CONFIMRED - The final countdown

[Sutekh]

Couhig did not respond to FootBiz and almost certainly wouldn’t be allowed to say anything anyway, but there are very concerning whispers from those close to the deal that the financial pickle Dai has got himself into could mean it is almost impossible for the club to actually transact.

Could some of our resident accounts have a stab at what this could mean. Is he implying that it's no longer his to sell?

Probably a good place to start would be:

1. Identify all the assets we consider to be part of the club - Football team, training ground, stadium, car park, anything like that
2. Figure out which companies own each or these
3. Figure out who owns the companies who own these and if owned by other companies, who owns them etc etc
4. Figure out what charges/secured loans are held against the assets/companies who own them (like a mortgage on a house which means you can't sell without repaying the debt)
5. Figure out if there are any government sanctions on any of the companies which would prevent a UK/US/Whatever owner from buying from them

Part of Nigel Howe's job should have been to streamline all this, get everything wrapped up into one nice little company which a buyer could then buy, However all this talk of negotiating with people in 100 countries and 20 timezones seems to suggest this is a mess.

He may well have done everything that you would expect plus maybe even a bit more but, unfortunately, the owner is who he is so even if it was just 1 simple company we'd all probably still have been stitched up.

[Sutekh]

Administration is not a good thing generally; it means that a financial company will run Reading FC who only have one aim - to get as much money for the creditors.

If they can do that by selling entity (our football club) as a going concern, fine. If not, they will get what they can and then they will liquidate the entity.

Almost immediately you will see job losses as the first thing the administrators will do is stop the financial bleeding, and the quickest way to do that is by reducing head count by issuing redundancies. Other things will be stopping all "non-essential" expenditure.

Our only hope is that there is someone waiting in the wings for that to happen, and they then swoop in and offer a pittance for the club; the issue comes with what debts and liabilities are actually there, possibly hidden away - I think thats potentially what has screwed the Couhig deal, the emergence of things post-due diligence (maybe hidden by Dai to try and get the deal done?)

It might save us, but don't see administration as a white knight; it will be brutal - especially for the non-playing staff of the club, virtually all of whom are likely to be unemployed in the run up to Christmas.

And in comes Mike Ashley to buy the club at a bargain price rather than pay what he would have to have done last year.

Take that all day long.

[Forbury Lion]

Administration is not a good thing generally; it means that a financial company will run Reading FC who only have one aim - to get as much money for the creditors.

If they can do that by selling entity (our football club) as a going concern, fine. If not, they will get what they can and then they will liquidate the entity.

Almost immediately you will see job losses as the first thing the administrators will do is stop the financial bleeding, and the quickest way to do that is by reducing head count by issuing redundancies. Other things will be stopping all "non-essential" expenditure.

Our only hope is that there is someone waiting in the wings for that to happen, and they then swoop in and offer a pittance for the club; the issue comes with what debts and liabilities are actually there, possibly hidden away - I think thats potentially what has screwed the Couhig deal, the emergence of things post-due diligence (maybe hidden by Dai to try and get the deal done?)

It might save us, but don't see administration as a white knight; it will be brutal - especially for the non-playing staff of the club, virtually all of whom are likely to be unemployed in the run up to Christmas.

And in comes Mike Ashley to buy the club at a bargain price rather than pay what he would have to have done last year.

Yeah but he won't get the training ground or the stadium because they won't be the companies going into adminstration, it will be the football club which owns nothing, just player registrations.
He won't want to buy a football club losing money with no assets which will have no home, training ground or anything like that to use or mortgage.

I believe players are also entitled to tear up their contracts if unpaid for two months, so he'll have to fund the wagebill or lose them all for free.

[Pepe the Horseman]

I haven't watched a game this season as I've felt we've been in limbo, so other things have taken a priority. Can't imagine how the players must feel and can't be a coincidence that we played like shit just as news of the takeover collapsing was coming out.

Yazmine Delarose (Wing's partner) Tweeted -

Oh trust me we’ve been kept out the dark alright! I got a call from a journalist this morning who broke the news to me and I had to call Lewis to tell him

https://x.com/YazmineDelarose/status/18 ... k_NPw&s=19

She was kept out the dark?

