[staticboy]

Not sure how much of this is true, but still an interesting read.
https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/sport/23525092.west-brom-ceo-slammed-former-reading-fc-colleague/

[BalisPen]

This article shows just how incompetent rotund Ron is:

https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/sport/23525092.west-brom-ceo-slammed-former-reading-fc-colleague/

It sounds very familiar, especially expensive contracts given to players.

Anyone thinking he wants the best for us is wrong imo.

He loves the current situation as he carries on picking up a hefty wage for being totally useless, knowing Lai will get the blame.

Only in football is such a failure rewarded by him getting a job at an even bigger club.

[robnewbold]

It is not only in football, everywhere now there is no longer any accountability for failure or any responsibility taken by under performers, who are rewarded rather then punished.
 Its an epidemic of dross.

[Standaman]

Ron Gourlay is the embodiment of the utterly useless leadership in football.

He is totally incapable of running a club on a self sustaining basis. His involvement with football prior to Reading was with Man United who are so rich they can sustain both the Glazers and a world beating level of stupidity and Chelsea who inhabited a financial la la land which was funded by a Russian Kleptocrat.

Neither was in any way a preparation for the realities of Reading in the Championship. In fairness to their ownership they seemed willing to back his "vision". It was only ever going to end one of two ways the ownership would run out of money or the project would hit the buffers of FFP which is what has happened albeit after Ron has left the scene of the crime. 

Moving on to us and an owner who won't fund the club and Ron does not alter his approach. We are now saddled with some very big contracts that the club can't afford. He hasn't a plan and although he somehow has found Corberan (even a blind squirrel will sometimes find the nuts) but there is no infrastructure supporting him.

Lai might be the bigger problem but Ron is not part of the solution. 

 

[BalisPen]

We need a ruthless wartime consigliere prepared to offer ruthless solutions to our potless state, not a yes man who will always take the easy option of wasting money we don't have, by giving 2 year deals to the likes of Kelly.

He may say the right things to the gullible, like when said he has really grown to love us, but this kind of character thrives in these circumstances as he can always get a job elsewhere because of his cv, with prospective employers believing his interviews spiel of "it wasn't me guv, that last place was a basket case of a club".

Get Out Ron.

[gazberg]

Ron is here for himself. Doesn't make him a war criminal but let's be real about his intentions.

[timdon]

Ron Gourlay is the embodiment of the utterly useless leadership in football.

He is totally incapable of running a club on a self sustaining basis. His involvement with football prior to Reading was with Man United who are so rich they can sustain both the Glazers and a world beating level of stupidity and Chelsea who inhabited a financial la la land which was funded by a Russian Kleptocrat.

Neither was in any way a preparation for the realities of Reading in the Championship. In fairness to their ownership they seemed willing to back his "vision". It was only ever going to end one of two ways the ownership would run out of money or the project would hit the buffers of FFP which is what has happened albeit after Ron has left the scene of the crime. 

Moving on to us and an owner who won't fund the club and Ron does not alter his approach. We are now saddled with some very big contracts that the club can't afford. He hasn't a plan and although he somehow has found Corberan (even a blind squirrel will sometimes find the nuts) but there is no infrastructure supporting him.

Lai might be the bigger problem but Ron is not part of the solution. 

 

Have to agree with this 100%. And yet there are those who, for some inexplicable reason, still seem to think he is doing a decent job under difficult circumstances

[MBWBA]

Shame we don't have the Ipswich Town CEO - seems to be doing a decent job and is from West Bromwich I believe.

[smethwickw]

Shame we don't have the Ipswich Town CEO - seems to be doing a decent job and is from West Bromwich I believe.

He was on our board for years. Ex Youth Goalkeeper too if I recall.

[MBWBA]

Seems to speak well and has a clear plan for Ipswich. When I listen to him in interviews I end up thinking that the vision he is describing should be what we are aiming for. Genuinely seems to care about the club he represents. (I live in Ipswich and my son is a Town fan)

[baggiejohn]

Ron Gourlay is the embodiment of the utterly useless leadership in football.

He is totally incapable of running a club on a self sustaining basis. His involvement with football prior to Reading was with Man United who are so rich they can sustain both the Glazers and a world beating level of stupidity and Chelsea who inhabited a financial la la land which was funded by a Russian Kleptocrat.

Neither was in any way a preparation for the realities of Reading in the Championship. In fairness to their ownership they seemed willing to back his "vision". It was only ever going to end one of two ways the ownership would run out of money or the project would hit the buffers of FFP which is what has happened albeit after Ron has left the scene of the crime. 

