Reading are crap

[Yellowcoat]

Yet again Royal Blue proves he has no understanding of the current financial climate. The banks are not just picking on Reading they have sought repayments from clubs and businesses right across the country. Ignore your hatred for SJM for once and open your eyes to the real world where most are belt tightening.

[Arch]

The fall from grace has happened so quickly-it took us about 10 years to build a team good enough to get there and 2 years for it all to fall apart.
During those 10 years the club didn't flinch at spending nearly £1 million on a number of individual players and yet here we now are scrapping around for free transfer or loan players.

The growth years happened in a time of economic prosperity during which our single owner enjoyed great fortune. Now there's a deep recession and continuing pessimism. People have lost huge amounts in the value of their houses; lots of people who had jobs five years ago are unemployed now. There are plenty of people and businesses who enjoyed steady growth and what seemed like stable economic security who have lost a lot of that in a short time. People who "didn't flinch" at spending half a million on a house in 2005 are now walking away from their mortgages and going back to renting. We were a mid-size championship club and then a small premiership club in the good times. Now we're a mid-size championship club again but the times are no longer good... for anyone. How you deal with that says a lot about what your future prospects are, but I I don't think spending money you don't have is the obvious solution for a recession-hit business.

[Victor Meldrew]

The fall from grace has happened so quickly-it took us about 10 years to build a team good enough to get there and 2 years for it all to fall apart.
During those 10 years the club didn't flinch at spending nearly £1 million on a number of individual players and yet here we now are scrapping around for free transfer or loan players.

The growth years happened in a time of economic prosperity during which our single owner enjoyed great fortune. Now there's a deep recession and continuing pessimism. People have lost huge amounts in the value of their houses; lots of people who had jobs five years ago are unemployed now. There are plenty of people and businesses who enjoyed steady growth and what seemed like stable economic security who have lost a lot of that in a short time. People who "didn't flinch" at spending half a million on a house in 2005 are now walking away from their mortgages and going back to renting. We were a mid-size championship club and then a small premiership club in the good times. Now we're a mid-size championship club again but the times are no longer good... for anyone. How you deal with that says a lot about what your future prospects are, but I I don't think spending money you don't have is the obvious solution for a recession-hit business.

Fair points but the recession isn't just taking place in Reading,the world hasn't stopped and some people are still making loads of money.
House values in this country have not crashed,they have reduced and mortgages are still incredibly cheap as are bank loans in historical terms and inflation is running at less than 3% per annum.
With the security of the ground and hotel the club could well obtain the credit needed to buy players and steal a march on those clubs that supposedly are not "well run".
The fact is the club has decided not to grasp this wonderful opportunity which I find disappointing and the stuff we are seeing on the pitch is sub-standard despite the fact that we are paying a large percentage of what we paid to watch Premiership football.
Regrettably our chairman seems to have lost his entrepeneurial drive as he has become an old age pensioner.

[Jimbo]

I am fooking sick of all you negative, moaning, fickle, miserable, short sighted bastards.

LOL at all of you lot crawling up someones arse just because he can string a few miserable sentences together.

Reading are not crap. Of course, sometimes we are crap. But other times we can play brilliant exciting football. Everyone seems to have forgotten the Cup games, or the generally excellent half of the season where we went from relegation candidates to pushing for the play offs. Was this 10 years ago? Maybe 5? No, it was LAST SEASON.
3 league games and 2 poxy cup games later and it's all "Reading are crap". "Reading are dire". "I'm not going anymore". "I don't like it anymore".
Well, get out of your pram, pick your toys up and f*ck off.

If you really hate football/Reading then don't watch. And don't give me all this "you don't understand, I have to go" bollocks. I hate Sex and the City and guess what? I don't watch it. I love going to match days. Sometimes I leave disappointed, sometimes I'm over the moon. But I still love it.
And why moan about how money has ruined the game, and then moan about how we don't spend enough money. Morons.

Marcus Williams. Yes, he's been a bit shite. But give the guy a chance FFS. How long did it take Kebe to start playing well?

SJM. If he doesn't want to spend his money then fine. That's up to him. I just wish he wouldn't keep going on about how desperate he is to get back in the Premiership. Because I'm afraid that's obviously bollocks.
Of course, the transfer window hasn't shut yet! You never know....

We were lucky to get in the Premiership (and stay there for 2 seasons). We had some great unknown talents now sadly departed, and we will probably never see that depth of quality across the team again.

