Oh, What A Lovely Defecit!

[Hiram K Hackenbacker]

I completely agree

[DOYLERSAROYALER]

I strongly believe that Madejski is trying to make this club as cash rich as possible to achieve his main goal..... Selling the club!
To be fair I wouldn't blame him, he's made no secret of the fact that he's been looking for a suitable buyer for years and this is one more way of trying to attract someone. It does worry me that we may end up moving backwards but I can cope with this strategy as long as we can carry on as before and maintain our place in the Championship. It does upset me to see our star players move on, and it is frustrating when you see Cardiff, Leicester or whoever out spending us, but I am truly happy at this level and I love watching the youth and mis-fits proving everyone wrong!
Hopefully we'll find a buyer soon who can move us into a new era, but until then I'm loving football at this level and I trust that SJM and BM will do everything they can to look after our club!

...he'll never sell it.....just part of his PR bandwagon ...if he sold the club he would be out of the media limelight and thats the last thing he'd want...who'd massage his ego then?? ......Im sure there at people out their wanting to buy a club like Reading ...but as I said its a PR thing and will never be anymore than that

[RoyalBlue]

I strongly believe that Madejski is trying to make this club as cash rich as possible to achieve his main goal..... Selling the club!

Does making the club cash rich make it any easier to sell or does it just enable him (in his mind) to ask even more for it?

Could it be that purchasers might prefer to buy a club with a defined level of debt at a knock down price? It seems to me that most of the clubs that have sold (ignoring clubs like Man Utd) have been in that situation, rather than cash rich.

This model as I've said previously however is not sustainable and it runs with huge risk attached not least the real possibility of the mgr & his staff doing the same as the players amd moving on to forward their potential at some point.

I'm all for the long term future of the club and that's got to be the main objective but we're in a results based business and we all pay large sums of our disposable income to watch our team and like the chairman, expect a return on our investment too!

Then join the real world. Football is living on borrowed time. Reading will survive as others fail.

Here we go again, the bogeyman is going to get all of those naughty clubs who spend in order to achieve their ambitions. Only he never really arrives does he? When he's knocking on the door, along comes someone to purchase the club and debt. In terms of football being on borrowed time - it must be Fergy time because it ain't half running on for a long time!

[andrew1957]

I have to say that the continuous talk of black holes is a bit frustrating.

In the last two seasons the club:
Sold Siggy for 7M
The club has dramatically reduced its wage bill
Reached the FA Cup QF twice
Reached Wembley - when the tradition is that the losing club donates the entire takings for BOTH clubs to the losing club (we have not been told if this happened or not but RFC should have received 2-4M from that match alone).
We have sold Mills for 4.5M - much more than any of us would have expected.

So there really cannot be a need to sell any more players and if say Long wants to go - then we as fans do have a right to expect a great deal of any money raised to be reinvested.

[RoyalBlue]

Rumour has it that this guy has expressed an interest in the club:

[Rob-Royal]

This model as I've said previously however is not sustainable and it runs with huge risk attached not least the real possibility of the mgr & his staff doing the same as the players amd moving on to forward their potential at some point.

I'm all for the long term future of the club and that's got to be the main objective but we're in a results based business and we all pay large sums of our disposable income to watch our team and like the chairman, expect a return on our investment too!

Then join the real world. Football is living on borrowed time. Reading will survive as others fail.

Your club is in your blood. That's part of being a fan. So you accept the good and bad times. That's the enjoyment of the soap opera.[/quote

Football has supposedly been living on borrowed time since I can remember, how many clubs have gone bust in the last 20 years?

You sound like Dodger - real world, real facts. Yes, football clubs run at a loss, but somehow there is always a steady stream of new buyers waiting in the wings...how is that? Simple - it's part of a bigger business picture.

[ZacNaloen]

I have to say that the continuous talk of black holes is a bit frustrating.

