League One - clubs in crisis

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Reading back under a transfer embargo after making signings and speculation they may now face a points deduction. We definitely go there at a good time to play them.

We were robbed last time. Let’s put them to the sword and start to eat into the 25 years of hurt.

[Wellwisher]

evidently the owner of reading struggles to get money out of China that's why these payments are being missed (not made), its a total farse.

I read somewhere that the Chinese government has cracked down on businesses/tycoons borrowing cheap money at home, then reinvesting it overseas, including (especially?) in football clubs.

I suspect that these people had calculated that if they ever got into trouble at home - always a possibility in Xi's China - then they could scarper abroad to wherever their investment went - literally "follow the money".

[ctfc-fan]

Wasn’t it West Brom’s owner who spent Covid loans on the football club

[longmover]

Reading have been linked to ‘777’ an investment bank that have stakes in seven other clubs worldwide. One of their clubs Genoa were deducted points for failure to pay taxes on time

see ya

[Jerry St Clair]

Reading back under a transfer embargo after making signings and speculation they may now face a points deduction. We definitely go there at a good time to play them.

And the players they signed last week (including Charlie 'son of Robbie' Savage) are thought to be having their registrations blocked until July's PAYE bill is paid. If true, they have 8 first team players with the rest of the squad made up with u23s. A fan protest is being planned for the opening game on Saturday. There will be protests at our game there.

One of those games that, if we go 1-0 up early on, the atmosphere in the stadium will turn very toxic, very quickly.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Tell me your a spiv trying to exit the club without saying you are a spiv trying to exit the club: https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2023/a ... nvestment/

[Shade]

Charlie "I got subbed at half time at Cheltenham" Savage? That one?

[1985CTFC]

So glad we are playing them 3rd game in to the season. Be sods law we get 3 points and they get kicked out and we lose the 3 points. Has a Chinese owner ever done a good job in the Prem /EFL?

[Fuller]

Problem with their pitch too…
https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2023/a ... july-2023/

[paperboy]

Darragh MacAnthony demonstrating again why he's the undisputed Solo trumpet blowing world champion.

https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/spo ... ms-4243072

[longmover]

Darragh MacAnthony demonstrating again why he's the undisputed Solo trumpet blowing world champion.

https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/spo ... ms-4243072

That picture of Peterborough’s owners all of them look utterly vile individuals. That piece of 5hit MacAnthony can’t run forever.

[zip]

Reading fan here. I posted about Luke Southwood on here last season. I knew he would do well for you. I live in Andoversford and Cheltenham are my second team. My first Cheltenham game was c 1976 when Dave Lewis was upfront in a 6-0 home defeat to Bath City. How the club have advanced since then.

Now then.. Jerry St Clair I remember you from HNA. Anyway I digress.

Our summer has been a complete shambles.. Yet we are very happy with the 6 new signings along with Amadou Mbengue signing a new deal. Ridiculous we didn't offer Southwood a new deal. We will make more signings next week and think we will be in or around the top six this season. When we play you we should have plenty of depth.

However the owner is a disaster and we fully expect more cash flow problems. Obviously a points deduction may follow and we can sti only sign players on frees and loans for at least another two windows. We haven't paid a fee for a player for three years!

Saw the Robins three times last season v Detby, FGR and Wycombe and was impressed. Alfie May is a huge loss though.
All the best next season. I will want you to win in 44 of your League games!

[Jerry St Clair]

Now then.. Jerry St Clair I remember you from HNA. Anyway I digress.

Should've gone for something more original!

I think Reading v Cheltenham is one of the most unpredictable games, certainly in the early part of the season. All three results equally possible in my opinion, mainly due to the chaos enveloping Reading.

I will be in the away end next Tuesday which will be surreal with a capital S. My boy is definitely Cheltenham (though he has the yellow Simod Cup away kit from a few years back) so that was what swung it really.

[zip]

Now then.. Jerry St Clair I remember you from HNA. Anyway I digress.

Should've gone for something more original!

I think Reading v Cheltenham is one of the most unpredictable games, certainly in the early part of the season. All three results equally possible in my opinion, mainly due to the chaos enveloping Reading.

I will be in the away end next Tuesday which will be surreal with a capital S. My boy is definitely Cheltenham (though he has the yellow Simod Cup away kit from a few years back) so that was what swung it really.

I think Reading are back on the right track. Very happy with the signings. As my local team I want to see Cheltenham to do well. Think it's going to be tough to stay up though with May gone.

[Jerry St Clair]

A fresh one point deduction for Reading for failing to pay players wages. A further three points suspended.

So, they get two for last night effectively.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

A fresh one point deduction for Reading for failing to pay players wages. A further three points suspended.

So, they get two for last night effectively.

Doesn’t help us though. They beat us with players they can’t afford to pay which is cheating, pure and simple. We should be awarded the win and 3 points.

