Is Reading FC at a crossroads in its history..........

[Blue and White Toucan]

Although I am commenting on many aspects of this board I feel that as a club we may have reached a pivotal point in our history.

Lets look at the facts:-

The Club has grown fantastically over the last 10 years to Premier league Status for the first time in our history.

We have a great stadium (ok like many others now but none the less we all know Elm Park would have never have been a future for the club.

We have a great mangement team who have worked fantastically to get we we are now.

We have a Chairman and Board who have said that it was their aim to get Reading in the top flight.

99% of the fans are behind the Chairman and the Manager and respect there decisions.

In recent times and certainly since last season the expectations of the fans is higher in that we all now expect to see Premier League football for ever in Reading. Maybe the expectation is now too high and we should all be happy with the one great season we have had and now be grateful whatever will happen .....I don't think it works like that.

We also have a Chairman who, in his own words, has achieved what he set out to do. Don't get me wrong we would not be here without him but what is his real passion for the future? Today the new QPR chairman has said that in 4 years they will have Champions League Football!!! It may never happen but that is his dream.

At the end of last season we did not get any comments about next season we should aim for Europe, it was merely we need to consolidate.

So we now have a Chairman who could well come across as having acheived what he set out to do, but does not have a future ambition. He has stated publicly that he would sell to the right person.

We have a management team that have brought the Club to where they are now but do they have the ability or the passion to take us on to the next step?

To this point we seem to be struggling to attract any new players in the window or maybe we haven't approached any. Players like Taylor and McFaddden will obvioulsy be looking at the wages etc but surely that now is one measure of a clubs ambition.

Don't get me wrong here as I am as loyal to Coppell and Madjeski as anyone else but if we are to move on to the 'next' level (whatever that may be) will it happen under the current system?

Or maybe we should all consider ourselves lucky to have seem Premier League Football at Reading in our lifetime and be grateful.

I am sure many will have opinions on this but I can't help but begin to feel we have come as far as we can as we are today.

I would add that this is not a Coppell out - Sack the Board post but merely an opinion of where we are.

[Row Z Royal]

No, we're just wandering down a narrow, high-sided slope.

[Millsy]

A fair assessment. Good post. Good questions.

I'd like to think we're consolidating: staying up the cheapest way possible until we have more capacity, which can fund a bigger drive forward. Perhaps it's simply tht with the ground at only 25000 seats anything at this stage is unrealistic?

Spending 2million on a new media centre suggests to me we're continuing this brick-by-brick approach. But who knows?

Perhaps we're just a bit lost right now and Coppell and Madejski will jump ship and we'll sink back to where we probably belong - halfway between the Championship and the Premiership.

[Row Z Royal]

Perhaps it's simply tht with the ground at only 25000 seats anything at this stage is unrealistic?

Pompey are managing it, Fulham have just about managed it the last few seasons, Wigan have been amazing considering their mid-CCC crowds and Blackburn have been one of the most consistent mid-table teams in the last 3/4 years.

In short

MadStad capacity (when we don't sell every game out as it is) is not an excuse for tight-fistedness.

[Cookie]

No it's at a pinnacle in its history.

[Royal Rebel]

If you mean "Crossroads" as in a rather naff 60's/70's soap opera then, yes I can see some similarities......

[Northern Git]

I have to say that I think that the man who has been the saviour and the chief architect of Reading achieving their current position in the top flight of football is now the reason that we will slowly slip back down into the championship. If not this season then next.
JM has been great for the club but I believe that his mind set is simply not capable of the vision that is required to develop the club any further.
It is absolutely no good continually complaining of the cost of being the Premiership, at whatever level. The costs are the costs and no amount of complaining will change that.
Great we were able to survive and prosper in our first season in the Prem. Our record breaking Championship winning side was probably the finest team to be promoted in the Premiership in its short history.
However, as we have all seen recently, many of these guys are reaching the twilight years of their careers at a top level. Age is catching up with them and at this level losing a yard or two of pace is fatal. Large numbers of the team, whatever league we are in, will need replacing over the coming months.
And this is where I do not believe that the Chairman has it within him to build a bigger and better RFC.
The previous success of finding bargains in the lower leagues and abroad, and those players success in the top flight appears to have coloured his thoughts and re enforced some views on the investment needed in players and their wages.
Yes we will probably sign several unknown players who will be happy, even grateful, to join Reading. And maybe, just maybe, some will come good and be held up by the RTG’s as shining examples of the ‘The Reading Way’. But consistent, year on year, investment in proven local and international players that would stabilise and develop Reading into the ‘Top ten’ premiership side that recent statements from club directors have banded around will not, I believe, happen with JM holding the purse strings.

