Ambitious

Financial fair play cheats, Derby County, come up against a plucky WBA team with four times the wage bill and double the squad strength. 
WBA 6-0 Derby County.

Financial fair play cheats, Derby County, come up against a plucky WBA team with four times the wage bill and double the squad strength. 
WBA 6-0 Derby County.

A lot better in the middle. Not sure what we gain playing him out on the wing. 

I'm no Wayne Rooney fan, but no point calling for his head. He's got the safest job in football. 

Tom Ince - and it's not close.
Matej Vydra turned out ok in the end, but his first season was very poor. Bradley Johnson was a poor signing, in my opinion, and we've made a long ol list of them! 
 

No surprises, really. I predicted three or four before the game, so I should be fairly content with just the two. It's just where we are as a team.
Birmingham set up perfectly, despite having 60% of the possession in the first half, they were camped in our half. They played a high line, safe in the knowledge that we had no reply. We duly played into their hands with the first, but we had more than a few moments where it could've been much worse.
We knew that we would have games like this as the season goes on and I'm sure there will be plenty more losses on the way, with the next heavy defeat coming Tuesday, so the emphasis for me is to enjoy the moments when we aren't as crap & celebrating Mel paying bills. 

A lot better in the middle. Not sure what we gain playing him out on the wing. 

Hiring Phillip Cocu who has an excellent record of bringing through and developing youth was exactly what we needed given our situation.
The biggest error was immediately undermining him by bringing in Wayne Rooney as a platform for him to go into management.
Mel did it to raise the profile of the club so he could sell it. It has backfired spectacularly.
 

It would be even better to see a bit of quality

No surprises, really. I predicted three or four before the game, so I should be fairly content with just the two. It's just where we are as a team.
Birmingham set up perfectly, despite having 60% of the possession in the first half, they were camped in our half. They played a high line, safe in the knowledge that we had no reply. We duly played into their hands with the first, but we had more than a few moments where it could've been much worse.
We knew that we would have games like this as the season goes on and I'm sure there will be plenty more losses on the way, with the next heavy defeat coming Tuesday, so the emphasis for me is to enjoy the moments when we aren't as crap & celebrating Mel paying bills. 

On Mel Morris: 
When he sold Candy Crush in 2015, he became immensely cash rich as per the above. Whilst I do believe he has lost an uncomfortable amount of personal fortune in owning Derby County, in which time he has looked to spend above the means of the competition rules of his own volition. It would still make him an immensely rich person, who has absolutely no excuse for running the club as badly as he currently is. 
What I would say to him, given half the chance, is clean up your own mess. The cutting of corners is doing nothing but to agitate fans and to downtools as significantly as he has, i.e. not pay the HMRC or other clubs, not to mention the fiasco with the ticket office, is absolutely inexcusable.  
If he can get the club stable again, which isn't going to cost the world, and away from the 'crisis club' narrative then it will become a lot more attractive to potential buyers - real potential buyers and not blokes who know how to steal videos from TikTok or look fancy in a big white robe. 

On Mel Morris: 
When he sold Candy Crush in 2015, he became immensely cash rich as per the above. Whilst I do believe he has lost an uncomfortable amount of personal fortune in owning Derby County, in which time he has looked to spend above the means of the competition rules of his own volition. It would still make him an immensely rich person, who has absolutely no excuse for running the club as badly as he currently is. 
What I would say to him, given half the chance, is clean up your own mess. The cutting of corners is doing nothing but to agitate fans and to downtools as significantly as he has, i.e. not pay the HMRC or other clubs, not to mention the fiasco with the ticket office, is absolutely inexcusable.  
If he can get the club stable again, which isn't going to cost the world, and away from the 'crisis club' narrative then it will become a lot more attractive to potential buyers - real potential buyers and not blokes who know how to steal videos from TikTok or look fancy in a big white robe. 

On Mel Morris: 
When he sold Candy Crush in 2015, he became immensely cash rich as per the above. Whilst I do believe he has lost an uncomfortable amount of personal fortune in owning Derby County, in which time he has looked to spend above the means of the competition rules of his own volition. It would still make him an immensely rich person, who has absolutely no excuse for running the club as badly as he currently is. 
What I would say to him, given half the chance, is clean up your own mess. The cutting of corners is doing nothing but to agitate fans and to downtools as significantly as he has, i.e. not pay the HMRC or other clubs, not to mention the fiasco with the ticket office, is absolutely inexcusable.  
If he can get the club stable again, which isn't going to cost the world, and away from the 'crisis club' narrative then it will become a lot more attractive to potential buyers - real potential buyers and not blokes who know how to steal videos from TikTok or look fancy in a big white robe. 

I just think he's past caring and allowing things to slip he otherwise wouldn't. I don't think Stephen Pearce is anything more than a lap dog at this point as it's really him who should be banging the table demanding things get sorted. 
Although, perhaps he's in the same boat in that he can't really bring himself to moan anymore, especially as this debacle has probably put an irremovable stain on his CV that makes sure he never works any where close to the same capacity ever again. 

