DCFC1388

Fully expect Jozwiak, Marshall & Lawrence to be gone in Jan. 
Marshall - clearly out of favour
Jozwiak - not getting game time, potential world cup next year so wont want to be in a 3rd division
Lawrence - even though he is captain, he is a high earner who is unlikely to renew so if we can bring in any money for him as well as save on wages we should do
Jan will be too soon for Bielik to go but if he gets fit he will be gone in the summer for the same reasons as Jozwiak.
Out of contract in the summer - 
Davies, Stearman, CKR, Forsyth, Shinnie, Allsop, Byrne, Roos, Morrison, Hutchinson, Watson, Buchanan, Cashin & Williams
Can see Baldock extending in Jan and may drop down to League 1.
Of those out of contract I can only really see Allsop, Hutchinson, Watson, Cashin & Williams renewing.
Rooney may be able to convince Stearman, Shinnie, CKR, Byrne & Roos but im not sure. Davies may stay on with a player/coach role but if Luton or a Champ midlands team come calling he will be gone.
We have the option to extend Buchanan which im sure we will do if we're allowed - dont want another Marriott situation.
Morrison wont drop to League 1.
Then our financial position will play a big role on what happens to Bird, Knight & Sibley as well as their desire to stay/leave

Nixon has been saying -21, before thr Percy article too.
It is The Athletic who said -15

Let’s just get all the points penalties now and start next season fresh with a new owner in League One.
People saying -21 points is the worst case scenario. it isn’t at all. We’re already going down with -12 points. Worst case scenario is relegation and then for the financial irregularity / punishment points deduction to happen in League One.
Starting next season in League One with zero points, a new owner and no hanging points deduction is among the best case scenarios.
 

I suppose it's about weighing things up. Even if the administrators could successfully defend everything to the point where the club get no deduction, how long would the process take to get to that position and how much would it cost? Would the club's resources extend to cover the legal costs of such a process plus the day-to-day running over that period? Would bidders be willing to wait past the end of the season to purchase the club?
At the end of the day, it's a no-win situation. The club either suffers in the form of deducted points or suffers in the form of time and money by challenging the punishment. From the administrators' perspective, I'm sure they view the latter as a bigger issue.

So after all these weeks & months in talks with the EFL we end up with the 9 point deduction anyway. What an absolute waste of time. Also shows that there is no point talking with the EFL as they wont change from what they want.
So what does this mean about the integrity of the league this year, we have played 17 games where for the most part showed some fight and gave opposition a good game, whereas now we may as well blood the youngsters ready for next season or go all out attack. Complete different mentality for these remaining games than the first set.

Funny how nobody was bothered about him being a red dog or were dismissing his tweets until the last few months.
"I won't believe it until Percy tweets it" was a bit of a mantra for some.

I'd just start playing silly beggars now and field a youth team every game and wait for the other clubs to start squealing that they want results up to this point against us annulled as it was an unfair advantage for the other teams.

I've had a season ticket for 28 years and this season was the first season I've not had one. Few of the reasons were:-
1. Potential change in personal circumstances on a Saturday.
2. Complete despair with where football was heading.
3. Not wanting to line Mel's pockets.
4. Constant changing of fixtures and kick off times (last full season at Pride Park we had 7 home games on a Saturday at 3pm out of 23) meaning that I had to miss games that I'd essentially paid for.
5. Getting a 21 point deduction, and going to games with goals going in that mean nothing.
That being said I have only missed 2 home games this season and have paid for every one. When we went to administration I felt the need to try and spend money at the club. Even though nobody should feel bad about not. I've spent thousands and thousands in the last 28 years on season tickets, away games, merchandise. 
One of the best feelings in football is when you're team score a goal that means something, whether that's going towards you going up or staying up.
Now whenever a goal goes in, that feeling has gone. It doesn't mean anything. I personally cannot justify £20-£30 a game now for games that don't mean anything.
How the players are going to be motivated I do not know.
What's the point now? 
I'll be back next season in League One.
But I'm honestly heartbroken it's come to this.
Mel Morris hang your head.

So after all these weeks & months in talks with the EFL we end up with the 9 point deduction anyway. What an absolute waste of time. Also shows that there is no point talking with the EFL as they wont change from what they want.
So what does this mean about the integrity of the league this year, we have played 17 games where for the most part showed some fight and gave opposition a good game, whereas now we may as well blood the youngsters ready for next season or go all out attack. Complete different mentality for these remaining games than the first set.

So after all these weeks & months in talks with the EFL we end up with the 9 point deduction anyway. What an absolute waste of time. Also shows that there is no point talking with the EFL as they wont change from what they want.
So what does this mean about the integrity of the league this year, we have played 17 games where for the most part showed some fight and gave opposition a good game, whereas now we may as well blood the youngsters ready for next season or go all out attack. Complete different mentality for these remaining games than the first set.