[Gordons Cumming]

If you mean "Crossroads" as in a rather naff 60's/70's soap opera then, yes I can see some similarities......

Our results HAVE been a little wobbly lately......................

[TFF]

I have to say that I think that the man who has been the saviour and the chief architect of Reading achieving their current position in the top flight of football is now the reason that we will slowly slip back down into the championship. If not this season then next.
JM has been great for the club but I believe that his mind set is simply not capable of the vision that is required to develop the club any further.
It is absolutely no good continually complaining of the cost of being the Premiership, at whatever level. The costs are the costs and no amount of complaining will change that.

You're right but it's not through a lack of vision, it's a publicly stated lack of will. The 'next level' is only achievable if someone with deep pockets is prepared to bankroll further success. He is not.

We're up for sale (I've heard anywhere between £100-160mil) to 'the right person'. Unfortunately that person needs to agree to the stadium bearing JM's name for the next ten years.

It's his vanity that will see us stay small time.

I'm not sure that's a bad thing mind. I'd rather the brick by brick approach than have the boom and bust that's seen the likes of Leeds playing in division two just a few seasons after a European adventure.

I've a lot of time for JM - we'd be nowhere without him. One day we might be.

[Blue and White Toucan]

Agree with the comments so far.

The point is are we, as Fans, happy to 'see how it goes' being a brick by brick club or do the majority demand more?

Would many on here like to see RFC this week completing the signing of Matt Taylor and James McFadden plus 1 or 2 others or are we happy to go with the likes of Jimmy Kebe? (not a dig as I have never seen him play and he could be the next Ronaldo)

I have supported RFC for 35 years and am very very proud of where we are today, but somewhere underneath, after having smelt real success I really want more, whether that is right or not.

I don't want to follow Ipswich, Southampton, Sheff U, Stoke, Wolves etc into the gamble of the Championship.

Is the club in a position to give me more or is this my lot and am I being greedy?

[North Somerset Royal]

We are not at a cross roads but rather at the end of a cul de sac.

I will forever be grateful to JM for saving the club and realising what my late father thought was an impossible dream of top flight football.

However JM has never been a big football fan. No doubt he enjoyed being a big fish in a small pond and all of the attention that came with that but in the ocean that is the Premiership he is small fry. He now wants to retire and as a succesful businessman it is not surprising that he wants his money back and a dividend. However he also feels, rightly in my view, that his contribution to the Town and the Club should be recognised by the stadium retaining his name. This and his asking price (I have heard that one potential purchaser was quoted £1bn) has meant that over the last 18 months or so the club has not attracted a buyer and there is no sign of one on the horizon.

In this situation the club has no choice but to budget on a basis that allows that JM can be repaid over the next few years and this and the present economic climate mean that there is no scope for paying average premiership level wages to players or funding the stadium expansion. As a result we are lexperiencing difficulty attracting premier league players and are likely to lose the few players we currently have who are PL quality.

IMO therefore it is inevitable that we do a u turn and eventually return to the lower divisions whether it be this year or next. For my part I will not be sorry as the novelty is now wearing off and I would rather watch my team in a division in which they have a realistic chance of winning something than in the present situation where we cannot even field a decent team in the cups and regard 4th from bottom as success.

