Relegation the Reading Way

[Hoop Blah]

But this is irrelevant. We have new owners now, that's the whole point.

We do yes, but I'm not sure they'll be throwing the same money at the problem as West Brom seemed to.

Hopefully we'll never find out as McDermott finds a magic cure to save us!

[Barry the bird boggler]

Relegation's not the end of the world m8, calm down.

Absolutely, but to go down with such dreadful performances and a squad that was patently clear to all (except those that matter) in the close season is not good enough for the top level is totally unacceptable.

Nothing has been learned at this club from our last season in the PL, when I felt we didn't try to make a serious stab at staying up in the January window, but at least we had a squad that gave some reward in games.

[Royal Lady]

If we were making £4m in losses every year up to now, despite the parachute payments from last time in the Prem, who is to say it won't be more after we're relegated? And who is to say that one of the newly promoted teams at the end of the season won't take a punt on Marriappa, Guthrie, HRK, Pearce, Morrison or Jem - for example?

Then what do we do? We have to replace those players for a start.

Ticket sales will be down.

Yes we'll get parachute payments again, but if AZ is wanting to run this club as a business, rather than a little plaything, then, of course, he won't spend anywhere near what he gets in.

There is NOTHING to say that we will bounce straight back up - we certainly didn't bounce back up after our last relegation - so this 5 year plan is just a soundbite to get RFC fans on board the TSI train. We could equally end up like Coventry rather than WBA.

We should have gone for it this season - we knew how much money we were getting in and that's before ticket sales/ST sales etc.

The most inexplicable part for me is the fact that we bought Pog and Guthrie and McD (particularly in the case of Guthrie) doesn't think they "fit" our style of play. So why did he bother - or was it a panic buy because he couldn't get anyone else? Who knows?

[Cypry]

If we were making £4m in losses every year up to now, despite the parachute payments from last time in the Prem, who is to say it won't be more after we're relegated? And who is to say that one of the newly promoted teams at the end of the season won't take a punt on Marriappa, Guthrie, HRK, Pearce, Morrison or Jem - for example?

Then what do we do? We have to replace those players for a start.

Ticket sales will be down.

Yes we'll get parachute payments again, but if AZ is wanting to run this club as a business, rather than a little plaything, then, of course, he won't spend anywhere near what he gets in.

There is NOTHING to say that we will bounce straight back up - we certainly didn't bounce back up after our last relegation - so this 5 year plan is just a soundbite to get RFC fans on board the TSI train. We could equally end up like Coventry rather than WBA.

We should have gone for it this season - we knew how much money we were getting in and that's before ticket sales/ST sales etc.

The most inexplicable part for me is the fact that we bought Pog and Guthrie and McD (particularly in the case of Guthrie) doesn't think they "fit" our style of play. So why did he bother - or was it a panic buy because he couldn't get anyone else? Who knows?

The club also know what outgoings they have.

It amazes me to think that despite everything that TSI have said about continuing to run as a business, about investing in the infrastructure initially etc, that people still seem to think that it would make good sense to simply spunk money on the team in some kind of high stakes gamble to stay up....

Yes, the TV money will increase next year - it'll add some £20M to a team of our standings income in that first year...so, should we spend £20M, simply to have a better chance that we might make that £20M back next year?

What about other costs that fans might simply overlook? Has anyone considered what's going to happen to SJMs chairmans loans (£28M at the last accounts, or thereabouts) - is he simply going to write them off? I think it's unlikely. I would expect that the club would look to clear that debt as soon as they can.

Promotion meant that we got some £43M extra income from TV money this year - a big chunk of the season tickets were sold at prices which were cheaper than last year, and the odd 4000 extra tickets sold for home games is a drop in the ocean, perhaps a couple of £M in the season.

Given that we were already losing somewhere between £4M and £8M a year (the fabled "black hole"), we've spent around £15M on new players and new contracts (some artistic license in guestimating the cost of new contracts), we've spent money on the training ground and the academy - let's say that we've spent £25M - £30M of the TV money.
If we're also paying back some / all of SJMs loans (this would allow Anton to have a "clean sheet" when he takes full control of the club), then it's not hard to see where £43M could go...

