I did hear Simon Garner was a painter and decorator in and around Cookham (no idea how true this is) so he should be a shoe in to help in the Buildings and Maintenance department.
There seems to be some shock on here surrounding Couhigs actions with regards to Reading F.C
I don't get it. He is first and foremost a business man. He never hid that fact while he was with us to be honest. I have no issues with Rob and Co.
Yes he made some semi promises maybe he didn't keep with us.... but he also made many promises he did keep.
The main promise and most important promise he made to us was that he will leave us in a better position than when he took us on.
Although the ML days have still yet to blossom into whatever our future may look like.... you cant really argue that he did any different.
We has some great moments under Couhigs reign.... some infrastructure and media related things were vastly improved and hey... we got ourselves into the Championship for the 1st time ever. He tried his best with a limited understanding of English Football and utilised Missy and Pete to help him.
I have no hard feelings towards his tenure at all..... saying that.... I did find it a little strange he chose to get out by harping on about settling down and the harsh reality of continued trips over to the UK etc.... then immediately pursuing a stake in Reading......
That being said l.... I dont mind really and I guess happy for him that he made a decent profit on his investments as that's the reason he took us on.
We knew after the Derby County debacle exactly how hard nosed his stance was when it comes to business and money.
I don't think he is in the wrong really with the current court case with Reading. I expect he feels well and truly shafted by Dai.
I don't think he will get out of the case what he is after.... but equally I have no issue in him stating his case and letting powers above decide.
Dai is the villain in all of this.... Rob is doing what any businessman would do ie.... look out for no.1
I just hope some agreement can be made before Reading Fc get dragged into oblivion.
Regarding Dai being the villain in this, this is the big thing that has puzzled me most. I don’t (completely) get why and how Rob is being made out to be the villain in this piece. And indeed some Reading fans seem to pushing this narrative when it seems, to me, that they have a common enemy in Dai.
Reading Fans want Dai out of the club and selling to someone because they see he is financially screwing the club over.
Rob wants Dai out of the the club and sell to him and he sees that he has been financially screwed over but he is willing and perhaps most importantly, able to fight for his financial rights. This, to me, is seemingly why Rob looks to be a bad guy in this (but also the Derby case when he was here) because he is sticking up for his financial rights.
Now, money seems to by the taboo subject here.
Money just isn’t a taboo subject to Americans and, I believe, how much each person earns and how they earn and what they do to earn is a much more open conversation than it is in the UK. Us Brits aren’t as forthcoming about it as Americans and it seems like a dirty subject. So for him to be so forthright in his demand for money, what he may have earned etc jars with us, and particularly football fans, as it’s two emotive subjects rolled into one.
Its seems to me that Dai has tried to put the blame on Rob for holding up any sale because of the claims he has. Claims some Reading fans have bought but it seems the court has agreed with Rob that these claims shouldn’t be holding up the sale. Dai has basically 3 options:
Sell to Rob.
Sell to someone else and some of that money goes to Rob because of how Dai has fucked him over in the process of Rob having exclusivity.
Fold the Club.
The common bad guy denominator here is and always has been Dai.
I also think this is Rob’s USP. It’s why and how Rob was able to take a club close to its knees, improve its position and sell for a profit (despite it still being a loss making organisation) but I also think it would be the reason he could get Reading into a much better financial position and, no doubt, repeat what he did with us, and put certain plans and conditioning place to make Reading FC a better proposition and flip to the next seller.
Now, he is doing this with a community asset. This is ALWAYS going to be an emotive subject to some and I am fully aware a hardened business first approach is going to stick in the claw with many. But sometimes that’s exactly the sort of cut throat person you need in a community asset to maximise its potential.
To many posts to check so apologies if already been posted. The Guardian had this in its report on Friday………
‘The EFL granted Reading’s request to extend to 5 April the permitted window to divest his shares. Under league relegations, failure to meet the deadline could result in the League One club being suspended from playing matches. The EFL will determine possible next steps at a board meeting in the week of the deadline. EFL rules state “the league shall have the power to suspend the club” if a disqualified director “fails to resign and their club fails to ensure their removal from office as required’
That maybe implies that there will be a meeting the week after the 4 April.
Nobody is shocked by what Rob is doing. If you were a Reading fan you might however be forgiven for thinking that his current actions are not helpful, and his ability to turn a profit are not of their concern. His role in their history is yet to be written.
