What mistakes would you have made?

[Ram-Alf]

Mistakes are only found out after the event, If you purposefully go out to make a mistake you're a fibber a cheat and untrustworthy.

If I'd have had £500million cash, I'd have made similar and more mistakes than MM, You lose all sense or reality when supporting the team of your Childhood, I would have made season tickets cheaper, Match day tickets cheaper, Put all players on the same wage, Never dealt with agents, Choose my confidants to the extreme, Make sure contracts have a clause in that ables me to make financial decisions for the benefit of DCFC, I would never hesitate to dismiss those who step out of line, If there's more than one culprit in the same incident then all guilty, Employed private detectives to get some dirt on those at the EFL.

MM is/was the owner of DCFC, He's put his hands into very deep pockets and sometimes pulled a few jokers out, Hindsight is truly a wonderfull thing which no one has the ownership of, I've never met or seen the guy, My impression of him is he's Derby through and through, But it must have been a lonely place at times when there's people out there to get you when they don't like the way you opperate.

I'm a stubborn so and so, So i'd have kept going until my pockets were empty.

[Ghost of Clough]

44 minutes ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

I think it's very easy for people to say the things they wouldn't have done five years on, when hindsight shows us what worked and what didn't.

Flipping the question, one thing I would have done is set up a system with a clear philosophy, probably with a director of football, so that there would be very little disruption when a manager left. And I would have invested less in the academy and far more in a quality recruitment setup that pays for itself. Basically, I would have taken a lot of inspiration from the likes of Brentford, Norwich, etc. 

Norwich put a lot into their academy too, supposedly close to £5m - they're Cat 1 after all. 

There's a big trend between league and category status. For example, Sheffield United are now the only team in the Prem who aren't Cat 1!

[DarkFruitsRam7]

2 minutes ago, Ghost of Clough said:

Norwich put a lot into their academy too, supposedly close to £5m - they're Cat 1 after all. 

There's a big trend between league and category status. For example, Sheffield United are now the only team in the Prem who aren't Cat 1!

With Norwich I was thinking more about their appointment of someone like Stuart Webber, as well as their emphasis on patience and sustainability.

[angieram]

I would have made the same mistake as Mel, thinking that if I tried my very best for this club and shared my journey with the fans they might appreciate this (or at least cut me a little slack.) 

[Ghost of Clough]

Trusted the recruitment team, which worked so well under Clough and Mac, to recruit well in summer 2015.

[nottingram]

11 hours ago, Mostyn6 said:

I'd have let SMac reshape the team after the collapse in 2015. I wouldn't have stood in his way in any way. I'd have sanctioned any sales and possibly encouraged the selling on of Keogh, Forsyth etc. Unsure if it would have been a mistake, but we'd probably still have Hughes here, maybe ended up with lesser defender than Keogh, but we'd be scoring a bucketload.

Assuming Mac left for Newcastle of his own accord later on, I'd have left Clement to carry on. We were top on boxing day. (We only plummeted after Mel went into the dressing room).

Assuming Clement walked, I'd have left Wassall in charge. He made ONE mistake at Rotherham. But on the whole, did a great job and I think he deserved the chance to build his own team.

Assuming Wassall didn't want the job. I'd have employed someone who played a similar type of attacking football, and not bowed down to the fans calling for Pearson to be employed, as he was a bad fit. (Lots of fans pretend they didn't ask for Pearson now!). I'd have talked Harry into it, although he might have said no to a sensible transfer budget. Maybe gone for Warnock after Wassall, plays attacking football and gets players to over-achieve.

Just being pedantic really because I agree that Mel shouldn’t have gone into the dressing room (and I think he would too), but we went top on Boxing Day and by the time we played Reading on the 12th of January we were 6 points behind Middlesbrough having played a game more. We were already plummeting so blaming this on the dressing room nonsense is a little harsh on Mel. Other than that I agree with retaining Mac and giving Wassall another go - although I’d not be surprised if he didn’t fancy given how he was treated by the fans.

