If Not Rob Couhig, Then Who Do You Want To Own Reading?

Reports suggest the former Wycombe Wanderers owner is about to rid us of Dai Yongge, yet some Reading fans seem hesitant. Why?

Now Euro 2024 has finished, our collective attention returns to Reading FC and the T-word. Not transfers, but takeover. Whenever it happens, I think we’ll see celebrations at Blue Collar Corner akin to England’s wins at the Euros!

Yet, some Royals fans aren’t happy with the idea of Rob Couhig (reportedly backed by Chiron Sports Group) owning our club. Why?

Obviously the Bearwood fiasco sticks foremost in our minds, but who were the real villains in that episode? Pete and Rob Couhig attempting to progress the football club they then owned, or Dai who was asset-stripping his own? I’m by no means absolving the Couhigs of complicity in making our situation worse, but try to assess what happened in March objectively.

Reading’s owner was willing to sell his prized asset for mere short-term gain, while Wycombe viewed the purchase as part of a long-term plan. Yes, the Couhigs were naïve (at best) in suggesting they were “helping us”. However, they probably couldn’t believe their luck when Dai’s representatives approached them about Bearwood.

Ultimately however, it looks as though the debacle has caused possibly the biggest unintended consequence from what looked like our football club’s death knell. The reporting and response around Bearwood’s sale were all Reading-focussed. Wycombe’s viewpoint in the scenario was eclipsed, despite being a “major” party in the story. I believe this is what alerted the Couhigs to a larger investment opportunity that impressed them even more: Reading Football Club.

While the Royals are in the same division as the Chairboys, I’d argue we’re leagues apart in many ways. From stadium, fanbase size, media footprint, training facilities to academy, you name it, we trump Wycombe on it. Even factoring in the neglect RG2 has undergone from Dai’s recent tenure, we’re a golden investment opportunity, something numerous pundits have said over the last 12 months.

There’s no disrespect intended here, but Wycombe Wanderers are 20 years behind Reading FC. That’s time most football club owners won’t have, who tend to be burned once and never again. When Mike Ashley parked his tanks on Reading’s lawn (or rather landed his helicopters in the car park) it would appear he only wanted to be our landlord.

Having sold Wycombe in what is arguably their golden era, the Couhigs clearly feel they can go a few bases more with us. Alex’s article examines Rob Couhig further, but if it’s possible his tenure would be anything like “the Reading of Sir John Madejski’s days” when “we could be profitable once again and eventually be sold on at a gain”, what are people worried about?

I get it sounds like a step back, but I think we can all agree it’s been downhill at the SCL ever since Sir John’s solo tenure ended in 2012.

Some Loyal Royals have even expressed dismay as rumours Chairboys veteran Joe Jacobson could occupy a CEO-type role within Couhig’s regime. Again, why the consternation?

As I said a few months back, Reading’s current head of football operations Mark Bowen and property director Nigel Howe have tested fans enough. Both could be out the door anyway, given each could be banned by the Football Association. Reading’s boardroom needs a complete refresh from them and the ilk of Kia Joorabchian who have put us where we are.

It’s worth noting our former (and much vaunted) director of football Nick Hammond had a diminutive playing career in comparison to Jacobson, yet he had our former chairman’s ear. I’d wager that a player who’s been key in Wycombe’s glory years knows what makes for good club culture which needs building on if we’re to have success. If Hammond was enough for Sir John, why not Jacobson for Couhig?

Come August, it’ll be a year since Dai and Dayong Pang told us they were “striving to secure external investment”. Events (or lack thereof) since then demonstrate we’re no further forward in that process and, if anything, the downgrading of the much smaller Reading Women’s side (which was already part-time) indicates how tight finances are. It’s no wonder Ruben Selles hasn’t been in the press to date, as I’d imagine he’s weighing up his options.

Meanwhile in Buckinghamshire last year, Rob Couhig stated he was “likely to sell” his shares in Wycombe in “the next four years”, which he’s since done to billionaire Mikheil Lomtadze, blitzing his original timescale. Clearly a man of action, which is stark contrast to the slow-moving melodrama here in Berkshire.

We don’t have time to be fussy anymore. The season is fast approaching and, other than Chiron’s rumoured longstanding interest, Couhig is the only one who fits the trialled and known tests some fans appear set on.

We’ve lost so much time enabling ZZ Top lookalikes who sell “premium” energy drinks none of us have ever seen on sale, as well as other ‘interesting’ characters who have also come out the woodwork, stifling real progress on the club’s sale.

If nothing changes at the SCL soon, forget a repeat of last season, especially if we see players sold from our already threadbare squad. If rumours are to be believed, we’re somewhere between potentially moving to Cantley Park because Bearwood is too expensive to run and the EFL monitoring finances to ensure we can fulfil the campaign. If we can’t, then we’ll follow Bury with expulsion from the EFL.

No owner is perfect, and all prospects come with unknown risks, but given how long this has dragged on, it’s clear Dai and Pang are the fantasists elongating this sorry mess.

As for addressing the Couhig-Bearwood saga, I’m going to finish with a story Dave Kitson told at Blue Collar Corner about his move to RG2 from Cambridge United.

Initially the Us wanted around £1m for him and some clubs were willing to go there. Then unexpectedly ITV Digital, who had the EFL TV rights at the time, collapsed, which in turn did the same to the finances of many a football club they owed. Cambridge went from comfy to literally begging for donations. They needed £200,000 to survive, and that’s where Reading FC saw an opportunity.

Do you think folk at the Abbey Stadium would agree to the deal being a masterstroke by John Madejski?