1st December 1990

[strap]

I have been a constant doom-monger when it comes to Mr Mad over the years. He is a businessman first, second and third, and will only do something if at the end of the day is in his own best interests. He is not altrusitic in the truest sense of the word, despite his many laudable charitable activities.

However, I readily agree that he has completely reshaped RFC, and 20 years after he started his tenure, the club is totally unrecognisable - in every aspect - from the one he took over in 1990. I'm not sure I agree with the brown-nosers who say the club wouldn't be in existence without his intervention, (it's impossible to prove as we can never know who else might have stepped up had Mr Mad bailed out after 5, 10 or whatever years), but it is clear that we are where we are today because of his vision, hard work and the LOANS he has made to RFC. Frankly the club will probably be better run in the future if he was to stay for another 20 years, rather than sold to a buyer of unknown quality. We would still have the perennial gnashing of teeth following the regular sale of star players, to be replaced by journeymen, but we would be stable, with a committed group of staff/players etc, and at leaast we would be able to see a decent standard of football.

So heartiest congratulations to Mr Mad on reaching such a significant milestone. Long may it continue - as long as the bullshit is reigned in! We see straight through the claptrap Mr Mad, we are not fools! (Well a few of us aren't anyway!)

[Gordons Cumming]

I saw Mr Mad close up on Saturday and he's really starting to look old.

20 years would be very optimistic, Strap.

However, maybe one of his daughters..........?

[super darren caskey]

Thanks john

Lets have a decent striker in jan and a return to the promised land to celebrate

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

I saw Mr Mad close up on Saturday and he's really starting to look old.

20 years would be very optimistic, Strap.

However, maybe one of his daughters..........?

That will be due to that blonde lady he invites to games I bet wearing him out.

[Vision]

I have been a constant doom-monger when it comes to Mr Mad over the years. He is a businessman first, second and third, and will only do something if at the end of the day is in his own best interests. He is not altrusitic in the truest sense of the word, despite his many laudable charitable activities.

However, I readily agree that he has completely reshaped RFC, and 20 years after he started his tenure, the club is totally unrecognisable - in every aspect - from the one he took over in 1990. I'm not sure I agree with the brown-nosers who say the club wouldn't be in existence without his intervention, (it's impossible to prove as we can never know who else might have stepped up had Mr Mad bailed out after 5, 10 or whatever years), but it is clear that we are where we are today because of his vision, hard work and the LOANS he has made to RFC. Frankly the club will probably be better run in the future if he was to stay for another 20 years, rather than sold to a buyer of unknown quality. We would still have the perennial gnashing of teeth following the regular sale of star players, to be replaced by journeymen, but we would be stable, with a committed group of staff/players etc, and at leaast we would be able to see a decent standard of football.

So heartiest congratulations to Mr Mad on reaching such a significant milestone. Long may it continue - as long as the bullshit is reigned in! We see straight through the claptrap Mr Mad, we are not fools! (Well a few of us aren't anyway!)

Heartily agree with pretty much all of that.

The only thing i would say with regard to the claptrap I find its generally the people that claim not to be fooled by his public statements that always react to it as though it actually does mean something. Those of us that generally defend him dont take any notice of what he says really.

[Snowball]

It would be nice and simple (and great) if spending loads of money guaranteed success. Unfortunately it doesn't.

That statement is not strictlytrue. It's certainly not an absolute. Only the most seriously deluded Chelsea fans can't see the correlation beetween that clubs ascendency, and the Abramovitch money. United may have a good pedigree of growing their own, but still, historically, have splashed the cash on the Greenoffs, the Andy Coles, the Roy Keanes, the Berbatovs, and the Rooneys, etc., and none of them came cheap. I think Arsenal were the first club to pay £100 000 for a player, (Alan Ball, I think). Walcott cost how much? Conversely, Liverpool have spent relatively heavily over the last few years, and have witnessed, (by their standards) a decline. I could talk about how much Jack Hayward lavished on Wolves, with virtually no effect. Newcastle turned spending into an artform.
I can remember Tommy Burns "magnificent seven". £3/4M worth of crap.

I think that the lesson is that it is not about how much money is spent, but how wisely it is spent. This is why I believe that the most important signing any club can make is that of its manager.

The reality, certainly in the Premiership is that there is a near-perfect correlation between money spent and final position. The money effect on playing power has been increasing since the Premiership started and the lack of competition has also increased.