Moving on to us and an owner who won't fund the club and Ron does not alter his approach. We are now saddled with some very big contracts that the club can't afford. He hasn't a plan and although he somehow has found Corberan (even a blind squirrel will sometimes find the nuts) but there is no infrastructure supporting him.

Lai might be the bigger problem but Ron is not part of the solution. 

 

Agree totally that the culture at a wealthy club is totally different to a club the size of us & Reading, & it's difficult to adjust to the change.

Gourlay was appointed in February 2022.

These are the players who have joined since his appointment

Eric Pieters  contracted to June 2023
Okay Yokuslu  contracted to June 2025
Nat Chalobah contracted to June 2024
John Swift contracted to June 2025
Jason Molumby contracted to June 2025
Marc Albrighton on loan to May 31st 2023
Tom Rogic contracted to June 2023
Jed Wallace contracted to June 2026
Brandon Thomas-Assante contracted to June 2025

So, we've 9 players in total, 3 of which are contracted to June 2023. One further player is contracted to June 2024. We could have an issue with players contracted beyond 2024, which is likely not covered by the MSD loan. On the other hand savings on players out of contract will go some way on meeting our contractual obligations beyond 2024

Before Gourlay's appointment, we spent around £30 million in transfer fees for two players, one is contracted to June 2025 & the other to June 2026. We will still be paying instalments for the next 3 years on the tranfer fee for the player contracted to 2026.
I would argue that Gourlay has inherited a bigger s**t show than he has created


   

[tommcneill]

He was on our board for years. Ex Youth Goalkeeper too if I recall.

I worked with Mark in both the Football in the Community, and coaching some of the WBA youth teams.

He is a nice guy and has gone on to do some really good stuff in football. He's been CEO at Bristol City and Watford I believe.

[robnewbold]

Agree totally that the culture at a wealthy club is totally different to a club the size of us & Reading, & it's difficult to adjust to the change.

Gourlay was appointed in February 2022.

These are the players who have joined since his appointment

Eric Pieters  contracted to June 2023
Okay Yokuslu  contracted to June 2025
Nat Chalobah contracted to June 2024
John Swift contracted to June 2025
Jason Molumby contracted to June 2025
Marc Albrighton on loan to May 31st 2023
Tom Rogic contracted to June 2023
Jed Wallace contracted to June 2026
Brandon Thomas-Assante contracted to June 2025

So, we've 9 players in total, 3 of which are contracted to June 2023. One further player is contracted to June 2024. We could have an issue with players contracted beyond 2024, which is likely not covered by the MSD loan. On the other hand savings on players out of contract will go some way on meeting our contractual obligations beyond 2024

Before Gourlay's appointment, we spent around £30 million in transfer fees for two players, one is contracted to June 2025 & the other to June 2026. We will still be paying instalments for the next 3 years on the tranfer fee for the player contracted to 2026.
I would argue that Gourlay has inherited a bigger s**t show than he has created

Can't argue with the facts. 5 or 6 of those players in my view are 'good' signings. How many contract extensions were done under him though?


   

[Mo]

Have to agree with this 100%. And yet there are those who, for some inexplicable reason, still seem to think he is doing a decent job under difficult circumstances

I agree too and f it wasnt for Carlos Corberan this club would be amateur hour and then some i am seeing local non league teams more switched on in relation to the coming months than this lot.

[baggiejohn]

Can't argue with the facts. 5 or 6 of those players in my view are 'good' signings. How many contract extensions were done under him though?

Bartley & Phillips were both done before 1/1/22, as others have said, it's probably head coach driven & Ken wasn't strong enough to challenge it.

[baggie82]

Agree totally that the culture at a wealthy club is totally different to a club the size of us & Reading, & it's difficult to adjust to the change.

Gourlay was appointed in February 2022.

These are the players who have joined since his appointment

Eric Pieters  contracted to June 2023
Okay Yokuslu  contracted to June 2025
Nat Chalobah contracted to June 2024
John Swift contracted to June 2025
Jason Molumby contracted to June 2025
Marc Albrighton on loan to May 31st 2023
Tom Rogic contracted to June 2023
Jed Wallace contracted to June 2026
Brandon Thomas-Assante contracted to June 2025

So, we've 9 players in total, 3 of which are contracted to June 2023. One further player is contracted to June 2024. We could have an issue with players contracted beyond 2024, which is likely not covered by the MSD loan. On the other hand savings on players out of contract will go some way on meeting our contractual obligations beyond 2024

Before Gourlay's appointment, we spent around £30 million in transfer fees for two players, one is contracted to June 2025 & the other to June 2026. We will still be paying instalments for the next 3 years on the tranfer fee for the player contracted to 2026.
I would argue that Gourlay has inherited a bigger s**t show than he has created


   

The transfer business you have highlighted is as good or better than anyone else in this league when cross-compared with the budget available. We have been quite savvy in the transfer market since the end of the 2021/22 campaign.

