I said on another thread only an idiot would go to Hull City seems as though I got that one wrong.. I thank Selles for what he has done at Reading and I will wish him well in his new job for however long (or short) that may be. When Hull came knocking Dai's eyes lit up at the prospect of a few more quid in compensation. I think someone from inside the club (Noel Hunt?) will be upgraded to manager/Head Coach, without a pay rise of course . I wonder how Selles will get on with the chairman/owner interfering in every part of his job, something he hasn't had at the SCL.
Supporting my team has been a bit of a rollercoaster these last few years. One bit of good news is followed by two or three bits of bad news. I fully expect the next next blow will be the present takeover (if it exists) will be called off, January will see our better players and the youngsters who have a bright future will be sent on their way with some more compo for Dai, of course. IF we last this season, we won't be back next year, but I will look out for your results, hopefully, for you, in the Championship. Good luck for the rest of the season, after Saturday. Remember though if you get the three points this weekend, they may not be in your total at the end of the season, so you may as well give a last hurrah by letting us win!
Remember though if you get the three points this weekend, they may not be in your total at the end of the season, so you may as well give a last hurrah by letting us win!
We can say that's what we did if we do lose @theRoyalBiscuit enjoy what you can while you can and hopefully something will turn up and save the day...even if it's still in League One!
It is a really sad and worrying situation and I feel sorry for all the genuine Reading supporters. You have certainly been through some ups and downs over the last three seasons or so (mainly downs), @theRoyalBiscuit .
@theRoyalBiscuit you are a classy poster, and I can only echo the sentiments of @Blue_since_1990 above. The idea of a fanbase losing their club is heartbreaking, banter aside.
I can't personally see how you get out of it - Dai has previous for sending clubs to the wall and simply does not care about the situation, evidently. I'll be hoping for a rabbit being pulled out of a hat, but it is looking dire.
If you do go to the wall, I only hope it serves as a true wake up call to the sport (spoiler: it probably won't) as the plights of smaller clubs like Bury and Macclesfield have not moved the needle enough.
I can only wish you well @theRoyalBiscuit you have always had a sense of awareness when it comes to the whole picture especially the events surrounding the original thread.
I don’t know how this ends apart from administration. This doesn’t have to be the end of the world as Luton proved with their reset. But an adjustment of fan’s ambitions and shedding the wonderful academy is inevitable.
Thank you for all the messages of support and wishes. It goes to show that even local rivals can be friendly and show sympathy. I would take administration as a way out of this mess, even though the stadium and training ground won't be included and we have to ground share, and the points deduction, even if that meant League 2. Hopefully, though, we have gained enough points to make relegation less likely. N.B. I would rather not ground share at the SwinesDen. but if that was the only option, then so be it. Have you got room at your new training ground or your stadium? Oh, the look on the faces of " the bed sheet boys" would be fun to see.
What happens if, as seems possible from what I've read, Dai gets jailed in China and presumably forfeits his assets? Presumably there's no protection for the club at all?
@railwaysteve that's right, the planning conditions prevented it and no-one from the council to the fans of the club were prepared to enter into the process for modifying those conditions. All concerned were more horrified by the prospect of losing an asset than by losing the entire club. The potential buyer has moved on now, I wouldn't go so far as to say that the asset is unsaleable but it is certainly less in demand, particularly as the council have shown their hand regarding changes of ownership let alone changes of usage.
It is not the fans' fault, they have been entirely helpless and largely in the dark, we ourselves sold the name of Adams Park to Causeway. We were horrified at the material time and it only came out a decade later that the club were on the brink of administration; incredible that a members' club could be run that close to the brink without notifying the members, but having been through that and worse following the Chairboys, it is impossible to have anything but the deepest sympathy for Reading fans.
Who knows? My view is that the club and all his assets would go to the banks he is alleged to repay his debts/dubious loans from. How that would impact on the club, I have no idea. I doubt if anyone else has either.
