Dordogne-Ram

I'd take scrappers like Ward and Russell any day over the 1 good performance in 6 fancy Dan wingers. It's incredible to me that, judging by some of the comments here, people still fail to see what Russell brought to the table and why we were a top 6 team with him instead of a bottom 4 team without.
So, yes, he'd be welcomed back by me. Having said that, there isn't a chance in hell he'll be returning here. If Derby is the best offer he can get at 31 after a very strong spell in the MLS he needs to fire his agent.

Well that’s it then - jimbo ram and millennium ram have spoken! ??? I’d take Russell back in a heartbeat.....just like I’d take Martin, Bryson, keogh, back for a bit of passion. Players who wore their hearts on their sleeves...
But only if JR & MR agree.....?
 

No, you're thinking of John McGovern's 25 yarder vs Liverpool!

Martyn Waghorn v Sheff Wed.
Under that amount of pressure, one of our best penalties in years.
Who knows how important that goal could turm out to be for us as a club.

So, had a phone call with a very helpful & knowledgeable chap from the FSA this afternoon. He didn’t dismiss the idea of fans taking over at Derby & believed a well-supported one club city would stand a better chance than most to bring about a successful fan ownership model. He also made reference to the Fan Led Review – a task force set up by Government that is specifically looking at facilitating greater fan control of clubs & sustainability. This is due to report later this year on recommendations.
He did however warn it would be extremely difficult, that the Championship in particular was a basketcase division & threw around some horrifying amounts that benevolent chairmen have had to spend to keep their clubs competitive (including Mel). Nothing to be fair we'd didn't already suspect.
Asked him a few questions on behalf of interested parties on here;
Q Have you had many past enquiries from fans of other big clubs? What were the sticking points?
Yes, plenty. General issue is either that the cost of the club is prohibitively expensive or the size of the debt is far too high for fans to reasonably service
Q What are the different types of fan ownership models?
Two main types; conventional Limited Company (with shares) or a CBS (Community Benefit Society) which is basically a mutual co-operative. A CBS has to have one member one vote irrespective of member contribution & any profits have to be ploughed back into the business. There is also potentially corporation tax exemption
Q Ways of raising money to fund a fan buyout?
Either selling shares in a conventional Limited company or via debentures/supporter bond – basically fans lend money to the new ownership group at a low rate of annual interest. Also very wise to go after High Net Worth individuals who support the club – this was the basis of the successful buy in at Portsmouth in 2013 & the purchase of the new Plough Lane ground by AFC Wimbledon in 2019
Q Standard fan involvement in fan owned clubs?
Generally is a membership scheme for a small fee which entitles each member to a vote. Supporters are then able to vote for members to be appointed to the Board, who will then appoint a Chief Executive to run the actual club (this is the model AFC Wimbledon use). Other big decisions such as a badge change, significant changes to ground etc will also go back to the membership but these can vary depending on what fans agree from the outset should go to a vote.
Q Best way of organising fans into a collective to launch a fan led buyout
Supporters Trust (yes, Ramstrust). They have the connections to FSA & are meant to represent the supporters’ interest as a whole.
 
