Finances

[Millsy]

Why don't they just sell some T-shirts with "I love Reading FC" on, or perhaps "We've got Meite".

I'd buy some maybe.

[Getthebeerens]

What is the actual punishment for breaking FFP ?

From the soft transfer embargo we have had, it sounds like we have at least been working with the EFL to improve our situation.

FFP clearly not fit for purpose we no longer own our stadium and training ground. I can’t believe that in this COVID world things have not been put in place to control spending in football overall.

I suppose moving forward it’s about getting this wage bill under control and bringing through academy players and selling them. As well as some smart recruitment from lower leagues and abroad. I wonder if that’s why we went down the Pauno route for manger now.

[tidus_mi2]

What is the actual punishment for breaking FFP ?

From the soft transfer embargo we have had, it sounds like we have at least been working with the EFL to improve our situation.

FFP clearly not fit for purpose we no longer own our stadium and training ground. I can’t believe that in this COVID world things have not been put in place to control spending in football overall.

I suppose moving forward it’s about getting this wage bill under control and bringing through academy players and selling them. As well as some smart recruitment from lower leagues and abroad. I wonder if that’s why we went down the Pauno route for manger now.

Points deduction if you go over £39m over 3 seasons which we seem to have absolutely smashed. I think previously they have done it as 1 point per million lost over the £39m limit, don't know if that is still the case.

[Elm Park Kid]

This is why both the government and PL were so reluctant to give any money in terms of covid bailout to the Championship. Teams continued to spend, spend, spend, regardless of their income.

[Snowflake Royal]

This is why both the government and PL were so reluctant to give any money in terms of covid bailout to the Championship. Teams continued to spend, spend, spend, regardless of their income.

What could the majority do?

Take us for example, we made about 1 perm signing from L1.

The clubs are contractually obligated to pay the wages they've already agreed to. They can't just say to the players, "sorry everyone, 50% wage cut because we're in lockdown"

[tidus_mi2]

It would be a bit mean of the EFL to give us a points deduction on our 150th season.

[From Despair To Where?]

I can't help but feel that the way forward is to operate with a first team squad of 18-20 players, supplemented by the academy. Proper squads with q out, I in policy. It would be great to be able to heavily incentivise the contracts. I think that would require enforcement by the EFL. Wouldn't necessarily go as far as a salary cap.


I also dont how enforceable it would be to have contracts where, for example, a 3 year, £3m contract would pay £750,000 in the first year, £1m in the second and £1.25m and the incremental increase being dependant on the player playing in 75% of the games for which he is available. Or maybe signing on fees spread across the length of the contract as a loyalty payment.

I just think radical rethink of pay structures is essential across the league

[Greatwesternline]

The whole point of FFP is the league says this is how much money you can lose, its up to you how you spend it.

At the end of the day, we have been told you much we can spend, and not only have we broken it, we've smashed through it, while selling our stadium and training ground. We are a complete joke. And if other teams who finish below us in the league are annoyed i wouldnt blame them.

i remember when we played Rotherham, and their fans were like, oh look they are bringing a loanee from Porto off the bench.

That isnt a great look for a club claiming poverty.

[Maneki Neko]

What is the actual punishment for breaking FFP ?

From the soft transfer embargo we have had, it sounds like we have at least been working with the EFL to improve our situation.

FFP clearly not fit for purpose we no longer own our stadium and training ground. I can’t believe that in this COVID world things have not been put in place to control spending in football overall.

I suppose moving forward it’s about getting this wage bill under control and bringing through academy players and selling them. As well as some smart recruitment from lower leagues and abroad. I wonder if that’s why we went down the Pauno route for manger now.

we must have one of the best records at this level for that as it is

[CountryRoyal]

The thing that's important to remember, is that none of this should be a surprise to the club or authorities.

And a club who sack their CEO and cooperated with soft embargos should not be punished for the effects of the sacked CEO's tenure 2 years after he was sacked.

There's very little we could have done differently. Sold a couple of players, not signed a couple. That's literally it. In two years. Once the damage was done under Gourlay.


One thing I think is apparent though. We should do absolutely everything, including accepting bids of £0, to move Moore off the wages. He's the last of the crazy deals, and arguably the craziest.

Would happily get rid of Moore off the wage book. Must be one of our if not THE highest earner and he seldom comes close to warranting that these days.

The best defensive spell we’ve had was with him out of the team.

[CountryRoyal]

i remember when we played Rotherham, and their fans were like, oh look they are bringing a loanee from Porto off the bench.

That isnt a great look for a club claiming poverty.

That sounds exotic but without knowledge of the deal is an almost entirely pointless statement.

For a start the average salary of the Portuguese league is considerably lower than the championship, and that’s not even considering an 18 year old. Porto or not.

