Derby County deadline extended by a month

[Michael Morris]

We are due to play them on the 1st of March.

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football...82A59QxhxBa6-o

Derby County's administrators have been given an extra month to provide proof of how the Championship club will be funded for the rest of the season.

The English Football League originally asked administrators Quantuma to provide details by 1 February.

But that date has now been pushed back until the beginning of March to allow further talks with potential buyers.

Derby have been in administration since September and remain in the relegation zone, eight points from safety.

A joint statement from the EFL and Quantuma said: "Today's development will allow the club to meet its ongoing obligations whilst giving a further four weeks to continue the discussions with the interested bidders and relevant stakeholders in respect of a sale, alongside providing additional time to seek clarity on the claims from Middlesbrough and Wycombe.

"It is appreciated that many people have been waiting to receive an update over the last 48 hours but given the complexity and ever-changing circumstances, our priority has been to provide clarity once there is a definitive position.

"Our commitment as ever remains addressing the many challenges at hand and we will look to provide updates as soon as we are able to."

Boro missed out on the play-offs in 2019 while the Chairboys would have stayed up last season had the cases against Derby, that led to them being deducted nine points this term, been dealt with sooner.

The nine-point deduction followed the initial docking of 12 points after owner Mel Morris placed the club into administration.

A preferred bidder for Derby has yet to be named by Quantuma amid fears that the club could face the threat of liquidation if a deal cannot be agreed.

The wealthy Binnie family from the US, founders of investment company Carlisle Capital, submitted a £28m bid last Friday, while a consortium including former Rams chairman Andy Appleby is thought to be preparing a fresh offer which would also include the purchase of the club's Pride Park stadium.

Former Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has also been considering a bid following his £305m sale of the Magpies last October.

Meanwhile on the pitch, manager Wayne Rooney is continuing his efforts to prevent the club being relegated to League One, despite the possibility of further players leaving to ease the financial situation.

They could not finalise a new contract for former England defender Phil Jagielka, who joined Stoke, while Dylan Williams and Graeme Shinnie have departed for Chelsea and Wigan respectively.

Goalkeeper David Marshall and youngster Jordan Brown have also left this month to join QPR and Leyton Orient.

There is also believed to be interest in captain Tom Lawrence from Championship rivals Bournemouth, who are pushing for promotion back to the Premier League.

Analysis

BBC Sport reporter Simon Stone

This news will take some of the heat out of a situation that was getting increasingly tense, even though, realistically, there was never a prospect of Derby County going out of business on 1 February.

That date was put in place by the EFL to get clarity over funding and establish a cash position at the club, not a hard stop if resolutions were unattainable.

From conversations I have had over the past 48 hours, there is confidence Derby will get through to the end of the season, through player sales or external loans.

The key issues are establishing a preferred bidder and from that, to have meaningful dialogue with Middlesbrough and Wycombe over their outstanding compensation claims that threaten to land Derby with another £60m bill.

Major creditors HMRC - who are owed £28m - and finance group MSD, who have a £20m loan lodged against Pride Park stadium, are sure to be involved in further discussions, as is Morris, who still owns the stadium.

[jon1959]

Wasn't the original 1st February date for providing a funding guarantee to the EFL set (by the EFL) because that was the date the Derby administrators said they would run out of cash?

I don't see how this announcement changes much.

It probably makes it more likely than not that Derby will sell everything and everyone they can before the end of Monday (unless they can get some major loans in) to ensure they have the money to stay afloat. Hard to see any of the interested prospective buyers lending any money until or unless they get 'preferred bidder' status. Even then, a big ask as long as Pride Park is owned by Mel Morris and not the club!

[life on mars]

I have set up a crowd funding campaign to raise some dosh go to #help save rams , they could do it for us at #help save the sheep shaggers

[Pearcey3]

Hopefully they have to sell key players in the next few days.

[City123]

Hopefully they have to sell key players in the next few days.

They'll have to if there's no imminent takeover surely? Bit of a pisstake they've been rejecting bids despite being in administration

[splott parker]

They'll have to if there's no imminent takeover surely? Bit of a pisstake they've been rejecting bids despite being in administration

It is strange isn’t it? Not really up on administration things but I was under the impression anything that moved was sold, you’d have thought even more so in the football industry with its window & deadline.

