Matchday Thread: Brizzle v Rams

[ramAnag]

Moral, yes, legal, no, and for many reasons he may not even think he is morally obligated - the seeds of that line of thought were clearly evident when he started his radio Derby interview with blaming our woes on Covid. Complex is the mind of the successful businessman

Clearly he has no legal obligation, AF, and I have never suggested otherwise.
As a long term Rams fan however, and as a successful businessman worth in excess of £500m (allegedly), I don’t see the problem with him forking out a fraction of that amount to protect the club he professes to love (again allegedly) from the worst (not all) of what happened on his ‘watch’.

Is that ‘idealistic’, GP? Utterly reasonable to my way of thinking. He ducked us up (not singlehandedly)...now he should sort out what he can.

[swaledale]

But this is what wealthy businessman do, set up companies whereby if they fail there is no great risk to their personal wealth. What Mel has done is no different to what Jamie Oliver did when his restaurant chain went belly up.

Now in both cases the individuals concerned would be able to say that they have indeed lost a substantial amount of their own money in the process, though of course not to the extent that they still don't have significant personal wealth. Nothing illegal in that of course.

If HMRC do demand their pound of flesh and that results in the club being liquidated, then regrettably thats life.


I have to say I'm increasingly twitchy about where this is all leading. For now Derby are heading for league 1 and the rest of the season is an irrelevance.

[ramAnag]

But this is what wealthy businessman do, set up companies whereby if they fail there is no great risk to their personal wealth. What Mel has done is no different to what Jamie Oliver did when his restaurant chain went belly up.

Now in both cases the individuals concerned would be able to say that they have indeed lost a substantial amount of their own money in the process, though of course not to the extent that they still don't have significant personal wealth. Nothing illegal in that of course.

If HMRC do demand their pound of flesh and that results in the club being liquidated, then regrettably thats life.


I have to say I'm increasingly twitchy about where this is all leading. For now Derby are heading for league 1 and the rest of the season is an irrelevance.

I’m sure you’re right...about what ‘wealthy businessmen do’...but MM is surely slightly different to the likes of Jamie Oliver.

DCFC is not a business that Morris has set up. To a large extent - not legally I understand - he has been a ‘custodian’ of a club reliant on local support since the 1884. He has, at times, enjoyed the ego trip and we - mere supporters - have, undeniably, enjoyed aspects of the ‘ride’ too...but ultimately, imo, he now has a duty to at least sort out the bill to HMRC that has been incurred on his ‘watch’.