Miggins

1 hour ago, kevinhectoring said:

And what a fool for saying it publicly instead of just to the players. There are those on the EFL board who want to see us relegated and if the anti-Derby contingent begin to think we have a chance of staying up they will push for a points deal that ensures relegation 

Have to disagree @kevinhectoring. He may have been unwise, although I don't think so,  but he is no fool. He has laid down a challenge to the players and shared that with the fans and if they manage to pull it off they should be applauded. I really hope that the EFL would not be so petty and if they are as vindictive as you think they are then there must be some form of recourse for us and shame on them.

Of course, you could be right, but at present I prefer to think that the EFL is not made up entirely of Derby haters. 

Wayne has set the team a challenge to make history by staying up. Evidently no team in our position has done this before but it is just about possible.

The hairs stood up on the back of neck when he said that he was willing to fight for this club and talked about how he felt for the players and all the Pride Park staff and how broken hearted he would be to see any of them lose their job. He has been helping out financially purchasing equipment that is needed in training but  I think he was very reluctant to dwell on the subject and embarrassed it had been mentioned.

I just can't get my head round the fact that MM hasn't spoken to him since 9th. August - not even a phone call. He was asked if he was upset not to receive an apology from MM but he said mm didn't need to apologise to him but said that he thought his behaviour was 'disrespectful, if I'm honest' and that he was 'a little bit disappointed'. Talk about restraint! 

It's a priority for him to get behind all the staff, to chat to everyone and to be available to answer everyone's questions. He will engender a spirit of faith, trust, pride, openness and honesty at the club. He believes in the importance of clear and regular communication and has asked the administrators to maintain a daily talk with him about what is happening  so that he can give answers to fans. 

What really came across was his care and concern for all the staff. He really is a star and he will not leave us in the lurch. A genuinely good guy, so much praise for others and so much dignity and self control. My hero.

Wayne thanked the fans for their incredible support and the pride that they given the team and all at the club. Players are so grateful and are playing for the fans. They may not win every match but they will not stop trying.

He also said that he will put up two league tables for the players, one showing where we are actually and the other to show where we would be without the 12 point deduction., so they keep their spirits up and can see how well they are doing. How lucky we are to have him.

There is a considerable degree of interest in buying the club, several of whom have shown interest before. A successful outcome to the purchase of the club and a secure financial future is one of the main objectives of the administrators. They sounded like very competent, decent guys who will do all they possibly can to ensure the future of the club for the fans and the players. There are no guarantees but they seemed quietly confident that any obstacles we face at the moment are not insurmountable. One of the guys has 30 years experience in this line of work.

56 minutes ago, Brammie Steve said:

I meet all three and am available at a 50% discount!. ?

Too late! But thanks anyway.?

He has gone now, @ilkleyram, but we are hoping he will come back soon to his penthouse!

I'm glad you have had such a happy day with your pooches and that you have managed to blow away the cobwebs of negativity and get  sense of perspective in all of this. It sounds as though it has been a heavenly autumn day up on the moors. I'm sure we'd all love to come and walk with you if we could.?

20 minutes ago, G_Kinkladze said:

Wait... is that a thing? Can that actually happen??

Well, it is very rare!

I don't know how much we paid our accountants at Derby, but I reckon 4 of us with GCE maths, a pocket calculator and an ounce of common sense could have done it twice as well.

6 minutes ago, Sparkle said:

How can any business be able to lose £13 million pounds a year and it can be fine and dandy 

£200 million put in by Mel plus money for the stadium. Where one earth did that money go? I don't understand the details of our finances, @Sparkle, but I don't understand how we ended up in so much catastrophic debt.

4 hours ago, alram said:

Has anyone else just felt physically sick this past week, it is really affecting my mental health.

Thank you for making us all look like complete idiots mel.

I think many fans, including myself, have felt the way you feel this week, @alram and we are all feeling let down at present. Take care of yourself and don't let the buggers get you down!! X

5 minutes ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

Well, seeing as we didn't publish our accounts....

Not publishing our accounts on time should have alerted someone who presumably oversees our accounts and should have been investigated. Or does no one oversee our accounts? I know jack all about the business world but surely when accounts are overdue there should surely be someone to investigate. I'm sure the rest of us would be subject to this rule. Are we not legally obliged to publish our accounts each year?

It's hard for me to understand how we could have amassed so much debt and how it wasn't picked up by regulators at the end of each financial year. How many other businesses could have carried on in this way for so long? I understand Mel's point on Saturday about COVID affecting each team disproportionately depending on parachute payments, size of club etc.  and I think Derby was one of those clubs that was disproportionately affected. However I think that the main reason that we were also hit especially hard was because we already had huge impending debts and entered the pandemic with those debts hanging over us and with no money in the contingency fund. How on earth was Mel allowed to get us into this position? Did we not have top accountants at the club who could have stepped in to safeguard the future of the club? I wish HMRC had been as diligent with DCFC as it is with the rest of us! Yours in exasperation...

6 hours ago, Gisby said:

Turkeys will never vote for Xmas I’m afraid. It’s been said before but until some external body steps in, takes control & regulates this  industry (it is not a sport any more) then those with a vested interest will continue to look after themselves and to hell with everyone else. Football is no longer the game I grew up loving, DCFC is in my blood so I can’t let go but in general what has become of the game disgusts me. 