I suspect the 2 likely alternative scenarios are as outlined by our friend @theRoyalBiscuit
the banks lose patience with the failute of Yongge to close a sale of the club & as a consequence foreclose on the loans & force administration. two things then happens the club gets hit with the ususal EFL penalties including points deduction & transfer embargo possibly leading to relegation & secondly the banks sell the assets to an interested party - perhaps even Couhig.
Yongge gets jailed in PRC leading to the forfeiture of all his assets including Reading FC, the stadium & Bearwood. The problem here is outside of the lenders & a few Yongge insiders no-one knows who has which asset as security against which loan & the banks are much less likley in that circumstance to work together meaning their is a high chance that the assets will be sold piecemeal & the club ceases to exist.
I sincerely hope that the neither happens & Yongge comes to his senses & strikes a deal with someone soon.
Genuine question(s) to Mr Biscuit. What was the feeling amongst the fanbase, if you can remember that far back, when Dai took over the club? Given his track record, was there apprehension? Did it start off okay? At what point did the alarm bells start ringing?
As far as I remember there was apprehension at the time the takeover was announced, due mainly to the Premier League having blocked his takeover of Hull City, albeit, he wasn't the person the PL took exception to. Don't forget. the two clubs he folded were wound up well after he bought us, so other than his failed bid for Hull there was not much of track record. i would guess about 50/50 for and against. He has never shared his ambitions for the club, unlike most, if not all new owners do and remained silent about the affairs of the club which gave some fans (me included) some doubts about his motives. Some of course welcomed him as the new messiah as we had been sold to a Russian non billionaire, who couldn't afford to pay the balance owning and the club reverted to John Madejski who sold it to a group of Thai's who sold off some of the club's land to themselves, and gained permission to build Royal Elm Park a housing/shopping, area, which even now, doesn't exist, although a few spades were dug in the ground, to preserve Planning Permission.
Then Dai started to pay out lots of money on new players, which pleased some of the less enlightened fans, probably the ones who moaned that John Madejski didn't spend enough (even though that got us to the Prem). but made many of us wary. The trouble was he took advice from his friend Kia the Superagent, sorry I can't remember how to spell his name, only that it begins with a K. It turned out though that most, if not all of the players signed turned out to KA's clients. Needless to say these players were on high wages but were rubbish on the pitch. Then the EFL got involved and deducted points for breaching the P & S rules, or whatever they were called at the time. That, i think started to really set the alarm bells ringing. As soon as the embargo ended Dai and his agent friend were up to their old ways again and exceeding the limits on spending. By now the fanbase was turning to, I guess 60/40 against him. More deductions followed and the bells were got louder. To compliment the awful signings chopping and changing the manager none seemed to last more than a season.
So, in summary, Pretty much 50/50 on the takeover.
OK(ish) for a couple of years
Alarm bells started ringing soon after the takeover for some but took a couple of years or so for some to hear them, but got deafening about 2-3 years ago.
The only thing I will thank him for is Bearwood Training Ground, even though that is now proving to be a millstone around our neck. At least it has given us some youngsters who are keeping the club afloat and doing well in the team the last couple of seasons. But I expect many of them will be moved on as I am sure Dai will see ££££'s signs in front of his eyes.
From what I have read on their website, it looks like Noel Hunt will be taking charge of the first team for the time being. Apparently Hunt has been their under 21 coach.
A bit annoying that the wind may act as an equalizer tomorrow, as one would perhaps expect a demotivated team. Mind you, it just takes a goal off someone's backside in the 2nd minute to change the complexion of a game, no matter the prior motivations, so perhaps amateur psychology is limited in it's predictive benefits to begin with!
Comments
Could be an interesting atmosphere in that away end on Saturday...
Just shows how quickly things can change. The first few weeks of positivity for Reading in a while and it’s ripped away from them. Poor sods
Is there such thing as caretaker manager bounce or are we safe?
