The Administration Thread

[CBX1985]

1 minute ago, David said:

This is where any conversation should start and end.

The most important thing right now is saving this football club, if thats Clowes, Ashley, Appleby or even Kirchner, we should be extremely grateful.

Millions are being spent on a club that has little more than ourselves, the money it’s going to cost to purchase this club could potentially buy or even own a major percentage of clubs in the league above.

It makes zero business sense buying this football club, none what so ever, so whoever it is that completes the purchase, we should be eternally grateful as we have been far too close to losing this club that means so much to us all. 

 

Indeed.  The fact that the vulture-buyers, i.e. doing it on commercial terms, have been overlooked suggests he is going out on a limb.  I suggest he is doing this to save the club as much as anything.  

I don't think we can expect initial glory days.  He will likely want to get promoted, pay down debt, run a tight ship for several years - and then sell at break even.  

I just hope fans don't turn on him for not turning on the taps.  

 

[CBRammette]

So if Mr Clowes is a fan, the real question is is he a poster on here?!

[Guest]

28 minutes ago, kevinhectoring said:

Don’t think MA is a teaming up sort of guy. And would DC want him as a co-investor !! ?

AA may be, not least because he might not have found enough investors and he’s used to running consortiums

have no idea about SM. 

As others have said, DC is saving our bacon, he’s not mad keen to buy. So his plan may be to buy the stadium. Then to make a binding offer for the club so that q can say to the other bidders: it’s yours if you outbid DC   

You "don't think" - agreed.

"Would DC want him as a co-investor?" - only DC knows Kevin.

"AA maybe" - but then again maybe not Kevin.

"have no idea about SM" - we understand Kevin because you have no idea about a lot of things.

"DC is saving our bacon, he's not mad keen to buy" - How do you know this Kevin - has he told you so?

"So his plan may be to buy the stadium" - from the events of the past two weeks we all think that is a definite.

......"Then to make a binding offer for the club so that q can say to the other bidders: it’s yours if you outbid DC." - how do you know this? Are you guessing? But if the others then don't outbid him then he's stuck with a football club that you don't think he's mad keen to buy, Kevin.

This whole process is very tiresome for all of us Kevin after nine months but I think it's sent you round the bend and by passing your thoughts on to the rest of us, there is a grave danger that you will send others on here round the bend too.

For the sake of Ramskind please desist. 

[B4ev6is]

16 minutes ago, CBRammette said:

So if Mr Clowes is a fan, the real question is is he a poster on here?!

He could well be mate

[B4ev6is]

I think he will  be mad keen to be honest.

[Ambitious]

19 minutes ago, CBRammette said:

So if Mr Clowes is a fan, the real question is is he a poster on here?!

Really hope it’s inveruine ram - he would revolutionise the musical side of the club! 

[B4ev6is]

18 minutes ago, Ambitious said:

Really hope it’s inveruine ram - he would revolutionise the musical side of the club! 

I am looking forward I know is said wednesday but you never know that might and could be done tommrow I hope so.

[Tombo]

1 hour ago, David said:

This is where any conversation should start and end.

The most important thing right now is saving this football club, if thats Clowes, Ashley, Appleby or even Kirchner, we should be extremely grateful.

Millions are being spent on a club that has little more than ourselves, the money it’s going to cost to purchase this club could potentially buy or even own a major stake in most Championship clubs.

It makes zero business sense buying this football club, none what so ever, so whoever it is that completes the purchase, we should be eternally grateful as we have been far too close to losing this club that means so much to us all. 

 

A man who buys a football club is either mighty brave, or mighty stupid

I don't mind which he is, I'm just glad someone is taking the plunge.

[Comrade 86]

Quick bit of research yields the following:

The combined cash at bank value for all businesses where DAVID CLOWES holds a current appointment equals £30m, a combined total current assets value of £536m with a total current liabilities of £137m and a total current net worth of £346m. My guess would be that while David is the front man, the new owners will effectively be the Clowes family as a whole.