Giving us some great days out and taking the club a few years down the line in tact before passing the reins to someone very wealthy are not small achievements. But he also talked some tosh and promised a number of things that he didn't come close to delivering.
Depends. If you want the next owner to just plop money into the club so it continues, then no it’s not of their concern.
If you want someone to come in and turn the club/business around and become a long term attractive concern in the market and regarded as a well run club (or even just a “better” run club), him making a profit on exit is an advantageous scenario for him and the club.
They have someone trying to buy the club. At the moment all he is doing is blocking that. Tbc who gets it and what their intentions are.
Him making a personal profit on his investment is not the same as the club being profitable. For all the grand talk of sustainability here he increased our annual losses significantly. When the next guy is a billionaire that doesn't matter so much but they don't grow on trees.
We have another week to submit our accounts for the 23/24 financial year. Will be very interesting to see how much money we lost during Couhig’s last year in charge.
Will be even more interesting to see 24/25 next year, must be at least 10m loss surely.
You’re right in that Dai was claiming any sale can’t go ahead because of Robs claims, but the court case literally said it wasn’t holding it up.
Dai can sell today.
He could sell it to the prospective new owner but any funds the new owner would pay to Dai for the club, a lump of it would go to Rob (or a 3rd party in escrow while Robs claims are fully sorted),basically as compensation ,for Dai messing him around during his period of exclusivity.
He could probably sell it to Rob along the lines of the agreements they had in place and were at a point ready to proceed.
But I rather suggest that Dai is the sort of person that would kill Reading Football Club for the sake of not losing face after his diabolical handling of the sale of the Club.
It’s not just been the Sale to Rob that’s fallen either. There have been multiple attempts to buy the club that have seemingly fallen through at the last moment.
Dai is the common denominator in all of those. And Rob seems to be the only one of those potential buyers that isn’t prepared to stay a victim of Dai’s and fight for his legal rights. He went into that sale with his eyes wide open and ensured he wasn’t going to be played by Dai without having a legal recourse to fight back.
Those ‘ground improvements’ were certainly floated by RC and not delivered.
But if the club was losing £1m a year (not unreasonable in league one) then the Trust owning 25% of the equity would be liable to fund £250k of that loss annually. The move by RC from 75% to 90% shareholding relieved the Trust of that obligation. That was the key negotiation point as I recall. The profits from the Championship season bought us a bit of time, but those would quickly run out and the annual losses would start again.
I have always felt (and have posted previously) that the 25% Trust shareholding was unsustainable as the Trust could not fund 25% of the annual losses of a league one team. And I’ve been a Trust member for years.
Readings 2023 accounts have at long last been filed, they make pitiful reading with total accumulated losses now exceeding 200m & 2023 losses reaching £21.7m
i hope this is prelude to an actual sale completion...
Honestly, we all know we are going to beat Reading, be ahead by a point at the last weekend, and then they will go under letting Wrexham overtake us when the fixtures are expunged.
Comments
I did hear Simon Garner was a painter and decorator in and around Cookham (no idea how true this is) so he should be a shoe in to help in the Buildings and Maintenance department.
There seems to be some shock on here surrounding Couhigs actions with regards to Reading F.C
I don't get it. He is first and foremost a business man. He never hid that fact while he was with us to be honest. I have no issues with Rob and Co.
Yes he made some semi promises maybe he didn't keep with us.... but he also made many promises he did keep.
The main promise and most important promise he made to us was that he will leave us in a better position than when he took us on.
Although the ML days have still yet to blossom into whatever our future may look like.... you cant really argue that he did any different.
We has some great moments under Couhigs reign.... some infrastructure and media related things were vastly improved and hey... we got ourselves into the Championship for the 1st time ever. He tried his best with a limited understanding of English Football and utilised Missy and Pete to help him.
I have no hard feelings towards his tenure at all..... saying that.... I did find it a little strange he chose to get out by harping on about settling down and the harsh reality of continued trips over to the UK etc.... then immediately pursuing a stake in Reading......
That being said l.... I dont mind really and I guess happy for him that he made a decent profit on his investments as that's the reason he took us on.
We knew after the Derby County debacle exactly how hard nosed his stance was when it comes to business and money.
I don't think he is in the wrong really with the current court case with Reading. I expect he feels well and truly shafted by Dai.
I don't think he will get out of the case what he is after.... but equally I have no issue in him stating his case and letting powers above decide.
