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Is Mel starting to vanish into the shadows? And do we all like him now?


Duracell

Has your opinion of our owner changed over the past couple of months?  

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I'm not sure how much of it manifested itself on stuff I've posted on the forum, but I've not been Mel Morris' biggest fan. Under his ownership, we went from playing the best football I've ever seen my club play to relegation fodder, spending a lot of money in the process.

This change for the worst on the field, together with Mel's high profile off the field and a couple of apocryphal stories in national newspapers, created a narrative of yet another hot-headed Football League chairman who micro-managed his club and didn't let the football people do the football. Leeds have Cellino. Forest have Fawaz. We had Mel Morris.

Fast forward 12 games and a managerial appointment later, and this narrative has stopped. The criticism has largely vanished and I'm wondering myself what exactly it was that he did that made me think everything was better in those rosey days of GSE (I mean no one ever complained about them, did they?).

Is our owner changing tack? The interviews have stopped and when we hear from the club, it's all McClaren and the players. The Leeds friendly story is as much as we've heard from him in the past couple of months, and even then, it's only because a national newspaper saw the letter Mel sent to the Football League.

Or is it that he's actually not changed at all, and that our perception of him has changed just because we're winning?

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I don't think that Mel was fully aware that raising his profile as he did for a while left him wide open to become the focal point of criticism when the road became rocky.......If would have gone the other way perhaps if it had been whilst we were winning.

Much better to have your manager doing the talking if possible or Sam rush on strategic club matters.

I think he has learnt to sit back out of the public gaze now.

It did surprise me that so many fans quickly forgot the fortunate long term financial security that Mel has given the club and bizarrely seemed to look on our past financial failures with rose tinted spectacles on as if they were somehow preferable......Very odd

 

 

 

 

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I'm sometimes critical of Mel Morris as much as I'm sometimes critical of every aspect of the club. If I say that a player made a mistake on the pitch and missed an open goal or was at fault for a goal, it doesn't mean I don't like them. Doesn't mean I want them gone. Just means I think they made a bad decision.

Mel at times has made some good ones, he's made some bad ones. I criticise the bad ones. He's the chairman of the club at which I'm a season ticket holder. Being a supporter doesn't mean being hyper-critical or being constantly supportive, it means you have a strong interest in the wellbeing of the club, especially when your own money is in it in the form of a season ticket. Therefore if MM does something I perceive to be good, I'll back it. If it's something I perceive to be bad, I won't back it.

Yeah, right now results have picked up and so I'm a bit happier with him. Not really hypocritical or fickle, it just means that he's in my good books for swallowing his pride and bringing back the man he sacked when he took over. He rectified a bad decision by making a good one.

You can't just change chairman like you change managers or like buying a new striker when the one you've got isn't scoring. So Mel is our chairman unless he starts to really take our club very very far backwards. I've never been critical of Mel Morris, I've only ever criticised some of his mistakes.

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42 minutes ago, Duracell said:

I'm not sure how much of it manifested itself on stuff I've posted on the forum, but I've not been Mel Morris' biggest fan. Under his ownership, we went from playing the best football I've ever seen my club play to relegation fodder, spending a lot of money in the process.

This change for the worst on the field, together with Mel's high profile off the field and a couple of apocryphal stories in national newspapers, created a narrative of yet another hot-headed Football League chairman who micro-managed his club and didn't let the football people do the football. Leeds have Cellino. Forest have Fawaz. We had Mel Morris.

Fast forward 12 games and a managerial appointment later, and this narrative has stopped. The criticism has largely vanished and I'm wondering myself what exactly it was that he did that made me think everything was better in those rosey days of GSE (I mean no one ever complained about them, did they?).

Is our owner changing tack? The interviews have stopped and when we hear from the club, it's all McClaren and the players. The Leeds friendly story is as much as we've heard from him in the past couple of months, and even then, it's only because a national newspaper saw the letter Mel sent to the Football League.

Or is it that he's actually not changed at all, and that our perception of him has changed just because we're winning?

I think when we lose one, you will be back to the rabid self we all know and love.

;)

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1 minute ago, G STAR RAM said:

No change of perception from me.

Probably still doing what he has always been doing.

Think he stepped in to try and help Rush during the Clement saga and unfortunately out fans already had their knives sharpened ready to use on someone. 

For me, I think the dressing room incident did a lot of damage. It was a sign he was too involved in football matters. I didn't like the money we were thoughtlessly spending and my chief concern was the £6m on the player I could never see doing anything good for Derby.

Not for the first time, I was well wide of the mark :lol:

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I agree with @richinspain. I think he's always had good intentions and has never deserved to be mentioned in the same breath as Cellino or Fawaz. I haven't always agreed with what he's done, but appreciate that it's always been in what he felt were the club's best interests. At times I think he's tried too hard to be liked by Derby fans. He's tried to hard to try and show Derby fans he was "one of us" with things such as good will gestures and trying to act as a sort of public spokesperson for other Derby fans. I also think he's let pride take over his actions to some extent. This is his club. The club he's grown up supporting his whole life. This is our club, the club we've nearly all grown up supporting our whole lives and would all love to be in his position. Things such as appearing in nearly all the early player signing photos were, in my opinion, just a way of trying to show pride.

