24/09/2019 The start of the decline.

[Rev]

We all remember that night, high jinks and beers before climbing drunken into cars just before midnight and playing dodgems.

We've been on the slippery slope downwards ever since. 

Tom and Mason up before the beak, others not coming out well from the videos and pictures taken on the night.

Yet I think the worse consequence of that night was the decision to relieve Keogh of his employment.

I'd have been tempted to do likewise mind, him being club captain and all, but I think it's driven a wedge between the dressing room and the executive management which is lingering to this day. 

I think sacking him has been counter productive for dressing room spirit, and has loosened the bond between players and staff. 

I suspect it undermined Cocu, who I'm pretty sure wasn't in favour of such action, and the players left behind lost a little bit of respect for him not being able to intervene.

A case of saving the pennies short term, and costing the club a lot more in the long run.

 

[RadioactiveWaste]

I'd rather have Keogh captain the side than "England's greatest ever goalscorer" - at least he cared about DCFC.

The whole incident was bad at all levels of the club.

 

[Rammy03]

Whether it was the right decision or not, we really do miss him in this team, someone with leadership, someone who lives and breathes Derby county. He would not put up with what's happening at the moment

[Carl Sagan]

I think you're right it's the moment of decline but disagree that it was wrong to sack Keogh, the club captain.

The most significant factor in that decline has been the loss of such a fine Championship centre half and our inability to recruit a replacement. But whether or not Keogh had been sacked he couldn't have played for us. 

If I were Mel, losing money hand over fist, I wouldn't have been happy to pay some idiot more than a million quid, simply to spend his days in our treatment room for a self-inflicted injury. I'd have sacked him too, and Bennett, Lawrence and Hudflestone for that matter. 

[Rev]

Just now, Carl Sagan said:

I think you're right it's the moment of decline but disagree that it was wrong to sack Keogh, the club captain.

The most significant factor in that decline has been the loss of such a fine Championship centre half and our inability to recruit a replacement. But whether or not Keogh had been sacked he couldn't have played for us. 

If I were Mel, losing money hand over fist, I wouldn't have been happy to pay some idiot more than a million quid, simply to spend his days in our treatment room for a self-inflicted injury. I'd have sacked him too, and Bennett, Lawrence and Hudflestone for that matter. 

That would have made sense, Bennett and Lawrence in particular, but to make an example of Keogh because it was convenient financially crossed a line with the pampered ones.

Would you have sacked the then youth player involved too?

[Carl Sagan]

1 minute ago, Rev said:

That would have made sense, Bennett and Lawrence in particular, but to make an example of Keogh because it was convenient financially crossed a line with the pampered ones.

Would you have sacked the then youth player involved too?

I don't know who you're talking about. Bennett, Lawrence and Keogh for getting into the cars and Huddlestone for sharing the videos, all clear cases of bringing the club into disrepute. 

[StaffsRam]

The whole affair was handled extremely poorly.

I wouldn’t have sacked Keogh. I’d have taken the captaincy off him but I wouldn’t have sacked him.

Lawrence and Bennett on the other hand I’d have had out the door at the earliest opportunity.

I agree with Carl tho. Whether it was right or wrong to sack him, we simply haven’t replaced him. There is zero leadership on the pitch now. None.

[Jourdan]

6.8.2019 was the beginning for me.

A day after a hard-fought win versus Huddersfield and a positive start to Cocu’s reign, all of the talk should have been about a good performance and it being the springboard for a positive season.

Instead, yet another sideshow began.

The signing of Rooney was the start of the decline in my eyes. ‘PR FC, the team for me’ was the chant of the day.

As a club, it became clear that we were unequivocally more interested in ruffling feathers, having the EFL and other clubs ‘on strings’, and making headlines rather than quietly going about our business, making shrewd decisions and getting results on the pitch.

Ever since then, we have just lurched from one bad call to the next, culminating in the managerial committee being at the helm and the club staring League One in the face.

The culture at the club is totally wrong and change is needed and rapidly so.

[sunnyhill60]

29 minutes ago, StaffsRam said:

The whole affair was handled extremely poorly.

I wouldn’t have sacked Keogh. I’d have taken the captaincy off him but I wouldn’t have sacked him.

Lawrence and Bennett on the other hand I’d have had out the door at the earliest opportunity.

I agree with Carl tho. Whether it was right or wrong to sack him, we simply haven’t replaced him. There is zero leadership on the pitch now. None.

Keogh has played how many games for his new club? He could not have contributed to us 2019/20 after the incident. Sacking him made no difference -zilch! He showed no leadership on the night out.

We haven't replaced him in the sense of a leader on the pitch but compared to not replacing Martin it is insignificant.

The decline started with the appointment of Lampard's replacement. How many exciting, memorable games since then? The last game before lockdown was one of the few, Martin man of the match. Cocu was a round peg in a square hole, not his fault.

Mel has had as much success with managers as Henry VIII had with wives

[Angry Ram]

It went wrong when a supporter took over the club.  
He got swept up in the euphoria of owning his club and forgot everything that got him to where he was. Irrational decisions, sound bites, look at me interviews, the adulation but really the worst thing he’s ever done for himself and the club. 
Never mind everyone said, he’s one of our own, a local boy made good. Yeah right, poo decisions from word one. The Derby Way, this direction, that direction, failing to address things that were obvious. Spending etc. Kid in a bloody sweet shop. Romantic decisions instead of business decisions. 