[RoyalBlue]

I have to say that I think that the man who has been the saviour and the chief architect of Reading achieving their current position in the top flight of football is now the reason that we will slowly slip back down into the championship. If not this season then next.
JM has been great for the club but I believe that his mind set is simply not capable of the vision that is required to develop the club any further.
It is absolutely no good continually complaining of the cost of being the Premiership, at whatever level. The costs are the costs and no amount of complaining will change that.

You're right but it's not through a lack of vision, it's a publicly stated lack of will. The 'next level' is only achievable if someone with deep pockets is prepared to bankroll further success. He is not.

We're up for sale (I've heard anywhere between £100-160mil) to 'the right person'. Unfortunately that person needs to agree to the stadium bearing JM's name for the next ten years.

It's his vanity that will see us stay small time.

.

Assuming this is true (and it may not be):

Quite remarkable and hard to believe when we are told it wasn't his idea to name the stadium after him in the first place.

If he wants to sell and get his investment (and perhaps more) back then he should sell it without such encumberances. Would he try to sell one of his very expensive cars yet insist the buyer retained a 'JM*' plate on it for the next decade?!

He can't have expect to have it both ways and it would appear that is the message the market is sending him.

Incidentally, all of this reminds me of a relatively recent interview with JM in 'The Director' magazine.

In this JM said words to the effect 'There will come a time when we have to spend serious money, and I mean seriously big money, to keep the club in the Premiership. I don't want to be the owner when that time comes'.

Well it would appear that JM has reached that particular crossroads and he needs to decide quickly which way to turn. Not making a decision is not an option, as he will go careering off the road with disastrous consequences.

[Adrian's Fool]

I hate to rise to the bait, but I feel I have to.

No, No, No.

Sunderland have spent zillions and they are BELOW US IN THE TABLE. Do you think their fans are complaining about lack of ambition? No, they are complaining that they have spent so much money and are STILL SHIT.

AND I DO NOT WANT THIS CLUB TO BE THE NEXT SUNDERLAND, OR THE NEXT CHELSEA FOR THAT MATTER!!!!!!!!!!!

Rant over

[shadesrwrf]

Well said. FFS just enjoy the ride and remember there are another six days in the week.

[RoyalBlue]

I hate to rise to the bait, but I feel I have to.

No, No, No.

Sunderland have spent zillions and they are BELOW US IN THE TABLE. Do you think their fans are complaining about lack of ambition? No, they are complaining that they have spent so much money and are STILL SHIT.

AND I DO NOT WANT THIS CLUB TO BE THE NEXT SUNDERLAND, OR THE NEXT CHELSEA FOR THAT MATTER!!!!!!!!!!!

Rant over

Come off it, the Sunderland fans have yet to see the effect or otherwise of recent signings. I suspect their gradual but significant move in the right direction up the table will see their mood lift a bit!

[Gordons Cumming]

Well said. FFS just enjoy the ride and remember there are another six days in the week.

The voice of reason.

[TFF]

Assuming this is true (and it may not be):

My 'source' is from outside of the club but is someone who moves in the sort of circles from which future investment might be sought. I cannot guarantee the veracity of the information but it's not just idle conjecture.

[Magnus]

No it's at a pinnacle in its history.

'greed. Crossroads was 10/15 years ago.

[Dirk Gently]

Agree with the comments so far.

The point is are we, as Fans, happy to 'see how it goes' being a brick by brick club or do the majority demand more?

The response of JM would be words to the effect of "What the feck has it got to do with the fans?"

He owns RFC (virtually - 97%) lock, stock and barrel and what happens here will be his decision. So it doesn't matter to him whether we, as Fans are happy to "see how it goes" or whether the majority demand more - unless, of course, it gets to the point where it affects revenue, but income through tickets sales is less than 25% of the TV revenue, so is relatively insignificant.

So pushing on is JM's decision and his alone - and will be done at his risk. And he won't give a tinker's cuss what we as fans think about it until it affects the bottom line - or until he stops being able to walk around the perimeter of the pitch with his arms held aloft in his role as the saviour.

[Gordons Cumming]

I've a lot of time for JM - we'd be nowhere without him. One day we might be.

Trust me, we will be.