For those already worrying that he / they have insufficient net worth to run a club like Derby, consider the relative wealth of Brentford owner Matthew Benham, a tiny fraction of the Clowes fortune. Consider too that Benham had to borrow £700k to fund the majority shareholding he took when he bought Brentford in 2012. Like Clowes, Benham too, is a lifelong fan of the club he has now established in the Premiership. Not all 'fan-owners' then are of Morris' ilk, so let's be balanced in our thinking. Some may say Benham is an outlier and an anomaly but the facts do not bear out this opinion. My view is rather that he simply adopted a model by which even clubs with modest fan bases can operate without losses AND enjoy success. For interest's sake, some net worth figures for a few Premiership club owners, correct as of 10/2021:

Brentford – Matthew Benham (£3m)

Norwich - Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones (£23m)

Burnley – Mike Garlick (£62m)

Watford – Gino Pozzo (£93m)

Leeds – Andrea Radrizzani (£344m)

If Clowes is successful in his bid, then let's then give the man a chance to show that he intends to run the club in the way it could and should be run. There is absolutely no reason that DCFC can not break even within a few years and then turn a profit from then on. Look at the 30K +++ crowds that turned up towards the end of a post-Covid season with the team nigh on certain to be relegated. There are few clubs in the entire league that would top those numbers and the willingness of the fans to get behind the club, aligned to a measured and analytical approach to recruitment, can prove to be the cornerstones upon which a resurgent Derby County can be built. Our support was the absolute envy of the League last season, despite 3 years of ever gathering gloom and ill conceived hostility from outsiders who chose to hate before they thought. Let's not forget that. Equally, let's be respectful to and supportive of the players who ran through walls for us, even those who now choose move to pastures new. We should be, and I believe most are, grateful for what was a herculean effort from a team where a good few were earning a fraction of the wages they could command elsewhere and all played week in, week out under immense levels of pressure and uncertainty. They gave us all they had and IMO, they now owe us nothing.

Let's also look out for each other; I've tried to remain calm and upbeat throughout the last couple of years as have most, but the strain of the last few months has understandably stretched nerves to breaking point. A lot of us have expressed anger and lashed out and I'm one of them, but the truth is that lashing out at those around the process, or worse still, at other fans, serves literally no purpose. I should know better.

As we now look to the future then, akin to most fans, I suspect, I remain concerned that this may prove yet another false dawn, but this does have a rather different feel about it. We will know by this time next week whether the deal has legs, at which point we can hopefully once again begin to dream about a more positive future for the club, the fans and the wider community. In essence, the healing process can begin. Of course I am hugely biased in my view, but it's something I strongly believe; there is something quite unique and special about this club of ours, even in the darkest of times. They say that it's always darkest before the dawn and I'm sure I can see some narrow slithers of light ahead and this for the first time in several years. Perhaps a bright and beautiful new dawn will follow, perhaps something less than that, but let's try to be present, upbeat and supportive and not simply look to others. We have a huge role to play if we choose to accept it and these next few years could be some of the best in long while if we temper our expectations and rediscover the unity and passion we showed when times were hardest.

[Colombo King]

I hope this Clowes has a silver lining. UTR

[Phuket Ram]

8 hours ago, Mick Brolly said:

 

 

 

 

 

So it's definitely one of those or none of them 

Confusing isn't it 

I think it will be Mike Appleby. New guy. 

[mrdave85]

 

5 hours ago, CBRammette said:

So if Mr Clowes is a fan, the real question is is he a poster on here?!

It’s @Curtains

i saw him vent

[Jase116]

Just a thought, but we heard that local businessmen were looking at securing dcfc future short term, just wondering then if this gives other parties more time to get the right deal to purchase dcfc of our (hopefully) new owner??

[i-Ram]

6 hours ago, derby8 said:

Just read n/w £252m in 2018.

All in Brickcoin too.

[Jimbo Ram]

6 hours ago, CBRammette said:

So if Mr Clowes is a fan, the real question is is he a poster on here?!

Damn......no flies on you.....

[i-Ram]

4 hours ago, 86 Hair Islands said:

Quick bit of research yields the following:

The combined cash at bank value for all businesses where DAVID CLOWES holds a current appointment equals £30m, a combined total current assets value of £536m with a total current liabilities of £137m and a total current net worth of £346m. My guess would be that while David is the front man, the new owners will effectively be the Clowes family as a whole.

For those already worrying that he / they have insufficient net worth to run a club like Derby, consider the relative wealth of Brentford owner Matthew Benham, a tiny fraction of the Clowes fortune. Consider too that Benham had to borrow £700k to fund the majority shareholding he took when he bought Brentford in 2012. Like Clowes, Benham too, is a lifelong fan of the club he has now established in the Premiership. Not all 'fan-owners' then are of Morris' ilk, so let's be balanced in our thinking. Some may say Benham is an outlier and an anomaly but the facts do not bear out this opinion. My view is rather that he simply adopted a model by which even clubs with modest fan bases can operate without losses AND enjoy success. For interest's sake, some net worth figures for a few Premiership club owners, correct as of 10/2021:

Brentford – Matthew Benham (£3m)

Norwich - Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones (£23m)

Burnley – Mike Garlick (£62m)