[Standaman]

I could not disagree more.

Gourlay's transfer business last summer was the  equivalent of me walking into a Casino on Friday night with my wages blowing them and not having money enough to feed my children on Monday morning. However I was on my way out ran into my good friend Mikey "the knife" Dell and he was able to help me out in a way that only a loan shark can.

So because I am degenerate gambler I went back into the Casino and blew some of Mikey's Money but at least I got home with enough money to feed my kids.  Today is Monday morning I am stuck for a weeks wages and the interest is mounting and at some point I'm going to have to pay Mikey back and you really don't want to disappoint Mikey. Need to get out of it I know let's get back into the casino "Hard ways one time"

Incidentally Martin Kelly was missed off Overseas list. Yet that is more or less academic. The principle is the same. Today we cannot afford to pay those players and most can't be sold for a fee. What is worse we are only able to fund that level of expenditure through the MSD loan which I am nearly certain we have used to fund this season's operating costs. So whatever the largely ineffectual Marc Albrighton cost us we are now paying roughly 14% interest on it.

When fully drawn down the loan will cost £2.8m a year or the wages for 3 players at Championship players. When Wallace's contract expires in 2026 the MSD loan falls due so he won't generate a fee to help pay it back his wages on the other hand will have eaten a chunk of it.

Not only has Gourlay overseen this he hasn't done a damn thing to wean us off the same short term recruitment and squad management that has got us here in the first place. He might get credit for Corberan but he has to shoulder the blame for Bruce.

Lai is the bigger problem but Gourlay really hasn't helped that much or may have made matters worse.

[baggiejohn]

I could not disagree more.

Gourlay's transfer business last summer was the  equivalent of me walking into a Casino on Friday night with my wages blowing them and not having money enough to feed my children on Monday morning. However I was on my way out ran into my good friend Mikey "the knife" Dell and he was able to help me out in a way that only a loan shark can.

So because I am degenerate gambler I went back into the Casino and blew some of Michael's Money but at least I got home with enough money to feed my kids.  Today is Monday morning I am stuck for a weeks wages and the interest is mounting and at some point I'm going to have to pay Mikey back and you really don't want to disappoint Mikey. Need to get out of it I know let's get back into the casino "Hard ways one time"

Incidentally Martin Kelly was missed off Overseas list. Yet that is more or less academic. The principle is the same. Today we cannot afford to pay those players and most can't be sold for a fee. What is worse we are only able to fund that level of expenditure through the MSD loan which I am nearly certain we have used to fund this season's operating costs. So whatever the largely ineffectual Marc Albrighton cost us we are now paying roughly 14% interest on it.

When fully drawn down the loan will cost £2.8m a year or the wages for 3 players at Championship players. When Wallace's contract expires in 2026 the MSD loan falls due so he won't generate a fee to help pay it back his wages on the other hand will have eaten a chunk of it.

Not only has Gourlay overseen this he hasn't done a damn thing to wean us off the same short term recruitment and squad management that has got us here in the first place. He might get credit for Corberan but he has to shoulder the blame for Bruce.

Lai is the bigger problem but Gourlay really hasn't helped that much or may have made matters worse.

I'm not able to copy & paste from a pdf, but the "going concern" section of the accounts document published in March 2022 stated that we had sufficient funds to meet our obligations until at least March of 2023.
I interpreted that to mean that the MSD loan would be used to cover our expenditure until at least March 2024.

I took the contract information from Transfermarkt, Martin Kelly was missing, but he's also out of contract in June 2023.
Edit, Kelly is contracted to 2024

Not saying that the Gourlay solution is risk free, & is absolutely dependent on either promotion or a cash injection of some sort in the next 12 months, but IMO, there is some logic to it as outlined in my comment above.

[gazberg]

Kelly is on a 2 year deal sadly.

[Albion79]

I have no affinity to Gourlay but do think he gets blame for some stuff that isnt his fault.