The way things are going for them I expect the next manager will be Paolo Di Canio
he'll be back at Swindon by April
It will be a sea of bedsheets if they can get Martin O'Neil by Saturday.
Joey Barton's available!
As their next manager is likely to be a dead cat they may well sneak a draw on Saturday.
Wingy could be going north after all.
He'll do whatever his missus tells him
🙏
I said on another thread only an idiot would go to Hull City seems as though I got that one wrong.. I thank Selles for what he has done at Reading and I will wish him well in his new job for however long (or short) that may be. When Hull came knocking Dai's eyes lit up at the prospect of a few more quid in compensation. I think someone from inside the club (Noel Hunt?) will be upgraded to manager/Head Coach, without a pay rise of course . I wonder how Selles will get on with the chairman/owner interfering in every part of his job, something he hasn't had at the SCL.
Supporting my team has been a bit of a rollercoaster these last few years. One bit of good news is followed by two or three bits of bad news. I fully expect the next next blow will be the present takeover (if it exists) will be called off, January will see our better players and the youngsters who have a bright future will be sent on their way with some more compo for Dai, of course. IF we last this season, we won't be back next year, but I will look out for your results, hopefully, for you, in the Championship. Good luck for the rest of the season, after Saturday. Remember though if you get the three points this weekend, they may not be in your total at the end of the season, so you may as well give a last hurrah by letting us win!
See, now if Couhig was in charge, JJ would no doubt be caretaker manager right now…and he has a 100% record as we all know!
Remember though if you get the three points this weekend, they may not be in your total at the end of the season, so you may as well give a last hurrah by letting us win!
We can say that's what we did if we do lose @theRoyalBiscuit enjoy what you can while you can and hopefully something will turn up and save the day...even if it's still in League One!
It is a really sad and worrying situation and I feel sorry for all the genuine Reading supporters. You have certainly been through some ups and downs over the last three seasons or so (mainly downs), @theRoyalBiscuit .
@theRoyalBiscuit you are a classy poster, and I can only echo the sentiments of @Blue_since_1990 above. The idea of a fanbase losing their club is heartbreaking, banter aside.
I can't personally see how you get out of it - Dai has previous for sending clubs to the wall and simply does not care about the situation, evidently. I'll be hoping for a rabbit being pulled out of a hat, but it is looking dire.
If you do go to the wall, I only hope it serves as a true wake up call to the sport (spoiler: it probably won't) as the plights of smaller clubs like Bury and Macclesfield have not moved the needle enough.
I can only wish you well @theRoyalBiscuit you have always had a sense of awareness when it comes to the whole picture especially the events surrounding the original thread.
I don’t know how this ends apart from administration. This doesn’t have to be the end of the world as Luton proved with their reset. But an adjustment of fan’s ambitions and shedding the wonderful academy is inevitable.
Fingers crossed for you after Saturday
Thank you for all the messages of support and wishes. It goes to show that even local rivals can be friendly and show sympathy. I would take administration as a way out of this mess, even though the stadium and training ground won't be included and we have to ground share, and the points deduction, even if that meant League 2. Hopefully, though, we have gained enough points to make relegation less likely. N.B. I would rather not ground share at the SwinesDen. but if that was the only option, then so be it. Have you got room at your new training ground or your stadium? Oh, the look on the faces of " the bed sheet boys" would be fun to see.
I thought the reason the Rob Couhig deal for Bearwood fell through was that there was a planning condition that it could only be used by Reading
What happens if, as seems possible from what I've read, Dai gets jailed in China and presumably forfeits his assets? Presumably there's no protection for the club at all?
@railwaysteve that's right, the planning conditions prevented it and no-one from the council to the fans of the club were prepared to enter into the process for modifying those conditions. All concerned were more horrified by the prospect of losing an asset than by losing the entire club. The potential buyer has moved on now, I wouldn't go so far as to say that the asset is unsaleable but it is certainly less in demand, particularly as the council have shown their hand regarding changes of ownership let alone changes of usage.
