He will have to prove he was given assurances, and that he met his obligations, but then also crucially as @ReadingMarginalista says that Dai pulling the rug was responsible for his reasonable losses and not just that he spaffed some money he was never getting back and wishes he hadn't.
Rob has already been paid back the 5 million he lent the club, with interest. What he wants now is compensation for the loss of 8 million he would have made if the sale had gone through, according to him. Claiming for legal costs etc. he paid for is one thing, but claiming for profits he may have made is another! How can he be sure he would have made a profit? He could have made a loss just as easily, perhaps Dai will claim a share of what Dai saved Rob by not selling to him. This whole process is so crazy, that anything is possible.
Glad we did you a favour last night, good luck for Saturday.
I thought that Couhig's basis for sueing was that Dai Yongge had broken the terms of the exclusivity agreement. Whilst Couhig had stumped up a loan on the basis of being the sole interested party and was ready to complete, Yongge was still negotiating with other parties. If that is indeed the case, then he has every right to seek redress.
Whether this new party has any more success in closing than others have had remains to be seen, but the fact that the ghost of his previous deal is still casting a shadow over proceedings is no-one's fault but Yongge's.
Rob Couhig has made an unbelievable amount of money by trying it on. He’s unbelievably ballsy. But we are now seeing he is largely in it for himself.
With Wycombe, he saw an opportunity to make millions out of the club. The way to do that was by getting the percentage of ownership changed on the proviso that certain improvements would be made to the stadium.
The deal to extend his shareholding from 75% to 90% two years ago was on the proviso he would fund a new access road. The agreement also included “expanding the car park, reconstruction of the home terrace, the Origin stand and refurbishment of the Frank Adams stand.”
Extending his shareholding allowed him to sell the club for significantly more than before. But the agreement has not been honoured and shows no signs of ever being honoured by the current owners who have inherited the situation.
Would be interested to hear the latest on this from the Trust but Couhig benefitted massively from this and is trying to benefit from Reading too.
I completely agree. In addition to that, didn't he put the thumbscrews on the Trust getting massive concessions on the asking price, knowing we were in no position to turn down the reduced offer for the 75% stake?
Court case just finished. As i understand it (and I am no legal expert).
Club can be sold, but with x amount of million going into escrow, in other words given to a third party.
New court case in June, not sure if this is the original case of Couhigs claim against Dai.
The third party to give the escrow to the "winner" of the June case.
It also appears that the EFL has told Dai notice he must resign and he will be disqualified from April 4th.
Dai's options now are:-
Sell to RC, court case in June does not happen, Dai is out of the club and we move on with Rob at the helm. Quite a few fans have taken against lately so he may not be welcomed with open arms.
Sell to the latest buyer (Mr Platek) and put some of the proceeds, six million has been mentioned, depending on the outcome of the case in June, he may or may not get the escrow back..
Do nothing, refuse to sell to anyone get disqualified, Club gets kicked out of the League, we restart in non-league. Not sure how/where/if Dai would be accepted. Finance implications to Dai I do not know.
He says I have had enough and folds the club now, He gats nothing. Is he mad enough to do this? I just don't know
In other words after the court case, nothing seems to have changed much.
Can't imagine there's any indication at all that either Dai or the one person Dai was prepared to sell to have a spare £6m they don't mind bunging in account with barely a 50/50 chance of getting it back later if the lawyers haven't spent it all first.
I wish the very best for Reading, but their fans lambasting Couhig after some of them previously sent him and his family death threats is a little rich. I know it was the usual oafish minority, but I doubt Rob is tossing and turning in his sleep over it.
Reading between the lines it would seem Couhig has been vindicated and he is not holding up the sale of the club, in fact he wants to still buy the club as agreed before Dai broke his contract with Couhig by talking to other parties during an exclusive period.
This court case has probably brought forward a decision due to him being struck off as a Director by April 4th.
Only problem is he could just decide to fold the club in the next two weeks so he doesn’t have to potentially pay Couhig compensation or have to sell him the club.
He can be struck off but they can’t stop him owning the club, however what is his club worth if it no longer plays in a league, we already know covenants exist on the training ground so he would find it difficult selling Bearwood and who wants a 20 year old stadium in Reading, London Irish maybe or could Oxford get involved??
But not sure on what the rules are with playing in grounds outside your area? Maybe OK short term but in football you couldn't move there after the MK mess.
I’ve checked but can you imagine the rant if Posh had picked up six points against Reading and the results got expunged leaving them on 36 points with Burton in the relegation zone.
Wrexham have won and lost against Reading whilst we drew. So we would be 2 points ahead of them but they would have a game in hand, if I am right. Not ideal!
Here's a snippet from a Radio Berkshire discussion on today's court case...
"It's been a tough day - I think we learned a few things today. I think we learned that Rob Couhig is an incredibly agressive American lawyer."