In the last two seasons the club:
Sold Siggy for 7M
The club has dramatically reduced its wage bill
Reached the FA Cup QF twice
Reached Wembley - when the tradition is that the losing club donates the entire takings for BOTH clubs to the losing club (we have not been told if this happened or not but RFC should have received 2-4M from that match alone).
We have sold Mills for 4.5M - much more than any of us would have expected.

So there really cannot be a need to sell any more players and if say Long wants to go - then we as fans do have a right to expect a great deal of any money raised to be reinvested.

It could well be, and I'm beginning to think it is, that the club have made a business decision to keep the wage bill at a certain level with certain quality of players whilst selling the player at the height of his value each summer to plug the gap. And we'll keep doing this until the financial fair play rules come in. Any other way makes it impossible for us to compete and remain in the black. We're doing a good job at it at the moment, but it's actually very risky and speculative.


If the wage structure drops too low, we won't be able to pay to keep the likes of Karacan, leigertwood, Mcanuff, Hunt and the other players who are still developing into the spine of a very good team.

We offered Mills 20,000 a week which is obscene for this league but he still left to earn more at leicester. His perogative, but it shows how difficult it is to keep players in a climate where clubs don't care about their overheads.

[West Stand Man]

Shorey, Kitson, Sonko, Doyle, Bikey, SHunt, Gylfi, Mills.....what is the combined transfer fee recouped on these little beauties? Have I missed any out?

It's a deal, it's a steal, it's the sale of the f*cking cemtury......

Yea the club told us of the £4m hole start of last season then we sell Sigi for £7m have a long cup run and coin it in at the play-offs. Still Reading is a business not a football club, thanks for that Madejski

Paraphrase;

Reading FC is a business that is involved in delivering football to its supporters. Which is a good thing as well run businesses are destined to survive if they are supplying a valued commodity at a competitive price.

[RoyalBlue]

This model as I've said previously however is not sustainable and it runs with huge risk attached not least the real possibility of the mgr & his staff doing the same as the players amd moving on to forward their potential at some point.

I'm all for the long term future of the club and that's got to be the main objective but we're in a results based business and we all pay large sums of our disposable income to watch our team and like the chairman, expect a return on our investment too!

Your club is in your blood. That's part of being a fan..

In that respect you are right.

Thank god my kids' involvement in football at a reasonably serious level looks likely to wean me and them off our complete addiction to RFC!

[floyd__streete]

I have to say that I question the club's honesty towards its supporters.

Last year's defecit was handily plugged by the 7.5 mil sale of Gylfi. This season it is 4.5 mil, which again rather handily is being plugged by the Mills money. Great, the defecit is falling each year. When Shane Long goes for - say 6 mil - can we then expect every penny of that to be reinvested in a team where there are now serious deficiencies?

And just how much are we spending on wages season-in season-out where we have to rely on these emergency sales? What happens when playing standards continue to drop and nobody even wants to buy the dross that is left for silly money? Would it be easier to ask to be relegated a couple of times to keep costs down?

[ZacNaloen]

And just how much are we spending on wages season-in season-out where we have to rely on these emergency sales? What happens when playing standards continue to drop and nobody even wants to buy the dross that is left for silly money? Would it be easier to ask to be relegated a couple of times to keep costs down?

I don't know what our wage bill is yearly but if we want to compete then it needs to be quite high or else we definitely will be relegated. Either we deal with our deficit in our own way and try to keep up performances on the pitch, or we sell our best players. Only employ shit players. And definintely get relegated.

It's a catch-22 but hopefully only one we need to keep up until financial fair play rules kick in.

[The Rouge]

I strongly believe that Madejski is trying to make this club as cash rich as possible to achieve his main goal..... Selling the club!
To be fair I wouldn't blame him, he's made no secret of the fact that he's been looking for a suitable buyer for years and this is one more way of trying to attract someone. It does worry me that we may end up moving backwards but I can cope with this strategy as long as we can carry on as before and maintain our place in the Championship. It does upset me to see our star players move on, and it is frustrating when you see Cardiff, Leicester or whoever out spending us, but I am truly happy at this level and I love watching the youth and mis-fits proving everyone wrong!
Hopefully we'll find a buyer soon who can move us into a new era, but until then I'm loving football at this level and I trust that SJM and BM will do everything they can to look after our club!

