Bit Bloody Late Now ! / Cutbacks

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No one is denying that he saved our skins last century, but he cant hold that as a trump card forever. Every one also seems to forget the millions of pounds he made on Green Park and also the retail park with B&Q etc.
He stumped up the money for the new stadium etc (loans) but made millions on his £1 investment on the land around it.

He can make all the fokken money he likes, as far as I'm concerned. He's not a saint, he's egotistical and immorally wasteful (Ferraris in glass cases when sick children can't get healthcare?) But he's a fantastic chairman for RFC. He didn't just save our skins last century; 106 points was in 2003! In eighteen years, or however long it is, the policy of bucking the big-money trend and investing in infrastructure and long-term security has paid off far more often than not. His egotism doesn't run to mismanagement of the club, because he has put in place a group of people each of whom is a professional in his position to run the club, and beyond long-term strategy he largely leaves it up to them. Like most of us, JM trusted Steve Coppell and his staff to put together an adequate team this season. If that turns out to be a mistake, the chairman will decide what to do about it and will make a decision that, past evidence suggests, will be an improvement for the club within two or three years.

[Barry the bird boggler]

Sorry but didn't we hear that before xmas and what did we get in January, an unkown Czech who while being a good player is not likely to do well trying to gel with a side that is mired in trying to avoid relegation and a reserve from the the French 2nd division.

Meanwhile Bolton, Fulham, Birmingham and Derby were all trying to do something logical about their predicament and purchases of the likes of Robbie Savage, James McFadden, Matthew Taylor, Gary Cahill etc. were made. While not all being successful at least there was some attempt made by these clubs so at least they could say they tried.

And that's what gets me most about this season, we just haven't made an effort to try and stay up when it matters. And the message just hasn't got through that on occasions SHORT TERM FIXES should be attempted.

[shadesrwrf]

Well if that statement doesn't put to bed any remaining doubts about where the blame lies for this atrocious season then nothing ever will.

[The 17 Bus]

Fat lot of good it did for Brum tho, hurry up sunday, lets win and have a restful summer

[Tilehurst Mike]

Reading chairman John Madejski says 'significant' investment will be made in the squad this summer, but only if they stay up.



The Royals are currently third from bottom in the Premier League and need help on the final day of the season in order to retain their top-flight status.


However, should Reading stay up then Madejski has confirmed the club will splash the cash in the off-season in order to avoid another disappointing campaign.


The club made a blistering start to life in England's top flight by finishing eighth in their debut campaign, but have struggled this time around after manager Steve Coppell kept faith with his squad.


"We've already developed a plan to make significant investment in the playing squad during the summer," confirmed Madejski.


"But the short-term imperative of retaining our position in the top flight is our only focus."

--and what was he saying during his interview on 5 Live on Saturday---we will have to 'cut our cloth' accordingly--seemingly already accepting the fact that we are relegated

[Tilehurst Mike]

Before everyone has a rant at him, do remember that it is HIS money, not the club's that he'd be spending.

So.... 40 million of Sky cash, cash from catering, programmes, shop, hospitality, something like 15 million from ticket sales - and you really think Mr M is bankrolling the club? I reckon he is more likely to be skimming profits.

he's clawing back considerable loans he has made to the club over the many previous years when the club was in the bottom reaches.

[Spotters Badge]

he's clawing back considerable loans he has made to the club over the many previous years when the club was in the bottom reaches.

So why bullshit us with all this ambition bollox?? That's the work of a con artist

[Millsy]

Reading chairman John Madejski says 'significant' investment will be made in the squad this summer, but only if they stay up.

How interesting eh?

As many naively believe it's Coppell, not Madejski, who's the problem. The money has 'always' been available - transfer fee wages and all - Coppell could have gotten anyone with absolute ease (i.e. not resticted in the slightest to the best he could get within the "wage structure") but he just "decided not to".

Yeah. So that'd why it's now MADEJSKI who's coming out of the woodwork telling us investment definitely will be made. Funny how he can be so sure now when it's 'always' been available but thus far he has powerless to make it happen?

Bit too f*cking late.

