Rumours became public news on Friday of a new declaration of intent from ex-chairman Peter Gadsby that he wanted to buy Derby County from the current owners GSE.

Gadsby proposed a £37m bid involving two other unnamed but ‘significant’ local businessmen, also outlining ambitious plans for the development of the stadium environs. Gadsby would be the majority shareholder in the new regime.

He has previously disputed the real level of investment that GSE has put into the club and now thinks the club is stagnating; Gadsby promised an immediate £5m budget to Nigel Clough for team building.

Mr Gadsby again criticised the low team investment and reliance on loan players. There is certainly a current feeling of impermanence about the team - and fans aspire to the club signing loan players like Michael Tonge and Nicky Hunt on a permanent basis.

The takeover would embrace PG’s ‘shelved’ rights to the Pride Plaza plan, plus Chaddesden Sidings developments and a ‘sports village’ - but will we ever get the stable, solvent Premier League football team we keep being promised from local or remote owners?

Mud-slinging between current and ex-directors again arose when they were given an opportunity to air their reactions. The current board were caustic about the bid; Tom Glick labelled it as ‘a farce’ and ‘a mess’. He accused PG of hypocrisy, and being ‘sneaky’ and ‘disingenuous’  in writing confidentiality terms into the bid yet also disclosing details to the media. Perhaps the FA will charge us with failing to control our directors.

Gadsby responded by querying the actual shareholdings in the club at present saying that this is still unknown - he stressed that he sent the bid documents to known shareholders properly through his lawyers. He also claimed that ‘thousands’ of free match tickets are given away and that this was unfair to ticket holders. Mr Glick refuted this but didn’t enumerate the freebies.

It’s a shame that antipathy remains between past and current owners, as a combination of local and international funding and control could be a productive third option. This is Derby County though, so both ‘sides’ assume they have the full backing of the fans and all we can do is hear a war of words and watch the egos circulating again, in between the season ticket renewal letters.

A certain cynicism still resides in the Derby fanbase due to the deceptions and disappointments under various regimes over the past decade. Gadsby and Glick have both been responsible for delivering many pretty lousy matchday experiences, peppered with a few good ones!

Some supporters are sceptical as to whether the much-vaunted GSE billionaire investment group are actually as interested in Derby County as they are in acquiring and investing in various American sports clubs. Investors still seem as remote as ever to the fans.

Tom Glick said the club was not for sale and that the board had categorically rejected the bid. Glick also speculated why it was, if Gadsby wanted to give supporters a share of control in the club, he didn’t run it that way when he was in charge before. That’s a fair point!

Despite the trust’s resolute support for Gadsby’s 2006 bid and RamsTrust’s determined exposure of the Amigos’ custodianship, they and the fanbase received only lip service once the local consortium actually wrested control. Nor is RT involved at all in this current Gadsby bid. "The fans will decide", said Gadsby - but they haven't even been asked.

It seems to matter little who is in charge regarding the sincerity or reality of declarations about fan representation. I’ll believe it when I see it; Gadsby had little actual time for supporter groups once in power and GSE do not meet regularly with them. They do embrace (or appropriate) supporters’ original projects that can reflect goodwill upon the club.

Whatever the regular gushing platitudes from the current club regime about the scale and loyalty of the fanbase, or the pure tokenism of representation, we remain part of an impressive ‘stadium backdrop’ to the matchday experience. It is capital and shareholdings that control the influence and policy at a football club and Derby’s supporter shareholdings perished when John Sleightholme’s regime took control.

We should be under no illusion that we are mainly an element of Derby’s ‘partnership’ diverse revenue stream. Hey, but you can change your car tyres, buy a new mobile phone or even book your funeral, all through Derby County’s approved partners!

Despite a memorable Wembley play-off final victory over West Brom, the roof-raising promises and rocketing optimism under local control belied a lack of boardroom stability. Bad management and dreadful player recruitment from Billy Davies and his cronies spelt instant relegation.

The ‘League of Gentlemen’ allegedly soon became rather ungentlemanly amongst themselves, compounded by Davies’ immediately disruptive and selfish comments, even as he twirled the play-off trophy above his head (and everyone else’s knees) on the Wembley Stadium pitch. Neither Derby County nor Preston North End fans will ever welcome that manager back.

The Rams had insufficient funding to sustain a competitive challenge at the top level; Gadsby’s dream unravelled badly, leaving the club humiliated and broken. At the time, it also soured Mr Gadsby’s relationship with the fans, some of whom were very quick to personally abuse him.

