Confimred new owners of Raeding Footbal Club

[SPARTA]

Yes I would agree Pog would potentially be tricky but confident we'd sell Guthrie.

Besides - we are assuming the worst in that they just want to see their contracts out. Both Pog & Guthrie IMO have shown they give a sh1t so who knows they might want out anyway after 2 quite dismal seasons.

In addition, if we have to consider making a small contribution to their wages to get some of these players out then perhaps we have to look at doing that. Paying £5k per week for Pog for 1 more year is better than paying £40k per week or whatever it is he earns.

26k.

If only is was as little as that. Try 36k a week, plus the £4m signing on fee which is apparently spread over the four years, i.e. £1m a year (equivalent to 20k a week), and we pay for his penthouse in West London.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

So about £60k per week then? Surely the rest of the board have a say in these dealings?

[JIM]

you seem to have forgotten. The club also pays his income taxes as well so the bill is very much higher .

[Who Moved The Goalposts?]

Seems to me that JM's remark is made with total candour.

He always preached the gospel of the business "paying its own way".
He sold out to what he thought was a consortium who were prepared to push the financial envelope a bit more, so stood aside, and watched that group rubber stamp the signings and wage deals that he would not have countenanced under his tenure.
That group not only have welshed on the purchase of the rest of his shares, but the "investment" bit of TSI has also evaporated.
He's left as the only visible face of the club's ownership, holding the dubious baby of trying to sell a club with an unsustainable wage bill, and playing assets that will be difficult to move on in order to lighten that wage bill, because of the size of their wage packet. He's also trying to sell the club as the minority shareholder, so he doesn't have the final call, and any offer he may find acceptable can be veto'd by TSI (AZ).

I think he's got every right to be very concerned. So should we all be.
In the words of the song.....There may be trouble ahead. Time will tell if we face the music and dance.

Good post.

Zingarevich was bought a toy he couldn't afford to keep and has left us teetering on the brink of administration. Madejski was often quoted after AZ's disappearance that the family were being very supportive - I guess that was also not the whole truth. If we have to sell our better players and start off next year with minus 10 points we'll almost certainly be in League One the season after.

Do you not think that's a LITTLE melodramatic?

IN's since AZ:

Jason Roberts
Adrian Mariappa
Improved Kebe contract
Daniel Carrico
Danny Guthrie
Danny Williams
Pavel Pogrebynak
Garath McCleary
Chris Gunter
Royston Drenthe
Wayne Bridge

OUT's since AZ:
Jason Roberts
Adrian Mariappa
Jimmy Kebe
Daniel Carrico
Wayne Bridge (presuming we don't renew)

So we're left with what we had when JM was in charge + the below players:

Danny Guthrie
Danny Williams
Pavel Pogrebynak
Garath McCleary
Chris Gunter
Royston Drenthe

I'd hardly call that financial armageddon. We would easily find homes for them all bar Drenthe.

I agree it wouldn't be good to sell them all but Reading could sustain championship football comfortably if we did have to clear them all out & replace with a few bargain buys.

Not melodramatic at all as if we don't have those new owners in place, SJM won't have the funds or inclination to support us. Getting players off the wage bill is one thing, getting money in to keep the wheels turning is another. That's where the likes off McCarthy and Obita come in (or should I say go out).

[Royal Rother]

you seem to have forgotten. The club also pays his income taxes as well so the bill is very much higher .

Oh right, so that would mean we are actually paying him £100k per week.

Of course we are.

[sandman]

you seem to have forgotten. The club also pays his income taxes as well so the bill is very much higher .

Oh right, so that would mean we are actually paying him £100k per week.

Of course we are.

Actually once you take into account his weekly shopping bill from Harrods which we also pay for, his servants, his regular trips to the French Riviera and the money for the five Indonesian boys he and his wife bought, I mean legally adopted, it comes closer to £200,000 per week.

[Ian Royal]

Yes I would agree Pog would potentially be tricky but confident we'd sell Guthrie.

Besides - we are assuming the worst in that they just want to see their contracts out. Both Pog & Guthrie IMO have shown they give a sh1t so who knows they might want out anyway after 2 quite dismal seasons.

In addition, if we have to consider making a small contribution to their wages to get some of these players out then perhaps we have to look at doing that. Paying £5k per week for Pog for 1 more year is better than paying £40k per week or whatever it is he earns.

26k.

If only is was as little as that. Try 36k a week, plus the £4m signing on fee which is apparently spread over the four years, i.e. £1m a year (equivalent to 20k a week), and we pay for his penthouse in West London.

That may have been the deal last season and he's on a fukton for sure. But the club has confirmed to STAR that everyone had relegation wage reduction clauses.

[Hendo]

I really am interested to see the evidence of how much we pay players?

Anyone got any actuall evidence?

[Mid Sussex Royal]

The wages will be in the club accounts in the profit and loss account - i think the club's year end is June so unfortunately we will not know the wage bill for this season until they are filed sometime after July 2015.

[Royal Rother]

you seem to have forgotten. The club also pays his income taxes as well so the bill is very much higher .

Oh right, so that would mean we are actually paying him £100k per week.

Of course we are.

Actually once you take into account his weekly shopping bill from Harrods which we also pay for, his servants, his regular trips to the French Riviera and the money for the five Indonesian boys he and his wife bought, I mean legally adopted, it comes closer to £200,000 per week.

And the Dolf Lundgren jaw exercise regime doesn't come cheap.