On Mel Morris: 
When he sold Candy Crush in 2015, he became immensely cash rich as per the above. Whilst I do believe he has lost an uncomfortable amount of personal fortune in owning Derby County, in which time he has looked to spend above the means of the competition rules of his own volition. It would still make him an immensely rich person, who has absolutely no excuse for running the club as badly as he currently is. 
What I would say to him, given half the chance, is clean up your own mess. The cutting of corners is doing nothing but to agitate fans and to downtools as significantly as he has, i.e. not pay the HMRC or other clubs, not to mention the fiasco with the ticket office, is absolutely inexcusable.  
If he can get the club stable again, which isn't going to cost the world, and away from the 'crisis club' narrative then it will become a lot more attractive to potential buyers - real potential buyers and not blokes who know how to steal videos from TikTok or look fancy in a big white robe. 

On Mel Morris: 
When he sold Candy Crush in 2015, he became immensely cash rich as per the above. Whilst I do believe he has lost an uncomfortable amount of personal fortune in owning Derby County, in which time he has looked to spend above the means of the competition rules of his own volition. It would still make him an immensely rich person, who has absolutely no excuse for running the club as badly as he currently is. 
What I would say to him, given half the chance, is clean up your own mess. The cutting of corners is doing nothing but to agitate fans and to downtools as significantly as he has, i.e. not pay the HMRC or other clubs, not to mention the fiasco with the ticket office, is absolutely inexcusable.  
If he can get the club stable again, which isn't going to cost the world, and away from the 'crisis club' narrative then it will become a lot more attractive to potential buyers - real potential buyers and not blokes who know how to steal videos from TikTok or look fancy in a big white robe. 

On Mel Morris: 
When he sold Candy Crush in 2015, he became immensely cash rich as per the above. Whilst I do believe he has lost an uncomfortable amount of personal fortune in owning Derby County, in which time he has looked to spend above the means of the competition rules of his own volition. It would still make him an immensely rich person, who has absolutely no excuse for running the club as badly as he currently is. 
What I would say to him, given half the chance, is clean up your own mess. The cutting of corners is doing nothing but to agitate fans and to downtools as significantly as he has, i.e. not pay the HMRC or other clubs, not to mention the fiasco with the ticket office, is absolutely inexcusable.  
If he can get the club stable again, which isn't going to cost the world, and away from the 'crisis club' narrative then it will become a lot more attractive to potential buyers - real potential buyers and not blokes who know how to steal videos from TikTok or look fancy in a big white robe. 

In 48hrs 

Mel might not be, but fortunately for us he is happy to seek help from a proven and discerning football broker. 

Confirmation that we haven't submitted our audited accounts - despite having an extended deadline. 
As much as it pains me to say it, we should be hit with the harshest punishment possible. Mel Morris and Stephen Pearce have got such an easy ride from the fans considering what they have done over the past 12 months, including trying to shift the club on to very obvious charlatans. 
We have a group of honest pros & kids shouldering issues today that were due to a Derby County team and Mel Morris of yesteryear. It's absolutely shameful to see. I absolutely cannot stand Derby County in its current form. It's a disgusting stain on English football. 

Confirmation that we haven't submitted our audited accounts - despite having an extended deadline. 
As much as it pains me to say it, we should be hit with the harshest punishment possible. Mel Morris and Stephen Pearce have got such an easy ride from the fans considering what they have done over the past 12 months, including trying to shift the club on to very obvious charlatans. 
We have a group of honest pros & kids shouldering issues today that were due to a Derby County team and Mel Morris of yesteryear. It's absolutely shameful to see. I absolutely cannot stand Derby County in its current form. It's a disgusting stain on English football. 

It's not even a protest for him to walk away. It's more of a protest to get their act together. 
I don't want Morris gone for the sake of it. I want him to act like any other owner in the Championship with a club not under embargo. I want to become a football fan again, not constantly having to worry about off-the-field issues. I want a club that has an open ticket office. 

Confirmation that we haven't submitted our audited accounts - despite having an extended deadline. 
As much as it pains me to say it, we should be hit with the harshest punishment possible. Mel Morris and Stephen Pearce have got such an easy ride from the fans considering what they have done over the past 12 months, including trying to shift the club on to very obvious charlatans. 
We have a group of honest pros & kids shouldering issues today that were due to a Derby County team and Mel Morris of yesteryear. It's absolutely shameful to see. I absolutely cannot stand Derby County in its current form. It's a disgusting stain on English football. 

It's not even a protest for him to walk away. It's more of a protest to get their act together. 
I don't want Morris gone for the sake of it. I want him to act like any other owner in the Championship with a club not under embargo. I want to become a football fan again, not constantly having to worry about off-the-field issues. I want a club that has an open ticket office. 

It's not even a protest for him to walk away. It's more of a protest to get their act together. 
I don't want Morris gone for the sake of it. I want him to act like any other owner in the Championship with a club not under embargo. I want to become a football fan again, not constantly having to worry about off-the-field issues. I want a club that has an open ticket office.