Contrast that with Southampton, who didn't have some of those commitments, and instead spent £27M on transfer fees alone (I heard somewhere, think during yesterdays game, that they were the 7th highest spending club in EURPOE in the last window), yet they're still far from home and dry for next year....

If we get relegated, it'll be far from a foregone conclusion that we'll bounce straight back up, agreed. But we'll have the finances in place, and the structure to ensure that we can be a competitive club at the Championship level for many years to come, and with it, a good chance that we could achieve further promotions in the future. Coventry are a financial basket case, something that we will most certainly not be, and not a good reference as a comparison.

I suspect that Antons plans are to get the finances sorted (debts paid off) and the infrastructure in place, so that next time we get promoted (and I have no doubt that done properly, we will), we will be in a better position to take an approach similar to that of Southampton this year. It's not a particularly pleasant experience to be a Reading fan this year, but it is important to consider the bigger picture.....

[Maguire]

7th highest net spend in Europe I believe

[Royal Rother]

The safest long-term investment the club can make is in the Academy and its coaching staff. £10m in that area is almost guaranteed to pay dividends in the long-term, which spending £10m on a couple of players now most certainly isn't.

AZ may surprise me by releasing a huge pile of money for squad strengthening in the next month or 2 but if that in any way jeopardises the plan to spend on the Academy then it would be a gamble not worth taking. I would also imagine that Boris is watching how his son performs here with great interest. He probably wouldn't be overly impressed if, at the 1st sign of problems, Anton comes asking for a big pile of cash that was not in the original budget, for team strengthening.

Sometimes you can't have everything all at once and have to be strong in prioritising for long term benefits. The supporters who want it all and want it all right now without any knowledge of how much is actually available are just pissing in the wind.

It's a very difficult balance the owners have to strike between absolute transparency / openness with the supporters and what is the best thing to say to keep people happy. I don't think AZ has been in any way dishonest but if he had come out and said "this promotion has come a little early for us - we hope we can do enough to stay up but in reality maintaining our presence in the PL is not as important to me as getting the investment in the Academy and infrastructure moving forward because that will provide guaranteed long-term benefits. Don't worry guys, if we come straight back down, we will bounce back quickly..." then fans would have been pissed off, players might not have come etc. etc.

But of course, like the rest of us, I'm only guessing what's on his mind. But if what I surmise above is correct then the club is in very safe and sensible hands.

Edit: Ah, echoing much of what Cypry has just outlined in an excellent post above...

[Maguire]

That's higher than Barcelona, btw ^^

[The Beardy Man]

If we were making £4m in losses every year up to now, despite the parachute payments from last time in the Prem, who is to say it won't be more after we're relegated? And who is to say that one of the newly promoted teams at the end of the season won't take a punt on Marriappa, Guthrie, HRK, Pearce, Morrison or Jem - for example?

Then what do we do? We have to replace those players for a start.

Ticket sales will be down.

Yes we'll get parachute payments again, but if AZ is wanting to run this club as a business, rather than a little plaything, then, of course, he won't spend anywhere near what he gets in.

There is NOTHING to say that we will bounce straight back up - we certainly didn't bounce back up after our last relegation - so this 5 year plan is just a soundbite to get RFC fans on board the TSI train. We could equally end up like Coventry rather than WBA.

We should have gone for it this season - we knew how much money we were getting in and that's before ticket sales/ST sales etc.

The most inexplicable part for me is the fact that we bought Pog and Guthrie and McD (particularly in the case of Guthrie) doesn't think they "fit" our style of play. So why did he bother - or was it a panic buy because he couldn't get anyone else? Who knows?

The club also know what outgoings they have.

It amazes me to think that despite everything that TSI have said about continuing to run as a business, about investing in the infrastructure initially etc, that people still seem to think that it would make good sense to simply spunk money on the team in some kind of high stakes gamble to stay up....

Yes, the TV money will increase next year - it'll add some £20M to a team of our standings income in that first year...so, should we spend £20M, simply to have a better chance that we might make that £20M back next year?