[zip]

Er not true. Unlike other clubs we don't owe any suppliers or clubs a penny. Yongge has the money but is disliked by the Chinese Govt who are blocking payments out of China.
The EFL have hammered us. Yet they approved Yongge as a fit and proper owner despite the PL rejecting him when he wanted to take over Hull.
No club in the history of the game in this country has suffered three seasons of successive points deductions.PL clubs get away with a lot more and only get a slap on the wrist

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Er not true. Unlike other clubs we don't owe any suppliers or clubs a penny. Yongge has the money but is disliked by the Chinese Govt who are blocking payments out of China.
The EFL have hammered us. Yet they approved Yongge as a fit and proper owner despite the PL rejecting him when he wanted to take over Hull.
No club in the history of the game in this country has suffered three seasons of successive points deductions.PL clubs get away with a lot more and only get a slap on the wrist

Doesn’t matter how much money he has in China if he can’t get it out of the country it might as well not exist.

You beat us with players who couldn’t be paid, with no certainty of when they will be. Clubs like Cheltenham who have always made sure to live within our means and do things by the book are fed up with shenanigans and cheating from other clubs. The EFL damn well should give you a kicking - and others too.

Fit & proper person test is useless. Yes, ideally they’d stop dodgy owners getting near clubs like yours in the first place but it must be a legal minefield. All the EFL can do is follow legal procedure and take evidence in good faith - your owners have broken that faith. Why did Reading sign players without knowing if funds could be made available to pay them?

If you came out and said as fans you were actively campaigning to get the owners out and trying to encourage a take over by better owners we’d support you on that. As it is, no sympathy from us, as you being so defensive makes us unsympathetic.

[ctfc-fan]

Er not true. Unlike other clubs we don't owe any suppliers or clubs a penny. Yongge has the money but is disliked by the Chinese Govt who are blocking payments out of China.
The EFL have hammered us. Yet they approved Yongge as a fit and proper owner despite the PL rejecting him when he wanted to take over Hull.
No club in the history of the game in this country has suffered three seasons of successive points deductions.PL clubs get away with a lot more and only get a slap on the wrist

So the player’s wages don’t count then?!

[zip]

They have always been paid but there have been delays in getting through money through from China.

[Jerry St Clair]

It's difficult. There's little fans can do to prevent dodgy owners taking over clubs. We have no power in this (unless we have majority ownership which hardly any do).

On the other hand, so many fans demand "spending" rather than sustainability which is precisely the sort of demand and pressure which creates the environment for rogue owners to step into. As a fan, you can't enjoy the ride and then moan when it implodes. We should all be mindful of this.

Ultimately it is only the EFL and PL are custodians of the game and only they have the power to control this and they are still weak.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

They have always been paid but there have been delays in getting through money through from China.

That makes it ok then? There’s also no guarantee that this time, or the next time, the money will be got out of China. It is not a sustainable or acceptable position to continue with an owner who can’t access their own money when required or provide reassurance that funds will be accessible.

Try whatever excuses and mental gymnastics you want; you played games with players who hadn’t been paid with no certainty as to whether money could be accessed to pay them.

Let’s see if your owners do what’s needed to avoid the three points suspended penalty being activated.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

It's difficult. There's little fans can do to prevent dodgy owners taking over clubs. We have no power in this (unless we have majority ownership which hardly any do).

On the other hand, so many fans demand "spending" rather than sustainability which is precisely the sort of demand and pressure which creates the environment for rogue owners to step into. As a fan, you can't enjoy the ride and then moan when it implodes. We should all be mindful of this.

Ultimately it is only the EFL and PL are custodians of the game and only they have the power to control this and they are still weak.

Hereford are the best example. The majority of the fans boycotted the club so the crooks in charge had no choice but to close it down and leave town with tails between legs.

If fans really cared for the long-term good of their clubs and the game they’d show the same spine as Hereford fans did. Bankrupt the dodgy owned club and form a fan owned one to take its place.

[zip]

Hereford are a much smaller club than Reading. It would take tens and tens of millions to buy him out.
We are powerless. Yes I suspect he won't pay the wages on time again and we will be deducted a further three points. We never see or him from him and have no way of forcing him out.

All clubs are one bad owner away from.disaster. The EFL is unfit for purpose

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Hereford are a much smaller club than Reading. It would take tens and tens of millions to buy him out.
We are powerless. Yes I suspect he won't pay the wages on time again and we will be deducted a further three points. We never see or him from him and have no way of forcing him out.

All clubs are one bad owner away from.disaster. The EFL is unfit for purpose

I didn’t say buy the owners out. I said stop giving them custom so they go bust, and form your own club to replace it. That’s what Hereford did. Their original club was abolished and the stadium padlocked up once the owners went bust, whilst the fans set up a new Hereford which played elsewhere.

If no fans bought tickets or merchandise for Reading FC (or any other club with dodgy owners) and set up a new club in non-league the owners would soon liquidate the business, make the club extinct, and walk away.

The fact you and other clubs are much bigger than Hereford or Cheltenham should make it easier to form a new club that rises through the non-leagues back to the EFL.

Sure, the owners may have sold the stadium for development by then if it’s too expensive to buy off them, but that’s just what it takes.

