Morris’ legacy: So close to the golden ticket in a gamble which went so wrong

MEL Morris already held a “significant minority shareholding” in the club when he bought out the American ownership group in 2015 to become sole owner of Derby County.

“I hope together we can help steer this club into a sustainable place in the Premier League. We have many of the key components in place but I am conscious that we must all commit our total support in pursuit of this goal,” Morris said at the time.

Fast forward six years and the Rams are bottom of the Championship and in administration.

The seismic impact of the situation is still sinking in. Disbelief is rubbing shoulders with disappointment and anger among the fan base.

To see a founder member of the Football League and one of the English game’s big clubs in such a mess is heartbreaking. It should never have come to this.

Of course, off-the-field concerns have been around for 18 months or so, alongside the long-running dispute with the EFL. There were clearly worries but there was also hope that the situation could be resolved and that a conclusion of some sort would emerge in order for the club to start moving forward.

With that in mind, the news on Friday night that Derby had filed a notice of intent to appoint administrators still came as a shock to most people.

It is not an outcome many envisaged nor wanted. Nor is it how Morris would have wanted his tenure as owner and chairman to pan out. But it has and it is a harsh lesson for him and for football.

A combination of hefty investment and the best intentions does not necessarily lead to craved success because football is not an exact science.

Chasing the dream and the golden ticket to Premier League riches can be an exciting but dangerous game. There is nothing wrong with ambition. Clubs should be ambitious, clubs of Derby’s size certainly should, and fans want to see their team striving.

But striving has to be contained within a club’s means, although the cavernous gap in finances between the top two divisions lures clubs to overstretch themselves in an attempt to bridge the gap. That is a problem in our game and one that needs addressing.

Clubs gamble in search of success. Sometimes it pays off but it can also backfire, painfully. The Rams pushed the boat out too far at times. The gamble, the push, the striving – call it what you will – did not pay off and the consequences are now hitting home, savagely hard.

Morris, a wealthy local businessman with a dream, backed his managers, too much on occasions, but this was all part of a desire to have Derby challenging for promotion.

There was heavy spending in his first summer window in 2015 – Tom Ince, Jason Shackell, Jacob Butterfield, Bradley Johnson and Andreas Weimann for more than £20m, based on reported figures.

Derby spent £10m in a matter of hours on deadline day by landing Butterfield (£4m) and Johnson (£6m). Eyebrows were raised, although there were not many dissenting voices as the Rams made headlines on the madness that is deadline day.

Both players had starred for their previous clubs, Huddersfield Town and Norwich City, and the spending continued in the January window of 2016 as Nick Blackman, Abdoul Camara and Marcus Olsson arrived.

Big transfer fees, significant wages and long contracts; it was an expensive concoction and, for a time afterwards, there appeared to be an approach based on making two or three big signings each summer in a bid to get Derby over the promotion line after going close the previous season.

That was bold, too bold, too much of a gamble. Each passing season in the second tier highlighted how a different more sustainable model was needed, especially in the face of Financial Fair Play.

There was some big spending in 2018-19, Frank Lampard’s one season in charge – Martyn Waghorn, Jack Marriott, Florian Jozefzoon and loan deals for Mason Mount, Harry Wilson and Fikayo Tomori – but there were also the significant sales of leading scorer Matej Vydra, Cameron Jerome and Weimann.

The turnover of players ran along

Each passing season in the second tier highlighted how a different more sustainable model was needed.

side a turnover of managers.

Morris appointed eight permanent managers on his watch: Paul Clement, Darren Wassall (who stepped up from Academy manager for three months when Clement was sacked), Nigel Pearson, Steve McClaren, Gary Rowett, Frank Lampard, Phillip Cocu and Wayne Rooney.

Eight as a cold figure looks too high and it is when stability is needed, although two of the eight, Rowett and Lampard, left for other jobs after guiding Derby to the playoffs.

Decisions on managers, whether it is their appointments, sackings or departures by mutual agreement, spark debate.

For example, Clement’s exit after only eight months was not a decision I agreed with. Derby were without a win in seven and had collected four points from 21, but they had topped the table twice that season and sat fifth, five points outside the top two, having suffered only five defeats in 30 matches.

Morris was asked in an interview with the Derby Telegraph at the weekend if he fired managers too easily.

He said: “I am not going to go into individual managers because I don’t think it is fair on them or indeed on the club to talk about the circumstances which led to their departures.

“Did I make mistakes? Absolutely, no question. Did some of that come from a lack of experience? Absolutely. Did some of that probably come from maybe being more keen for success than probably more patience and prudence? Absolutely.”