Dai is the villain in all of this.... Rob is doing what any businessman would do ie.... look out for no.1
I just hope some agreement can be made before Reading Fc get dragged into oblivion.
Watching the Wales game, As the camera panned across the Kazakhstan fans up towards the posh seats I swear I saw Rob Couhig.
Konspiracy Korner starts here.
Excellent post, I think you have summed the Couhig era up perfectly.
"Semi promises he maybe didn't keep".
I want you writing my PR if I ever need it!
Regarding Dai being the villain in this, this is the big thing that has puzzled me most. I don’t (completely) get why and how Rob is being made out to be the villain in this piece. And indeed some Reading fans seem to pushing this narrative when it seems, to me, that they have a common enemy in Dai.
Reading Fans want Dai out of the club and selling to someone because they see he is financially screwing the club over.
Rob wants Dai out of the the club and sell to him and he sees that he has been financially screwed over but he is willing and perhaps most importantly, able to fight for his financial rights. This, to me, is seemingly why Rob looks to be a bad guy in this (but also the Derby case when he was here) because he is sticking up for his financial rights.
Now, money seems to by the taboo subject here.
Money just isn’t a taboo subject to Americans and, I believe, how much each person earns and how they earn and what they do to earn is a much more open conversation than it is in the UK. Us Brits aren’t as forthcoming about it as Americans and it seems like a dirty subject. So for him to be so forthright in his demand for money, what he may have earned etc jars with us, and particularly football fans, as it’s two emotive subjects rolled into one.
Its seems to me that Dai has tried to put the blame on Rob for holding up any sale because of the claims he has. Claims some Reading fans have bought but it seems the court has agreed with Rob that these claims shouldn’t be holding up the sale. Dai has basically 3 options:
Sell to Rob.
Sell to someone else and some of that money goes to Rob because of how Dai has fucked him over in the process of Rob having exclusivity.
Fold the Club.
The common bad guy denominator here is and always has been Dai.
I also think this is Rob’s USP. It’s why and how Rob was able to take a club close to its knees, improve its position and sell for a profit (despite it still being a loss making organisation) but I also think it would be the reason he could get Reading into a much better financial position and, no doubt, repeat what he did with us, and put certain plans and conditioning place to make Reading FC a better proposition and flip to the next seller.
Now, he is doing this with a community asset. This is ALWAYS going to be an emotive subject to some and I am fully aware a hardened business first approach is going to stick in the claw with many. But sometimes that’s exactly the sort of cut throat person you need in a community asset to maximise its potential.
To many posts to check so apologies if already been posted. The Guardian had this in its report on Friday………
‘The EFL granted Reading’s request to extend to 5 April the permitted window to divest his shares. Under league relegations, failure to meet the deadline could result in the League One club being suspended from playing matches. The EFL will determine possible next steps at a board meeting in the week of the deadline. EFL rules state “the league shall have the power to suspend the club” if a disqualified director “fails to resign and their club fails to ensure their removal from office as required’
That maybe implies that there will be a meeting the week after the 4 April.
Apologies if already noted before
Nobody is shocked by what Rob is doing. If you were a Reading fan you might however be forgiven for thinking that his current actions are not helpful, and his ability to turn a profit are not of their concern. His role in their history is yet to be written.
Giving us some great days out and taking the club a few years down the line in tact before passing the reins to someone very wealthy are not small achievements. But he also talked some tosh and promised a number of things that he didn't come close to delivering.
l
Depends. If you want the next owner to just plop money into the club so it continues, then no it’s not of their concern.
If you want someone to come in and turn the club/business around and become a long term attractive concern in the market and regarded as a well run club (or even just a “better” run club), him making a profit on exit is an advantageous scenario for him and the club.
They have someone trying to buy the club. At the moment all he is doing is blocking that. Tbc who gets it and what their intentions are.
Him making a personal profit on his investment is not the same as the club being profitable. For all the grand talk of sustainability here he increased our annual losses significantly. When the next guy is a billionaire that doesn't matter so much but they don't grow on trees.
I preferred the Couhig era to the Lomtadze era. At least it had a bit of personality.
We have another week to submit our accounts for the 23/24 financial year. Will be very interesting to see how much money we lost during Couhig’s last year in charge.
Will be even more interesting to see 24/25 next year, must be at least 10m loss surely.
