CONFIMRED - The final countdown

[Hound]

Obviously you have to take on trust and don’t know enough about Couhig as to whether he is believable or not - but I don’t think he’s done a huge amount wrong

If you spend a fortune and a huge amount of effort getting a purchase together and then the seller decides to pull out at the last minute for no obvious reason; you’re going to be both pretty angry and well out of pocket

The 12m is pie in the sky and everyone knows that but it’s a starting point to negotiate

The only real wrongdoer here is Dai. He agreed a deal, took the loans then pulled out without warning or explanation. You can’t do that without consequences

[Snowflake Royal]

The sale to Platek is being held up by Couhig's spurious case. You can try all you like to spin this another way, but that's the case.

I get that Dai could just put the part of the sale value he's being sued for by Couhig into an escrow account. Seems he's unlikely to do this.

The Couhig court case doesn't take place until July.

That means unless Couhig or Dai swallows their pride, there is unlikely to be new owner by the end of this season's fixtures.

And that would mean curtains.

We're really relying on snookers now.

You really have a blind hard on for hating Couhig don't you. He's not blocking anything. If it was spurious, it would have been thrown out. He's even come out and said he had nothing to do with screwing the women's team.

Why you have to deflect for Dai and blame Couhig instead is beyond me.

I'm somewhere in the middle in that neither party comes out of this smelling of roses. We all know about Dai, but here's the situation with Coughig: he played hardball with the price and Dai didn't like that so withdrew. Now, Coughig could have walked at that stage, especially after being paid back the loans with interest on top. But he didn't. He's hung around because he smelt a quick profit and didn't like losing out on that, so tied his spurious case in with the liens which makes you wonder why we'd want him as our next owner. The £12m "loss of potential earnings" is fantasy land for a club that hasn't turned a profit since the first year in the PL. Couhig is like one of those guys on Homes Under the Hammer. See's something at an auction that he buys for below market price, spends the minimum doing it up and then sells asap at a profit. I don't think he's ever had Reading's best interests at heart, despite his somewhat ill-advised appearances at the Purple Turtle.

I just don't care.

His case isn't completely spurious or it would have been struck out. Is £12m genuine? Obviously not... aim high to get moderate. Will he win? Probably not, but maybe.

This is a guy who ran Wycombe pretty well. We're a club in need of cuts. Some people don't seem to be willing to accept that any new owner will need to make tough calls to turn us around. And no one we want is going to be willing to just throw money away at us, that way lays moral bankruptcy and more failure.

So what if he he made some cuts and sold us for a profit. We'll exist.

I think the difficulty making a profit is massively overstated. On average L1 clubs aren't that far from profit. Getting promoted dramatically increases the value and attractiveness of a club. Just because Zimgarevich and Dai utterly destroyed our finances and we haven't made a profit for 20 years, doesn't mean there isn't a good plan out there that could make us profitable.

But the fact is, Couhig is irrelevant. Dai is the only enemy. Dai is the only blocker. Even an asset stripper is better than Dai, because under Dai we're gone in weeks.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

The sale to Platek is being held up by Couhig's spurious case. You can try all you like to spin this another way, but that's the case.

I get that Dai could just put the part of the sale value he's being sued for by Couhig into an escrow account. Seems he's unlikely to do this.

The Couhig court case doesn't take place until July.

That means unless Couhig or Dai swallows their pride, there is unlikely to be new owner by the end of this season's fixtures.

And that would mean curtains.

We're really relying on snookers now.

You really have a blind hard on for hating Couhig don't you. He's not blocking anything. If it was spurious, it would have been thrown out. He's even come out and said he had nothing to do with screwing the women's team.

Why you have to deflect for Dai and blame Couhig instead is beyond me.

Hmm, you're quite free and easy with the combative language aren't you?

The case I describe as being "spurious" hasn't been heard yet. It's the one where he's seeking redress for the failure of the sale to be completed.

If you go to buy a house, get a survey done, and then the seller decides to not sell it to you, they don't give you the money for the survey. They certainly don't give you the millions of pounds you reckon you'd have made by setting up a brilliant new business in said house.

I've said repeatedly: Dai has made massive mistakes. I'm not defending him. I'm just saying casting him as evil is plain wrong.

You're now relying on an interview between Couhig and his best mate as evidence he's done no wrong, and has only benign intentions. I'd respectfully suggest it is you, and with blind hatred of Dai, that is being biased.

