Food for thought for Mr Ego

[strap]

Seems the kitchen just got even hotter. Aty first glance it's bad news for football at the very top, although for the 87 of the 92 league clubs without sugar daddies, it really should be busiuness as usual ignoring ther top 4 places of the PL.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... 663705.ece

Some rather apposite paragraphs in the link that will strike a chord at RFC.

"Making money is old hat and investors wishing to balance a profit with sporting success will be gradually squeezed out."

"Freeze-frame on Newcastle United [Reading] for the flip side of this story. Here is an owner, Mike Ashley, [Mr Ego], who invested in football for reasons of vanity but became increasingly alarmed at how much it was going to cost him to continue looking good."

"Ashley [Mr Ego] wanted the adulation football brings but was uncomfortable with its attendant costs. "

In truth, the creep of the billionaire into football will surely merely accelerate the formation of a formal European League, leaving the rest of us to play in our national leagues without the likes of Man U and now C, Liverpool, Chealsea and Arsenal. The same thing will happen in Spain (minus Real Madrid and Barcelona), Italy (minus AC, Inter et al) and Germany.

On reflection, that scenario might just be in the interests of RFC.

[brendywendy]

i think the man city deal speeds up that process in this country
the old top four will now be shitting themselevs about the real possibility of someone coming in and taking one of the four CL places, leaving one, probably arsenal or liverpool in a real mess when they dont achieve th elevel of football required to finance their massive new stadia

[Huntley & Palmer]

Seems the kitchen just got even hotter. Aty first glance it's bad news for football at the very top, although for the 87 of the 92 league clubs without sugar daddies, it really should be busiuness as usual ignoring ther top 4 places of the PL.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... 663705.ece

Some rather apposite paragraphs in the link that will strike a chord at RFC.

"Making money is old hat and investors wishing to balance a profit with sporting success will be gradually squeezed out."

"Freeze-frame on Newcastle United [Reading] for the flip side of this story. Here is an owner, Mike Ashley, [Mr Ego], who invested in football for reasons of vanity but became increasingly alarmed at how much it was going to cost him to continue looking good."

"Ashley [Mr Ego] wanted the adulation football brings but was uncomfortable with its attendant costs. "

In truth, the creep of the billionaire into football will surely merely accelerate the formation of a formal European League, leaving the rest of us to play in our national leagues without the likes of Man U and now C, Liverpool, Chealsea and Arsenal. The same thing will happen in Spain (minus Real Madrid and Barcelona), Italy (minus AC, Inter et al) and Germany.

On reflection, that scenario might just be in the interests of RFC.

What significance does this make to us?

[Southbank Old Boy]

i think the man city deal speeds up that process in this country
the old top four will now be shitting themselevs about the real possibility of someone coming in and taking one of the four CL places, leaving one, probably arsenal or liverpool in a real mess when they dont achieve th elevel of football required to finance their massive new stadia

Did Chelsea's influx in money really have that much of impact though?

I know the 4 places for the CL puts a slightly different perspective on things, and it's obvious how Abramovich's money has shifted the goalposts in the last 5 years, but I don't see the developments at City being any more significant than that

[Thaumagurist*]

I'm getting real tired of Strap calling our esteemed chairman "Mr Ego".

[Vision]

Seems the kitchen just got even hotter. Aty first glance it's bad news for football at the very top, although for the 87 of the 92 league clubs without sugar daddies, it really should be busiuness as usual ignoring ther top 4 places of the PL.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... 663705.ece

Some rather apposite paragraphs in the link that will strike a chord at RFC.

"Making money is old hat and investors wishing to balance a profit with sporting success will be gradually squeezed out."

"Freeze-frame on Newcastle United [Reading] for the flip side of this story. Here is an owner, Mike Ashley, [Mr Ego], who invested in football for reasons of vanity but became increasingly alarmed at how much it was going to cost him to continue looking good."

"Ashley [Mr Ego] wanted the adulation football brings but was uncomfortable with its attendant costs. "

In truth, the creep of the billionaire into football will surely merely accelerate the formation of a formal European League, leaving the rest of us to play in our national leagues without the likes of Man U and now C, Liverpool, Chealsea and Arsenal. The same thing will happen in Spain (minus Real Madrid and Barcelona), Italy (minus AC, Inter et al) and Germany.

On reflection, that scenario might just be in the interests of RFC.

What significance does this make to us?

