The Tenure of Melvyn Morris

[RamNut]

Well.....it’s been a bit shambolic really.

 There we were are Wembley, all set, with a mercurial little midfielder, and George Thorne on loan. Mel signs on the dotted line only to see Bobby Zamora’s shot beat Lee Grant. Mel increases his stake. George Thorne goes down and is out for the season with another bad injury. We appoint Chris Evans and schteve’s son to head up recruitment. We sign a Spanish centre half who needs special shoes. We  falter and schteve gets the sack. Paul Clement is appointed and we go on a mad spending spree that cripples the club financially. Chris Evans is sacked. Clement gets the sack. Mel appoints Darren wassall AND Harry redknapp - formerly of qpr - to steady the ship. Wassall doesn’t want anything to do with redknapp. We fall short. George Thorne breaks his leg. chief executive Sam ‘the reason I am here’ Rush gets sacked. It transpires we have paid Tom Ince’s mum for scouting reports.  in comes everybody’s favourite nutter Nigel ‘ostrich head’ Pearson. He is is sacked after 9 games.  Schteve is re-appointed and sacked again before the season is over. Chris Evans is in and out again. In comes Gary rowett. He trashes the midfield. Hughes goes to Watford, Bryson gets promoted with Cardiff.. We fall short again. Rowett leaves for stoke. in comes frank, jodie and various loans. The season ends with a Wembley finish but a damp squib defeat. Frank leaves. Meanwhile unbeknown to everyone, the ground has been sold to Mel to get us out of an ffp hole. The club is in a transfer embargo presumably just after we spend £8m on a holding midfielder to replace George Thorne. In comes cocu and championship specialist Liam Rosenior. Before he has had time to say hello, we tell him we’re signing Wayne Rooney. The season starts with a piss up. The captain is injured and sacked. Two players appear in court.The season ends with a series of defeats, a global pandemic, and we fall short again. Events are over-shadowed by an on going battle with the EFl over the secret sale of the ground. We win the  battle but the EFl appeal a second charge of dodgy accounting. Just as it seems we are about to sack cocu, it emerges that the club is about to be sold to an Arab sheik, and cocu and Morris are exposed to coronavirus  by the guy in charge of the accounts. 

Have I missed anything?

[kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong]

11 minutes ago, RamNut said:

Well.....it’s been a bit shambolic really.

 There we were are Wembley, all set, with a mercurial little midfielder, and George Thorne on loan. Mel signs on the dotted line only to see Bobby Zamora’s shot beat Lee Grant. Mel increases his stake. George Thorne goes down and is out for the season with another bad injury. We appoint Chris Evans and schteve’s son to head up recruitment. We sign a Spanish centre half who needs special shoes. We  falter and schteve gets the sack. Paul Clement is appointed and we go on a mad spending spree that cripples the club financially. Chris Evans is sacked. Clement gets the sack. Mel appoints Darren wassall AND Harry redknapp - formerly of qpr - to steady the ship. Wassall doesn’t want anything to do with redknapp. We fall short. George Thorne breaks his leg. chief executive Sam ‘the reason I am here’ Rush gets sacked. It transpires we have paid Tom Ince’s mum for scouting reports.  in comes everybody’s favourite nutter Nigel ‘ostrich head’ Pearson. He is is sacked after 9 games.  Schteve is re-appointed and sacked again before the season is over. Chris Evans is in and out again. In comes Gary rowett. He trashes the midfield. Hughes goes to Watford, Bryson gets promoted with Cardiff.. We fall short again. Rowett leaves for stoke. in comes frank, jodie and various loans. The season ends with a Wembley finish but a damp squib defeat. Frank leaves. Meanwhile unbeknown to everyone, the ground has been sold to Mel to get us out of an ffp hole. The club is in a transfer embargo presumably just after we spend £8m on a holding midfielder to replace George Thorne. In comes cocu and championship specialist Liam Rosenior. Before he has had time to say hello, we tell him we’re signing Wayne Rooney. The season starts with a piss up. The captain is injured and sacked. Two players appear in court.The season ends with a series of defeats, a global pandemic, and we fall short again. Events are over-shadowed by an on going battle with the EFl over the secret sale of the ground. We win the  battle but the EFl appeal a second charge of dodgy accounting. Just as it seems we are about to sack cocu, it emerges that the club is about to be sold to an Arab sheik, and cocu and Morris are exposed to coronavirus  by the guy in charge of the accounts. 

Have I missed anything?

I think that's pretty much it.....it's like a football remake of airplane,the disaster movie.

[cannable]

14 hours ago, OohMartWright said:

That’s pretty disingenuous. He bought the stadium from the club for a price which the EFL spent thousands to try to prove was too high, for the sole motive of the club being able to spend  more money on players in the quest for the success we all crave. Our academy is arguably the best in Britain thanks to Mel’s vision and investment. That he did not take us to the Premier League was down to poor team selection by Lampard at Wembley and we’ve had some wonderful memories during his tenure. I, for one, will be eternally grateful for his contribution to this club and very sorry to see him go.

