Carnero

Why don't give Tom Wood a decent run in that role?

Comes across well in this. Said all the right things, bit of banter with the kid, etc.
I truly hope he does well - not just because I like him as a player - but because Derby NEEDS a strong captain right now with the way things are.

"Some of the group were surprised at the selection. That is not to say they were not on board with it, just that they felt there were more natural leaders at the club. They were intrigued as to how Lawrence would motivate the squad on and off the pitch, with some hoping he would become more vocal.

Importantly, Lawrence does have the respect of his team-mates and coaches. As Rooney said after the 2-1 friendly defeat to Manchester United a few weeks ago, the Welshman had become a leader in the changing room following his return from injury in late March."

Prefer not to give the time/venue, just incase a sexy double of me goes in claiming they are me and I’m left outside. 
But if anyone wants to try it, McDonalds in town, 8pm.

I would agree with @angieram mostly, for me, you have to walk in, be respectful, have no agenda and represent your group with the questions they have raised.
You have to be able to accept that certain issues the club are not able to discuss, even with a NDA in place with us.
From reading comments on Twitter, some fans sound like they would walk in there and look to interrogate Mel using torture techniques seen in the Middle East.
I would suggest these are the wrong people, as are those that cannot form a sentence without using profanity and abuse.
Ugh so yes men then, no, first of all it’s not just men and some attending tonight were part of the letters demanding answers from the club, and are just as vocal within the meetings without crossing the line.
For the record, I’m not saying I am the perfect person to go, for consistency it’s either been myself or @Boycie who has attended most of the meetings for us in my absence due to illness.
This will be only my third I have been able to attend I think, now I’m back on my feet will take over from Boycie who hasn’t been happy with the selection of pork pies on offer before the meetings.

As I said, in my opinion it is those that have legitimately tried to engage with a number of people and who are able to take a range of views to the table. I personally think @David has worked really hard to do that this last week, and indeed at previous meetings, despite there being nothing in the Forum's raison d'etre to suggest it his responsibility to do so.
There's nothing worse than a person taking their own agenda to the table and banging on about it to the exclusion of all else.
I suspect that one or two of our regular attendees today may fall more into the latter category than the former, but there are enough of the more informed people to do a good job of representing the range of views of the fanbase.
You might disagree, but it's just how I view things, having spent an entire career supporting marginalised groups to have a voice. 

Too right! ?
I am with @Gaspode on this one. I think it's much more important to have an open and frank meeting where the club representatives can speak freely, than to have a bland public exercise that acheives nothing. If the NDA allows this to happen then I see this as no different to what many private and public  businesses have in place already. You have to respect commercial confidentiality and this is a critical time for our club in that respect.
As for representation,  I feel reassured that the club has chosen to work with established groupings, not just now but over the several years since these supporter charter meetings have been established.
I have seen many engagement initiatives set up in my line of work,  where new systems have been established whilst alienating all the people who have been doing the work before. Starting from scratch inevitably means that the "wrong" type of people get themselves at the table, rather than those who are happy to work with and engage with their constituency all the time - whether formally or informally, like this Forum. They put in the hard yards for little or no reward, so I am more than comfortable that they will try their best to represent the range of views in a constructive manner.
Let wait and see what comes out of the meeting before we start beating up our club yet again.

I hear you. 
So as the representative for this forum which you are a member of, would you prefer me not to attend tonight. Not have the opportunity to put forward questions raised on this forum, because the NDA is in place?
An NDA, which may only cover one sentence from the entire 2 hours, something completely insignificant.
Believe me, I could quite easily stay in bed all day, dog by my side and Olympics on TV all day.
Much easier than getting a taxi to the 1.30pm train, to then arrive back into the station at 11.50pm on the last train back. 
£50ish saved to go on the lash this weekend. 
I have given you my assurances that this will be no different to the other SCG meetings which have taken place. 
You don’t want me to go, is that what you’re telling me? Forget about all the other members on here, what their thoughts are, is that where you are at?

I would also like to address the talk of being gagged tonight as I have been contacted several times over the last 24hrs by text/Twitter DM and Forum pm’s.
Can I ask you to think why I would survey the forum for questions if we were gagged?
So then David, good meeting?
Yeah great!
Can you tell us what was said regarding the takeover and if Mel will fund the club going forward until a buyer is found?
Nope, I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.
Can I ask you to think why the meeting was announced through the local media if we was gagged from reporting back?
If this was a meeting where we was all gagged, for what reason would they announce it through the media?
Also, myself and reps other groups attending, what would be the point in giving us information if we was not allowed to share it with you?
Yes, there maybe lines which are requested not to be repeated outside this room, I don’t know, let’s say for example we’re talking revenue and I’m asked how the pandemic has affected my ad revenue, what the impact has been online, it would be requested that this doesn’t leave the room as I shared my personal numbers.
Now some might say I want to know that information, I would say, well you start sharing your pay slips and bank statements online then I’ll talk and share mine publicly.
This might be a poor example given that tonight will be dominated by financial questions, however I assure you we will not be sat on vital key information.
I should be used to this, as I said earlier I always expected criticism from these meetings, Twitter is littered with fans looking to discredit a meeting that hasn’t even happened yet, they don’t know what questions will be asked and what answers will be shared.
Could understand if criticism came after the minutes were shared and fully expect that, but at least give us all attending a chance.
Given the amount of private messages I’ve received and having to respond to I just wanted to address being gagged so I can quickly link back to this post.
Honestly I’m worried all the ads I will see now across other sites will be S&M and leather masks! Please stop!
Apologies for another frustration filled lengthy post, but the good news is I’ll be up and on my way in a few hours so you’ll all be safe unless someone starts and I have signal on the train.
All your frustrations have been noted and I have no doubts will be conveyed to the club tonight. 

