Derby_Ram

100% correct in that we cannot do what we want in relation to HMRC, but, if there's an agreed deal between HMRC and us then are we doing as we want? Playing devil's advocate on would a reduction of £23m (or whatever figure it ends up being) be working on behalf of the taxpayer; would holding out for everything and getting nothing if the club is liquidated + future payments(!!) also be in the taxpayers interest? (by the way not ignoring the flipside that it sets a precedent for other teams doing the same but just saying why it can be viewed as being in taxpayers interest). Ultimately I'm with Chinapig that rightly or wrongly it would be PR disaster for them if we went pop. Personally massively conflicted if it does play out this way but I can see why it would.

Go away for a week and things move on. Obviously pleased to see the CK isn't just a tyre kicker and genuinely confident we will come out of this the other side. A bit more on ground share - explored but isn't a viable option. If stadium is purchased to MM's satisfaction he'll write off the other outstanding loans (£125m-ish) in the club. If not, then as the biggest creditor he can destroy any route to exit. It does appear Pride Park or nothing Saying that what I am understanding is there will be a purchase of the ground and CK will lease it ahead of the 31st. What happens after that re business plans, level of repayments etc is for another day. Totally get the hypotheticals and what if this, what if that; but until the details emerge I'm really of the mindset it's not worth the time and effort and working myself/ yourselves up (as one or two seem to be!) as too much of the exact details remains unknown. Plenty of time after the 31st - if not sooner - to go over that and praise/hammer the EFL as necessary for being strong enough/too lax.

Think that one is a non-starter given their loans already in place to other clubs.

Agreed, that's what would happen. You'd still get the questions over the integrity of the final table. With League One & covid - different circumstances - but plenty of rumblings mainly from Peterborough. Simple really. Next season after QPR play off final flying along until Feb. Rumours of McClaren to Newcastle, he didn't quash them and the wheel spectacularly fell off. He got sacked at the end of the season - first indication of Mad Mel. First game of the following season Will Hughes + Craig Bryson got long term injuries on first day of season, we panicked into paying over £10m combined for Bradley Johnson + Jacob Butterfield and since then gamble after gamble. Touché! From well placed sources the two are meeting this morning. Oh to be a fly-on-the-wall.... Not too concerned in Y1 as based on whats happened we have very few players OOC earning more than that. Lawrence - not going to be able to keep him in L1 so kind of a moot point. Byrne - very disappointed if he goes but wouldn't begrudge him staying in the Championship Roos - backup keeper who we'd probably choose to release Forsyth - age/ability would warrant a wage reduction to required levels if there was interest from our side. Not a guarantee there would be.

Potential virtue signalling by Kirchner but he did like the tweet in question about MM being able to vote down any deal.

I was giving you the benefit of the doubt assuming the ******* was as a bad reaction to Rovers magnificent seven until I realised you posted this beforehand ?. Hope the blood pressure is ok this. Thoughts and prayers and all that. The only person responsible for where we are is MM. As for digging the EFL out of a hole - had we gone pop halfway through the season it would have caused potential issues with the league table given we'd taken a variety of points of teams in the promotion and play off mix. Nothing more. Nothing less. Thank you, firstly. It's not what I meant, as above, its only MMs fault but no doubt the EFL would have been bricking it if we'd had our record expunged and could have affected the play-off places. Especially if it kept Boro out. Maybe Gibson can sue the pitch invader kids' dad or the Reading keeper instead this year. This would be a fantastic result and above my wildest expectations! Our allowed spend on contracts in the summer was £4,500 per week max and Davies, Jagielka, Morrison, Baldock and Allsop all signed for that or less.

By virtue of not selling players I also don't think additional MSD loans should have been taken. This trickle of money into the club has prolonged everything. A hard deadline without small transfer fees + MSD loans and I think we'd have been in pretty much the same position as we are today, just months ago. Time, or lack of, is great for focusing the minds. Yes *cough DCC cough* ?

I think you are. It's all come to a head now because the cash runs out now. If the cash ran out last Jan it would have all come to a head then. If the cash didn't run out for another couple of months I don't think we'd be where we are tonight with a preferred bidder, an EFL statement, and a potentially imminent takeover. (sorry - in reply to redoxo)

Just over £1m was the agreed outcome post the panel decision in on basis of club only using it x days per year. Remains to be seen if any deal is based on us having full time tenancy. This is where you won't be surprised to learn that I do beg to differ ??. Honestly, what did selling Shinnie, Williams, Plange, a couple of youth team prospects, and not renewing Jags contract do? Dug the EFL out of a massive hole that's what ? No creditors have seen an extra penny because of it, and wouldnt have done had we sold others. All it did is drag the process out and got us to the end of the season when the money runs out and prevented the EFL worst case scenario of us going pop mid season. This is the extra hidden punishment over and above the -21 that possibly was the thing that did relegate us. If we'd sold someone extra for £1m in Jan do you believe creditors would get any more money? I don't, I just think what's happening now would happen 6 weeks down the line instead. I don't know how feasible it is but it's one thing I'd look to change about admin rules going forward - player sales = money for creditors and not just extending this period of lining admins pockets.

