Warwick Ram

Someone once told me on here that Mel was not an asset stripper. Well he clearly is / was. He has stripped us of of biggest asset, the stadium, and appears to now be holding us / new owners to random to clear his debts.

I look forward to the wake in the summer when the club is liquidated. Can Mel be the guess speaker

In reference to the news about Mike Ashley we have been here before. It was just over three weeks ago that he was ‘walking away’ from any deal.

I have so far not seen anything else to back this news up that a deal has collapsed.

Just now, Derbados said:

WE ARE SO FRUSTRATING IN THE FINAL THIRD!!

It is quite ironic bearing in mind our manager was one of the best forwards of his generation if not in the history of English football.

End of season liquidation is coming. Not before then. The administrators look like they are dragging their feet now.

15 hours ago, StrawHillRam said:

I’d rather liquidate now and screw their fixtures and results over. Why wait

But the administrators will not do that. They will ‘keep trying’ to resolve things until the season finishes. Then most likely give up and liquidate the club.

First we were told by Christmas, then by the end of January.

The Binnie group, Mike Ashley and Chris Kirchner have all expressed frustration at no progress. Kirchner has walked away because of this reason.

There is an offer on the table from the Binnie group. Why hasn’t it been accepted?

I am starting to think the administrators are being awkward and Mel is possibly refusing to budge on several issues.

10 minutes ago, Kathcairns said:

If eventual outcome is liquidation why should we wait till the end of the season to finish the fixture list so the efl escape all the hassle

It won’t be us waiting to the end of the season. It will be the administrators dragging it out until then.

We will see out the season and then be liquidated. The EFL do not want us going bust half way through a season as it causes too many headaches.

Saviour every match from now until the end of the season as this will be our last.

I am resigned to the fact that by the end of February we will cease to exist. I do not believe we will be saved as there is no appetite for it from the EFL or administrators.

I suggested a supporter representative at meetings between the administrators and the EFL. Mr Parry thinks this is an interesting idea.

I said this is the only way we know what exactly is happening.

Who is going to attend?

Mr Parry has very quickly responded to my last email. He states that Neil Bausor is not present when they debate the legal claims.

He also states that the new demands are not new. So either the administrators are not being honest or the EFL are.

Either way I actually think the administrators thought this would be done by January at the latest making this demand null and void.

Then things haven’t panned out leaving them in a tight spot.

My reply to Rick Parry today 17/01/2022.

Mr Parry,

Thank you for the reply.

I did not mention ‘killing’ Derby County so I am little confused why you would use such a term.

You have not answered if my points from my previous email.

Can you please answer how your proceedings are transparent bearing in mind one of your representatives is from Middlesbrough who have a dubious legal claim lodged against us. Surely while this ‘claim’ exists he should be removed from his position? This would be akin to having the family member of a victim of crime on a jury. It would look biased and unfair.

I find it highly suspicious that as soon as we got allegedly close to appointing a preferred bidder and potential new owner we have been slapped with another demand. Now as we all know a new owner with funds in early January would only boost our survival chances then all of a sudden we given a new demand with a deadline of the 1st February (just after the transfer window closes)

Yes, this is cynical but as I say I find it suspicious. I was never one for a witch hunt or vendetta previously. Mr Morris was an idiot and he broke the rules. So we deserved our punishment, which we have taken. However, it now seems that certain chairmen wants us relegated no matter what and so do the league. It is also interesting that this demand comes after media reports that other clubs are annoyed we have rejected bids. Bids I might add for our academy players. I do not believe in coincidences and this is all too coincidental.

If Middlesbrough got promoted this year do you think they would drop the legal claim.

Also, who suspects that Gibson wanted £45 million as it will save him from failing FFP.

Also, ironically by them beating Reading today they actually did us a favour.

I do not get these legal claims. If Boro and Wycombe have grounds for a claim then surely it is against Mel Morris and not the club.

Mel was in charge so it was his overriding decision.

This is like you buying a house that has been repossessed because of the previous owners debts, and then the bank and other companies owed money coming after you. It wouldn’t stand up in civil court.

Boro and Wycombe should be advised to take a personal claim against Mel.

I did not believe in a witch hunt against us by the EFL at first.

