Al Jazeera Bombshell about Reading FC?

[Elm Park Kid]

The owners are also responsible for appointing 3 managers in a row with zero track record of management at our level.

I mean, we can of course praise the owners for investing so much of their own money into the club; as well as keeping ticket prices low and generally acting pretty well towards the fans. But there's no question that they deserve criticism for the shear inefficiency and ineffectiveness of their management of the club. We are in the situation we are now because of them.

The EFL is an absolute crazy league that encourages a 'promotion or bust' mentality whilst also punishing those clubs that do 'bust'. But we do have choices about the sort of club we want to be. I'd rather be a Champ side skirting with relegation each season than one that spends 200% of it's income on player wages.

[Nameless]

I'd rather be a Champ side skirting with relegation each season than one that spends 200% of it's income on player wages.

Be a Reading fan and you can have both !

[Pepe the Horseman]

I'd rather be a Champ side skirting with relegation each season than one that spends 200% of it's income on player wages.

Be a Reading fan and you can have both !

lol

[Zip]

Just watched it It should be in the public (supporters of any club) domain. It saddens me that football has gone from a Saturday afternoon with then lads to highly corrupt money laundering. If only this was known when Anton took over the club (and possible subsequence sales)??
The bottom line is the football needs to clean up it act, from the top to the bottom.

About time you posted again. You’ve been slacking.

[Fox Talbot]

Will it be available on catchup or youtube anywhere?

Yes, via YouTube. I think it goes live there at about 5pm, with a slightly longer version as they're not time-limited in that format.

Watched the programme last night. Any more RFC content in the longer version?

I'll take the silence on this as a no, then.

[Millsy]

He’s converted debt into shares in the same way SJM did. I don’t think the rules actually allow him to just ‘give’ the money. Of course he’s not loading ‘us’ with debt, he’s loading himself with debt, except when he’s found ways to legitimately transfer money into the clubs account from other accounts.

I may be getting it wrong, confused as to who joined when, with Anton, Thais, now the Chinese.

But weren't the high wage signings pre-Chinese days? Aluko, Baldock, Moore et al which they inherited?

And also actually hasn't the Chinese investment generally been pretty good i.e. the likes of Ejaria, Puscas, Joao which lead to us missing out on playoffs last year (and in my opinion had we had a better manager would have done it)?

I quite like them.

No. Dai Yongge bought the club in May 17, end of Stam's first season. Gourlay arrived the same time.

So Aluko, Baldock, not selling Moore and giving him a PL wage for years... all under Yongge's watch

Joao, Puscas and Ejaria all his and all arguably unaffordable given our position.

Ok fair enough it was all getting hazy to me, thanks for clearing it up.

Again I can't blame them for splashing the cash hoping we do well. It almost worked last season.

Where I can blame them is splashing the cash on players but then not getting in proven managers who can do something with them.

Still overall for the excitement factor I can't knock owners for at least giving it a go.

[Millsy]

The owners are also responsible for appointing 3 managers in a row with zero track record of management at our level.

I mean, we can of course praise the owners for investing so much of their own money into the club; as well as keeping ticket prices low and generally acting pretty well towards the fans. But there's no question that they deserve criticism for the shear inefficiency and ineffectiveness of their management of the club. We are in the situation we are now because of them.

The EFL is an absolute crazy league that encourages a 'promotion or bust' mentality whilst also punishing those clubs that do 'bust'. But we do have choices about the sort of club we want to be. I'd rather be a Champ side skirting with relegation each season than one that spends 200% of it's income on player wages.

Good post.

No point pumping money into players but cheaping out on managers.

I have no problem with giving the likes of Pauno a go - he may well come really good one day and has certainly shown the potential is possibly there, but generally even good new managers need some time to settle in. When we're desperate to get results in a do or die season in a high risk strategy you want someone proven and safe, not someone who might come good one day.

We've blown it now.

[Brogue]

indeed it's like Waitrose of Caversham employing the store manager of Lidl in Whitley and the area managers wonders why there are pallets of rotting vegetables in the aisles.

[From Despair To Where?]

Except this ex Lidl Manager managed to introduce new methods, motivated the staff and recorded some of the best year end results in a decade.

Certainly out performed that Mr Clement who had Harrods and Fortnum & Masons on his cv.

[karbota]

Fascinating to imagine where we would be if not for the money of Zingarevich, the Thais and the Dais. Madejski sells to someone who wants to own the club but insists upon it remaining self-sufficient.

Best case scenario is probably Brentford. We could have sold Kebe and that summer and brought through HRK and Antonio as replacements, along with Federici or McCarthy if there was interest. Get by with frees and loans and academy players, and the occasional big-ticket purchase funded by a sale (along the lines of Leigertwood and Gorkss).

At some point we'd probably run out of sellable assets, but we'd still have had Morrison, Le Fondre, Hector, Cooper, Tshibola... and I think there's a good chance some other Academy lads would have had greater sale value than in real life. We might well have got relegated because we only narrowly avoided it a few times.[b][u] But seems like it would have been better for the club.