He's been a successful businessman for a large proportion of his life but owning a football club, although owning a business, is obviously extremely different and will be something brand new to Morris. It's a learning curve and I'm sure if Morris could take his knowledge of football ownership back to the day he took over, there would be many things he would change. The overall stature of the club, the infrastructure, the foundations etc. have all improved since his arrival I believe. We haven't made the PL under him yet, but ultimately that will be his goal and will be what a lot of Derby fans judge his ownership on, whether he was successful in his ownership which resulted in our promotion. I think it will come, and Morris won't stop until it does. Like I said, he only has good intentions and will only want the best for this club, and that's alright with me.

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Just now, Kernow said:

I agree with @richinspain. I think he's always had good intentions and has never deserved to be mentioned in the same breath as Cellino or Fawaz.

Just to be clear - I've never done that, and always seen him as a fan, just with a lot more money than I have.

Can't remember where, but I remember posting that his problem might be that he's a fan. I wouldn't trust myself to run Derby County...

Still, we're unbeaten in however many games so he's now literally done nothing wrong ever in my eyes.

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4 minutes ago, Duracell said:

Just to be clear - I've never done that, and always seen him as a fan, just with a lot more money than I have.

Can't remember where, but I remember posting that his problem might be that he's a fan. I wouldn't trust myself to run Derby County...

Still, we're unbeaten in however many games so he's now literally done nothing wrong ever in my eyes.

No I wasn't referring to you with the Fawaz and Cellino comment, but the mention of them reminded me that he has been compared to those two in the past. I can understand criticism of him. When looking at football owners, you'd think a combination of a genuine love for the club you own with successful business credentials is a perfect mix. I agree that his love for the club and desire for it to succeed may have influenced his actions negatively. Looking at things from a purely business-oriented view would perhaps result in more logical actions, such as not charging into the changing room etc.

I'm not in the camp who think he's destroying the club, although I think that group is getting smaller and smaller, nor do I think he's the best thing since sliced bread and a holy being who will guide us to greatness. I do however respect him for choosing to use his wealth and success to try and better one of his passions in life. Like I mentioned, I think he's made a few mistakes but he'll recognise that himself and will have grown into the role of owning a football club. 

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In my eyes he's backed managers with his cash that have brought in the wrong players with no thought of wear To play them. Nor were any really better than what we had. I hope the manager makes life a little easier for MM in the near future by asking to buy quality over quantity that will fit in to a desired position for a reason.

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11 minutes ago, Duracell said:

For me, I think the dressing room incident did a lot of damage. It was a sign he was too involved in football matters. I didn't like the money we were thoughtlessly spending and my chief concern was the £6m on the player I could never see doing anything good for Derby.

Not for the first time, I was well wide of the mark :lol:

What did the damage was somebody opening their big gob about Mel having his say. It should not have become public knowledge. Maybe it was obvious to Mel Clement had lost the dressing room and the players were taking no notice of what he said. I don't think that's right but what if it was the case ? Who's going to put them in their place if the manager can't ? I'd advocate the owner personally.

But that's just me, anyway, Happy New Year Duracell  :thumbsup:

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His heart has always been in the right place. 

Don't agree with some things he's done

Love him for other things he's done 

But most importantly I believe he listens to fans views (but doesn't arse kiss)

I'm happy. I didn't think he'd pick up the phone for McClaren. Bet that was an interesting conversation. But he did because instead of looking for someone like McClaren he just swallowed his pride. 

And I  <3 McClaren. 

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1 minute ago, Alpha said:

His heart has always been in the right place. 

Don't agree with some things he's done

Love him for other things he's done 

But most importantly I believe he listens to fans views (but doesn't arse kiss)

I'm happy. I didn't think he'd pick up the phone for McClaren. Bet that was an interesting conversation. But he did because instead of looking for someone like McClaren he just swallowed his pride. 

And I  <3 McClaren. 

Tbf it was Sam Rush who did all the work to get McClaren back such as the telephone stuff etc. Mel just gave it the green light which also takes some credit because it's not always easy to take a former employee back(at the time I believed it was the right decision to get rid of Mac because he was desperate to go to Newcastle)

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5 minutes ago, McLovin said:

Tbf it was Sam Rush who did all the work to get McClaren back such as the telephone stuff etc. Mel just gave it the green light which also takes some credit because it's not always easy to take a former employee back(at the time I believed it was the right decision to get rid of Mac because he was desperate to go to Newcastle)

At some point he'd have had to come face to face and clear the air. At some point he must have accepted that even though he did what he thought was right at the time and McClaren wasn't perfect that he needs/wants Mac to come and sort out this team

You'd think whatever was said that both would be thinking "Mel is backtracking". I imagine anyway.

And I like that even more. It'd be easier to just bury the whole thing and hire the nearest Mac type

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