Utterly bizarre from the EFL. The idea of publishing 2 sets of fixtures is bonkers. Should Derby or the EFL appeal this punishment then that will take weeks or months. What happens to next season then? We don't even know how long it will take Derby to re-sumbit the accounts for the years in question. Once that has been done and if we are in breach then any points deduction would be applied to next season. The only way it could be applied to last season would be if the EFL appeals this decision immediately and the panel changes its mind in the very near future from 100K and a slap on the wrist to a points deduction. Its clear from the minimal nature of the punishment that this panel think that the EFL appeal panel got it wrong and it does not feel that Derby did all that much in the first place.

Complete mess. Hopefully we will soon get a DCFC statement. You would think we would say we don't quite agree but accept the punishment. What will the EFL do then?

When Ken Bates made a fool of the EFL over going in to administration after they were relegated the EFL like all petty bureaucrats were incensed that their incompetence had been exposed. They then started a vindictive campaign against Leeds when they were in division 1. One of the worst consequences of this was that it led to the promotion of a small natural division 1 club to the Championship. Ironically this club is now owned by a far bigger crook than Ken Bates.
Hell hath no fury like an EFL jobsworth humiliated.

the uncertainty is the punishment

I was told weeks ago that we still didn't know what league we'd be in next season, so couldn't go ahead with signing anybody, and that the process also made it more difficult to do our retained / released lists.

We had to plan for the worst (League 1, much lower income) and will have to continue to do so until the appeal is figured out.

I was also told that the EFL is also not allowing us to extend some contracts, which is an ongoing, and harsher punishment than a simple transfer embargo.

9gear ... I agree. The uncertainty is driving us into a dead end where relegation will be a near certainty next season.
Our squad is way under resourced at present and we are hamstrung.
EFL will win one way or the other.
Despicable behaviour.

The EFL are a shambles.

Making rules up retrospectively seems to be their MO where we're concerned.

What an absolute farce eh... no doubt Boris Johnson is on the EFL committee...
The state of the EFL clubs is laid bare. The clubs have no money for players and all - apart from those with parachute payments on the verge of bankruptcy.

Statement from our club:-

https://www.dcfc.co.uk/news/2021/06/derby-county-club-statement-24th-june-2021

While I don’t believe Derby’s accounting practices are truly within the spirit of the rules, I would expect them to be close enough to the letter of the rules for any retrospective relegation to become an absolute legal nightmare for both parties and drag on well beyond the end of next season let alone the start. If they open the door to retrospective action and succeed then there would be a case for arguing a revisit if other clubs practices in previous years

The problem is, from all I've been told, the EFL don't want us in the league, they want us to be sent to the very bottom and have to work our way back up.

Senior figures are apparently unhappy at not only the stadium sale, the accounting policies, but also the Rooney deal (shirt #32, even if we claimed it had nothing to do with the betting company), and the way we handled the Keogh case.

Even if we end up in League 1, I can't see that being the end of it. They'll pull us up on everything they think they can get away with doing so, just to cause more uncertainty / make us less competitive.

Don’t doubt that but I would think them wanting it, Derby deserving it and it being legally enforceable are totally separate. Mel’s practices have thoroughly sullied the club’s reputation though.

Hmmmmm....from the DCFC statement. Point 2 reads
"It ordered the Club submit revised accounts for those years by 18 August 2021 using a policy for the amortisation of player registrations which complies both with the requirements of FRS 102 and with the P&S Rules."
Well, all very well and good - but as I understand it the Championship season kicks off on the weekend of 7th August 2021....Am I missing something here ????

If we don't submit the accounts we'll continue to be under whatever embargo we're under, where we can't even register any players, effectively guaranteeing our relegation next season. This is an option, which I imagine is why the deadline is after the start of the season.

If we do submit the accounts, and they show we were in violation of FFP rules for that season, we'll be hit by the automatic points deduction regardless of the outcome of the appeal and start next season in League 1

If they win the appeal, we'll be hit by a points deduction for 'cheating', start the season in League 1, and probably another next season when we resubmit the accounts if they fall foul of FFP.