She knew the whole time

[Mid Sussex Royal]

My fear is this is a PR exercise aimed at keeping the protests away, as how much can Howe actually say later?

He's likely signed an NDA so sadly we won't get much more than what the club put out yesterday.

[Snowflake Royal]

For me, the primary objective (as a fan) has to be clarity on the situation. I want to know:

1. Why did this deal fall through when it looked so close?
2. What other options are there now?
3. What is Dai's objective - not just "intent to sell the club" - actual information
4. Can we have regular and periodic updates, I am personally sick of just silence from the club for long periods of time
5. How does this now impact our finances for the next 3-6 months?
6. Assurances over our short term future?
7. Has Dai actually communicated with club officials?

Of course, I don't expect anything meaningful from these answers, just the same bland answers but they have to be asked.

...

My thoughts are similar to that by Hound, I just don't understand the issues. This club is still an attractive package in terms of the facilities, the team, the structure, recent-ish history, fanbase. It's got Championship DNA still. The longer he keeps this club, the less it will be worth.

I don't believe all those idiots on Twitter saying, "He just hates us", and "I think he saw Rob and how well he got on with fans and just decided to end us". For my own sanity I have stopped looking on Twitter, the number of idiots on there is unhelpful and outweigh the useful ones.

I doubt Dai Yonnge really knows anything about the fans or our feelings, probably oblivious to it all.

So WTF is he up to? Administration doesn't help him, liqudiation doesnt, selling all players and assets doesn't as that's just not going to return much and would take an extended period of time.

Objectively the best and easiest solution was for him to sell to a legitimate and trusted purchaser (Couhig and others), and walk away and get on with his miserable life.

...

Also as others say, I am deeply concerned about this once again. It's really upsetting that we looked so close, nearly had a new owner who looked really in touch with the fans and keen to be involved. Any changes will take months and months, and unlikely this season. So we've got January transfer window to get through and the summer to even hope to survive until.

It does feel like a never ending, unwinnable battle.

Good post

Here's my take, and I don’t want most of that. If things are going well and you have a good owner, it's all superfluous. If it's not and you don’t, you're never going to get the transparency and detail you want. A good owner you could trust wouldn't be that open, a bad owner you can't certainly won't be, and even if something like it was put out, you couldn't rely on it
And it would only satisfy pepple in the twitter age for hours, maybe a day or two. And they'd complain about the content anyway. So there's zero incentive, you can't give people want they want, as often as the want so give them nothing.


As for Dai, he's a gambler who made his millions in dodgy schemes in a corrupt country. We were never more than a play thing. This is a guy who comes from a culture where you don’t admit to failings and just bury problems. This is shown in his previous two failed clubs. He ran them badly, they failed, he did nothing to save them. He just pretended there wasn't a problem and they died.

He's just going to ignore us unless he can secure a 'win' which is him getting a much better deal than a buyer, so he can feel good. He's just chasing the gambling high, the loss means nothing to him.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

Yazmine Delarose (Wing's partner) Tweeted -



https://x.com/YazmineDelarose/status/18 ... k_NPw&s=19

She was kept out the dark?

She knew the whole time

[Snowflake Royal]

She was kept out the dark?

She knew the whole time

It's amazing how regularly bad news is preceded by a dreadful performance after good performances, yet no one ever knew the bad news was coming.

[WestYorksRoyal]

While I don't trust Howe, presumably he has missed out on his payday with this week's developments and is also gutted. At least he is actually incentivised to make a deal happen.

[Elm Park Kid]

What if Dai has somehow found a new funding source and is legitimately committed to covering our costs now?

I guess the evidence of that works be if he complied with the EFL demands and paid his fine.

[katweslowski]

What if Dai has somehow found a new funding source and is legitimately committed to covering our costs now?

I guess the evidence of that works be if he complied with the EFL demands and paid his fine.

I think that's entirely unlikely. Nothing has indicated he has any serious interests or reliability as far as ownership goes. I don't see why he'd suddenly now want to be involved and to fund the club. I think there was also rumours of issues with China freezing some of his funds but I don't know how true that is.

