I Blame Mel

[cannable]

8 hours ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

Blame the reality of blowing your shot (or five) at getting up.

If we didn't have Mel, we'd not have had the team we have had over the last six years or so and could very well be in a far worse possission than we actually are.

 

My argument to this will forever be… we were better before he got involved? 

[CornwallRam]

I think Mel has been castigated unfairly for being trigger happy.

Mac 2 was the only sacking that was purely for football reasons. Rowett and Lampard both left. Mac 1, Pearson and Clement all had off-field contributory factors to add to declining results.

I think Mel's problem is he has over-complicated his strategy. He wants good football and youth development to combine to build the foundations of a sustainable promotion. It sounds great. The problem is that development in football is not linear. Patiently building doesn't work - tactics get found out, players don't get incrementally better every season, reasonably successful managers leave etc. Then you just have to start the 'rebuilding' process again.

The best way to be sustainable in the Championship is to get promoted quickly. Setting footballing philosophies and allowing for gradual development just gives managers a series of excuses. 

Mel's strategy should be - get promoted at the earliest opportunity. We can worry about the academy and the style when we are in the big league with £200m a year coming in - before that they're just vanity projects that we can't afford.

The new manager gets this season as a relatively free hit (it'll take some time to coach the negativity out of the players) - just got to get clear of the bottom 3. Next season they get until promotion looks almost impossible. Play-offs is the minimum acceptable finish. The season after the same, but not getting promoted means the sack. It has to be about results, not playing kids or the 'Derby Way'.

[Mick Brolly]

I blame keogh. 

[tomsdubs]

Mel has made some mistakes but he always backs the manager you cannot question him there.

[Biley66]

I blame Tommy Docherty

[Leicester Ram]

The bloke you’re looking for is Sam Rush, who was handed the keys to the club and used it to line his own pockets. The difference between Mel with Sam Rush and Mel without him has been stark, we may have blown the team/momentum we had with Mac1 but I think last years recovery/emergence of the academy has been really impressive.

That splurge in 15/16 has set us back but Mel was just the guy signing the cheques.

Bad starts to the season happen and are often recovered from. As the squad gets back to full capacity, there will be a pick up in results and we’ll see if we can get a run going. This team at full strength still has the potential to be one of the best in the division.

It’s not the end of the world or the season.

[w8sey]

13 hours ago, Rams-in-Spain said:

Let's be honest, the club has been in decline since Mel took over. Countless managers who were backed with cash then sacked. Over and over again! 

Now its back to plan A of which we were doing before Mel became the owner. 

What a shambles! 

 

 

let's be honest, he's pumped millions of his own money into DCFC and hasn't sacked a manager in years. Who are the countless managers he's sacked? 

Viva la mel 

[kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong]

Mel's effectively given up on us,he absolutely doesn't want to put any more money into this club unless he has to.

Getting rid of Cocu and replacing him would clearly mean opening his wallet again and he doesn't want to,he wants someone else to fund it.

It's a little bit sad but who can blame him after seeing every decision he makes,management wise,go to ratshit and with no return for him.

[w8sey]

9 minutes ago, kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong said:

Mel's effectively given up on us,he absolutely doesn't want to put any more money into this club unless he has to.

Getting rid of Cocu and replacing him would clearly mean opening his wallet again and he doesn't want to,he wants someone else to fund it.

It's a little bit sad but who can blame him after seeing every decision he makes,management wise,go to ratshit and with no return for him.

Could this not be a financial fair play issue? I dont believe he wants us to stagnate. The jozwiack transfer fee shows that he is still committed. 

[oldtimeram]

14 hours ago, Chris_Martin said:

I dont blame Mel. He took a gamble with Cocu, knowing he'd never managed in england or a 'big' league before and unfortunately its backfired. Mel had the right idea bringing someone in for the long term but has just not selected the right person. 