Adam Pearson was then recruited to reorganise the club and he involved the GSE group. Once they took control, Gadsby was jettisoned; Pearson more recently escaped back to Hull City and is (at least currently) a Premier League chairman, leaving Glick as President and CEO of Everything.

Manager Nigel Clough criticised the timing of Gadsby’s bid and said that the current owners were ‘by far the best people’ to carry the club forwards. He is most concerned with securing Championship survival as early as possible and maintaining his squad development programme.

Would the manager’s negative comments seal his own fate should Gadsby re-take control? Fans by and large want Clough to maintain his position to ensure continuity.

Would Gadsby offer an earlier route to Championship success than GSE’s slow-build approach? With either owner, the real question is just how far will they go to fund a competitive team when and if Derby do reach the Premier League, in order to avoid a repeat of the previous ignominy?

Derby’s fanbase seems largely content to tolerate the mediocre on-field fayre and they presently trust in Nigel’s steady rebuilding of ‘a young, hungry and energetic squad’ (as Tom Glick’s season-ticket renewal notice describes the ‘journey’). There were certainly mixed opinions from supporters on Radio Derby as to the merits or desirability of Gadsby’s ‘second coming’.

Sponsorship income and networking partnerships have multiplied under GSE and that’s their specialism. Commercially, they have been successful in achieving those objectives. It all looks great on the GSE website (even though it still features a photo of Giles Barnes playing for us at Wigan!) It does not guarantee a successful team on the field or produce anything tangible in terms of meaningful supporter representation.

Gadsby did not diverge from the currently-favoured all-controlling corporate model of UK football ownership, either. He has a stronger pedigree in football with more experience of operating a club, having been involved in Lionel Pickering’s board (and the decline into debt in the 90s!) before ultimately controlling the club himself. Some fans do worry about Mr Glick’s inexperience in the murky world of transfers and agents.

Derby County argue that the £9m-£10m budget proposed for season 2010-11 should be sufficient to build a challenging team. A reliance on loan players (14 so far his season) of varying duration, suitability and fitness doesn’t really fill supporters with relish in anticipating their matchday experience.

A repeat of this season’s form (and fitness fiasco) would accelerate fans’ discontent. They want some permanence, experience, quality and skill in the squad mix too - and that costs money.

Whilst Rams fans are idly hoping to hear the loud ‘thud’ of Billy Davies and Nothingham Forest crashing and burning in deep debt - if or when Premier League status proves too much for wee Scot Billy again - we also wonder quite how it would be any different at Derby from the last time, if Gadsby were to get a second chance at Pride Park Stadium. Funny game, football.

GSE have obtained a European base by taking ownership of Derby County - who knows if the Rams are just an initial football experiment for them, perhaps only a stepping stone in a strategy to establish larger European sports representation? Are we really the jewel in their crown?

There was a declaration that DCFC would have consolidated a Premier League place in a 5-year time frame, although the current Derby team (after just over two years of GSE) is still fighting for Championship survival and the club is still cutting back on squad expenditure.

Promotion, Premier League status, European football and the so-called ‘global brand’ of Derby County still all look a very long way off on the bright blue horizon that we are assured our patience and loyalty will be rewarded with.

The Derby World Cup bid was abortive, quite a slap in the face in my view, both for the city and GSE, who are voracious ‘networkers’ harbouring big ambitions of developing their global football brand. Deeds, not words, and a decent team, are what supporters are interested in, guys.

Just as fans were getting used to the continuity and relative stability at their club, all the issues of local vs. remote ownership, funding and influence have arisen all over again.

Local ownership was once idealised but appeared to have vanished along with the demise of such as Jack Warner at Blackburn, Jack Hayward at Wolves, and Doug Ellis at Aston Villa or Lionel Pickering at Derby.

Unless spectacular funding is available or a community ownership model is embraced, local involvement has been displaced. Mr Gadsby’s bold new bid has been timed to appeal to fans, now due to renew their season tickets. He wants to demonstrate that successful team funding through local ownership is still an option for Derby County.

Derby County say ‘hands off’ - but it is highly unlikely that Peter Gadsby will leave it at that. Who knows what tomorrow may bring?

Peter Gadsby has launched a website detailing his plans for DCFC and surrounding developments. 

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Photo: Action Images via Reuters