Plus who know, they might be paying some of his wages, either way I doubt he’s costing us a lot (of money, points is a different story )

[Getthebeerens]

What is the actual punishment for breaking FFP ?

From the soft transfer embargo we have had, it sounds like we have at least been working with the EFL to improve our situation.

FFP clearly not fit for purpose we no longer own our stadium and training ground. I can’t believe that in this COVID world things have not been put in place to control spending in football overall.

I suppose moving forward it’s about getting this wage bill under control and bringing through academy players and selling them. As well as some smart recruitment from lower leagues and abroad. I wonder if that’s why we went down the Pauno route for manger now.

we must have one of the best records at this level for that as it is

Good at the bringing them through part but not so good at the selling them part. I hope our owners cash in on Olise before he runs his contract down. Can’t afford to keep having the likes of Richards and Loader leave for nothing. I read somewhere we are one of the worst clubs in terms of generating revenue through player sales in the Championship.

[Zip]

If we're genuinely in trouble the FL need to take a long hard look at themselves.

We were in a soft transfer embargo two summers ago and came out of it with permission to sign Puscas and Joao for big money.

They allowed us to turn down big money offers for Swift and Loader.

We were in a soft embargo last summer and only really signed Laurent for this season.

We've also moved on McCleary and Gunter. And Baldock and Aluko go at the end of this season. Plus lots more TV money in.

The wages are an absolute disgrace, but they have to have come down this season and again next.

The lack of signings and whole approach has given no signs of desperation for promotion or bust, maybe Bowen's sacking, but replacing him with an unknown with no local experience is hardly promotion or bust.

We now know that our transfer embargo just announced was at least partly down to the filing of accounts, as they've just been published, and could therefore just be the same sort of Admin thing as other clubs.

Not concerned at this point.

Yep. There was something not quite right when we went from being in a soft embargo signing freebies to suddenly paying big money for Joao and Puscas two years ago. The FL sanctioned all of this so I fail to see how they can now hit us hard with a points deduction. Having said that our losses are so bad that we must be in breach of FFP so a points deduction wouldn’t surprise me.

hard to disentangle what is terrible financial management and what is as a result of playing a season and a half without crowds.
surely every club will be financially oxf*rd due to covid and it seems a bit daft to carry on as normal with FFP

Without doubt. I guess it’s going to be the degree of financial loss that will be looked into. Ours is going to be one of the worst I fear.

[Zip]

If we're genuinely in trouble the FL need to take a long hard look at themselves.

We were in a soft transfer embargo two summers ago and came out of it with permission to sign Puscas and Joao for big money.

They allowed us to turn down big money offers for Swift and Loader.

We were in a soft embargo last summer and only really signed Laurent for this season.

We've also moved on McCleary and Gunter. And Baldock and Aluko go at the end of this season. Plus lots more TV money in.

The wages are an absolute disgrace, but they have to have come down this season and again next.

The lack of signings and whole approach has given no signs of desperation for promotion or bust, maybe Bowen's sacking, but replacing him with an unknown with no local experience is hardly promotion or bust.

We now know that our transfer embargo just announced was at least partly down to the filing of accounts, as they've just been published, and could therefore just be the same sort of Admin thing as other clubs.

Not concerned at this point.

Yep. There was something not quite right when we went from being in a soft embargo signing freebies to suddenly paying big money for Joao and Puscas two years ago. The FL sanctioned all of this so I fail to see how they can now hit us hard with a points deduction. Having said that our losses are so bad that we must be in breach of FFP so a points deduction wouldn’t surprise me.

That was the Stadium deal wasn't it?

I'm not sure it's for the EFL to mollycoddle us once we've convinced them we've got this new hefty revenue stream.

The fact we then went out and got Joao, Puscas, Rafael, Boye, Miazga, Ejaria etc with that money rather than use it to help with FFP (assuming it counts towards FFP) was entirely our decision. That's absolutely how it should be of course but we can't then blame anyone else if that gamble fails.

Of course as Elm Park Kid rightly points out , it would have been a gamble of a different kind to have continued that season with the squad we started it with. We threw the dice and there's still a small possibility it may work (RTGs fully on ) but if doesn't then as a club we have to accept what comes with that failure.

You may be right. I suppose buying those players boosted a poor and struggling squad. We may have gone down otherwise. Difficult to see how we can escape a points deduction next season.
If we do go up why would a points deduction not be applied? I have never understood this aspect. Surely if we are guilty the points deduction would apply irrespective of whether we were a PL club.

[Snowflake Royal]

What is the actual punishment for breaking FFP ?

From the soft transfer embargo we have had, it sounds like we have at least been working with the EFL to improve our situation.

