Relegation the Reading Way

[Royalclapper]

It's the fact that we don't have to sell that's most troubling me.

[Libertine]

The other things I'd be interested to hear from our American correspondent is which players exactly does he think will be raided by Premier League clubs?

At the moment I reckon we'd probably get to keep all of them.

Pearce, Morrison, McCarthy for starters...

[Rex]

It's the fact that we don't have to sell that's most troubling me.

Apart from the obvious love of shopping windows - how so?

[Maguire]

The other things I'd be interested to hear from our American correspondent is which players exactly does he think will be raided by Premier League clubs?

At the moment I reckon we'd probably get to keep all of them.

Pearce, Morrison, McCarthy for starters...

McCarthy won't get sold in the summer when he'll have been out of first team action since the preceeding November.

Morrison and Pearce have no proven pedigree at this level whatsoever.

[Libertine]

Whaddya mean there is nothing to what I am saying? After the sale went through the ownership stated, and this was after they knew we were promoted (as some here are saying prematurely), that the plan was to have us be a top half Premier League club in 5 years. And with teams in the Championship preparing their squads to get promoted we will see our best players targeted by PL clubs which will make it doubly tough to make it right back up. With the young players who will be poached by bigger clubs, the rest of the squad on the other side of 30 years old and the teams aversion to spending money I say 5 years might be optimistic to see us get promoted again...

This time around we don't have to sell. It might be the luxury that comes out of possible relegation. We went for broke the last time we were relegated and came so close. This time we could have the platform needed to make a dent in the championship which is akin to big fish in a small pond. We shall see.

If we will actually be a big fish in a small pond. Like I said with the core of our team on the wrong side of 30 years-old and with the prospects of losing some of our best youg talent to "offers we can't refuse", if we go down I see a much longer rebuilding process than others do around here see us having...

[Scutterbucketz]

I'm doing a job for a Russian Billionaire (who is mentioned on that same russian magia website that Boris features on) at the end of the next week. We are dressing his house with lights and it's costing about £17,000 for the whole lot.

And it's been the most painful job I've ever been involved with because the the bloke tried to hound the prices down a ridiculous amount and thought we were trying to rip him off from the start. He wanted me to do it for £10k and offered me cash.

It has really changed my opinion of Russian billionaires. Sadly, not all of them are willing to spunk their hard stole......sorry, won cash.

[Royal Rother]

Relegation's not the end of the world m8, calm down.

True...but it would completely blow the "We are looking to become a top half Premier League club within 5 years" plan we were told about out of the water.

We might get promoted back to the Premier League in 5 years if we are very lucky...and spend our one season up and go back down. Unless we free fall like some clubs occasionally do after relegation.

There's nothing to back up what you're saying.

Promotion was clearly a bonus this year and if we go down then with the extra money we've made plus steady investment from the new owners why would we need to be "very lucky" to get promoted in 5 years. I'd say we'd be well set for it.

West Brom are doing ok after all.

Indeed. Long-termism is far better than the opposite.

Unfortunately the "I want it all and I want it all RIGHT NOW" attitude of modern football means we will have to do it without McDermott and I consider that a shame.

The teams that free fall after relegation are the ones who spend too much in the process spending big money getting mercenaries on long-term contracts they could not afford without jeopardising financial stability (if they get relegated).... thankfully the people who run Reading FC are wiser than many contributors on here. Long may it continue.

Sometimes the gamble succeeds; there are several examples who will still be in the PL next season to prove just that. But there will be a larger number in the lower leagues for whom it did not. The latter will be struggling for the next decade unless / until another investor comes along with nutty ideas about how to spend big and guarantee success.

Of course there are those who will always say that we didn't need to spend big to give ourselves a better chance of survival but that's not their decision and whatever line was drawn was drawn by those with the longer term in mind.

[Scutterbucketz]

That's a decent post, though they could have done a bit more in the summer, couldnt they?

[Silver Fox]

Naturally I agree with Mags and would agree with RR too apart from the contention that we have to do it without Brian. Yo yo is the future, if of course we don't stay up this year

[Royal Rother]

I don't want him to go, and I don't even think he should go - but I think he will because modern fandom with all its impatience and vitriol usually has its way.

[Victor Meldrew]

Relegation's not the end of the world m8, calm down.

True...but it would completely blow the "We are looking to become a top half Premier League club within 5 years" plan we were told about out of the water.

We might get promoted back to the Premier League in 5 years if we are very lucky...and spend our one season up and go back down. Unless we free fall like some clubs occasionally do after relegation.

There's nothing to back up what you're saying.