In that case with your final sentence, by definition, he is to blame

[kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong]

3 minutes ago, w8sey said:

Could this not be a financial fair play issue? I dont believe he wants us to stagnate. The jozwiack transfer fee shows that he is still committed. 

No,I think he has had enough.

He loves Derby but he's had enough I fear.

[minesahartington]

I think Mel is great. Loves Derby and gave me a nice scarf

All of his choices were on the whole seen as the right choice at the time. 

Clement was viewed as the talent at the time and a coup for Derby. Cocu a great choice also. Unfortunately they may have either played with or coached exceptionally talented players but are/were not designed for Championship football. They don’t get it and appear unable to adapt. 

[dazzadcfc]

I don't blame Mel,

I don't recall anyone complaining when we landed Cocu on a 4 year long term project, a manager who played for his country over 100 times and had experience in management winning titles.

As painful as it is at the moment I think we all need to get a reality check. The club has no income and Mel will be putting his hand in his pocket every month to keep this club going.

People forget how difficult the championship is and the teams with parachute money have a big advantage, last season we wasn't complaining about the style of football i think the last few matches Cocu has tried to just stop the rot and its made us a bit toothless up front.

Things will improve I'm sure but we will have to have a bit more patience.

[Millenniumram]

Hate to say it, but I agree with you. At least, I blame Mel and others involved with decision making at the club. Though I’d take a slightly different slant and not put this mess on a load of managerial sackings, as we haven’t had any recently, and I’d instead lay the blame firmly at our poor recruitment strategy. After all, it’s the money blown early on which has us in this FFP mess - not because we spent a lot of money, but because we spent it on players with no resale value. You can see now how bad a mistake that was, and to be fair, Mel has looked to rectify things recently.

However, we’re still making quite a few other mistakes. We’re still selling our young players way too cheaply, and we still seem to be incapable of getting transfers over the line late in the window. Every window teams like Forest reel in massive fees for their players, whilst we sell ours for transfer rates last seen in 2012. It’s no wonder we don’t have any money to spend. And every window seems to end with us having failed to recruit a player in a key position within the team, leaving the manager short for the season. It’s very difficult to have success as a manager in those circumstances. And that’s not even mentioning the absolute mis-match of managerial styles we’ve had in recent years. Every manager wants to rebuild the team because they don’t follow smoothly on from the previous manager. Cocu was meant to play a similar style to Lampard, but he’s absolutely miles off.

We just don’t seem very well run to me. It’s not a nice thing to say, because Mel is a genuine bloke who wants the best for the club, and we must all appreciate that. But for whatever reason, maybe he’s being badly advised, we’ve regressed during his ownership. It’s as simple as that. A slow descent into mediocrity, probably followed by a descent into League One. That’s the only way I can see us going at the moment. We’re crying out for new ideas, and more important, new investment.

[Rampage]

Mel has tried a variety of options with managers any one of which on paper could have got us top six or top three. I never had misgivings about any of the managers when signed 

[Rampage]

1 hour ago, Millenniumram said:

Hate to say it, but I agree with you. At least, I blame Mel and others involved with decision making at the club. Though I’d take a slightly different slant and not put this mess on a load of managerial sackings, as we haven’t had any recently, and I’d instead lay the blame firmly at our poor recruitment strategy. After all, it’s the money blown early on which has us in this FFP mess - not because we spent a lot of money, but because we spent it on players with no resale value. You can see now how bad a mistake that was, and to be fair, Mel has looked to rectify things recently.

However, we’re still making quite a few other mistakes. We’re still selling our young players way too cheaply, and we still seem to be incapable of getting transfers over the line late in the window. Every window teams like Forest reel in massive fees for their players, whilst we sell ours for transfer rates last seen in 2012. It’s no wonder we don’t have any money to spend. And every window seems to end with us having failed to recruit a player in a key position within the team, leaving the manager short for the season. It’s very difficult to have success as a manager in those circumstances. And that’s not even mentioning the absolute mis-match of managerial styles we’ve had in recent years. Every manager wants to rebuild the team because they don’t follow smoothly on from the previous manager. Cocu was meant to play a similar style to Lampard, but he’s absolutely miles off.