[/u][/b]

There was no Zingarevich money - only promises of it and commitments he made on it.

And all the money in since then isn't just given. It turns into debt, debt that sits on the books. It might be soft debt at the moment, but death, arrest, loss of interest or anything else could mean it suddenly becomes hard debt.

The amount of debt having over football clubs like Reading is ridiculous and unsustainable, and one day the whole financial house of cards is going to come crashing down.

Well feckin said, now where have I heard that before??????.

[Brogue]

Except this ex Lidl Manager managed to introduce new methods, motivated the staff and recorded some of the best year end results in a decade.

Yes but Waitrose is the metaphor for Reading fans, who quite clearly are interested in style over substance.

[Rusty royal]

Just watched it It should be in the public (supporters of any club) domain. It saddens me that football has gone from a Saturday afternoon with then lads to highly corrupt money laundering. If only this was known when Anton took over the club (and possible subsequence sales)??
The bottom line is the football needs to clean up it act, from the top to the bottom.

About time you posted again. You’ve been slacking.

[Nameless]

The owners are also responsible for appointing 3 managers in a row with zero track record of management at our level.

I mean, we can of course praise the owners for investing so much of their own money into the club; as well as keeping ticket prices low and generally acting pretty well towards the fans. But there's no question that they deserve criticism for the shear inefficiency and ineffectiveness of their management of the club. We are in the situation we are now because of them.

The EFL is an absolute crazy league that encourages a 'promotion or bust' mentality whilst also punishing those clubs that do 'bust'. But we do have choices about the sort of club we want to be. I'd rather be a Champ side skirting with relegation each season than one that spends 200% of it's income on player wages.

Good post.

No point pumping money into players but cheaping out on managers.

I have no problem with giving the likes of Pauno a go - he may well come really good one day and has certainly shown the potential is possibly there, but generally even good new managers need some time to settle in. When we're desperate to get results in a do or die season in a high risk strategy you want someone proven and safe, not someone who might come good one day.

We've blown it now.

What sort of idiot gives the manager’s job to complete novices ! I mean the likes of McGhee, Pardew and McDermott had zero games as managers in the league when we risked them... Clarke, Bowen, Clement all had tonnes of top notch football experience. I don’t think there is a magic formula for appointing a manager, even the great Sir Steve Coppell has some serious negatives on his CV.....

[karbota]

Just watched it It should be in the public (supporters of any club) domain. It saddens me that football has gone from a Saturday afternoon with then lads to highly corrupt money laundering. If only this was known when Anton took over the club (and possible subsequence sales)??
The bottom line is the football needs to clean up it act, from the top to the bottom.

And that my friend is the way it is in all walks of life when dealing with these foreign scammers.

[Hendo]

Just watched it It should be in the public (supporters of any club) domain. It saddens me that football has gone from a Saturday afternoon with then lads to highly corrupt money laundering. If only this was known when Anton took over the club (and possible subsequence sales)??
The bottom line is the football needs to clean up it act, from the top to the bottom.

And that my friend is the way it is in all walks of life when dealing with these foreign scammers.

Like Mel Morris, who is ... checks notes ... English?

[Nameless]

Just watched it It should be in the public (supporters of any club) domain. It saddens me that football has gone from a Saturday afternoon with then lads to highly corrupt money laundering. If only this was known when Anton took over the club (and possible subsequence sales)??
The bottom line is the football needs to clean up it act, from the top to the bottom.

And that my friend is the way it is in all walks of life when dealing with these foreign scammers.

Like Mel Morris, who is ... checks notes ... English?

Samuelson is pretty solid English too.....

[Zip]

Just watched it It should be in the public (supporters of any club) domain. It saddens me that football has gone from a Saturday afternoon with then lads to highly corrupt money laundering. If only this was known when Anton took over the club (and possible subsequence sales)??
The bottom line is the football needs to clean up it act, from the top to the bottom.

About time you posted again. You’ve been slacking.

Good to see you back posting. Long may it continue.

[Hendo]

And that my friend is the way it is in all walks of life when dealing with these foreign scammers.

Like Mel Morris, who is ... checks notes ... English?

Samuelson is pretty solid English too.....

Well quite.

[Nameless]

I’ve not had much formal involvement in money laundering, but my very basic understanding is that for it to be successful you put ‘dirty’ money into a business and then extract ‘clean’ money.
From what I can work out the Russians put some money into the club (or rather into SJM’s coffers) but I can’t quite see where they took money out. They spent borrowed money and left the club to repay it but did they actually ‘launder’ anything ?
My belief at the time was Anton was a spoilt rich kid being indulged by a rich parent rather than there was obvious criminality going on. The involvement of Papa Zingarevich was known and the fact that the money was his was known.

[Lower West]

indeed it's like Waitrose of Caversham employing the store manager of Lidl in Whitley and the area managers wonders why there are pallets of rotting vegetables in the aisles.

Lidl are expanding while Waitrose are closing stores. Lidl have simply stuck to their formula with no deviation .