"He's issued a claim basically saying he could have doubled his money. His evidence for that based on what was put before the court is effectively - I did it at Wycombe, I could do it again."
Things seem to be becoming a little bit clearer now.
The EFL has said Dai's debts in China has now made him a unfit person to own a an EFL club. From the 4th April he has 30 days in which to dispose of the club, which takes it to the day after the end of the season. So, if the club is not sold by that date, Reading FC will not play in the playoffs, even if they qualify., giving someone a free pass to the final, unless, of course the EFL says the seventh place club takes our place.
Could Dai transfer his shares to his sister or the Thai gentleman, who I believe are both still directors? They have both passed the fit and proper tests, so I imagine that would open another can of worms for the EFL to sort out.
I have also posted the above in the Reading V Wycombe thread.
My own view is that Dai does not want to give RC any money whatsoever or sell the club to him, so he will either fold the club, probably before the end of the season just to give the EFL another headache and upset clubs who will be docked points or he transfers his shares to his sister and say to RC sue me, but the club is not in my control so I can't sell it to you.
The news today that Dai Yongge has (finally) been declared an improper and/or unfit person to be a director of a Football League club is only incredible in so much it's taken this long to get to that stage.
No sane business(wo)man would pass up the opportunity to get a deal through that would at least mean they'd get something more than nothing if no deal is reached, but then again if Yongge was in any way sane and rational he'd have been long gone.
I think it's fairly likely that the jumped up egos involved will perform some brinks(wo)manship to try and get a bob or two here and there more than is being offered, all the while Reading fans may still be being put through the wringer on 4th May.
Comments
He will have to prove he was given assurances, and that he met his obligations, but then also crucially as @ReadingMarginalista says that Dai pulling the rug was responsible for his reasonable losses and not just that he spaffed some money he was never getting back and wishes he hadn't.
Rob has already been paid back the 5 million he lent the club, with interest. What he wants now is compensation for the loss of 8 million he would have made if the sale had gone through, according to him. Claiming for legal costs etc. he paid for is one thing, but claiming for profits he may have made is another! How can he be sure he would have made a profit? He could have made a loss just as easily, perhaps Dai will claim a share of what Dai saved Rob by not selling to him. This whole process is so crazy, that anything is possible.
Glad we did you a favour last night, good luck for Saturday.
I thought that Couhig's basis for sueing was that Dai Yongge had broken the terms of the exclusivity agreement. Whilst Couhig had stumped up a loan on the basis of being the sole interested party and was ready to complete, Yongge was still negotiating with other parties. If that is indeed the case, then he has every right to seek redress.
Whether this new party has any more success in closing than others have had remains to be seen, but the fact that the ghost of his previous deal is still casting a shadow over proceedings is no-one's fault but Yongge's.
Rob Couhig has made an unbelievable amount of money by trying it on. He’s unbelievably ballsy. But we are now seeing he is largely in it for himself.
With Wycombe, he saw an opportunity to make millions out of the club. The way to do that was by getting the percentage of ownership changed on the proviso that certain improvements would be made to the stadium.
The deal to extend his shareholding from 75% to 90% two years ago was on the proviso he would fund a new access road. The agreement also included “expanding the car park, reconstruction of the home terrace, the Origin stand and refurbishment of the Frank Adams stand.”
Extending his shareholding allowed him to sell the club for significantly more than before. But the agreement has not been honoured and shows no signs of ever being honoured by the current owners who have inherited the situation.
Would be interested to hear the latest on this from the Trust but Couhig benefitted massively from this and is trying to benefit from Reading too.
I completely agree. In addition to that, didn't he put the thumbscrews on the Trust getting massive concessions on the asking price, knowing we were in no position to turn down the reduced offer for the 75% stake?
In court today apparently
https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/sport/25025383.reading-fc-rob-couhig-court-case-details-confirmed/
Court case just finished. As i understand it (and I am no legal expert).
Club can be sold, but with x amount of million going into escrow, in other words given to a third party.
New court case in June, not sure if this is the original case of Couhigs claim against Dai.
The third party to give the escrow to the "winner" of the June case.
It also appears that the EFL has told Dai notice he must resign and he will be disqualified from April 4th.
Dai's options now are:-
Sell to RC, court case in June does not happen, Dai is out of the club and we move on with Rob at the helm. Quite a few fans have taken against lately so he may not be welcomed with open arms.
Sell to the latest buyer (Mr Platek) and put some of the proceeds, six million has been mentioned, depending on the outcome of the case in June, he may or may not get the escrow back..
Do nothing, refuse to sell to anyone get disqualified, Club gets kicked out of the League, we restart in non-league. Not sure how/where/if Dai would be accepted. Finance implications to Dai I do not know.
He says I have had enough and folds the club now, He gats nothing. Is he mad enough to do this? I just don't know
In other words after the court case, nothing seems to have changed much.
To think, @theRoyalBiscuit, we're worried we may have blown our chances of automatic promotion this year.
