McDermott via TalkSport

[comeonyouroyals]

We do have some buying power on top of that, if not a great deal at this level.

No we don't. Its not buying power on top of if you have to sell millions worth of players first. Our current policy is flog the best players for high prices every season and invest fractional amounts of that money on cheap replacements. That really can't be sugar coated.

Selective quoting because you missed the point I see.

We have buying power on top of using the academy, we are not forced to sell and only use the academy. Yes the money largely comes from sales, although I suspect we'd make signings even without sales, but the sale money could all go into keeping teh club affloat with none on players.

Yes we are forced to sell to cover our defecits. As far as I'm concerned by selling our best players it shows we are succesful in that we can nurture our players into valuable players, but that does not make us a succesful club we can only acheive that by winning and challenging for honours. Yes we have been relatively succesful over the past few years but you can't deny that by selling our best players year in year out that we are seriously hindering our chances to be a succesful club.

[howser]

Kind of agree with Floyd here, get the impression that our annual £4m shortfall is already being identified for the next season lol !

[Rob-Royal]

This ones been done to death. I'm afraid until the ego gets his sale this is what we have to put up with..... or not

[FiNeRaIn]

Kind of agree with Floyd here, get the impression that our annual £4m shortfall is already being identified for the next season lol !

Who would be worth anywhere close to 4 million in our current squad?

[comeonyouroyals]

Kind of agree with Floyd here, get the impression that our annual £4m shortfall is already being identified for the next season lol !

Who would be worth anywhere close to 4 million in our current squad?

Just going to have to sell more then!

[Avon Royal]

Kind of agree with Floyd here, get the impression that our annual £4m shortfall is already being identified for the next season lol !

Who would be worth anywhere close to 4 million in our current squad?

Not worth £4m, but Cummings is shaping up to be next summer's black hole filler.

[sandman]

How the f*ck does selling your assets make you a successful club? By that rationale Crewe Alexandra are the most successful club in England, yeah good one.

I hate the way our club is run and I hate some of our deluded bumbling clown fans which is why I'm glad I've only had the misfortune of attending one game so far. It actually makes me angry at how pathetic our club are. What the hell is good about flogging all your best players and playing boring hoofball football to get through? I bet Doyle, Long, Shorey, Sidwell, Rodgers and co are all gutted they're no longer at such a successful club.

Busy hiding in Rogers back garden with a pair of binoculars no doubt.

[Pete10]

Well no ambition . What a surprise. Sell right now.Waller will buy it.

[Once were Biscuitmen]

When Crystal Palace were available to buy for basically the cost of their debts nobody was interested. This forced a group of local business men who did not want to own a club to step in and take over. Now given Palace are a bigger club than Reading this suggests to me that there is not in fact a reserve army of indulgent millionaire/billionaires waiting in the wings to buy Reading FC.

So we can accept more debt to "compete" or run a sane business and hope that football regulation is finally showing the smallest signs of coming right.

[rhroyal]

When Crystal Palace were available to buy for basically the cost of their debts nobody was interested. This forced a group of local business men who did not want to own a club to step in and take over. Now given Palace are a bigger club than Reading this suggests to me that there is not in fact a reserve army of indulgent millionaire/billionaires waiting in the wings to buy Reading FC.

So we can accept more debt to "compete" or run a sane business and hope that football regulation is finally showing the smallest signs of coming right.

One 3rd place finish and an FA Cup final 15-20 years ago =/= bigger club. We have a higher average attendance and a more recent Premiership history. And we don't have to compete with tonnes of London clubs like they do.

Similar sizes, I just don't like people calling Palace bigger than us based upon very little.

[Avon Royal]

Ideally we want to get ourselves into the Premier League and if we don’t do it ourselves then our players will go onto the Premier League. That would be regarded as success here

That is an utterly horrific thing for a manager to say.

To say that we can create Premier quality players, but not reach the Premier League ourselves, and consider ourselves successful is just bonkers. If this really reflects the thinking of those at RFC then they ought to hang their heads in shame.

[Simon's Church]

Kind of agree with Floyd here, get the impression that our annual £4m shortfall is already being identified for the next season lol !

Who would be worth anywhere close to 4 million in our current squad?

Not worth £4m, but Cummings is shaping up to be next summer's black hole filler.

Why? Is there a big demand for very average right backs?

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Cummings signed a 3 year deal in Sep 2009, so we won't get anything for him in the summer. Why would other teams want him? Ex Chelsea, played a bit in the Prem for WBA, still a good prospect I would say.

[Simon's Church]

He recently signed for another year. He's a decent prospect but I doubt bigger clubs are going to be clamouring for him based on this season so far.

[DOYLERSAROYALER]

its ok we have Le Fondre to sell to fill the black hole ..must be part of the annual master plan...£350k out .....more in !

[Cypry]

Worth a listen although nothing really new here....

What is success?

1) We run this club to try to stay in the black...

2) Ideally we'd like to get to the Premier League...

3) If not 2 then sell a couple of players to the Premiership for good money (see 1)...


Suspect Brian could have phrased it better but it's hardly news is it?

[howser]

So we can accept as fact, now that it has been confirmed by Mcd, that the "Mission Statement" of Reading Fc under the present ownership is to "Develop youth players, buy cheap, and then sell sell sell, in doing so ensuring that we stay out of the Premier league"

Sometimes people say things that they, in time, wish they hadn't this maybe be McD's one ? hasn't really given the regular paying supporters the confidence that Mr Ego really means it when he spends £50 on a new player, and comes out with the verbal crap " this shows the ambition of the club to get back into the Premiership"

[Cypry]

So we can accept as fact, now that it has been confirmed by Mcd, that the "Mission Statement" of Reading Fc under the present ownership is to "Develop youth players, buy cheap, and then sell sell sell, in doing so ensuring that we stay out of the Premier league"

Sometimes people say things that they, in time, wish they hadn't this maybe be McD's one ? hasn't really given the regular paying supporters the confidence that Mr Ego really means it when he spends £50 on a new player, and comes out with the verbal crap " this shows the ambition of the club to get back into the Premiership"

That's rubbish - the "Mission Statement" (if that's what you want to call it) is to run the club in such a way that the club doesn't make a loss year on year:

What McD is saying is that the perferred way to do this would be to achieve promotion to the Premiership with the massive increase in income that would lead to through increased attendances, more TV money, higher revenues around merchandising etc (albeit, I would expect there still to be loads moaning when we don't sign loads of players on stupid wages, but try to operate on a break even basis even after any theoretical promotion).

If, however, we miss out on promotion, then the next best option is to balance the books by having developed players to such a level that we can sell them into the Premier League and thus meet our "mission statement" through profiting from player sales.


None of this is anything new, and I cannot believe that there are people out there who can be so incredulous that our club is run on a break even basis, that's all McD is saying - what he is NOT saying is that selling players is the clubs primary aim; it's simply a means to an end.

[PistolPete]

Stupid thing to say. I'm certain that if McDermott was pressed on this he'd change tack and call it a success of sorts but not a success outright.

In fact, he takes the fans for mugs if he thinks we'd be happy to hear that not going up but selling players to the premier league is good enough for us.

[melonhead]

every team in world football except barca are forced to sell their best players
LOl at anyone thinking that makes us any worse off than our current level.


when we are the greatest team in the universe we will be able to hold on to everyone.