Chairman Backing

[brendywendy]

The fact that we have to sell players to stay afloat suggests to me that spanking 20 million quid on Robert Earnshaw is not going to be a successful long term strategy.

Posts like this make my blood boil. I put rubbish like this on a par with people still using " doing a bradford" as a reference point. Show me where anyone has suggested we spend more than a few million on one player, let alone 20, let ALONE robert fvcking earnshaw. Why is there no middle ground for you people? Its either spend next to nothing on players or going on a manchester city style spending spree and quadruple the wage bill and go bust.

Whats wrong with sensible spending and investment? Something we SHOULD be able to afford given we have received FAR more than the entire football league and half the premiership on player sales in the last few seasons and have invested an absolute fraction of it on the team.

A. its very easy to spend other peoples money.
B. loads of people have gone on about how we need to be spending multiple millions on multiple players in order to compete and have ambition.

[Wimb]

i neither back him, nor not back him.
as far as im concerened he's an irrelevance, since he isnt going to give us millions of pounds of his own money to pour down drains.

in those circumstances im glad weve balanced the books, and am very happy we are now using our academy products more.
of course id like us to spend more money on some great players. but we havent got it, so moaning about its a bit daft imo.

would i prefer a new owner, who is willing to invest, on new players,which will mean getting rid of our home grown lads? and who is only likely to want to leave at some point having made a profit on his investment?
not sure thats as good a thing as some people make out.

Nailed on Brenders.

[rhroyal]

I'd say in for now; he's keeping us sustainable and relatively competitive at this level. If an appropriate owner with the money and attitude to take us forward comes in for the club, I'm happy for Madejski to sell then.

[brendywendy]

How about you guys trying to explain why, when clubs are changing hands all over the place, Madejski is spectacularly failing to deliver on his stated intention to get out? It's not normally that difficult to sell a very well run business with bright prospects for the future.

actually its our financial stability which makes us hard to sell.
most of the clubs that change hands do so on the back of large debts which the buying club use to get the price way down.
it also means that the selling chairman cant wait to offload cos its draining the money from his bank accounts

[rhroyal]

i neither back him, nor not back him.
as far as im concerened he's an irrelevance, since he isnt going to give us millions of pounds of his own money to pour down drains.

in those circumstances im glad weve balanced the books, and am very happy we are now using our academy products more.
of course id like us to spend more money on some great players. but we havent got it, so moaning about its a bit daft imo.

would i prefer a new owner, who is willing to invest, on new players,which will mean getting rid of our home grown lads? and who is only likely to want to leave at some point having made a profit on his investment?
not sure thats as good a thing as some people make out.

Possibly disagree on the last point. Look how long wealthy owners have stayed at Chelsea, QPR, Sunderland etc. So long as we're not taken for absolute mugs I'd happily take 10-15 years of success under their money before returning to our current level.

With financial rules as they are, it would be relatively low risk. Minimal chance of bankruptcy and in all likelyhood just a relegation back to the Championship. Possibly a couple of seasons in League 1; worth it after several years of Premiership football and challenging for Europe. We'd also get the sympathy of papers and fans nationwide, think "Poor old Reading", happily ignoring how we bought our success via financial doping. It's a joke of a system, but weighing it all up, would it be that bad if we went through the roller coaster?

That's why the authorities have failed; you can look at clubs like Pompey and see that the risk is relatively worth while.

[brendywendy]

No mention of how it's all going so terribly wrong for Cardiff then!

We may not be going financially bankrupt but how long until we are bankrupt of player talent capable of performing well at Championship level?

During the last transfer window whilst other clubs invested sensibly in players that would allow them to kick on in their promotion/playoff campaign, we appear to have ‘invested’ in cut price replacements for the next lot of proven talent to be sold off come the summer.

!

im not sure cardiff are who i would hold up as the great model.
how many times have they nearly gone under?
theyve just been bought by a load of god know whos, who have no affinity for the club, or game, and who are willing to throw some more ridiculous money at it in a mad bid for promotion.
if the get it, will they stay up? will they keep all their loanees?if they dont/or come straight down will the owners keep investing?
or asset strip the club in an attempt to stop the huge losses theyll have incurred.
if thats what you want from this club, im pretty glad you arent in charge.

if we get an investor, great.
if we dont im happy enough with JM for him to kepep the ship steady until we do.

[Wimb]

I see your point rhroyal but I personally find it something to proud of that my club hasn't 'cheated' and we can go along with heads held high. I'm not sure if there is much public sympathy anymore, Pompy had sympathy while they had a good cup run against the odds but the general football fan was horrified to see they were paying off Spurs for a keeper they sold to Stoke rather then paying local printing firms.

