Confimred new owners of Raeding Footbal Club

[10539.4 Miles Away]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/citydiary/10981418/City-Diary-US-billionaires-bemused-by-bid-relegation-for-Reading-FC.html

Along the exact lines of what I had heard previously, hence my earlier comments.

No it isn't.

Lol. Thanks winch, although I have no idea who the fck you, are you obviously know me so well you are privy to all my conversations, fair play, you're obviously a better man than me.

[winchester_royal]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/citydiary/10981418/City-Diary-US-billionaires-bemused-by-bid-relegation-for-Reading-FC.html

Along the exact lines of what I had heard previously, hence my earlier comments.

No it isn't.

Lol. Thanks winch, although I have no idea who the fck you, are you obviously know me so well you are privy to all my conversations, fair play, you're obviously a better man than me.

I have no idea what conversations you had, but given you were going on about a deal 'nowhere near to being finalised' and implying Samrit was some Thai conman there is actually nothing in that article to support your claims. The only part that corroborates your post is the 'Americans are rich' part, but I very much doubt that after last time Sir John has again chosen to go with a guy with no money instead of guys that are willing and able to pump millions of pounds into the club.

'City Diary' is just a business gossip segment that contains all sorts of unsubstantiated nonsense. This is just CS trying to create some waves.

[EarleyRoyal16]

Wish Samuelson would just oxf*rd off.

That article is a load of bollocks as well. Implies that Thai's actually have no money cause it hasn't gone through yet but really it's still going through the last Football League test and, maybe, the political situation in Thailand is still holding it up.

[10539.4 Miles Away]

OK, I have no intention of getting into a slanging match here. I equally had no intention of implying that Samrit was a conman, my concern is that, as far as I can see, we haven't yet seen anyone quote his source of funds (rereading my comments I can see how it could be seen as me implying his dishonesty and for that I apologise).

[winchester_royal]

Fair enough, and I apologise for being dismissive of your info. But it just seems to me that the telegraph article is exceptionally onset sided, no doubt with CS as it's source, and I'm sure the club and the Thais have a very different version of events. And if it's true that Samrit hasn't got the money or is in anyway suspect then it seems like the FL are picking up on this and the takeover will collapse, and then the Americans can save the day.

In other words, it's impossible to know what's going on. And this radio silence from the club really isn't helping anyone imo.

[Wimb]

Sick of it all to be honest, and I'm sure Nigel Adkins, Nick Hammond and all of the other footballing men and women at the club are too.

Trying hard not to believe whispers and rumours but the fact this has dragged on for so long doesn't exactly inspire confidence in any party. Then again what can you expect when this whole deal is being done under such financial pressures.

[under the tin]

I can't help but have a wry smile about the way this thread is going.
It's like wrestling, where the pre-determined "bad guy" gets introduced to the crowd, and gets instantly booed by the audience.

The Asian consortium might just have sussed out that sometimes egos require stroking in order to close the deal.
SJM spending his dotage posing around meeting the great and good as honorary president might have been enough.
Equally, SJM might prefer the Asian offer over the American one due to concerns about the pedigree/track record of those on the American side.
It's all idle speculation.

The only thing that we know for certain is that neither the Americans nor the Asians are bidding because they are fanatical Royals fans.
This is solely a business transaction, and as we all know, football finance flies in the face of normal business operation.
The famous quote "How do you become a millionaire owning a football club?" Answer: "Start off as a billionaire" springs to mind.
What's in it for the bidders, then?

Our club is about to enter truly uncharted waters. We can only all hope that the successful bidder is playing with a straight bat, otherwise, we could see the Madstad redeveloped as an out of town shopping mall, and a souped-up Bearwood being turned into a championship golf course.
I'm no doom-monger, but precedents have already been set in our game. Events at Brighton, Coventry, (and was it Macclesfield where the owner evicted the club?) all serve to illustrate.

[Isaac Hunt]

The timing of this piece, Samuelson's parting shot, may well suggest an official announcement is imminent.

[Schards#2]

Can't say I'm too shocked that the bid that wasn't selected thinks the decision not to select them is wrong.

If the USA bid has any connection whatsoever to Anton and his merry men, I'm happy for it to be completely ignored. Sounds like we're on one this lists of suckers who have previously been taken in by a scam.

[melonhead]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/citydiary/10981418/City-Diary-US-billionaires-bemused-by-bid-relegation-for-Reading-FC.html

Along the exact lines of what I had heard previously, hence my earlier comments.

No it isn't.

Lol. Thanks winch, although I have no idea who the fck you, are you obviously know me so well you are privy to all my conversations, fair play, you're obviously a better man than me.

slightly ott reaction to three words

[Pepe the Horseman]

Would be hilarious* is Samuelson turned out to be the good guy.

[Croydon Royal]

Sick of it all to be honest, and I'm sure Nigel Adkins, Nick Hammond and all of the other footballing men and women at the club are too.

Trying hard not to believe whispers and rumours but the fact this has dragged on for so long doesn't exactly inspire confidence in any party. Then again what can you expect when this whole deal is being done under such financial pressures.

