New Signings ?

[RoyalBlue]

Mr Mad in the EP today:

“Last season we went for broke and over-spent on the budget and we are also now in the last season of our parachute payments (of £11million) from the Premiership.

“What we have to do is cut our coat according to the cloth and it is important we conduct our business in an appropriate manner.”

With Reading experiencing an extreme drop in TV revenue from £30million a year during their two seasons in the Premiership to around just £1million in the Championship, cost cutting is inevitable at Madejski Stadium.

And with many fans calling for new manager Brendan Rodgers to be given a transfer war chest following Kevin Doyle’s record £6.5million transfer to Wolves, Sir John remained more realistic.

“We had an agreement with Kevin in his contract that if a club agreed to meet the £6.5million fee then we would let him go.

“Even though that was the price we don’t have all £6.5million of it right now, so it is not as simple as that.”

I think I better ring up Hammond and offer him my son for a £500 donation to club funds!

Just realised my mistake! Nick Hammond will be expecting me to donate £500 to (RFC) club funds!! Times are hard you know.

[Barry the bird boggler]

Especially when you consider that the club should have had the intelligence to ensure players contracts had a clause reducing wages on relegation - theoretically back to pre Premiership levels - I find this hard to take.

It gets even worse when you think that to all intents and purposes naff all real attempt was made to stay up in the Premiership and that, IMO, last season can hardly be perceived as "going for broke", as its been put.

So I'm with everyone else on this, just what the **%*£^$% has happened to all the cash?

As regard other clubs, I presume their turnover of support enables them to maintain a vastly superior wage structure over us.

Mind you perhaps I'm not really surprised to see this when you see the club having failed to even compete with the likes of Wigan while in the Premiership.

Then again perhaps SC wasn't actually up to the job?

[Platypuss]

If we had really "gone for broke", shouldn't we be, er, broke?

[Terminal Boardom]

Especially when you consider that the club should have had the intelligence to ensure players contracts had a clause reducing wages on relegation - theoretically back to pre Premiership levels - I find this hard to take.

Wasn't there a 40% reduction clause put into their contracts to be triggered upon relegation?

[Royal Rother]

Mr Mad in the EP today:

“Last season we went for broke and over-spent on the budget and we are also now in the last season of our parachute payments (of £11million) from the Premiership.

“What we have to do is cut our coat according to the cloth and it is important we conduct our business in an appropriate manner.”

With Reading experiencing an extreme drop in TV revenue from £30million a year during their two seasons in the Premiership to around just £1million in the Championship, cost cutting is inevitable at Madejski Stadium.

And with many fans calling for new manager Brendan Rodgers to be given a transfer war chest following Kevin Doyle’s record £6.5million transfer to Wolves, Sir John remained more realistic.

“We had an agreement with Kevin in his contract that if a club agreed to meet the £6.5million fee then we would let him go.

“Even though that was the price we don’t have all £6.5million of it right now, so it is not as simple as that.”

'Last season we went for broke and over-spent on the budget'?!!!

That just goes to show how pitifully small the amount of money 'that was always available for Coppell to spend on players' must have been!!

To make matters worse, he is clearly suggesting that we have got to be (even) more careful this season!

I think I better ring up Hammond and offer him my son for a £500 donation to club funds!

Frightening really isn't it.

RFC spent next to nothing in their 2 years in the Premiership, in fact they probably made a profit on the net player buys and sells fees, whilst reaping the rewards of the enormous cash injection that it brings. The last year and a bit has seen an exodus of players that must have made nearly £20million for the club + the £22million from 2 years parachute money. Yet the budget was overspent last year. £8-9million in, Under £2million out on players fees.

Of course salaries and the like would have gone up, absolutely certainly with relegation sti[ulations in, still a fairly high salary bill I can imagine last year but surely covered by the mass sales?!. Again this year already we've seen cuts from the wage bill and a club record sale, with potentially more to follow.

I just don't understand how Reading can have next to nothing to spend, it doesn't add up. Even the likes of Derby and Birmingham and all the other clubs that have been relegated in recent years have had cash (serious cash) to spend on players. How have Reading become the only club to seemingly be hindred by getting promoted to the Premiership?

They have probably had unsustainable business models that are totally reliant upon the generosity / ego of the owners.

Not the old "what has happened to the cash" question yet again.

Do you people never read the answers given to the question, or is it just a new bunch of muppets popping up every few weeks?

[Barry the bird boggler]

If we had really "gone for broke", shouldn't we be, er, broke?

Yes but it would have been nice to have had a feeling that the club did go for broke, somehow just saying it sort of makes everyone feel that they must have missed something.

