Q+A Session Tonight

[McRamFan]

Can we have a couple of Fan representatives on the board

Maybe elected ones.

Linked to the above will they consider allowing fans to buy into a small Fan Ownership Share. This could help fans provide some extra investment on the condition the funds are put towards transfer funds or boosting the Academy.

As long as its no one from Rams Trust

[CornwallRam]

Maybe too late, but 'How are the investors planning to make a return on their investment?'

[Stimacked]

Was reading something about how German clubs are partly owned by their fans and this helps avoid unseen shennanagins like we had with the 3 amigos. We have seen how our current owners are masters at the PR game but we currently have no way to check what they are really doing what they say they are.

As for how fan reps would be selected. Maybe we could follow the lead of some other community partly run clubs out there.

[DcFc Dyycheee]

Ask him about Michael Owen? When are we going to sign him?

[ramblur]

Maybe too late, but 'How are the investors planning to make a return on their investment?'

Interesting question,Cornwall.I noticed that in the free video on the club site Glick was trying to give the impression that the investors just wanted a sustainable club (which they didn't have to subsidise) and which they could just enjoy.Given the rather clandestine nature of the investment set up (it's possible to identify some individual investors,it's also possible to identify some individuals within investment groupings,but there are some groupings that can't be tied down to individuals),we don't know if there are any more hedge funds involved other than that run by Martinovich.Given the nature of hedge funds,I doubt that they would be happy to trundle along for years just enjoying a product.Now MICG may have disappeared from the scene,but they were there at the outset,and therefore nobody will convince me that the situation Glick now portrays is the one that obtained at the outset.It's also a bit hard to believe that people with no past affinity to the Rams would fork out millions just to enjoy being owners.

In the same video,Glick mentioned the £40m Sky riches that would accrue in a first Prem season,and one questioner asked how much of this might wing its way back to Detroit.Glick seemed to indicate that none of it would,but of course any debt repayment (be it owners' loans or PP loan) would effectively give value to the owners.As I've estimated (by reference to our last Prem season,and factoring in an £8m Sky increase since) that if we ran the same players' wage bill as last time,we'd probably have a £20m+ surplus to play with,how much would be devoted to signings and how much to debt reduction?

On this same point,it would appear that in the "randomly selected" meeting fans were told that the owners would be prepared to inject cash on reaching the Prem whatever the financial circumstances.Surely,in view of my last paragraph,he's not suggesting that we're going to spend £20m+ a cash injection on players? How about a £2m cash injection now to help get us to the position where we could actually spend the £20m?

[curb]

How about a £2m cash injection now to help get us to the position where we could actually spend the £20m?

Wouldn't that turn us into Portsmouth?

[ramblur]

Wouldn't that turn us into Portsmouth?

Heavens,yes,how could I ever have suggested such a reckless course of action.Better tell them to cancel their Prem cash injection (on top of the projected £20m)-didn't Pompey's problems derive from Prem days?

[CornwallRam]

I too find it hard to believe that a bunch of overseas investors wanted to splash out c£45m on a new soccer franchise shaped train set.

I would say that it is more likely that they hope to make a profit in some way from the club. And by that I imply no ctiticism - the overwhelming majority of owners and investors in clubs (or any other businesses) do. The only ones that don't are playboys, rich fans and money launderers (if any own clubs).

So how are they planning to make a profit?

Sell the club on for a high price? Unlikely without promotion, which is likely to take money.

Assett strip? For that you need assetts

Gradually claw back the investment by making regular trading profits? How many years to recoup £45m plus interest.

[ramblur]

I too find it hard to believe that a bunch of overseas investors wanted to splash out c£45m on a new soccer franchise shaped train set.

I would say that it is more likely that they hope to make a profit in some way from the club. And by that I imply no ctiticism - the overwhelming majority of owners and investors in clubs (or any other businesses) do. The only ones that don't are playboys, rich fans and money launderers (if any own clubs).

So how are they planning to make a profit?

Sell the club on for a high price? Unlikely without promotion, which is likely to take money.

Assett strip? For that you need assetts

Gradually claw back the investment by making regular trading profits? How many years to recoup £45m plus interest.

On the face of it,they seem to have dug themselves into a £44.6m hole and I've not known many get out of a big hole by making the hole bigger (although football's a funny business).Failing promotion,the only ways I can see of them escaping is by producing stellar talent from the Academy,and possibly from the Plaza.Everyone seems to think they have to make a return-there's also the possibility that they might just want to limit their losses as much as possible.

People go on about our rich investors,but there also seem to be a lot of (possibly) not so wealthy investors amongst them.Whilst it would be true to say that you shouldn't invest in something as risky as football if you're not able to stand a !00% loss,you still don't actually (obviously) want to do this.

[Stive Pesley]

I have to say that the longer this board stay and the more yearly financial results appear, it gets harder to fathom what on earth is in it for the investors. I think that is a decent line of questioning but one that they are highly unlikely to answer!