FFP clearly not fit for purpose we no longer own our stadium and training ground. I can’t believe that in this COVID world things have not been put in place to control spending in football overall.

I suppose moving forward it’s about getting this wage bill under control and bringing through academy players and selling them. As well as some smart recruitment from lower leagues and abroad. I wonder if that’s why we went down the Pauno route for manger now.

we must have one of the best records at this level for that as it is

Good at the bringing them through part but not so good at the selling them part. I hope our owners cash in on Olise before he runs his contract down. Can’t afford to keep having the likes of Richards and Loader leave for nothing. I read somewhere we are one of the worst clubs in terms of generating revenue through player sales in the Championship.

We've had a weaker period recently, but Tish and Hector brought in a big wedge not that long ago. Think we got some for the likes of Stacey, perhaps on resale?

We had a period where there was little route through which meant little chance to put in the shop window and go higher. But that's much better. And if Olise goes for multi millions as expected that's right back on track.

Obviously if we refuse £8m for Moore, £5m for Swift and £5m for Loader then yeah, we're going to be low on resal value because we're just not selling.

[From Despair To Where?]

i remember when we played Rotherham, and their fans were like, oh look they are bringing a loanee from Porto off the bench.

That isnt a great look for a club claiming poverty.

That sounds exotic but without knowledge of the deal is an almost entirely pointless statement.

For a start the average salary of the Portuguese league is considerably lower than the championship, and that’s not even considering an 18 year old. Porto or not.

Plus who know, they might be paying some of his wages, either way I doubt he’s costing us a lot (of money, points is a different story )

A quick trawl of the internet suggests the average wage for a Porto U21 player is between £500 and £1500 a week.

[The Royal Forester]

Yep. There was something not quite right when we went from being in a soft embargo signing freebies to suddenly paying big money for Joao and Puscas two years ago. The FL sanctioned all of this so I fail to see how they can now hit us hard with a points deduction. Having said that our losses are so bad that we must be in breach of FFP so a points deduction wouldn’t surprise me.

That was the Stadium deal wasn't it?

I'm not sure it's for the EFL to mollycoddle us once we've convinced them we've got this new hefty revenue stream.

The fact we then went out and got Joao, Puscas, Rafael, Boye, Miazga, Ejaria etc with that money rather than use it to help with FFP (assuming it counts towards FFP) was entirely our decision. That's absolutely how it should be of course but we can't then blame anyone else if that gamble fails.

Of course as Elm Park Kid rightly points out , it would have been a gamble of a different kind to have continued that season with the squad we started it with. We threw the dice and there's still a small possibility it may work (RTGs fully on ) but if doesn't then as a club we have to accept what comes with that failure.

You may be right. I suppose buying those players boosted a poor and struggling squad. We may have gone down otherwise. Difficult to see how we can escape a points deduction next season.
If we do go up why would a points deduction not be applied? I have never understood this aspect. Surely if we are guilty the points deduction would apply irrespective of whether we were a PL club.

The deduction will not be applied because the Premier League and the English Football League are run by two different authorities. Although both come under the FA, when the PL broke away from the Football League, they made their own rules. The breakaway was, of course, instigated by the "bigger and richer" clubs to make more money from TV rights etc.

[Zip]

That was the Stadium deal wasn't it?

I'm not sure it's for the EFL to mollycoddle us once we've convinced them we've got this new hefty revenue stream.

The fact we then went out and got Joao, Puscas, Rafael, Boye, Miazga, Ejaria etc with that money rather than use it to help with FFP (assuming it counts towards FFP) was entirely our decision. That's absolutely how it should be of course but we can't then blame anyone else if that gamble fails.

Of course as Elm Park Kid rightly points out , it would have been a gamble of a different kind to have continued that season with the squad we started it with. We threw the dice and there's still a small possibility it may work (RTGs fully on ) but if doesn't then as a club we have to accept what comes with that failure.

You may be right. I suppose buying those players boosted a poor and struggling squad. We may have gone down otherwise. Difficult to see how we can escape a points deduction next season.
If we do go up why would a points deduction not be applied? I have never understood this aspect. Surely if we are guilty the points deduction would apply irrespective of whether we were a PL club.

The deduction will not be applied because the Premier League and the English Football League are run by two different authorities. Although both come under the FA, when the PL broke away from the Football League, they made their own rules. The breakaway was, of course, instigated by the "bigger and richer" clubs to make more money from TV rights etc.

Thanks for the clarity.

[Nameless]

But of course if you incur a punishment it will be waiting for you when you get relegated back into the hand so of the EFL. Unless you are QPR of course in which case they’ll let you throw them a fiver and forget the rest....

[The Royal Forester]

But at least you will have the Parachute Payments as well as the extra income from TV money etc. Should go quite a way to helping out.