Tim Dellor column: Reading fans 'crying out' for a distraction to off the field issues in 2023-24
- Published
Reading have had a torrid off-season since getting relegated from the Championship to League One at the end of last season
In the 152 summers of Reading FC's existence, this year's has been the most turbulent by some distance - what a mess!
The chaos stemming from the owner, Dai Yongge, for loyal supporters, hard-working staff, ambitious players and everyone connected to the club is incomprehensible.
Where should we start? Relegation to League One was avoidable.
A six-point deduction after financial recklessness turned out to be the straw that broke the camel's back, but we mustn't lose sight of some inept performances on the field.
"We are where we are", as managers like to say, so now it is all about the future. The issue continues to be the financial management, the owner's conduct and the ongoing turmoil.
The club seems to move in and out of transfer embargoes every week, slapped upon them by the English Football League, which is becoming increasingly exasperated.
Politics, and a waning enthusiasm, means Dai Yongge is unable to shift money across from China via Hong Kong and to the UK, as he could a few years back.
Every month payments stall, because money just isn't here in the UK to cover the expenses. Some months there is enough to pay players, but not the tax. Some months they can pay loan clubs for players, but can't cover other expenses.
Staff at Reading are in the hideous position of having to helplessly wait for money to drop into the club's account, and then select which bills to pay and which must wait. That is no way to run a business.
A change of owner is the obvious solution, but why would a man who has pumped more than £200m into the club over the last six years sell up? Nobody is going to pay anything like enough to take the club off his hands, without him incurring a massive loss.
Reading playing 'roulette' with bills
Reading captain Andy Yiadom (centre) and his returning teammates will be hoping the club can tackle its off the field issues sooner rather than later
Staff at the club have put half a dozen potential investors in the direction of the current owner.
Even this is fraught with difficulty because of his declining engagement with Reading FC matters and his apparent lack of communication. A new investor happy to look after the month-to-month expenditure is an obvious start point.
There are two potential investors interested in Reading FC, but staff are concerned Dai Yongge isn't even committed enough to spend time talking to them. Critics have claimed that football, and Reading, has only ever been a plaything to the mega-wealthy Chinese businessman.
More encouragingly, the end of July is a mark in the sand. The wage bill more or less halves, so that means far less money is required monthly to cover it. Staff at the club hope this, combined with a new investor, can bring an end to bill-paying roulette.
A 'bleak' outlook heading into the season
The next few days are crucial.
If the club can stay clear of a transfer embargo for long enough they may be able to bolster the squad sufficiently to be at least competitive in League One.
At the time of writing though, with an embargo in place, there is more concern about keeping the recently appointed manager in the building, and already-signed players potentially being deregistered by the EFL.
That is all very bleak with the season starting on 5 August with a game against Peterborough.
Sport, and football, is always a frivolous distraction from the real world. That has never been more the case than this season for Reading FC fans. Everyone is crying out for the distraction of 90 minutes of high octane, entertaining football, and the rest can be cast aside for a while.
