£23 million In ... £1.4 million Spent

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

Look at the financial situation Watford are in. Pardew talked about the lack of funds avaliable this summer as well, because they had budgeted for going straight back up.

We've managed to raise a lot of money without doing too much damage to the squad, some young players look like breaking through and Armstrong and Hunt look good additions. Still have Bikey to come back into the side too.

The whole booing thing was predictable and avoidable. Someone should have told JM not to go out there, this was always gonna happen imo. It's the modern way.

[Royal With Cheese]

I thought my comeback was the wittiest.

[Ian Royal]

I thought my comeback was the wittiest.

I agree

[Royal With Cheese]

I thought my comeback was the wittiest.

I agree

I take back all the unkind things I've said about you.

[Ian Royal]

I thought my comeback was the wittiest.

I agree

I take back all the unkind things I've said about you.

No need for that. I'm taking nothing back.

[Gordons Cumming]

Coppell

“That’s not what we’re about. At this club we buy the rough diamonds and spend time with them – that’s the nature of Reading Football Club and that won’t change unless we get a rich sheikh.

I think this sums up this thread. (excuse the pun )

[Hoop Blah]

I've not read the rest of this thread, but just as an aside to the where has the money gone debate, at the end of the 2006 financial year our short term debt (ie bank loans and overdraft) was £18m. At the end of 2007 that had dropped to £9.3m.

At a guess I would suggest that the 2008 books will show we'll have paid off the remaining £9m to the bank.

[brendywendy]

hopefully paying our debts back will make us a more attractive prospect for potential new investors

[Hoop Blah]

The question is, would we have played the likes of Odense? And what would have been the chances of us progressing?

I mean, the intertoto isn't exactly the UEFA Cup. Had we failed, we couldn't possibly claim to have played in the UEFA Cup, could we?

Oh so negative - it's about trying to WIN, not being scared you might lose!

I'm just catching up on this thread.

I think the biggest problem with not entering the Intertoto was that it signalled to the players the lack of faith and ambition that the club had.

It set the tone for the season that we weren't going into it with the positive momentum that we had after getting promotion. We were already on the back foot. Who at the club can blame the players for taking their eye off the ball when the club had already given up.

[Hoop Blah]

Well I'm gald that Madejski has come out and given a much clearer indication of whats going on financially behind the scenes. I've been critical of the club for not spending a bit more last season, but I put that down to Coppell and not Madejski, who I think has come in for some undue stick.

My only criticism of his overview is his insistance that we've spent £12m on players. Yes we've spent that on transfer fee's but I'm pretty sure that our net spending is probably around £0. That's not too bad considering we've just been relegated, but it does put a little bit of a different light on his statement.

The reduction of our debts has to be a good thing but the club need to remember that the success on the pitch is the thing that drives the club forward and brings home the bacon. A nice balance sheet and a tidy media centre are all well and good, but if that's all done at the cost of the strength of the playing staff then they're playing a dangerous game.

All in all quite a positve outcome, and I hope that puts to bed the majority of the Madejski is fleecing the club ranting.

...I still want us to buy better players though!

[Arnie_Pie]

Right the June 2007 accounts I put up have caused much debate so I am going to get the interim accounts from Reading PLC holdings for December 2007. Will post them up shortly

[Royal With Cheese]

Right the June 2007 accounts I put up have caused much debate so I am going to get the interim accounts from Reading PLC holdings for December 2007. Will post them up shortly

Those long winter evening must really fly by in the pie household!