Alty_Ram

45 minutes ago, Ambitious said:

I’ve just had a quick look at their company accounts -

18/19 - £56m wage bill, £5.1m in sponsorship
19/20 - £52m wage bill, £7.9m in sponsorship
20/21 - £48m wage bill, £8.4m in sponsorship 
21/22 - £35m wage bill, £10m in sponsorship. 

To put it into perspective, Bristol City a similar size club receive £1.7m in sponsorship and retail combined. The wage bill is £12-13m less too. 

I don’t think Stoke would be a particularly great move for him footballing wise, but in terms of financial package - he would be well paid for his services. 

Doesn't their owner write truly eyewatering sums of debt off on top of that though ? I don't believe that they are remotely living within their means.

Given that it's already the 16th, the first day of training might be a bit of a shambles 😄  We can probably organise a 5-a-side if we get some of the ground staff involved 😉

I'm not that Gull-ible

At this stage you could just tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies

2 hours ago, JakeDCFC said:

Best thing is to just have someone who can more often than not whip a good cross or ball in and have guys who are absolutely deadly in the air. Whether it is scored directly from the free kick or from a header doesn't matter too much to me but finding that consistency in terms of whipping it in is difficult and it doesn't help that we struggled with both of those things last season haha. Numerous creative set pieces definitely helps too. 

In an ideal world Jake 😊

I think this is the crux of it for me though. Teams watch us and know before they play us that we are not a big set piece threat, either directly or from getting on the end with a header. Our delivery seems pretty average but we don't have a dominant aerial threat so it all feels a bit 'hope for the best'. If you are Hourihane, who are you going to pick out ? If you don't have people who will win their share of aerial duels then it is even more important to get that delivery right. Many times we seem to just swing it in at no great pace and that's perfect for the defending side so invariably the ball either doesn't clear the first defender or we lose the aerial dual or get put off to the point of a tame nod into the keepers hands or whatever. A ball whipped in at pace and dip gives a far better chance of an attacker stealing half a yard on their marker and being able to make it count and in a crowded box a defender might also nick it past their keeper or scuff a clearance into someone's path.

It's much the same with crossing. Putting a routine diagonal balls in when you have a beast of a No9 is probably fine because they'll win their share and create threat that way but if you don't win aerial duels then it's a wasted ball. If you have quick nippy forwards then you need to stretch that defence and give them a chance to get the drop on a backpedalling central defender.

Unfortunately teams don't fear us at set pieces and they are right not to. It seems to have been that way for a while now though, not just this current team. Looking back to when we looked genuinely threatening, with Harry Wilson there was always that sense of expectation that he may just score a worldie and that is another thing for the defending side to worry about, not just whether he might drop it on someone's head 6 yards out. Even going back to the likes of Bucko though. He was no any great height but for whatever reason he looked like he'd get himself into areas that might cause problems and he won more duels than he had any right to. Don't know if that was sheer belligerence and determination but he was always in there amongst the flying boots. We seem to have neither of these elements currently but and I'm sure that if we give the set piece taker a viable target then we'll have a whole lot more joy even with the same personnel taking the kicks. We're not going to win every game with champagne football and set pieces are a big part of the game at all levels. We need to get this aspect right or we are making life harder for ourselves.

Phew, what a day eh !? Frantic stuff from start to finish. I need a lie down! 😉

Hi Jake. Wow, what have you let yourself in for 😉

Amazingly none of us are here for the glory so as with the rest of us you'll just have to get your 'wins' in whatever way you can! Derby is one of those clubs that the vast majority of fans have some direct personal connection with so its great that you have found us via our funky little club badge - we're absurdly proud of it !

We've had our moments in the spotlight of course (a couple of League titles a few decades back) but it's times like the present that I often think we're at our best - adversity often does that. It was a rough time during Covid and with the club's finances a mess, it needed everyone to pull together and our owner is an absolute legend for stepping in and saving the club. Obviously far from ideal to be down in the 3rd tier of the league but hopefully we'll bounce back soon now we have the club back on an even keel. New season coming up, new signings to discuss (hopefully!) and who knows, it might even be our year to bounce back !

Anyway, welcome to DCFCfans. Tuck into some of the threads. Enjoy 😃

3 hours ago, Leveller said:

Well thanks! Haven’t been on here for a while, but popped along this time to research Haydon Roberts who seems to be joining us.