You can’t prove that. 

[GangwayD]

1 hour ago, RamNut said:

Well.....it’s been a bit shambolic really.

 There we were are Wembley, all set, with a mercurial little midfielder, and George Thorne on loan. Mel signs on the dotted line only to see Bobby Zamora’s shot beat Lee Grant. Mel increases his stake. George Thorne goes down and is out for the season with another bad injury. We appoint Chris Evans and schteve’s son to head up recruitment. We sign a Spanish centre half who needs special shoes. We  falter and schteve gets the sack. Paul Clement is appointed and we go on a mad spending spree that cripples the club financially. Chris Evans is sacked. Clement gets the sack. Mel appoints Darren wassall AND Harry redknapp - formerly of qpr - to steady the ship. Wassall doesn’t want anything to do with redknapp. We fall short. George Thorne breaks his leg. chief executive Sam ‘the reason I am here’ Rush gets sacked. It transpires we have paid Tom Ince’s mum for scouting reports.  in comes everybody’s favourite nutter Nigel ‘ostrich head’ Pearson. He is is sacked after 9 games.  Schteve is re-appointed and sacked again before the season is over. Chris Evans is in and out again. In comes Gary rowett. He trashes the midfield. Hughes goes to Watford, Bryson gets promoted with Cardiff.. We fall short again. Rowett leaves for stoke. in comes frank, jodie and various loans. The season ends with a Wembley finish but a damp squib defeat. Frank leaves. Meanwhile unbeknown to everyone, the ground has been sold to Mel to get us out of an ffp hole. The club is in a transfer embargo presumably just after we spend £8m on a holding midfielder to replace George Thorne. In comes cocu and championship specialist Liam Rosenior. Before he has had time to say hello, we tell him we’re signing Wayne Rooney. The season starts with a piss up. The captain is injured and sacked. Two players appear in court.The season ends with a series of defeats, a global pandemic, and we fall short again. Events are over-shadowed by an on going battle with the EFl over the secret sale of the ground. We win the  battle but the EFl appeal a second charge of dodgy accounting. Just as it seems we are about to sack cocu, it emerges that the club is about to be sold to an Arab sheik, and cocu and Morris are exposed to coronavirus  by the guy in charge of the accounts. 

Have I missed anything?

Blimey, only a brief snap shot of my time watching the Rams - keep going back to Maxwell, 3 Amigos, Phil Brown etc. etc. it goes on and on

Only Derby County Football Club .... it's never dull, but we'll all Derby aren't we ? 

Gangway D from the terrace

 

[Tyler Durden]

I think it was @RamNut who has already beaten me to quoting Henry Bohn.

Mel's heart was in the right place but by God didn't he make an almighty pigs ear of some aspects he had stewardship for most notably manager recruitment (and equally retention) and player acquisition.

I think he's learned a salutary lesson in owning a football club and seriously wonder whether he would have took on Derby if he has a crystal ball and foreseen the outputs.

Wish him all the best regardless, am sure he can focus on other business ventures now if he chooses which am sure he will be successful in. 

[Tyler Durden]

6 hours ago, G-Ram said:

I'll be glad to see him go. Rams TV and the academy are plus points but on & off the pitch last season, persons time here and a few other things have been an absolute circus. Regardless of what we think of the EFL we shouldnt be in a position where there is legal battles & we shouldnt have been badly run where we have to sell the stadium. He gets away with loads because he's a fan. We have been run very very poorly. 

I think Mel played a masterstroke with furthering this siege mentality with the EFL over a potential points deduction for the value of the stadium which totally deflected from the underlying reason as to why Morris had to undertake that piece of financial chicanery in the first place which any football club should never be countenancing at all 

[Sith Happens]

Its tough, I wanted Mel to succeed but he hasn't. 

He has had some bad luck on the way,but ultimately he has taken us from a team challenging for promotion to one fighting relegation. The former on a wages bill of around 11 million,  the latter 30 plus million. 

Sacking Mac1 was his biggest mistake for me.

Sacking Mac2 his second. 

Appreciate the argument about the academy,  but two of our best players in the team that went to Wembley were academy players and arguably better than any we have today. 

I do think his heart has been in the right place,  and I wish him all the best. 

 

[The Key Club King]

40 minutes ago, cannable said:

You can’t prove that. 

I mean technically you are right but why else would you buy a stadium from yourself for an over-inflated price? Mel has ploughed lots of money into the club and will have lost an absolute fortune. 

I vaguely remember him saying that he was thinking about putting the stadium into some sort of fan trust to safeguard against ropey new owners. As the stadium is seperate from the club now, this becomes much easier to do. This would be an amazing leaving gift. If he continues to own it and the lease back to the club then I would be happy that it is in safe hands. 

One thing that has largely gone unnoticed is that Derby fans are not at all worried about loss of revenue and going under during the pandemic. Mel has always looked after the club. 

[Tyler Durden]

2 minutes ago, The Key Club King said:

One thing that has largely gone unnoticed is that Derby fans are not at all worried about loss of revenue and going under during the pandemic. Mel has always looked after the club. 

