Foreveram

Quick update: I have just left the meeting which is still ongoing otherwise I would miss the last train.
A decision was made not to release minutes for this meeting in the end, but I am free to get a write up out to you all as soon as I can. 
I do not have a laptop with me and would prefer to wait until tomorrow once I’m home and can go through all the notes.
I will aim to have it ready to post on the forum tomorrow.
Please do not bombard me with questions across the forum by mentioning me, PM, DM or text if you have my number.
I don’t want to be putting bits and pieces out there all over the place.

I have had £10 on Derby to win on Saturday, hope that pays for Peterborough ticket 

Too right! ?
I am with @Gaspode on this one. I think it's much more important to have an open and frank meeting where the club representatives can speak freely, than to have a bland public exercise that acheives nothing. If the NDA allows this to happen then I see this as no different to what many private and public  businesses have in place already. You have to respect commercial confidentiality and this is a critical time for our club in that respect.
As for representation,  I feel reassured that the club has chosen to work with established groupings, not just now but over the several years since these supporter charter meetings have been established.
I have seen many engagement initiatives set up in my line of work,  where new systems have been established whilst alienating all the people who have been doing the work before. Starting from scratch inevitably means that the "wrong" type of people get themselves at the table, rather than those who are happy to work with and engage with their constituency all the time - whether formally or informally, like this Forum. They put in the hard yards for little or no reward, so I am more than comfortable that they will try their best to represent the range of views in a constructive manner.
Let wait and see what comes out of the meeting before we start beating up our club yet again.

Treat it as normal. It is really.

Mel might want to get some stuff off his chest about Steve Gibson, Wycombe, Barnsley’s (now Forest’s CEO) who have been the most prominent in sticking the boot into us alongside the EFL. As would fans similarly. An NDA protects this.
He might want to say stuff about P&S (FFP) which he doesn’t want releasing yet, he might even want to say (or inadvertently say) a couple of sensitive things about the takeover which he doesn’t want out in the public domain. 
 
There are a multitude of valid reasons why an NDA would be put in place, the fans groups (including David on our behalf) have all challenged it and been given assurances minutes will be released. Let’s give them a chance and save the criticism for when the minutes are released (if required).
@Davidthank you for representing us, best of luck and hope you get to ask all the questions you intend to.

I have had £10 on Derby to win on Saturday, hope that pays for Peterborough ticket 

I have had £10 on Derby to win on Saturday, hope that pays for Peterborough ticket 

I have had £10 on Derby to win on Saturday, hope that pays for Peterborough ticket 

I would also like to address the talk of being gagged tonight as I have been contacted several times over the last 24hrs by text/Twitter DM and Forum pm’s.
Can I ask you to think why I would survey the forum for questions if we were gagged?
So then David, good meeting?
Yeah great!
Can you tell us what was said regarding the takeover and if Mel will fund the club going forward until a buyer is found?
Nope, I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.
Can I ask you to think why the meeting was announced through the local media if we was gagged from reporting back?
If this was a meeting where we was all gagged, for what reason would they announce it through the media?
Also, myself and reps other groups attending, what would be the point in giving us information if we was not allowed to share it with you?
Yes, there maybe lines which are requested not to be repeated outside this room, I don’t know, let’s say for example we’re talking revenue and I’m asked how the pandemic has affected my ad revenue, what the impact has been online, it would be requested that this doesn’t leave the room as I shared my personal numbers.
Now some might say I want to know that information, I would say, well you start sharing your pay slips and bank statements online then I’ll talk and share mine publicly.
This might be a poor example given that tonight will be dominated by financial questions, however I assure you we will not be sat on vital key information.
I should be used to this, as I said earlier I always expected criticism from these meetings, Twitter is littered with fans looking to discredit a meeting that hasn’t even happened yet, they don’t know what questions will be asked and what answers will be shared.
Could understand if criticism came after the minutes were shared and fully expect that, but at least give us all attending a chance.
Given the amount of private messages I’ve received and having to respond to I just wanted to address being gagged so I can quickly link back to this post.
Honestly I’m worried all the ads I will see now across other sites will be S&M and leather masks! Please stop!
Apologies for another frustration filled lengthy post, but the good news is I’ll be up and on my way in a few hours so you’ll all be safe unless someone starts and I have signal on the train.
All your frustrations have been noted and I have no doubts will be conveyed to the club tonight. 

We usually park by the shops and then get chips on the way

Well I hope it’s Stretton because if it is it means he will be playing regularly and if he’s playing regularly it means he’s scoring goals and if he’s scoring goals then hopefully we’ll be winning games and if we’re winning games we’ll be promoted, hopefully ?.

Well I hope it’s Stretton because if it is it means he will be playing regularly and if he’s playing regularly it means he’s scoring goals and if he’s scoring goals then hopefully we’ll be winning games and if we’re winning games we’ll be promoted, hopefully ?.

