2 years today since ......

[ramsbottom]

2 minutes ago, TramRam said:

He signed a contract, Most likely advised by an agent, 4 years at an alleged £3k a week, "didn't want to be loaned out", "Lives at times in a Premier inn" "hasn't played for the 1st team for 2 years" so what, The detail is in the contract, Blame the loons who watched/didn't watch him, Blame the idiot that sat down and negotiated with him and maybe a representative...No I'll not blame him...point the finger else where.

Did you mean to miss off the 0 in that??

[Sheikh n Bake]

14 hours ago, Seaside Ram said:

Anya last played in the First team . I really can't help having anything but disgust towards him . People will say 'i don't blame him etc ' but I do . 

How must Mel feel , particularly at the moment handing him a rumoured £3,000 A DAY , 7 days a week for doing Squat . ?. Even Ed Dawes had a pop at him . I hope one day us Rams get the chance to let him know about it  ????

Please provide some examples of where you have shown the moral courage to significantly reduce your personal salary to benefit your employer.

Otherwise - Get off your high horse and bore off.  

[ThePrisoner]

Always so much vitriol for someone like Anya who when called upon has always been ready to play and has played. Does anyone truly know the ins and outs of what he's been offered? If he had clubs to go out on loan to? If he rejected them? He's not a bad player by any means but he's a victim of the Derby County 2015-2020 machine and how things have been ran.

Also are we really listening to Ed Dawes now? The man is a vain train shagging muppet!

[TramRam]

2 minutes ago, ramsbottom said:

Did you mean to miss off the 0 in that??

Nope, Miss spoke like Diane Abbott, Reminder to self, Don't speed read original post ?

[LazloW]

I imagine most footballers consider this to be nothing more than a job.  How many of us in our normal jobs would turn down the chance to earn Director level wages for shop floor responsibilities - particularly when you have no control over whether you are allowed into the boardroom (i.e the first team).  From a fan's perspective, I agree that it looks terrible and has definitely been a bad move for the club. However, I'm not sure I blame Anya and I don't see it as an opportunity to have a pop at Mel (but certain people never tire of an opportunity to do that).  Anya is doing what's best for him; Mel was doing what he thought was best for the club in backing his manager and trusting his staff not to hand out silly contracts.  Mistakes are made.  Learn from them and move on.

p.s. I know that is a tortured analogy with lots of holes and caveats in it!!! My point is, I reckon I might have done the same at the stage he is at in his career.

[Ramchope]

He was actually quite a decent player, was fantastic for Watford on their promotion run... he’s versatile as well as he can play full back or on the wing. I can’t even remember him playing for Derby now to say if he was decent for us or not, but something must have gone on for him not to be even used as a back up squad player.
 

I was watching the Sunderland til I die doc the other day and the Jack Rodwell story reminded me of Anya. I actually felt sorry for Rodwell who was made into this hate figure because of the ineptitude of who ever negotiated his contract, every single fan calling him out would do the exact same in his situation and I feel the same for Anya. 

[Dimmu]

2 hours ago, LazloW said:

I imagine most footballers consider this to be nothing more than a job.  How many of us in our normal jobs would turn down the chance to earn Director level wages for shop floor responsibilities - particularly when you have no control over whether you are allowed into the boardroom (i.e the first team).  From a fan's perspective, I agree that it looks terrible and has definitely been a bad move for the club. However, I'm not sure I blame Anya and I don't see it as an opportunity to have a pop at Mel (but certain people never tire of an opportunity to do that).  Anya is doing what's best for him; Mel was doing what he thought was best for the club in backing his manager and trusting his staff not to hand out silly contracts. Mistakes are made.  Learn from them and move on.

p.s. I know that is a tortured analogy with lots of holes

and caveats in it!!! My point is, I reckon I might have done the same at the stage he is at in his career.

This is not the way we do things, is it? 

[Jourdan]

3 hours ago, Reggie Greenwood said:

And if Mel had not backed the Managers plenty of fans would have been giving grief for not doing so. Mel can't win either way.

Anya may not have been picked by the following Mangers precisely because of his attitude plus he has been unavailable for much of this period due to multiple injuries.