[Royal Rother]

"Going for broke" is indeed a pretty stupid phrase to use in the circumstances.

[Thaumagurist*]

If we had really "gone for broke", shouldn't we be, er, broke?

Maybe it was just a figure of speech.

What really gets me is the difference in TV money between the Premiership and the Championship - a whopping £29m difference. This is obviously so wrong.

[Alan Partridge]

Mr Mad in the EP today:

“Last season we went for broke and over-spent on the budget and we are also now in the last season of our parachute payments (of £11million) from the Premiership.

“What we have to do is cut our coat according to the cloth and it is important we conduct our business in an appropriate manner.”

With Reading experiencing an extreme drop in TV revenue from £30million a year during their two seasons in the Premiership to around just £1million in the Championship, cost cutting is inevitable at Madejski Stadium.

And with many fans calling for new manager Brendan Rodgers to be given a transfer war chest following Kevin Doyle’s record £6.5million transfer to Wolves, Sir John remained more realistic.

“We had an agreement with Kevin in his contract that if a club agreed to meet the £6.5million fee then we would let him go.

“Even though that was the price we don’t have all £6.5million of it right now, so it is not as simple as that.”

'Last season we went for broke and over-spent on the budget'?!!!

That just goes to show how pitifully small the amount of money 'that was always available for Coppell to spend on players' must have been!!

To make matters worse, he is clearly suggesting that we have got to be (even) more careful this season!

I think I better ring up Hammond and offer him my son for a £500 donation to club funds!

Frightening really isn't it.

RFC spent next to nothing in their 2 years in the Premiership, in fact they probably made a profit on the net player buys and sells fees, whilst reaping the rewards of the enormous cash injection that it brings. The last year and a bit has seen an exodus of players that must have made nearly £20million for the club + the £22million from 2 years parachute money. Yet the budget was overspent last year. £8-9million in, Under £2million out on players fees.

Of course salaries and the like would have gone up, absolutely certainly with relegation sti[ulations in, still a fairly high salary bill I can imagine last year but surely covered by the mass sales?!. Again this year already we've seen cuts from the wage bill and a club record sale, with potentially more to follow.

I just don't understand how Reading can have next to nothing to spend, it doesn't add up. Even the likes of Derby and Birmingham and all the other clubs that have been relegated in recent years have had cash (serious cash) to spend on players. How have Reading become the only club to seemingly be hindred by getting promoted to the Premiership?

They have probably had unsustainable business models that are totally reliant upon the generosity / ego of the owners.

Not the old "what has happened to the cash" question yet again.

Do you people never read the answers given to the question, or is it just a new bunch of muppets popping up every few weeks?[/quote]

I can appreciate RR that costs of everything have gone up over the last few years, bigger squad in the Prem, so more and also inflated salaries, I know they put a fair bit into the training facilities and the hotel and the like. But while there were inflated costs,there were also inflated gains from the numbers coming through the turnstiles, the costs of everything for the fans increasing, + of course that absolute extortionate amount recieved from the Premier League over 2 seasons.

What gets me is we 'overspent' and 'went for broke'. Reading made a massive profit on player sales alone last year. Again of course they lost a certain amount from going down, got the consolation of £11million a year of parachutes+ no real wage breakers on the payroll. We didn't have an Owen. Or from years gone by the likes of Ravanelli at Derby or one or two other examples.

I can't understand how Reading 'overspent' and they certainly didn't go for broke. Unless they consider giving 2 new contracts to under performing players as such. Or was Tabb really our shit or bust card?

[Scarface]

I think you'll find clubs like Birmingham etc are in huge but managiable debt, where as Mr Mad won't have it. Look the facts are these, SC "the messiah" totally fcuked up the last 2 seasons and now it's us the fans who have to pay by watching the club having to cut costs and reduce transfer budgets to balance the books in the championship.

I'm a little annoyed with Mr Mad's comments because if we really went from broke last year, he should of sacked SC in February when the inevitable slide began.

[Rawlie19]

That would be the £10 million we spent on Kebe then... £4 million for Stretch... £5.5 million for NHunt,,, who else did we sign?

[Big Foot]

Mr Mad in the EP today:

“Last season we went for broke and over-spent on the budget and we are also now in the last season of our parachute payments (of £11million) from the Premiership.

“What we have to do is cut our coat according to the cloth and it is important we conduct our business in an appropriate manner.”

With Reading experiencing an extreme drop in TV revenue from £30million a year during their two seasons in the Premiership to around just £1million in the Championship, cost cutting is inevitable at Madejski Stadium.