[katweslowski]

Rueben press conference - https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2024/s ... the-fight/.

Some interesting bits, and the section at the bottom is in relation to ownership.

"Well, you can imagine the reaction. We were all hoping to move into a new chapter for the club, and after so many conversations, to have it fall through is deeply disappointing.

I wouldn’t say I was surprised by the news, but of course, it’s frustrating. We spoke a couple of weeks ago about how everything was moving in the right direction, and Rob [Couhig] had been transparent with the fans, but the deal wasn’t done yet. So yes, it’s surprising that it’s not complete.

I think there are lessons to be learned on both sides. As a club, we need to be more cautious about letting potential owners get too involved before a deal is final. It just increases the disappointment when things fall apart.

"When Rob told me the deal wouldn’t be completed, I felt like it was another blow. It reminded me of the points deduction and the time we almost lost the training ground. It’s the same feeling – that frustration of coming so close to change but then having it taken away.

We’re at a point now where the team and staff are being pushed to the limit. People expect us to keep coping with every challenge that comes our way, but there will be a moment when we can’t handle it anymore.

I’m not someone who likes to quit, but I do need to reflect on where the club is heading. I have a fantastic group of players and staff who keep fighting, but it feels like we’re stuck in a cycle. It’s exhausting.

But we won’t use this as an excuse for Saturday’s performance. We’ve dealt with these challenges before, and we know how to keep our focus on the pitch.

Right now, it’s frustrating and disappointing, but we won’t stop the fight. We won’t give up. We’re in this together, and we’ll keep going."

The bit in bold is concerning to me. He sounds exhausted (he even says as much) and he sounds fed up too. I like how he does say "we won't stop the fight and we're in it together". But I do think he will leave if there's no clarity of information in the next few months.

If another club, let's say Stoke, Bristol City (chosen at random) came in or someone else of similar stature, with stability and a good challenge I think he'd be off. I wouldn't blame him at all.

[Forbury Lion]

What if Dai has somehow found a new funding source and is legitimately committed to covering our costs now?

I guess the evidence of that works be if he complied with the EFL demands and paid his fine.

What if the Olise sell on clause money has made him think about gambling on the academy making him all his money back and more by creating more stars for other clubs?

I'm not against that idea, but I suspect it won't generate him the big wins he's looking for, might just help keep things ticking along.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Main takeaway from Howe's interview is that he knows about as much as the rest of us.

[On Strings]

And in comes Mike Ashley to buy the club at a bargain price rather than pay what he would have to have done last year.

Ashley only wanted the stadium to add to his portfolio and lease back.

[clauski]

We won’t hear any more about why this fell down, I’m sure. But probably as simple in the end as wanting top dollar to recover his losses vs the reality of a financially strained League One club not being worth top dollar anymore. And hence the challenges to date and from here on in to find a suitable buyer. Selles I think subtly putting out the feelers in his statement for other clubs to come and get him now as enough is enough. This ride is going to get rockier yet.

[Snowflake Royal]

What if Dai has somehow found a new funding source and is legitimately committed to covering our costs now?

I guess the evidence of that works be if he complied with the EFL demands and paid his fine.

Is that funding sourced through courier pigs flying snowballs through hell?

[traff]

Howe may as well have come out, shrugged his shoulders then slunk back to the bar.

[Elm Park Kid]

What if Dai has somehow found a new funding source and is legitimately committed to covering our costs now?

I guess the evidence of that works be if he complied with the EFL demands and paid his fine.

Is that funding sourced through courier pigs flying snowballs through hell?

Howe specifically said that Couhig was paid his loan back by 'the Yongge family'.

[Snowflake Royal]

What if Dai has somehow found a new funding source and is legitimately committed to covering our costs now?

I guess the evidence of that works be if he complied with the EFL demands and paid his fine.

Is that funding sourced through courier pigs flying snowballs through hell?

Howe specifically said that Couhig was paid his loan back by 'the Yongge family'.

So probably not Dai. And even if so, could be from a loan, or just his personal wealth so he keeps control to ignore the problem til we die, rather than giving someone else a route to administration and forcing him out.

It certainly seems to me that it's all about ego, power dynamics and control with Dai, his terms or no terms.