The judgements of the recruitment team and Manager who bought the guy can be questioned though.

I totally disagree. No-one has even singled out Mel for criticism. It’s a club issue - so the criticism is leveled at all of the key people at the club. 

We haven’t had the right people in the right positions making the right decisions. Of course, as the owner, Mel has to take his share of responsibility for that.

But for you to suggest that Mel can’t win and for @LazloW to suggest that certain fans ‘never tire’ of criticising Mel, it makes it seem like the fans are demanding in the extreme.

Mel has probably got more grief for the attempted ‘no flasks and picnic baskets’ policy than he ever has for the amount of money he spends in the transfer market.

Mel obviously has his heart in the right place and Mel has obviously done over time what he considered to be in the best interests of the club. But even so why should he escape criticism?

In all industries, you face criticism. As a teacher, what I do gets scrutinised and judged. I have to keep parents happy. I have to keep students happy. I have to keep my boss happy. I have to be good at what I do. 

When I do something well, I get praise. When I do something badly, I get criticism. It’s exactly the same in Mel’s position. Except Mel can lick his wounds with the help of a £500 bottle of Chianti.

It’s not that fans never tire of criticising Mel.  Fans are possibly tired and frustrated that very little seems to have been learnt over what is a considerable period of time, key people are still in jobs when there is a case for replacing them, and the club seems to lurch from one bad headline to another. 

Fans like myself are ready to get behind the club and ready to get behind a vision. But they also have a right to be concerned when the situation warrants it.

In all honesty, I can’t remember the last time I read a positive headline about the club.

[Seaside Ram]

3 hours ago, Nick_Ram said:

Please provide some examples of where you have shown the moral courage to significantly reduce your personal salary to benefit your employer.

Otherwise - Get off your high horse and bore off.  

Be careful in this warm weather ❄

[Rab a dab doo]

Positive headlines don't sell newspapers or provoke debate and discussion as much as negative ones do. Simples !

[hintonsboots]

17 hours ago, Charlie George said:

One thing I always found strange was that he regularly stayed at The Premier Inn on The Wyvern Retail Park.

I assume from this that he never lived in the area. Can anyone confirm this ?

Partridgesque.

[Leeds Ram]

Anya's a really good player at this level for a team who fit his playing style so I actually don't have any sympathy with the argument 'he's doing the smart thing'. If he was completely useless and out of his depth where his other options would be a non-league club I would be more sympathetic to that argument. He's actually not doing the smart thing, he's wasted 3 years of what is a very short career getting paid a little more than what he'd otherwise get paid at another club at the same level (whilst playing football) which would still be more than enough to set him and his family up for life. It's even more surprising given that he was first playing non-league, then for Wycombe and Northampton and then had to go over to Glenn Hoddle's academy in Spain before getting a contract at Granada and moving onto Watford. If he has kids in the next 30 years are they going to ask about how his bank balance is slightly higher than it otherwise might have been or are they going to ask about his time on the pitch? For a good part of his career he'll have absolutely nothing of note to say. 

Personally, if i was in that situation no i wouldn't doss around and do nothing for 3 years whilst getting paid an outrageous sum of money. If it was clear i could no longer get in the first team I would pack my bags to try and get my career back on track. I'm amazed he doesn't feel such embarrassment every time he rocks up to the training ground that he can't stand it anymore and asks to leave.  He should find a club at this level who would still pay him thousands of pounds a week and if he was really desperate for the cash sort out an arrangement where Derby will pay a percentage of his desired earnings over the next couple of years. 

 

Yes the club were foolhardy in offering overinflated wages and this is a lesson hopefully those involved will learn from. However, to simply toss aside personal responsibility, respect and pride for oneself and for your profession on the basis that a naive party gave you the chance to take advantage and now they want to rectify it you actively refuse strikes me as selfish and continually taking advantage of the club and its fans.  

[Andicis]

4 hours ago, Ramchope said:

I actually felt sorry for Rodwell who was made into this hate figure because of the ineptitude of who ever negotiated his contract, every single fan calling him out would do the exact same in his situation and I feel the same for Anya.

I'm not sure how you can feel sorry for either. Sure if you have a big contract and you want to sit on it, that's your prerogative. But don't expect the fans to like you for it. Anya is just leeching money off Derby, so why should the fans like him? 

