Thames Sports Investment

[Dare to Dr£am]

JonnyFordham Jonny Fordham
Sir John Madejski introduces Chris Samuelson to Sir Michael Parkinson at the Mad Stad http://twitpic.com/8dlvjs #readingfc

[Uke]

JonnyFordham Jonny Fordham
Sir John Madejski introduces Chris Samuelson to Sir Michael Parkinson at the Mad Stad http://twitpic.com/8dlvjs #readingfc

The look of fear on SJM's face!

[Dare to Dr£am]

JonnyFordham Jonny Fordham
Sir John Madejski introduces Chris Samuelson to Sir Michael Parkinson at the Mad Stad http://twitpic.com/8dlvjs #readingfc

The look of fear on SJM's face!

You come in here, take my stadium, take my football club, and now take my famous friends. You'll have the name off my stadium next.

Sorry, who's stadium?

[Ian Royal]

I'm unimpressed. Someone has managed to outdo Kes's "RattLOLed" on the poor comeback stakes.

Your post is totally unrelated to the 2 that preceded it.

In reality IR highlighted RB's stupidity then ground him into the dirt.

Thank you kind sir.

[Man Friday]

I'm surprised you can spell "unimpressed" with the quality of thought you seem capable of.

Someone has managed to outdo Kes's "RattLOLed" on the poor comeback stakes.

[Red]

13 (thirteen) smilies

Fvck it go on then.

[PieEater]

So despite TSI saying things carry on as before but we've got a better financial footing, the view from McD about the transfer window and the recent investment is that things have very definitely changed.

Beforehand we were bringing in players that we knew were good for the future, now we've got players who are proven at the level.

To me that says he's planning to continue to splash the cash to get proven players rather than build a team via the academy and unscouted gems.

Slightly more than better security for the club. I'm not complaining, but I can't see how this will be sustainable without someone writing a big check at the end of each season.

[melonhead]

its not instead, its as well


and the plan is for someone to be writing a big cheque until we go up, when it becomes sustainable

or sumat-plus sustainable for anton>>>>>>>>>sustainable for JM

[themadstad]

PieEater this is what I believe is going to happen, as melonhead has also said, a cheque will be written. So covering any red until it is sustainable. This is surely part of the investment the fundamental of it even.

[ZacNaloen]

PieEater this is what I believe is going to happen, as melonhead has also said, a cheque will be written. So covering any red until it is sustainable. This is surely part of the investment the fundamental of it even.

Which is what Madejski did for years, as well

[Svlad Cjelli]

That all assumes that a team competing (or even just surviving) in the PL is "sustainable" (i.e. it needs no external inputs of cash).

All the figures and all the experiences of clubs in the PL would suggest that isn't the case.

So I fear that the "covering any red until it is sustainable" is actually "covering any red indefinitely - or until the sugar-daddy loses interest or runs out of money".

[Rex]

That all assumes that a team competing (or even just surviving) in the PL is "sustainable" (i.e. it needs no external inputs of cash).

All the figures and all the experiences of clubs in the PL would suggest that isn't the case.

So I fear that the "covering any red until it is sustainable" is actually "covering any red indefinitely - or until the sugar-daddy loses interest or runs out of money".

It's a fearful prospect ahead.

[Svlad Cjelli]

That's the utterly shit thing about the way football finance is structured right now - for a club Reading's size we're damned if we do, damned if we don't.

The only long-term hope is for the financial model to change- and that is starting to happen. I only hope we'll be there to take advantage when it does.

[PieEater]

We had a model where we paid high wages to be competitive, but couldn't cover our costs unless we sold our best players to break even. That only worked if we could uncover gems or get talent through the youth team.

Now we seem to joining the others in building a team of players we can't really afford unless someone else bankrolls it I hope this is an interim plan until we either get the prem or get enough talent through the academy.

How's that going to work with the financial fair play rules?

[West Stand Man]

What makes you so sure that the system has changed?

[Cypry]

What makes you so sure that the system has changed?

^ this - we've hardly blown a shed load of cash in the last few weeks, Roberts is the only player to have cost a transfer fee...

I suspect the approach going forward is the club will continue to try to make intelligent and cost effective (cheap) signings whilst trying to promote from within, with the only discernible difference being that we no longer have to sell every year to fill the "black hole"...

[Svlad Cjelli]

What makes you so sure that the system has changed?

^ this - we've hardly blown a shed load of cash in the last few weeks, Roberts is the only player to have cost a transfer fee...

I suspect the approach going forward is the club will continue to try to make intelligent and cost effective (cheap) signings whilst trying to promote from within, with the only discernible difference being that we no longer have to sell every year to fill the "black hole"...

How does that work, then? The "black hole" will still be there, as that's down to the level of wages we pay. Where's the money to fill it coming from?

Then add in increased wages - which we will have to pay if we are "no longer going to be a selling club"- and that's an even bigger "black hole" that needs somone to fill.

[Cypry]

What makes you so sure that the system has changed?

^ this - we've hardly blown a shed load of cash in the last few weeks, Roberts is the only player to have cost a transfer fee...

I suspect the approach going forward is the club will continue to try to make intelligent and cost effective (cheap) signings whilst trying to promote from within, with the only discernible difference being that we no longer have to sell every year to fill the "black hole"...

How does that work, then? The "black hole" will still be there, as that's down to the level of wages we pay. Where's the money to fill it coming from?

Then add in increased wages - which we will have to pay if we are "no longer going to be a selling club"- and that's an even bigger "black hole" that needs somone to fill.

I anticipate the money will come from TSI.
What I don't expect to see is TSI spunking millions on transfer fees in the summer, suspect some might be disappointed....
What I do expect to see is us not having to sell, and TSI filling the "black hole", which might indeed be a bit bigger than previous years....this year it was £5M, perhaps it'll be £7M next year?

Hence we run "break even", without "doing a Leicester", but without having to sell the family jewels as we have in previous years...

[Svlad Cjelli]

Perhaps it's semantics, but i don't consider a club which needs an external cash injection every year as "break even."

As to increasing the size of thle black hole, paying just one player an extra £5,000 a week is a quarter of a million pounds onto the annual deficit.

To stop Matt Mills leaving we'd have had to have matched Leicester's offer of £25-30k a week, which would mean at least an extra £10K a week for him - so that's more than half a milion on one player to stop us "being a selling club." Pay him that and the other players wages go up (or they leave) so the sums involved are quite phenomenal.

And all the while, everyone is happily laps up the "carry on being prudent" and "no change to the ethos" because it's what they want to hear.

To stop being a selling club is simply going to mean substantial extra sums coming into the club from somewhere - and going onto the balance sheet as debt. The money that's been spent this last week has been loaned to the club, at base rate +1%, so the building up of debt has started.

[TFF]

The money that's been spent this last week has been loaned to the club, at base rate +1%, so the building up of debt has started.

Been wondering about that. Where do you get this info?