I think a few people have drawn the conclusion along the way that the "steadying of the ship" has been with an eye on selling the club as a decent bet to someone who is willing to pump some money in (eg the Thai lot at Leicester). The board have consistently denied this however

[McRamFan]

Didn't Appleby state that you don't invest in a football team to make money, or something like that.

They must know that it will take time, and I cannot remember them saying a 3 year plan, maybe NC saying if it takes 10 years, it takes 10 years. I know that most fans want instant success, look at Leicester, what cost willl it be if and when they get promoted?

[Boycie]

I'm waiting to see what PeteDerby asked him.

[randombc]

I don't know who Pete Derby is, Clough and Glick took questions for about 2 hours, and were very good when answering questions, there were no questions they shyed away from even though some of them made me cringe a bit.

1. We are applying to be in tier 2 of the youth team's new tiering system, three premiership teams are also applying to be in the same group as us so should be quite competitve. However, they do dispute this new setup and they are not happy with it. However, clubs cannot come and 'cherry pick' players if you are in a higher tier. Any team can go after any player but it is up to that player whether they decide to stay or go. However, a player can now sign a deal at 14, which is what Bennett did and so did Hughes and many other promising players have done the same, so we're safe from any big clubs coming and taking our best players unless they pay big £££. Compensation deals are only agreed if the player is less than 14, or they have not signed one of these contracts.
   
2. They are looking in the summer to bring in 4 players, which will include a left back, a striker, a central midfielder depending if Green goes, and a right winger.
   
3. Clough admitted that Maguire could well be on his way out of the club, as he has not settled at all. He spent 10 years with Aberdeen and has not suited to Derby's playing style. He said as well that Moxey left because he did not take on board what was said, and that Dave Martin got very homesick from London during his time here, hence why he left.
   
4. James Bailey was not subject to a move away from Derby ti Wigan in January, and said it was down to the form of Hendrick and Bryson.
   
5. They are looking at changing the prices of season tickets in a way to reflect more value for money for children that are 13 and are from a jump from £25 to £210, so are maybe recommending a change for Under 12's - £60, 13-15 - £140, 16+ - £210 or something along those lines.
   
6. Striker a top priority in the summer (we all knew this of course) and he had looked at Russel from Dundee United but said that he had 2 or 3 years left on his contract and with him being such a young player was wary of another Maguire situation
   
7. They will be cutting back on wages during the summer, as they had not taken into account the likes of Leacock, Bywater etc would be here till Christmas time, and had cost them in excess of £1million in wages.
   
8. Barker will not be replaced with a new signing, as they feel the cover of Buxton, Naylor and O'Brien would be adequate cover.
   
9. If Clough did find a suitable striker to fill the role and the factors were right, they would be willing to back Clough with the money to sign the player. He also informed us that Ched Evans is on £1.2 million at Sheffield United.
   
10. They had offered Green a new contract, but when I pressed him as to whether he would be on the same money, he said 'that it was an offer that fell within their budget, and that they felt was a fair offer', which would suggest he would have to take a reduction in wages.
    
11. When Clough took over at Derby and bought all his own team in, the youth team manager at that time, last words were 'don't bother searching for talent in Derbyshire because there isn't any' since then they've found Bennett, Hughes and Thomas who have all represented England at Under 17 level, and they have 500 kids in development centres all over Derby which they monitor constantly for any kids coming through. They now look for children as young as 3 years old.
    

Thats about it really I think, but so much was asked that I could have easily forgotten things, so just ask on here if I haven't covered anything and I'll try and answer your question as much as possible. Minor things like having sound on the tv in the concourse, and having Sky Sports 1 or 2 on when theres a lunchtime kick off compared with interviews with 'legends' of the past.

Cloughs knowledge of the game really came across the amount of facts he knows and where the team needs to improve really stuck out for me! I thought i did Bris proud by saying we weren't scoring too many late goals, and he said we are aware of that and last season Norwich managed to claim 27 points in stoppage time, so we are trying to address that like we addressed the conceding of late goals last season, and that the team now has a good base of energy and commitment to the cause, the next level is to try and have a bit of flair and creativity in the team which they are currently addressing and wants to be sorted in the summer transfer window, and said that a few will be moving out, the likes of Maguire, Addison, Croft etc, and these will be replaced with players that will be more in and around the first team, so although the squad numbers will stay the same the competition for squad places will increase if that makes sense?

Like I said ask a questions and i'll try and recall as much information as possible if it was asked. (feel free to like this post if you like as it did take me 30 minutes to write!)

[-JW-]

I don't know who Pete Derby is, Clough and Glick took questions for about 2 hours, and were very good when answering questions, there were no questions they shyed away from even though some of them made me cringe a bit.

