To blame Derby fans for DCFC problems is nonsensical

[Alph]

I was fed up of GSE and Co. All their "look at Portsmouth" talk while asking Nigel to sell one league 1 bargain to buy another. 

It was boring. Football is entertainment, no? It's not a duty or anything. And the slipping attendances at the time will show you what happens when there's no excitement and lots of stability. Feck GSE and Glick. The alternative to a Barker type fee isn't 7 to 10mil on 3 or 4 players and triple pay rises. 

 

And actually fans did question the sustainability. @rammieibremember when we went to that fans forum thing? And Mel and Pearce were quite smug with themselves.

Also it wasn't as simple as "did you think buying x for £x was actually good business sense"

I don't feel irresponsible for buying Butterfield and Johnson. I don't feel stupid for not questioning it. Mel said it was all OK. What do I know about fees, instalments, wage bills, accounts, TV rights that Mel was wrestling with. And even if I did feel nervous then what are am I supposed to do? Organise a protest?

Imagine in the pre season of Clement someone posting "All this spending will ruin us" thread. 

I don't expect my family and friends to stand in my way when I'm spending my money. "I've done the calculations mate and you can't possibly afford that holiday" 

Mel and Pearce had the money, the accounts and the accountants. As did GSE. You trust these people to do their absolute best for Derby as a football club. I don't think either did. I think GSE ran it as a business and forgot exactly what it was they bought. It's sport/entertainment and that's the bit they didn't get. 

Sure, we wouldn't be in this mess now. But saying "look at Portsmouth and Rangers" as often as Glick did only made people question whether they actually enjoy going to football. The atmosphere at the time was so flat. 

[angieram]

48 minutes ago, Alpha said:

I was fed up of GSE and Co. All their "look at Portsmouth" talk while asking Nigel to sell one league 1 bargain to buy another. 

It was boring. Football is entertainment, no? It's not a duty or anything. And the slipping attendances at the time will show you what happens when there's no excitement and lots of stability. Feck GSE and Glick. The alternative to a Barker type fee isn't 7 to 10mil on 3 or 4 players and triple pay rises. 

 

And actually fans did question the sustainability. @rammieibremember when we went to that fans forum thing? And Mel and Pearce were quite smug with themselves.

Also it wasn't as simple as "did you think buying x for £x was actually good business sense"

I don't feel irresponsible for buying Butterfield and Johnson. I don't feel stupid for not questioning it. Mel said it was all OK. What do I know about fees, instalments, wage bills, accounts, TV rights that Mel was wrestling with. And even if I did feel nervous then what are am I supposed to do? Organise a protest?

Imagine in the pre season of Clement someone posting "All this spending will ruin us" thread. 

I don't expect my family and friends to stand in my way when I'm spending my money. "I've done the calculations mate and you can't possibly afford that holiday" 

Mel and Pearce had the money, the accounts and the accountants. As did GSE. You trust these people to do their absolute best for Derby as a football club. I don't think either did. I think GSE ran it as a business and forgot exactly what it was they bought. It's sport/entertainment and that's the bit they didn't get. 

Sure, we wouldn't be in this mess now. But saying "look at Portsmouth and Rangers" as often as Glick did only made people question whether they actually enjoy going to football. The atmosphere at the time was so flat. 

I'm really pleased you posted that because this was the feeling I remember from the majority of Derby supporters at the time.

I am sure there will be the usual intellectual armchair analysts on here denying this, but people who were at the games, home and away, at the time, were frustrated by a combination of conservative ownership and a manager who liked to play football with the handbrake on. We were never too sure which was most at fault for the stagnation that we thought was setting in, but they seemed inextricably linked.

Looking back, we were closer than we thought to getting it right, and looking forward, we need to remember that when we get frustrated again.

Ironically, in Rooney I think we have another manager who likes to play football with the handbrake on. Maybe him and a sensible new owner is just what we need in these troubled times.

[Alph]

2 hours ago, angieram said:

I'm really pleased you posted that because this was the feeling I remember from the majority of Derby supporters at the time.

I am sure there will be the usual intellectual armchair analysts on here denying this, but people who were at the games, home and away, at the time, were frustrated by a combination of conservative ownership and a manager who liked to play football with the handbrake on. We were never too sure which was most at fault for the stagnation that we thought was setting in, but they seemed inextricably linked.

Looking back, we were closer than we thought to getting it right, and looking forward, we need to remember that when we get frustrated again.

Ironically, in Rooney I think we have another manager who likes to play football with the handbrake on. Maybe him and a sensible new owner is just what we need in these troubled times.

I think fans were very fair with GSE. 

When we came down there was no real belief in bouncing back. We all quickly accepted that cost cutting a rebuilding was going to be the way. But then it got to a point where people felt we'd done the graft and Nigel needed some funds. But all they ever said was "Portsmouth and Rangers"

Got to a point where people started to feel that they were chucking their cash into the club with little return. You're not really paying to watch a match are you? You're paying for effort, entertainment and on the basis that you show support and the club shows it's best efforts

After a while it started to feel like the club wasn't really doing it's best. Just kind of plodding along and hoping. Which in any other industry that's probably sensible. In sports though you're expected to provide fans with a reason to keep coming. They aren't a horde of zombies. As we saw the attendances drop it proved that people had quite had enough of Derby just plodding on. Remember there were even small protests. 

Easy to look back and say we were better off back then. But that doesn't mean the alternative is to pay Anya fortunes for feck all. 