I think only being off the bottom of the league due to a team with a points deduction has somewhat taken the focus away from the loss of revenue as a talking point.

[cannable]

10 minutes ago, The Key Club King said:

I mean technically you are right but why else would you buy a stadium from yourself for an over-inflated price? Mel has ploughed lots of money into the club and will have lost an absolute fortune. 

He’s spoken before of how it’s only used 23/365 days a year. Gigs and a roof have also been mentioned, since he’s been actively looking to sell as well. 

[Sith Happens]

Just now, cannable said:

He’s spoken before of how it’s only used 23/365 days a year. Gigs and a roof have also been mentioned, since he’s been actively looking to sell as well. 

Giggs has been mentioned ? God I hope not. 

[RoyMac5]

12 hours ago, EtoileSportiveDeDerby said:

Yes he made mistakes, who doesn't ? but he paid for these out of his own pocket.

You don't think he'll be getting most of that back when he sells? Of course he'd have made more if we'd been successful...

[ramit]

The great improvement of the academy is Mel's legacy for me, it will pay off

[Leicester Ram]

16 hours ago, RoyMac5 said:

He's sold the stadium and left us penniless with a threadbare squad. Define safe.

Blatant lie.

[RoyMac5]

2 minutes ago, Leicester Ram said:

Blatant lie.

Not threadbare? If not a lie then a manger who isn't get great results from the current squad. The squad is nowhere near as good as the one we had when he took over. We have no strike force and little in the way of centre-halves. The squad is nowhere near the quality of the one we had when he took over.

[LeedsCityRam]

A reign of two halves (excuse the pun), with the first period probably driven by his passion as a fan rather than a long term strategic plan.

Taking his first 2 years from mid 2015, it was poor overall. Managers came & went at an alarming rate and there seemed to be a kneejerk swing from playing style to playing style. To go from Clement (and Wassall) to Pearson to McClaren and then to Rowett showed no consistent strategy & is the probable reason for the massive & disjointed squad we had by the summer of 2017. Delegating transfers to Rush was also a big error & should really have been vetoed well before they fell out, given the conflict of interest with Wasserman.

Thereafter, I think Mel did a good job. He backed Rowett financially. He then brought in Lampard, who substantially raised the profile & commercial potential of the club & also backed him financially. Not Mel's fault both men jumped at better opportunities & Cocu's appointment on paper was a good one (and comparable with Lampard's style), as was the Rooney deal.  He also rectified some of the FFP damage with the stadium sale & robust defence against the EFL cretins.

Ultimately Mel's legacy will be the Academy & I hope he can take pride at the how solid the foundations of the club are. Suffice to say Ive got some very serious misgivings about the new owners but league position aside (and that is very salvageable), they've inherited a good situation. If they've got any sense, they will keep Mel in the club & learn from his experiences.

[The Key Club King]

15 minutes ago, cannable said:

He’s spoken before of how it’s only used 23/365 days a year. Gigs and a roof have also been mentioned, since he’s been actively looking to sell as well. 

I can't think of any football stadium other than the national stadium that could turn a profit through occassional gigs and £1m a year rent from a football club. Paying back the £80m cost alone would take decades.  

[Leicester Ram]

6 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

Not threadbare? If not a lie then a manger who isn't get great results from the current squad. The squad is nowhere near as good as the one we had when he took over. We have no strike force and little in the way of centre-halves. The squad is nowhere near the quality of the one we had when he took over.

You said threadbare, Roy. A squad with multiple internationals, club record signing, proven Championship players like Byrne, Waghorn and Lawrence as well as a collection of constantly growing academy talent?

Not threadbare, is it? And if it is a threadbare squad, Cocu’s doesn’t deserve the sack.

Stop having your cake and eating it then acting surprised when people notice it.

[ossieram]

I think Mel has done the right thing by seeking a buyer for the club, because I'm sure it's taken a toll on his health.

I know for a fact that even if I was a billionaire, I wouldn't buy DCFC.

He has got things wrong, but I don't think a football club comes with instructions when you buy it, and football fans are a very unforgiving mob and will be quick to remind you of every little thing you have got wrong when things aren't going well.

Maybe having owners that have no affection for the club or the fans will prove to be a good thing, but I can guarantee you that whatever Mel has done, it has always been with the best intentions and to try and make the club better.

Hopefully he has learnt a lesson from way Lionel Pickering was treated and has got out before his health suffers too much and he has the time to enjoy the rest of his life.  

Thanks for all of your efforts and for the huge amount of money you have put into our club Mel.

[The Key Club King]

16 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

You don't think he'll be getting most of that back when he sells? Of course he'd have made more if we'd been successful...

Not even close.

I think the amount he has personally invested into the club he supports might shock you - and it was his money he has spent not ours. Look back at the protests against the yanks for lack of investment and how poor the team was throughout their tenure. Even they put in a couple of million from their own pockets per year.

His work locally, with the academy and with DCCT has been outstanding. Ultimately the squad is worse and the team did not get promoted but he has done so much more than just football alone.