Bit of a joke......Derby get fined a pittance of one undred bags of sand and we cop a forty million fine.

comment by RRthedrum (U7933)
posted 20 minutes ago

Bit of a joke......Derby get fined a pittance of one undred bags of sand and we cop a forty million fine.

--------------------------------------

Which you pleaded poverty and didn't pay the full amount. As QPR's rule breaking (cheating) was blatant and you benefitted financially from it to far more than you were fined you have to say crime pays for some, specifically London Clubs apparently. West Ham anyone?

comment by RRthedrum (U7933)
posted 24 minutes ago
Bit of a joke......Derby get fined a pittance of one undred bags of sand and we cop a forty million fine.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, but you got £90m for being allowed to stay in the Premier league you numpty! By rights, you should have been relegated.

No one was allowed to stay. the efl can only get you if your relegated dumtee.

comment by Wicklowram (U18957)
posted 1 hour, 31 minutes ago
Don’t doubt that but I would think them wanting it, Derby deserving it and it being legally enforceable are totally separate. Mel’s practices have thoroughly sullied the club’s reputation though.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Spot on WicklowRam

Mel's actions in the last couple of years really concerned me where this club was heading, whilst fans on other forums were applauding his business acumen.

It's clear from the release last night EFL have an agenda to get Derby relegated.

This is not how Football should be.

Anyway, yeah, the FA don't even need to appeal here. The two fixture lists are clearly based on when we submit our revised accounts, which they must (having seen them) be sure are in violation of FFP rules without the accounting methods they're disputing.

Our choices appear to be

Route 1
Submit revised accounts prior to start of next season
FA apply standard, minimal point deduction to our tally for this season, relegating us
We start 21/22 in League 1 and hope our 'stars' are good enough to get us out so that we're back in the Championship for 22/23

Route 2:
We appeal the need to resubmit our accounts etc. which drags things past the start of the season.
We remain under transfer embago / unable to register new players until this is resolved (the EFL can do this, they even did it over Covid despite clubs following government advice on accounts)
We start 21/22 in the Championship, but with an under strength squad
We very likely get relegated (this squad is weaker than it was last season and we can't strengthen so the season is a write-off)
We then start 22/23 in League 1 and hope to get promoted
It'll be 23/24 by the time we're back in the Championship at best.

I don't think the EFL need to do anything at this point. The 2 fixture lists are a 'chose your pain' offer to Derby.

Mel is a fan, his judgement is impaired by that. Had he run his businesses like he ran Derby they would be bankrupt. He is not the first fan chairman to run a club in to the ground.

Exactly Spart, and additionally he did very well in one area of business and then thought he was King Midas and considered himself far cleverer than everyone else. He has put his money into the club but also his own limited abilities in this industry and regardless of what happens with all this, it will be many years of pain for ordinary fans

What surprise me is that the wat Derby amortized their players at the time was approved by the auditors appointed by the EFL, that has to count for a lot as Derby would say if you'd have pulled us up at the time we would have done things differently, and rightly so IMO

I also agree with the above, the disruptions this has caused has led to a relegation battle last season and most likely next season

I think Derby have a strong case in an appeal against any points deduction

I think we have a strong case but how long can we afford to drag this out, no decision hurts us too.

I actually think the EFL are caught between a rock and a hard place. Legal action from Messrs Gibson if they give in and probably Wycombe Wanderers now too. Legal action from us if they carry on running us into the ground with this appealing and counter appealing fluckery.

What gives?? Feels like it needs mediation not the courts.

Tbh if it frees us up from an embargo and leads to a takeover (not very optimistic on this), I'd take the fine and a 6 point deduction after mediation. EFL reducing it from 12 to 6 pts realising their role in creating this fiasco (even if not publicly cos of Gibson et al).

This team on last season's performances will struggle to stay in League One.

For me whatever gives us the best chance of getting back on our feet again, even if it is short term pain for long term gain. I think the counter appealing f####y is starting to hurt us as much as refusing to take a medicine, we may or may not have had to take.

Sending out an SOS