CONFRIMED: Takeover collapsed; Back to square one

[Forbury Lion]

I've read some utter tosh about this situation on X etc over the last day or so.

A club in our position should be biting Mike Ashley's hands off as an owner, that's blatantly obvious to anyone with a minimum of common sense.

The issue is whether the current owner will sell to him.

The question is whether a certain football agent has arranged for a certain amount of money to be placed in an envelope and left on his doorstep if a certain bullshitting businessman has a bid accepted.

The positive is that the certain bullshitting businessman went on Talksport and said the club was screwed over by a certain football agent, so my hope is that certain football agent heard that and now treats the bullshitting businessman with extreme prejudice.

[Elm Park Kid]

Welcome to modern football.

We tried to get a couple of Hollywood stars to buy us out and make a documentary but we didn't have enough lovable underdogs living in the town.

Tbf, I think we'd take Sauron as owner if he we thought it would bring success. Got loads of resources from pillaging the planet and seems to take a long term view to achieve his goal of world domination. Plus would have a keen eye on games.

Are we really fussed about success at the moment or just having a club?

Football fans always want the next thing that's just out of reach. The moment we're stable we'll start moaning about doing better in the league, the moment we do better in the league we'll demand a play off run, once in the play off places we'll demand automatic promotion . . . and so on and so on.

[From Despair To Where?]

I've read some utter tosh about this situation on X etc over the last day or so.

A club in our position should be biting Mike Ashley's hands off as an owner, that's blatantly obvious to anyone with a minimum of common sense.

The issue is whether the current owner will sell to him.

One of them literally just posted, without irony, that this will end with us forever languishing in the bottom 6 of the PL. Fcuk me, how will we cope?

I liked the bloke who claimed Newcastle had never been relegated before Ashley came along.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Anybody know how legitimate the "RFC News" Twitter handle is? They have said very little since the summer. But today:

- Club pushing for a quick sale. Ashley and a US consortium the key players. Storey and Red Bird not happening.

- Bowen and players think Selles should be sacked but there is no money to do it until ownership situation sorted.

[Stranded]

I've read some utter tosh about this situation on X etc over the last day or so.

A club in our position should be biting Mike Ashley's hands off as an owner, that's blatantly obvious to anyone with a minimum of common sense.

The issue is whether the current owner will sell to him.

One of them literally just posted, without irony, that this will end with us forever languishing in the bottom 6 of the PL. Fcuk me, how will we cope?

I liked the bloke who claimed Newcastle had never been relegated before Ashley came along.

You know, I get why you may not like him and he is definitely a twat but he left the club pretty much exactly when he bought them (his last full season saw them 12th, the season before he bought them, they were 13th) and whilst there were 2 relegations, both were following by 2 immediate promotions, gaining 102 and 94 points respectively, a 5th place PL finish and a run to the QF of the Europa league - that's not too bad from a pre Saudi perspective - plus they were financially sound.

[Winston Biscuit]

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/local-news/mike-ashley-wipes-newcastle-uniteds-1361590

[WestYorksRoyal]

One of them literally just posted, without irony, that this will end with us forever languishing in the bottom 6 of the PL. Fcuk me, how will we cope?

I liked the bloke who claimed Newcastle had never been relegated before Ashley came along.

You know, I get why you may not like him and he is definitely a twat but he left the club pretty much exactly when he bought them (his last full season saw them 12th, the season before he bought them, they were 13th) and whilst there were 2 relegations, both were following by 2 immediate promotions, gaining 102 and 94 points respectively, a 5th place PL finish and a run to the QF of the Europa league - that's not too bad from a pre Saudi perspective - plus they were financially sound.

His management also helped attract the Saudis. No losses meant the full FFP budget to play around with. Basically set a platform for what they're doing now.

I would say I'd be happy with the same, but SJM set the platform for somebody else to elevate us to the next level and look what happened. I'm not sure I'll ever have ambitions beyond the Championship again.

[Elm Park Kid]

Anybody know how legitimate the "RFC News" Twitter handle is? They have said very little since the summer. But today:

- Club pushing for a quick sale. Ashley and a US consortium the key players. Storey and Red Bird not happening.

- Bowen and players think Selles should be sacked but there is no money to do it until ownership situation sorted.

Isn't that a GetReading account that stopped after they got rid of Jonathan Low? I can't see any new tweets there?

[RoyalBlue]

Anybody know how legitimate the "RFC News" Twitter handle is? They have said very little since the summer. But today:

- Club pushing for a quick sale. Ashley and a US consortium the key players. Storey and Red Bird not happening.

- Bowen and players think Selles should be sacked but there is no money to do it until ownership situation sorted.

They don't need (extra) money to sack him. His only recourse is to sue for breach of contract and he won't be able to demonstrate loss in that case provided (and I know that's a big proviso at present) they continue to pay him his monthly salary and other benefits until the end of his fixed term contract.

I suspect the real issue is that they don't have the funds to recruit a replacement for him, so the role would have to be performed by someone already on the club's payroll.

[Snowflake Royal]

Is Mike Ashley the best possible owner to return us back to the 'Reading way' and recreate the glory days? Probably not.