We are bothered though. We don't like it. We think it's abhorrent. We know it let's MM off the hook. But if it gets rid of him that's what we suck up. And CK should be treated like a God in boardrooms up and down the country if he gets it over the line for removing MM from the equation. That has to be worth a load of Man U kids free of charge at least ?

If this is in place already, for sure. But if we're creating things to fix broken loopholes then no. You put something in place to address it in future. You've been a firm advocate the last few weeks of EFL sticking to their rules and processes re Derby. We can't suddenly turn around and say the EFL/HMRC/any other interested party puts things in place now as we don't like the outcome. We'd be imminently selling PP to ourselves for the umpteenth time if that could happen! The EFL have just released a statement which surprise surprise is less than clear. I can't quite work out if they're satisfied with his funding but have other things to resolve, or things to resolve on the funding. I do think MA still has a part to play. The journey could well be fun. Next season I'm looking forward to the tour of places we've not been to for a long time/ever. It's years 2, 3 and beyond I'm less looking forward to!

Mr P. Wycombe - nothing announced. Wouldnt surprise me to see Couhig flounce off if challenged. Had a feel of Ambulance chasing. DCC borrowing money - not an expert, and can't for life of me track it down (still looking) but there was a link somewhere which demonstrated how they could still borrow money. I just don't enough to comment properly but gut says if they had no mechanism to access it we wouldn't be this far down the line. Plenty of crackers next year - Wednesday, Sunderland, Wycombe could be tasty...., Ipswich, Bolton, Your ideal scenario of Pride Park being seized - if serious - is you in cloud cuckoo land ? CK has already briefed the Sun who've run the story in the last 15mins about a ground share with Stoke or Leicester next year. Chinapig HMRC - anyone can do it. They've fought to get preferential status. Would seem odd not to use it but if they deem this is the most they'll get.... EFL agree with no ground? - as above the brinkmanship started. CK obviously has had conversations with 2 other clubs. Could conceivably be he says to EFL " I'm either buying the ground, renting from DCC, or groundsharing. Don't know which yet but here's the worst case groundshare" Batting eyelids at DCC bailing out Morris - I wouldn't expect you to (it's not your club and there's no need) but you're not looking properly. We don't like it. But if it eliminates MM from the picture you suck it up. Monkeh Let me know how you get on so I know if its worth me giving it a go

Reading between the lines, and John Percy's subsequent tweet in reply it does feel like a behind the scenes deal with HMRC could have been agreed. Grave sticking point remains the ground and I never thought Purdah would have an impact on any takeovers but here we are. My sense is a deal on the ground can't be completed before next week due to the time it takes DCC to follow process on the loan but they can't formally say anything now leaving everyone in the dark. Rumours of MM jacking the price up in the last couple of days abound too. I think CK will get approval from the EFL, last couple of i's and t's to be dotted and crossed; he then has to make a call on whether he can complete and fun based on the ground not being fully done and dusted. Wycombe I have zero concern over, Mr P. CK was very upfront before Christmas that he'd take Couhig on as the claim had no substance in his and his lawyers eyes. Ultimately he may still lose any case but it shouldn't be an impediment to a takeover as he said before he'd underwrite it.

What a cracking idea. On it now. "Dear Mr. Parry...." CK seemed rather bullish in a tweet last night about all of us celebrating at the Cardiff game. I'll still believe it if rather than when anything happens. I think he's been quite astute in them since being burnt by Quantuma initially. Has at times - with justification - thrown them under the bus and painted himself in the "woe me" position. He'll be much more of a media favourite now than he was six months ago which I'm sure sits in with his plans. I think a fair bit of cherry picking with this. Yep some will come out with unrealistic names but the majority know that's not the case. It's not just a Derby thing either - I saw some City fans mentioning Lawrence ?

Better team won on the day fair and square and a match slightly better than your normal end of season fare even if the whole game and atmosphere felt decidedly flat. To cover a conversation in the build up to the match from a different thread, the options you have in attack this season are significantly stronger than we've got and I think that was borne out yesterday.

The Navigation is the designated away fans pub but the opposite side of the ground to centre, a bit of a dump, and compared to the cracking real ale pubs one to avoid. Anyone in the Brunswick up until about 2pm feel free to shout 'Popodopolous' and I'll buy you a beer.

Irrelevant. He was released a week before his contract was due to expire as it was agreed we wanted to go in a different direction. Even if we could have renewed the deal we wouldn't have.

I doubt it. Cybulski has come off the bench a couple of times when chasing a goal in the last ten minutes so thinks WR does want to give him a shot. Hasn't looked good enough to me in the U23s - Bambi on ice. Plange is nowhere near prem standard yet and if we had another option would have been dropped/rotated a while ago. Palace will probably need to loan him out again next year so its not impossible they requested it but I'd expect them to want him to get every minute of experience he can.

