Question for the boss

[ColonelBlimp]

I keep hearing that his claim to be a life-long fan is a lie, what's the story behind that and what is there to back that up?

[kevinhectoring]

7 hours ago, RoyMac5 said:

 He kept gambling and in the end when he bailed out he wanted as much money back as was possible. 

He sold DC a stadium - allegedly worth 80m - for what, 23?  
 

Why did he do that? Because he wanted as much back as possible?
 

No,  it was because in August 21 he said: OK this has got to stop. Gibson has me over a barrel, he (and the EFl and covid) are stopping me selling the club and making me write monthly cheques in the millions. So here it is: Administration; and I am not putting in another penny.   

the 23m went to MSD not MM 

 

 

[RoyMac5]

29 minutes ago, kevinhectoring said:

He sold DC a stadium - allegedly worth 80m - for what, 23?  
 

Why did he do that? Because he wanted as much back as possible?
 

No,  it was because in August 21 he said: OK this has got to stop. Gibson has me over a barrel, he (and the EFl and covid) are stopping me selling the club and making me write monthly cheques in the millions. So here it is: Administration; and I am not putting in another penny.   

the 23m went to MSD not MM 

 

 

He could have paid the personal debts he ran up in total - no-one made him gamble like he did. We were a relatively well run club when he took over. He ruined DCFC.

[kevinhectoring]

20 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

He could have paid the personal debts he ran up in total - no-one made him gamble like he did. We were a relatively well run club when he took over. He ruined DCFC.

His management style was seriously flawed I can’t disagree with you on that

Edited July 12, 2022 by kevinhectoring

[RoyMac5]

2 minutes ago, kevinhectoring said:

His management style was seriously flawed I can’t disagree with you on that

Awww, g'wan you can if you want to ??

[NottsRam77]

12 hours ago, David said:

It feels like there is a suggestion within this question that I and others, suspected this would happen yet kept quiet.

I can hand on heart say that was never the case.

Now I’m fully aware that history will not look kindly on some of my posts, however I personally do not regret a single word I wrote at the time as that is what I truly believed. Let’s also not rewrite history here, you will have seen the memes, not created by myself, Mel Morris was a popular figure not so long ago.

Pumped a lot of money into this club, play off campaigns, took us to the brink of the Premier League. Those raising questions were largely in the minority.

Covid happened, you can argue how severe these impact was, however it wasn’t just financial, lost a close friend, had his own health concerns, throw in the EFL retrospectively looking to change the rules and applying punishment, not sure anyone could have foreseen any of this. 

Do I know why he put us into administration? No I do not, but I believe that even in his wildest dreams the long term goal wasn’t to burn a load of cash then ride off into the sunset. 

I sold advertising space on the forum to the club, this was handled by the marketing team led by Faye Nixon who was my primary contact at the time.

At no point was there any interference in my views, content on the forum or whatever accusations have been thrown out there by fans believe you would be banned for posting anything anti Mel, not that they were incapable of sticking to the forum guidelines we have in place.

If this comes across as defensive, it’s because it is, as I say it does feel there is a suggestion inside this that we’ve been silenced somehow and not been honest, which does sting a little I have to say.

Now if that suggestion wasn’t intended, I have to say it’s a bit of a daft question.

Not in the slightest david

No one could have for seen any of this 

was a truly genuine question 

i was merely wandering thats all 

no harm intended and i dont think its a daft question at all,

iv never met the guy, some here have and so i was just curious to ask anyone that had what they thought cos my opinion like so many was pr and media stunts/ speil/ lip service 

its drawn some interesting chat and discussion and its certainly not being asked with any “well u should have known  rubbish attached

how could anyone have known, 

life is full of surprises and so its always worth asking 

@Ram@Lincolnstory was a particularly interesting read

like i said just me wandering and chewing the fat 

Edited July 12, 2022 by NottsRam77

[uttoxram75]

3 hours ago, ColonelBlimp said:

I keep hearing that his claim to be a life-long fan is a lie, what's the story behind that and what is there to back that up?

I don't know. I met him once and he sounded plausible about going to games in the 70's, mentioned one or two well known Popside lads of the era, spoke about being chased across the river at Stoke's old ground (very possible bitd).

I got the feeling he'd not bothered in between though, probably went with mates during his youth but never kept an interest until the League of Gentlemen days when he'd made. bit of money.

Without personal knowledge its hard to tell. He was a Derby lad (Littleover) so was probably a fan but too busy chasing his fortune is my guess.

[Gritstone Tup]

13 hours ago, Ambitious said:

I met him a long time ago, during Wassall’s tenure, but he seemed fully invested - at the time too invested! 

I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted what he did. I can’t comprehend the level of morality required of a person to do what he did - I’m still convinced that when he dumped us into admin, he thought he could get around the point deduction by using COVID as the excuse - which was what the interview with Ed Dawes was for. 

He’s a sly businessman, who actually lacks the level of intelligence required to be successful at it - a dangerous concoction. I wouldn’t say he’s stupid, as he’s clearly a clever man, but definitely blinded by his arrogance, thinking he’s the smartest man in the room - it turned out he wasn’t, he wasn’t even close to being. 

Spot on!

[NottsRam77]

13 hours ago, Ambitious said:

I met him a long time ago, during Wassall’s tenure, but he seemed fully invested - at the time too invested! 

I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted what he did. I can’t comprehend the level of morality required of a person to do what he did - I’m still convinced that when he dumped us into admin, he thought he could get around the point deduction by using COVID as the excuse - which was what the interview with Ed Dawes was for. 

