Madejski Out

[Forbury Lion]

If sir John had just taken the risk and invested in our great 2006 side we could have been a Bournemouth or Brighton, instead he was scared of the huge costs of sustaining PL survival. I still don't believe all that TV money went out on wages, Bournemouth get crowds of 11.000 for Christ sake. it was a big chance missed and we went down in the 2nd season.
Of course nobody doubts the good he did for the club, but his choice of new owners was questionable to say the least.

Steve Coppell didn't even spend all the monies available to him, never mind asking for more - he mistakenly believed the team that finished 8th in the Premier League was good enough to stay up the following season and to be fair, they should have been.

[Coppells Lost Coat]

If sir John had just taken the risk and invested in our great 2006 side we could have been a Bournemouth or Brighton, instead he was scared of the huge costs of sustaining PL survival. I still don't believe all that TV money went out on wages, Bournemouth get crowds of 11.000 for Christ sake. it was a big chance missed and we went down in the 2nd season.
Of course nobody doubts the good he did for the club, but his choice of new owners was questionable to say the least.

Steve Coppell didn't even spend all the monies available to him, never mind asking for more - he mistakenly believed the team that finished 8th in the Premier League was good enough to stay up the following season and to be fair, they should have been.

I would argue that Coppell did not like spending the money that was available and required to compete in the prem. Like now, the over inflated prices for average players who have attitude problems paired with a sense of entitlement did not meet the criteria Coppell looked for in a player.

[Forbury Lion]

Do you remember the days when the piss ran down the South Bank as the urinals overflowed at Elm Park? JM took us away from all that?

and some of the oldies have never forgiven him for that lol

[under the tin]

If sir John had just taken the risk and invested in our great 2006 side we could have been a Bournemouth or Brighton, instead he was scared of the huge costs of sustaining PL survival. I still don't believe all that TV money went out on wages, Bournemouth get crowds of 11.000 for Christ sake. it was a big chance missed and we went down in the 2nd season.
Of course nobody doubts the good he did for the club, but his choice of new owners was questionable to say the least.

Steve Coppell didn't even spend all the monies available to him, never mind asking for more - he mistakenly believed the team that finished 8th in the Premier League was good enough to stay up the following season and to be fair, they should have been.

I would argue that Coppell did not like spending the money that was available and required to compete in the prem. Like now, the over inflated prices for average players who have attitude problems paired with a sense of entitlement did not meet the criteria Coppell looked for in a player.

Quite.
He used to say that if a player was not adding anything extra, better than what we already have, then what's the point of bringing them in?
Oh how we could have done with that sort of mindset over the past few years

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Do you remember the days when the piss ran down the South Bank as the urinals overflowed at Elm Park? JM took us away from all that?

and some of the oldies have never forgiven him for that lol

It was the lung-fulls of piss-steam you had to inhale in winter that made those toilets even more miserable

[windermereROYAL]

Emerse Fai, need I say more?

[Maneki Neko]

Emerse Fai, need I say more?

...yes

[Tony Le Mesmer]

From the year we moved to the Madejski to the year he sold up, we had only one bottom half finish in 15 seasons. The year we finished 18th in the Prem on goal difference.

Just think though. What if he'd dug even deeper into his own pocket and invested more into the club. You know, ditched all his principals that made him, and Reading Football Club, such a success. We could have been a Wigan. Or a Bradford or Portsmouth maybe. Even a Charlton? Investing more than we could afford to just to hang on to the coat tails of the elite made no sense whatsoever. Better off continuing just to grow as a club, which we did.

In his 1st season as owner we had league gate of 1,900. In his last, we had 24,000.

I would say about 90% of the people who post on here are Reading fans because of John Madejski. Because he invested millions of his own hard earned money in his local football club with a very high probability of getting none of his money back. Despite freely admitting he didn't have a clue about football.

If anything , this current mess just shows what an amazing job he did in giving a club to be proud of to the people of Reading.