Recent years have seen the club make too many headlines off the field. The sale of Pride Park Stadium; an EFL charge for breaching profitability and sustainability rules on which Derby were cleared of any wrongdoing; an appeal against the club’s amortisation policy, won by the EFL; late filing of accounts; a transfer embargo and the ongoing dispute with the EFL.

Winning games on the pitch is difficult enough without ongoing battles off the pitch.

For the past few years, Morris made no secret of the fact he has been looking for new investment, a buyer for the club.

He made it clear from the outset that the fit would have to be right and in the best interests of the club, but potential takeovers collapsed. This fuelled growing frustration among the fans and increased worry lines.

What happened in 2020, nobody could have foreseen.

The coronavirus pandemic hit football hard as revenues were slashed while outgoings remained. This was highlighted in the club’s statement on Friday and received stinging criticism.

Morris explained how losing £20m of revenue due to Covid had impacted matters. He has a point but, again, this did not sit well with many, as Covid impacted all clubs, although to differing degrees. Nor was Covid around when Derby’s wage bill soared.

Given all of that, what will be Morris’ legacy?

It would be wrong to forget that there have been some good times and some of the spending that has been criticised actually pushed Derby close to realising the dream of promotion on a number of occasions, and provided excitement along the way.

Derby made the play-offs three times in Morris’ six full seasons as owner. There were two semi-final defeats, at the hands of Fulham and Hull City, and there was the heartache of losing the 2018-19 Wembley final to Aston Villa.

Had that result gone Derby’s way the club would not be in this situation now, highlighting the fine lines in football.

Derby averaged 72 points a season in the first five seasons and no other team in the division made the playoffs more often in that period, but 2020-21 proved a nightmare campaign and one which saw the Rams avoid relegation by the skin of their teeth on the final day.

Morris’ commitment to the club’s Academy saw him spend millions on its development and on the Moor Farm training complex that has blossomed to become the envy of many clubs.

Such an outlay demands a return in the shape of young players filtering into the first team and that has happened. Three, in Max Bird, Louie Sibley and Lee Buchanan, started Saturday’s victory over Stoke City and there have been others who have been in and around the first team, while others have been sold, Jayden Bogle and Max Lowe being recent examples.

Morris made good calls and he made mistakes but his intentions cannot be doubted, nor the hours he has put in, the energy and the investment, which he says is in excess of £200m.

Until now, opinion would have been split when analysing and judging his time at the helm. I am not sure what the percentage split would have been, but sympathy for Morris has plummeted following the news of administration.

That is understandable and not a surprise because it is now a deeplyworrying time for the club amid claims that any new buyer “must spend £50m just to clear the debts”, one of which is a reported £26m owed to HMRC. They are eye-watering figures.

Now we wait to see what the administrators make of the state of the club.

Encouraging noises came from their first press conference on Thursday when they said: “We don’t consider it is going to be an easy task but nevertheless we don’t consider the obstacles insurmountable that we face at this stage.”

They also revealed a “considerable” amount of interest in the club from potential buyers and said Morris has been “incredibly supportive” of the process.

It is, however, an extremely worrying time for people connected to the club who might lose their jobs through no fault of their own. They could become innocent victims of this sorry situation.

Many fans will find it difficult to forgive Morris. Again, this is understandable because seeing their club going into administration has caused a lot of heartache to a lot of people.

Fans in recent months became frustrated at a lack of communication from the chairman and while highly-sensitive details surrounding takeovers and the situation with the EFL could not be revealed for obvious reasons, the communication from the top amid growing concerns among the fanbase could have been better – something Morris has admitted – and should have been better. That was a mistake and keeping fans better informed is a must going forward.

Morris issued an apology to supporters in an hour-long interview on Sunday.

Emotions remain raw and some fans are in no mood to accept his apology, which is not a surprise because they see their club in turmoil following his decision to place it into administration, landing the team a 12-point deduction with a further points deduction expected that would leave the team facing relegation to League One.

Morris will have his reasons for stepping back at this juncture. I was surprised. I am also disappointed by his decision and its impact.

Owning a football club is a huge privilege but can also be hugely stressful and financially draining, a complex balancing act that tugs at the head and the heart as ambition battles with astuteness and all the time decision-making is absolutely crucial.

Football is a team game and there can be many factors that dictate whether decisions work out or not. Individuals can go from hero to zero on the back of one result. That is the volatile, unpredictable nature of the game, but ultimately responsibility lies at the top.

Morris is a fan who became an owner and chairman. He wanted the best for the club but ultimately failed to deliver that golden ticket and now Derby’s situation is sending shockwaves through the game.

Chasing a dream has ended in a nightmare.