Ramballs

It would be fair to say that here at RamBalls there is little faith in the British Justice System. Just a few weeks ago RamBalls’ bicycle was stolen and I expected the finest officers Derbyshire Constabulary has to offer to spend the following weeks hunting down the morally bankrupt scummer who is in possession of my two wheels. I assumed the trial of said bike theif would be over within one month of the theft; my bike would be returned to me, along with compensation for the mental distress I suffered, and the theif would be suitably punished with crocodile clips, a car battery and a few hours of my spare time.

What actually happened was markedly different. I contacted the police and they gave me a crime number. The end.

I felt cheated. I used to have a bike, now I have some numbers. I can’t cycle to work on numbers. I tapped the numbers into my mobile phone thinking it might put me directly through to the theif but I ended up calling a directory enquiry line. I asked them for the theif’s number but they didn’t know either.

That’s why I was so delighted to hear the news of last week. The police had actually done some hard investigative work which not only brought people to trial but actually resulted in convictions. Jeremy Keith, Murdo Mackay and Andrew Mackenzie, three former directors of the club, along with David Lowe, a dodgy bloke in Monaco, were given custodial sentences at her majesty’s finest B&Bs.

In case you missed it, and I’m sure you won’t have, some of the directors involved in the 2003 takeover of our club have been convicted of crimes against Derby County fans. That’s not quite true but it’s how many of us feel. Back in 2006 there was real anger amongst many fans at the way the club had been run under the guidance of the “business doctor” Jeremy Keith (Hermes from Futurama) et al. We’d seen Rasiak and Huddlestone sold in a flash and rumours were circulating about the Co-op beginning to call in some debts. All the while we had a board of directors who were as transparent as sewage water.

Eventually, the board was replaced by Gadsby and the local consortium whom, along with former chairman John Sleightholme, it is believed tipped off the police about potential irregular payments made to members of the previous regime. The payments, approximately £400,000 in total, were made to Mr Keith, Mr Mackenzie and Mr Mackay. At this stage the police took over and did their digging.

The investigation was massive. Fraud investigators interviewed over 150 witnesses, crossed countries, trawled through documents and eventually had enough evidence to prosecute. The case seemed strong from the outset and us fans were left waiting, agonisingly, from a distance as the trial took place over a few months. We all wanted guilty verdicts and custodial sentences were the minimum we would accept (the other option was a public flogging although we’d have needed a Saudi court for that one). Then, on July 20th, our wish was granted.

We already knew that they were guilty by this point, as the verdict was delivered back in June, but like a girlfriend who won’t put out until “the time feels right”, we were made to wait a little longer for the good stuff. I received the news by text as my Dad told me what I’d been longing to hear; Keith, 18 months (false accounting), Mackay and Mackenzie, three years (conspiracy to defraud), David Lowe, two years (money laundering). I was away at the time, hence the delay in updating the blog, but I made sure I enjoyed a celebratory pint that evening.

Mackay, Keith and Mackenzie, along with David “dirty laundry” Lowe, robbed our club. They dealt with shady corporations in distant foreign lands, spun a web of lies and personally pocketed some of the the cash that we spent on ticket money. They were crooks. Plain and simple crooks.

It’s really down to us, the fans, that this came about. We made our voices heard and demonstrated that our club is more than a fat man from Oxfordshire’s train set. It’s our community, our social centre and for some of us, our church. We weren’t prepared to let Murdo Mackay get away with this given his dreadful record at operating businesses. Quite frankly, if Murdo Mackay had gotten away with it, we would have been a pretty sorry bunch of fools. Murdo Mackay’s CV makes the winos at the bottom of Abbey Street look like Richard Branson, Bill Gates and Martha Stewart.

The club can now move on from this whole ugly scenario and look forward to a more successful future with a transparent and honest board. GSE…it’s over to you.

This being what it is, the first blog of the series during the middle of the closed season, I figured most of you will already be aware of Mile Sterjovskis and Andy Todds departure to Perth Glory, as well as the signing of Jake Buxton and Ben Pringle from Burton Albion and Ilkeston Town respectively. Yes, that’s right, we’ve signed a two previously semi-professional players. Woohoo!

I jest. There have been many grumblings across the messageboards regarding the signing of two unknowns, especially after a pretty poor season spent trying to avoid relegation. A few have voiced concerns that Nigel Clough is out of his depth with regard to playing the transfer market at a professional level and doubt the ability of our first two signings and, while it would be easy to knock these unknowns, I shall refrain from doing so.  I’m quite happy with these additions. Jake Buxton, a former Mansfield Town defender, received high praise from many in the Blue Square Premier after his fantastic performances throughout Burton Albions promotion season last year; he’s young, hungry and Nigel Clough knows his well. Likewise, Ben Pringle is a talented young midfielder who will be joining Derby as part of the clubs new development squad (or reserves as most people call them). Neither of them has cost the Earth and both will be wanting to show exactly what they are capable of in the CCC. With any luck, they’ll be prove to be excellent additions to the squad and I look forward to seeing them play.

Back to this weeks news.

The Rams have snapped up Lee Croft (above) from Norwich City on a free transfer (although i am reliably informed that there is no such thing as a free transfer.) Derby were forced to wait to until Croft turned 24 before they could sign the winger as he arrived on a Bosman and, as such, they would have had to pay compensation if he was still 23. The official site describes Croft as a “flying winger” but we’ll have to wait until August to see if he can soar to new heights (sorry).

Dean Moxey, 23, has agreed personal terms with the club. Moxey, who can play at down the left side of midfield or in defense, arrives from Exeter City for fee believed to be around £300,000. He’s an Exeter lad who worked on the turnstiles for the Grecians on the day they got relegated in 2003. I’m sure that’s a happy memory for him. Here’s a link to the Exeter City website listing their top 5 Moxey moments.

This week sees the launch of the clubs new home kit with a “kit parade” scheduled in for Friday 3rd July in the Market Place. This is the clubs fifth new strip in as many seasons, something has angered some irrational fans who believe that when the club launches a new kit they must buy it and these new kits are costing them a fortune. I heard one guy on the radio saying his kids would pester him for YET ANOTHER new strip and it’s more expense during these hard economic times. My advice: JUST SAY NO! The kid will deal with it in time and if they don’t, you could always put them up for adoption. Here are the kit launch details.

Burnley look set to sign Tyrone “quick, through that window” Mears. Mears played in important role in the promotion season under Silly Billy Davies and was later accused of fleeing through a window to catch a flight to Marseilles by former boss Paul Jewell. Burnley have reportedly had a £500,000 bid accepted by the rams leaving Tye free to agree personal terms with the newly promoted premier league side.

Finally, because I really should wrap this up, the court case involving former Derby County directors Jeremy Keith, Murdo MacKay and Andrew Mackenzie has ended with them all being found guilty. MacKay and Mackenzine were convicted of conspiracy to defraud the club while Keith (you know, the fat one who looks a like Hermes from Futurama) has been found guilty of false accounting. Some previously unknown goon called David Lowe was found guilty of money laundering while a fifth man, we’ll call him Mr Innocent, walked away from the charge of false accounting. For full coverage of the story check out the DET coverage here.

Back soon, I promise.