Watford – Gino Pozzo (£93m)

Leeds – Andrea Radrizzani (£344m)

If Clowes is successful in his bid, then let's then give the man a chance to show that he intends to run the club in the way it could and should be run. There is absolutely no reason that DCFC can not break even within a few years and then turn a profit from then on. Look at the 30K +++ crowds that turned up towards the end of a post-Covid season with the team nigh on certain to be relegated. There are few clubs in the entire league that would top those numbers and the willingness of the fans to get behind the club, aligned to a measured and analytical approach to recruitment, can prove to be the cornerstones upon which a resurgent Derby County can be built. Our support was the absolute envy of the League last season, despite 3 years of ever gathering gloom and ill conceived hostility from outsiders who chose to hate before they thought. Let's not forget that. Equally, let's be respectful to and supportive of the players who ran through walls for us, even those who now choose move to pastures new. We should be, and I believe most are, grateful for what was a herculean effort from a team where a good few were earning a fraction of the wages they could command elsewhere and all played week in, week out under immense levels of pressure and uncertainty. They gave us all they had and IMO, they now owe us nothing.

Let's also look out for each other; I've tried to remain calm and upbeat throughout the last couple of years as have most, but the strain of the last few months has understandably stretched nerves to breaking point. A lot of us have expressed anger and lashed out and I'm one of them, but the truth is that lashing out at those around the process, or worse still, at other fans, serves literally no purpose. I should know better.

As we now look to the future then, akin to most fans, I suspect, I remain concerned that this may prove yet another false dawn, but this does have a rather different feel about it. We will know by this time next week whether the deal has legs, at which point we can hopefully once again begin to dream about a more positive future for the club, the fans and the wider community. In essence, the healing process can begin. Of course I am hugely biased in my view, but it's something I strongly believe; there is something quite unique and special about this club of ours, even in the darkest of times. They say that it's always darkest before the dawn and I'm sure I can see some narrow slithers of light ahead and this for the first time in several years. Perhaps a bright and beautiful new dawn will follow, perhaps something less than that, but let's try to be present, upbeat and supportive and not simply look to others. We have a huge role to play if we choose to accept it and these next few years could be some of the best in long while if we temper our expectations and rediscover the unity and passion we showed when times were hardest.

[Amberram]

[PistoldPete]

6 hours ago, David said:

This is where any conversation should start and end.

The most important thing right now is saving this football club, if thats Clowes, Ashley, Appleby or even Kirchner, we should be extremely grateful.

Millions are being spent on a club that has little more than ourselves, the money it’s going to cost to purchase this club could potentially buy or even own a major stake in most Championship clubs.

It makes zero business sense buying this football club, none what so ever, so whoever it is that completes the purchase, we should be eternally grateful as we have been far too close to losing this club that means so much to us all. 

 

Spot on as always David. For example I don’t doubt that  Ck wanted to buy us and probably had the money to do so. 
 

The fans are the clubs biggest asset. And it’s no surprise to me if it ends up being a Rams fan that  takes us over. 

[BatRam]

Are we saved again? 

[BramcoteRam84]

Interesting people talking about possible link ups. Clowes was definitely in with Appleby a couple of weeks ago. Would make a lot of sense to utilise AAs sports network. The person who suggested bringing in Gary Cook as CEO is a good shout. He could have his own ideas. 
 

Short term - we must keep Rooney and as much of last seasons squad as possible, this will give us our best chance of a quick return to the championship. We must give Rooney some headroom to get some players in, we’ve already missed out on our no 1 targets. Hopefully we can use the loan system to good effect. We need the right mix of energy, exuberance, talent and experience. We won’t have much of a budget so focus has to be low cost short termism to be competitive, no committing to long deals unless it makes sense.

Medium Term - Sort out the club mess, the structure etc. Recruitment needs an overhaul and if we are to ever get back to the premier league we’ve got to box clever when it comes to recruitment. Smart signings with resale value, good academy signings (we’ve been quite good here) and continue to keep the academy at the forefront for our development, this is probably even more important now given we won’t be making record signings until we are in the Premier League again, which let’s face it could be a long way off.

Hopefully this chastening experience has reset expectations amongst fan base and made people realise what’s important. It certainly has for me. It’s not chasing to be in a Premier League which all becomes about the big 6 and you are irrelevant, it’s about being Derby and proud to be Derby and enjoying the success and rolling with the punches in more depressing times.
 

A huge positive is this is probably the lowest point in our history, not much lower we can go therefore we’re going to see some success in the next few years, maybe even a successful Wembley final or two!! Can’t wait.

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