Meanwhile you guys must be worried that the club could cease to exist by the end of the season.
Hopefully none of our worries come true.
Couhig hasn’t come out of this very well, has he?
Plenty of Derby fans (rightly or wrongly) out there saying "I told you so..."
The doddery avuncular act disappears very quickly when there is money involved.
https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/25027602.reading-fc-lose-court-case-injunction-dismissed/
What a fkn mess
Neither party comes out of this well do they
Can't imagine there's any indication at all that either Dai or the one person Dai was prepared to sell to have a spare £6m they don't mind bunging in account with barely a 50/50 chance of getting it back later if the lawyers haven't spent it all first.
https://www.efl.com/news/2025/march/21/efl-statement--reading-fc-and-mr-dai-yongge/
Looks like Reading are already in the 28 days timeframe for the selling.
Some news reports are saying 5th of April, Some are saying 4th April
Our Game could be in real danger of not happening
I wish the very best for Reading, but their fans lambasting Couhig after some of them previously sent him and his family death threats is a little rich. I know it was the usual oafish minority, but I doubt Rob is tossing and turning in his sleep over it.
I very much hope they survive, though.
Reading between the lines it would seem Couhig has been vindicated and he is not holding up the sale of the club, in fact he wants to still buy the club as agreed before Dai broke his contract with Couhig by talking to other parties during an exclusive period.
This court case has probably brought forward a decision due to him being struck off as a Director by April 4th.
Only problem is he could just decide to fold the club in the next two weeks so he doesn’t have to potentially pay Couhig compensation or have to sell him the club.
He can be struck off but they can’t stop him owning the club, however what is his club worth if it no longer plays in a league, we already know covenants exist on the training ground so he would find it difficult selling Bearwood and who wants a 20 year old stadium in Reading, London Irish maybe or could Oxford get involved??
What a mess but it’s nearly at its final stop!
You say 20 year stadium as if that's old.
But not sure on what the rules are with playing in grounds outside your area? Maybe OK short term but in football you couldn't move there after the MK mess.
Different rules in rugby no doubt.
It’s actually unbelievably 27 years old, my comment was less about the age and more about who could actually take it over if the worst happened.
I'm sure we would still be interested in Bearwood if the planning problem could be sorted.
Very much so, maybe we buy Reading Woman’s team as that might circumnavigate the planning issue and it is not owned by Dai.
If Reading went under Wokingham Borough Council would soon get behind us as an owner.
Alan Swann on suicide watch....
I’ve checked but can you imagine the rant if Posh had picked up six points against Reading and the results got expunged leaving them on 36 points with Burton in the relegation zone.
Wrexham have won and lost against Reading whilst we drew. So we would be 2 points ahead of them but they would have a game in hand, if I am right. Not ideal!
Here's a snippet from a Radio Berkshire discussion on today's court case...
"It's been a tough day - I think we learned a few things today. I think we learned that Rob Couhig is an incredibly agressive American lawyer."
"He's issued a claim basically saying he could have doubled his money. His evidence for that based on what was put before the court is effectively - I did it at Wycombe, I could do it again."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live/bbc_radio_berkshire (about ten minutes in)
Why would they have a game in hand?
Their 2 games v Reading would be expunged, our 1 game played would be too. Then we just wouldn't play our upcoming game v Reading?
So we'd be 2 points ahead and level games?
Things seem to be becoming a little bit clearer now.
The EFL has said Dai's debts in China has now made him a unfit person to own a an EFL club. From the 4th April he has 30 days in which to dispose of the club, which takes it to the day after the end of the season. So, if the club is not sold by that date, Reading FC will not play in the playoffs, even if they qualify., giving someone a free pass to the final, unless, of course the EFL says the seventh place club takes our place.
Could Dai transfer his shares to his sister or the Thai gentleman, who I believe are both still directors? They have both passed the fit and proper tests, so I imagine that would open another can of worms for the EFL to sort out.
I have also posted the above in the Reading V Wycombe thread.
My own view is that Dai does not want to give RC any money whatsoever or sell the club to him, so he will either fold the club, probably before the end of the season just to give the EFL another headache and upset clubs who will be docked points or he transfers his shares to his sister and say to RC sue me, but the club is not in my control so I can't sell it to you.
The headache and despair still continues.
I have to be honest, I don't miss that Couhig fella.
The news today that Dai Yongge has (finally) been declared an improper and/or unfit person to be a director of a Football League club is only incredible in so much it's taken this long to get to that stage.
No sane business(wo)man would pass up the opportunity to get a deal through that would at least mean they'd get something more than nothing if no deal is reached, but then again if Yongge was in any way sane and rational he'd have been long gone.
I think it's fairly likely that the jumped up egos involved will perform some brinks(wo)manship to try and get a bob or two here and there more than is being offered, all the while Reading fans may still be being put through the wringer on 4th May.