The dreaded vote of confidence

[Arch]

I've had a moment of enlightenment. The solution is so easy that I can't believe the administration of the club haven't seen it. Don't sell any of our players; buy more players for millions of pounds; don't buy shit players like Halford and Fae; give the academy youngsters a fair run in the first team. It's a recipe for successsssssss.

Seriously, though, although I voted yes just for the sake of positivity, I don't actually know how to answer this question. Saying no sounds like you've absolutely no confidence at all in the management (as some people take such great pride in announcing they haven't); but saying yes suggests you've got complete confidence, which I haven't. Steve Coppell's weakness is conservatism (as is JM's though with a larger C). When the wheels looked like they were coming off in Spring 05, the message from the club the following Summer was clear and unanimous: everyone got together to figure out what needed to be fixed. This Summer, there are no such noises. I don't honestly give much of a crap about Kitson going. I don't deny he's been one of our best players but I never liked him or warmed to him. His line in cynical, self-serving, easy-to-say one-liners would have made him an ideal Hob Nobber of a certain variety. I also can see the reasons if Shorey and Hunt go for decent money too. But it's beyond doubt that we need new blood and I really am beginning to come round to the idea that it's not going to happen. If not, then - you know me - I'll be foolishly optimistic every time RFC take the field next season. I'm optimistic about Lita, Rosenior, Hunt (in this division), and Cisse where many others of every shade of spectacles are pessimistic. But it's a strange and anxious time, for sure. Roll on August 10th.

PS this has to be the only club in the 92 where the administration are practically throwing money at the manager and he doesn't want to spend it.

[Southbank Old Boy]

The guy is also sicophantic, and has used the club purely as a means to highten his profile. Lets face it, before he bought the club, how many of us outside the publishing industry had actually heard of him? Now he appears in the media on a regular basis and I am sure a Kighthood is not far away. It if often the case that those who can buy almost anything they want, a category that Madejski falls into, often strive to attain things money cannot buy. Lets face it, why else would he spend millions on his Performng Arts College and other such projects........

Bit harsh, Erners.

The club was on its arse in 1990 when he took over, it was hardly a profile-heightening purchase back in the days when Reading Football Club was about as fashionable as a biege tank top. I have to say that speaking as an arch-cynic myself (small 'a' arch, not big 'A' Hob Nob Arch - I quite like him ) I don't necessarily subscribe to the buying a knighthood train of thought; perhaps he is just looking to leave a legacy after he dies, something that very few of us could wish to achieve. Ploughing money into a failing school, for instance, is a very decent and honourable thing to do.

John Madejski has done more for the town of Reading and for Reading Football Club than all of us put together and then some. That is not to say that I am particularly happy with the regime he is currently overseeing at RFC these days, a regime which seems to me to be going rather stale.

I think that hits the nail on the head for me in terms of Madejski.

I think he enjoys a lot of the trappings that have come with his tenure at the club, but I don't think thats why he got involved in the first place. Even if it was we still have a hell of a lot to thank him for and I'm very grateful for his sensible stewardship of my club. Yes I'd love for him to throw a load of money at our problems and for all our signings to bring with them lots of success but realistically I know the club has boundaries, I just hope we're continuing to push them.

[Southbank Old Boy]

Now the little fecker is saying Coppell can use all £5.5m. LOL.

NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN.

We didn't that much in the Premiership last season, we wont in the Championship this term!

Chairman gets a NO VOTE OF CONFIDENCE.

What about the man that won't spend the money Jay?

I've never fully accepted this.

Coppell was quoted last November as saying we must spend and we must invest. January came and it went, we didn't invest. Don't try and tell me Coppell didn't want to spend any money available to him.

It's more like the players he wanted we simply to expensive in terms of wages and fee's if anything else.

My opinion of course.

That's more than fair, and I'd agree there is no way the chairman released a bottomless pit.

At the same time our wage bill wasn't far behind the majority of the mid table clubs and Coppell never even suggested the money wasn't there if he wanted to spend it but he has said many times that he didn't feel the players that were about were an improvement on what we had. We looked at the likes of Cahill, O'Neil and Taylor and from the way Coppell spoke of them it was his call not to bring them in, it wasn't a financial limitation that stopped him.

All conjecture of course, and the truth will undoutedly sit some where in the middle of not having enough and not being brave enough to spend it, but I suppose where we differ is that I apportion a lot more of the blame on the man with the shopping list not the one with the cheque book.

[Royal Rother]

I need a break.

I am actually starting to seriously dislike some people on here. That can't be good.

See you in a while.

[FiNeRaIn]

I need a break.

I am actually starting to seriously dislike some people on here. That can't be good.

See you in a while.

Any chance of making that a permanent break? I know a lot of posters would love that.

Hopefully you won't be back, bye.

[loyalroyal4life]

Its all well Mr Made saying the club is for sale but at the same time shouldnt he be out there selling the club when lets face it the club cant exactly sell itself. I am sure with some decent marekting about how we are run, facilities and long term potential some oil merchant would have a go at running the club...

[Roger the Rabbit]

Its all well Mr Made saying the club is for sale but at the same time shouldnt he be out there selling the club when lets face it the club cant exactly sell itself. I am sure with some decent marekting about how we are run, facilities and long term potential some oil merchant would have a go at running the club...

