i-Ram

It's the Derby Way

Mel Morris.
Cocking it up since 2015. 

The obsession with accounts is clear, however the issue is cash! Accounts can be made to say anything, that’s why you have accounting standards, but cash is king. All businesses die not because of anything other than cash flow! What Derby have at bank and what can be raised above that will be the determining factor of the coming weeks and months. 

Ultimately, whatever Mel has said and done. The fact is he bought the club, he authorised the contract and signed the cheques in a gamble to get us into the premier league, it hasn’t worked out and he should be the one paying for it now. The guy is a wealthy enough man to keep the club  afloat for many many years to come. The simply fact is he doesn’t want to. 
How does this persist? Why when it happened to Wigan and Bury was it not sorted.
FFP\P&S is a broken system… it allows clubs to loose £39 million over a 3 year period before anyone takes notice?! Bury can’t afford to loose £39m and now they are gone. 
I have said for a long time now, and I heard G Neville say something similar at the weekend. There needs to be real time regulation of clubs. There needs to be a way of making owners accountable. Let’s use the example of Mel. Mel bought Derby and he was reportedly worth £500m apparently he still is?! But let’s say he’s not and he’s “only” now worth £100m. He’s still got £100m that rightly (unfortunately not legally) should be in the club. 

Morally how is it right that Mel has £100m but the staff member at Moore farm won’t be paid and they will have to beg borrow steal to buy a loaf of bread now? 
Why is it that Wayne Rooney is paying for the teams away trips? 
Why is is that loyal Derby fans who paid for their season tickets and asked for a refund during the pandemic were ignored?! 
 
Something has to be done in future. Owners should have to personally guarantee their clubs liability’s over and above their incomings. Even if the there was some protection to owners - for example If you have an owner worth - £500m they have to personally guarantee the club until their down to their last £10m. 
Maybe then when Mel was hell bent on promotion, he’d have thought more about the contracts he was signing! He’d have thought harder about sacking Clement, Pearson, Cocu. He’d have thought harder about appointing them and he’d have know that if this goes wrong it’s going to cost him most of his fortune. 
 
However, this is not the case and Mel can now got to bed tonight sleeping like a baby, knowing that his money is safe. I genuinely believe he thinks he’s been hard done by here and it’s not his fault. Mel if you’re reading, pay off the debts. We know you can afford to. Just leave the club in the same state that you found it in. 

Apologies if this has already been posted. It's impossible to keep up with all the threads at the moment but this is essential listening.
The Price of Football - Derby County in administration
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/Derby-county-in-administration/id1482886394?i=1000535953160
One thing that stands out. The HRMC filed a winding up order against the club in January 2020, which was at the start of the pandemic in the UK but a couple of months before lockdown, so the idea that COVID is the reason we're in administration is clearly nonsensical, despite Mel's claims to the contrary.

He has zero to do with the issues we now find ourselves in, but he has acted with utter class.
He's had no money and is playing a number of players he knows aren't good enough (at least at the moment) without a word of complaint publicly.
He's just got on with his job and tried to get this team playing decent football with one hand tied behind his back, wearing lead boots and being made to wear a balaclava the wrong way around.
And then he hears about going into administration on TV like the rest of us and rather than whining or walking out he gets on with his job.
I really like what I'm seeing, especially when you consider he's in his first year of management and the second youngest boss in the entire football league.
He should have control of this team if/when he has money to spend, or at the very least until the end of this season.
If he does walk or get pushed, I for one will be bitterly disappointed.

Not if he is in a liverpool tracksuit with a fist full of contracts (joking)

Wrong link.
Corrected below...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58622433

He might have this bit right, unfortunately:
"People say they will put it into administration and somebody will come in and buy it because it is Derby. But how many points will Derby be faced with being deducted this year? More saliently, they are going to be faced with further deductions next year.
"In likelihood you would be buying a League Two team with an accumulated £50m debt. There are only so many people in the world who are out there and willing to do that."

On the KM podcast he (KM) mentions he’s spoken to people who are in the process of selling businesses to Mel Morris!!!
This isn’t can’t pay anymore, this is won’t pay anymore and he’s prepared to put the club at risk because he won’t stand behind HIS gambles. 
 
I’ve reflected more on that interview and in my initial comments i went easy on him. He had the audacity to say this course of action is the best most positive way forward for the club to get a buyer and move forward. It’s unbelievable he said that!! 
 
The more I think about it I realise what a dire position HE has put us in BY CHOICE and the angrier and angrier I feel.

If we lose, we have the mods to blame!

Seeing as I missed the entire Stoke game sat in a traffic jam on the M1 yesterday, I got home and got a ticket for this (having previously decided £37 was a bit too much). Where are people drinking? The Howard is convenient, but Sheffield Tap, Head of Steam and Rutland Arms are all way better!