A recent book (a statto's dream) is "Pay as you Play" by Paul Tomkins, details clubs' spending and points accrued. Premiership points cost between 1 and 2 million pounds each point. Steve Coppel's Reading stands up well on money-spent and £s per point, but these doing-it-cheap clubs are extremely rare and getting rarer.

There are also three separate segments where points cost more. The top 4 (5-6) where points cost up to 2 Million each, the middle (where clubs like Allardyce's sometimes punch above their weight) and the strugglers, spending less, using younger players, and rarely surviving.

Wenger, when you actually CHECK, bought his Premiership wins, and Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool have always bought success. (The reverse isn't always true, of course. You can spend, buy poorly and NOT win, but NOT spending means NOT winning.)

In the CCC it's not so extreme but it's near-miraculous to make the top two without being one of the top 2-3-4 spenders.

Outside the top 2-3-4 however, clubs are much of a muchness, and it's in this bracket that "nous", finding under-priced players, turning players round, excellent strategy and tactics etc can get a club spending say 8th-15th can sneak into the play-offs and in through the back door to the Premiership.

I am UTTERLY, TOTALLY fine with the idea that we don't have, so won't spend, the kinds of sums to be "Top-Two Expectant"... As long as we are mid-table spenders and have a reasonable chance of making the play-offs, that's fine, even at a risk of slipping and flirting with relegation. Better to have a club long-term that keeps itself just about in the mix without risking melt-down.

[Svlad Cjelli]

See my previous post. The correlation of spedning to league position is 92%.

[ShinPad]

thanks

[The Rouge]

I saw Mr Mad close up on Saturday and he's really starting to look old.
20 years would be very optimistic, Strap.

I shook his hand at Watford 2 years ago. He had the cold, limp grip of an impending death.

[andrew1957]

I have been a constant doom-monger when it comes to Mr Mad over the years. He is a businessman first, second and third, and will only do something if at the end of the day is in his own best interests. He is not altrusitic in the truest sense of the word, despite his many laudable charitable activities.

However, I readily agree that he has completely reshaped RFC, and 20 years after he started his tenure, the club is totally unrecognisable - in every aspect - from the one he took over in 1990. I'm not sure I agree with the brown-nosers who say the club wouldn't be in existence without his intervention, (it's impossible to prove as we can never know who else might have stepped up had Mr Mad bailed out after 5, 10 or whatever years), but it is clear that we are where we are today because of his vision, hard work and the LOANS he has made to RFC. Frankly the club will probably be better run in the future if he was to stay for another 20 years, rather than sold to a buyer of unknown quality. We would still have the perennial gnashing of teeth following the regular sale of star players, to be replaced by journeymen, but we would be stable, with a committed group of staff/players etc, and at least we would be able to see a decent standard of football.

So heartiest congratulations to Mr Mad on reaching such a significant milestone. Long may it continue - as long as the bullshit is reigned in! We see straight through the claptrap Mr Mad, we are not fools! (Well a few of us aren't anyway!)

I think Strap is about right. I have little doubt that RFC is a much bigger and better club today than it would have been if he had not taken over, so we should all be thankful for that.

However, I think his objective "was" achieved when we got the PL. Now he is quite happy having a mid table Championship side that is self sustaining. My main problem with this is that in all truth I doubt it is possible to survive in this division for a long time without ambition. The Championship is getting a tougher division every year and if he goes on selling our best players indefinitely then sooner or later the Academy and the talent scouts will have and bad run and we will end up with a substandard squad that will get relegated. Without investment from JM, with falling crowds and with a big stadium to fund, I think our future in Div 1 would be quite bleak.

Without ambition each year that goes by increases that risk so I think he has had his 20 years and achieved all his objectives and now is the time to "seriously" look for a new owner with ambition to achieve PL success. Whether there is anyone out there though is another matter entirely.

[Hoop Blah]

The reality, certainly in the Premiership is that there is a near-perfect correlation between money spent and final position. The money effect on playing power has been increasing since the Premiership started and the lack of competition has also increased.

A recent book (a statto's dream) is "Pay as you Play" by Paul Tomkins, details clubs' spending and points accrued. Premiership points cost between 1 and 2 million pounds each point. Steve Coppel's Reading stands up well on money-spent and £s per point, but these doing-it-cheap clubs are extremely rare and getting rarer.