Obviously the last point may not sit well with a few on here, particularly given the recent letter sent to the club on ‘behalf of the fans’ (I personally have no opinion on them). The guy I spoke to made it clear Ramstrust’s connections with the FSA meant they wouldn’t want to seriously engage with another DCFC group for fear of causing offence & that it would be in our best interests to bring all fan groups together (he also referenced Punjabi Rams). He certainly knew the individuals heading up Ramstrust & was also aware of some of the ill feeling from 2002-2005.
I hope the information above helps to give some perspective. I was also advised to speak to a colleague of his (when he returned from holiday) who actually led the fan buyout of Portsmouth in 2013. Think his knowledge would be invaluable particularly given similarities between a) Portsmouth & Derby as football clubs/fanbases & b) the debt mountain that had accumulated under previous ownerships
Before going down that avenue though, I think the ball is back in our court as fans i.e. is this something people want to come together & seriously look at?
For me, the route looks something a bit like this;
Form a specific group via this forum to throw around some ideas especially around gaining support from wider fanbase, getting funding & ideas for a potential constitution and then agree on a draft plan Approach major DCFC fan groups; yes, RamsTrust but also Punjabi Rams to present our plan, sell them the idea & then work on an actionable plan going forward. If this goes well, probably a good time to speak to the FSA contact who led the Portsmouth buyout for specific advice before ‘going public’ Potential two-pronged attack; float idea to fans across all social media channels/ conventional advertising in Derbyshire explaining the plan & asking for pledge of funds and target high net worth Derby fans to see if they can also commit to a pledge of funding Depending on what amount can credibly be raised via fans (and possibly externally) approach the club. We’re not going raise anywhere near £60m but a serious fraction of that may at least get us round a table No doubt about it, this is a real long shot but it’s going to happen to a large club one day – why couldn’t it be us? And even if it doesn’t come off, the thought of bringing the fanbase together & actually being proactive rather than passively accepting our fate, could recharge energy & enthusiasm amongst us.
Maybe naïve but that’s my take ?

It is, however this is a public platform, to publish this prior to being sent to the club to gauge the support would not have been possible, if it was I would have.

Full transparency. I was invited to this meeting, but chose not to put my name or the forums to this.
Reason being as I have previously stated, this forum is a platform for fans views, I am not an elected chairman/spokesman to speak on behalf of you all, simply the creator of this platform for fans views which can already be openly seen by the club.
I did not feel comfortable signing on behalf of the forum without consulting you all, and felt my name without attaching dcfcfans.uk held no weight.
My own personal views are that this letter has been created out of concern for the clubs future and regardless of how you feel towards any of the groups that have signed off on it, do not see this as an opportunity to attack supporters groups for speaking on behalf of Derby County fans.
We all love this club. ?

We can't even get along as football fans of the same bloomin club!
What chance have we got?
Fortunately I was brought up on singing songs and chants that supported the club I love and then singing songs that disrespected the club we were trying to beat.
And I know football forums are all about fans being entitled to their own opininions, but just look at how far the goal posts have been moved within the game.
The biggest thing I loved about going to the Baseball Ground was the crowd, the wonderful atmosphere of getting behind Derby County Football Club and tearing into the Leeds, Chelsea fans and all the rest...................why did it go all horribly wrong???????
Why do some of our fans choose to get off on, winding our own fans up..........why oh why????????
I'm out of here, I'd rather watch dull Sunday night telly than read our own fans bickering with one another.
Where is your dignity, respect, appreciation, honour, loyalty for your fellow fan of the same football club you all love?
D.C.F.C. Love, Life & Unity.
Very sad indeed............a bloody disgrace!

I can remember that too. However I can also remember when they were a big side in the early 70s. There are also many on here who state that our win against them in the League Cup under Clough was when we arrived as a team.

Was torn before kick off as Chelsea are a right horrible club and normally side with the 'Northern' team for the FA Cup final, but obviously not a fan of Leicester having been down the Fosse way many a time and had nothing to shout about.
But you know what, someone posted that they're living our dream and that's spot on. Salute to them - fair play. 
Means so much more when it's not one of the usual suspects lifting the trophy. Somewhere amongst their fans there today will be a few who's whole family have supported them through the years and never seen them win it and once the excitement has died down, later tonight in a quiet corner of the pub they'll say a little toast to those who couldn't be there today who first took them along to Filbert Street dreaming of winning the FA cup. Almost happy for them.
One day we'll play a full strength side in the cup and win it... one day.

