A weekend is a long enough time in football on the pitch;
build up to the game, pre-match talk, the match itself, post-match reaction
from the manager, TV analysis, Sunday press analysis and then Monday press
analysis. Throw in an off the pitch story and it suddenly gets an awful lot
longer. And madder too.
It was only announced around 48 hours ago through Reading Football
Club’s official website that a previously unheard of company is in the
preliminary stages of gaining a significant stake in the club. Blogging in
reaction to that announcement, this writer guessed
that it would be a while until any further news came out about this investment
and it was a while; less than a day.
Since then, two further statements have come out of the
club, numerous speculative news articles and countless pages of discussion
across the Internet.
Cutting through the speculation, let’s establish the facts
as they are at this stage.
Fact number one; a
new group called Thames Sport Investment looks set to buy a “significant” stake
in Reading Football Club. The fact that the company is yet to be registered
at Companies House and there is no evidence of its existence anywhere is
testament to the company being a new group.
Fact number two; Sir John Madejski will stay on as Chairman
until at least 2014 and will be Life President once he steps down from the
Chairman role. Madejski, therefore, will still have a role in the running of
the club until 2014.
Fact number three; the
main points to the partnership have been outlined and an agreement signed with
regard to these from all concerned parties. The deal is scheduled to be
completed by the end of March 2012. Until that point, there is no obligation
for the persons involved in TSI to be revealed.
Fact number four; TSI
will provide limited funds (although it is not stated in what form these
funds will be given; loans? Donations? etc.) for Brian McDermott and Nicky
Hammond to strengthen the squad this transfer window.
These are the sum total of the facts we know thus far;
essentially, what the original statement on Friday night told us. However,
there is an awful lot more to the story than the mere facts. Using nothing more
than a cynical eye and no insider knowledge, here are what appear to be the
assumptions about the takeover circulating around the media and Reading FC
messageboards.
Assumption number one; the man behind TSI is Anton
Zingarevich, son of a Russian print businessman who was educated to university
level in Reading and who was part of a wildly unsuccessful
attempt at providing investment for Everton Football Club. Very little
information is available on the man and his previous with Everton as a manager
of the Fortress Sports Fund might well suggest there is more to the group than
Zingarevich but that is also speculation.
Assumption number two; TSI will take a 51% stake in the club,
costing £40 million, and so become owners of the club. Like ‘assumption number
one’, the prevalence in this assumption seems to come from a short Daily Mail
exclusive published on Saturday (subsequently picked up by no other national
media outlet but both Reading-based newspapers) but makes logical sense as any
new in investor would presumably want majority ownership.
Assumption number three; as is the case with any takeover,
rumours about big spending immediately begin springing up, linking anyone and
everyone with the club. When the most concrete rumour is a loan deal
for an ageing centre forward, fans speculating about big money deals (this
transfer window anyway) would appear to be wishful thinking. What kind of
investment fund would pump millions of pounds into an operation that they aren’t
even owners of yet? A small good-faith payment is feasible but anything in the
millions, at this stage anyway, is surely unrealistic? Whilst the fun of
takeover talk is built on Championship Manager-style spending, some realism
must be taken into consideration, particularly when the identity of the
prospective owner is still pending, let alone his wealth.
Assumption four; I’m as big a defender of the way Madejski
has sought a buyer over the last five years as anyone. After 20 years+ at the
club, he was always likely to want to sell to the right people to continue the superb
work that he has done for the club and the town also. However, as
has been documented, the last few years have been difficult for Sir John so
perhaps his desire to sell has increased thus loosening his ideals for a new
owner.
Essentially, straight-up fact-wise, we know very little more
than what was said on Friday night, aside from the stage in negotiations Reading
Football Club and TSI are. The rest is largely conjecture and speculation on
conjecture. It’s very much impossible for any supporter to make a judgement on
the proposed takeover based on the facts we have at hand right now. But that
won’t stop anyone doing just that, myself included.
This Tweet
might well lead to some more concrete information tomorrow but it only raises
further questions. How are the Daily Mail getting so many stories on Reading
now? If Zingarevich is the sole member of TSI, how has he gone from being a
student with only his father’s money to spend to being able to buy a majority
stake in a Championship club inside six years?
All things considered, it’s an exciting time to be a Reading
fan but an equally confusing one.
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