[SteveRoyal]

It might be too late.
This season, our only decent signings this season have been Bikey (signed April '07) and Matejovsky (signed Jan '08).
Fae is a waste of space who thinks we're 'stupid'.
Kebe is just another reserve player who looks 'promising' but we keep him out of the squad.

Reading have disappointed this season.
I see why people are all pessimistic on here - it's hard to love a club that loses almost every game.

[brendywendy]

It might be too late.
This season, our only decent signings this season have been Bikey (signed April '07) and Matejovsky (signed Jan '08).
Fae is a waste of space who thinks we're 'stupid'.
Kebe is just another reserve player who looks 'promising' but we keep him out of the squad.

Reading have disappointed this season.
I see why people are all pessimistic on here - it's hard to love a club that loses almost every game.

no it isnt, that probably describes a slight majority of readings seasons in the football league

favourite season ever(before the last few) is the one we got relegated in our last season at elm park
loved them then, love them now, will love them no matter how many games we lose

[ankeny]

Before everyone has a rant at him, do remember that it is HIS money, not the club's that he'd be spending. Perhaps we did need to spend a bit more than we did during the off season, but the point remains: Madejski sees a problem with the current set up regarding funding for purchases and has a plan to correct it. I think its admirable, to donate his own money to the cause. If we do stay up, we'll have achieved something pretty remarkable, finance wise.

FFS,Im sick of some of you saying the same old things.Of coarse its his money,but if he wants a successful club hes got to what other clubs do,spend some bleeding money,cant you get it into your thick head that football is not like any other business,but thats what hes trying to run it like,it wont work.Yes,I do remember the old days,I stood on the terraces in the pouring rain watching the likes of Barrow and Workington,Im very grateful to madj,but its time for him to move over.

[Mr Optimist]

But Madejski isn't trying to say we can be run differently. He's been dropping hints for 2 years now that he wants to sell up to the right man as he doesn't feel the he's the man to throw money at the club. Can you blame him for that? I for one wouldn't be up for wasting away all my money like that. You should be thankful that he hasn't done the easy thing and sold us to the first bidder to get rid of the stress of it all and cut his losses. He said he's already turned down bids whom he thinks would be bad for the club as he doesn't want to see his good work undone. Yet some fans still have the nerve to have a go at him. Once again, ignorance........

Do we know who any of these bidders were? I'd have thought one or two might have moaned to the press that JM refused to sell to them, I'd have thought they possibly might have bid for another club and bought that instead. I've long come to the conclusion that anything JM says you have to take with a pinch of salt. He's not going to say, "no one has come in to buy the club from me" is he??

Was it not always the way? Does anyone else remember when Mr Mad first bought the club and the reserve team was scrapped. The youth team nearly went the same way until "an investor" who wished to remain anonymous put forward £50k of investment to keep it going at the eleventh hour.....

The youth team that around that time produced Williams, Taylor, Lovell, Holzmans x 2, Barkus, Gray...all of which played in the first team, was nearly scrapped for the cost of less than one of John's cars until the mystery donor appeared....

Bids from mysterious anyonymous buyers my bottom.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

Reading chairman John Madejski says 'significant' investment will be made in the squad this summer, but only if they stay up.



The Royals are currently third from bottom in the Premier League and need help on the final day of the season in order to retain their top-flight status.


However, should Reading stay up then Madejski has confirmed the club will splash the cash in the off-season in order to avoid another disappointing campaign.


The club made a blistering start to life in England's top flight by finishing eighth in their debut campaign, but have struggled this time around after manager Steve Coppell kept faith with his squad.


"We've already developed a plan to make significant investment in the playing squad during the summer," confirmed Madejski.


"But the short-term imperative of retaining our position in the top flight is our only focus."

--and what was he saying during his interview on 5 Live on Saturday---we will have to 'cut our cloth' accordingly--seemingly already accepting the fact that we are relegated

he was asked what would happen if the club goes down. How else could he have phrased that answer to not sound that way?

[Franchise FC]

I think an accountant would probably say that it is not that easy for Madejski to detach himself from the club. He is, afterall, a Director of the business and with that come financial and legal responsibilities.

As a legal director his responsibility lies with the company.