Presumably because strap thinks Ashley's 15 minutes of fame @ Newcastle equates to Madejski's 15 years @ Reading.

[Stranded]

So in a nutshell,

We had no chance of ever reaching the top 4 prior to the Man City takeover, we have none now.

Relevance to Reading FC = zero.

Relevance to strap = another random reason to have a dig at JM.

[Streets]

Seems the kitchen just got even hotter. Aty first glance it's bad news for football at the very top, although for the 87 of the 92 league clubs without sugar daddies, it really should be busiuness as usual ignoring ther top 4 places of the PL.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... 663705.ece

Some rather apposite paragraphs in the link that will strike a chord at RFC.

"Making money is old hat and investors wishing to balance a profit with sporting success will be gradually squeezed out."

"Freeze-frame on Newcastle United [Reading] for the flip side of this story. Here is an owner, Mike Ashley, [Mr Ego], who invested in football for reasons of vanity but became increasingly alarmed at how much it was going to cost him to continue looking good."

"Ashley [Mr Ego] wanted the adulation football brings but was uncomfortable with its attendant costs. "

In truth, the creep of the billionaire into football will surely merely accelerate the formation of a formal European League, leaving the rest of us to play in our national leagues without the likes of Man U and now C, Liverpool, Chealsea and Arsenal. The same thing will happen in Spain (minus Real Madrid and Barcelona), Italy (minus AC, Inter et al) and Germany.

On reflection, that scenario might just be in the interests of RFC.

What significance does this make to us?

Presumably because strap thinks Ashley's 15 minutes of fame @ Newcastle equates to Madejski's 15 years @ Reading.

I think one point is JM wants this club to all but run itself and it states quite clearly that that is almost impossible these days, and wasn't that likely before.

It's all about big investments today. The rest will struggle and ultimately flounder. (sp?)

[prostak]

"Freeze-frame on Newcastle United [Reading] for the flip side of this story. Here is an owner, Mike Ashley, [Mr Ego], who invested in football for reasons of vanity but became increasingly alarmed at how much it was going to cost him to continue looking good."

No doubt JM was attracted by our global reputation, always packed-out stands and bulging trophy cabinet back at the end of the 80s. Shamelessly buying into a ready-made deal, eh?

[readingbedding]

So in a nutshell,

We had no chance of ever reaching the top 4 prior to the Man City takeover, we have none now.

Relevance to Reading FC = zero.

Relevance to strap = another random reason to have a dig at JM.

Strap-On.

[Silver Fox]

Strap-ped for new ideas

[TVPRoyal]

Strap-head

[Huntley & Palmer]

Strap a bomb to his back and tell the police he is Brazilian

[sheshnu]

Mr "Look at me, aren't I clever for making up names to call people."

What was the word for that again? Oh yeah, "ego."

[cmonurz]

I'm getting real tired of Strap calling our esteemed chairman "Mr Ego".

Wet Sham, etc.

Pot. Kettle. Black.

[cmonurz]

On strap's post, I think I agree with his closing comments. Mike Ashley is a rich man, but he is a businessman, likewise Madejski. These clubs won't compete financially with others who can quite literally afford whoever they fancy will improve their squad. The natural end to this situation is that those teams, and the world's best players, play in a 'Super League', and that the English league becomes a fight between the rest of us.

Perhaps Super League teams might even end up as US-style franchises.

[Huntley & Palmer]

Why would anyone want that? It would be the most boring set of leagues in the world, congratulations on winning a title that does not include the best teams in your country Regardless of what you think, clubs like Utd generate so much interest and money that our leagues would be scuppered without them. Who would be able to afford the wages that keep the best players at clubs, it would just generate another set of teams trying to monopolise what little money the remaining leagues would get from any TV deals etc. Those left behind would want the biggest piece, whoever they may be

[cmonurz]

The other option is Reading (or Everton, Villa, Spurs etc) never, ever, ever win the English league, unless a Sheikh fancies throwing his money around.

[Huntley & Palmer]

So what? Are you honestly a supporter of Reading because you think they can win the top division? Strange

[Thaumagurist*]

I'm getting real tired of Strap calling our esteemed chairman "Mr Ego".

Wet Sham, etc.

Pot. Kettle. Black.

The thing is, Mr Madejski is part of Reading and Strap is a Reading supporter. I would never call anyone associated with Reading names. Anyone associated with other clubs or clubs other than Reading are fair game, because I do not respect them.