Mr Popodopoulos is actually extremely into various clubs’ financial analysis and very interesting reading (mostly on OTIB). I wouldn’t take it personally that he concentrated on your late unlamented scoundrel for a while. He’s pretty objective and has moved on to other projects now.

He can probably take his pick these days.. There still seems to be enormous scope for owners to ignore the rules if you know the ins and outs and have deep pockets and happy to write debt off. The problem (as always) that remains is what do you do when they get bored and want a different toy to play with.

Ouch... what a mess. Hope they find a way through this 😟

Jeez, give me a bit of notice people !
Sorted.....

I have to say, I was expecting a few more too. Still, there's plenty of time yet I guess.

I knew I was going to renew so I just did it as soon as we were able, plus I wanted to avoid clashing with the final payment on summer holiday so I just got it out the way. I appreciate that with cost of living etc that "just getting it out the way" is not an option for everyone though and whether you can afford/justify a ticket may be a rather marginal call.

How many did we sell in the end last year ?

12 minutes ago, Barney1991 said:

Quite a few teams in for Morgan Whittaker. Wonder if we have a sell on included in the deal that took him to Swansea 

Doesn't sound very Derby. We probably added a clause to pay 50% of any sell on fee.

One thing that some fans are going to have to be mindful of is that we are presumably going to be signing a fair few players and some of these will only ever intended as backup options or to cover multiple positions or just for the U21s or whatever.

The squad needs bolstering in numbers as much as it does quality and some of the signings this window may seem a tad underwhelming at first glance but are a necessary part of the squad rebuild. You can't have superstar cover in every position.

I agree completely with David's approach to this. I think some debate and reasonable banter is perfectly OK and in fact think the forum would be poorer if away fans were blanket banned. Equally, lots of pointless confrontational and abusive posting just invites an immediate ban. No problem with that at all.

I do actually like to hear what reasonable, sensible fans of other teams think because they may for example have a different take on a player's performance than we do and as long as it isn't just trolling then it can add a different perspective and they may also for example add some honest assessment to a debate over the merits of one of their players that we are trying to sign.

I am also one of those folk who likes to browse opposition forums in the run up to and aftermath of our games to see how they view us and our likely threat and see whether they changes their opinion after the game or whether they were impressed with a particular player or felt that we deserved the win or whatever. I don't however hang about on other teams forums apart from that because frankly most of their postings are of zero interest.

I have on version rare occasions created an account on another forum where there is an ongoing subject between clubs or where the content is blocked unless you sign in with a valid account, so guests have very limited or non-existent access. Where I have done that I am always mindful about being fairly respectful because otherwise you'll waste a few posts and get banned anyway, plus I might be looking to get a genuine answer to a question. If you wade in and needlessly and deliberately try to antagonise people then no sensible exchange is going to happen which renders the whole thing pointless anyway and a ban will never be far away.

I do prefer if any posters from other teams are just up front about their allegiances though, either through user name or just being open and honest. I have been on a site where as part of registration you have to declare your team and you get a flag to that effect so people can choose to engage with you or not I guess.

1 minute ago, JJH said:

We lost that because of COVID - the main source of our stable income was gone and the transfer market was decimated.

We've both spent recklessly in pursuit of the PL, and both suffered because of it.

Roberts isn't joining us because we're offering him some daft deal whilst you're offering him a sensible one, there's a whole host of reason why we're a more attractive proposition than you lot currently. That's just how it is.

No, and I can't really argue too much with that and if someone has also done a good job of selling your setup and his potential role in it then that's how it goes. Equally we'll be seen as a much better option for some promising incoming players than many League 2 and League 1 teams and we need to take advantage of that.

As regards your point about academy and our better young players. That is an area that we suffered really badly through all the financial carnage, so there is likely to be very limited help from that source for us for the immediate future so we are going to need to be really canny with our recruitment. We are seriously short on numbers as much as anything else though and have a really small squad, even for this level. Players have been released and loans gone back and others are reported to be being wanted by other clubs so either way we'll need some serious squad building and that includes rebuilding the U21s from the rubble of their terrible season. U21s got absolutely battered last year - must have been seriously dispiriting.

The financial upheaval caused us to lose a steady stream of good youngsters for nothing or peanuts due to contractual limitations and our academy was gutted and a lot of excellent work from the last few years was completely undone. Most of the players who were good enough were either poached by other clubs or were moved into the first team squad due to necessity. Rebuilding the damage caused at that level will take a considerable amount of work. Green shoots from the U18s though so longer term it's perhaps looking more hopeful.

