Harte Signs

[Stranded]

Oh dear god that sounds like it was at least £250k...

It was £100k.

[RoyalBlue]

Right now, and for the foreseeable future (at least 2 or 3 Years IMHO) we are going to be going through some pretty tough times both on and off the pitch; .

Yes we are, so the question that needs to be answered, and it's one that none of the Madejski lovers appear to want to acknowledge, is why the hell are we going through some pretty tough times when Madejski and co kept drumming into us that they were running the club so incredibly well?

Truth is, the less well run clubs (and I'm not referring to your favourite reference points of Portsmouth and Cardiff) seem to be suffering far less than us!

Good luck to those of you who continue to defend Madejski and his approach to the hilt. The trouble with such loyalty is that it hurts oh so much more when you finally realise it has been betrayed and your loved one isn't the paragon you thought they were.

[Mr Angry]

There is a WORLD of difference between a good moan (which is every football fans birthright) and some of the unbelievable and unworthy bile and abuse that has been spouted on here in the last few weeks.

Great rant above of course, but - granted, your legendary status - who are you to tell people what they should and shouldn't post up on these forums, Mr A? It's all a load of irrelevant hot air anyway. The whole don't bother coming to games, we don't need you anyhow line is a bit churlish and a view I should imagine the club doesn't share given the ever-dwindling crowds at home games.

Yeah - re-reading my original post I'm willing to concede an eeency weency lil' bit that it may have been a bit OTT.......



But, whilst I agree that a lot of what is posted on here is hot air (much of it from the 2 of us Floyd!!) my concern is that some sections of the home support may vocalise the apparant dis-satisfaction with all things RFC at the next home game and that won't help the players out on the pitch (who are in no way to blame for the clubs transfer policy) in any way whatsoever.

[Mr Angry]

Right now, and for the foreseeable future (at least 2 or 3 Years IMHO) we are going to be going through some pretty tough times both on and off the pitch; .

Yes we are, so the question that needs to be answered, and it's one that none of the Madejski lovers appear to want to acknowledge, is why the hell are we going through some pretty tough times when Madejski and co kept drumming into us that they were running the club so incredibly well?

Truth is, the less well run clubs (and I'm not referring to your favourite reference points of Portsmouth and Cardiff) seem to be suffering far less than us!

I think thats a fair question, and one that only SJM can genuinely answer.

Looking from the outside in, I would speculate that the following may be a plausible scenario...

....we get into the Premiership, and immediately wages rise, both of the players and of a lot of the staff. Extra costs are incurred to meet Premiership requirements (eg: improved press facilities) and a chunk of income goes into infrastructure such as the Academy and the training complex at Hogwood.

We purchase players (Cisse, Fae, Halford) and though we eventually recoup some of that cash, we don't recoup the money spent on salaries, signing on fees, relocation expenses etc etc.

Survive 1st season - guess what? Players demand bigger salaries (how many new contracts did Doyle eventual get? 3 or 4?) new staff are taken on to cope with increased workload. Income raised will also get used to pay some of the outstanding debts to SJM.

Relegation - whilst some players take a salary cut, and others walk, we still have a large salary burden which the parachute payments don't cover, and added to reduced income, we are faced with the situation where the projected income will not meet the projected outgoings (its called budgeting btw). We keep players in the first season in The Championship rather than sell them in the hope that we will get promoted back up; we fail, so there is more cost.

Coppell goes, in comes Rodgers - compensation to Watford etc etc and before you know it, we have a reported gap of £4M between projected income, and the club decide that the only way to plug that gap is by realising an asset - Gylfi.

As for other clubs, they may well be facing similar issues to ourselves but have decided to bury their heads in the sand and keep on spending in the hope that they reach the promised land; thats fine if they do, but if they don't, they are screwed, because eventually those debts WILL have to be repaid.

[Platypuss]

As for other clubs, they may well be facing similar issues to ourselves but have decided to bury their heads in the sand and keep on spending in the hope that they reach the promised land; thats fine if they do, but if they don't, they are screwed, because eventually those debts WILL have to be repaid.

At 20p in the £ over "x" years? Sounds like a fair enough model. Especially if you get a dirty great dollop of silverware along the way....

[rabidbee]

Black holes don't go on forever...

They do when your annual turnover is less than your costs...

[roadrunner]

As for other clubs, they may well be facing similar issues to ourselves but have decided to bury their heads in the sand and keep on spending in the hope that they reach the promised land; thats fine if they do, but if they don't, they are screwed, because eventually those debts WILL have to be repaid.

At 20p in the £ over "x" years? Sounds like a fair enough model. Especially if you get a dirty great dollop of silverware along the way....

Have to agree with this to a point. It seems almost impossible to go bust at this level of the football pyramid. I wouldn't want to see Reading ran so frivolously, but as you say, at worst it results in an administration, 20p in the £, some tough years (which we're going through anyway) and then the likes of Leicester are battling for promotion to the Premiership again (last season) etc. It's not the right way to run a football club, but for many it does seem to almost pay.

[Who Moved The Goalposts?]

Black holes don't go on forever...

They do when your annual turnover is less than your costs...

