Madejski's comments to BBC Radio Berkshire

[westendgirl]

The Chairman's owns the training ground.

100%

Agreed he owns the land and RFC pays rent for the lease, but the club owns the improvements.

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

The Chairman's owns the training ground.

100%

Agreed he owns the land and RFC pays rent for the lease, but the club owns the improvements.

Not really worth much if he sells the land.



I think half the Chairman's problem, is his PR.

He don't half talk shite and I think that's why people or more negative about him than he deserves.

[westendgirl]

Finally people are realising what this bloke is about. Madejski is filling his pockets to go and when he walks and is bought out he will have made a profit. Good business I suppose but I just want rid of him asap.

I am no apologist for JM - in fact I have serious doubts about him in some aspects but as far as him having his loans repaid, anyone who thinks he lent the money in the first place with any anticipation of repayment is in cloud cuckoo land. Also he has converted a fair amount of loans to shares and so will not see any of this until the club is sold. And for those just calling for him to go, who do you want in his place? Just someone with money no matter how they got it and whether they have any regard for the club? I don't, but unless JM finds that buyer, and so far despite everyone in football knowing he wants out, there has been no new sugar daddy waithing to throw millions into the club and no sign of the other money he has put into the club ever materialising.

So all you calling for him to go what do you intend if he just says I can't sell but I've had enough so it is up to you now to keep the club afloat?

The fact is you can't deny that's that is not what he let people believe.

How many interviews has he given over the years talking of all the money he's given to Reading FC?

There's nothing wrong with what he's doing imo and another manager would have spent more money than Coppell has, but you can't claim that JM has been totally open when it comes to his financing of the club.

When did I claim that? I am just trying to put some facts into the debate rather than the uninformed assumptions a lot on here are happy to argue on.

My point was that a lot of money put into the club has been converted to shares and it not all a loan that could be called in. As all financial blurb will tell you the value of shares can go down as well as up (just like football clubs )

[Stranded]

im not sure why him aspiring to make us self financing should lead to such ridicule, hatred, and vitiol against him

How many football clubs can actually achieve this long term outside the top four? None I'd say.

Sure, we could well have made £15m by selling Doyle, Shorey and Kitson by the end of next week, but that money more or less goes into this club paying for itself idea.

How long can we maintain selling our best players to fund the running of the club before we go tits up and bounce around the lower leagues once again?

In football, clubs just don't make enough money to run themselves, and it's getting worse.

You need someone with some millions to help bankroll you. Even if it was back to the days of a £800,000 summer signing each summer and a few players cheap. It built what we have piece by piece and a club trying to run itself wouldn't manage that long term.

Your assumption there is that the current situation re finances in football will stay the same. That people will continue to pay hand of over fist for tickets/tv subscriptions etc - I don't believe they will especially if things continue to get tighter out in the real world.

[westendgirl]

The Chairman's owns the training ground.

100%

Agreed he owns the land and RFC pays rent for the lease, but the club owns the improvements.

Not really worth much if he sells the land.

Depends on how long the lease is and as the property is 'long term leasehold property' I suspect any new owner is stuck with RFC as a tenant unless he wants to buy them out

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

And there's no place for informed facts on HobNob.....

The comment about JM wasn't directed at you. Just people in general can't claim.

[westendgirl]

[

Your assumption there is that the current situation re finances in football will stay the same. That people will continue to pay hand of over fist for tickets/tv subscriptions etc - I don't believe they will especially if things continue to get tighter out in the real world.

Certainly agree with you there and I would prefer to be in our position that a lot of clubs in the current economic situation. In fact I almost hope it does happen - it would be messy but it would mean the football would get closer to its roots, namely the supporters, rather than a lot of foreign money men.

[westendgirl]

And there's no place for informed facts on HobNob.....

Sorry my mistake

[Northern Git]

I have seen accounts for several years and from memory the loans to the football club ARE interest free and the loans to the hotel are at a rate below bankrate. I think I have a copy somewhere so will try to check and confirm.

Sorry got this the wrong way round - the loan to the hotel is interest free and the one to the football club is at 1% below HSBC base rate. The 2 loans are 17milion and 8million respectively.

Northern Git - in the related party transactions the only management fee mentioned is £50k charged by RFC

Thanks for that

[Northern Git]

There is a train of thought that the training ground land purchase is a bit of a master stroke by JM.

The land between the existing ex miltary houses in Arborfield Garrison, Biggs Lane, Park Lane, Sheerlands Road and the industrial units of Hogwood Lane is ear marked for housing in the future.

With planning permission the training ground area would be worth a fortune. Would be easlier to get that permission from its current use than from a green field site.

[Royal Rother]

Excellent info westendgirl.

The £50k related party transaction - who is charging whom?

Your thoughts on the Recession in Football thread would be welcomed.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=78889

[Arch]

With the latest instalment of what JM said in his interview regarding the fact ,we, sorry forgot JM cant be considered as we now !!, Reading wont be spending large sums on transer fees or paying those nasty high salaries anymore ?, have we ever ???? do any of my wiser and more informed hob nobbers have any idea what his idea of large is ?? as that figure would allow us not to get too excited about new players they are alledgedly chasing once the fee is over his "acceptable" amount.