It's like when some of us had an issue with Rowett. Some said "We didn't play like Barcelona so some won't be happy" 

There's a huge gap between Rowett and Barca. And a huge gap between GSE and Administration. 

Somewhere between those extremes will probably please the majority. Derby fans don't deserve to see their team in League 1 because of balance sheets. If there's anything Derby fans actually deserve its Billy Sharp giving them some grief kind of thing 

In my opinion anyway. For what it's worth ? 

[Dean (hick) Saunders]

On 11/11/2021 at 14:24, 86 Hair Islands said:

Who's blaming the fans? Saw one silly thread a while back, but otherwise this topic seems like much ado about nothing. 

Monsiour Pop from OTIB.

[i-Ram]

4 hours ago, angieram said:

I'm really pleased you posted that because this was the feeling I remember from the majority of Derby supporters at the time.

I am sure there will be the usual intellectual armchair analysts on here denying this, but people who were at the games, home and away, at the time, were frustrated by a combination of conservative ownership and a manager who liked to play football with the handbrake on. We were never too sure which was most at fault for the stagnation that we thought was setting in, but they seemed inextricably linked.

Looking back, we were closer than we thought to getting it right, and looking forward, we need to remember that when we get frustrated again.

Ironically, in Rooney I think we have another manager who likes to play football with the handbrake on. Maybe him and a sensible new owner is just what we need in these troubled times.

Oi Oi Saveloy!

[G-Ram]

Didn't GSE get to a playoff final playing the best football we'd seen in years ?‍♂️

It was rubbish watching years of steadying the ship with clough but it was needs must. 

In hindsight we should have just stuck mac 1. Sacking managers & changing styles was no good. 

[rufus]

On 11/11/2021 at 21:15, 86 Hair Islands said:

What's ridiculous is fans insisting that they are being blamed when they are not. Literally nobody is making that point!

Yes, that was my point ! I was replying to the op.

[Comrade 86]

30 minutes ago, rufus said:

Yes, that was my point ! I was replying to the op.

Apologies if I misunderstood your post mate

[Alph]

5 hours ago, G-Ram said:

Didn't GSE get to a playoff final playing the best football we'd seen in years ?‍♂️

It was rubbish watching years of steadying the ship with clough but it was needs must. 

In hindsight we should have just stuck mac 1. Sacking managers & changing styles was no good. 

It was after the villain Sam Rush came on board. We then eventually dropped a couple of Barker type fees on Thorne. 

[Van der MoodHoover]

1 hour ago, Alpha said:

It was after the villain Sam Rush came on board. We then eventually dropped a couple of Barker type fees on Thorne. 

Couple of barker fees plus a DFS buy now pay later over many years type of deal all rolled into one.... ?

[Yani P]

Like DFS without the sale price?

[rammieib]

On 13/11/2021 at 07:42, Alpha said:

I was fed up of GSE and Co. All their "look at Portsmouth" talk while asking Nigel to sell one league 1 bargain to buy another. 

It was boring. Football is entertainment, no? It's not a duty or anything. And the slipping attendances at the time will show you what happens when there's no excitement and lots of stability. Feck GSE and Glick. The alternative to a Barker type fee isn't 7 to 10mil on 3 or 4 players and triple pay rises. 

 

And actually fans did question the sustainability. @rammieibremember when we went to that fans forum thing? And Mel and Pearce were quite smug with themselves.

Also it wasn't as simple as "did you think buying x for £x was actually good business sense"

I don't feel irresponsible for buying Butterfield and Johnson. I don't feel stupid for not questioning it. Mel said it was all OK. What do I know about fees, instalments, wage bills, accounts, TV rights that Mel was wrestling with. And even if I did feel nervous then what are am I supposed to do? Organise a protest?

Imagine in the pre season of Clement someone posting "All this spending will ruin us" thread. 

I don't expect my family and friends to stand in my way when I'm spending my money. "I've done the calculations mate and you can't possibly afford that holiday" 

Mel and Pearce had the money, the accounts and the accountants. As did GSE. You trust these people to do their absolute best for Derby as a football club. I don't think either did. I think GSE ran it as a business and forgot exactly what it was they bought. It's sport/entertainment and that's the bit they didn't get. 

Sure, we wouldn't be in this mess now. But saying "look at Portsmouth and Rangers" as often as Glick did only made people question whether they actually enjoy going to football. The atmosphere at the time was so flat. 

I enjoyed the ride, and didn't feel any signing at the time was a 'bad' player. I thought Johnson was a huge coup. I placed my trust in our ownership, and I think it's fair to say we enjoyed the ride and therefore implicitly trusted MM that it wouldn't ever come to where we are today. I think some fans questioned the spending, the more switched on ones, but were generally happy to go with it as we all thought the promised land would arrive sooner or later.

Sadly, Pearce I would rather suspect is out of a job soon. Ultimately, a company has gone into administration on his watch. Doesn't look good on the CV. Whether he did or didn't ever question MM, maybe we will only find out in future years but he has ultimately failed as much as MM has.

When (if) we get a new owner I hope SP leaves without it costing us a fortune. I'm not sure if it will be as easy as just making him redundant on notice pay....

[Pearl Ram]

I’m sure the salary Mr Pearce has earned during his employment at the club plus any severance pay due will ensure he’s more comfortable financially than those who were in the first batch of redundancies.

Forgive me shedding no tears over his fate.