He’s a sly businessman, who actually lacks the level of intelligence required to be successful at it - a dangerous concoction. I wouldn’t say he’s stupid, as he’s clearly a clever man, but definitely blinded by his arrogance, thinking he’s the smartest man in the room - it turned out he wasn’t, he wasn’t even close to being. 

I totally agree with the covid thing, he was very adamant about that, which tbf there is some truth in 

[Day]

18 hours ago, NottsRam77 said:

Not in the slightest david

No one could have for seen any of this 

was a truly genuine question 

i was merely wandering thats all 

no harm intended and i dont think its a daft question at all,

iv never met the guy, some here have and so i was just curious to ask anyone that had what they thought cos my opinion like so many was pr and media stunts/ speil/ lip service 

its drawn some interesting chat and discussion and its certainly not being asked with any “well u should have known  rubbish attached

how could anyone have known, 

life is full of surprises and so its always worth asking 

@Ram@Lincolnstory was a particularly interesting read

like i said just me wandering and chewing the fat 

We all have our own experiences when meeting people, I always found to be genuine when talking with him, I could be honest without fear of being sent through the trapdoor. 

Yes he would defend his thinking, he's a strong minded man, but never felt he was closed to hearing other points of views.

I mean he was a regular reader of this forum, very complimentary of it for providing a wide range of views.

I just got on well with him, wasn't the relationship where people assumed we'd be down the pub every weekend as mates.

Others will have their own experiences, those that worked with/under him on a daily basis may have their own stories to tell, just how it is.

Not sure what else I can tell you.

[Rev]

2 hours ago, David said:

Others will have their own experiences, those that worked with/under him on a daily basis may have their own stories to tell, just how it is.

Those people are really the ones to answer the question 'What is Mel like'? 

I met him, invited to as a sceptic, for balance I'd guess, and I liked him a lot, and made that clear on here at the time.  

He just had the reverse Midas touch, is my belief.

I still genuinely don't think he ever entered into ownership for anything other than the best intentions for the club, not himself.

I don't think he wanted to flip the club for a quick profit, after all he had access to far better opportunities to do so than a middling football club, as all wealthy people do.

He just got caught up in the excitement/desperation of ownership, I guess, and ignored all the red flags that he himself was well aware of when taking over.

The state he left us in was unforgivable though, no owner has done as much damage as he has, and fan or not, that's not a legacy he'll be proud of.

[NottsRam77]

4 hours ago, David said:

We all have our own experiences when meeting people, I always found to be genuine when talking with him, I could be honest without fear of being sent through the trapdoor. 

Yes he would defend his thinking, he's a strong minded man, but never felt he was closed to hearing other points of views.

I mean he was a regular reader of this forum, very complimentary of it for providing a wide range of views.

I just got on well with him, wasn't the relationship where people assumed we'd be down the pub every weekend as mates.

Others will have their own experiences, those that worked with/under him on a daily basis may have their own stories to tell, just how it is.

Not sure what else I can tell you.

Thankyou, like i said I was intrgued to know a bit more about him and his character

 

no judgement or anything ? 

[uttoxram75]

2 hours ago, Rev said:

Those people are really the ones to answer the question 'What is Mel like'? 

I met him, invited to as a sceptic, for balance I'd guess, and I liked him a lot, and made that clear on here at the time.  

He just had the reverse Midas touch, is my belief.

I still genuinely don't think he ever entered into ownership for anything other than the best intentions for the club, not himself.

I don't think he wanted to flip the club for a quick profit, after all he had access to far better opportunities to do so than a middling football club, as all wealthy people do.

He just got caught up in the excitement/desperation of ownership, I guess, and ignored all the red flags that he himself was well aware of when taking over.

The state he left us in was unforgivable though, no owner has done as much damage as he has, and fan or not, that's not a legacy he'll be proud of.

Maybe his biggest flaw was his ego. I believe he wanted the respect and kudos of swanning around the Directors boxes at Liverpool, Man City and United etc as the owner of Derby, basking in the glory of it all.

I just think he didn't understand football. Bringing managers in who were never going to suit the players we had so requiring more spending. Perhaps if he'd had a proper DoF and trusted that person to do the job....who knows?

 

[Rev]

24 minutes ago, uttoxram75 said:

Maybe his biggest flaw was his ego. I believe he wanted the respect and kudos of swanning around the Directors boxes at Liverpool, Man City and United etc as the owner of Derby, basking in the glory of it all.

I just think he didn't understand football. Bringing managers in who were never going to suit the players we had so requiring more spending. Perhaps if he'd had a proper DoF and trusted that person to do the job....who knows?

 

I guess we'd all think we'd act differently if it was ourselves in charge, but in reality, would we? 

You don't get to be that rich, and not think your own decision making is flawless.  

I don't think he'd ever appoint a DoF and trust them to get on with the job, he had to be front and centre of the club, despite his protestations to the contrary. 

It will be interesting to see how DC gets on in comparison, so far he's been faultless. 

An open letter to fans setting out his reasons for buying, then nothing else. 

Not pictured on every signing, no interviews with the media, and not personally mentioned on the tweets the club send out regarding cleaning the stadium, mowing the pitch etc. 

We will need a figurehead for the club eventually, someone above the manager to attend fan forums, be seen on TV occasionally, and more generally to carry out the CEO role if that's not going to be SP, that appointment will be crucial going forward, but for now he's made a good start.