We just don’t seem very well run to me. It’s not a nice thing to say, because Mel is a genuine bloke who wants the best for the club, and we must all appreciate that. But for whatever reason, maybe he’s being badly advised, we’ve regressed during his ownership. It’s as simple as that. A slow descent into mediocrity, probably followed by a descent into League One. That’s the only way I can see us going at the moment. We’re crying out for new ideas, and more important, new investment.

The key is always the right manager who can sign players for realistic fees, develop them, increase their value and sell them at a profit. A manager who can pick up where the last man left off without buying another team. That man was Chris Hughton, maybe Paul Cook but no idea after that 

[europia]

19 hours ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

Blame the reality of blowing your shot (or five) at getting up.

If we didn't have Mel, we'd not have had the team we have had over the last six years or so and could very well be in a far worse possission than we actually are.

 

Yes, I imagine when Mr Morris came in he had a figure in mind as to how much he was willing to throw at the challenge of getting DCFC into the PL. More than likely, that figure has been exceeded and I guess he's decided enough is enough.

[Asanovic70]

I blame Mel - up to a point. I think Millenniumram was correct in flagging up our former CEO, and if anything, more blame attaches to him because he was the one entrusted with our transfer policy up until his departure (2017). He signed our established players on long-term contracts & good wages to protect them as assets, but obviously this affected the club's wage bill & saw it rise as a consequence. But I wonder if that chastening experience with Rush left Morris a little disillusioned. Simon Jordan, TalkSport, (Like him or hate him), provides interesting commentary on what it is to be an ex-owner of a football club, a view from the other side of the fence from someone who has to write the cheques. He often praises Mel as an owner, though that doesn't excuse him from criticism. 

23 hours ago, Millenniumram said:

And that’s not even mentioning the absolute mis-match of managerial styles we’ve had in recent years. Every manager wants to rebuild the team because they don’t follow smoothly on from the previous manager. Cocu was meant to play a similar style to Lampard, but he’s absolutely miles off.

Again, an excellent point. I was pleased when Pearson came in, but for some reason, with his abrasive personality, he tried to change things too quickly and the players at his disposal were all used to a particular style which did not match his. There has been a lack of continuity. I was pleased with Rowett's appointment but he was more about counter-attacking at pace (Lawrence). 

Mel has tried to please the fans & our managerial appointments have been tinged with glamour/PR coups, hiring sought after coaches & managers at the time.  I think one thing that he is guilty of is chasing headlines. I also think he just doesn't want promotion, he wants a side playing champagne football & which gets points on artistic merit.

However, I feel that Mel's original vision, that distant time now when we had the right balance circa 2014 has been diluted. There have also been a number of turning points, some of which he cannot be blamed & are sheer bad luck:

•  injuries to both Thorne & Will Hughes, who rarely played alongside each other,  I would guess. Thorne ruled out 2014 onwards and then Will Hughes got injured 2015. These two complimented each other 
•  We may have collapsed anyway, but McClaren's link to the vacant Newcastle job which seemed to completely derail our promotion challenge
•  Rowett leaving for another club. Does it suggest he did not think Mel had full confidence in him? 
• The pandemic. Apparently one report said that Derby are the side with the highest loss in terms of matchday revenue, £1m  a game (Forest similar, £900k)

[Asanovic70]

Apologies, it was LeicesterRam, who made the observation & post about Sam Rush.?

(typo) Thorne & Hughes complemented each other, I genuinely think we'd be promoted if the two of them had kept injury-free and were able to play alongside someone like Hendrick/Bryson. Not to be, unfortunately.

[Rab a dab doo]

Everyone always blames the boss, why should'nt we.

After all what's he ever done for Derby County Football Club ????????????????????????????????????????