1. We are applying to be in tier 2 of the youth team's new tiering system, three premiership teams are also applying to be in the same group as us so should be quite competitve. However, they do dispute this new setup and they are not happy with it. However, clubs cannot come and 'cherry pick' players if you are in a higher tier. Any team can go after any player but it is up to that player whether they decide to stay or go. However, a player can now sign a deal at 14, which is what Bennett did and so did Hughes and many other promising players have done the same, so we're safe from any big clubs coming and taking our best players unless they pay big £££. Compensation deals are only agreed if the player is less than 14, or they have not signed one of these contracts.
   
2. They are looking in the summer to bring in 4 players, which will include a left back, a striker, a central midfielder depending if Green goes, and a right winger.
   
3. Clough admitted that Maguire could well be on his way out of the club, as he has not settled at all. He spent 10 years with Aberdeen and has not suited to Derby's playing style. He said as well that Moxey left because he did not take on board what was said, and that Dave Martin got very homesick from London during his time here, hence why he left.
   
4. James Bailey was not subject to a move away from Derby ti Wigan in January, and said it was down to the form of Hendrick and Bryson.
   
5. They are looking at changing the prices of season tickets in a way to reflect more value for money for children that are 13 and are from a jump from £25 to £210, so are maybe recommending a change for Under 12's - £60, 13-15 - £140, 16+ - £210 or something along those lines.
   
6. Striker a top priority in the summer (we all knew this of course) and he had looked at Russel from Dundee United but said that he had 2 or 3 years left on his contract and with him being such a young player was wary of another Maguire situation
   
7. They will be cutting back on wages during the summer, as they had not taken into account the likes of Leacock, Bywater etc would be here till Christmas time, and had cost them in excess of £1million in wages.
   
8. Barker will not be replaced with a new signing, as they feel the cover of Buxton, Naylor and O'Brien would be adequate cover.
   
9. If Clough did find a suitable striker to fill the role and the factors were right, they would be willing to back Clough with the money to sign the player. He also informed us that Ched Evans is on £1.2 million at Sheffield United.
   
10. They had offered Green a new contract, but when I pressed him as to whether he would be on the same money, he said 'that it was an offer that fell within their budget, and that they felt was a fair offer', which would suggest he would have to take a reduction in wages.
    
11. When Clough took over at Derby and bought all his own team in, the youth team manager at that time, last words were 'don't bother searching for talent in Derbyshire because there isn't any' since then they've found Bennett, Hughes and Thomas who have all represented England at Under 17 level, and they have 500 kids in development centres all over Derby which they monitor constantly for any kids coming through. They now look for children as young as 3 years old.
    

Thats about it really I think, but so much was asked that I could have easily forgotten things, so just ask on here if I haven't covered anything and I'll try and answer your question as much as possible. Minor things like having sound on the tv in the concourse, and having Sky Sports 1 or 2 on when theres a lunchtime kick off compared with interviews with 'legends' of the past.

Cloughs knowledge of the game really came across the amount of facts he knows and where the team needs to improve really stuck out for me! I thought i did Bris proud by saying we weren't scoring too many late goals, and he said we are aware of that and last season Norwich managed to claim 27 points in stoppage time, so we are trying to address that like we addressed the conceding of late goals last season, and that the team now has a good base of energy and commitment to the cause, the next level is to try and have a bit of flair and creativity in the team which they are currently addressing and wants to be sorted in the summer transfer window, and said that a few will be moving out, the likes of Maguire, Addison, Croft etc, and these will be replaced with players that will be more in and around the first team, so although the squad numbers will stay the same the competition for squad places will increase if that makes sense?

Like I said ask a questions and i'll try and recall as much information as possible if it was asked. (feel free to like this post if you like as it did take me 30 minutes to write!)

You could have gone into detail.

[-JW-]

looking for players aged 3 years old??

Crikey.

[archram]

Many thanks, randombc, much appreciated.

[Stedcfc]

Hello all

Long time visitor but never posted. I think its a great idea that the club are doing this, I don't think many clubs are so lucky as to have a board that are so open and willing to answer questions.

Was there any talk of a new contract for S Davies, or has his option been taken up?

Did they mention the recent petition to move the away fans?

Was there much talk of our long term plan to get promoted? Is it basically small investment each season in the hope that one year we will over achieve and fluke it?

[randombc]

Hiya Stedcfc, regarding Steve Davies, Clough said he did want to keep him at the clubs and they will be going into negotiations with him as he sees him as the best striker currently at the club.

[size=5]Yes! That was a main point I actually forgot to bring up in my original post. They are going to be moving the away fans to the south east corner/east stand for the season 2013/2014 I.e next season, there just waiting for the government legislation to be passed an will move into safe standing used in the German league.[/size]

They did reiterate its a slow process and they would like to be flirting with the top 6 next season, a further improvement on this season. They used Reading as an example of bringing in young players, and slowly building an attacking team. Clough said he wanted to go out and attack teams, and that they've tried to do that this season, which I had to agree with

[Cisse]

Was there any talk about loaning players ?

[Stedcfc]

Great stuff! Thanks.

Sounds like the right things are happening, any improvement on this year should see us in and around the top 6. Yeah we've definitely been a lot more positive this season especially away from home.