Good post. Focused on the Derby bit as you know much better than me on anything City related. Byrne - excellent player and despite being diminutive in size is physically strong. Speed, stamina and ability to stay fit. Bielek - if he didn't have ACL injuries he'd never be injured ?. He was out for over a year before coming back in Jan but still not up to match speed. A shame if injuries ruin his career. Knight is durable and played most weeks but don't mistake that with our CM being stable. He's been the sacrificial lamb covering most roles besides his natural CM position. It's been Bird plus one of the rotation of Shinnie, Thompson, Bielek with a touch of Knight and Morrison occasionally deployed in a more defensive role. I've felt for Knight this year. Of last years loanees none really established themselves with the exception of Clarke so losing Jags was huge in Jan. Wisdom was always expected to be the next one signed by us throughout the first half of the season and Jan....if the embargo was listed. Interestingly Rooney has already announced tomorrow's team. A 4-2-3-1 with Stearman in for Cashin and Forsyth in for Buchanan in defence. Midfield of Bird, Thompson, Ebiowei, Morrison and Louie Watson, with Cybulski upfront for his first start. Definitely an eye on next season leaving Bielek, Plange, Buchanan and Knight out along with the suspended Lawrence. The hope would be most of these would sign a contract if the takeover comes in time. Unfortunately I think we'll be too powderpuff going forward tomorrow with the absences. We'll be heavily relying on Ebiowei who is the latest 18 year old to excel. If you could combine his skill on the ball with Ebosele's pace and power you'd have some player! I think you're liable to turn us over tomorrow given our line up

I think this is where we all see an opposition player do something once - in person or on a highlight - and think they're better than the rubbish our own lot turn out each week ?? I'd have much rather had your squad than ours! If you'd have let us do a player swap CKR for Martin I think we could have scraped enough points all season. The difference between our squads (having seen less of City than most teams all year but knowing Martin/Weimann well) is you've got players who can stick the ball in the back of the net. We relied on Lawrence wonder strikes. Seen a few posts from City fans with Roos as a decent keeper. I hope for your sakes he isn't someone you pilfer from us in the summer - that would be a scouting failure. Allsop on the other hand.... But to go back to the original point; the whole club could be knocked from top to bottom yet this season Rooney can be exempted from that - both for dragging the squad to what he did and as importantly galvanising the whole club/fanbase etc (I didn't want him as a player or then as a manager). He's pleasantly shocked me. Next year though he will have a different pressure and as fans we're always a fickle bunch! But he worked wonders with the players throughout the season

He's confirmed he's assuming funding duties from May 7th. Now relegation confirmed he has confirmed business plan to EFL this Friday with steps of EFL approval, stadium sorted, creditor approval on waterfall, then takeover complete. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating but so far I'm cautiously optimistic with how he's been since being announced as PB. We'll all know more by May 8th at the latest if things are going to plan. 5 out the players you called out have come through the U16/18 set up - one can still play for them. Bielek only came back after a year out in Jan and Kazim has only been fit for half the league games including a 3 month spell on the injury table pre-Christmas. Saying that is like me saying Pearson had a better squad and ignored the long term injuries City have had.

Hi Gee Screamer ?

Without wanting to pee on your chips I really wouldn't expect much mourning or deep sorrow if it happens next Saturday ?. Whenever you watch MOTD and a team gets relegated they'll always find those one or two fans in tears and no doubt you could do that when the inevitable happens; but I'll happily wager with any fan who comes up to PP next week you'll be impressed by the positive atmosphere in the crowd. Around Feb there was a genuine chance of the impossible but since even the first points deduction we've known what's been coming yet have had the closest connection to the team than in years and years with just what an honest and hard working bunch they are. We were odds on to go down before a ball was kicked and since then we've had 21 points deducted. They'll be an atmosphere next Saturday afternoon but we won't feel any cruelty being inflicted by you lot in the corner ? (I still think we'll officially go tomorrow but would love to stretch it out until the week after our game to have a going down party on Blackpool front!)

Don't think we'll ever really know. It was never a universally popular appointment, first role after he'd been sacked 12 months before and in the last few months at Leicester we had the ostrich comment and grapple with James McArthur. In one way it was the exact type of appointment we needed with some discipline after the previous seasons shambles of sacking Clement when we were 5th replacing with Wassell (+ Harry Redknapp), but you could never see him and Morris really hitting it off. His football at Leicester, and in the first couplemof months with us, was by and large defensive and dull which went against the "Derby way" of the time and which contributed to Clement's removal. Plenty of rumours and conjecture about drones and what have you but no one really knows. I think the most likely is Pearson tried to instill too big a culture change too quickly and Keogh and a few other players pushed back. That led to Keogh feeding stories to Morris who >were> very close and kicked off a chain reaction. From afar Pearson seems a lot more mellow these days than he did both in his time at Derby and more so from his time at Leicester. No ill will to the man but I'm glad he's no longer with us - I go to football to be entertaintained and it was turgid.

Don't automatically assume you're seats aren't next to each other if the numbers aren't consecutive. One of the first blocks away teams sell is on the very corner and has different amounts of seats per row. To ensure the seat numbers in every row down the touchline and behind goals align it means in one or two blocks in the corner the numbers aren't consecutive. Alternatively your ticket office may have had a shocker but I think you'll be fine.