Nigel Howe

[3points]

I know someone who worked closely with him at the club. Says he's a good laugh on a night out and was very wary about the Russians on the way in.

didn't he effectively get sidelined by the Russians as Samuelson and Oblensky were running the club on a day to day basis? Rumour was he was being paid £400k a year at that time (so no wonder he's still hanging around - good or not). Expensive guy to fire during the era of FFP and reducing parachute payments

[Royal Ginger]

I know someone who worked closely with him at the club. Says he's a good laugh on a night out and was very wary about the Russians on the way in.

didn't he effectively get sidelined by the Russians as Samuelson and Oblensky were running the club on a day to day basis? Rumour was he was being paid £400k a year at that time (so no wonder he's still hanging around - good or not). Expensive guy to fire during the era of FFP and reducing parachute payments

I was told he held the whole thing together as the Russians swanned in and out when they felt like it and he was often left to pick up the pieces. Bloke i know got on well with him and still does, so perhaps it's a bit rose tinted.

[3points]

I know someone who worked closely with him at the club. Says he's a good laugh on a night out and was very wary about the Russians on the way in.

didn't he effectively get sidelined by the Russians as Samuelson and Oblensky were running the club on a day to day basis? Rumour was he was being paid £400k a year at that time (so no wonder he's still hanging around - good or not). Expensive guy to fire during the era of FFP and reducing parachute payments

I was told he held the whole thing together as the Russians swanned in and out when they felt like it and he was often left to pick up the pieces. Bloke i know got on well with him and still does, so perhaps it's a bit rose tinted.

Was probably true towards the end, but I think he spent more time on the beach than he did at RFC for quite a while

[Forbury Lion]

Was probably true towards the end, but I think he spent more time on the beach than he did at RFC for quite a while

It's called working from home, we all do it.

[West F]

He was the one who was tasked with finding suitable new owners.

[West F]

I've always been under the impression that's he's a bitofacunt. Nothing really to base that on mind.

That's quite a kind description.

I have heard things that would make your toes curl!

[Green]

Go on...

[urz13]

I've met him quite a few times through mutual friends - he's certainly a good laugh, and by the drunken snippets I sometimes hear he plays a very important role in everything financial, from signing new players to working on sponsorship deals

[Coppelled_Streets]

I've met him quite a few times through mutual friends - he's certainly a good laugh, and by the drunken snippets I sometimes hear he plays a very important role in everything financial, from signing new players to working on sponsorship deals

Surely working on new deals is Hammond's responsibility as Director of Football?

[Green]

I've met him quite a few times through mutual friends - he's certainly a good laugh, and by the drunken snippets I sometimes hear he plays a very important role in everything financial, from signing new players to working on sponsorship deals

Those drinking sessions sound like a hoot

[winchester_royal]

I've met him quite a few times through mutual friends - he's certainly a good laugh, and by the drunken snippets I sometimes hear he plays a very important role in everything financial, from signing new players to working on sponsorship deals

Surely working on new deals is Hammond's responsibility as Director of Football?

Given that these are often deals that commit the club to millions of pounds of financial outlay I think it's reasonable to assume that there's more than just one person involved

[handbags_harris]

Quite. Hammond works within set parameters. Those parameters are set by the owners, in discussion with the hands-on man who has intricate knowledge of the accounts who happens to be none other than our very own Chief Executive, Nigel Howe.

[Ian Royal]

I've met him quite a few times through mutual friends - he's certainly a good laugh, and by the drunken snippets I sometimes hear he plays a very important role in everything financial, from signing new players to working on sponsorship deals

Surely working on new deals is Hammond's responsibility as Director of Football?

Given that these are often deals that commit the club to millions of pounds of financial outlay I think it's reasonable to assume that there's more than just one person involved

zing

[Forbury Lion]

I've met him quite a few times through mutual friends - he's certainly a good laugh, and by the drunken snippets I sometimes hear he plays a very important role in everything financial, from signing new players to working on sponsorship deals

Surely working on new deals is Hammond's responsibility as Director of Football?

Given that these are often deals that commit the club to millions of pounds of financial outlay I think it's reasonable to assume that there's more than just one person involved

Which probably wasn't the case under Anton.

[LWJ]

His son has signed a new contract with us as well.

[SapperBRoyal]

I've always been under the impression that's he's a bitofacunt. Nothing really to base that on mind.

I know a couple of people that have worked with him, and they echo that opinion of him. He disliked Brendan Rodgers because he felt he wasn't being kept in the loop as much as he fwlt he should be, so he ran upstairs to SJM and demanded we sack him, and he got his wish (against SJM's better judgement, so he claimed at the time with it being the hardest decision he had to make). He isn't a football person, much as SJM isn't, and I feel ever so uneasy knowing he's pulling the strings at the club.

What makes you say he's not a football person ?

Interesting take on the Rodgers situation, I'd heard there was some internal friction but thought the sacking came because Brendan kept demanding more money despite having already been given more than his budget and he gave SJM an ultimatum to back him or sack him, which was only going to end one way.

He's a businessman who has been involved at Reading for 20 or so years, so by osmosis if nothing else, he knows a significant amount about running a football club but I do not think he is an intuitive, 'football man'. He is a numbers man, on the executive of a football club. Him straying out of lane to take up new responsibilities will come with risk.

[Nameless]

Has it been suggested he will be taking training sessions, or picking the team, or providing cover at left back ?

From what I can see his additional responsibilities will be taking over the sort of things SJM used to do, and we all know SJM was, by his own admission, hardly a dyed in the wool football man.

I'm not sure what the ideal profile for a football club chief exec is, although I doubt many of them are ex players, which I assume is the only way they would qualify as intuitive football people. Are many current chief execs ex players ? I wonder if they also have the necessary depth of business knowledge to do the job properly or whether they are more figureheads ?