So after all these weeks & months in talks with the EFL we end up with the 9 point deduction anyway. What an absolute waste of time. Also shows that there is no point talking with the EFL as they wont change from what they want.
So what does this mean about the integrity of the league this year, we have played 17 games where for the most part showed some fight and gave opposition a good game, whereas now we may as well blood the youngsters ready for next season or go all out attack. Complete different mentality for these remaining games than the first set.

So after all these weeks & months in talks with the EFL we end up with the 9 point deduction anyway. What an absolute waste of time. Also shows that there is no point talking with the EFL as they wont change from what they want.
So what does this mean about the integrity of the league this year, we have played 17 games where for the most part showed some fight and gave opposition a good game, whereas now we may as well blood the youngsters ready for next season or go all out attack. Complete different mentality for these remaining games than the first set.

I don't think plan B was administration, I think that you could have gone through the entire alphabet 3 years ago and still wouldn't have envisaged a 'covid' situation. Even during WW2, clubs were having supporters coming through the turnstiles to watch guest players playing for your team.
Take away covid, what would our current position be? I doubt very much that we'd be in administration.  I suspect that the playing staff would have been cut back, but not to the extremes we have now.  I also suspect that we would be facing some sort of points penalty, but again not to the level that we currently fear. I don't believe that before covid, anyone could predict a situation where Derby could end up in this situation.
Under the previous owners and Nigel's management, we had had years of mediocre football and had shown no ambition, I think that the consensus of the support at the time was that we were prepared to take a gamble and without the benefit of hindsight, not even contemplating the actual cost of failure.

Yes. MM sort of explained it in his RD farewell. There are maybe 4 categories of clubs 
a the parachute corps
b those who had ambition, cheated and got promotion
c those who didn't show a lot of ambition but who preferred to keep an even keel
d clubs like us, ambitious spending, relatively high gate receipts, did not win promotion 
there are not many in d
 @BathRam72 makes a fair point, that MM’s management style contributed to us being in d for dunce   But he was also unlucky, and very few on here criticised the ambition when he was splashing the cash
 

Difference is most didn’t have a business plan based around a guaranteed £20m revenue from having spectators in the ground. And those that did were subsidised by parachute payments, or got promoted. 

I wonder at what point we almost accept we're down & just go for it in games, its at this point when players play with more freedom & less pressure that we might pick up more points.
Similar to Wycombe last year who for nearly all of the season looked dead & buried until the point they just went for it and ended up 1pt from saftey & moaning about it to everyone that we should be relegated instead of them.

He's looked really weary to me in recent games and more than a little frustrated. Wayne has had him operating in so many different roles his head must spin at times and his form has suffered, I think. I think that when we can, we simply need to play him in a central midfield role, but in fairness to his critics, Ravel has to get fitter too. It's been fairly argued that he's had more football in the last 24 months than some others, but he's only really ever had one full (ish) season and I think in a league as brutal as the Championship, the workload has found him out a little.
I do hope not too many get on his back moving forwards. The usual suspects will, but I hope the wider fanbase don't. He's worked harder at Derby than anywhere he's been and his reaction to goals we've scored shows he's got plenty of passion for the club. Lest we forget, he also has some well documented mental health issues as well however and I'd hate to see him disappear back into the abyss. I really hope he doesn't read this thread and the others started after his lesser games, as he'd have every right to feel singled out IMO. There's a wonderful and highly technical player in there if we can nurse him through to 'second wind'. I'd also dearly love to see him and Festy in the same side more often. There's something there, I'm sure of it.

Cant wait for Gibson to somehow blame us for it

The way I look at is Peterborough, Hull & Barnsley are likely to be down there with us all season & we have all 3 of them to play at home so thats a big chance of points to gain on them.
Other than the top 3 the rest of this league is bang average - get Bielik back, new owner & new signings we could still survive imo

The way I look at is Peterborough, Hull & Barnsley are likely to be down there with us all season & we have all 3 of them to play at home so thats a big chance of points to gain on them.
Other than the top 3 the rest of this league is bang average - get Bielik back, new owner & new signings we could still survive imo

Sooooo....
Guessing there's a decent chance that we could get the 12 points reduced to 6 via the appeal, but if we did that the EFL would deduct us 9 points for FFP breaches leading to 15 overall.
Or we can drop the appeal over the -12 and the EFL will agree to only deducting us 3 points for FFP breaches (which is fewer than a disciplinary panel would take from us) either way it's 15 points.
Both parties are certain that under no circumstances would we get all 12 points given back to us, so adjourn the appeal for now and come to an agreement in order that the club can be sold more quickly.

Cant wait for Gibson to somehow blame us for it

It’s so that players with concussion go off the pitch and get treated - there have been a number of players that have carried on playing and been diagnosed with concussion in the days following the injury. Concussion can kill…..

Much improved performance today & the players showed their fight again.
I know he gets alot of criticism & called lazy but I must say Lawrence absolutely ran his socks off, also got another assist. I know everyone else did too but just thought given the critcism aimed at him id single him out.

Much improved performance today & the players showed their fight again.
I know he gets alot of criticism & called lazy but I must say Lawrence absolutely ran his socks off, also got another assist. I know everyone else did too but just thought given the critcism aimed at him id single him out.