I still think he did the right thing selling to Anton, at that time. It was just a change in the Russian political landscape that scuppered it all. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

[WAZZOCK]

If sir John had just taken the risk and invested in our great 2006 side we could have been a Bournemouth or Brighton, instead he was scared of the huge costs of sustaining PL survival. I still don't believe all that TV money went out on wages, Bournemouth get crowds of 11.000 for Christ sake. it was a big chance missed and we went down in the 2nd season.
Of course nobody doubts the good he did for the club, but his choice of new owners was questionable to say the least.

Bournemouth is a terrible comparison. Their owner(s) are filthy rich, unlike JM, so they can afford to back their manager.

[El Diablo]

From the year we moved to the Madejski to the year he sold up, we had only one bottom half finish in 15 seasons. The year we finished 18th in the Prem on goal difference.

Just think though. What if he'd dug even deeper into his own pocket and invested more into the club. You know, ditched all his principals that made him, and Reading Football Club, such a success. We could have been a Wigan. Or a Bradford or Portsmouth maybe. Even a Charlton? Investing more than we could afford to just to hang on to the coat tails of the elite made no sense whatsoever. Better off continuing just to grow as a club, which we did.

In his 1st season as owner we had league gate of 1,900. In his last, we had 24,000.

I would say about 90% of the people who post on here are Reading fans because of John Madejski. Because he invested millions of his own hard earned money in his local football club with a very high probability of getting none of his money back. Despite freely admitting he didn't have a clue about football.

If anything , this current mess just shows what an amazing job he in giving a club to be proud of to the people of Reading.

I still think he did the right thing selling to Anton, at that time. It was just a change I the Russian political landscape that scuppered it all. Hindsight is a wonerful thing.

Good post.
Of course it wasnt just about the ££'s invested.

Madejski's Senior leadership team was experienced , committed to the club, and long in its standing. The foundations were in place, long before our success, and there was a concerted effort from all corners to an agreed end goal.
The football / coaching / scouting structure from the Academy up was put into place, and the same ethos ran through the club.
New players bought into it. In fact , players were only bought in if the Management Team belived they were a fit for the ethos. And because they bought in , they were committed.
Success on the pitch was partly due to all the above.

Today, I see none of this, and imo it translates onto the pitch, for all to see. The Chinese owners need to establish an long term ethos that can be built on. This needs to rolled out rom top to bottom of the club . We need quality , experinced leaders, for a club of our Level. Questionable appointments on the Footballing side of the management team, do not leave me feeling positive about the future.

We'd all look good in an expensive suit.

[Maneki Neko]

From the year we moved to the Madejski to the year he sold up, we had only one bottom half finish in 15 seasons. The year we finished 18th in the Prem on goal difference.

Just think though. What if he'd dug even deeper into his own pocket and invested more into the club. You know, ditched all his principals that made him, and Reading Football Club, such a success. We could have been a Wigan. Or a Bradford or Portsmouth maybe. Even a Charlton? Investing more than we could afford to just to hang on to the coat tails of the elite made no sense whatsoever. Better off continuing just to grow as a club, which we did.

In his 1st season as owner we had league gate of 1,900. In his last, we had 24,000.

I would say about 90% of the people who post on here are Reading fans because of John Madejski. Because he invested millions of his own hard earned money in his local football club with a very high probability of getting none of his money back. Despite freely admitting he didn't have a clue about football.

If anything , this current mess just shows what an amazing job he did in giving a club to be proud of to the people of Reading.

I still think he did the right thing selling to Anton, at that time. It was just a change in the Russian political landscape that scuppered it all. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

+1

[Maneki Neko]

If sir John had just taken the risk and invested in our great 2006 side we could have been a Bournemouth or Brighton, instead he was scared of the huge costs of sustaining PL survival. I still don't believe all that TV money went out on wages, Bournemouth get crowds of 11.000 for Christ sake. it was a big chance missed and we went down in the 2nd season.
Of course nobody doubts the good he did for the club, but his choice of new owners was questionable to say the least.