It is not the fans' fault, they have been entirely helpless and largely in the dark, we ourselves sold the name of Adams Park to Causeway. We were horrified at the material time and it only came out a decade later that the club were on the brink of administration; incredible that a members' club could be run that close to the brink without notifying the members, but having been through that and worse following the Chairboys, it is impossible to have anything but the deepest sympathy for Reading fans.
Who knows? My view is that the club and all his assets would go to the banks he is alleged to repay his debts/dubious loans from. How that would impact on the club, I have no idea. I doubt if anyone else has either.
I suspect the 2 likely alternative scenarios are as outlined by our friend @theRoyalBiscuit
I sincerely hope that the neither happens & Yongge comes to his senses & strikes a deal with someone soon.
Genuine question(s) to Mr Biscuit. What was the feeling amongst the fanbase, if you can remember that far back, when Dai took over the club? Given his track record, was there apprehension? Did it start off okay? At what point did the alarm bells start ringing?
As far as I remember there was apprehension at the time the takeover was announced, due mainly to the Premier League having blocked his takeover of Hull City, albeit, he wasn't the person the PL took exception to. Don't forget. the two clubs he folded were wound up well after he bought us, so other than his failed bid for Hull there was not much of track record. i would guess about 50/50 for and against. He has never shared his ambitions for the club, unlike most, if not all new owners do and remained silent about the affairs of the club which gave some fans (me included) some doubts about his motives. Some of course welcomed him as the new messiah as we had been sold to a Russian non billionaire, who couldn't afford to pay the balance owning and the club reverted to John Madejski who sold it to a group of Thai's who sold off some of the club's land to themselves, and gained permission to build Royal Elm Park a housing/shopping, area, which even now, doesn't exist, although a few spades were dug in the ground, to preserve Planning Permission.
Then Dai started to pay out lots of money on new players, which pleased some of the less enlightened fans, probably the ones who moaned that John Madejski didn't spend enough (even though that got us to the Prem). but made many of us wary. The trouble was he took advice from his friend Kia the Superagent, sorry I can't remember how to spell his name, only that it begins with a K. It turned out though that most, if not all of the players signed turned out to KA's clients. Needless to say these players were on high wages but were rubbish on the pitch. Then the EFL got involved and deducted points for breaching the P & S rules, or whatever they were called at the time. That, i think started to really set the alarm bells ringing. As soon as the embargo ended Dai and his agent friend were up to their old ways again and exceeding the limits on spending. By now the fanbase was turning to, I guess 60/40 against him. More deductions followed and the bells were got louder. To compliment the awful signings chopping and changing the manager none seemed to last more than a season.
So, in summary, Pretty much 50/50 on the takeover.
OK(ish) for a couple of years
Alarm bells started ringing soon after the takeover for some but took a couple of years or so for some to hear them, but got deafening about 2-3 years ago.
The only thing I will thank him for is Bearwood Training Ground, even though that is now proving to be a millstone around our neck. At least it has given us some youngsters who are keeping the club afloat and doing well in the team the last couple of seasons. But I expect many of them will be moved on as I am sure Dai will see ££££'s signs in front of his eyes.
Selles gone...
https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2024/december/06/ruben-selles-departs/
no mention of who is taking the team tomorrow
From what I have read on their website, it looks like Noel Hunt will be taking charge of the first team for the time being. Apparently Hunt has been their under 21 coach.
A bit annoying that the wind may act as an equalizer tomorrow, as one would perhaps expect a demotivated team. Mind you, it just takes a goal off someone's backside in the 2nd minute to change the complexion of a game, no matter the prior motivations, so perhaps amateur psychology is limited in it's predictive benefits to begin with!
I think they will be up for it tomorrow. I am expecting a tough game and a noisy away following.