Ok, submissions and voting is over, below is the order of questions to try and put forward to the club.
I say try, as I must stress again, there is no guarantees over how many I will personally be able to ask.
That’s not because we’re yes men, brown nosers who will be sat around laughing and joking which I’ve seen accusations of on other social media platforms.
I always knew the supporters charter meetings would draw criticism, but we have just a couple of hours with the club with several fan groups, all with a list of their own questions which they are looking to raise.
Some of which will quite possibly turn into lengthy discussions/answers given the current situation. 
I know we have a lot of fans that appreciate what we do, and I thank you. Tomorrow I will leave my house around 1pm and not be home until gone midnight, trains, taxis, £50 odd at my own cost, more than the price of a Huddersfield match ticket some of you are moaning about, to take questions that you all were given an opportunity to submit and vote on.
These are not questions I have come up with by myself, but that we have all contributed to.
I will do my best to represent you, and if my best isn’t good enough then I can only apologise. All I ask is be respectful.
Finally please be aware that there is an agreement in place that the meeting will not be discussed until the minutes have been released to us all to share within our groups and on the club website.
This is in my view the most important meeting since the formation of the Supporters Charter, with widespread frustration and anger at the lack of communication, it’s imperative we get the information out there to you all asap 
Questions
David: Mel, how are you and how is your health? (81 votes)
Rev: Can you give a cast iron guarantee you'll continue to fund the club with the minimum amount needed to ensure survival as a club, until any takeover how ever long that will be? (38 votes)
G Star: It would appear that insufficient due diligence was carried out on the prospective sales to BZI and Erik Alonso.
Who carried out due diligence and what measures have been put in place to ensure that we are not sold to such an unprofessional outfit? (38 votes)
Tombo: Supporters are aware that the club is very much up for sale, but what is the plan for the next few years should a takeover not come to fruition? (37 votes)
I-Ram: Upon completing the sale of the club, will it once again have a stadium that it owns? (28 votes)
Ambitious: I think we need to get answers to every point on this, including the details behind each one. Why are we the only club in the entire football league default in payments to the HMRC. Do regulation 16.2, 16.3 and P&S non-submission of audited accounts really relate to purely amortisation or is there more to it? (27 votes)

Ellafella: The name of Derby County has been radically sullied in the press of late, some of it very unfair. Does the Club have a communications strategy to set the record straight over some of the issues eg how we cheated relegation? How we fixed our accounts? How we sold the ground to ourselves? What we value as a Club eg fairness, community spirited, ambitious. (27 votes)
Anag Ram: What can we, the fans, do to help at this difficult time? (27 votes)
Carl Sagan: Derby County Football Club belongs to you, but also to the people of the city and the community of fans around the world. And many are very worried for the club's future. What are your plans for the club if the worst happens and you cannot find someone to buy it off you? (22 votes)
California Ram: Have you considered selling a small shareholding of the club to fans to bring in immediate capital while continuing to make the club attractive to majority ownership buyers. (19 votes)

December 2020 when the takeover fell through, and....?

What if we signed Seven player’s and they are shown riding across allestree park on horseback coming to rescue us, Now all we need is a title.

That would make a good promo video 

That would make a good promo video 

The Magnificent Seven 3. Wayne's World.

We’re four days away from the start of the season and still every trialist is still with the club as far as we’re aware. If there wasn’t a chance of signing, surely they’d have left a long time ago.
I don’t believe that these players wouldn’t get some kind of offer elsewhere, all were at clubs ‘better’ than us last season bar one, I believe (Allsop).
By better, I mean they came from clubs who finished in a stronger position than us. It would be different is these were players from League 1 or so, where they’re clinging on to the possibility of Championship football. Players like Jagielka, Davies, Aluko & Carroll could surely get moderate offers from teams in this division, so why here?
My complete guess is that the EFL intend to allow us to at least try to be competitive, but the punishment is making us wait in uncertainty for as long as feasibly possible. It’s like a mother confiscating her son’s toys. She fully intends to give them back, but not until after he’s been sent to his room to cry for a while.
It would also explain these “unexplainable” rules that means we can sign Davies because he was here last year, but not Wisdom, but then actually we can’t sign Davies because he didn’t re-sign in June, blah blah blah…
If the EFL stick to their guns and force us to enter the season with a threadbare squad, gaps filled with youth players, then the integrity of the competition goes, and it sets an awful precedent for whoever the next club is that stumbles into their firing line.

I think most of us do but, sadly, it only takes a handful of noisy folk to express their frustration to make it sound like a lot.
A few things are certain: Regardless of the result, regardless of the performance, I will not be booing the team, Mel or Rooney. I won’t join in any “witty” songs about Rooney and I won’t be leaving early. I rather suspect (and hope) the majority will react the same.
That doesn’t make me a better fan (I’ll do plenty of grumbling and moaning to myself) or mean I don’t blame Mel or that I rate Rooney but I’ll do my best to support the team and accept the fact that Rooney is doing the best he is capable of and Mel is doing his best to sell the club.

So, the time when the club most needs your support is the time when you are going to desert it?? Cheerio, then.

The summer of 2015 was pure madness.
But what was arguably worse was doubling down with Rowett and Lampard after. Those two managers used Mel’s finances and Derby’s standing for personal gain.
Rowett was happy to load us with ridiculous wages for the likes of Huddlestone, Davies, Lawrence, Wisdom and Ledley. Our wage bill had succeeded £40m at at point, up from the £16m or so we had in 2013/14. It was an all-or-nothing approach and he knew it, hence dumping us for Stoke.
Mel was then sweet-talked into allowing Lampard to further cause problems. Marriott, Waghorn, Malone, Jozefzoon + the three loans. Last-chance saloon time. And again, Lampard left a huge mess behind.
Mel has been a terrible owner. But I’d still hold him in higher regard than Rowett or Lampard. At least Mel’s heart was in the right place. The other two used us, abused us and left us on our knees with a mess they didn’t want to face.

Exactly ?

Well lads you have a week before champership season kicks off to stick to the league and send a message to them we are Derby county and we are not hear to be messied with send a message to the efl and Gibson that we mean business and we shall be successful again but also sending the message we shall not be walk overs. We are here to fight our way to glory. We are Derby.
Come on you rams.

On Saturday, whatever team we put out needs 100% support. If some fans feel the need to criticise the owner / board i hope it's after the final whistle. To do do during the match will be doing no favours for our young players.