Originally Posted by
MadAmster
..... in the absence of somebody, anybody, stumping up £7M we have just one source of the money and that's selling players and, if then reports are true, losing JK might produce the necessary funds.
Given a choice between being thrown out of the League and selling JK, I know which route I'd take.
There are other routes but they are unlikely, such as one of the bidders putting the cash up front or a consortium of rich Rams fans putting up the cash like Niall Horan, the Hollywood actor whose name I can't remember and others, none of which look likely.
I had a pretty restless night last night and came up with an idea that is even less likely and it requires not necessarily support from a lot of people but it does require some unlikely people not to stand in the way. It also requires input from Mel Morris.... possibly the biggest stumbling block to the idea.
Mel immediately writes off what we currently "owe" him. Mel puts up the £7M immediately as an interest free loan. He pays off all creditors as an interest free loan. He pays MSD the £20M and regains full ownership of the stadium. Once the £7M is deposited we have proof of funds to complete the season. Mel then sells the club to the preferred bidder for £1. He also sells the ground to DCFC for £20M and that sum is added to the interest free loan. The preferred bidder then puts the agreed funds into DCFC, let's say £50M. Out of that pot, the sole creditor (Mel) gets 25% of the debt up front. After that, he, or his beneficiaries should he die, get £2M at the start of each season as part repayment. They also get 25% of any profit made in a financial year. This continues until the full debt has been repaid. Derby is solvent and has £37.5M in the bank to cover running costs.
While all this has been going on, MFC and WWFC have agreed to temporarily park their claims while the EFL investigates if their claims are within EFL rules. If the claims are against the rules they are declared null and void. If not, we go through the Arbitration process and accept the result.
The EFL will immediately withdraw the "golden ticket" sword of Damocles from over the club's head. They will investigate the adherence of the claims to EFL rules and remove all extra sanctions from the table.
Derby County adopts a new financial policy. One where the intention is not to make a loss, under normal circumstances. Small losses are always a possibility. Every year, the club publishes the budget, a realistic one, showing expected income, expected outgoings etc. Included in that budget will be realistic plans for removing any trading losses over a period of 3 years. Extraordinary losses caused by something like a pandemic could be made up over a longer period of 5 or 10 years depending on the size of the deficit. It works in Holland.
The EFL introduces new rules to adopt the DCFC financial policy for all clubs. Failure to produce a balanced and believable budget could lead to a points deduction and repeated offences could lead to withdrawal of the "golden ticket".
The PFA was successful in getting wage reductions following relegation removed from contracts. That puts a strain on the budgets of relegate clubs. They should also accept the removal of wage rises from contracts in the case of promotion or return to accepting relegation reductions.
I realise that this "plan" is wholly dependent on Mel stepping up to the plate to save DCFC from dying as a result of financial mismanagement on his watch. Will the "lifelong, loyal supporter" step up? I hope so but won't be holding my breath.
The plan means nobody loses more than they already know they are going to lose and that is just Mel who has already agreed to write off the rumoured £140M we "owe" him. Mel puts up an estimated 10% of his wealth to save the club and he and his family get the money back over a number of years. The numbers aren't set in stone and can be increased or reduced to make the repayment period shorter/longer.
At least it's a plan of sorts rather than just moaning and finger pointing.