Some clubs get the success with a new owner but it didn't exactly work out at Pompy/Notts County/Plymouth did it?

It would also put us into the game of financial Russian Roulette. Just because no other club has gone to the wall in no way means we couldn't be the first, it WILL happen to a big club soon and I'd rather not gamble that it's us.

[handbags_harris]

Ok, let's go middle ground investment then:

Norwich City: higher ticket prices, more season ticket holders, higher average attendance by some distance - £23 million in debt.

Charlton Athletic: they got £16 million in one transfer hit, tried to spend in their first season back and are now plying their trade in League 1, and are saddled with debt in the millions also.

Crystal Palace: tried to spend their way back out of the Championship keeping their best players for a season, then eventually it came back to bite them on the arse a few years later after progressively diminishing seasons.

Bristol City: bankrolled by Steve Lansdown, they made losses of c£9 million over the last season.

The fact is that most clubs are in a similar boat to us, and many of those that appear to be spending more actually have an underlying issue financially. RFC doesn't want to end up in that trap, so the extra spending that you so vociferously pander for in order to push for promotion isn't going to happen. It's short-termist gambling and RFC simply won't do that now.

No mention of how it's all going so terribly wrong for Cardiff then!

We may not be going financially bankrupt but how long until we are bankrupt of player talent capable of performing well at Championship level?

During the last transfer window whilst other clubs invested sensibly in players that would allow them to kick on in their promotion/playoff campaign, we appear to have ‘invested’ in cut price replacements for the next lot of proven talent to be sold off come the summer.

‘Madejski’s Way’ is starting to look as though it could take us back down the structure quicker than it got us up it. The downward spiral is working well, limited investment in the playing squad, selling off of stars = lower attendances = limited investment in the playing squad, selling off of stars. To make matters worse not only are the results very disappointing but the quality of football on display is crap – Hoof!

Are you actually suggesting Cardiff City fall into the bracket of middle ground spending? Either way, let's take a look at them:

Spunked loads of money on players they couldn't afford in a vain attempt to get promoted and, having failed, have subsequently successfully averted numerous winding up orders over unpaid tax bills. Started selling season tickets for 10/11 in December 09 with the caveat that the estimated £3 million raised would go on transfers in January 10 in an attempt to get promoted. Unpaid tax bill? c£3 million. Only just got past the winding up orders due to massively deceiptful marketing and shady far eastern money thanks to the policies habitually adopted by, and "contacts" of, the reknowned football club finance screwer-upper Peter Ridsdale.

And have they been promoted to the Premier League yet?

[trueroyal1871]

If Madejski doesn't want to or can't sell the club he should seriously be looking at selling some of his share in the club to generate some additional investment. Maybe he could consider becoming a joint owner with another businessman to share some of the financial pressures of running the club.

[Wimb]

If Madejski doesn't want to or can't sell the club he should seriously be looking at selling some of his share in the club to generate some additional investment. Maybe he could consider becoming a joint owner with another businessman to share some of the financial pressures of running the club.

Again WHO has come in with an offer it's not like Madejski hasn't made it clear he is prepared to sell.

[brendywendy]

i neither back him, nor not back him.
as far as im concerened he's an irrelevance, since he isnt going to give us millions of pounds of his own money to pour down drains.

in those circumstances im glad weve balanced the books, and am very happy we are now using our academy products more.
of course id like us to spend more money on some great players. but we havent got it, so moaning about its a bit daft imo.

would i prefer a new owner, who is willing to invest, on new players,which will mean getting rid of our home grown lads? and who is only likely to want to leave at some point having made a profit on his investment?
not sure thats as good a thing as some people make out.

Possibly disagree on the last point. Look how long wealthy owners have stayed at Chelsea, QPR, Sunderland etc. So long as we're not taken for absolute mugs I'd happily take 10-15 years of success under their money before returning to our current level.

With financial rules as they are, it would be relatively low risk. Minimal chance of bankruptcy and in all likelyhood just a relegation back to the Championship. Possibly a couple of seasons in League 1; worth it after several years of Premiership football and challenging for Europe. We'd also get the sympathy of papers and fans nationwide, think "Poor old Reading", happily ignoring how we bought our success via financial doping. It's a joke of a system, but weighing it all up, would it be that bad if we went through the roller coaster?