And before you start, yes, it would be great to get back into the Premiership which everyone seems to hate all of a sudden. But I am realistic. We are a small team, and always will be. Strangely, that's how I like it.

Reading FC isn't perfect. Sometimes I wish things were done differently on and off the pitch. Sometimes I wish we would take a few more chances. But things could be a hell of a lot worse. I'm convinced we will be comfortable this season.
And I still love it.

[rob the royal]

Yet again Royal Blue proves he has no understanding of the current financial climate. The banks are not just picking on Reading they have sought repayments from clubs and businesses right across the country. Ignore your hatred for SJM for once and open your eyes to the real world where most are belt tightening.

Yes but have they got it back? The fact that most of the clubs in the country are still continuing as normal suggests not.

There seem to be hardly any people on this board who take the middle ground on this issue - everyone either bums Madejski and thinks that he's got NO MONEY or thinks he's got POTS OF MONEY, hates his guts and wants him out.

I for the record don't blame him for the position at the moment and certainly don't want him out of the club until we can find someone to takeover but equally I've not been so taken in by all this 'i'm so cash poor' and 'Reading way' rubbish - it's only the Reading way because he see's no reason to invest in something he now knows - from the experience of being unable to sell the club in the Prem -won't return - because that's not an investment - it's just DONATING money. That's never been what SJM is about.

[Arch]

it's only the Reading way because he see's no reason to invest in something he now knows - from the experience of being unable to sell the club in the Prem -won't return - because that's not an investment - it's just DONATING money. That's never been what SJM is about.

There's definitely something to this, although the truth about JM is sure to be more complex even though he sees himself as a simple guy. Think about the fact that he has donated money, especially to things Reading. I think he'd put money - a modest amount of his own - into RFC again if he respected the professional game, but he doesn't. The ironic thing is, that puts him in the same boat as floyd, Ian Herring, Victor, and countless other posters on here.

We do tend to be extremists on this board. Here's my more considered reflection for what it's worth. There are two salient lessons about the Madejski years. First, he tends to stick with a bad situation for longer than most chairmen would. Call it loyalty, conservatism, timidity, cheapness, whatever you like (personally, I think there is a moral element to it). So he's not going to make any drastic moves any time soon to change the current set up, especially when it contains so many of his loyalists and was so successful last spring. Second, when effective change has come to the club any time in the last decade, it has been through the energizing addition of one or two personalities - whether it be Martin Allen, Kevin Dillon, Jamie Cureton, Kevin Doyle and Leroy Lita, Brian, Andy Griffin... even Matt Robinson had a briefly catalytic effect. I think if things get desperate, the inner circle will get together and make some modest move that (hopefully) will get us back on track. That has happened more often than not. I personally don't think it's that desperate yet.

[readingbedding]

You know what you can do.
It's not as if you're marched at gunpoint.

WSC and others have covered this since 1992.
Blah, blah, same old, nothing new here, all been talked about.
The cat's out of the bag, long gone, it's all our fault's.

But it could eat itself, fingers crossed.
Would love football to go bust!

Remember, the game is bigger than all of this.

[RoyalBlue]

Yet again Royal Blue proves he has no understanding of the current financial climate. The banks are not just picking on Reading they have sought repayments from clubs and businesses right across the country. Ignore your hatred for SJM for once and open your eyes to the real world where most are belt tightening.

Either extract your head from Madejski's rear or stop spouting crap.

Do you actually work at a senior level in a successful business? If you did, you would know that banks are still more than happy to lend money to businesses that they believe have a committed and competent management team and are likely to grow and have a successful future. Banks have to do that in order to make money!!

How do I know that? Because I work at a senior level in one such business. We had banks falling over themselves to invest in our business (far more than RFC were borrowing I believe)during the very time that you claim they were all seeking repayment from from clubs and businesses across the country.

Had our top person stated they wanted out, then the banks would have been nowhere near as keen. Likewise if we suddenly stopped investing in our future, cutting right back, performance dropping off and customers getting disatisfied then they would have started getting jittery about their funds.

[Mr Angry]

I am fooking sick of all you negative, moaning, fickle, miserable, short sighted bastards.

LOL at all of you lot crawling up someones arse just because he can string a few miserable sentences together.

