Next Season

[Rev]

46 minutes ago, Tamworthram said:

Why should he? It's up to him how much money he has and how long he can afford to/chooses to bankroll us. We have no right to expect him to come out with such information. 

Also, it wouldn't exactly help with any negotiations with potential investors if he said he can only continue to fund us for X years.

He's made mistakes but, it would be quite sad if he did have to move aside. 

Finally, we never want "dodgy" investors - foreign or British. Not all foreign investors are bad (Leicester City) and not all local investors are good (Blackpool). 

I can't believe you took the post literally.

I quite fancy having some dasterdly foreigners in charge, it will give us something to focus on while we kick our heels in the Championship for another decade.

[Day]

13 hours ago, cosmic said:

Wasn’t there some rumour about potential investors a few months back, and all the talk on here had to be deleted (or was instructed to?) in case it ruined negotiations, or something?

Posts may have been removed that were trying to claim something as a fact which wasn't, but none have been instructed to be removed. 

This China investors thing has been peddled ever since the club hosted Chinese business leaders, you would think now it's been over a year without Chinese investment it would go away, but no this is the internet.

https://www.dcfc.co.uk/news/2017/10/derby-hosts-its-first-chinese-business-delegation

As with the German centre back, the minute we sign one this will be the one that Adam Rusty heard about, becomes a meme.

When someone does invest in Derby that has been spotted in a Chinese take away once, will confirm that they broke these rumours first.

To be honest I think it's mostly down to fans thinking Mel is skint because we haven't spent 30 odd million in a transfer window, watching other clubs bring in big money signings has left a few wet beds. 

[LeedsCityRam]

I can't think of a worse scenario for Derby than Mel selling & a foreign investor coming in.

There seems to be a perception on here that the only way out of this division is to spend heavily when the evidence points to the opposite. Forest, Birmingham, Villa & Sheffield Wednesday have all been in trouble recently for trying to spend their way back up (i.e. the Wolves model) & the sum total of all that expenditure on wages & transfer fees is 2 playoff finals - both lost. And if that wasn't evidence enough, our own failure to put in any kind of serious challenge to the top 2 in 5 years of heavy investment surely should prove we need to be looking at how Sheffield Utd/Leeds Utd/Brentford/Norwich have managed to be competitive despite much lower spends

My understanding is that the clearance of high earners from the squad in the summer frees up considerable margin on the P&L side from a FFP perspective - as our wage bill will be much lower. But in a world where Duane Holmes can cost £350k & Bradley Johnson £6m (let alone the wage disparity), its clear that there is value out there & we can mould the squad in the summer for a strong challenge next year.

The other criteria for success is sticking with a manager for more than 12 months - a lesson that seems to have been taken on recently. I'm sure a 'new investor' would see a return to the bad old days of 6/9 month appointments particularly if FFP rules mean its either promotion or bust

 

[europia]

On 17/02/2019 at 13:02, Mckram said:

I feel like we will be starting from scratch no matter what league we are in next year with loans going back and contracts expiring.

Does anyone think Mel would look to sell Derby?

You have to wonder how long he wants to be so invested in the club, maybe as he’s a supporter he is happy to continue with it but as a business man he must want some return.

I think if he was to sell then this year is probably the best to do that. An internationally known manager that has done reasonably well with a small budget and a pretty light squad that is ready for investment without too much deadwood.

I just think for Mel it’s either sell now or chuck a load more cash at it?

Yes Mel is a business man and if a decent offer came in I expect he would cash in. The prospect of that decent offer would most likely be dependent on DCFC being in the PL. 

[Rev]

I don't understand why people think of Mel as a businessman first and foremost and would look to cash in?

Any businessman worth his salt would never invest the amount he has in a championship club and expect to profit from it, surely?

He's Derby mad, made more than a few quid and has seen fit to chuck a sizeable chunk of cash into what can only be a hobby/passion/obsession.

I doubt that he even thinks about washing his face on his investment, never mind profiting from it, he's made infrastructure investments into the academy that would require a long time frame to even begin to repay him, so I think to call the money he's put in as a calculated gamble to earn even more cash is misguided in the least.