That's why the authorities have failed; you can look at clubs like Pompey and see that the risk is relatively worth while.

fair points there mostly.
chelsea are a bit different- their owner is so rich money means almost nothing. plus they have the cash cow of the champions league(had?) to keep the dosh rolling in. we'll never do that.
QPR are owned by the richest people in football, and yet theyve sensibly built the club up like we did, only now they are looking nailed on for promotion have they started to spend a little more on expensive premiere league loanees.i dont think theyve invested for the love of the club or game though. theyll want to take their profits at some point.

if bill gates or someone is thinking about buying a club, and likes the look of reading, fair play. but i cant see it myself.
our best bet is for a super rich local person wirth some affinity for the club to invest- a bit like Old JM
until then im happy running ourseselves the correct way.
thats just me though, i realise ill be in the minority there.

[trueroyal1871]

If Madejski doesn't want to or can't sell the club he should seriously be looking at selling some of his share in the club to generate some additional investment. Maybe he could consider becoming a joint owner with another businessman to share some of the financial pressures of running the club.

Again WHO has come in with an offer it's not like Madejski hasn't made it clear he is prepared to sell.

We don't know of anyone coming in with an offer, why does that even matter? I was merely suggesting an alternative to selling the club completely by working with another businessman or woman, I'm sure Madejski knows a few.

[handbags_harris]

If Madejski doesn't want to or can't sell the club he should seriously be looking at selling some of his share in the club to generate some additional investment. Maybe he could consider becoming a joint owner with another businessman to share some of the financial pressures of running the club.

Again WHO has come in with an offer it's not like Madejski hasn't made it clear he is prepared to sell.

We don't know of anyone coming in with an offer, why does that even matter? I was merely suggesting an alternative to selling the club completely by working with another businessman or woman, I'm sure Madejski knows a few.

The fact that Madejski "knows a few" also doesn't matter a jot if they don't want to invest in football clubs.

[Hugo Boss]

I can barely muster the effort to construct a reply, but needless to say LOL @ people once again complaining about the Chairman.

[trueroyal1871]

The fact that Madejski "knows a few" also doesn't matter a jot if they don't want to invest in football clubs.

Of course it doesn't matter, it's just an alternative to selling the club completely. I would love to see more investment made but to be honest we're not in any serious debt and the club isn't about to go bust so I'm fairly happy with the way things are being run. I think a lot of other clubs wish they were as financially secure as we are.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Anyone that comes in to a football club with money does it for one reason, to make more money, they put in a few million, which is always as a debt, then when they can cope no more thay sell and recoupo the money, so really there is no actual extra money at all.

Once again untill the authorities set the playing field properly there are two ways, live within your means, Crewe, Walsall both do this, or create a massive debt, that unless written off one day has to be repaid. In all reality if RFC are the Crewe of the Championship then that would be fine. What I think fans want is more attractive football tho.

So how about this summer the club widen the pitch back to the original width, I seem to recall it was narrowed, to stop teams with wingers playing behind our full backs easier during Pards days, well Kebe and McAnuuf would love a bit more width I reckon.

[roadrunner]

The fact that we have to sell players to stay afloat suggests to me that spanking 20 million quid on Robert Earnshaw is not going to be a successful long term strategy.

Posts like this make my blood boil. I put rubbish like this on a par with people still using " doing a bradford" as a reference point. Show me where anyone has suggested we spend more than a few million on one player, let alone 20, let ALONE robert fvcking earnshaw. Why is there no middle ground for you people? Its either spend next to nothing on players or going on a manchester city style spending spree and quadruple the wage bill and go bust.

Whats wrong with sensible spending and investment? Something we SHOULD be able to afford given we have received FAR more than the entire football league and half the premiership on player sales in the last few seasons and have invested an absolute fraction of it on the team.

Who's spending more then us without A) Parachute Payments B) Significantly higher crowds/size of club C) A Rich sugar daddy chairman

Doncaster Rovers.

[Wimb]

The same Doncaster Rovers battered 6-0 by Ipswich at home last night?

[Wimb]

More to the point Doncaster have spent £1 million over 2 years..... we spent more then that buying Mills from them

[westongeezer]

This board is full of spoilt babies. We are currently playing way above our historical level. Any team of our size is almost inevitably going to go backwards after finishing eighth in the top tier of one of the largest and most monied leagues in the world. The fact that we have to sell players to stay afloat suggests to me that spanking 20 million quid on Robert Earnshaw is not going to be a successful long term strategy.

Promotion was a blip. Let's hope that our extended stay in the nosebleed section of the English leagues isn't.

+1