Reading are not crap. Of course, sometimes we are crap. But other times we can play brilliant exciting football. Everyone seems to have forgotten the Cup games, or the generally excellent half of the season where we went from relegation candidates to pushing for the play offs. Was this 10 years ago? Maybe 5? No, it was LAST SEASON.
3 league games and 2 poxy cup games later and it's all "Reading are crap". "Reading are dire". "I'm not going anymore". "I don't like it anymore".
Well, get out of your pram, pick your toys up and f*ck off.

If you really hate football/Reading then don't watch. And don't give me all this "you don't understand, I have to go" bollocks. I hate Sex and the City and guess what? I don't watch it. I love going to match days. Sometimes I leave disappointed, sometimes I'm over the moon. But I still love it.
And why moan about how money has ruined the game, and then moan about how we don't spend enough money. Morons.

Marcus Williams. Yes, he's been a bit shite. But give the guy a chance FFS. How long did it take Kebe to start playing well?

SJM. If he doesn't want to spend his money then fine. That's up to him. I just wish he wouldn't keep going on about how desperate he is to get back in the Premiership. Because I'm afraid that's obviously bollocks.
Of course, the transfer window hasn't shut yet! You never know....

We were lucky to get in the Premiership (and stay there for 2 seasons). We had some great unknown talents now sadly departed, and we will probably never see that depth of quality across the team again.

And before you start, yes, it would be great to get back into the Premiership which everyone seems to hate all of a sudden. But I am realistic. We are a small team, and always will be. Strangely, that's how I like it.

Reading FC isn't perfect. Sometimes I wish things were done differently on and off the pitch. Sometimes I wish we would take a few more chances. But things could be a hell of a lot worse. I'm convinced we will be comfortable this season.
And I still love it.

+1 to this post.

[Stranded]

Is your business football?

Sadly outside of the top flight, even a excellent and committed management team with a decent loan isn't a guarantee of long term success - esp. if others are doing it to.

[Seal]

I am fooking sick of all you negative, moaning, fickle, miserable, short sighted bastards.

LOL at all of you lot crawling up someones arse just because he can string a few miserable sentences together.

Reading are not crap. Of course, sometimes we are crap. But other times we can play brilliant exciting football. Everyone seems to have forgotten the Cup games, or the generally excellent half of the season where we went from relegation candidates to pushing for the play offs. Was this 10 years ago? Maybe 5? No, it was LAST SEASON.
3 league games and 2 poxy cup games later and it's all "Reading are crap". "Reading are dire". "I'm not going anymore". "I don't like it anymore".
Well, get out of your pram, pick your toys up and f*ck off.

If you really hate football/Reading then don't watch. And don't give me all this "you don't understand, I have to go" bollocks. I hate Sex and the City and guess what? I don't watch it. I love going to match days. Sometimes I leave disappointed, sometimes I'm over the moon. But I still love it.
And why moan about how money has ruined the game, and then moan about how we don't spend enough money. Morons.

Marcus Williams. Yes, he's been a bit shite. But give the guy a chance FFS. How long did it take Kebe to start playing well?

SJM. If he doesn't want to spend his money then fine. That's up to him. I just wish he wouldn't keep going on about how desperate he is to get back in the Premiership. Because I'm afraid that's obviously bollocks.
Of course, the transfer window hasn't shut yet! You never know....

We were lucky to get in the Premiership (and stay there for 2 seasons). We had some great unknown talents now sadly departed, and we will probably never see that depth of quality across the team again.

And before you start, yes, it would be great to get back into the Premiership which everyone seems to hate all of a sudden. But I am realistic. We are a small team, and always will be. Strangely, that's how I like it.

Reading FC isn't perfect. Sometimes I wish things were done differently on and off the pitch. Sometimes I wish we would take a few more chances. But things could be a hell of a lot worse. I'm convinced we will be comfortable this season.
And I still love it.

+1 to this post.

Amen! Jimbo for President!

[Barney]

I am fooking sick of all you negative, moaning, fickle, miserable, short sighted bastards.

LOL at all of you lot crawling up someones arse just because he can string a few miserable sentences together.

Reading are not crap. Of course, sometimes we are crap. But other times we can play brilliant exciting football. Everyone seems to have forgotten the Cup games, or the generally excellent half of the season where we went from relegation candidates to pushing for the play offs. Was this 10 years ago? Maybe 5? No, it was LAST SEASON.
3 league games and 2 poxy cup games later and it's all "Reading are crap". "Reading are dire". "I'm not going anymore". "I don't like it anymore".
Well, get out of your pram, pick your toys up and f*ck off.

