Mel Morris interview on Radio Derby 1pm

[G STAR RAM]

5 minutes ago, ketteringram said:

It isn't the EFL's job to pay debts the club have run up.

No, I agree, but if they do it for the other 23 clubs in the division but not us then it puts us at a disadvantage. 

[atherstoneram]

1 minute ago, G STAR RAM said:

Can I see your evidence that we were behind on HMRC payments before Covid?

The EFL could have always paid the £8.3m direct to HMRC but I am guessing that would hace been way too difficult for them to work out for themselves.

If you read what I say, you will see that I say the buck stops with MM and he should do the honorable thing and clear all debts acrrued during his tenure, not quite sure how that makes me brainwashed?

I'm glad that you agree that calling someone a ........... lover makes them look silly ?

Have you evidence that we weren't.  

  https://www.efl.com/news/2021/september/efl-statement-Derby-county2/

 

[RoyMac5]

8 hours ago, Ghost of Clough said:

Derby with zero 'TV money' is still over £21m in a normal season. Which would still be about 35th highest in the country.

?

And we spent it all wisely. I don't see how anyone can excuse Mel for being so reckless with the club! But what is absolutely galling is his constant excuse-making. If he'd kept a better eye on the budget we wouldn't be in such a mess, and we could have had the covid loan! We would probably still have a stadium and wouldn't be in administration.

[Spanish]

1 hour ago, G STAR RAM said:

Our experience now, with the benefit of hindsight, is that we lost a lot of money on average players.

When we signed them, would you have predicted that Johnson, Butterfield, Wisdom would all leave for £0?

That is where accounting estimate come into play.

Not sure what you see as reckless? The hit to P&S was exactly the same no matter which method was used and I've seen nothing to suggest all of the losses were pitched into the final year, have you?

when during the life of their contracts did any of us stop believing they were worth what we paid for them, I'd guess between y2 and y3.  I cant speak for everyone but I would like to here from anybody who thought we were going to get any sort of return on Butterfield for example.

Final year, I think there is an example in DC1 but I may be wrong.  I am not engaging in bs passive aggressive debating here.  I am expressing an opinion and I freely admit where I am spinning it a bit.  We rapidly realised we paid over the odds, the only way to avoid a P&S penalty in one of our close but no cigar seasons was to some how limit the annual hit.  You may not think we carried pretty much the players full valuation to y4 (in a 5 year contract) but I suspect that is what we did.  Why come up with a hybrid scheme if it provides no benefit.

[RoyMac5]

16 minutes ago, CornwallRam said:

I'm not sure we know that though, without accounts. The charge isn't just limited to the stadium. 

Is that what you take from Mel's statement where they were thanked?

[G STAR RAM]

6 minutes ago, atherstoneram said:

Have you evidence that we weren't.  

  https://www.efl.com/news/2021/september/efl-statement-Derby-county2/

No but I'd have thought if you're giving us the reasons why we didnt get the loan you would have seen evidence to back it up, unless you just take everything the EFL say at face value?

[derbydaz22]

17 minutes ago, Ramos said:

Am I the only one who remembers the club stating cocu had agreed not to take his pay (or take it reduced?) or was that a classic case of what someone mentioned above, where something gets said and then it’s passed on as fact? Or is this 4M or so the reduced version as stated at the time? 
 

Or is all this just a BAD DREAM?! 

Yes I remember at the time the club said he did the honourable thing and the pay off was on reduced terms.

[atherstoneram]

Just now, G STAR RAM said:

No but I'd have thought if you're giving us the reasons why we didnt get the loan you would have seen evidence to back it up, unless you just take everything the EFL say at face value?

I don't have to give reasons why we didn't get it,it is there in Black and White for all to see. No i don't take everything at face value the EFL says.If the club had been run better and not in such a financial mess then we would have got it. 

[kevinhectoring]

37 minutes ago, Crewton said:

I don't think there's any debt relating to the stadium sitting in DCFC Ltd - the club sold it to another unconnected company. If anything, I suspect that they're owed money from the sale. 

As I recall the club guaranteed the debt raised by the stadium company. But the fact is we don’t know who owes what not least because all the filings are opaque 

[G STAR RAM]

5 minutes ago, atherstoneram said:

I don't have to give reasons why we didn't get it,it is there in Black and White for all to see. No i don't take everything at face value the EFL says.If the club had been run better and not in such a financial mess then we would have got it. 

The same with most other clubs, if they were properly run none of them would beedwn emergency loan, yet it would appear they all got one.

As Ive said I dont blame anyone other than MM and Pearce for the situation we are in but not to even question the motives of the EFL shows that some people just have an agenda.

[Red Ram]

29 minutes ago, Van der MoodHoover said:

On the debt, whatever the number, there are a load of minute rules around repayment. 

Generally, it seems that there are minimum thresholds of offers we have to make (35p in the pound for hmrc I think is one example) and have maximum periods over which to clear the debts. 

Plus, we cannot continue to weaken the position for creditors ie by continuing being cashflow negative. 

If we fail any of those tests we face the prospect of liquidation. 

HMRC have to be paid in full (there was a rule change in December 2020) as do MSD. They both have preferred creditor status.

See https://www.football365.com/news/Derby-county-administration-failure-opinion

Edited September 20, 2021 by Red Ram

[Tamworthram]

8 minutes ago, G STAR RAM said:

The same with most other clubs, if they were properly run none of them would beedwn emergency loan, yet it would appear they all got one.

As Ive said I dont blame anyone other than MM and Pearce for the situation we are in but not to even question the motives of the EFL shows that some people just have an agenda.