[Elmer Park]

As mid sussex said we'll have to wait for the next accounts but for what it's worth, on the accounts for year ending June 2013 the club's wage costs were £40.5 million excluding social security and pension costs BUT that is for all employees of the club which is declared as 428 people (52 players, 81 management and coaching staff, 79 admin staff, 22 staff in government training schemes and 193 matchday staff). It looks like the car park attendants and programme sellers are bleeding the club dry, unless it's the ballboys.

For the year ending June 2012 it was £23.4 million for 367 employees.

[Nameless]

So the accounts give no clue as to what wages individual players get. Any figures quoted on here are a combination of guesswork and hearsay. Not that they may not be correct, but it's pretty unlikely anyone on HNA really has a clue what Pog actually gets paid.

For what it's worth I don't think the club employs any programme sellers, that is contracted out as is some of the stewarding and the catering.

[3points]

Didn't AZ pay for his 51%, and it was the 49% he failed to come up with? However, SJM claims the board have given him the backing to take control of the club again - I don't know how that works, but they were SJM's words to the press. What you say about the Stadium name appears to be correct (certainly a lot of trustworthy people backing it up), and his apartment in the hotel that he wants to keep, It's a tad ironic that the fans that worship him as our savior may be worshiping the one person that 'could' actually be holding up the sale of the club with his demands.

It's worth mentioning though that both the club and hotel are seperate entities and both up for sale, but a new owner in the club may well want both. Also that Derby signed a £7m 10 year stadium rebranding deal this year, and with FFP in place, any new owner will want to maximise the clubs income with a similar deal; and if SJM is putting a stop to that, that could well be a deal breaker considering it's £700,000 a season income that will be denied because of ego/pride etc..

Sparta - I heard again this week that what you say about SJM is true and is the reason the Omani deal fell through. Also the SJM comment about the "family" being supportive is also true, with BZ continuing to bank roll the club in the hope that this improves the eventual return on his (son's) original investment (and hence no clear out in January)

[multisync1830]

Didn't AZ pay for his 51%, and it was the 49% he failed to come up with? However, SJM claims the board have given him the backing to take control of the club again - I don't know how that works, but they were SJM's words to the press. What you say about the Stadium name appears to be correct (certainly a lot of trustworthy people backing it up), and his apartment in the hotel that he wants to keep, It's a tad ironic that the fans that worship him as our savior may be worshiping the one person that 'could' actually be holding up the sale of the club with his demands.

It's worth mentioning though that both the club and hotel are seperate entities and both up for sale, but a new owner in the club may well want both. Also that Derby signed a £7m 10 year stadium rebranding deal this year, and with FFP in place, any new owner will want to maximise the clubs income with a similar deal; and if SJM is putting a stop to that, that could well be a deal breaker considering it's £700,000 a season income that will be denied because of ego/pride etc..

Sparta - I heard again this week that what you say about SJM is true and is the reason the Omani deal fell through. Also the SJM comment about the "family" being supportive is also true, with BZ continuing to bank roll the club in the hope that this improves the eventual return on his (son's) original investment (and hence no clear out in January)

BZ is bankrolling the club until the sale of their shares no more no less. I would assume an ROI would be nice but it's getting less and less likely

Ask your contacts about the £1 share buy back offer made by AZ to SJM back in October. I was told by someone on this forum this 'offer' wouldn't pass a stress test in a court of law (even though it was apparently made in writing) especially now if it's considered SJM is putting unreasonable caveats on the sale (naming rights ?) but if BZ thought it best to cut his losses anyway (assuming Championship football for 14/15) then SJM gets back 51% of the club and becomes 100% owner of the debt .

My belief is that SJM cannot sustain that level for long so If BZ pulls the plug in June then unless something changes administration by the end of this year is a very strong possibility....

I hope SJM will wave the stadium rights and just sell to the Omani's, keeping the hotel and apartment. Then when he's ready to go into a retirement home sell the hotel, find a nice place by the sea and live off the memories.

[Nameless]

Someone should point out to SJM that 'naming rights' don't actually change the name of the ground in reality. I would always call the ground. 'The Madejski' and would never consider referring to 'the Microsoft Bowl' or whatever temporary label was attached to it and I suspect most fans would feel the same. It would be a media thing, not a real change of name

[Man Friday]

With respect, he doesn't give a sh1t what you or I call it but what the rest of the world would do. That's where the kudos would derive.

[Mr Optimist]

As mid sussex said we'll have to wait for the next accounts but for what it's worth, on the accounts for year ending June 2013 the club's wage costs were £40.5 million excluding social security and pension costs BUT that is for all employees of the club which is declared as 428 people (52 players, 81 management and coaching staff, 79 admin staff, 22 staff in government training schemes and 193 matchday staff). It looks like the car park attendants and programme sellers are bleeding the club dry, unless it's the ballboys.

For the year ending June 2012 it was £23.4 million for 367 employees.

Yeah but if you want the best you have to pay the best.

[Nameless]

With respect, he doesn't give a sh1t what you or I call it but what the rest of the world would do. That's where the kudos would derive.

Of course, the point though is to give him a way of accepting the concept , if that is the big stumbling block to a sale.
It shouldn't be beyond the wit of a negotiator to come up with a formula that would let SJM retain his memorial and a new owner to earn money off the stadium. Would 'the Madejski Microsoft Stadium' not work for all parties ?

[3points]

I'd just say it's fine, and then re-name it 18 months down the line. Doubt SJM would throw money away challenging it in court

[Nameless]

I suspect any prospective sponsor would lose interest once they saw there was a covenant in place to prevent the name being changed. SJM wouldn't need to take action, the risk of bad publicity would be enough.