[Pearcey3]

They'll have to if there's no imminent takeover surely? Bit of a pisstake they've been rejecting bids despite being in administration

Yep. I reckon they want their cake and eat it, Keep their best players, get a bid accepted and then have a real chance of staying up.

[tforturton]

Deadline delayed due to snow

[bobh]

I hope they are given the same amount of help as Bury were given.

[blue matt]

Yep. I reckon they want their cake and eat it, Keep their best players, get a bid accepted and then have a real chance of staying up.

not sure how the EFL are letting them get away with it

[bobh]

not sure how the EFL are letting them get away with it

Because they're not Bury?

[Pearcey3]

The Guardian are suggesting the Inland Revenue are wiling for Derby to pay back a reduced amount to them. That would be wrong on so many levels. They should have to pay back in full. It sets a dangerous precedent going forward too.

[WJ99mobile]

The Guardian are suggesting the Inland Revenue are wiling for Derby to pay back a reduced amount to them. That would be wrong on so many levels. They should have to pay back in full. It sets a dangerous precedent going forward too.

So in that case any club that enters administration should be able to do the same

[Pearcey3]

So in that case any club that enters administration should be able to do the same

Yep and apparently Lawrence will not be sold. This is a complete piss take if true.

[City123]

Yep and apparently Lawrence will not be sold. This is a complete piss take if true.

How can they get away with that? Ridiculous. They rejected several good bids for Sibley as well

[Rjk]

How can they get away with that? Ridiculous. They rejected several good bids for Sibley as well

450k I heard, it's a lot less than he's worth

[WJ99mobile]

450k I heard, it's a lot less than he's worth

Whilst I hope Derby get everything they deserve, I don't like it when clubs take advantage of other clubs in crisis.

Suppose that's the way of the world but 450k is really low-balling

[Pearcey3]

Whilst I hope Derby get everything they deserve, I don't like it when clubs take advantage of other clubs in crisis.

Suppose that's the way of the world but 450k is really low-balling

He isn’t worth too much because his contract expires in a few months

[blue matt]

450k I heard, it's a lot less than he's worth

But surely the administrators should be taking anything they can to clear some debts

[splott parker]

But surely the administrators should be taking anything they can to clear some debts

That’s how I always thought it worked, even if he’s worth £4.5m, 10% of something is better than 100% of nothing. I thought administrators were quite ruthless.

[The Bloop]

Administrators are there to run the business which could include setting up voluntary arrangements with creditors for the debts. That could be why the deadline has been extended. A lot of them eventually fail and the company will be liquidated and assets sold.
HMRC have extended the deadline by a month for everyone and anyone to submit their self assessment returns so why not give Derby an extension aswell? Think it's delaying the inevitable anyway.

[splott parker]

Administrators are there to run the business which could include setting up voluntary arrangements with creditors for the debts. That could be why the deadline has been extended. A lot of them eventually fail and the company will be liquidated and assets sold.
HMRC have extended the deadline by a month for everyone and anyone to submit their self assessment returns so why not give Derby an extension aswell? Think it's delaying the inevitable anyway.

Isn’t part of their remit to get money in, if possible? Bit awkward in football though with the transfer deadline.

[The Bloop]

Isn’t part of their remit to get money in, if possible? Bit awkward in football though with the transfer deadline.

They'll need to get money in to convince creditors they're not insolvent. If that means selling their most valuable players and replacing them with cheaper versions (sound familiar?) in order to keep the business trading, then that's what they should do.

[Father Dougal]

Surely they will be fine? They don't seem too worried anyway.

[Lawnmower]

They'll need to get money in to convince creditors they're not insolvent. If that means selling their most valuable players and replacing them with cheaper versions (sound familiar?) in order to keep the business trading, then that's what they should do.

Rooney saying yesterday they aren’t going to sell any players, so there must be coming in from somewhere as gate receipts won’t cover their wage bill.

They should just have been relegated las season

All these piddly points deductions and they still could be in the Championship debt free next season, with players and a manager they brought in on money they will never pay back to creditors whilst another club who’ve stuck to the rules going down and losing a huge amount of income instead.

Guess who we’ve got away on the last day of the season?