I suspect those getting their knickers in a twist over NDAs did so shortly after googling 'NDA'

I hadn’t seen this topic prior to writing a lengthy post. Yes I questioned it, and was given assurances this was not to gag us. Please don’t jump to the worst conclusion. 
 

My understanding was that our illustrious forum leader said that they're under an agreement not to share the content of the meeting until after it's also been shared on the website - So it will be published and he'll be able to tell us if all the information released by the club is as much as was discussed in the meeting
Regardless of that if @David says he's happy with the answers given in the meeting then so am I - I think we have pretty decent and level-headed moderators around here - Open to information from the club/Morris but cynical enough to take it with a pinch of salt - But I appreciate not everyone on here is going to take that line

No, most people attending on Saturday will be there to support the team.
A few noisy people on the internet some of whom aren't even bothering to go to the game does not constitute a "protest" or "making their voice heard".

Yeah it's a straw-clutchy but.... there's nothing to stop us making signings during the week and not officially announcing them until Friday or Saturday.
The later we leave it the less idea Huddersfield will have as to who they're up against ?

Yeah it's a straw-clutchy but.... there's nothing to stop us making signings during the week and not officially announcing them until Friday or Saturday.
The later we leave it the less idea Huddersfield will have as to who they're up against ?

I'm a Derby supporter...Tom is captain...until he leaves he has my support...thats what I do

Got to love some of the strategic thinkers on here.
Were massively short of attacking players. Hmmm let’s sell one who carries a goal threat because we can spend it on someone better! Double yay!!
Except we can’t can we? We can’t even use it to supplement a better wage offer to free agents.
Actually we’ve weakened ourself. Made relegation even more likely. And can’t effect any positive change to the squad.
I’d trust my tramp to run Derby better than some of of the posters on here ??

Yeah it's a straw-clutchy but.... there's nothing to stop us making signings during the week and not officially announcing them until Friday or Saturday.
The later we leave it the less idea Huddersfield will have as to who they're up against ?

I would rather keep him, it’s a massive season for him, trying to get back into the Wales team. If he has a good injury free season, he will win us a few games at least. He has got quality, he just needs to produce it more often and improve his decision making.

If we sell Lawrence, regardless of people’s opinions, how can we realistically replace him with the current transfer restrictions imposed?

Ok, submissions and voting is over, below is the order of questions to try and put forward to the club.
I say try, as I must stress again, there is no guarantees over how many I will personally be able to ask.
That’s not because we’re yes men, brown nosers who will be sat around laughing and joking which I’ve seen accusations of on other social media platforms.
I always knew the supporters charter meetings would draw criticism, but we have just a couple of hours with the club with several fan groups, all with a list of their own questions which they are looking to raise.
Some of which will quite possibly turn into lengthy discussions/answers given the current situation. 
I know we have a lot of fans that appreciate what we do, and I thank you. Tomorrow I will leave my house around 1pm and not be home until gone midnight, trains, taxis, £50 odd at my own cost, more than the price of a Huddersfield match ticket some of you are moaning about, to take questions that you all were given an opportunity to submit and vote on.
These are not questions I have come up with by myself, but that we have all contributed to.
I will do my best to represent you, and if my best isn’t good enough then I can only apologise. All I ask is be respectful.
Finally please be aware that there is an agreement in place that the meeting will not be discussed until the minutes have been released to us all to share within our groups and on the club website.
This is in my view the most important meeting since the formation of the Supporters Charter, with widespread frustration and anger at the lack of communication, it’s imperative we get the information out there to you all asap 
Questions
David: Mel, how are you and how is your health? (81 votes)
Rev: Can you give a cast iron guarantee you'll continue to fund the club with the minimum amount needed to ensure survival as a club, until any takeover how ever long that will be? (38 votes)
G Star: It would appear that insufficient due diligence was carried out on the prospective sales to BZI and Erik Alonso.
Who carried out due diligence and what measures have been put in place to ensure that we are not sold to such an unprofessional outfit? (38 votes)
Tombo: Supporters are aware that the club is very much up for sale, but what is the plan for the next few years should a takeover not come to fruition? (37 votes)
I-Ram: Upon completing the sale of the club, will it once again have a stadium that it owns? (28 votes)
Ambitious: I think we need to get answers to every point on this, including the details behind each one. Why are we the only club in the entire football league default in payments to the HMRC. Do regulation 16.2, 16.3 and P&S non-submission of audited accounts really relate to purely amortisation or is there more to it? (27 votes)

Ellafella: The name of Derby County has been radically sullied in the press of late, some of it very unfair. Does the Club have a communications strategy to set the record straight over some of the issues eg how we cheated relegation? How we fixed our accounts? How we sold the ground to ourselves? What we value as a Club eg fairness, community spirited, ambitious. (27 votes)
Anag Ram: What can we, the fans, do to help at this difficult time? (27 votes)
Carl Sagan: Derby County Football Club belongs to you, but also to the people of the city and the community of fans around the world. And many are very worried for the club's future. What are your plans for the club if the worst happens and you cannot find someone to buy it off you? (22 votes)
California Ram: Have you considered selling a small shareholding of the club to fans to bring in immediate capital while continuing to make the club attractive to majority ownership buyers. (19 votes)

Bird. Going to be a top player (hopefully for us).