The Bruce appointment was a disaster there is no two ways about it. However his bosses werent interested in young hungry managers / players they wanted the quickest way to get to the premier league gravy train, they arent bothered about three year plans, nice football, they want the payday.

I have no doubt the Bruce appointment and last summer signings were with the instruction of promotion last season or next, we have got s**t or bust, Gourlay can tell the board what he thinks (he may well of backed the 'proven' approach) but ultimately Lai calls the shots and could easily say do it or get sacked.

People can moan at Gourlay for the no ln repayment of loan, etc but he can only do so much, he has approved protests i believe and been in dialogue with supporters groups but he didnt take the loans, didnt approve the loans and has as much power as us in getting the loan repaid, Lai is the only one who can pay the loan.

I would hope with the appointment of Corberan we are going a different approach and that will be reflected in the recruitment, we have to back Corberan with the type of players he wants same as we did with Bruce with the players he wanted.

I have hope we are going that route as once Bruce went i feared we would end up with a Warnock, Pulis, etc.

Gourlay is an employee and thats it, it doesnt bother me massively if he stays or goes but i dont think he is a major problem and i worry about which bandit Lai would put in charge.

On a side note Mark Ashton has done a good job at Ipswich but is despised at both Watford and Bristol City for the jobs he did there, similar to managers / head coaches some CEO's fit at clubs, others dont.

[Baggies]

I could not disagree more.

Gourlay's transfer business last summer was the  equivalent of me walking into a Casino on Friday night with my wages blowing them and not having money enough to feed my children on Monday morning. However I was on my way out ran into my good friend Mikey "the knife" Dell and he was able to help me out in a way that only a loan shark can.

So because I am degenerate gambler I went back into the Casino and blew some of Mikey's Money but at least I got home with enough money to feed my kids.  Today is Monday morning I am stuck for a weeks wages and the interest is mounting and at some point I'm going to have to pay Mikey back and you really don't want to disappoint Mikey. Need to get out of it I know let's get back into the casino "Hard ways one time"

Incidentally Martin Kelly was missed off Overseas list. Yet that is more or less academic. The principle is the same. Today we cannot afford to pay those players and most can't be sold for a fee. What is worse we are only able to fund that level of expenditure through the MSD loan which I am nearly certain we have used to fund this season's operating costs. So whatever the largely ineffectual Marc Albrighton cost us we are now paying roughly 14% interest on it.

When fully drawn down the loan will cost £2.8m a year or the wages for 3 players at Championship players. When Wallace's contract expires in 2026 the MSD loan falls due so he won't generate a fee to help pay it back his wages on the other hand will have eaten a chunk of it.

Not only has Gourlay overseen this he hasn't done a damn thing to wean us off the same short term recruitment and squad management that has got us here in the first place. He might get credit for Corberan but he has to shoulder the blame for Bruce.

Lai is the bigger problem but Gourlay really hasn't helped that much or may have made matters worse.

Perfectly put. Too often fans look at signings and don't consider the longer term implications of what it means for the squad. Every signing is judged on the individual and not the bigger picture.

[Standaman]

I'm not able to copy & paste from a pdf, but the "going concern" section of the accounts document published in March 2022 stated that we had sufficient funds to meet our obligations until at least March of 2023.
I interpreted that to mean that the MSD loan would be used to cover our expenditure until at least March 2024.

I took the contract information from Transfermarkt, Martin Kelly was missing, but he's also out of contract in June 2023.
Edit, Kelly is contracted to 2024

Not saying that the Gourlay solution is risk free, & is absolutely dependent on either promotion or a cash injection of some sort in the next 12 months, but IMO, there is some logic to it as outlined in my comment above.

I think we both know there is not going to be cash injection from the current ownership and to run the club on the basis there might be is bordering on the reckless.

Aside from generating funds from selling players there is no additional sources of funding other than the MSD loan.

The question is what is the current state of play? I would be shocked if haven't shipped an operating loss assuming that the parachute payments drop by about £7m and our operating expenses are still around £60m. In addition there is a deficit on the player trading account (which is to some extent a paper loss and does not have to be covered by cash).

There is no way we haven't used at least some of the MSD loan to get through this season. A lot now depends on player trading and getting the wage bill down.

Gourlay has never managed a club in this position his stock answer to any challenge is going back to the ownership for more money to fund the next tilt at the "next level"  or whatever. This is not an option. All conversations around "backing the manager" or whatever the traditional narrative is it has to be acknowledged as being wholly subject to how well Ron manages this process and frankly I can't see much evidence that he can.