After a character in a tv programme apparently but even at 61 I’m too young to remember it . Quick bit of google the character was Zak Bishop , the programme United but might need a more senior Ram to reveal all 

O
 
Travelled overland independently by train, lots of snow around Banya Luka (October), but still arrived in good time at Mostar. Walked from the station to the ground in conversation (in French!) with a German, who recognised the Ram motif on my shoulder bag. Gateman at the ground was after Rams souvenirs when Stuart Webb arrived, we exchanged a few pleasantries, he showed his DCFC credentials and I was allowed in with him!  The team coach arrived shortly after and Alan Hill was struggling with the kit hamper across a pebbled area, so yes, just offered a hand to get it to the visitors dressing room. Most of the players had gone to have a look at the pitch, but David Nish followed us in. He had just moved into our village and had had conversations over the garden gate with my Dad, so that was a useful starting point until Zac arrived with his bit of typical Yorkshire forthright approach!
I bade my adieus, and walked out into the next room which happened to be the club bar, which, needless to say, was full of Bosnians and Serbs. My bag and rucksack singled me out as a Rams fan, and it was only seconds before I was besieged with more requests for Rams souvenirs. I had only two left when their inside forward Vidic, who had played in the first leg at Derby, came and sat down, and he ended up with a copy of the Football League Magazine which came out with the Rams programme.
Whilst waiting in the York Hotel outside the station for the train back home after the first leg, a tall smartly dressed individual wanted the phone, speaking in  reasonable English to the hotel staff, who of course had to get the call for him - in the 1970s it was necessary to wait for calls to be obtained to less popular international locations, in this case Mostar. I assumed that he was possibly the Mostar president or CEO perhaps, so in the bar I motioned to Vidic that I wanted to speak to the "President". He disappeared and duly returned with an ageing gentleman who was in fact the Club President. But the message had got across that we needed an interpreter, and shortly after the guy seen in Derby appeared. I recalled to him that I had seen him at the York, so we were well away! Drinks and food were provided gratis, courtesey of the club / President, and I could leave my rucksack there until after the game. The well dressed guy was the reporter for the local paper, and this was news, as Mostar had beaten one of the Moscow teams (? Spartak?) over two legs in the previous round, unbelievable for a town the size of Burton!
As it built towards kick-off, I made my way out to the Terraces, only to find that I was in the private part of the ground, with only a small three- step terrace which held about 20 people maximum! A programme seller appeared walking round the ground, the very guy who had been manning the gate earlier on. I called to him and rummaged in my shoulder bag for the last souvenir, one of those circular gold and dark blue DERBY COUNTY pin badges with a Ram in the centre - you might have one still, I haven't! I thought that offering it was an appropriate gesture to a guy who had been instrumental in what was turning out to be some totally unexpected "adventure", and he proudly pinned it on, safe in the knowledge that no one else had one!
The Rams of course lost 4-1, and it was almost dark as the firecrackers went of following their third and fourth goal, the latter a penalty against Colin Todd which was clearly ball-to-hand rather than the reverse, which the high profile and even more highly controversial Dutch referee, Charles Corver, duly gave.  (He was handing out photos of himself on the flight into Dubrovnik apparently - some ego!). Stuart Webb was beside himself at this unexpected setback, and on returning home made it clear that Derby would appeal against the firecrackers during the match, so I sent in some camera shots of them to him, and weeks later they were returned after the appeal had been turned down.
So, back to the bar, where the President came to commiserate - and celebrate that lightning did sometimes strike twice. In true English fashion I offered my congratulations, and eventually took my leave of them, reflecting, in spite of my disappointment, that I had witnessed what had been a momentous event in the history of this small club.
This must sound unusual to many of you, but the club is not like an English club. The dressing rooms and bar were part of what we would call a large two story club house, set back some 50 yards from the pitch and behind the goal. The directors / officials watched the games from easy chairs in a first floor "terraced room" with sliding -folding doors, looking out "onto all they surveyed". The 50 yards in between were flower beds with rose trees, neatly trimmed low privet hedges and a pebble path for the players to access the pitch. The opposite end was not spectator accommodation. The side nearest the road was terraced, and provided perhaps 15 steps the length of the ground, and the opposite side had 3 /4  steps of concrete terrace, with a small seated stand at the half way line. Beyond this, the (enclosed) hillside rose quite steeply into the far distance, and would have accommodated the population of the three East Midlands cities with ease.  Little did I know the horrific significance that this welcoming club was to play some 20 years later. During the dissolution of the old Yugoslavia, you may be aware of the subsequent ethic cleansing which took place: the Radavan Karadice saga / era, plus others.
That same pitch was used as a concentration site / camp for those unfortunate enough to be on "the wrong side"......
And no, I had no part at DCFC, I'm just a popside fan who took his chance when it came, this being the third "adventure" that being a Rams fan has brought my way. To me, DCFC has always been a Way of Life.
Thanks for reading - sorry if I bored you.