And with many fans calling for new manager Brendan Rodgers to be given a transfer war chest following Kevin Doyle’s record £6.5million transfer to Wolves, Sir John remained more realistic.

“We had an agreement with Kevin in his contract that if a club agreed to meet the £6.5million fee then we would let him go.

“Even though that was the price we don’t have all £6.5million of it right now, so it is not as simple as that.”

I'm hoping that this is just Madejski being the shrewd businessman he's built his success upon.

If not, then once the parachute payments finish - should we still be in the Championship - we'll be close to going under ??

[Tilehurst Mike]

I think you'll find clubs like Birmingham etc are in huge but managiable debt, where as Mr Mad won't have it. Look the facts are these, SC "the messiah" totally fcuked up the last 2 seasons and now it's us the fans who have to pay by watching the club having to cut costs and reduce transfer budgets to balance the books in the championship.

I'm a little annoyed with Mr Mad's comments because if we really went from broke last year, he should of sacked SC in February when the inevitable slide began.

Totally agree with this and AP's slant on the question of where has all the money gone. Stoke, Hull, Wigan and even Burnley seem to have the cash to splash. We do seem to be the odd one out.
I don't expect to see Mr Mad in an overcoat next season--the cloth has been cut so many times now!!

[Thaumagurist*]

I'm a little annoyed with Mr Mad's comments because if we really went from broke last year, he should of sacked SC in February when the inevitable slide began.

What a f*cking TWAT.

Coppell left at the right time. I feel it's always better to look for a new manager in the close season rather than during the season.

[Platypuss]

“Even though that was the price we don’t have all £6.5million of it right now, so it is not as simple as that.”

Isn't it Sir John? Because presumably the same applies to any player we sign, too?

Pretty poor interview to be honest. In full here -

http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/football/readingfc/s/2053838_sir_john_madejski_sees_bright_future_for_reading_fc

[Royal Rother]

I think you'll find clubs like Birmingham etc are in huge but managiable debt, where as Mr Mad won't have it. Look the facts are these, SC "the messiah" totally fcuked up the last 2 seasons and now it's us the fans who have to pay by watching the club having to cut costs and reduce transfer budgets to balance the books in the championship.

I'm a little annoyed with Mr Mad's comments because if we really went from broke last year, he should of sacked SC in February when the inevitable slide began.

Totally agree with this and AP's slant on the question of where has all the money gone. Stoke, Hull, Wigan and even Burnley seem to have the cash to splash. We do seem to be the odd one out.

A question - why can you not open your mind to the fact that other clubs run a business model that allows them to go into substantial debt which is effectively funded by their multi-millionaire owners? Our particular MM owner will not do that.

Take issue with that policy by all means, but please stop bleating on about "where has all the money gone".

[Royal Lady]

As I have said on numerous occasions and now appear to be vindicated with - "money is available" is not the same as "millions are available". Sir John has never lied about the money on offer, because he's never said how much/little of it there is to be spent on players! From this latest quote, one can only assume we had a very low budget for players in the last few seasons and this is, in part, what caused our demise.

[Thaumagurist*]

As I have said on numerous occasions and now appear to be vindicated with - "money is available" is not the same as "millions are available". Sir John has never lied about the money on offer, because he's never said how much/little of it there is to be spent on players! From this latest quote, one can only assume we had a very low budget for players in the last few seasons and this is, in part, what caused our demise.

As a team or as a club?

[Royal Lady]

as a team.

We didn't give it our best shot, because we were stuck with who we could afford. Same will happen this season.

[CMRoyal]

I think you'll find clubs like Birmingham etc are in huge but managiable debt, where as Mr Mad won't have it. Look the facts are these, SC "the messiah" totally fcuked up the last 2 seasons and now it's us the fans who have to pay by watching the club having to cut costs and reduce transfer budgets to balance the books in the championship.

I'm a little annoyed with Mr Mad's comments because if we really went from broke last year, he should of sacked SC in February when the inevitable slide began.

Totally agree with this and AP's slant on the question of where has all the money gone. Stoke, Hull, Wigan and even Burnley seem to have the cash to splash. We do seem to be the odd one out.

The odd one out of a very selective list. Charlton, Watford, Barnsley, Southampton, Norwich...do they have cash to splash? We've always tried to tread the line between parsimony and profligacy. Arguably we were too cautious whilst in the Prem, but actually I thought we changed tack slightly last season by gambling not to sell most of our prize assets - that cost us dearly in wages and deferred transfer income. And we retained a large squad. And the roulette wheel was still spinning on the last day of the season, so it nearly paid off. Now, we've no choice but to pare back - we cannot risk all on another Premier League bid. That chance has gone whether we like it or not.