But then, I don't care about either of them; it's the survival of my beloved club that matters. And if Couhig would just fúck off, the sale could go through, and we'd be safe.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

STAR have met the club to discuss the latest financials. In addition to wages & HMRC, business rates and utility payments are huge particularly business rates on Bearwood which is based on cost (£45m) rather than value. Sounds like Wokingham council are fleecing us.

Rather worryingly there is no reassurance the club can complete the season without external funding and only confirms the Smith money covered wages/tax etc until February.

[Linden Jones' Tash]

"I think the difficulty making a profit is massively overstated"

[Snowflake Royal]

The sale to Platek is being held up by Couhig's spurious case. You can try all you like to spin this another way, but that's the case.

I get that Dai could just put the part of the sale value he's being sued for by Couhig into an escrow account. Seems he's unlikely to do this.

The Couhig court case doesn't take place until July.

That means unless Couhig or Dai swallows their pride, there is unlikely to be new owner by the end of this season's fixtures.

And that would mean curtains.

We're really relying on snookers now.

You really have a blind hard on for hating Couhig don't you. He's not blocking anything. If it was spurious, it would have been thrown out. He's even come out and said he had nothing to do with screwing the women's team.

Why you have to deflect for Dai and blame Couhig instead is beyond me.

Hmm, you're quite free and easy with the combative language aren't you?

The case I describe as being "spurious" hasn't been heard yet. It's the one where he's seeking redress for the failure of the sale to be completed.

If you go to buy a house, get a survey done, and then the seller decides to not sell it to you, they don't give you the money for the survey. They certainly don't give you the millions of pounds you reckon you'd have made by setting up a brilliant new business in said house.

I've said repeatedly: Dai has made massive mistakes. I'm not defending him. I'm just saying casting him as evil is plain wrong.

You're now relying on an interview between Couhig and his best mate as evidence he's done no wrong, and has only benign intentions. I'd respectfully suggest it is you, and with blind hatred of Dai, that is being biased.

But then, I don't care about either of them; it's the survival of my beloved club that matters. And if Couhig would just fúck off, the sale could go through, and we'd be safe.

That is demonstrably not true.

I don't know or care if Couhig shut down the women's team. He says he didn't, someone else said he did. We know nothing.

There's absolutely nothing blind about my hatred of Dai. It's all entirely concrete.

[Linden Jones' Tash]

STAR have met the club to discuss the latest financials. In addition to wages & HMRC, business rates and utility payments are huge particularly business rates on Bearwood which is based on cost (£45m) rather than value. Sounds like Wokingham council are fleecing us.

Rather worryingly there is no reassurance the club can complete the season without external funding and only confirms the Smith money covered wages/tax etc until February.

confirms what the Guardian article suggested - "touch and go" whether the club have sufficient funds to complete the season...

[Silver Fox]

You really have a blind hard on for hating Couhig don't you. He's not blocking anything. If it was spurious, it would have been thrown out. He's even come out and said he had nothing to do with screwing the women's team.

Why you have to deflect for Dai and blame Couhig instead is beyond me.

Hmm, you're quite free and easy with the combative language aren't you?

The case I describe as being "spurious" hasn't been heard yet. It's the one where he's seeking redress for the failure of the sale to be completed.

If you go to buy a house, get a survey done, and then the seller decides to not sell it to you, they don't give you the money for the survey. They certainly don't give you the millions of pounds you reckon you'd have made by setting up a brilliant new business in said house.

I've said repeatedly: Dai has made massive mistakes. I'm not defending him. I'm just saying casting him as evil is plain wrong.

You're now relying on an interview between Couhig and his best mate as evidence he's done no wrong, and has only benign intentions. I'd respectfully suggest it is you, and with blind hatred of Dai, that is being biased.

But then, I don't care about either of them; it's the survival of my beloved club that matters. And if Couhig would just fúck off, the sale could go through, and we'd be safe.

That is demonstrably not true.

I don't know or care if Couhig shut down the women's team. He says he didn't, someone else said he did. We know nothing.

There's absolutely nothing blind about my hatred of Dai. It's all entirely concrete.

It's a shame you don't have the same insider scoop on Couhig that you have on Dai

[Armadillo Roadkill]

Hmm, you're quite free and easy with the combative language aren't you?

The case I describe as being "spurious" hasn't been heard yet. It's the one where he's seeking redress for the failure of the sale to be completed.

If you go to buy a house, get a survey done, and then the seller decides to not sell it to you, they don't give you the money for the survey. They certainly don't give you the millions of pounds you reckon you'd have made by setting up a brilliant new business in said house.