In theory, if he'd allowed spending in the way of (say) Leeds, he could be accused of trading insolvent (because that's exactly what they did) and potentially at that point be barred from being a director of ANY company. Since he is clearly a significantly gifted businessman, and one not known to be a huge risk taker, he was never going to choose that option.

However, we should not forget that when he invested in the club originally, there was only a very small chance that he'd see his 'loans' returned.

If the loaded benefactor was available to buy the club, whwre are they ?
It's the Russion billionaires who haven't stumped up the cash to buy the club that are to blame for our current predicament.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

Before everyone has a rant at him, do remember that it is HIS money, not the club's that he'd be spending. Perhaps we did need to spend a bit more than we did during the off season, but the point remains: Madejski sees a problem with the current set up regarding funding for purchases and has a plan to correct it. I think its admirable, to donate his own money to the cause. If we do stay up, we'll have achieved something pretty remarkable, finance wise.

FFS,Im sick of some of you saying the same old things.Of coarse its his money,but if he wants a successful club hes got to what other clubs do,spend some bleeding money,cant you get it into your thick head that football is not like any other business,but thats what hes trying to run it like,it wont work.Yes,I do remember the old days,I stood on the terraces in the pouring rain watching the likes of Barrow and Workington,Im very grateful to madj,but its time for him to move over.

the problem is that the financially cautious approach has worked for quite a few years now (and by contrast, his more financially generous spell as chairman was a complete disaster) so he's seen no need to change, nor have the managerial team.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but if he was serious about taking the club to the next level then the stadium expansion should have gone ahead this season along with significant team strengthening. It would have been expensive, but it'd be easier to start trying to balance the books with a bigger stadium. It'd be impossible to do so doing just one of those two.

The fact is that spending amounts that outstrip your income in the way that some clubs do is not a viable business model as they rely on a chairman willing to write off millions of pounds. While it may be great to have a chairman like that, it's rather unrealistic to demand that from anyone.

[Man Friday]

"He who laughs last laughs longest". Wonder who this will be: Liam or Seol? Wonder if either have any regrets at leaving their clubs? Liam because he'd be playing at a club in the PL next season. Seol because he'd be playing.

[RoyalBlue]

I think an accountant would probably say that it is not that easy for Madejski to detach himself from the club. He is, afterall, a Director of the business and with that come financial and legal responsibilities.

As a legal director his responsibility lies with the company.

In theory, if he'd allowed spending in the way of (say) Leeds, he could be accused of trading insolvent (because that's exactly what they did) and potentially at that point be barred from being a director of ANY company. Since he is clearly a significantly gifted businessman, and one not known to be a huge risk taker, he was never going to choose that option.

However, we should not forget that when he invested in the club originally, there was only a very small chance that he'd see his 'loans' returned.

If the loaded benefactor was available to buy the club, whwre are they ?
It's the Russion billionaires who haven't stumped up the cash to buy the club that are to blame for our current predicament.

Perhaps potential benefactors/investors are put off by the fact that the previous owner might insist his name be kept on the product that they have just paid a small fortune for?

Straight forward question for Mr Madjeski that it ought to be perfectly possible for him to answer in a full, frank and honest way:

If you sell the club, will the new owner be permitted to immediately remove all references to the Madjeski name from the stadium, hotel (assuming that is part of the package) and surrounds?

[Man Friday]

Dunno where to put this without starting another thread and H&P always jumps on me for doing that (but not on himself for using racist terms - see under Club Policies) but I can't believe our fate lies partly in Portsmouth's hands as I hate their brash, aggressive, bullying (ala comments towards my then very young daughter a few seasons ago) fans more than any other set of fans. I remember them from the 70s and they haven't got any better. If there is a God surely he'd relegate Bolton, Portsmouth and Chelsea before too long. Sweet dreams are made of this...

[Tilehurst Mike]

'i don't want to start talking about recriminations, but everyone here has to take resonsibility for what has happened'--quote JM in today's Mail. He's also been spouting off in quite a negative manner on Radio Berks this morning. Sounds resigned to relegation to me.
All the rhetoric coming from the Management is a bit y late now as the writing was on the wall when we lost the last home game of last season to Watford.