Is he a good option for now - definitely yes.

Maguire was on BBC Berkshire this morning saying that Ashley 'lacks ambition' - ie, he's not going to pour in vast amounts of his own money to catapult us up the leagues. Well . . . this might be controversial . . . but, good. Dai's problem was thinking he could buy success, regardless of how poorly the club was run, and then had a tantrum when it didn't work. If Ashley is thinking that with some careful management and spending he can get Reading back into the Championship on the cheap and then sell up for profit - fair enough.

I suppose it depends what he buys at in regards of making a profit. If he can run us sensibly and leave the footballing decisions to the football people at the club, and actually create a strategy at the club that is sensible, then I can certainly see things going well with him.

Running us well, it should be possible to get us knocking around the edge of the Championship play offs and maybe sneak a season or two in the PL.

That's still pretty solid success given our size and history. And probably about as fun as football realisticay gets for a club like us.

[Elm Park Kid]

Anybody know how legitimate the "RFC News" Twitter handle is? They have said very little since the summer. But today:

- Club pushing for a quick sale. Ashley and a US consortium the key players. Storey and Red Bird not happening.

- Bowen and players think Selles should be sacked but there is no money to do it until ownership situation sorted.

They don't need (extra) money to sack him. His only recourse is to sue for breach of contract and he won't be able to demonstrate loss in that case provided (and I know that's a big proviso at present) they continue to pay him his monthly salary and other benefits until the end of his fixed term contract.

I suspect the real issue is that they don't have the funds to recruit a replacement for him, so the role would have to be performed by someone already on the club's payroll.

Not being able to afford to replace him is practically the same thing as not being able to afford to sack him.

[leon]

Anybody know how legitimate the "RFC News" Twitter handle is? They have said very little since the summer. But today:

- Club pushing for a quick sale. Ashley and a US consortium the key players. Storey and Red Bird not happening.

- Bowen and players think Selles should be sacked but there is no money to do it until ownership situation sorted.

They don't need (extra) money to sack him. His only recourse is to sue for breach of contract and he won't be able to demonstrate loss in that case provided (and I know that's a big proviso at present) they continue to pay him his monthly salary and other benefits until the end of his fixed term contract.

I suspect the real issue is that they don't have the funds to recruit a replacement for him, so the role would have to be performed by someone already on the club's payroll.

Not being able to afford to replace him is practically the same thing as not being able to afford to sack him.

As has been noted previously, if we have no in house replacement.

[Snowflake Royal]

Anybody know how legitimate the "RFC News" Twitter handle is? They have said very little since the summer. But today:

- Club pushing for a quick sale. Ashley and a US consortium the key players. Storey and Red Bird not happening.

- Bowen and players think Selles should be sacked but there is no money to do it until ownership situation sorted.

They don't need (extra) money to sack him. His only recourse is to sue for breach of contract and he won't be able to demonstrate loss in that case provided (and I know that's a big proviso at present) they continue to pay him his monthly salary and other benefits until the end of his fixed term contract.

I suspect the real issue is that they don't have the funds to recruit a replacement for him, so the role would have to be performed by someone already on the club's payroll.

And Bowen has been burned before, and Hunt would reasonably expect a pay rise to do it. Relatively minor barriers.

The only possible issue for not being able to afford to sack Selles is if his contract stipulates he's paid in full on dismissal. But just put him on gardening leave.

If we have someone who will make the decision, and Bowen is willing to take it on short term, there is nothing stopping us.

[under the tin]

Is Mike Ashley the best possible owner to return us back to the 'Reading way' and recreate the glory days? Probably not.

Is he a good option for now - definitely yes.

Maguire was on BBC Berkshire this morning saying that Ashley 'lacks ambition' - ie, he's not going to pour in vast amounts of his own money to catapult us up the leagues. Well . . . this might be controversial . . . but, good. Dai's problem was thinking he could buy success, regardless of how poorly the club was run, and then had a tantrum when it didn't work. If Ashley is thinking that with some careful management and spending he can get Reading back into the Championship on the cheap and then sell up for profit - fair enough.

I suppose it depends what he buys at in regards of making a profit. If he can run us sensibly and leave the footballing decisions to the football people at the club, and actually create a strategy at the club that is sensible, then I can certainly see things going well with him.

Running us well, it should be possible to get us knocking around the edge of the Championship play offs and maybe sneak a season or two in the PL.

That's still pretty solid success given our size and history. And probably about as fun as football realisticay gets for a club like us.

Agreed.
For me, I don't care if we never get into the PL ever again.
We reached the summit once, and all realised the view from the top was not what it was cracked up to be.
Player wages/contracts spiral, staff retention/recruitment difficult, kick off times moved to suit the big brands on the TV, not the fans.
It's a busted flush of a competition. They can shove it.
Championship is a better league

[Forbury Lion]

Anybody know how legitimate the "RFC News" Twitter handle is? They have said very little since the summer. But today:

- Club pushing for a quick sale. Ashley and a US consortium the key players. Storey and Red Bird not happening.

