CONFIMRED - The final countdown

[Brogue]

Yep agreed. Call it a day lads

Esp when we’re all so keen to hear good news

Agree with this. We should only be posting if we have news.

+1 No posting unless you have something to update us on.

[From Despair To Where?]

I'm just fed up of reading a protracted arguement which may not even be an issue in a month's time. Maybe discuss it if and when it requires discussion.

[bcubed]

Yep agreed. Call it a day lads

Esp when we’re all so keen to hear good news

Agree with this. We should only be posting if we have news.

+1 No posting unless you have something to update us on.

Well quite

[ILoveMoonPig]

I'm not sure I understand how the potential new buyers can lend money to so many clubs. Didn't we once (back in the prem days with AZ) get in trouble for borrowing money from some company (was it vibrac?) who had also lent money to Aston Villa? It seemed strange to me at the time that we got punished for that, but even stranger now. Did I just completely misunderstand?

Lots of clubs borrowed money from Vibrac
In our case we were given a small fine because when we didn’t fully repay the loan Vibrac got involved in making decisions about the running of the club which were deemed to be ownership decisions and they had not been through the fit and proper owners test. Bit of a technicality and not really to do wit the lending of the money.
Ray Ranson made a fortune from Vibrac but can’t recall if it was his company or he was just their representative making commission.

Ah, thank you. This makes a lot more sense and explains why I could never understand why we were fined before

[Sutekh]

Would recommend the latest 1871 podcast, much more perspective and a break from conspiracy theories and doom mongering. Dellor certainly backs up the theory that Couhig never matched Dai's expectations, though it begs the question how he progressed so far.

I certainly felt more positive after listening.

The interview with Tim was really good - and like you say, it seems Dai is more involved in the process than we had assumed, Couhig not as blameless as we all perhaps thought, and we might even have dodged a bullet.

If Dai can fund the club with no more missed deadlines / wages and find a credible buyer with the funds to take the club forward, we will perhaps look back at him a bit more kindly in future years.

Would seem to be correct! Thanks to Reading4eva’s YT podcast, RC basically caused the end of the women’s team when Jason Stephens (of Local Pitch Ventures and head coach at Hashtag United ladies) had a rescue package ready to go for them and later was the one wanting to shut Bearwood and move the players training to Aldershot. Think we might actually thank Dai for pulling the plug on that one when hindsight sets in.

[Linden Jones' Tash]

Would recommend the latest 1871 podcast, much more perspective and a break from conspiracy theories and doom mongering. Dellor certainly backs up the theory that Couhig never matched Dai's expectations, though it begs the question how he progressed so far.

I certainly felt more positive after listening.

The interview with Tim was really good - and like you say, it seems Dai is more involved in the process than we had assumed, Couhig not as blameless as we all perhaps thought, and we might even have dodged a bullet.

If Dai can fund the club with no more missed deadlines / wages and find a credible buyer with the funds to take the club forward, we will perhaps look back at him a bit more kindly in future years.

Would seem to be correct! Thanks to Reading4eva’s YT podcast, RC basically caused the end of the women’s team when Jason Stephens (of Local Pitch Ventures and head coach at Hashtag United ladies) had a rescue package ready to go for them and later was the one wanting to shut Bearwood and move the players training to Aldershot. Think we might actually thank Dai for pulling the plug on that one when hindsight sets in.

But we knew about RC pulling the plug on the women's team - it was around the time he was larging it pretending to be in charge....

I believe press reports at the time hinted at this.

[Reading4eva]

The interview with Tim was really good - and like you say, it seems Dai is more involved in the process than we had assumed, Couhig not as blameless as we all perhaps thought, and we might even have dodged a bullet.

If Dai can fund the club with no more missed deadlines / wages and find a credible buyer with the funds to take the club forward, we will perhaps look back at him a bit more kindly in future years.

Would seem to be correct! Thanks to Reading4eva’s YT podcast, RC basically caused the end of the women’s team when Jason Stephens (of Local Pitch Ventures and head coach at Hashtag United ladies) had a rescue package ready to go for them and later was the one wanting to shut Bearwood and move the players training to Aldershot. Think we might actually thank Dai for pulling the plug on that one when hindsight sets in.

But we knew about RC pulling the plug on the women's team - it was around the time he was larging it pretending to be in charge....

I believe press reports at the time hinted at this.

Here is the full recording - https://youtu.be/Fu1bLpOwdKY

Nigel Howe is not in it for Reading Football Club, he is in it for the financial benefit. I'd trust anyone over him in sorting this mess out (I would do it for free for the love for this club)

[Sutekh]

The interview with Tim was really good - and like you say, it seems Dai is more involved in the process than we had assumed, Couhig not as blameless as we all perhaps thought, and we might even have dodged a bullet.

If Dai can fund the club with no more missed deadlines / wages and find a credible buyer with the funds to take the club forward, we will perhaps look back at him a bit more kindly in future years.

Would seem to be correct! Thanks to Reading4eva’s YT podcast, RC basically caused the end of the women’s team when Jason Stephens (of Local Pitch Ventures and head coach at Hashtag United ladies) had a rescue package ready to go for them and later was the one wanting to shut Bearwood and move the players training to Aldershot. Think we might actually thank Dai for pulling the plug on that one when hindsight sets in.

But we knew about RC pulling the plug on the women's team - it was around the time he was larging it pretending to be in charge....

I believe press reports at the time hinted at this.

Yes but this doesn’t just hint at it, actually spells out what happened. It beggars belief that this person had so much power in these things when he DID NOT own the club.

[From Despair To Where?]

I'm not defending Couhig here or saying he was right but when you've just lent the club £5m to keep the lights on, in lieu of buying it, you'd expect some say in how that money is used. He held most of the cards in August.

