said:

We won't have 'this squad'. Take away the out of contracts, loanees and a couple sold to keep the ship afloat and we are far weaker.

P&S will be relaxed due to Covid or 20 teams will fail it. Our wage bill is now low for a Championship team in normal financial times. I'd suggest that P&S isn't going to be an issue. It will just be a question of whether we have an owner/s who is willing and able to finance a rebuild. I think there'll be lots of bargains to be had so a 'little' investment will go a long way, but we will still need several million to avoid the drop, and I don't think that cash is coming from Mel.

As for this season, I think we would actually stay up without gaining another point. We're 8 points clear and sides at the bottom just don't win many points.

I hope you're right about this season. I have us down for two more points before the last game and then, if we lose to Wednesday, it going down to goal difference or a single point.

I can't see a big investor coming in and splashing the cash in the summer and next season will be tough but I'm not sure I've got us penciled in for 24th yet.

As for P&S, I wonder if they'll relax it to an extent to allow for Covid but not completely. I can imagine the EFL making allowances for loss of income this year but not allow clubs to spend freely.

46 minutes ago, Jimbo Ram said:

A number of fans on here are being a tad complacent, especially relying just on Rotherham to finish below us....

It's not complacency just predictions.

Just now, CornwallRam said:

We won't go down this season. If we don't get some serious investment in the summer we will struggle to finish above 24th next season though.

I don't know why you're so confident about this season and if you're relying on "serious" investment (especially given P & S rules), I think you'll be disappointed. We're a poor team but I'm not sure we're nailed on for 24th next season even with this squad.

4 minutes ago, Tyler Durden said:

When we're hoping that other results will go for us rather than being masters of our own destiny then really if we do go down then we'll deserve it. 

If we finish in the bottom three we deserve to go down regardless of whether or not we are relying on others right now. Coventry's destiny is in their own hands but, if they slip up and finish in the bottom three then they deserve to go down.

3 minutes ago, superzak said:

Its definitely going to be a struggle to stay in this division now...too many injuries and over rated youngsters.

Definitely squeaky bum time.

My predictor has Rotherham and Wycombe down, us and Coventry level on points with Wednesday one point ahead. That includes a pessimistic last day home defeat against Wednesday and an optimistic Coventry draw against Millwall.

Watched “Mr Nice” on Prime tonight. Based (with the usual artistic licence no doubt) on the true story of Welsh drug trafficker Howard Marks.

8/10

6 minutes ago, Olton Ram said:

Actually, by the sounds of it we have very similar opinions on this. The point I was making was there seems to be a lack of consistency in how the scheme is being drawn up. This policy is already controversial without there being glaring contradictions in its use. Public confidence will be fatally damaged if people think the use of passports (or the exceptions) are politically/financially driven, rather than being scientifically driven

I think we probably do. The point I was making is has the scheme actually been released yet? Is this speculation or a reliable leak?

I agree, there shouldn’t be anything remotely political behind the decision. With regard to “financially driven” I think it’s perfectly valid for the rationale to include helping the economy, protecting businesses and preventing too many going bust - all of which are financial drivers. 
 

Whatever happens, it’s a tough decision, will have its flaws (it’s difficult to see a perfect solution) and will attract criticism.