[Huntley & Palmer]

Article in the Times today from Russell Kempson

John Madejski wears a red badge on his open-neck shirt. “No, I was not playing football or skiing,” it reads. He is tired of people asking how he broke his right ankle, which he did while walking in Kent on Easter Monday. “Trouble is, I didn’t appreciate how poor people’s eyesight is,” he said. So he has had to explain, anyway, again and again.

The Reading chairman should wear another badge: “No, we are not going to get relegated.” He is trying to remain positive. “Suddenly, the world and his wife want to talk to me,” he said wearily. “They just want to pick over the corpse, the carcass, and it’s not very nice. But that’s the reality and I can’t hide from it.”

Reading will drop out of the Barclays Premier League if, playing against Derby County at Pride Park on Sunday, they do not do better than Fulham’s result away to Portsmouth and at least replicate Birmingham City’s result at home to Blackburn Rovers. If Fulham win at Fratton Park, Reading’s result will be immaterial.

After two years in the top flight, Reading could succumb to the debilitating effects of “second-season syndrome”. It is an unquantifiable yet suffocating ailment that drains the confidence and renders those afflicted helpless. Over the past few months, the Reading players appear to have hit the wall.


Madejski grimaced, not through the pain of his ankle, which is cushioned in a protective boot, but at the prospect of returning to the Coca-Cola Championship. He retains an upbeat mood - just - he chuckles a lot and can throw in a sharp quip amid trying circumstances. Yet a sense of grim acceptance lies not far from the surface.

“It’s outside our control now,” he said. “I just hope we go for it at Derby and show what we can really do. As chairman, I’m always positive and until that last ball is kicked on Sunday, there’s hope. We’ve got one last throw of the dice. Why has it happened? Perhaps last season we were an unknown quantity. This season everyone knows who we are. The players have been on a one-way street, a successful street. It’s been a turgid, torrid season. It’s real high-octane stress.”

Steve Coppell, the Reading manager, has conceded that he should have refreshed his squad more expansively during the January transfer window. Madejski made the funds available, but Coppell largely preferred loyalty to the team who had risen from the Championship and finished eighth in the top flight, narrowly missing a Uefa Cup place.

“Maybe Steve should have spent more,” Madejski said. “He has said that. But I’m not in the blame game. I will never say a bad word about Steve. He is the perfect gentleman, a man’s manager. People must appreciate that you can have as much money on the table as you like, but you have to persuade players to come to Reading.”

Madejski, 67, is worth £400 million, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2008, and is in his nineteenth year as chairman. He continues to try to find a buyer for the club, but believes relegation would hamper the process.

“You have more chance of selling in the Premier League than in the Championship,” he said. “If the unthinkable happens, the opportunity, that moment, might be gone. But, no, I won’t walk away. There would have to be cutbacks, of course, and we would have to do our best to emerge again.”

Would Coppell walk? “As far as I am concerned, there is another year on his contract,” Madejski said. “I wouldn’t want to second-guess him and he certainly hasn’t said anything to me. That’s all I take any notice of.”

Before the match at Pride Park, Madejski, as usual, will pop into the Reading dressing-room. He will not offer an incentive of Harrods hampers full of fine wine and caviar to the players - as Mohamed Al Fayed, the Fulham chairman, did to his players last weekend - just words of encouragement. “Churchillian?” he said. “A bit more positive than that. I mean, we’ve got a war to fight.”

Reading have been limping along for months and as Madejski reached for his crutches, he stamped on a mosquito with his boot. “Jeez, I forgot,” he said. “That hurt.” Unlike the pesky insect, Reading are not dead yet.

John Madejski

Born Robert John Hurst. Later changed surname to that of Polish stepfather.

Business interests in property, broadcast media, hotels, restaurants, publishing.

Close friends include Cilla Black, the television personality.

Ranked equal-214th richest person in country, down from equal 195th last year.

Active in politics, has contributed extensively to Conservative Party.

Latest project is £500million redevelopment of Reading town centre.

Appointed OBE in 2000. Is also a Deputy Lieutenant for Berkshire.