O
 
Travelled overland independently by train, lots of snow around Banya Luka (October), but still arrived in good time at Mostar. Walked from the station to the ground in conversation (in French!) with a German, who recognised the Ram motif on my shoulder bag. Gateman at the ground was after Rams souvenirs when Stuart Webb arrived, we exchanged a few pleasantries, he showed his DCFC credentials and I was allowed in with him!  The team coach arrived shortly after and Alan Hill was struggling with the kit hamper across a pebbled area, so yes, just offered a hand to get it to the visitors dressing room. Most of the players had gone to have a look at the pitch, but David Nish followed us in. He had just moved into our village and had had conversations over the garden gate with my Dad, so that was a useful starting point until Zac arrived with his bit of typical Yorkshire forthright approach!
I bade my adieus, and walked out into the next room which happened to be the club bar, which, needless to say, was full of Bosnians and Serbs. My bag and rucksack singled me out as a Rams fan, and it was only seconds before I was besieged with more requests for Rams souvenirs. I had only two left when their inside forward Vidic, who had played in the first leg at Derby, came and sat down, and he ended up with a copy of the Football League Magazine which came out with the Rams programme.
Whilst waiting in the York Hotel outside the station for the train back home after the first leg, a tall smartly dressed individual wanted the phone, speaking in  reasonable English to the hotel staff, who of course had to get the call for him - in the 1970s it was necessary to wait for calls to be obtained to less popular international locations, in this case Mostar. I assumed that he was possibly the Mostar president or CEO perhaps, so in the bar I motioned to Vidic that I wanted to speak to the "President". He disappeared and duly returned with an ageing gentleman who was in fact the Club President. But the message had got across that we needed an interpreter, and shortly after the guy seen in Derby appeared. I recalled to him that I had seen him at the York, so we were well away! Drinks and food were provided gratis, courtesey of the club / President, and I could leave my rucksack there until after the game. The well dressed guy was the reporter for the local paper, and this was news, as Mostar had beaten one of the Moscow teams (? Spartak?) over two legs in the previous round, unbelievable for a town the size of Burton!
As it built towards kick-off, I made my way out to the Terraces, only to find that I was in the private part of the ground, with only a small three- step terrace which held about 20 people maximum! A programme seller appeared walking round the ground, the very guy who had been manning the gate earlier on. I called to him and rummaged in my shoulder bag for the last souvenir, one of those circular gold and dark blue DERBY COUNTY pin badges with a Ram in the centre - you might have one still, I haven't! I thought that offering it was an appropriate gesture to a guy who had been instrumental in what was turning out to be some totally unexpected "adventure", and he proudly pinned it on, safe in the knowledge that no one else had one!
The Rams of course lost 4-1, and it was almost dark as the firecrackers went of following their third and fourth goal, the latter a penalty against Colin Todd which was clearly ball-to-hand rather than the reverse, which the high profile and even more highly controversial Dutch referee, Charles Corver, duly gave.  (He was handing out photos of himself on the flight into Dubrovnik apparently - some ego!). Stuart Webb was beside himself at this unexpected setback, and on returning home made it clear that Derby would appeal against the firecrackers during the match, so I sent in some camera shots of them to him, and weeks later they were returned after the appeal had been turned down.
So, back to the bar, where the President came to commiserate - and celebrate that lightning did sometimes strike twice. In true English fashion I offered my congratulations, and eventually took my leave of them, reflecting, in spite of my disappointment, that I had witnessed what had been a momentous event in the history of this small club.
This must sound unusual to many of you, but the club is not like an English club. The dressing rooms and bar were part of what we would call a large two story club house, set back some 50 yards from the pitch and behind the goal. The directors / officials watched the games from easy chairs in a first floor "terraced room" with sliding -folding doors, looking out "onto all they surveyed". The 50 yards in between were flower beds with rose trees, neatly trimmed low privet hedges and a pebble path for the players to access the pitch. The opposite end was not spectator accommodation. The side nearest the road was terraced, and provided perhaps 15 steps the length of the ground, and the opposite side had 3 /4  steps of concrete terrace, with a small seated stand at the half way line. Beyond this, the (enclosed) hillside rose quite steeply into the far distance, and would have accommodated the population of the three East Midlands cities with ease.  Little did I know the horrific significance that this welcoming club was to play some 20 years later. During the dissolution of the old Yugoslavia, you may be aware of the subsequent ethic cleansing which took place: the Radavan Karadice saga / era, plus others.
That same pitch was used as a concentration site / camp for those unfortunate enough to be on "the wrong side"......
And no, I had no part at DCFC, I'm just a popside fan who took his chance when it came, this being the third "adventure" that being a Rams fan has brought my way. To me, DCFC has always been a Way of Life.
Thanks for reading - sorry if I bored you.