What about other costs that fans might simply overlook? Has anyone considered what's going to happen to SJMs chairmans loans (£28M at the last accounts, or thereabouts) - is he simply going to write them off? I think it's unlikely. I would expect that the club would look to clear that debt as soon as they can.

Promotion meant that we got some £43M extra income from TV money this year - a big chunk of the season tickets were sold at prices which were cheaper than last year, and the odd 4000 extra tickets sold for home games is a drop in the ocean, perhaps a couple of £M in the season.

Given that we were already losing somewhere between £4M and £8M a year (the fabled "black hole"), we've spent around £15M on new players and new contracts (some artistic license in guestimating the cost of new contracts), we've spent money on the training ground and the academy - let's say that we've spent £25M - £30M of the TV money.
If we're also paying back some / all of SJMs loans (this would allow Anton to have a "clean sheet" when he takes full control of the club), then it's not hard to see where £43M could go...

Contrast that with Southampton, who didn't have some of those commitments, and instead spent £27M on transfer fees alone (I heard somewhere, think during yesterdays game, that they were the 7th highest spending club in EURPOE in the last window), yet they're still far from home and dry for next year....

If we get relegated, it'll be far from a foregone conclusion that we'll bounce straight back up, agreed. But we'll have the finances in place, and the structure to ensure that we can be a competitive club at the Championship level for many years to come, and with it, a good chance that we could achieve further promotions in the future. Coventry are a financial basket case, something that we will most certainly not be, and not a good reference as a comparison.

I suspect that Antons plans are to get the finances sorted (debts paid off) and the infrastructure in place, so that next time we get promoted (and I have no doubt that done properly, we will), we will be in a better position to take an approach similar to that of Southampton this year. It's not a particularly pleasant experience to be a Reading fan this year, but it is important to consider the bigger picture.....

Excellent post

[royalswans]

Would have been the front two at the madstad this year if the owners had backed the manager with some money. Remarkably given the current hype about those two players - deals could of been done for a combined price of £12m in the summer.

Whilst i have no doubt the current squad are not quite up to prem league survival anyone who is blaming the manager should give their head a shake.

[Royal Ginger]

In before the abuse/move/lock

[southbank1871]

Gr8 first post royalswans. Tell us a bit about yourself.

[Green]

Hey royalswans, welcome on board to the board.

[Alexander Litvinenko]

All the great forwards in the world won't win us games unless we have a midfield who can create chances and a defence who can defend.

[Green]

All the great forwards in the world won't win us games unless we have a midfield who can create chances and a defence who can defend.

Deep.

"If you lend someone £20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it."

[Archie's penalty]

I just don't think we do, we don't have the budget that other teams have, so I'm not really sure how we're supposed to stay at Premiership level.

Our place is about 3-6 in the Championship and I think having this in mind will make this season a lot easier to take.

I also don't think we should throw money around in order to stay up. So I suppose we need to go down gracefully.

I'm already looking forward to the championship in August.

[Pandoras Box]

No

[redscot]

You do not need to throw money around on players, but you need good scouter’s whom find uncovered talent or players on the up. Had Reading been outplayed I would have agreed, but in some games a draw or win would have been fair.

[RoyalBlue]

No.

The management on the pitch and/or off the pitch have proven themselves to be woefully lacking.

[bobbybottler]

I also don't think we should throw money around in order to stay up. I'm already looking forward to the championship in August.

I agree. The squad looks too thin in too many areas to justify spending the many millions which wouldn't keep us up anyway.

I'm looking forward to McDermott still being there in August as well.

[SPARTA]

I just don't think we do, we don't have the budget that other teams have, so I'm not really sure how we're supposed to stay at Premiership level.

Our place is about 3-6 in the Championship and I think having this in mind will make this season a lot easier to take.

I also don't think we should throw money around in order to stay up. So I suppose we need to go down gracefully.

I'm already looking forward to the championship in August.

In the future, yes, because lessons will be learnt, and under AZ we have already seen a massive change in what we'll pay in wages and agent fees etc. We will get it right, but it's a learning curve for AZ, just as it was for SJM for many years. This time though it's with much bugger budgets!