If you want them gone, do not spend money at the club. They won’t last long in L1 without ticket and merchandise income.

[Jerry St Clair]

Even the Hereford boycott started quite late in the day. IIRC, they'd been expelled from the league and were in court facing winding-up orders when 'some' fans walked away.

It's a huge decision to boycott your club. Easy to say when it's someone else's, RCS. I completely understand fans exhausting all other options first. It's like being asked to switch the life support off. A hell of a conundrum and no right answer.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Even the Hereford boycott started quite late in the day. IIRC, they'd been expelled from the league and were in court facing winding-up orders when 'some' fans walked away.

It's a huge decision to boycott your club. Easy to say when it's someone else's, RCS. I completely understand fans exhausting all other options first. It's like being asked to switch the life support off. A hell of a conundrum and no right answer.

For me it is easy to say and do for any club including my own. I take a very emotionless economic stance on these things; if the medium/long term benefits of boycotting and bankrupting CTFC outweighed the short term pain I’d have no qualms. (As for switching off life support, I am pro- policies around legalising euthanasia and switching support off if it avoids the cost and suffering of years of low quality life but that’s a different topic!)

[Jerry St Clair]

I agree with you (on euthanasia too!). But I empathise with fans who are very reluctant to turn off the life support.

[1985CTFC]

Thought this was the right thread for my comments.
Looking at a few forums, Charlton fans not happy they want to sack their manager and same goes for Barnsley. As for Sheff Wed the manager has to go now!!!
Bet Wade is glad he doesn't manage at any of those clubs.
Mind you I didn't rate the Charlton manager and Barnsley manager has no experience in EFL as a manager. There is just no pleasing fans is there???
Even Bolton fans having a moan and big Dan is not endearing himself with the supporters. He will be gone soon.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Thought this was the right thread for my comments.
Looking at a few forums, Charlton fans not happy they want to sack their manager and same goes for Barnsley. As for Sheff Wed the manager has to go now!!!
Bet Wade is glad he doesn't manage at any of those clubs.
Mind you I didn't rate the Charlton manager and Barnsley manager has no experience in EFL as a manager. There is just no pleasing fans is there???
Even Bolton fans having a moan and big Dan is not endearing himself with the supporters. He will be gone soon.

We know from this forum and social media that it tends to be the negative reactionaries, boo boys, and noisy minority who are most prominent.

Fans of other clubs reading our forums would at times think we are at one of the lowest ebbs in our history. Not that we in the best period of we have ever had in terms of league positions and records being broken every year.

[Ihearye]

Thought this was the right thread for my comments.
Looking at a few forums, Charlton fans not happy they want to sack their manager and same goes for Barnsley. As for Sheff Wed the manager has to go now!!!
Bet Wade is glad he doesn't manage at any of those clubs.
Mind you I didn't rate the Charlton manager and Barnsley manager has no experience in EFL as a manager. There is just no pleasing fans is there???
Even Bolton fans having a moan and big Dan is not endearing himself with the supporters. He will be gone soon.

We know from this forum and social media that it tends to be the negative reactionaries, boo boys, and noisy minority who are most prominent.

Fans of other clubs reading our forums would at times think we are at one of the lowest ebbs in our history. Not that we in the best period of we have ever had in terms of league positions and records being broken every year.

The optimist believes we are living our best years, the pessimist fears he is right

[Jerry St Clair]

Morecambe (ok, not L1 but they were last year) have a three point suspended deduction for not paying wages on time. The owner also has to deposit 125% of monthly wages into an escrow account independent of the club which will be used to pay wages should they default again, at which point the penalty will kick in.

Weren’t Morecambe the definition of stability a couple of years ago?

[paperboy]

Morecambe (ok, not L1 but they were last year) have a three point suspended deduction for not paying wages on time. The owner also has to deposit 125% of monthly wages into an escrow account independent of the club which will be used to pay wages should they default again, at which point the penalty will kick in.

Weren’t Morecambe the definition of stability a couple of years ago?

So were Worcester Warriors until Mssrs Goldring and Whttingham rode into the city.

Today Southend ( OK.but they were once in Lge 1)
given a final,final chance to complete a sale of the club.
They will I think get an automatic 10 point deduction from the EFL irrespective now.
Yet another sale has fallen through and guess what the new prospective buyer lives in Australia ( or more probably on Mars).

Southend United: National League club given 'final' 42-day adjournment to find new buyer - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66591344

[Shade]

Morecambe (ok, not L1 but they were last year) have a three point suspended deduction for not paying wages on time. The owner also has to deposit 125% of monthly wages into an escrow account independent of the club which will be used to pay wages should they default again, at which point the penalty will kick in.

Weren’t Morecambe the definition of stability a couple of years ago?

They will I think get an automatic 10 point deduction from the EFL irrespective now.

National League*

Seemed fairly unthinkable that such a thing would happen to Southend when we were playing them season in, season out not long ago.

[Jerry St Clair]

Juror claims they were offered £20000 to fix Fleetwood Town owners trial.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... fraud.html