[Snowflake Royal]

I'm not defending Couhig here or saying he was right but when you've just lent the club £5m to keep the lights on, in lieu of buying it, you'd expect some say in how that money is used. He held most of the cards in August.

Yeah, I don't know why anyone is upset or confused about him being in control. The deal was basically just a signature from being complete and we had the same thing with Zingarevich starting to run the show before the deal went through.

Absolutely aghast at anyone trying to rehabilitate or minimise Dai's awfulness in refusing to sell to Couhig.

[Brogue]

Nah he’s a pcunt. He was going to destroy the club. Glad we steered clear tbh. Dai clearly wants to sell to someone with the clubs best interests at heart.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Haven't most offers been structured so that Dai gets bonuses based upon promotion back to the Championship and even the PL? So even if he's selfish and greedy, it makes sense to sell to someone ambitious who has a plan.

But it this is the true version of events, the part of the Couhig sale that doesn't make sense is how it got so far.

[Hound]

Will listen through when I get the chance

The women’s team were knackered long before Couhig came on the scene - admittedly not as much as now where it’s basically a Sunday league team

I’d love for the new owner to put some time and money into the side again, we’d quickly get back to a reasonable level if funded

[SouthDownsRoyal]

Would seem to be correct! Thanks to Reading4eva’s YT podcast, RC basically caused the end of the women’s team when Jason Stephens (of Local Pitch Ventures and head coach at Hashtag United ladies) had a rescue package ready to go for them and later was the one wanting to shut Bearwood and move the players training to Aldershot. Think we might actually thank Dai for pulling the plug on that one when hindsight sets in.

But we knew about RC pulling the plug on the women's team - it was around the time he was larging it pretending to be in charge....

I believe press reports at the time hinted at this.

Here is the full recording - https://youtu.be/Fu1bLpOwdKY

Nigel Howe is not in it for Reading Football Club, he is in it for the financial benefit. I'd trust anyone over him in sorting this mess out (I would do it for free for the love for this club)

Your love of Reading or Bournemouth?

[Forbury Lion]

But it this is the true version of events, the part of the Couhig sale that doesn't make sense is how it got so far.

I heard it was Coughig who moved the goalposts

[tidus_mi2]

But it this is the true version of events, the part of the Couhig sale that doesn't make sense is how it got so far.

I heard it was Coughig who moved the goalposts

I don't think either Couhig or Dai are good faith actors tbh. Think Dai obviously left us in this mess and is trying to recoup as much as he possibly can despite not providing ongoing funding, while Couhig was just looking for a cut-price deal for the club, get us stable, then flip us for a quick profit.

[RoyalBlue]

Would seem to be correct! Thanks to Reading4eva’s YT podcast, RC basically caused the end of the women’s team when Jason Stephens (of Local Pitch Ventures and head coach at Hashtag United ladies) had a rescue package ready to go for them and later was the one wanting to shut Bearwood and move the players training to Aldershot. Think we might actually thank Dai for pulling the plug on that one when hindsight sets in.

But we knew about RC pulling the plug on the women's team - it was around the time he was larging it pretending to be in charge....

I believe press reports at the time hinted at this.

Here is the full recording - https://youtu.be/Fu1bLpOwdKY

Nigel Howe is not in it for Reading Football Club, he is in it for the financial benefit. I'd trust anyone over him in sorting this mess out (I would do it for free for the love for this club)

I've also heard, from people that are a lot closer to the inner workings of the club than I am, that Howe has never been a fan/supporter of the women's set up at our club. If true, he's unlikely to have argued in favour of them and against any proposals to effectively pull the plug on the setup.

[RoyalBlue]

Would seem to be correct! Thanks to Reading4eva’s YT podcast, RC basically caused the end of the women’s team when Jason Stephens (of Local Pitch Ventures and head coach at Hashtag United ladies) had a rescue package ready to go for them and later was the one wanting to shut Bearwood and move the players training to Aldershot. Think we might actually thank Dai for pulling the plug on that one when hindsight sets in.

But we knew about RC pulling the plug on the women's team - it was around the time he was larging it pretending to be in charge....

I believe press reports at the time hinted at this.

Here is the full recording - https://youtu.be/Fu1bLpOwdKY

Nigel Howe is not in it for Reading Football Club, he is in it for the financial benefit. I'd trust anyone over him in sorting this mess out (I would do it for free for the love for this club)

I've also heard, from people that are a lot closer to the inner workings of the club than I am, that Howe has never been a fan/supporter of the women's set up at our club. If true, he's unlikely to have argued in favour of them and against any proposals to effectively pull the plug on the setup.

[Crusader Royal]

Haven't most offers been structured so that Dai gets bonuses based upon promotion back to the Championship and even the PL? So even if he's selfish and greedy, it makes sense to sell to someone ambitious who has a plan.

But it this is the true version of events, the part of the Couhig sale that doesn't make sense is how it got so far.

How does anyone know how any deals have been structured ?
This looks like a case of wild speculation becoming, in some minds, accepted fact.

[Snowflake Royal]

Anyone good, who intends to start running us properly and not just be another boom and bust debt merchant is going to have to make unpopular decisions and cuts, because we're a League One club running a Premier League Academy and Training Ground with a Championship stadium.

It's utterly unsustainable. It becomes a lot more manageable if we make a quick return to the Championship and stick it, but so much damage has been done that's going to be hard. Especially with a block on transfer spending not due to left until later this year.

We're still in a better place with a shorttermist big spender, because they could hardly spend less wisely than Dai, and they can't pay fees for a while yet, but it would be nice to be run so we aren't losing buckets of millions a year, because that just means we'll be right back here in 5 - 15 years.