If you really hate football/Reading then don't watch. And don't give me all this "you don't understand, I have to go" bollocks. I hate Sex and the City and guess what? I don't watch it. I love going to match days. Sometimes I leave disappointed, sometimes I'm over the moon. But I still love it.
And why moan about how money has ruined the game, and then moan about how we don't spend enough money. Morons.

Marcus Williams. Yes, he's been a bit shite. But give the guy a chance FFS. How long did it take Kebe to start playing well?

SJM. If he doesn't want to spend his money then fine. That's up to him. I just wish he wouldn't keep going on about how desperate he is to get back in the Premiership. Because I'm afraid that's obviously bollocks.
Of course, the transfer window hasn't shut yet! You never know....

We were lucky to get in the Premiership (and stay there for 2 seasons). We had some great unknown talents now sadly departed, and we will probably never see that depth of quality across the team again.

And before you start, yes, it would be great to get back into the Premiership which everyone seems to hate all of a sudden. But I am realistic. We are a small team, and always will be. Strangely, that's how I like it.

Reading FC isn't perfect. Sometimes I wish things were done differently on and off the pitch. Sometimes I wish we would take a few more chances. But things could be a hell of a lot worse. I'm convinced we will be comfortable this season.
And I still love it.

SPOT ON SIR !!!! Reading are NOT crap....end of.

[Wycombe Royal]

Do you actually work at a senior level in a successful business? If you did, you would know that banks are still more than happy to lend money to businesses that they believe have a committed and competent management team and are likely to grow and have a successful future. Banks have to do that in order to make money!!

How do I know that? Because I work at a senior level in one such business. We had banks falling over themselves to invest in our business (far more than RFC were borrowing I believe)during the very time that you claim they were all seeking repayment from from clubs and businesses across the country.

Had our top person stated they wanted out, then the banks would have been nowhere near as keen. Likewise if we suddenly stopped investing in our future, cutting right back, performance dropping off and customers getting disatisfied then they would have started getting jittery about their funds.

You are missing an important piece in that. All businesses are assessed based on their individual and performance AND the performance of the industry they are in. Football is a VERY VERY risky business for lenders to get involved with and therefore a lot of your comments are totally irrelevant.

And yes I am an accountant and I do know about these things.

[rob the royal]

it's only the Reading way because he see's no reason to invest in something he now knows - from the experience of being unable to sell the club in the Prem -won't return - because that's not an investment - it's just DONATING money. That's never been what SJM is about.

There's definitely something to this, although the truth about JM is sure to be more complex even though he sees himself as a simple guy. Think about the fact that he has donated money, especially to things Reading. I think he'd put money - a modest amount of his own - into RFC again if he respected the professional game, but he doesn't. The ironic thing is, that puts him in the same boat as floyd, Ian Herring, Victor, and countless other posters on here.

For sure. He certainly has donated but he's a business man and he finds giving money to charity embarrassing - so embarrassing that he hands over a cheque to a charity in front of a documentary camera crew when he could have done it one the quiet (all the while talking about how little cash he has). He then says all his money is working and creating jobs - a very philanthropic position you would think. But really all that money is not just working hard to make jobs - it's working hard to make him more money. I mean didn't he buy that statue for 5m and then put it in a Reading gallery? What a nice chap... but then just a few years later he sold it to some Asian private buyer for 13m.

I certainly wouldn't say he is ALL business - but it's his number one priority - and I hate to say this but I can't help thinking that when he does charitable things it's only because he feels that it works to enhance his reputation and influence and thus increase his business potential. It's in his interest to enhance Reading (the town) through investment or donation because when Reading does well he does well - he is, as they say, Mr Reading.

I don't want anyone to take this as a Royal Blue style I hate Madejski - just that I think he's very shrewd and I don't think the very simple and uncomplicated picture he likes to paint of himself is exactly who he really is. The reason so much of his money is tied up in business isn't because he wants to create jobs and be a beacon of light for the human race - it's because he wants to make more money!

I think if he was a bit more honest instead of constantly weaving this web of contradictory self-enhancing flim-flam I'd have a lot more respect for him...

We do tend to be extremists on this board.

I therefore find myself in the odd position of agreeing and disagreeing with almost everybody...