[RamNut]

I’d have changed the kit.

black shorts with  a vertical white stripe down the sides.

we don’t look like Derby county without that. 

[minesahartington]

29 minutes ago, angieram said:

I would have made the same mistake as Mel, thinking that if I tried my very best for this club and shared my journey with the fans they might appreciate this (or at least cut me a little slack.) 

Don’t be ridiculous, nobody would fall into that trap surely..

[jono]

Commissioned home made highest quality gourmet hot dogs and burgers and equivalent buns/rolls.

Like Mel I would have paid too much for players and wanting to show generosity and support to new managers regardless. 
 

Proposed compulsory after match player / fan meetings so everyone could have a say face to face with the team and the manager - That went well ... NOT ?
 

Built a huge iconic statue / gateway / physical symbol / landmark  to make Pride park look really special / different  and inspire awe and memories 

[RamNut]

Statue of hector!

[oldtimeram]

I'll tell you one mistake I would NOT have made.  I would have signed Ollie Watkins when we had the chance

[David]

55 minutes ago, angieram said:

I would have made the same mistake as Mel, thinking that if I tried my very best for this club and shared my journey with the fans they might appreciate this (or at least cut me a little slack.) 

[CornwallRam]

35 minutes ago, RamNut said:

I’d have changed the kit.

black shorts with  a vertical white stripe down the sides.

we don’t look like Derby county without that. 

That's just silly. We never look like Derby County in black shorts. It has to be navy blue.

[England Ram]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. 
 

Looking back and thinking if it was me who had taken over with £500 million as we lost on the Wembley turf I think I’d have thrown every penny Mac wanted at the squad thinking it would be enough to get us over the line. 
That team was a joy to watch and we were not far off the level needed to be promoted. 
 

Everything else is secondary. 

[jimbo jones]

None, I’d go nowhere near the club even if I did have multiple millions of pounds in the bank. You’re on a hiding to nothing.

[sage]

I'd have only bought players under Mac1 that fitted the style of play. Danny Graham instead of Bent. Played Dawkins more instead of buying Ince.

Then waited for the abuse from fans saying but look at Ince he scored 12 goals from 94 shots in a team that came 10th.

 

[RoyMac5]

2 hours ago, Tombo said:

He's the best you can ever realistically hope for. Hope you all enjoy being owned by a distant, uncaring businessman who won't put any money in and gives up on the project in 5 years time...

Errr didn't GSE take us to the Play-offs with Mac?

[MackworthRamIsGod]

2 huge mistakes I would have made, I would have trusted Sam Rush with everything and anything, I honestly thought that bloke was the best thing since sliced bread.

I met him once during the crazy away game at Huddersfield and I shook his hand and said "thank you for transforming our club", he responded with "we havent finished yet", it made me so excited....what a git.

The other huge mistake I would have made but from years ago, I honestly thought Murdo Mackay was the good one out of all of them, he seemed to talk a good game and seemed to care, I'd have trusted him with the clubs coffers.

So, basically, if it was down to me, our club would be in admin, destroyed or full of Nick Blackmans running round like headless chickens.

[CornwallRam]

I'd have done exactly the same as Mel for the first year.

McClaren had certainly earned another year, The Newcastle situation made his position untenable and Mel was 100% correct to have sacked him.

From there I'd have hired Nigel Pearson. I'd have said to him that he had a free hand but I expected promotion within two years - when Pearson was hired, Mel set certain parameters which restricted Pearson - bring through youngsters and don't change the playing style etc. Pearson has said that his biggest mistake was the terms he agreed to when taking our job. He ended up being Pearson-lite and it was a disaster.

If I'd have then received a delegation from the players, I'd have asked them when they were handing in their transfer request, then suggested to the manager that we get rid of them all.

Would that have been a mistake? We'll never know.

[DarkFruitsRam7]

1 hour ago, nottingram said:

we went top on Boxing Day

The heady days of being top on Boxing Day?