Agreed, but as you well know running a fan site - there's so many places available for fans to debate and so many journalists needing column inches to fill that everything is under scrutiny and everything is expected to move at the same pace that the news cycle requires. Things take time - especially when it comes to processes like exchanging a £25 million football club. Just like this morning's 'revelations' - Samuelson clearly has his own agenda, gives a journalist a tip off and that journalist is happy that they have some column inches to fill. Meanwhile the pace of social media means that people are debating every small detail, and getting frustrated when nothing comes out.

Of course it's been frustrating following Reading recently, what with the lack of signings, secrecy around the ownership etc, but these things don't get done in seconds. It's only because the new owner is social media savvy that we've all be enticed in in the first place, and it's only because there are so many stakeholders willing to talk to journalists that we've had so much to interpret and ponder over over the past few weeks. Imagine what it'd be like if it was all being done behind the scenes - and how we'd react when a deal was done. Using a different example - I've got some good contacts inside the club and knew about the Danny Williams deal well before it was happening. It took a few days to conclude yet didn't seem to come out anywhere - when rumours did start (about a day before it happened) it all seemed to be concluded very quickly and everyone was happy...yet if they knew when I did there would have been an 10 page thread running for a week before moaning that 'typical Reading can never get a deal wrapped up'. It was the same with Daniel Carrico.

Sometimes ignorance can be bliss... we're not going under, we're still a few weeks away from the season starting and still have 6 weeks for a deal to be done and start signing players. We know progress has been made - let's not let ourselves get too frustrated just yet until we know anything more concrete.

[genome]

Chill out, it'll all be fine.

You're like a needy girlfriend who has been cheated on in the past and is now frightened as soon you don't hear from your boyfriend within 5 minutes.

[Agent Balti]

Chill out, it'll all be fine.

You're like a needy girlfriend who has been cheated on in the past and is now frightened as soon you don't hear from your boyfriend within 5 minutes.

Totally this ^^^

The club are on radio silence until the FA has done it's thing. The rest of this nonsense from the USA lot is just a sideshow, an unnecessary one. That's my feeling on it. It'll all be over by Friday...I think.

[paddy20]

Fair enough, and I apologise for being dismissive of your info. But it just seems to me that the telegraph article is exceptionally onset sided, no doubt with CS as it's source, and I'm sure the club and the Thais have a very different version of events. And if it's true that Samrit hasn't got the money or is in anyway suspect then it seems like the FL are picking up on this and the takeover will collapse, and then the Americans can save the day.

In other words, it's impossible to know what's going on. And this radio silence from the club really isn't helping anyone imo.

If the Americans have more money and think they are a much better option surely we would have plumped for them, especially with the Thai problem of getting money out. But weren't we told that Vibrac had the final say? If thats the case perhaps the US option is better but Vibrac are getting a better deal for themselves only and not for RFC.

[paddy20]

Chill out, it'll all be fine.

You're like a needy girlfriend who has been cheated on in the past and is now frightened as soon you don't hear from your boyfriend within 5 minutes.

Totally this ^^^

The club are on radio silence until the FA has done it's thing. The rest of this nonsense from the USA lot is just a sideshow, an unnecessary one. That's my feeling on it. It'll all be over by Friday...I think.

Which Friday is that then?

[winchester_royal]

Fair enough, and I apologise for being dismissive of your info. But it just seems to me that the telegraph article is exceptionally onset sided, no doubt with CS as it's source, and I'm sure the club and the Thais have a very different version of events. And if it's true that Samrit hasn't got the money or is in anyway suspect then it seems like the FL are picking up on this and the takeover will collapse, and then the Americans can save the day.

In other words, it's impossible to know what's going on. And this radio silence from the club really isn't helping anyone imo.

If the Americans have more money and think they are a much better option surely we would have plumped for them, especially with the Thai problem of getting money out. But weren't we told that Vibrac had the final say? If thats the case perhaps the US option is better but Vibrac are getting a better deal for themselves only and not for RFC.

Possibly, but given Vibrac supposedly have a relationship with CS and were making things difficult for the Thais I doubt that's the case. My take is that the Americans probably do have more readily available capital, but Sir John is heavily suspicious about their motives and thus has opted for the more genuine but less rich SB. Of course that is based on nothing but intuition and reading between the lines of rumour and speculation. The proof will be in the pudding. But if the Americans are supposedly cash heavy and willing to invest then why are they still faffing around with RFC? Plenty of other clubs out there available on the cheap.

It's all become one big circus, and while I sympathise with RFC's silence on the issue I don't think they've done us any favours during this whole saga. Hopefully it's all over soon.

[Jano]

I don't understand what is making the club look such a viable proposition to Samuelson, surely he's just looking to make money and Reading historically has lost money every year.

[Norfolk Royal]

The elephant not in the room though is who the other members of Samrit's consortium are.

It's OK for Phoenix to float the possibility of billionaires on their consortium but who is to say there are not billionaires in the Thai consortium.

There is still the mysterious elderly Thai woman who apparently turned up at Reading station last week with a large handbag rumour.

[Tilehurstsouthbank]

Tweets emerging along the lines that Samuelson is trying to block takeover.

under what authority does an ex employee have to block or try to block anything

But we need an escapegoat multi! :rollyeyes:

What is an 'Escapegoat'?