I'm not saying he's the perfect owner, but he's not far off, if it wasn't for FFP I bet he'd have burnt through a lot more cash than he has.

I guess it just annoys me when people speculate he's turned/turning the funding taps off when it's pretty obvious he's spending up to the maximum allowed under the rules as they are.

How long he can do that for, who knows, but as far as I can tell he's done it upto now.

[RamNut]

I think he does wash his face.

 

 

[MackworthRamIsGod]

I hope we do get Chinese Investment, who changes our name to Derby Dragons, the kit colour to a nice fiery red, change the name of our stadium to Mi Ming Pong Stadium and introduces a bit of Dragon dancing as half time entertainment.

Apart from investment in the academy, top 10 finishes every season, improvements to the stadium, a much improved playing staff and high profile managers, what has Mel ever done for this club?

[Wolfie]

On 17/02/2019 at 14:10, Doodle said:

We are an heavily indebted championship club with some playing staff on ridiculous contracts. This would be the worst time for Mel to sell, he has zero chance of recouping his massive outlay at the moment. I dearly hope he sticks with us, I firmly believe he has learned from his early mistakes and will get us to the premier league within the next 5 years. Then would be the best time for him to sell, although I hope he doesn’t and enjoys the success his investment deserves 

We're really not, though.

Mel covers the annual losses but he can't demand the club pay him back. Who else do we owe money to?.

[Doodle]

1 minute ago, Wolfie said:

We're really not, though.

Mel covers the annual losses but he can't demand the club pay him back. Who else do we owe money to?.

Just Mel, we are heavily indebted to him. His chance of recouping this are very small as I’m sure he knows. A good spell in the Premier league should sort it tho. 

[cheron85]

9 hours ago, reveldevil said:

I don't understand why people think of Mel as a businessman first and foremost and would look to cash in?

Any businessman worth his salt would never invest the amount he has in a championship club and expect to profit from it, surely?

He's Derby mad, made more than a few quid and has seen fit to chuck a sizeable chunk of cash into what can only be a hobby/passion/obsession.

Agreed - He's definitely a fan first and businessman second when it comes to Derby - 1) If he wanted to make a profit he would have taken over a club he didn't care about and then rinsed them a la Newcastle and 2) If he had a more business head on it he wouldn't have let other people run the club (maybe badly) for a few years

22 minutes ago, Doodle said:

Just Mel, we are heavily indebted to him. His chance of recouping this are very small as I’m sure he knows. A good spell in the Premier league should sort it tho. 

Yeh, he can basically say "ahhh shucks, really? You owe me money? Whatever will I do? Oh how about you pay me back in 2070..."

It's not really debt when it essentially never needs paying off

[Rev]

1 hour ago, RamNut said:

I think he does wash his face.

 

 

How does he know when to stop?

[Edtheram]

I think Mel will take a step back in terms on running everything from the top, If we can get some investors in im sure Mel would put the club first and make a decision which was best for the club (making sure the investor was suited to our structure and ambitions). I fully expect Mel to be part of the club for a long time yet. Investors dont mean spending silly, if we are clever with our money this time we should reap the rewards especially with a more experienced Mel and a quality manager in Frank at the club.

[cheron85]

Hate to talk about players in a Mel discussion topic but how's about this for a squad:

Carson, Roos

Bogle, Wisdom, Davies, Keogh (Ambrose?), Forsyth, Lowe, Malone

Huddlestone, Evans, (Thorne?)

(King?), Holmes, Elsnik, Bird/Sibley

Lawrence, FloJo, Bennett, Mcallister, Thomas

Marriott, Waghorn, (Martin?)

 

It's not a bad squad for zero investment right?

[ariotofmyown]

2 hours ago, MackworthRamIsGod said:

I hope we do get Chinese Investment, who changes our name to Derby Dragons, the kit colour to a nice fiery red, change the name of our stadium to Mi Ming Pong Stadium and introduces a bit of Dragon dancing as half time entertainment.

Apart from investment in the academy, top 10 finishes every season, improvements to the stadium, a much improved playing staff and high profile managers, what has Mel ever done for this club?

Post of the week. Come on you dragons!