I agree with RB's sentiments but not his analysis of the situation - as the previous poster says - banks aren't going to be likely to be pouring money into football right now - it's the other way round - they're going to be wanting to get it out and stick it somewhere else...

[BR2]

Do you actually work at a senior level in a successful business? If you did, you would know that banks are still more than happy to lend money to businesses that they believe have a committed and competent management team and are likely to grow and have a successful future. Banks have to do that in order to make money!!

How do I know that? Because I work at a senior level in one such business. We had banks falling over themselves to invest in our business (far more than RFC were borrowing I believe)during the very time that you claim they were all seeking repayment from from clubs and businesses across the country.

Had our top person stated they wanted out, then the banks would have been nowhere near as keen. Likewise if we suddenly stopped investing in our future, cutting right back, performance dropping off and customers getting disatisfied then they would have started getting jittery about their funds.

You are missing an important piece in that. All businesses are assessed based on their individual and performance AND the performance of the industry they are in. Football is a VERY VERY risky business for lenders to get involved with and therefore a lot of your comments are totally irrelevant.

And yes I am an accountant and I do know about these things.

From my experience accountants in general know very little about business-seldom do they offer advice and in most cases they state the position as it stands for both the current year and the past year.
They are seldom entrepeneurial and find it hard to understand the chances that entrepeneurs are prepared to take as they themselves are so risk averse.
Their function in life is to report facts so they often lack the imagination required to succeed in business.
Mr Mad had that imagination for businesses involved in 2nd hand cars and a football club.
I fear that with his advancing years he has taken too much notice of accountants and lost the imagination and risk-taking required to take a football club forward and by not expanding the football club business it is in fact regressing through too much caution.
Just an opinion rather than a fact and no I am not an accountant (thank goodness) but I do know that borrowing relatively small amounts of money against substantial fixed assets is not difficult even in these supposedly dark days.

[rob the royal]

From my experience accountants in general know very little about business-seldom do they offer advice and in most cases they state the position as it stands for both the current year and the past year.
They are seldom entrepeneurial and find it hard to understand the chances that entrepeneurs are prepared to take as they themselves are so risk averse.

There can't be many banks or investors around that are happy to put money in to football at this moment in time.

Mr Mad had that imagination for businesses involved in 2nd hand cars and a football club.
I fear that with his advancing years he has taken too much notice of accountants and lost the imagination and risk-taking required to take a football club forward and by not expanding the football club business it is in fact regressing through too much caution.

I think it's more that he see's the return as being far less than what he thought it would be - he expected to make a bomb on it when we were in the Premiership. Now he's realised what he's likely to get for it and how much it would cost to either get Reading into the Premiership again - why bother. His money can be put to far more lucrative use elsewhere.

[Croydon Royal]

I am fooking sick of all you negative, moaning, fickle, miserable, short sighted bastards.

LOL at all of you lot crawling up someones arse just because he can string a few miserable sentences together.

Reading are not crap. Of course, sometimes we are crap. But other times we can play brilliant exciting football. Everyone seems to have forgotten the Cup games, or the generally excellent half of the season where we went from relegation candidates to pushing for the play offs. Was this 10 years ago? Maybe 5? No, it was LAST SEASON.
3 league games and 2 poxy cup games later and it's all "Reading are crap". "Reading are dire". "I'm not going anymore". "I don't like it anymore".
Well, get out of your pram, pick your toys up and f*ck off.

If you really hate football/Reading then don't watch. And don't give me all this "you don't understand, I have to go" bollocks. I hate Sex and the City and guess what? I don't watch it. I love going to match days. Sometimes I leave disappointed, sometimes I'm over the moon. But I still love it.
And why moan about how money has ruined the game, and then moan about how we don't spend enough money. Morons.

Marcus Williams. Yes, he's been a bit shite. But give the guy a chance FFS. How long did it take Kebe to start playing well?

SJM. If he doesn't want to spend his money then fine. That's up to him. I just wish he wouldn't keep going on about how desperate he is to get back in the Premiership. Because I'm afraid that's obviously bollocks.
Of course, the transfer window hasn't shut yet! You never know....

We were lucky to get in the Premiership (and stay there for 2 seasons). We had some great unknown talents now sadly departed, and we will probably never see that depth of quality across the team again.

And before you start, yes, it would be great to get back into the Premiership which everyone seems to hate all of a sudden. But I am realistic. We are a small team, and always will be. Strangely, that's how I like it.