Good on yer for taking on the thread challenge. 
 
bring back Derby blood I say. Nowt wrong with a bit of honesty. He’s been calling out Mel for a longtime. I normally more of a reader than a contributor but I always follow these threads. 
 

He'll be back in a month, then?

Due to circumstances beyond his control my good friend @Derby blood is unable to forfill his match thread duty and asked me to fill in. He also asked me to say his comments about Mel were down to emotion and his love for Derby County.
Anyways…
The mighty Rams take on Sheffield United at Bramell Lane on Saturday 25th. 3pm kick off.  
After everything that’s gone on we still managed to outplay a highly respected Stoke side.  The players were fantastic and the support was amazing.  If we as fans can take that to Sheffield and the players show the same class, we shouldn’t be afraid of anyone in this league. Off the pitch is for another thread.
So let’s outplay and outsing the blades on Saturday. As the ultimate measure of a team is not where we stand in moments of comfort, but where we stand in times of challenge.
COYR!!!

It was an edited interview so perhaps Mel had final say over what was broadcast? - there certainly seemed to be a few key question's that weren't asked (or weren't publicy answered) - I also suspect that whenever Mel said "that's a good question" he either meant that Dawes had asked one off his agreed list or else that Mel was expecting to be asked that and therefore had a pre-prepared answer ready...

A couple of other things occured to me this morning, about the answers Morris gave.
1) Did he say in respect of the potential sale timelines that after the (Alonso) bid, who submitted proof of funds but was rejected by the EFL, that he changed selling agents. Does that probably mean he was still with Samuelson until what May this year? If so I wonder if he only got rid of Samuelson when he was being asked to comment on the spoof Chinese Billy expose?
2) He was very evasive as to why he sacked Cocu. I don't think he answered that question at all clearly. I wonder if he was convinced by said agents that they might have more buyer interest with 'Wayne Rooney' in charge? 
Dawes didn't really touch upon the third party advice he might have been receiving for the sale, nor for the accounting policies. I wonder if he was warned off going there? 

The first 90 seconds really is us: -
Genuine sympathies for all of the staff directly caught up in this.
 

Perhaps they didn't realise they were in administration. Might not have been watching Sky. 

A couple of other things occured to me this morning, about the answers Morris gave.
1) Did he say in respect of the potential sale timelines that after the (Alonso) bid, who submitted proof of funds but was rejected by the EFL, that he changed selling agents. Does that probably mean he was still with Samuelson until what May this year? If so I wonder if he only got rid of Samuelson when he was being asked to comment on the spoof Chinese Billy expose?
2) He was very evasive as to why he sacked Cocu. I don't think he answered that question at all clearly. I wonder if he was convinced by said agents that they might have more buyer interest with 'Wayne Rooney' in charge? 
Dawes didn't really touch upon the third party advice he might have been receiving for the sale, nor for the accounting policies. I wonder if he was warned off going there? 

You won’t be saying that Harry when you lose your job as Head of Technical Scouting.

Sorry made a pigs ear of that...doh

After the interview yesterday I'm now genuinely concerned about the club folding
When news broke about administration I figured it was  a tactical move (which is the line MM was pushing in the interview) - but it's dawning on me that all he has done in the last 6 years is make bad decision after bad decision, whilst telling everyone that he's making good decisions. I could list them all but it's too depressing
 

Three classic comments from the interview:
1) My putting the Club into Adminstration gives it a better chance of finding a Purchaser it desperately needs. Mmmh. Really not sure it does Mel. Let’s be honest it is much more the case that you are simply not prepared to put any more money into the club, notwithstanding you are still comfortably in the top 500 richest people in the UK.
2) No one can continue to put money into the club (£3m pm, down to £1.5m pm more recently) in perpetuity. Mmmh. I wonder who created the income/expenditure imbalance and indebtedness? Any ideas Mel?
3) I’ve been prepared to sell the club for £15m less than I bought it for. Mmmh. Did the club have a Stadium and a decent team when you bought it Mel?
I have had little time for this guy since around 2016, and today he confirmed all my worst fears.

Three classic comments from the interview:
1) My putting the Club into Adminstration gives it a better chance of finding a Purchaser it desperately needs. Mmmh. Really not sure it does Mel. Let’s be honest it is much more the case that you are simply not prepared to put any more money into the club, notwithstanding you are still comfortably in the top 500 richest people in the UK.
2) No one can continue to put money into the club (£3m pm, down to £1.5m pm more recently) in perpetuity. Mmmh. I wonder who created the income/expenditure imbalance and indebtedness? Any ideas Mel?
3) I’ve been prepared to sell the club for £15m less than I bought it for. Mmmh. Did the club have a Stadium and a decent team when you bought it Mel?
I have had little time for this guy since around 2016, and today he confirmed all my worst fears.