- Bowen and players think Selles should be sacked but there is no money to do it until ownership situation sorted.

They don't need (extra) money to sack him. His only recourse is to sue for breach of contract and he won't be able to demonstrate loss in that case provided (and I know that's a big proviso at present) they continue to pay him his monthly salary and other benefits until the end of his fixed term contract.

I suspect the real issue is that they don't have the funds to recruit a replacement for him, so the role would have to be performed by someone already on the club's payroll.

Unless his contract had a performance related clause, they can't sack him for failing to meet a perceived performance level, especially without having warned him about it.
They will have to pay his contract up.
Probably not done so because the new owners will want to appoint their own manager and backroom staff, so by sacking Selles they'd only have the options of Bowen or Hunt, plus it will need the CEO or Owner to sign off on it and they're probably not taking calls.

[WestYorksRoyal]

If a takeover is close, I guess it makes no sense to pull the trigger now whatever options we have. No doubt a new owner would have their own opinion and resources to look at more palatable options.

[Snowflake Royal]

I suppose it depends what he buys at in regards of making a profit. If he can run us sensibly and leave the footballing decisions to the football people at the club, and actually create a strategy at the club that is sensible, then I can certainly see things going well with him.

Running us well, it should be possible to get us knocking around the edge of the Championship play offs and maybe sneak a season or two in the PL.

That's still pretty solid success given our size and history. And probably about as fun as football realisticay gets for a club like us.

Agreed.
For me, I don't care if we never get into the PL ever again.
We reached the summit once, and all realised the view from the top was not what it was cracked up to be.
Player wages/contracts spiral, staff retention/recruitment difficult, kick off times moved to suit the big brands on the TV, not the fans.
It's a busted flush of a competition. They can shove it.
Championship is a better league

Preach.

An FACup would be nice though.

[Horsham Royal]

I suppose it depends what he buys at in regards of making a profit. If he can run us sensibly and leave the footballing decisions to the football people at the club, and actually create a strategy at the club that is sensible, then I can certainly see things going well with him.

Running us well, it should be possible to get us knocking around the edge of the Championship play offs and maybe sneak a season or two in the PL.

That's still pretty solid success given our size and history. And probably about as fun as football realisticay gets for a club like us.

Agreed.
For me, I don't care if we never get into the PL ever again.
We reached the summit once, and all realised the view from the top was not what it was cracked up to be.
Player wages/contracts spiral, staff retention/recruitment difficult, kick off times moved to suit the big brands on the TV, not the fans.
It's a busted flush of a competition. They can shove it.
Championship is a better league

+ lots

[Elm Park Kid]

Anybody know how legitimate the "RFC News" Twitter handle is? They have said very little since the summer. But today:

- Club pushing for a quick sale. Ashley and a US consortium the key players. Storey and Red Bird not happening.

- Bowen and players think Selles should be sacked but there is no money to do it until ownership situation sorted.

They don't need (extra) money to sack him. His only recourse is to sue for breach of contract and he won't be able to demonstrate loss in that case provided (and I know that's a big proviso at present) they continue to pay him his monthly salary and other benefits until the end of his fixed term contract.

I suspect the real issue is that they don't have the funds to recruit a replacement for him, so the role would have to be performed by someone already on the club's payroll.

And Bowen has been burned before, and Hunt would reasonably expect a pay rise to do it. Relatively minor barriers.

The only possible issue for not being able to afford to sack Selles is if his contract stipulates he's paid in full on dismissal. But just put him on gardening leave.

If we have someone who will make the decision, and Bowen is willing to take it on short term, there is nothing stopping us.

Who then do the jobs that Hunt/Bowen currently do? If we say that they can be covered internally then why are we paying for Hunt and Bowen in the first place? Also, do we really want to accept 'second choices' for those positions right now - I would have thought that Bowen's job is more important than Selles to be frank.

[Snowflake Royal]

They don't need (extra) money to sack him. His only recourse is to sue for breach of contract and he won't be able to demonstrate loss in that case provided (and I know that's a big proviso at present) they continue to pay him his monthly salary and other benefits until the end of his fixed term contract.

I suspect the real issue is that they don't have the funds to recruit a replacement for him, so the role would have to be performed by someone already on the club's payroll.

And Bowen has been burned before, and Hunt would reasonably expect a pay rise to do it. Relatively minor barriers.

The only possible issue for not being able to afford to sack Selles is if his contract stipulates he's paid in full on dismissal. But just put him on gardening leave.

If we have someone who will make the decision, and Bowen is willing to take it on short term, there is nothing stopping us.

Who then do the jobs that Hunt/Bowen currently do? If we say that they can be covered internally then why are we paying for Hunt and Bowen in the first place? Also, do we really want to accept 'second choices' for those positions right now - I would have thought that Bowen's job is more important than Selles to be frank.

A couple of people step up a bit for a couple of months.

There's no one more important than Manager right now. All the sale stuff will be lawyers. Bowen can brief people, but that's delagateable or can be done at the same time.

It's two months before any transfers can happen and we have an embargo.

Anything Bowen is doing can wait.

We need points on the board.