This is what I don't quite get.

We needed £4m this year. Getting shot of Henry, Rasiak, Marek and Cisse, and various loans outward, accounted for around £3m of this. So assuming £1m of Gylfi's sale covered the rest, we are fine for this year.

Now for next year, assuming same squad, income from tickets and sponsors etc, that black hole should have gotten smaller dues to savings in wages (around £2m). Some more trimming should be quite easily achievable without having to sell the family silver year on year, with some (but not massive) room for investment from the residual cash from Sig sale.

The biggest killer though is the Bosman ruling. We are almost forced into cashing in on players nearing the end of their contracts becuase it's better than getting nothing. I think this is where we'll be at with Jobi next year.

[brendywendy]

Its obvious at the moment that a number of posters on here have got to the stage where ANYTHING the club says or does is automatically disbelieved and rubbished, or ANYBODY the club sign is seen as simply not being good enough.

As an example - everyone was demanding Khiz to come back to the club; yet when he re-signs, at best nobody seems to give a monkeys; at worst its seen as another cheap option by Mr Mad.

If you are in that frame of mind, then you have to ask yourself, what am I doing here?

All of this negativity is frankly sh1t; if you are all so wound up about how the club is (in your opinion) going to the dogs, then form your own club like fans of Wimbledon, Man Utd and Chester have done - nobody holds a gun to your head to support RFC!

Right now, and for the foreseeable future (at least 2 or 3 Years IMHO) we are going to be going through some pretty tough times both on and off the pitch; those of you who don't have the stomach for the struggle ahead, and who can only stand on the sidelines moaning and whinging, I say this - pi$$ off and go and support Chelsea, or Man City or someone else who is going to give you the instant success you so crave (and think you are entitled to), because what Reading FC will need from here on in are 100% committed SUPPORTERS who are going to support the club and the team come thick and thin, in bad times as well as good, and what they don't need are fans who are simply going to bitch about everything to do with the club.

muthafurcking +1

i think i love u

[brendywendy]

Right now, and for the foreseeable future (at least 2 or 3 Years IMHO) we are going to be going through some pretty tough times both on and off the pitch; .

Yes we are, so the question that needs to be answered, and it's one that none of the Madejski lovers appear to want to acknowledge, is why the hell are we going through some pretty tough times when Madejski and co kept drumming into us that they were running the club so incredibly well?

Truth is, the less well run clubs (and I'm not referring to your favourite reference points of Portsmouth and Cardiff) seem to be suffering far less than us!

Good luck to those of you who continue to defend Madejski and his approach to the hilt. The trouble with such loyalty is that it hurts oh so much more when you finally realise it has been betrayed and your loved one isn't the paragon you thought they were.

LOL - no one "loves " madejski. no one is licking his arse.ive said oftebn enough i think hes a bit of a dick.
people on this side of the "debate" simply dont see where the money you all want splashed, is going to come from since JM isnt in the donating mood currently.

[brendywendy]

Black holes don't go on forever...

They do when your annual turnover is less than your costs...

agreed- i m not sure how this is so hard to comprehend.

the 4 million is the gap between income, and spending. on a yearly basis.
last years would have been even bigger, next year it will hopefully be a littkle smaller, but until the club starts bringing in more than it spends it will always be there, by definition.

[Broxroyal]

I wish people wouldn't talk about black holes in this financial context. Not a dig at anyone on this board, it has become trendy in the national press to talk about financial black holes.
Black hole implies that money is mysteriously disappearing, which can't be got to the bottom of.
Any deficit of income against expenditure should be in the accounts, describable, transparent, audited etc. etc. A loss isn't the same as a black hole.

[Svlad Cjelli]

I think a "black hole" is code (rightly or wrongly) for a financial deficit where you have no idea how it will be filled.

[Barry the bird boggler]

Ian is our new no. 23

Lot to live up to there Ian, following in the footsteps of such illustrious predecessors as Mackie, Rasiak, Bikey and De La Cruz

Just waiting for the first Heartbeat pun in the press....

By the way I do wish clubs would be more considerate, kids would no doubt have just completed various freebie wallcharts and new season guides showing that Rasiak would have been no. 23 now they've got to cross it all out and make it look all messy to pur Harte in

[loyalroyal4life]

Harte>>>Williams

Please start on saturday

[Snowball]

Ian is our new no. 23



By the way I do wish clubs would be more considerate, kids would no doubt have just completed various freebie wallcharts and new season guides showing that Rasiak would have been no. 23 now they've got to cross it all out and make it look all messy to pur Harte in

are U suggesting he's a bit of a pussy?

[Hoop Blah]

Harte>>>Williams

Please start on saturday

Even though, by most accounts, he's played the majority of his games recently at centre half?

It's going to be interesting to see if he can still do a job at fullback, where pace is usually harder to get by without than at centre half.

[roadrunner]

Scores on his debut.

[kwik-silva]

Very good game today, admittedly not the toughest of oppositions, and didn't look the fittest, but great passing, and beautiful penalty

[Hoop Blah]

Fair play to him that was a very good performance.

Fingers crossed he can keep that up against better teams and better individuals.