My theory is a little different. Yes, he wants the club debt free and he wants to recoup some of the money he put in. I think his asking price for the club is too high. Why do i think this? Well its the only explanation I have for why we haven't been publicly linked a few times with takeovers. Clubs with similar profiles and clubs with slightly less attractive prospects have all been taken over and linked with takeovers.

On the original post, I will wait and see what business we do by the end of the window, but I am fearing I will be disappointed. Lets hope these younguns are the real deal...

[Wimb]

It's a point that's been made in other posts but what does the club have to gain by coming out and saying 'Hooray! thanks to this Matt Mills transfer we've now got £3m to spend!'

Isn't it far better to give of the impression that we don't have a lot of money and keep expectations of fans and crucially, the demands of other clubs realistic?

Also for everyone that's saying Madejski sell the club, I'll ask who exactly is going to buy it? why haven't we heard from a disgruntled buyer who's said 'well I want to buy the club but that tight arsed Madejski is asking too much'

[ZacNaloen]

The issue with selling the club is that we don't have much in the way debt. That makes a lot of clubs much easier to purchase. £1 (for example) up front and 250 million over 20 years.

With RFC, it's not that. It's 50 million up front. JM isn't joking when he says you need to be a billionaire, as the person buying the club needs to be able to afford 50 million.


Personally I think Madjeski needs to forget about selling to a single buyer. He needs to find a syndicate of local business men & women interested in investing in the club with him. We need the combined resources of several buyers.

[jonboy29red]

look at it this way how many teams have gone bust or close to going bust in the last 2-3 years? do we all want a team like pompy or leeds or plymouth when you dont konw if the next day will be ya last working for them or watching them and then having to work your way back up the leagues ?

[RoyalBlue]

The issue with selling the club is that we don't have much in the way debt. That makes a lot of clubs much easier to purchase. £1 (for example) up front and 250 million over 20 years.

With RFC, it's not that. It's 50 million up front. JM isn't joking when he says you need to be a billionaire, as the person buying the club needs to be able to afford 50 million.


Personally I think Madjeski needs to forget about selling to a single buyer. He needs to find a syndicate of local business men & women interested in investing in the club with him. We need the combined resources of several buyers.

There is another way - he could stay with the club but let some rich investors come on board with him. But would he want to share his ball?

[ZacNaloen]

The issue with selling the club is that we don't have much in the way debt. That makes a lot of clubs much easier to purchase. £1 (for example) up front and 250 million over 20 years.

With RFC, it's not that. It's 50 million up front. JM isn't joking when he says you need to be a billionaire, as the person buying the club needs to be able to afford 50 million.


Personally I think Madjeski needs to forget about selling to a single buyer. He needs to find a syndicate of local business men & women interested in investing in the club with him. We need the combined resources of several buyers.

There is another way - he could stay with the club but let some rich investors come on board with him. But would he want to share his ball?

[Wimb]

The issue with selling the club is that we don't have much in the way debt. That makes a lot of clubs much easier to purchase. £1 (for example) up front and 250 million over 20 years.

With RFC, it's not that. It's 50 million up front. JM isn't joking when he says you need to be a billionaire, as the person buying the club needs to be able to afford 50 million.


Personally I think Madjeski needs to forget about selling to a single buyer. He needs to find a syndicate of local business men & women interested in investing in the club with him. We need the combined resources of several buyers.

Great idea on the surface Zac but once again I'm just not sure there's people out there who want to do that, especially in this financial climate. We're never going to be privy to all of the discussions that go on at the higher levels but you'd have to believe we'd have had at least ONE person coming out griping about Sir John being unwilling to share etc....

[Big Ern]

I fail to see how the club can call itself well run when we continue to have mutli-million pound deficits.

Madjski is a fraud. This is are intent on kissing his arse should wake up and s h is now holding us back.

[Royal Monk]

He needs the cash to bail out his other failing companies