Promotion was clearly a bonus this year and if we go down then with the extra money we've made plus steady investment from the new owners why would we need to be "very lucky" to get promoted in 5 years. I'd say we'd be well set for it.

West Brom are doing ok after all.

"Steady Investment"?
Who's to say that the Russian won't just pocket the dough?
The owner has spent very little this season and according to Dave Whelan every club will get a minimum of £40 million of TV money this season and an estimated £50 million next.
The time to invest was surely when we got promoted (from a position of strength) rather than waiting to be in a much weaker position (in The Championship) before making that significant investment.
You do get the impression that the Mad man had some influence/recommendation on what needed to be spent in the summer and perhaps it is time that he moved on and counted his £100 million losses from elsewhere.

[Victor Meldrew]

I don't want him to go, and I don't even think he should go - but I think he will because modern fandom with all its impatience and vitriol usually has its way.

Hang on, there are many sack-happy chairmen and owners out there and I would suggest that it is much more likely that twitchy people such as them have much more effect than we fans.

[cmonurz]

Ah yes, West Brom. Worth mentioning again, as they are being held up again as an example of doing things 'the right way', that they spent over £30m transfer fees in two Championship seasons (07-09) as part of creating a quality squad and solid base by which to subsequently stabilise in the Premier League.

[Royal Rother]

There would still be 3 teams relegated and, however much he might have spent, we would still have been one of the favourites to get relegated.

And what causes those Chairmen to get trigger happy? Very often it's the fans, yes?

[USA_Loyal_Royal]

im with libertine on this one...morro, pearcey, mccarthy, guthrie, pog, and jem could all very easily go. even HRk could get snapped up the way he has been performing. as regards to the players that are struggling to make the team ie: pog, guthrie, pearcey. their past teams and managers will know how quality they are and will want to snatch them up if we do go down. also i cant see them being out of the squad for much longer anyways so if they play and we still go down then there will be more suitors for them.

[Victor Meldrew]

There would still be 3 teams relegated and, however much he might have spent, we would still have been one of the favourites to get relegated.

And what causes those Chairmen to get trigger happy? Very often it's the fans, yes?

No,I don't think it is.
In some cases "fan power" does influence things but I feel that is in the minority.
I think it is much more the case of an owner being fed up,bored or seeing his investment go down the drain from his plaything.

Chelsea fans didn't get Di Matteo sacked
Liverpool fans didn't get Kenny sacked
Spurs fans didn't get Harry sacked
Huddersfield fans didn't get Lee Clark the sack
Man City fans didn't get Mark Hughes sacked
Saints fans didn't get Pardew sacked
Newcastle fans didn't get Hughton sacked
Reading fans didn't get Maurice Evans sacked

[Royal Rother]

Ah yes, West Brom. Worth mentioning again, as they are being held up again as an example of doing things 'the right way', that they spent over £30m transfer fees in two Championship seasons (07-09) as part of creating a quality squad and solid base by which to subsequently stabilise in the Premier League.

Really? That's the 2nd time you've come out with this info.

The figures on Transfer Market website indicate something completely different.

2007/8
Players in cost £22,858,000
Players out generated £28,380,000

2008/9
Players in cost £18,101,600
Players out generated £9,081,600

That's a net spend over the 2 years of £3,498,000.

Some way short of £30m. Where did you get your info from?

Here's the link - tell me if I'm reading it wrong.

http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/west- ... lle_a.html

[Royal Rother]

im with libertine on this one...morro, pearcey, mccarthy, guthrie, pog, and jem could all very easily go. even HRk could get snapped up the way he has been performing. as regards to the players that are struggling to make the team ie: pog, guthrie, pearcey. their past teams and managers will know how quality they are and will want to snatch them up if we do go down. also i cant see them being out of the squad for much longer anyways so if they play and we still go down then there will be more suitors for them.

Good grief. Cloud cuckoo land, honestly.

A club that gets relegated from the PL with most of the players having their 1st season at the top level will hardly hear a peep from PL clubs about signing those players the following season.

[cmonurz]

RR I'd said they had spent £30m on players, that says £40m. No matter, the point is investment. Reading have also brought in significant transfer fees over the last few seasons but unlike West Brom, have not reinvested them to any great extent in the playing squad.

In 07/08, West Brom sold Koumas and Kamara, but used the money to bring in half a first team. In 08/09 they lost Davies to Villa for £8m, but spent a bit more than that on 6 new players.

They haven't established themselves in the Premier League by cutting cloth, they have invested money the playing squad.

[Madstad to Nadderud]

The warning signals were clealry visible during the Aston Villa match - and that's not the first example of what is a poor team playing in a plastic league. Time for a change and long overdue.