However, this seems very suspicious that we now have a good chance to avoid relegation, we may have been very close to appointing preferred bidders and we were only just into January. Being so early in January with new owners we could get reinforcements and with Rooney’s contacts (players like Diallo in the Championship) all of a sudden us surviving became very real. Then all of a sudden the EFL slap this demand on us. Plus other clubs are annoyed we are rejecting pitiful bids.

I now think the EFL have a real dislike of Derby and want us to suffer. Whilst I do not think they will see us liquidated I do think they will have us as close to death as possible before they ‘help us’.

20 hours ago, Crewton said:

There's so much nonsense in this that I can't be bothered to do a proper response. 

Morris has made a shedload of mistakes and ended up, for whatever reasons, unable/unwilling to fund the club any further and leaving us in a dire position, but if he'd truly wanted to maximise his return, he'd have carried on with the GSE model, investing the minimum necessary and hoping to fluke promotion. 

The GSE model got us nowhere. We were not going to fluke a promotion. It was also not going to make any money. It would have us break even every year and be sustainable whilst never achieving anything.

To get promotion you need investment and good recruitment.

What other nonsense is there.

16 minutes ago, Coconut's Beard said:

This isn't to say that the hyopthetical other manager is guaranteed to fare any better, but...

Would another manager play Jason Knight at left wing, nullifying any attacking threat he may possess? Would another manager keep choosing a right hand sifde of Byrne & Ebosele when they're clearly not suited to playing together? Would another manager take a Polish international winger, give him a defensive / covering role in the team before discarding him because of defensive lapses, never actually allowing him to play in the role he was signed for?

Would a different manager have managed Sibley in a way that he seems so frustrated every time he appears (out of position) that he now looks like an also-ran in our U23s? Would another manager be so worried about a CM picking up too many bookings that he plays 3 CMs who possess practically zero goal threat?

Would another manager fight to bring in a 3rd CB as cover but hardly ever sub him on even when we need to hold onto a point (or 3)? 

These aren't decisions dictated by our 'situation', they're managerial choices. We don't have loads of options, we don't always have good options, but we do have options!

Again, we have no way of knowing for sure what would have happened had different choices been made but it doesn't mean that what he does do is beyond question.

I'd just hate for us to get to this point next season in League One and still see most of the same or similar issues keep popping up and costing us points, having buried my head in the sand for 2 years and put any and all shortcomings down to 'the situation'.

It may make it seem like I'm being unnecessarily harsh on Rooney, but I don't mean it that way. I just can't compartmentalise and lock away my doubts like some other seem to be able to.

Ideally it will be totally different next season, the lessons Rooney should be learning from this season (and last, even though some don't seem to want to acknowledge it) may all come together and he leads us back to The Championship with relative ease.

To be honest I never understood signing Allsop when we had two keepers already. Marshall would be a good back up.

We desperately needed another forward.

3 minutes ago, PistoldPete said:

You know this because?

 

Actually I know (and I think pretty much everyone knows) that most people, including Mel Morris,  do not buy football clubs to make a profit. ANd Mel Morris publicly stated as much early in his tenure.

 

So I think what you say is fairly demonstrably untrue.

 

I do not know it but it is an observation since he took over.

It is all a bit coincidental regarding when he gained full control to his actions in boosting revenue streams through the stadium.

If he isn’t in it for some kind of gain then do things right. Don’t gamble and spunk money on players we didn’t need for ridiculous prices.

2 hours ago, Bris Vegas said:

Tried making this into a poll.

So yes we have the points deduction and the embargoes. But let’s just forget that for one minute. With the current squad, removing any points deduction, we would be 21st in the ‘alternate table’.

Four wins from 21. 17 goals scored, with just three in our last nine away games.

One win in 11. 

We are the joint second lowest scorers in the league. On the flip side, we have one of the better defensive records with 21 goals conceded in 21 games. I think we’ve only conceded more than once in a game three times this season.

But how would you rate Rooney’s record with this current squad and the current circumstances? Did you expect us to be performing better (results wise)? 

Rooney’s record is appalling and in any other circumstances he would have been sacked.

However, the squad is rubbish and our forwards are rubbish so he gets a reprieve.