Bournemouth is a terrible comparison. Their owner(s) are filthy rich, unlike JM, so they can afford to back their manager.

and theres still a 50:50 chance that they will go back down in a few seasons and be in a right mess

[Sutekh]

As I recall players like Gary O'Reilly and Matthew Taylor were available

I'm pretty sure Gary O'Reilly was in his 40s when Coppell was here.

Gary O'Neill

[Sutekh]

If sir John had just taken the risk and invested in our great 2006 side we could have been a Bournemouth or Brighton, instead he was scared of the huge costs of sustaining PL survival. I still don't believe all that TV money went out on wages, Bournemouth get crowds of 11.000 for Christ sake. it was a big chance missed and we went down in the 2nd season.
Of course nobody doubts the good he did for the club, but his choice of new owners was questionable to say the least.

Bournemouth is a terrible comparison. Their owner(s) are filthy rich, unlike JM, so they can afford to back their manager.

And I believe they also broke FFP rules in the process?

[genome]

As I recall players like Gary O'Reilly and Matthew Taylor were available

I'm pretty sure Gary O'Reilly was in his 40s when Coppell was here.

Gary O'Neill

I actually think you mean Gary Cahill

[Snowflake Royal]

I'm pretty sure Gary O'Reilly was in his 40s when Coppell was here.

Gary O'Neill

I actually think you mean Gary Cahill

Nope, Gary Cahill would have made a shit replacement for Sidwell. He was someone we looked at to replace Sonko though.

[genome]

Gary O'Neill

I actually think you mean Gary Cahill

Nope, Gary Cahill would have made a shit replacement for Sidwell. He was someone we looked at to replace Sonko though.

I remember being linked with Gary Cahill around 2007 ish. I don't remember being linked with Gary O'Neill, although there's a rumour in the gossip forum from 2014.

[Snowflake Royal]

I actually think you mean Gary Cahill

Nope, Gary Cahill would have made a shit replacement for Sidwell. He was someone we looked at to replace Sonko though.

I remember being linked with Gary Cahill around 2007 ish. I don't remember being linked with Gary O'Neill, although there's a rumour in the gossip forum from 2014.

Believe it came out from a later evening with Coppell or something where he said he'd had money to spend and looked at GO'N, but decided he'd go with squad cohesion and trust the players who'd served him so well in the past. Probably caused by Fae's terrible influence on Sonko at least in part.

[Sutekh]

Nope, Gary Cahill would have made a shit replacement for Sidwell. He was someone we looked at to replace Sonko though.

I remember being linked with Gary Cahill around 2007 ish. I don't remember being linked with Gary O'Neill, although there's a rumour in the gossip forum from 2014.

Believe it came out from a later evening with Coppell or something where he said he'd had money to spend and looked at GO'N, but decided he'd go with squad cohesion and trust the players who'd served him so well in the past. Probably caused by Fae's terrible influence on Sonko at least in part.

I remember that now. SC admitted after relegation that he probably had been too loyal and that he would have changed that if he had ben able to have that time over again.

Still surprised me that we didn't add the necessary steel to the midfield in January though. But then at the end of the day if Reading had managed to concede two goals fewer or managed not to lose one of the vital home games to Villa Bolton or Fulham they'd have stayed up.

[Schards#2]

SJM is clearly the greatest thing that has ever happened to the club and it has been on a downward spiral ever since he sold up. If there is once criticism you could make of him it was that, at the time, he kept stressing he would only sell to someone who understood and would continue with the Reading ethos yet, in reality, he sold to people who absolutely did not match this in, firstly, the Zingarovitches and, secondly, the Thais.

Even then, I can't begrudge him selling, we as fans have no right to demand that he devote huge portions of his time and money to the club when he wanted out and, sadly, it appears the buyers on each occasion were the only game in town.

Looking back, 'cutting our cloth' was frustrating but, in hindsight, you would far rather have that and a united club all signing from the same hymnsheet than today's collection of mercenaries and journeymen who show no affinity to the club. I guess you never know what you have until it's gone