I've tried so hard to get Mr Miggins to come and see a game but he won't and you have perfectly encapsulated the reasons why he has fallen out of love with game. Like @angieram he believes that football has been broken and at the top end it is no longer a sport but an industry. If you are one of the 8 top teams in the premiership then you are fine, any lower down and to hell with you. As long as the cash cows of the premier league are bringing in huge amounts of money the plight of teams desperately trying to improve their position and survive in lower leagues is of little or no interest or concern. It stinks and as you say, @Gisby it needs much stricter regulation to make sure that every team in the league is looked after and the truth is that it won't happen. A broken game indeed.

7 hours ago, hintonsboots said:

No mention of candlestick makers either.

If we can't afford the leccy bill, we might very well be playing by candlelight... ?

I knew that some people who Derby owe money to have to be paid in full whilst others don't, but until this morning I didn't realise that people who are directly associated with football, such as Football agents have to be paid in full, whereas those not directly associated such as bakers or butchers only need to be paid in part. That is scandalous. What a dreadful rule.?

29 minutes ago, Dean (hick) Saunders said:

Surveyor told me the cracks in my wall were NOT subsidence.

Hope you sleep more peacefully tonight knowing that your house is sound!

We took my mums dog, Jasmine, to the groomers last week. Jasmine is a golden cairn terrier and is 10 years old. She is supremely fit, slim and in good health. So I was horrified when the groomer pointed out a large lump just below her collar. We got her to the vets yesterday for an examination and whilst the vet can't be 100% sure what it is, all the signs point towards fatty tissue. I know we are not certain of this but it has made me feel so much better as my anxiety levels had gone through the roof. Jasmine is the companion for my mum who is 90. She snuggles up to mum at night and curls up on her lap and really keeps my mum going... and you can guess the rest. Feeling 75% less anxious tonight! It has been a good day!

3 hours ago, vonwright said:

The more I read the angrier I get. It's one thing gambling with your own money, but this was gambling with the very existence of the club - in other words gambling with something which has been very important to generations of people with a fraction of the money that Mel has. It's not even like he's gone bankrupt in the process, just walked away with his overpriced stadium and list of people who are 'really' to blame. 

Mel took on a club that was in a good position at the start of his tenure. He had a duty to our historic club and its large fan base to either maintain the status quo or take it forwards. I spent 31 years in primary education and I can only liken it to a school which was a good school with good results when the new head took over and then ended up in special measures so extreme that the school may have to close down. I know that schools are not football clubs but such mismanagement in education would have set alarm bells ringing very quickly.

55 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

Intuition is an interesting subject. But in this case I'd prefer facts - is the stadium and training ground to be part of any deal or will you be leasing them to the new owners? Why didn't you settle a points deduction with EFL, accept their offer? Or why didn't you submit the late accounts and P&S?

These questions were not addressed in the interview, Roy, so I really can't say. But I still stand by my intuition! Call it a gut reaction about how I felt about the interview. Can't explain it really.

.

3 hours ago, i-Ram said:

I disagree. He did ask some decent questions, but often combined questions with some added needless lot of waffle. 

You could tell he was not a journalist. Day one at Journalism School: Ask one question then shut up. If the respondee is not answering the question, stop them and ask the question again then shut up.

I agree, @i-Ram, but perhaps he was just adding some background information for those not entirely in the know and for those of us who are deliberately obtuse!?

3 hours ago, Tyler Durden said:

I think the majority of people are turning to that opinion now.

Skim reading this thread sadly there's still people on here who will think the sun shines out of Morris' posterior whatever happens and can do no wrong.

Nowt as queer as folk as they say. 

Some posters think that Mel can do no wrong. Some think that he is a victim and some think he is a villain. Some prefer to think that the truth lies somewhere in between. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

23 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

I didn't listen because we've heard nearly all of it before in one form or another. As has been said the questions I might want answers to he won't give or doesn't have. 

What did he say that reassured you about the future of our club?

Sorry Roy, but I can't say anymore than female intuition and don't you dare under estimate it!! It's a powerful tool. Seriously.

3 hours ago, IlsonDerby said:

May have interpreted it differently to some but to me it sounded like he was keeping the stadium to ensure it was safe from the admin process? 

Interesting, @IlsonDerby. The whole thing is so complicated and there is so much we don't know.

3 hours ago, Zag zig said:

I’m very similar, but his communication like his judgement on backing managers in the transfer market has been poor.

Forget the last hour and look at how we arrived at where we are at, most of the time with the fans in the dark.

Ed’s question about seeking the limelight was skirted around, on the basis certain managers bought more profile; not doubting that Lampard and Rooney have commercial advantages but he never came across as genuine in his answer to that, Mel enjoyed the limelight when things were positive in my opinion but has hidden with our backs against the wall.

He may end up losing a lot of money, but running football clubs is for the most part vanity projects, very few make money out of it. It’s the ordinary workforce my sadness is for, Mel’s acknowledgement of their plight was painfully extracted in that interview. 

Bar what he did for the academy, I think his legacy is horrendous, to put us in a perilously dire state should a buyer not be found soon.

Ed asked him about the appointment of high profile managers and he said it was great to work with them. He said that although it was a big financial bargain it helped to raise the profile of the club. It lifted the club and gave it more visibility. They got a good payment for the sale of Gary Rowett to Stoke and a good payment for Frank Lampard when he left for Chelsea and the sponsorship deal help to cover Wayne Rooney. Mel thought it was important to raise the profile of the club. He said that these appointments were only ever to raise the profile of the club.