There are also three separate segments where points cost more. The top 4 (5-6) where points cost up to 2 Million each, the middle (where clubs like Allardyce's sometimes punch above their weight) and the strugglers, spending less, using younger players, and rarely surviving.

Wenger, when you actually CHECK, bought his Premiership wins, and Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool have always bought success. (The reverse isn't always true, of course. You can spend, buy poorly and NOT win, but NOT spending means NOT winning.)

In the CCC it's not so extreme but it's near-miraculous to make the top two without being one of the top 2-3-4 spenders.

Outside the top 2-3-4 however, clubs are much of a muchness, and it's in this bracket that "nous", finding under-priced players, turning players round, excellent strategy and tactics etc can get a club spending say 8th-15th can sneak into the play-offs and in through the back door to the Premiership.

I am UTTERLY, TOTALLY fine with the idea that we don't have, so won't spend, the kinds of sums to be "Top-Two Expectant"... As long as we are mid-table spenders and have a reasonable chance of making the play-offs, that's fine, even at a risk of slipping and flirting with relegation. Better to have a club long-term that keeps itself just about in the mix without risking melt-down.

Totally agreed.

I don't expect or want us to go mad and spend vast amounts of money that we can't afford.

However, I do think the club itself needs to be realistic and set expectations correctly amongst it's fans (they want to be run like a business then they should act like a responsible one as well) or compete in the market it finds itself in where it's competitors find that outside investment to speculate on success.

I think Madejski has been a godsend for the club though.

[bcubed]

The reality, certainly in the Premiership is that there is a near-perfect correlation between money spent and final position. The money effect on playing power has been increasing since the Premiership started and the lack of competition has also increased.

A recent book (a statto's dream) is "Pay as you Play" by Paul Tomkins, details clubs' spending and points accrued. Premiership points cost between 1 and 2 million pounds each point. Steve Coppel's Reading stands up well on money-spent and £s per point, but these doing-it-cheap clubs are extremely rare and getting rarer.

There are also three separate segments where points cost more. The top 4 (5-6) where points cost up to 2 Million each, the middle (where clubs like Allardyce's sometimes punch above their weight) and the strugglers, spending less, using younger players, and rarely surviving.

Wenger, when you actually CHECK, bought his Premiership wins, and Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool have always bought success. (The reverse isn't always true, of course. You can spend, buy poorly and NOT win, but NOT spending means NOT winning.)

In the CCC it's not so extreme but it's near-miraculous to make the top two without being one of the top 2-3-4 spenders.

Outside the top 2-3-4 however, clubs are much of a muchness, and it's in this bracket that "nous", finding under-priced players, turning players round, excellent strategy and tactics etc can get a club spending say 8th-15th can sneak into the play-offs and in through the back door to the Premiership.

I am UTTERLY, TOTALLY fine with the idea that we don't have, so won't spend, the kinds of sums to be "Top-Two Expectant"... As long as we are mid-table spenders and have a reasonable chance of making the play-offs, that's fine, even at a risk of slipping and flirting with relegation. Better to have a club long-term that keeps itself just about in the mix without risking melt-down.

I find it had to think that anyone could have done as well as Reading in their first Premiership season with such little investment.
Who has a better £s per point rating?

[Tinrib]

I saw Mr Mad close up on Saturday and he's really starting to look old.
20 years would be very optimistic, Strap.

I shook his hand at Watford 2 years ago. He had the cold, limp grip of an impending death.

Interesting thought that - If Sir John did keel over after munching his half time Balti Pie - to never return - what would happen to our club...?

Maybe a question for STAR to investigate

[Snowball]

I find it had to think that anyone could have done as well as Reading in their first Premiership season with such little investment.
Who has a better £s per point rating?

On his first round of assessment the author only rated clubs that lasted three seasons. When he dropped the criteria to two seasons RFC/Coppel's rating was second to two separate seasons by Big Sam. (The sums involved are equalised for football-inflation, and all at today's money.

Lyall did very well with Ipswich. The top ten are Lyall, Allardyce, Coppell, Dave Jones, Curbishley, Dowie, Bassett, Kinnear, Smith, Ball, and in 11th, Jewell.


