Joelinton7 Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 (edited) If they want him they’ll get what’s coming to them. Mike Ashley buys football clubs for one reason, to advertise his other businesses. If the club happens to have some modicum of success in the meantime it’s incidental, he doesn’t care either way. He’ll take as much money out of the club as he can and won’t put a penny in, he’ll treat the fans with contempt and make monumentally stupid football decisions that ultimately will relegate whichever club he owns so if he does buy them then it’s good luck and goodbye to Reading Football Club. Just seen he’d try and bring Pardew in as manager as well, god help them sweet deluded idiots. Edited October 30, 2023 by Joelinton7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Spaceman Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 They're thick as fuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 We had this all before when it looked like he was getting Derby. Reading are literally at their lowest ebb since the early 1980s, if not their whole history. Ashley could well come in and stabilise them by virtue of just the change in ownership itself. He'll be lauded and we'll be sneered at but the context couldn't be more different. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stifler Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 I’ve always said that I wouldn’t wish him on any fan base, although there are a couple who are testing that theory, however I would like to see him own a club again in order to prove everyone else wrong. I doubt Reading have the calibre for anyone to really take note and care though. If he saves them from going bust, that will forever be the argument, he’s already seemingly got a free pass if they get relegated to League Two. People keep pointing at us and calling us deluded etc, yet they forget that the blue half of Glasgow fucking despises him as well, and he allegedly only ever owned 10% of them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Spaceman Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 (edited) I literally couldn't give less of a shit how he gets on. Hated the man passionately for the best part of 10 years. Managed to stop thinking about him daily sometime in October 2021. The fact that we've had to hire so many staff tells you everything you need to know about the bloke. He has zero interest in footballing success. Maybe Reading fans are the same, who knows. Whenever anyone tells me he stabilised us is the exact moment I switch off. From never being relegated out of the PL before his ownership to then face two relegations whilst regularly flirting with it after coming back up....howay man. Not to mention the fact he was clearly annoyed by us qualifying for Europe 🤣 Edited October 30, 2023 by Dr.Spaceman Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_R Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 I've said before and stand by that Ashley won't make every team worse. He could take a team heading down from L1 and get them to the Championship easily just by throwing a bit of spare change at them, and he'd probably be willing to do that because he wants what's best for Mike Ashley and that would clearly tie in with keeping them up which could be done for what amounts to pocket change for him. The problem is he cannot improve a club the size of ours or indeed any established PL side, so he again does what's best for Mike Ashley and just drains all the money into his account whilst using us as an advertising hoarding. That won't work with Reading because in L1 there's nobody to advertise to. I despise him as much as anyone for what he did to us, but I think this notion that he'll automatically be terrible for whoever he owns is possibly a bit misconstrued/hopeful. He can basically at will turn any team he takes over into a lower PL / upper Championship side, you've just got to factor in that team's starting point to decide if that's a good thing or not. For some it'll be a dream and they'd rightly let him rename the stadium and plaster his tat all over the place if he provided that for them. If he ever took over a side like Everton or Villa I'd not stop lauging for a week mind. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stifler Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 Just now, Dr.Spaceman said: The fact that we've had to hire so many staff tells you everything you need to know about the bloke. He has zero interest in footballing success. Maybe Reading fans are the same, who knows. This is a point that I always try to make. Getting aside from our on the pitch performances before he came, and the comparisons with Spurs when he arrived and when he left, there is more. Our training ground was one of the leading training grounds in the country. We were leaders off the pitch, we were one of the first to have those sports style seats in the dugout. We were one of the first to have those movable lights for the pitch. SJP had recently been expanded, and refurbished, with plans again to expand it further. By the time he left our training ground was below the standard of most Championship teams, and a few in League One, including one which was also in Tyneside. It was so bad that the club had to appeal to keep our academy at a grade 1 listing when it was removed by officials. SJP had barely seen a lick of paint, and the demise of the stadium in the time frame can only be likened to the Stadio Delle Alpi, which was built and left to rot in a similar time frame. Our fans cheered and applauded our new owners because they washed the windows within 2 weeks of arriving. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sima Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 They're not wrong tbf. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbandit Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 Personally believe he would make any football asset worse in the long term. You can cheapen your tacky shit as much as you want in a purely consumerist model, e.g. Sports Direct. Football is extremely complex and you can’t just asset strip it. He was lucky that he bought us as we had a huge stadium that kept selling out in spite of him and kept his name and brands in the news nonstop. Convinced he’ll be fucking awful for anyone. Don’t want to wish him on anyone but if other clubs are welcoming him with open arms, they’ll soon find out Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sima Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 (edited) "His management also helped attract the Saudis" Also Winston Biscuit appears to be the thickest cunt going. Edited October 30, 2023 by Sima Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLUMPO235 Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 Wow, thought there might be one or two who had a warped view of Ashley and us on that linked forum…. They deserve everything they get if that’s representative of their fan base. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnNUFC Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 Not even going to bother skimming whatever revisionist drivel that's getting spouted on that forum. Got the same after posting on a Derby one, got the usual 'deluded jawdee, delusions of grandeur, there's clubs worse off than you' bilge that you'd expect. He'd probably be good for Reading now looking at the absolute state of them at the minute. But I will never listen to nor entertain anyone who tries to tell us that Mike Ashley was remotely good for this football club. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfcastle Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 (edited) Whatever a clubs natural weight is, then if people running it under Ashley achieve that, heads will roll because it means scope to scrimp and save and not enough corners are being cut and that there's plenty of room below that level to fail but to do so without raising suspicion that the clubs being pillaged. Quit the opposite of a plan to build or grow, its to suck the thing dry with the least amount of reinvestment from the money he's making out of it. Other clubs Derby, Reading don't even have the reputation or size constructed by previous era's to sustain the club in spite of him like we did. Edited October 30, 2023 by Wolfcastle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GideonShandy Posted October 30, 2023 Share Posted October 30, 2023 2 hours ago, Dr.Spaceman said: They're thick as fuck But also desperate as fuck. Their alternatives (if they even have any) are likely worse. Can hardly blame them for trying to look on the brighter side despite the overwhelming evidence of impending misery. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonas Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 2 hours ago, Dr.Spaceman said: They're thick as fuck Ignoring and dismissing the views of the two sets of fans with first hand experience of him, who total well over 100,000, 99% of whom hate the bloke, but citing the more favourable appraisal of Ashley of our bitter rivals as sound and objective when the fact they don't hate Ashley is as damning an indictment as you can get is some level of wilful ignorance on top of the usual ignorance (e.g. Ashley 13years v the 13years before - because two exact same duration time-frames juxtaposed wouldn't tell you anything compared to a mackem forum) Like asking Liverpool or City fans for their opinion on the Glazers because Man U fans don't know what they're talking about. Hope they go the same way as West Brom with Bruce. Wouldn't wish Ashley on anyone except for the pricks who actually want him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orphanage Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 Whenever i see this thread bumped my heart skips a beat in the hope that the bastards dead Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBrownBottle Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 Honestly, Ashley is the perfect fit for a club like Reading. They don’t have a history to speak of (unlike Newcastle, Coventry, Derby), aren’t from a big football area (the town is one of the blandest I’ve ever been to), and his mismanagement is unlikely to attract any media attention. They’re assuming that he’ll have them lower mid-table like we were - which would of course be epoch-making at a club like Reading. He won’t though; he would actually need to invest in the club to get them to that point, which he didn’t need to for us to be there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauloGeordio Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 4 hours ago, Orphanage said: Whenever i see this thread bumped my heart skips a beat in the hope that the bastards dead I too share your disappointment! Oh well…….. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBrownBottle Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 4 hours ago, Orphanage said: Whenever i see this thread bumped my heart skips a beat in the hope that the bastards dead Likewise. I feel like how one of those trophy wives who marry 90-year-old billionaires must feel - the prospect of him keeling over is thrilling, no matter how much of a bad person it makes me Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Crooks Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 You’ll get spoken to and treated like mugs which is what he does everywhere to everybody. Should be no where near public life let alone football. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancing Brave Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 6 hours ago, Orphanage said: Whenever i see this thread bumped my heart skips a beat in the hope that the bastards dead As much as I dislike the man, I would never wish him dead. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sima Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 You've never lived. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
maze Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 Thought he’d finally dropped, but he’s unfortunately still around. Dang… Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 10 hours ago, Chris_R said: I've said before and stand by that Ashley won't make every team worse. He could take a team heading down from L1 and get them to the Championship easily just by throwing a bit of spare change at them, and he'd probably be willing to do that because he wants what's best for Mike Ashley and that would clearly tie in with keeping them up which could be done for what amounts to pocket change for him. The problem is he cannot improve a club the size of ours or indeed any established PL side, so he again does what's best for Mike Ashley and just drains all the money into his account whilst using us as an advertising hoarding. That won't work with Reading because in L1 there's nobody to advertise to. I despise him as much as anyone for what he did to us, but I think this notion that he'll automatically be terrible for whoever he owns is possibly a bit misconstrued/hopeful. He can basically at will turn any team he takes over into a lower PL / upper Championship side, you've just got to factor in that team's starting point to decide if that's a good thing or not. For some it'll be a dream and they'd rightly let him rename the stadium and plaster his tat all over the place if he provided that for them. If he ever took over a side like Everton or Villa I'd not stop lauging for a week mind. He could barely keep a club the size of Newcastle in the PL (in fact, he failed twice) where due to our name and fan base he could attract players and managers of much higher calibre than he could at a Reading or Derby. How we weren't relegated under Bruce, I'll never know tbh, and there certainly won't be an ASM and Wilson at Reading papering over the huge cracks like he could have here. He failed at every single part of being an owner of a football club, he's a fucking idiot and there is absolutely no chance he makes a League 1 club into a PL side. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wormy Posted October 31, 2023 Share Posted October 31, 2023 I was for a long while of the opinion his small time tactics may satisfy other clubs that might just want to be clear of relegation to League One. But the more time has gone on I'm sure he'll drag any club down a relative notch or two. He hit the perfect sweet spot with us of a club that was self-sufficient enough that he could leave it festering and still bounce straight back to the PL if relegated. He's not getting anything like that in the Champo unless he properly invests. And why would he do that when his empire of tat isn't going to get anywhere near the level of free advertising that NUFC gave him? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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