[baggie82]

I could not disagree more.

Gourlay's transfer business last summer was the  equivalent of me walking into a Casino on Friday night with my wages blowing them and not having money enough to feed my children on Monday morning. However I was on my way out ran into my good friend Mikey "the knife" Dell and he was able to help me out in a way that only a loan shark can.

So because I am degenerate gambler I went back into the Casino and blew some of Mikey's Money but at least I got home with enough money to feed my kids.  Today is Monday morning I am stuck for a weeks wages and the interest is mounting and at some point I'm going to have to pay Mikey back and you really don't want to disappoint Mikey. Need to get out of it I know let's get back into the casino "Hard ways one time"

Incidentally Martin Kelly was missed off Overseas list. Yet that is more or less academic. The principle is the same. Today we cannot afford to pay those players and most can't be sold for a fee. What is worse we are only able to fund that level of expenditure through the MSD loan which I am nearly certain we have used to fund this season's operating costs. So whatever the largely ineffectual Marc Albrighton cost us we are now paying roughly 14% interest on it.

When fully drawn down the loan will cost £2.8m a year or the wages for 3 players at Championship players. When Wallace's contract expires in 2026 the MSD loan falls due so he won't generate a fee to help pay it back his wages on the other hand will have eaten a chunk of it.

Not only has Gourlay overseen this he hasn't done a damn thing to wean us off the same short term recruitment and squad management that has got us here in the first place. He might get credit for Corberan but he has to shoulder the blame for Bruce.

Lai is the bigger problem but Gourlay really hasn't helped that much or may have made matters worse.

Our transfer window was conducted with a negative net spend. 8 players highlighted in the earlier post, 6 of them a success and 2 a failure IMV:

Success - Eric Pieters  contracted to June 2023
Success - Okay Yokuslu  contracted to June 2025
Success - John Swift contracted to June 2025
Success - Jason Molumby contracted to June 2025
Success - Jed Wallace contracted to June 2026
Success - Brandon Thomas-Assante contracted to June 2025
Failure - Marc Albrighton on loan to May 31st 2023
Failure - Nat Chalobah contracted to June 2024
Failure - Tom Rogic contracted to June 2023

I believe all of the above players were signed on free transfers save for BTA for around £300k and he is worth far more than that already.

[baggiejohn]

I think we both know there is not going to be cash injection from the current ownership and to run the club on the basis there might be is bordering on the reckless.

Aside from generating funds from selling players there is no additional sources of funding other than the MSD loan.

The question is what is the current state of play? I would be shocked if haven't shipped an operating loss assuming that the parachute payments drop by about £7m and our operating expenses are still around £60m. In addition there is a deficit on the player trading account (which is to some extent a paper loss and does not have to be covered by cash).

There is no way we haven't used at least some of the MSD loan to get through this season. A lot now depends on player trading and getting the wage bill down.

Gourlay has never managed a club in this position his stock answer to any challenge is going back to the ownership for more money to fund the next tilt at the "next level"  or whatever. This is not an option. All conversations around "backing the manager" or whatever the traditional narrative is it has to be acknowledged as being wholly subject to how well Ron manages this process and frankly I can't see much evidence that he can.

I can't argue with any of that, & without doubt, Gourlay took one risk too many in retaining Steve Bruce for so long.
As you outlined, our only source of additional income, without further investment from Lai, was by promotion to the EPL, & it's possible we could have done that with another Head coach, although CC wasn't available.

At that point, every option is a gamble, IMO, Gourlay's decision to make us competitive on the pitch was the right one & we probably have one more season to see if he can pull it off.

Let's hope the rumours of additional investments are true.

[WBArgo]

Our transfer window was conducted with a negative net spend. 8 players highlighted in the earlier post, 6 of them a success and 2 a failure IMV:

Success - Eric Pieters  contracted to June 2023
Success - Okay Yokuslu  contracted to June 2025
Success - John Swift contracted to June 2025
Success - Jason Molumby contracted to June 2025
Success - Jed Wallace contracted to June 2026
Success - Brandon Thomas-Assante contracted to June 2025
Failure - Marc Albrighton on loan to May 31st 2023
Failure - Nat Chalobah contracted to June 2024
Failure - Tom Rogic contracted to June 2023

I believe all of the above players were signed on free transfers save for BTA for around £300k and he is worth far more than that already.

I agree with those - however it's worth talking about free transfer 'fees' and high wages. For instance, I doubt Chalobah is that cheap, nor will the wages of Swift and Wallace be either.