On 03/12/2021 at 13:00, kevinhectoring said:

Well he’s said he’ll waive £120m (?) of debt and the admins have confirmed the stadium will be part of the sale. So seems he’s already agreed to do exactly what you say he should be doing.  It’s more than many would do in his position imho 

He has put us in administration, we are about to be relegated to league one and could face lidquidation due to debts he amassed for the football.

Never mind though waiving the ‘debt’ and selling our own stadium to us means he can be partly forgiven (sarcasm).

He wants rid and quick so I am not surprised he agreed this.

23 hours ago, kevinhectoring said:

I’d think this was a factor but are you saying it was the sole reason he bought the club ? Seems very unlikely and seems unlikely anyone would know except for him and his closest confidantes 

Yes I am saying this. What other reason would he buy us? Most buy clubs for two reasons:

1) vanity project.

2) try to make some money.

I think he did both.

On 03/12/2021 at 14:30, Crewton said:

There's no such thing as "certainties for promotion" in the Championship, certainly not for a team without parachute payments, and certainly not in late August 2015 when we'd already lost two of our best players to season long injuries. GSE got a higher price for those shares purely because we were in the PO final - a gamble on Morris' part that failed, like so many of his gambles in respect of DCFC. I think it's a big presumption to claim he was "only in it for the money" because, if that was the case, why bother to invest in the Academy and stadium to the tune of tens of millions of £s? It makes no sense. 

If he was purely an asset-stripper, he had a strange way of going about it. I've seen them at work and they don't leave themselves adrift - they make sure they have first call over the assets when the time comes to scarper. 

In the 2014 to 2015 we were favourites for promotion. I would say we were 95% there.

Investing in the academy is another money making scheme. Chelsea have been very good at this. Get players young, coach them well and sell them on. Investing in the academy only benefits the team if we keep the players who make it through or the money from selling them is reinvested. None of these have happened.

I am not saying he is an asset stripper. I am saying he saw a business opportunity and capitalised but failed. Buy the club for a relatively low price, achieve promotion, invest in the academy, make the stadium a revenue making stream outside of football then sell the club for a big price. Basically make the club an attractive prospect to new owners. An established premier league team with a stadium that can be used for concerts.

He has done this with at least two other businesses.

Oh and he does have the first call over our biggest asset the stadium as his company owns it. Oh and now he has ducked off with us in administration and a shed load of debt. I wonder if he is charging us rent to play there? Has he given it back yet for nothing or even a minimal fee? Not yet. He will sell the stadium back to the new owners as some point.

When will people realise that Mel only took over the club when there was a real possibility of premier league promotion.

He bought 22% after our play off final defeat in 2014. Then in 2015 he bought the rest of the shares, becoming sole owner. At this point we looked to be certainties for promotion.

What comes with promotion? A massive amount of revenue. This includes the tv money, more sponsorships and good money depending on where you finish in the league.

He bought us to boost his own bank account either through establishing us a premier league or through selling us at a huge profit when we become attractive.

To be honest I believe that Ravel now needs a steady wage and wants to be close to home. He hasn’t set the world alight with his performances.

Previously to us he has moved around a lot. I think he has now realised he needs to cut out the rubbish and keep his head now to get settled as he is in his late 20s.

I really hoped he would smash the league and embarrass teams but it hasn’t happened yet.

Why not make the league a joke. Either be completely non competitive or be really nasty. Go out with the intention or winding other teams up.

If we are down before any other permutations that we could effect then down tools and turn things into a joke.

I have to say now that the EFL really are forcing us into relegation. Whilst I still do not believe it is an entire witch hunt what they are doing is not allowing us to be competitive.

We have had the normal 12 point deduction for administration. Now a further nine point deduction for financial breaches. So a staggering 21 point deduction.

This coupled with them not allowing us to sign players without the embargo restriction has made us almost non competitive.

We have a threadbare squad made up of youth players and seasoned pros.

Do one or the other. Either do not allow us to sign players or deduct the points. Do not do both. This in my opinion makes a joke of the competitiveness of the league.

In my opinion after administration they should be docking us any more points. It clearly shows we are in trouble and that should be the end of it. Their points deductions could put buyers off forcing us into liquidation. I am sure it will not but there is every chance it could.