Reading FC isn't perfect. Sometimes I wish things were done differently on and off the pitch. Sometimes I wish we would take a few more chances. But things could be a hell of a lot worse. I'm convinced we will be comfortable this season.
And I still love it.

Haven't posted on here for years but had to give this a +1. Particularly the SJM bit....Grateful for what he's done and completely up to him how he spends his money. Just don't come out giving it the big one in the press about his ambitions to get back to the Prem if he's not willing to stump up for the players that we obviously need to get there.

[sandman]

So in summary.

Football is run by BskyB and greedy chairmen.

The Premier League is populated by prancing primma donnas who have too much money and will shag anything that is blonde and has a fake tan .

John Madejski, Knight of the realm is killing the club and should get out because he won't/doesn't have the money/ambition required to get the club back to the very league that you all hate so much. The very same league that has the prancing primma donnas that Reading would presumably need to buy and pay in order to stay in said league.

The average Season Ticket price is too high despite, (excluding the Upper West) being one of the lowest in league football, on a par with the highest price at Macclesfield. A seat in the Cobbold stand at Ipswich sets you back £1001, £70 pounds more than a standard Season Ticket at Old Trafford and £216 more than the highest at Anfield. Aldersh!t and Oxf*rd's highest prices are respectively 5 and 15 pounds more expensive than it costs to sit in the North, East and Lower West stands (even if you add our highest price we're still in mid table when it comes to ST prices). FFT Magazine study.

Madejski has an ego, no one goes into football to make money it is a vanity project.He is not perfect and we all get frustrated with him but he's not the devil that some make him out to be and our position as a Championship club is better than the position we were in when he took over.

If you want to go and watch non league football go ahead all power to you it needs the support. However, you'll be a lot colder drinking your beer, in a shed in the howling wind, in the middle of January than you will in the concourse at the Mad Stad.

[Terminal Boardom]

So in summary.

Football is run by BskyB and greedy chairmen.

The Premier League is populated by prancing primma donnas who have too much money and will shag anything that is blonde and has a fake tan .

John Madejski, Knight of the realm is killing the club and should get out because he won't/doesn't have the money/ambition required to get the club back to the very league that you all hate so much. The very same league that has the prancing primma donnas that Reading would presumably need to buy and pay in order to stay in said league.

The average Season Ticket price is too high despite, (excluding the Upper West) being one of the lowest in league football, on a par with the highest price at Macclesfield. A seat in the Cobbold stand at Ipswich sets you back £1001, £70 pounds more than a standard Season Ticket at Old Trafford and £216 more than the highest at Anfield. Aldersh!t and Oxf*rd's highest prices are respectively 5 and 15 pounds more expensive than it costs to sit in the North, East and Lower West stands (even if you add our highest price we're still in mid table when it comes to ST prices). FFT Magazine study.

Madejski has an ego, no one goes into football to make money it is a vanity project.He is not perfect and we all get frustrated with him but he's not the devil that some make him out to be and our position as a Championship club is better than the position we were in when he took over.

If you want to go and watch non league football go ahead all power to you it needs the support. However, you'll be a lot colder drinking your beer, in a shed in the howling wind, in the middle of January than you will in the concourse at the Mad Stad.

I agree with everything here except for the final sentence.

Beer, in a cosy, warm, comfortable club house with chairs and tables > queueing mindlessly on a Mad Stad concourse

[Wycombe Royal]

[From my experience accountants in general know very little about business-seldom do they offer advice and in most cases they state the position as it stands for both the current year and the past year.
They are seldom entrepeneurial and find it hard to understand the chances that entrepeneurs are prepared to take as they themselves are so risk averse.
Their function in life is to report facts so they often lack the imagination required to succeed in business.
Mr Mad had that imagination for businesses involved in 2nd hand cars and a football club.
I fear that with his advancing years he has taken too much notice of accountants and lost the imagination and risk-taking required to take a football club forward and by not expanding the football club business it is in fact regressing through too much caution.
Just an opinion rather than a fact and no I am not an accountant (thank goodness) but I do know that borrowing relatively small amounts of money against substantial fixed assets is not difficult even in these supposedly dark days.

Surely it depends on what type of accountant? Also when talking about banks lending money then being "entrepeneurial" is irrelevant. Banks look at risk before lending and there are very few businesses as risky as football.

Your comments baically seem to have gone off on a tangent to the point I was making.