Presumably a reduced chance of his daughter and son-in-law being deported.
You’re right in that Dai was claiming any sale can’t go ahead because of Robs claims, but the court case literally said it wasn’t holding it up.
Dai can sell today.
He could sell it to the prospective new owner but any funds the new owner would pay to Dai for the club, a lump of it would go to Rob (or a 3rd party in escrow while Robs claims are fully sorted),basically as compensation ,for Dai messing him around during his period of exclusivity.
He could probably sell it to Rob along the lines of the agreements they had in place and were at a point ready to proceed.
But I rather suggest that Dai is the sort of person that would kill Reading Football Club for the sake of not losing face after his diabolical handling of the sale of the Club.
It’s not just been the Sale to Rob that’s fallen either. There have been multiple attempts to buy the club that have seemingly fallen through at the last moment.
Dai is the common denominator in all of those. And Rob seems to be the only one of those potential buyers that isn’t prepared to stay a victim of Dai’s and fight for his legal rights. He went into that sale with his eyes wide open and ensured he wasn’t going to be played by Dai without having a legal recourse to fight back.
Those ‘ground improvements’ were certainly floated by RC and not delivered.
But if the club was losing £1m a year (not unreasonable in league one) then the Trust owning 25% of the equity would be liable to fund £250k of that loss annually. The move by RC from 75% to 90% shareholding relieved the Trust of that obligation. That was the key negotiation point as I recall. The profits from the Championship season bought us a bit of time, but those would quickly run out and the annual losses would start again.
I have always felt (and have posted previously) that the 25% Trust shareholding was unsustainable as the Trust could not fund 25% of the annual losses of a league one team. And I’ve been a Trust member for years.
Readings 2023 accounts have at long last been filed, they make pitiful reading with total accumulated losses now exceeding 200m & 2023 losses reaching £21.7m
i hope this is prelude to an actual sale completion...
Double the burger prices, set off some fireworks =£12M profit!
As @DevC will be quick to point out the accumulated losses of >£200m mean nothing to any future owner.
It's all about balancing the budget when any new owner arrives - or at least not exceeding what level of loss they can sustain.
Obviously there are implications to the club in relation to any FFP rules.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/mar/25/touch-and-go-reading-stuck-in-brinkmanship-battle-over-sale-as-deadline-looms
After Couhig and Ainsworth Just need Bloomfield to stomp on a kitten and today will be complete.
Honestly, we all know we are going to beat Reading, be ahead by a point at the last weekend, and then they will go under letting Wrexham overtake us when the fixtures are expunged.
I giggled, but it made me think of what a Seasonis Horribilis it has been for ex-Wycombe heroes from the Champo-promotion season:
Couhig - willingly jumped into Reading limboland and is looking like the bad guy to many.
Ainsworth & Dobbo - Only avoiding relegation with Shrewsbury by making a move that is enraging many and is not great optics on the surface.
Bloomfield - Got thoroughly Dan Rice'd and the 'Get Me Out of Here' wheel landed on Luton Town.
JJ - Got Beadle's-Abouted by the Reading circus.
Alex Samuel - Season-ending injury quite early on.
Wheeler - Could not get into the Wycombe team, went to a death-spiraling Shrewsbury only for GA to leave.
Gape - Joined a death-spiraling Shrewsbury only for GA to leave.
Kashket - at Welling United, looking odds-on to be relegated to the (checks notes) 7th tier.
Anthony Stewart - Playing for a bad Ebbsfleet team, likely to experience relegation.
Curtis Thompson - Limited to 16 appearances by injury, despite being popular at Grimsby.
Jason McCarthy - Retired (though landed on his feet) partly through being unable to get a match.
That burger van that closed down I vaguely read about this on Facebook
Bluey the Swan Last seen on a stag do in latvia
Most of the January signings MIA
I was going to say the powers that be won't allow any doubt.
Then i realised that sort of finish will be perfect for their tv show
Definitely can't label Gape stepping up 2 divisions any sort of bad year.
Ryan Reynolds already getting the crocodile tears ready, no doubt.
Great point, but it messes with my narrative, so I'll pretend you didn't have so much insight. 😂
It must be a mad day for Shrewsbury fans.
Already looking at an inevitable relegation - but loads of hopes Gaz would lead a glorious new era.
Instead they'll be patrolling the usual hackneyed uninspired lower league merry go round names and hoping they somehow stumble across a decent one.