Don’t quote me on this, not super hot on tax, but I believe that IFA Amortisation (unlike depreciation) is an allowable deduction for Corporation Tax.
However as you say we’re loss making, plus the net P&L impact under either amortisation method is the same so will have the same tax impact too.

It’s pointless arguing the toss over legal and financial matters .We simply don’t have the full story from either point of view but it is - to me at least - evidence that the EFL is a toxic organisation that allows itself to be swayed by loud voices rather than logical analysis. It does not serve its members, there are too many partisan camps. It doesn’t garner respect. It is contemptible.
They resoundingly lost the original argument but pursued, vindictively, (at who’s behest ? ) some sort of vengeance or face saving, based on a technicality, to justify their ineptitude and save face. Yuk ! 

Get that super lawyer on it, we can have a forum whip round to pay him

Well I was jumping around like a ducking loon yesterday and if fans or players celebrating us staying up is such a massive embarrassment for you, then I'm delighted by your discomfort.  
COR

I remember in 1983 when we beat Fulham on the last game of the season to stay up, there was a hell of a lot of celebrating ??

Erik Alonso would be how he stays either way. Plausible he knows all about Rooney and a little about Derby reading sports history books, watching a Charlie George hat trick from an old YouTube clip and having had a few conversations with Mel.
So he takes control in either circumstances and thinks brand Rooney will give him profile, get loads of photo opportunities and offering him a summer cheque book to build “his” team; ignoring Ronney’s tactics had a bearing on results towards our nose dive (me ignoring Bielik injury contributed to this).
My worry from what I’ve seen since the Cardiff game, is even with a summer rebuild, I can’t see Wayne doing massively better next season in the Championship or putting us in contention with what’s left for a Div 1 promotion tilt. Should he stay, I think he’ll be gone around Christmas as the penny drops and we’ll be wasted a season and more money, which will ultimately put unfair pressure on any other managers that follow, trying to mop up the mess.

Always feel good watching him do well and proud we played a solid part in his development. Rooting for him to achieve as much as possible in his career because of it. He gave his all here after all.

Made up for Mount he deserves everything he as got out of his career to me he is just going to get better and better and go on to be one of the best British players of the next 10 years. It was a privilege to see him in a Derby County kit for one season. 

I suppose being champions twice helps!

he has some, he's made them look even worse

I actually think 3 months of being able to select chris Martin at the beginning of the season would have been enough to be nowhere near relegation but starting the season with no centre forward was dreadful