It would have been very difficult for even the best run club in the championship to have foreseen, and made provisions for, the catastrophic financial impact of Covid 19. That’s why most clubs needed the loan. (Same with Bounce Back loans for other businesses - a project I worked on for one of the banks involved. There were plenty of viable and well run businesses that needed help under those extreme circumstances). We didn’t get the loan because we fell foul of the conditions “The fund is not available to any club in breach, or suspected breach, of EFL regulations…..”

[Crewton]

9 minutes ago, Red Ram said:

HMRC have to be paid in full (there was a rule change in December 2020) as do MSD. They have both preferred creditor status.

See https://www.football365.com/news/Derby-county-administration-failure-opinion

Unless this is an EFL rule change you're referring to, HMRC don't "have" to be paid in full. They take each case on its merit. Being secondary preferential creditor does little for them unless the primary pc is paid in full. If they're satisfied a new owner and management have a robust plan for future compliance, they will consider supporting a CVA with a lesser return for them. Ultimately, they know they'll get nothing from a liquidation so digging their heels in pedantically is only going to disadvantage the treasury. 

[CornwallRam]

48 minutes ago, Ramos said:

Am I the only one who remembers the club stating cocu had agreed not to take his pay (or take it reduced?) or was that a classic case of what someone mentioned above, where something gets said and then it’s passed on as fact? Or is this 4M or so the reduced version as stated at the time? 
 

Or is all this just a BAD DREAM?! 

No, it was certainly rumoured at the time. But then again Mel and Pearce also said that we were well inside FFP.

[simmoram1995]

So had time to reflect on his interview yesterday. 
 

My opinion of the bloke has not changed in the slightest on a number of grounds 

 

1st - he had to have pliers pulling out an apology from him that sounded forced , cold and meaningless 

 

2nd- justification for overspending was other teams  that got promotion mostly did it great way to be a sustainable club you bald pillock

3rd- basically admitted gambling on Derby’s future at the expense of a buyer potentially returning with another offer 

4th - complete liar and bullshitter licking Rooneys ass as a coach but doesn’t have the spine or guts to tell him straight or inform him about the administration 

5th-  complaining about COVID multiple times and whining and not taking any responsibility unless pressured to by Dawes 

 

that’s just 5 points and there’s many more 

[atherstoneram]

Just now, G STAR RAM said:

The same with most other clubs, if they were properly run none of them would beedwn emergency loan, yet it would appear they all got one.

As Ive said I dont blame anyone other than MM and Pearce for the situation we are in but not to even question the motives of the EFL shows that some people just have an agenda.

At least we agree on one thing regarding the situation we are in which is crippling and could ruin the club.  I honestly don't have any agenda whatsoever. The EFL didn't suggest to MM which players to buy, i don't think the EFL encouraged MM to get the club in such a financial mess. O f course people can question the EFL, i can't see what motives they have because i don't see why people claim they have a vendetta against us. To me it was a win at any cost and by any means gamble by MM and along the way made enemies. The gamble lost and now people are calling him out

[Tamworthram]

21 minutes ago, Red Ram said:

HMRC have to be paid in full (there was a rule change in December 2020) as do MSD. They both have preferred creditor status.

See https://www.football365.com/news/Derby-county-administration-failure-opinion

I might be wrong but I think the rule change making HMRC a preferential creditor applies when a business actually enters liquidation/insolvency. Effectively moving them up the pecking order of creditors if there are insufficient assets to clear all debts. Having said that, I can’t imagine HMRC agreeing (nor should they) a reduction in the debt during the administration process designed to avoid liquidation.

[RoyMac5]

1 hour ago, G STAR RAM said:

No but I'd have thought if you're giving us the reasons why we didnt get the loan you would have seen evidence to back it up, unless you just take everything the EFL say at face value?

I thought the loan refusal was because of our embargo status, which was down to a few things?

[Macintosh]

Those that listened to the live broadcast on Radio Derby today, the lady that wanted to point out that although she has lost her job, and has been with the club for 30 years, she was glowing in her praise for what Mel has done for the club. She jumped on her bike at 7.30am and wanted fans to know that, appalled by all the keyboard warriors, especially on Facebook.

 

Festy Ebosele could easily have turned down the new contract and gone elsewhere like one other did. We could have accepted the Buchanan bid or made it known we have several young starts available at bargain prices. It appears we did turn down a multi-million approach from WBA for Lawrence. When Derby brought in their loan signings in January, those £1.6m wages came out of Mel's pocket, not from fans' season ticket purchases – because there were none.

 

I'd like to think that the potential purchaser told Mel to put the club in administration and in a few weeks many on here will be putting forward a transfer wish list they want the club to sign, with little thought about the financial side yet again, and when they get fed up of a manager they'll be saying sack him, bring in another, bugger the financial consequences.

[LittleEatonRam]

16 hours ago, Papahet said:

Sounds like a narcissist to be honest.

“Blame everything and everyone but me”

Its been a circus since he came in - I’ve been berated for years because it was obvious he was taking us into a financial mess and the club would eventually come to a stand still. 

The ridiculous long term contracts, the manager merry go rounds, the pretty much bad monthly tabloids about us. 
 

This was way before Covid mate 

Yep. Some people recognised this early on, most didn't. 

My concern crystallised when we signed Shackell back for about £2.5m rising to a potential £4m. We then gave him a three year deal, meaning it would expire when he was 35. Given that he came from a PL club the wage wouldn't have been buttons. I just thought that was madness, but the consensus was 'if he helps us go up it's worth it'. That kind of logic used over and over again has led to this.

In a way I don't blame people for getting swept up it it all, but the lack of questioning of it all at the time amazed me given how recently GSE had steady the ship after the last round of reckless spending.