I've been mulling over your posts for quite a few hours, and inclined to ignore them, but I want to have one last stab at this before I call on the dreaded ignore button. I've agreed with you about one or two things but not here and as daft as it is this makes me angry. We have a club that is about to play its seventh successive season in the top two tiers, this year as among the favourites to go up; we had a record-breaking promotion team, two years of competing in the Premiership and really competing unlike many clubs who sneak their way up; a manager who was LMA manager of the year two years in a row in competition with the likes of Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger; our gate last Saturday was 19,000, with 14,000 season ticket holders; our club is awash in international players; we have as close to as good a chance of getting promoted to the top flight this season as we've ever had an our history. None of this is an accident. It's not just a lucky coincidence that the right players and the right manger with the right infrastructure fell together at the right time. John Madejski made the club what it is today. If you disagree with the current policies of the club, its conservatism, its lack of transparency, OK. To some extent I've expressed concerns too. But to talk such unadulterated shit as you do about John Madejski - to suggest that he's not even part of "we" any more - is beyond appalling. It is possible to be critical without losing all semblance of balance and reason and it is possible to express your feelings without using the same tired sarcasm and cliched exaggerations over and over and over again.

In the last few days, howser, I've tried not get lit up at the negative posts of people who obviously care about Reading football. I've expressed agreement with you in particular on a couple of occasions. I'm not calling you a muppet or, as I was tempted to earlier, an absolute unmitigated pillock. But I think you're so wrong in this post and the previous one and it makes me furious when I see how little respect people have for a man who has made our club.

[stl_royal]

Now can those that believed it was Coppell not wanting to spend the money please accept it is in fact John Madejski holding this football club back!!!


Time to sell up and let someone else come in!

still hard to say that coppell had no hand. both madejski and steve have done wonders for the club, but i think its time for a change. even if coppell didnt have money, fact is he still remains far to loyal to some players and will never give a chance to others...and that is a bigger problem than the money issue to me

[Sarah Star]

They're talking about it on the BBC Sport blogs now:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/paulfletcher ... tml#035131

[Drew_3]

he has done great for Reading Football Club. but the sooner he leaves the better!

[Handsome Man]

he has done great for Reading Football Club. but the sooner he leaves the better!

If he goes the club dies

[Royal Rother]

With the latest instalment of what JM said in his interview regarding the fact ,we, sorry forgot JM cant be considered as we now !!, Reading wont be spending large sums on transer fees or paying those nasty high salaries anymore ?, have we ever ???? do any of my wiser and more informed hob nobbers have any idea what his idea of large is ?? as that figure would allow us not to get too excited about new players they are alledgedly chasing once the fee is over his "acceptable" amount.

I've been mulling over your posts for quite a few hours, and inclined to ignore them, but I want to have one last stab at this before I call on the dreaded ignore button. I've agreed with you about one or two things but not here and as daft as it is this makes me angry. We have a club that is about to play its seventh successive season in the top two tiers, this year as among the favourites to go up; we had a record-breaking promotion team, two years of competing in the Premiership and really competing unlike many clubs who sneak their way up; a manager who was LMA manager of the year two years in a row in competition with the likes of Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger; our gate last Saturday was 19,000, with 14,000 season ticket holders; our club is awash in international players; we have as close to as good a chance of getting promoted to the top flight this season as we've ever had an our history. None of this is an accident. It's not just a lucky coincidence that the right players and the right manger with the right infrastructure fell together at the right time. John Madejski made the club what it is today. If you disagree with the current policies of the club, its conservatism, its lack of transparency, OK. To some extent I've expressed concerns too. But to talk such unadulterated shit as you do about John Madejski - to suggest that he's not even part of "we" any more - is beyond appalling. It is possible to be critical without losing all semblance of balance and reason and it is possible to express your feelings without using the same tired sarcasm and cliched exaggerations over and over and over again.

In the last few days, howser, I've tried not get lit up at the negative posts of people who obviously care about Reading football. I've expressed agreement with you in particular on a couple of occasions. I'm not calling you a muppet or, as I was tempted to earlier, an absolute unmitigated pillock. But I think you're so wrong in this post and the previous one and it makes me furious when I see how little respect people have for a man who has made our club.

I knew you'd get angry in the end.

I seem to have come out the other side (for the time being).

Excellent post BTW!

[Vision]

They're talking about it on the BBC Sport blogs now:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/paulfletcher ... tml#035131

Loved this one

Someone said they're entertainers. Bollox i say. Springsteen is an entertainer. Titus Bramble isn't.

[Vision]

he has done great for Reading Football Club. but the sooner he leaves the better!

Yeah and wait for the queue to form of multi millionaires willing to plough millions of pounds at the onset of a recession into a football club that has spent just 2 seasons of their entire history in the top flight, without wanting any credit or financial gain from it at all for themselves.

[Mr Angry]

I think if clubs think Player X or Y is worth £150K a week, fine - but I hope they won't feel agrieved when I don't put any money in the bucket when their sugar daddy pulls the rug financially, and they are left destitute.

It is clear to me that there is a polarisation of thinking amongst Reading fans at this time, a polarisation created by the last 2 Years; generally the 2 camps are:

1, Spend whatever you need to do in order to achieve as much as possible and hang the potential consequences and

2, Spend what we can reasonably afford to achieve as much as we can.

I would rather support Reading in the Championship then have the future of the club put on the line by profligate and unsupportable expenditure in attempting to compete against Chelsea or Man Utd.

And this is the main point of this discussion, and one that has sadly been lacking in amongst all the peurile name calling - where does the club want to be in the future, and what will it do to achieve that goal.

It seemed to me that previously we had but one goal - get into the Premiership; once that was achieved there was little in the way of strategic thinking or planning as to how to achieve the next goal, simply because we didn't appear to have a next goal other than survival in the premiership. What the club needs to do, for its fans, its players and its staff is set out a clear set of goals for the future and then plan to achieve those goals.

Mr Mad likes to say that he wants to run RFC as a business - well, do so then.