Quite. Not really seeing how this will prepare us for the Aussies. I've zero problem playing a Test against Ireland because how else will they improve their Test Match craft but its so one-sided that I'm not sure how much they are actually leaning in this game. It's surely achieving very little for England too in terms of Ashes preparation.

Having finished 7th and now in a better financial position, it's obviously reasonable to expect an improvement next year, but at the moment all these "anything less that top 2 is a failure" predictions are not yet based on anything other than expectation of what 'should' be happening because a club of our size and we did well last year yadda yadda.. and it's not yet based on any team we may actually be able to put out as there are going to be a lot of both outgoings and incomings.

Since the end of the season we have lost quite a few players who played a fair few games between them and we have not seen any signings yet due to the window not being open. As such, I can't really say what I expect next year until I have seen how the squad is added to because as of this moment we're paper thin and have a weaker squad than last year. That's not a surprise or a criticism in any way, but I just have no idea what team is going to step out in a Derby shirt yet.

As regards Luton and our record - I very much doubt it. I can see them really getting in the faces of the visitors and being a place that teams won't enjoy going. Visits to Kenilworth Road might turn out to be the new 'Cold February night in Stoke'. A trip to Luton will be one to face a physical, direct hard working, well organised team in a small ramshackle stadium with the crowd breathing down your neck. I think they'll upset a few teams on their own turf.

In general terms, I just can't see anyone arriving with such a perfect storm of negative factors to a produce behinds the scenes problems, managerial upheaval and woeful signings and then manage to find a way to underperform as well. Just on the law of averages, terrible teams still will win 2 or 3 games in a season (even if its daylight robbery) and then a few draws gets them comfortably over the 11 point line.

As others have said. I also really hope that they and stay up and ruffle some feathers while doing it.

Well I hope they avoid a total meltdown. After our recent history I think we're all generally a bit more sympathetic towards other clubs (fans at least) who are in a financial mess.

Perhaps this guy will be as good as his word but if he can do this and suddenly miraculously find 10 million plus lying around to chuck into an account then why didn't he just do that already and avoid all the points penalties which will give them a headache for next year. *shrug*. I'm sure Wigan fans thought they were done with all this crap.

3 minutes ago, Red_Dawn said:

🙈

Well if it all goes horribly wrong on Sunday then at least they'll at least be able to roll out all those hopeful, promotion-based songs. Saves it all going stale for them eh ? We just need to tweak the '21 points' song a bit to cover an unspecified predicted probable/possible future date of promotion. Job done.

What's your prediction for Sunday RD ? I reckon Everton will probably see off Bournemouth who are on 3 straight losses, which renders the other results meaningless.

Don't think I'll be getting properly excited until I see how the team is shaping up - not because I'm holding off and waiting to be impressed but simply because I have little clue who'll be pulling on a Derby shirt so it all feels a bit up in the air right now. Will be good to see some new faces and getting an idea of where Warne is going and seeing what he has prioritised.

So yeah, looking forward to seeing the new additions and taking in a pre-season game or two. New season seems a long way away yet though!

75 mins in and all set up for a completely undeserved late late Leicester winner. Newcastle have now hit the post 3 times..

7 minutes ago, JfR said:

I'm not actually watching the match, but judging by the first half stats, Leicester seem like they're completely dead. 17% of the ball, 44% pass accuracy and no shots. Awful figures.

They're basically sitting back and absorbing pressure bar the odd hopeful break that so far has come to nothing. Newcastle have hit the post twice and should be ahead without every being outstanding.

11 minutes ago, angieram said:

Can you distinguish the difference? We renewed and moved seats this morning, our new seats are no longer available on the plan, but our old seats aren't either! 

So we appear to be two new season tickets at the moment, when we are renewals. And it looks like we are potoential renewals in our old seat, which we aren't.

Got a little trip up the stairs to try out the options for our new seats and admire the views. There was a game of football going on, no idea who it was but they weren't very young (or fit!) I'd have fitted right in. 😉

Ah OK, yeah, that's kind of what I was wondering. Suspected that there might be a bit of double counting.

I'd have liked to move ideally but there's 3 of us and based on last year it seems unlikely that there'd be too many/any spares in blocks of 3. I'm near the front in South Stand and if rain comes straight down we're fine but the slightest breeze and you can get soaked! Got away very lightly last year all things considered 😄