At today's prices, Coppel spent £788,392 PER POINT

[Sarah Star]

I saw Mr Mad close up on Saturday and he's really starting to look old.
20 years would be very optimistic, Strap.

I shook his hand at Watford 2 years ago. He had the cold, limp grip of an impending death.

Interesting thought that - If Sir John did keel over after munching his half time Balti Pie - to never return - what would happen to our club...?

Maybe a question for STAR to investigate

I was told his daughter would take over. I didn't even know he had one at the time, but she's been pointed out to me sitting next to him sometimes.

[Vision]

I find it had to think that anyone could have done as well as Reading in their first Premiership season with such little investment.
Who has a better £s per point rating?

On his first round of assessment the author only rated clubs that lasted three seasons. When he dropped the criteria to two seasons RFC/Coppel's rating was second to two separate seasons by Big Sam. (The sums involved are equalised for football-inflation, and all at today's money.

Lyall did very well with Ipswich. The top ten are Lyall, Allardyce, Coppell, Dave Jones, Curbishley, Dowie, Bassett, Kinnear, Smith, Ball, and in 11th, Jewell.


At today's prices, Coppel spent £788,392 PER POINT

Just out of interest do you know how did they work out the actual spend?. Is it solely transfer fees or do wages factor in as well. Allardyce may not have spent a large amount on transfer fees but Bolton ran up a massive amount of debt under him due to exhorbitant wages for the likes of Djorkaeff and Anelka amongst others.

[Terminal Boardom]

Thank you for saving the football club that we all love.

If SJM had not stepped in, someone else would have done. Fact.

That said, thanks for the stadium that bears your name and congratulations on the knighthood which you would not have got had you not been Chairman of Reading FC.

[brendywendy]

Ticks the report card,

could have done better

Would be great if all clubs were run like RFC, but they are not, so have doubts about the longer term success of the strategy.

If so many are so happy, why do so many look ahead to a new owner, is it because we long to be better than we are, which is always the aim.

in twenty years he has presided over 9 of our ten best ever seasons.
could have done better my arse!

people are happy for new owners because they think its the cure all of modern football-despite the evidence.
personally id be happy for JM to stay for another twenty years.

[brendywendy]

Booo get your chequebook out you money man

We'd have been better off with Maxwell

[brendywendy]

I have been a constant doom-monger when it comes to Mr Mad over the years. He is a businessman first, second and third, and will only do something if at the end of the day is in his own best interests. He is not altrusitic in the truest sense of the word, despite his many laudable charitable activities.

However, I readily agree that he has completely reshaped RFC, and 20 years after he started his tenure, the club is totally unrecognisable - in every aspect - from the one he took over in 1990. I'm not sure I agree with the brown-nosers who say the club wouldn't be in existence without his intervention, (it's impossible to prove as we can never know who else might have stepped up had Mr Mad bailed out after 5, 10 or whatever years), but it is clear that we are where we are today because of his vision, hard work and the LOANS he has made to RFC. Frankly the club will probably be better run in the future if he was to stay for another 20 years, rather than sold to a buyer of unknown quality. We would still have the perennial gnashing of teeth following the regular sale of star players, to be replaced by journeymen, but we would be stable, with a committed group of staff/players etc, and at least we would be able to see a decent standard of football.

So heartiest congratulations to Mr Mad on reaching such a significant milestone. Long may it continue - as long as the bullshit is reigned in! We see straight through the claptrap Mr Mad, we are not fools! (Well a few of us aren't anyway!)

I think Strap is about right. I have little doubt that RFC is a much bigger and better club today than it would have been if he had not taken over, so we should all be thankful for that.

However, I think his objective "was" achieved when we got the PL. Now he is quite happy having a mid table Championship side that is self sustaining. My main problem with this is that in all truth I doubt it is possible to survive in this division for a long time without ambition. The Championship is getting a tougher division every year and if he goes on selling our best players indefinitely then sooner or later the Academy and the talent scouts will have and bad run and we will end up with a substandard squad that will get relegated. Without investment from JM, with falling crowds and with a big stadium to fund, I think our future in Div 1 would be quite bleak.

Without ambition each year that goes by increases that risk so I think he has had his 20 years and achieved all his objectives and now is the time to "seriously" look for a new owner with ambition to achieve PL success. Whether there is anyone out there though is another matter entirely.

i understand your need to put your point across- but can we not just thank JM for what hes done, and leave it at that