[DarkFruitsRam7]

5 hours ago, Ramchope said:

I was watching the Sunderland til I die doc the other day and the Jack Rodwell story reminded me of Anya. I actually felt sorry for Rodwell who was made into this hate figure because of the ineptitude of who ever negotiated his contract, every single fan calling him out would do the exact same in his situation and I feel the same for Anya. 

Slight difference. Sunderland were asking Rodwell to cancel his contract, which would mean a significant loss of income. Anya has reportedly been given the chance to go out on loan, which wouldn't affect his income whatsoever. 

[RoyMac5]

1 hour ago, Andicis said:

I'm not sure how you can feel sorry for either. Sure if you have a big contract and you want to sit on it, that's your prerogative. But don't expect the fans to like you for it. Anya is just leeching money off Derby, so why should the fans like him? 

I bet he uses pound-notes to wipe the crocodile tears from his eyes. ?

I'd be better able to sympathise with him if he'd expressed a desire to play football at another club. I'm sure a decent pay-off would have been arranged by us.

[Ramchope]

3 hours ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

Slight difference. Sunderland were asking Rodwell to cancel his contract, which would mean a significant loss of income. Anya has reportedly been given the chance to go out on loan, which wouldn't affect his income whatsoever. 

It’s all ‘reportedly’ though, and perhaps the club to go on loan to was Plymouth and he would have to move away from his family all week. What would be the point for him as well? To get a potential transfer offer that will at best half his salary? We gave him the ludicrous contract to play for Derby, it’s not Anya’s fault that no manager picks him. 

[Ramchope]

4 hours ago, Andicis said:

I'm not sure how you can feel sorry for either. Sure if you have a big contract and you want to sit on it, that's your prerogative. But don't expect the fans to like you for it. Anya is just leeching money off Derby, so why should the fans like him? 

How is he leeching off Derby? We gave him the contract. As far as I can tell he trains and plays with the u23 squad, I’ve never heard of him causing disruption or not turning up. If the manager deems him not good enough and doesn’t play him, that’s hardly his fault either.
 

He knows he will likely only receive a maximum of a third of what he is earning now, what incentive is there for him to find a new club? You may say to play football, but he has the chance to secure his family’s financial future for the rest of his life. I feel sorry that they are being made out as ‘leechers’ etc, he does his job just as much as any other player at the club. 

[DarkFruitsRam7]

10 minutes ago, Ramchope said:

It’s all ‘reportedly’ though, and perhaps the club to go on loan to was Plymouth and he would have to move away from his family all week. What would be the point for him as well? To get a potential transfer offer that will at best half his salary? We gave him the ludicrous contract to play for Derby, it’s not Anya’s fault that no manager picks him. 

I'm not commenting on Anya's situation. I'm saying that his situation and Rodwell's situation, as portrayed in Sunderland 'til I Die at least, are incomparable.

[Ramchope]

4 minutes ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

I'm not commenting on Anya's situation. I'm saying that his situation and Rodwell's situation, as portrayed in Sunderland 'til I Die at least, are incomparable.

The situation is different yes, but the way they are perceived by their respective fan bases are comparable ie leechers or money grabbers etc.  

[Andicis]

39 minutes ago, Ramchope said:

How is he leeching off Derby? We gave him the contract. As far as I can tell he trains and plays with the u23 squad, I’ve never heard of him causing disruption or not turning up. If the manager deems him not good enough and doesn’t play him, that’s hardly his fault either.
 

He knows he will likely only receive a maximum of a third of what he is earning now, what incentive is there for him to find a new club? You may say to play football, but he has the chance to secure his family’s financial future for the rest of his life. I feel sorry that they are being made out as ‘leechers’ etc, he does his job just as much as any other player at the club. 

He is earning a huge amount of money and not offering anything in return. And if you believe Ed Dawes, turning down loan deals which would take some of the cost away from Derby. As I said, if he wants to sit on his huge contract then of course that's up to him, but he absolutely does not deserve the pity party. The guy is a multi millionaire earning a huge sum for doing nothing. He doesn't deserve sympathy.