That will be why some months ago the club made a statement that they had appointed some high powered financial institution to handle the sale - can't remember who it was now !
Contrary to received wisdom JM isn't a complete amateur in the business world !!
When it happens it's unlikely any sale will have happened as a result of anything other than behind the scenes negotiations in global boardrooms.....

[LUX]

52-48 for the yes. Helped by rose tinted me.

[tee peg]

I am starting to have my doubts.There is the public image that the club portray but I cant
help feeling there is another agenda with regards to spending.

[Sarah Star]

I take it that one good signing would change a lot of people's minds on this one then.

[tee peg]

you could be right.

[Streets]

I take it that one good signing would change a lot of people's minds on this one then.

At the absolute least!!

[RoyalBlue]

I hope to be proven wrong on this but I fear a winter of discontent with Steve Coppell falling on his own sword before the season is ended.

We have just sold a key striker, who was averaging very nearly a goal every two games ,and with the likes of Sidwell, Little and Kitson gone, and other previous stars now the wrong side of their 'best by date' , it is sheer madness to suggest that our squad for this season is anywhere near as strong as that which we had last time we were starting a campaign at this level.

Of course, that could change with a number of excellent signings who can hit the ground running but will the club prove to be successful in that respect? Based on recent experience, I fear not.

[papereyes]

It really is too early (in a season that hasn't started yet) for this.

Let's wait (1) for the transfer window to close and (2) for us to play some matches.

Didn't people say that a year ago?

I may well abstain. I know the club is well run on one hand but I am also frustrated by what I perceived to be an excellent yet wasted opportunity to build up a level.

EDIT: Readdingbedding's post is pretty good. In addition, I think there's a real tendency for fans to let things happen without questioning them. Yes, we're much better off than we were in 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000 but that doesn't mean we should accept what have been some mediocre decisions from the people who run the club. I also think people should differentiate between fault and responsibility. It might not be Coppell's fault that he didn't spend much money after promotion but it was his responsibility to ensure we had a squad that could compete and that had cover for losses of injury and form.

[Royal Lady]

No one wanted to buy us when we were a Premiership club, there's little that will happen over the course of the next few months that will mean anyone will want to buy us as a Championship side. There IS no-one out there who is interested. No-one outside of the UK will have heard much, if anything, about RFC - so, Mr Mad, please forget about wanting to sell for the time being, use some of the money we have to purchase some decent players/replacements and give us fans something to be happy about. Eventually, someone will decide they like our little club and want to buy it.

[Fezza]

I agree with the sale of Kitson, however, I have had NO faith in Steve Coppell since January when he anounced to the whole world that he didn't know what he was doing and had to get KD and WD to pick the team.

[Roger the Rabbit]

You could argue that as a Championship side we are much more attractive to buyers, but the deal is less attractive to JM.

Our selling price will be much less, and the immediate rewards less, but we're still a well run club in a good location. A buyer might now think that an investment of £40 million (say) for the potential is much better than one of (say) £80 million for the actual Premiership place.

We've still got a lot of the benefits that we gained in the Prem (way higher global profile for one - every football fan int he world will know the name). I suspect there may be more phone calls from interested parties now but it will depend on whether JM is prepared to lower his sights. His media comments suggest he's going to stick around, but he will need to be good to his word and continue to allow Coppell the funds to rebuild or else he'll be stuck here for a while.

[Negative_Jeff]

I enjoy the mixture of mischief, sententiousness and fluency of Floyds contributions.

Consequently, as a newbie and in deference to Floyd, I have also embellished my username
with an underscore.

[Royal Lady]

You could argue that as a Championship side we are much more attractive to buyers, but the deal is less attractive to JM.

Our selling price will be much less, and the immediate rewards less, but we're still a well run club in a good location. A buyer might now think that an investment of £40 million (say) for the potential is much better than one of (say) £80 million for the actual Premiership place.

We've still got a lot of the benefits that we gained in the Prem (way higher global profile for one - every football fan int he world will know the name). I suspect there may be more phone calls from interested parties now but it will depend on whether JM is prepared to lower his sights. His media comments suggest he's going to stick around, but he will need to be good to his word and continue to allow Coppell the funds to rebuild or else he'll be stuck here for a while.

I was trying to make the point that most very rich people who buy football clubs these days are not football fans and, therefore, they wouldn't have heard of RFC.

[Roger the Rabbit]

You could argue that as a Championship side we are much more attractive to buyers, but the deal is less attractive to JM.

Our selling price will be much less, and the immediate rewards less, but we're still a well run club in a good location. A buyer might now think that an investment of £40 million (say) for the potential is much better than one of (say) £80 million for the actual Premiership place.

We've still got a lot of the benefits that we gained in the Prem (way higher global profile for one - every football fan int he world will know the name). I suspect there may be more phone calls from interested parties now but it will depend on whether JM is prepared to lower his sights. His media comments suggest he's going to stick around, but he will need to be good to his word and continue to allow Coppell the funds to rebuild or else he'll be stuck here for a while.

I was trying to make the point that most very rich people who buy football clubs these days are not football fans and, therefore, they wouldn't have heard of RFC.

You may well be correct, I guess that is why we have the investment bank working for us to target the well heeled rather than the football fan ?
I've not really thought whether the recent investors have been football fans as such - the guy at Newcastle is, as is Shinawatra. The Liverpool and Man Utd investors had big sports connections but no idea how well up on football they were. Would be an interesting exercise for someone to go through recent sales and see what the typical 'profile' of a buyer has been.