I've said repeatedly: Dai has made massive mistakes. I'm not defending him. I'm just saying casting him as evil is plain wrong.

You're now relying on an interview between Couhig and his best mate as evidence he's done no wrong, and has only benign intentions. I'd respectfully suggest it is you, and with blind hatred of Dai, that is being biased.

But then, I don't care about either of them; it's the survival of my beloved club that matters. And if Couhig would just fúck off, the sale could go through, and we'd be safe.

That is demonstrably not true.

I don't know or care if Couhig shut down the women's team. He says he didn't, someone else said he did. We know nothing.

There's absolutely nothing blind about my hatred of Dai. It's all entirely concrete.

It's a shame you don't have the same insider scoop on Couhig that you have on Dai

Fair point. I'm just going language used in the updates from the club and the press about the timing of Platek's take over. But as the Grauniad suggests today, Platek is one to "play hard ball" in negotiations too, so it could hit the buffers easily too.

[Extended-Phenotype]

The problem is, if/when Dai screws over Platek and HE holds Dai to account, the dipshit contingent of our fans will vocally turn on him as well. I'm uncertain about how they think spreading unfounded hatred about potential buyers helps sell the club.

[stealthpapes]

PlatekRoyal1871 agrees with this post.

[leon]

The problem is, if/when Dai screws over Platek and HE holds Dai to account, the dipshit contingent of our fans will vocally turn on him as well. I'm uncertain about how they think spreading unfounded hatred about potential buyers helps sell the club.

not sure one buyer is a sufficient sample for future predictions

[Bristol Paul]

STAR have met the club to discuss the latest financials. In addition to wages & HMRC, business rates and utility payments are huge particularly business rates on Bearwood which is based on cost (£45m) rather than value. Sounds like Wokingham council are fleecing us.

Rather worryingly there is no reassurance the club can complete the season without external funding and only confirms the Smith money covered wages/tax etc until February.

The council don’t set the business rates, the govt through the valuation agency do.. Council collects it on behalf of the govt and keep some of it, but certainly not the majority.

[Forbury Lion]

I imagine the prospective buyer's people have had or will have a chat with Rob Coughig's people.

If the new buyer agrees a deal to buy but with £2m of the funds held in an escrow account to cover any compensation awarded in regards to this dispute, then they won't care either way whether Coughig wins or not it will effectively be taken out of the money that was going to Dai Yongge.

Now imagine if the new buyer and Coughig suddenly remember they are friends and Coughig buys into the club, In effect it means they've screwed Dai Yongge out of £2m or whatever.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

The problem is, if/when Dai screws over Platek and HE holds Dai to account, the dipshit contingent of our fans will vocally turn on him as well. I'm uncertain about how they think spreading unfounded hatred about potential buyers helps sell the club.

As well as massively over simplifying what I and some others are saying, it seems you're calling me a dipshit. That's not very nice, is it?

You're living in a fantasy land if you think Dai does all this just for fun, because he's somehow got some grievance against Reading supporters that he spent £200 million of his own money just to píss them off by letting the club fold rather than sell.

We don't know why Couhig's sale fell through. Maybe it would have been best it it hadn't, but it happened. No need for him to then launch a court case for some outlandish sum. It has definitely not helped things, even if it's not an absolute blocker.

If Platek has a reasonable case against Dai at some point in the future I'd evaluate it for its merits or otherwise. Same as with Couhig.

And I do think Couhig, should he end up as owner, will need to convince a section of supporters that he's not (a) going to asset strip the club and (b) his legal shenanigans were a justified part of the process to get the club out of Dai's hands.

[Greatwesternline]

The judge last Friday couldnt "throw out" Couhig's claim, because the hearing last week wasn't about Couhig's claim.

It was about Dai trying to get rid of the security placed over his own assets.

A judge can't just throw out any case in the entire legal system because he is a judge. He can only rule on the case in front of him.

[rabidbee]

Ah. I misunderstood, I thought it was a hearing to determine whether there was a case to be made.

[bcubed]

We really are in a terrible state. Even Don Goodman is feeling sorry for us.

https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/sport/25033160.reading-fc-fans-deserve-good-news--says-sky-sports-pundit/

I know Don quite well, he's a mate of guys I know, and was a regular at my local on a Sunday - you'd sometimes have to help carry him out of the pub come closing time

Anyway, he's got a genuine soft spot for Reading, somehow, knows the situation but doesn't remember scoring in the play off final against us.

Really?? Whenever he's co-commentated on games on the past he's slagged us off!

And I thought this was the reason our fans take issue with him.