[REDCAR]

Blame me.... that’s my birthday 

Redcar OUT!!!

[DarkFruitsRam7]

5 hours ago, Carl Sagan said:

The most significant factor in that decline has been the loss of such a fine Championship centre half and our inability to recruit a replacement.

This. I'm hesitant to say whether or not we've missed his leadership, as I have no idea whether or not he was a good leader, nor do I know whether he was a positive or negative influence behind the scenes.

I'm also sympathetic with the decision to get rid. No matter which way you look at it, his stupidity that night prevented him from being able to fulfil his contract, and there was certainly justification for terminating his contract.

But we miss him massively on the pitch. He hadn't been 'error-prone' like people made out for years. Since the 2014-15 season, he'd consistently been one of the best defenders in the Championship. He wasn't without his flaws (not amazing in the air and we always seemed to be poor at defending set pieces with him in the side), but his general defensive game and ability to bring the ball out from the back are things we've missed massively in the last year or so.

[Gritstone Ram]

The signing of Rooney is like the signing of Ravenelli a waste of money for a name. It’s a bit like buying a designer shirt etc you are paying for the name. Bring on the Primarny league one dross.

[Tyler Durden]

Be ironic if we're playing against Keogh next season.

[Coneheadjohn]

Not making a judgment on Keogh because I would need to know all the facts and I’m conflicted on the bits I know.

I do know we would be better with him leading us on the pitch.

He woulohave this nonsense.

[ThePrisoner]

31 minutes ago, Tyler Durden said:

Be ironic if we're playing against Keogh next season.

I dunno, they might get promoted. 

[Coneheadjohn]

36 minutes ago, Coneheadjohn said:

He woulohave this nonsense.

Wouldn’t have(berk)

[Millenniumram]

Agree that night is where it all started to go wrong, but I’d take a different view on things. I still maintain we should have sacked the lot of them. They showed a total lack of respect for the club with the way they conducted themselves, and proved that they were not the sort of characters we want at this football club. Should have cleared out those who don’t give a duck about this club. Keeping them on sent out the wrong message, especially when we brought them almost straight back into the first team fold. Almost made it look acceptable to act the way they did. And that leads where we are now, with a team full of half arsed muppets who don’t give a damn about their performance.

[S8TY]

4 minutes ago, Millenniumram said:

Agree that night is where it all started to go wrong, but I’d take a different view on things. I still maintain we should have sacked the lot of them. They showed a total lack of respect for the club with the way they conducted themselves, and proved that they were not the sort of characters we want at this football club. Should have cleared out those who don’t give a duck about this club. Keeping them on sent out the wrong message, especially when we brought them almost straight back into the first team fold. Almost made it look acceptable to act the way they did. And that leads where we are now, with a team full of half arsed muppets who don’t give a damn about their performance.

Agree with this and think maybe there are a few other players who don't share our emotions regarding our club....we seem to have our fair share of rotten apples and I'm not sure we have the correct person in Mel to make some very important decisions that must be made NOW! I agree with another poster that if Mel was not a fan would we be so forgiving of his decisions....I feel for Mel because his intentions are good no doubt but we need a clear out ...starting with the coaches and get a proper manager in like Paul Cook who knows what hard work is all about ....has never had chance at a big club ......deserves a chance but not with current coaching team....we are in a mess and not sure we will get out of it if big bold decisions are not made soon.....sad times ?

[LittleEatonRam]

6 hours ago, Jourdan said:

6.8.2019 was the beginning for me.

A day after a hard-fought win versus Huddersfield and a positive start to Cocu’s reign, all of the talk should have been about a good performance and it being the springboard for a positive season.

Instead, yet another sideshow began.

The signing of Rooney was the start of the decline in my eyes. ‘PR FC, the team for me’ was the chant of the day.

As a club, it became clear that we were unequivocally more interested in ruffling feathers, having the EFL and other clubs ‘on strings’, and making headlines rather than quietly going about our business, making shrewd decisions and getting results on the pitch.

Ever since then, we have just lurched from one bad call to the next, culminating in the managerial committee being at the helm and the club staring League One in the face.

The culture at the club is totally wrong and change is needed and rapidly so.

Spot on.

Cocu was hired on the basis that his was a long-term, 'heads down and do the hard work' project, only for Morris to jettison that in favour of buying some magic beans at the first opportunity. He just can't resist something shiny, can he? Cocu must have felt like he'd been mis-sold the job as soon as Rooney was mentioned. 

This celebrity worship, coupled with financial mismanagement, has been the signature of Morris's tenure at DCFC. What astounds me is the number of our fans who still regard him as some kind of brilliant deal maker because he finds loopholes to avoid punishments. "We've sold the ground to avoid FFP penalties. Mel's done it again - what a genius! Steve Gibson will be fuming!" Well Gibson is having the last laugh now. It's not genius when you keep having to pull rabbits out of hats to keep the authorities off your back. It's a sign that you've lost control and dug yourself a hole you're struggling to get out of.

I know you weren't Cocu's biggest fan and I get why. Some of the criticism directed his way is certainly valid. But for me we never got to see what it would really have been like under him because from day one he had to put up with a total circus that was the making of the Chairman.