There's a message for some Reading fans in Ashley's words.

[Rex]

Which is why Reading are stripping down the wage bill. True Ashley would have known what he was getting into. All the financial instability of the club would have been spelt out to him before he made the deal. It's a clear cut case of a man crying over spilt milk and going for the popularity vote. His heart ruled his head in this case.

[IMAMATEOFJOVSKY]

Would Reading have done deals like that under John Madejski?

No.

If clubs are spending more than they are earning then sooner or later it will catch up with them and there will be trouble and a crash just like what has happened in the property market.

No worries then at Reading - we dont spend!

[Uke]

Who says he missed any of it? Could well just be after the fact justification for bailing.

There is a case that he may have known of some of the debts and hoped the greatest, blindest footie fans in the world would happily repay those leaving him with a heathy profit.

However, quarter of a billion?

Who'd want to buy that now?

[Factfinder]

Would Reading have done deals like that under John Madejski?

No.

If clubs are spending more than they are earning then sooner or later it will catch up with them and there will be trouble and a crash just like what has happened in the property market.

No worries then at Reading - we don't spend! IMAMATEOFJOVSKY says so!

We don't?
Who built the stadium? Who created one of the best academies in the country? Who made Reading FC a respected force in English football?

This discussion is obviously long term versus short term.

[prostak]

It does suggest he didn't do his due-diligence properly!

Astonishingly, he's admitted as much. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008 ... mierleague

The thing I want to know is this: these multi-millionaires like Ashley and the Gudmundssons at West Ham, how have they got to be that rich in the first place? None of them seem to have any business sense (Judging in the latter's case from how deeply the collapse of XL Leisure affects West Ham - is there no equivalent for the eggs/basket metaphor in Icelandic?) yet they're somehow rich enough to treat concerns with multimillion pound turnovers as playthings. Jealous? A little.

[Archie's penalty]

Who built the satiadum. Who created one of the best academies in the country? Who made Reading FC a respected force in English football?

This discussion is obviously long term versus short term.

I desperately want there to be a thing called a satiadum. Sounds like an Ottoman harem or the like...

[Arch]

No worries then at Reading - we dont spend!

Some worries. Our wage bill is still larger than our long-term "guaranteed" income (which is only guaranteed in the sense that we're guaranteed to keep getting about 15k through the turnstiles).

[SteveRoyal]

HTH.

[Terminal Boardom]

HTH.

Darren Caskey lives!

[RFC13LHR]

slightly sidewise comments but relevant to the general statement of what position clubs are left with as a result of earlier directors actions

a) West ham wage bill is 70 million - more than rfc turnover!
b) ken bates said that they had made the last payment to danny mills this month - three years after he left leeds

longevity with mrM have avoided these and we might still be there after PL collapses and we go back to div 1, 2 and 3(N) and 3(S)

[PremAddict]

And how much of this was a secret when he bought the club?

My thoughts exactly - diligence during financial review would have told him everything he needed to know. This isn't CDOs and the like...

I think hubris and the desire to own a prem club drove the buyout. Now the fun and glamour have worn off, he's out.

[Rex]

The photo above reveals far more about Ashley than any words can say.

[Gordons Cumming]

I think Ashley is a victim of a "Trading Places" scenario.

Has to be, has to be.

[facaldaqui]

I don't think Madge has got much in common with Ashley. The only time I remember us chucking money at a problem was when Burns came in and virtually bought a new team in a last-minute attempt to save us from relegation. They turned out to be not much better players than the previous lot and their wages were a millstone round our neck once we got relegated.

Ashley may or may not be a bad businessman: he seems to be trying to put Newcastle on an even footing, and the trouble may be lack of money rather than not being sensible (saying he's prepared to spent 20m a year on players is admitting that Newcastle's ambition is mid-table, I'm afraid). I'm a huge fan of Keegan, but it's true that he works best when he can splash the cash, as he did at Newcastle first time and Fulham and for a while at Man City. With financial constraints, he can't work miracles. I don't think Coppell can either: the last time we mounted a challenge, he spent a million on Lita, but he is having to pay much less for players now.

As for Wise, I've never liked him much, but the anti-Cockney (the anti-southerners would include us lot in that rhetoric) bile makes me want to speak up for him. He is an ex-England international of some class and did well at Leeds: I have not heard anything to say that he got on badly with Keegan, and I would have thought they discussed football matters together. Maybe he has been as taken aback as Keegan at Ashley's lack of financial depth.

[Uke]

It does suggest he didn't do his due-diligence properly!

Astonishingly, he's admitted as much. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008 ... mierleague

The thing I want to know is this: these multi-millionaires like Ashley and the Gudmundssons at West Ham, how have they got to be that rich in the first place? None of them seem to have any business sense (Judging in the latter's case from how deeply the collapse of XL Leisure affects West Ham - is there no equivalent for the eggs/basket metaphor in Icelandic?) yet they're somehow rich enough to treat concerns with multimillion pound turnovers as playthings. Jealous? A little.

So in mid August Ashley goes public on the finances, which would have been known to the management at NUFC.

Then Keegan asks for 200 million to buy has beens

And still the Toonami think he walks on water!

[Dick Habbin's hairdo]

Ashley does come across as an onanist but, having said that, most of what he said in a very long statement was bang on the button.

Ashley and the Mad Man are soulmates.

At least the Mad Man isn't quite as much of a clown as Ashley and at least we will have a club in the future.

[brendywendy]

if you had to choose between downing pints in the east stand during the game
or a bit of hand waving at half time, which would you choose for your chairman?

[Rex]

The answer would be a blend of possibly the two. Ashley supports NUFC, Madj has stated he is more removed from supporting Reading. Therefore if this is correct, it comes across as a pantomine act. It is good to see a chairman who is approachable, but JM like to wine and dine the corporates (not really an issue with me), whereas Ashley comes across as a far more down to earth person. Could you ever see JM in the stands wearing a Reading shirt, probably not. To JM it's business first, to Ashley it's a blend of business and support.

[SpaceCruiser]

But I have seen JM out on the town amongst the Reading fans before. Actually, that was just the Purple Turtle, but I'm sure he's been spotted in various places around town.

[Wax Jacket]

a lot of what he said was right - and how many NUFC (or RFC fans for that matter) have experience of running big businesses?

anyway a friend of mine who's studying commercial law thinks Ashley could well be protected from the front-loading: "disclosure and due diligence don't often take place first these days. his lawyer prob ensured that if stuff like front-loaded contracts emerged they'd be covered by seller's warranties and he'd get indeminified."

could be a load of shit of course.