[Extended-Phenotype]

The problem is, if/when Dai screws over Platek and HE holds Dai to account, the dipshit contingent of our fans will vocally turn on him as well. I'm uncertain about how they think spreading unfounded hatred about potential buyers helps sell the club.

As well as massively over simplifying what I and some others are saying, it seems you're calling me a dipshit. That's not very nice, is it?

You're living in a fantasy land if you think Dai does all this just for fun, because he's somehow got some grievance against Reading supporters that he spent £200 million of his own money just to píss them off by letting the club fold rather than sell.

We don't know why Couhig's sale fell through. Maybe it would have been best it it hadn't, but it happened. No need for him to then launch a court case for some outlandish sum. It has definitely not helped things, even if it's not an absolute blocker.

If Platek has a reasonable case against Dai at some point in the future I'd evaluate it for its merits or otherwise. Same as with Couhig.

And I do think Couhig, should he end up as owner, will need to convince a section of supporters that he's not (a) going to asset strip the club and (b) his legal shenanigans were a justified part of the process to get the club out of Dai's hands.

Not sure where you are getting that I think Dai is doing anything for fun. I just don’t believe he has seriously ever wanted to sell and stringing interested buyers along with promises and agreements has got him in hot water. Why he doesn’t want to sell is a complete mystery even to those trying to deal with him. My hunch is that he is hanging out for a windfall, keeping things going for as long as possible for either a big bid to come in due to promotion, or for our collapse as a club so he can sell up the stadium and land for redevelopment. Shrug, but that’s just conjecture. Much like all the stuff about Couhig constantly changing the price, deliberately trying to scupper our sale out of pride, dismantling the women’s football team (how, exactly?) or intending to asset strip us if his bid was successful.

Difference is, I’m not promoting my conjecture as fact. And I’m certainly not engaging in the sort of spin that might make past, current or future interested parties think twice about buying us. If all this could be the pressure that finally forces Dai to let go, and could be part of a plan with our best interests somewhere in the mix, why risk that? oxf*rd hell, the foaming hate hard-on people have for RC on Twitter puts ME off our oxf*rd club, I don’t know what it looks like to others.

[leon]

The problem is, if/when Dai screws over Platek and HE holds Dai to account, the dipshit contingent of our fans will vocally turn on him as well. I'm uncertain about how they think spreading unfounded hatred about potential buyers helps sell the club.

As well as massively over simplifying what I and some others are saying, it seems you're calling me a dipshit. That's not very nice, is it?

You're living in a fantasy land if you think Dai does all this just for fun, because he's somehow got some grievance against Reading supporters that he spent £200 million of his own money just to píss them off by letting the club fold rather than sell.

We don't know why Couhig's sale fell through. Maybe it would have been best it it hadn't, but it happened. No need for him to then launch a court case for some outlandish sum. It has definitely not helped things, even if it's not an absolute blocker.

If Platek has a reasonable case against Dai at some point in the future I'd evaluate it for its merits or otherwise. Same as with Couhig.

And I do think Couhig, should he end up as owner, will need to convince a section of supporters that he's not (a) going to asset strip the club and (b) his legal shenanigans were a justified part of the process to get the club out of Dai's hands.

Not sure where you are getting that I think Dai is doing anything for fun. I just don’t believe he has seriously ever wanted to sell and stringing interested buyers along with promises and agreements has got him in hot water. Why he doesn’t want to sell is a complete mystery even to those trying to deal with him. My hunch is that he is hanging out for a windfall, keeping things going for as long as possible for either a big bid to come in due to promotion, or for our collapse as a club so he can sell up the stadium and land for redevelopment. Shrug, but that’s just conjecture. Much like all the stuff about Couhig constantly changing the price, deliberately trying to scupper our sale out of pride, dismantling the women’s football team (how, exactly?) or intending to asset strip us if his bid was successful.

Difference is, I’m not promoting my conjecture as fact. And I’m certainly not engaging in the sort of spin that might make past, current or future interested parties think twice about buying us. If all this could be the pressure that finally forces Dai to let go, and could be part of a plan with our best interests somewhere in the mix, why risk that? oxf*rd hell, the foaming hate hard-on people have for RC on Twitter puts ME off our oxf*rd club, I don’t know what it looks like to others.

You know I think people (well the grown ups) are just so sick of what has happened and how long it has taken to get precisely nowhere that they are frustrated by everything and everyone.

Even in the direst of straights the good people of the Team Board are reverting to type and just indulging in internecine back biting and fighting.