I'm not one for jumping on protest bandwagons without some consideration. I hate when entitled fans protest because of poor results, not buying the best players, being less successful than they once were, Glazers out etc.
I don't pretend to know all the background here and I'm sure someone will set me right, but my feelings on this are complex. So I've set my thinking out in case it helps others who are also struggling.
It's f*cking long-winded though so scroll past if you want (sorry for not saying this earlier).
As I understand it, I don't think their owner bought the club intending to asset strip for profit as some others have. He put a ton of money into their academy set up, shelled out on new players etc. which I think the fans were happy with at first (a case of 'be careful what you wish for'). They spent above their means, gambling that they'd get promotion which would cover the outlay - when they didn't, it left them saddled with an unsustainable wage bill, other debts and FFP issues.
It's what the rules were brought in to try and avoid. If they had succeeded it would have been unfair on other clubs going for promotion, the same way we feel certain EPL clubs have unfairly bought in their success (or in Chelsea's case, lack of) rather than growing organically. And of course points deductions exacerbated their problems, but they were imposed according to the rules other clubs were abiding by, and are there as a deterrent to this exact situation.
So the initial gamble didn't pay off, but rather than get their house in order it was then followed up by more financial mismanagement / naiveté / incompetence which led to more points deductions and more debt. Like someone with a gambling addiction chasing their losses.
This is why I was a bit conflicted at first I suppose. I hate all the crap, greed and unfairness in modern football, and I believe it's right that it should be confronted and dealt with. If that results in a club being less successful, so be it.
THAT SAID
I have nothing but empathy for the fans. It is possible, and important, to see the club and its fans as separate entities. Whatever the reasons for their problems, they're not of the fans' making. It never is.
And when it becomes a downward financial spiral where some costs are being covered by not paying backroom wages, not paying the taxman (never ends well), making redundancies, with an owner who seems unwilling or unable to bring them back onto a sustainable footing, then the club itself is at risk. Whatever the reasons, imagine (or, for many on here, remember) how devastating it would be to face that as a fan, to face actually losing your club.
Going back to the earlier analogy, you can disapprove of someone's gambling but that doesn't mean you'll be happy watching their life fall apart as a result of it - and even less so the lives of those who depend on them. I can't understand anyone who feels schadenfreude or hubris in this.
I do believe FFP was meant with all good intent to protect fans from situations like this, but it can't completely prevent it - and if clubs ignore it and take the hit, it will still be the fans who suffer. FFP adds to the risk side when weighing up approach, but while the rewards for success are so great financially, there will still be some owners / management who think it's worth it.
I still wince in transfer windows when I see people asking why we're not spending the money from Caicedo on a big name, or suggesting players on stupid wages like Henderson (ffs). While, yes, I'm having the ride of my life at the moment, I'd still rather be sustainable, boring and back getting rained on in league 2, than spunk it all trying to win everything, at the risk of losing Everything.
We are so lucky a) to have incredible fans who fought and fought for our survival, b) to then have first Dick Knight, now Tony Bloom, as owners, and Barber as CEO, and c) to have the history, however difficult at the time, that hopefully steers us and our owners and management away from making mistakes like these in future. Others are not so lucky.
SO.
I have no love for Reading as an entity, as a competitor who took a risk that didn't pay off, who tried to gain an unfair advantage and were punished (if my reading of that situation is right).
But I have a connection with every real football fan whoever they support (yes even Palace), because they have an irrational, insatiable and irreplaceable love for their club, as I do for mine. No-one deserves to lose that in their life.
They are clearly suffering from some terrible, ongoing financial mismanagement which goes beyond just bad results and points deductions. So if a) above is where Reading fans are right now, I'm with them. Good luck to them in their fight and I will support in whatever small way I can, as with other clubs' campaigns in the past (*not Man Utd), and as others did for us when we needed them.
Never forget how close we came.
Never wish that on others.
Never forget those who helped us.
Never take for granted how fortunate we are.
Never lose sight of what really matters.
If NSC do something as a group, please count me in.
(And apols if you feel like you've just read the Sunday papers, I appear to have been on one of my long NSC rambles again... I did warn you)
I don't pretend to know all the background here and I'm sure someone will set me right, but my feelings on this are complex. So I've set my thinking out in case it helps others who are also struggling.
It's f*cking long-winded though so scroll past if you want (sorry for not saying this earlier).
As I understand it, I don't think their owner bought the club intending to asset strip for profit as some others have. He put a ton of money into their academy set up, shelled out on new players etc. which I think the fans were happy with at first (a case of 'be careful what you wish for'). They spent above their means, gambling that they'd get promotion which would cover the outlay - when they didn't, it left them saddled with an unsustainable wage bill, other debts and FFP issues.
It's what the rules were brought in to try and avoid. If they had succeeded it would have been unfair on other clubs going for promotion, the same way we feel certain EPL clubs have unfairly bought in their success (or in Chelsea's case, lack of) rather than growing organically. And of course points deductions exacerbated their problems, but they were imposed according to the rules other clubs were abiding by, and are there as a deterrent to this exact situation.
So the initial gamble didn't pay off, but rather than get their house in order it was then followed up by more financial mismanagement / naiveté / incompetence which led to more points deductions and more debt. Like someone with a gambling addiction chasing their losses.
This is why I was a bit conflicted at first I suppose. I hate all the crap, greed and unfairness in modern football, and I believe it's right that it should be confronted and dealt with. If that results in a club being less successful, so be it.
THAT SAID
I have nothing but empathy for the fans. It is possible, and important, to see the club and its fans as separate entities. Whatever the reasons for their problems, they're not of the fans' making. It never is.
And when it becomes a downward financial spiral where some costs are being covered by not paying backroom wages, not paying the taxman (never ends well), making redundancies, with an owner who seems unwilling or unable to bring them back onto a sustainable footing, then the club itself is at risk. Whatever the reasons, imagine (or, for many on here, remember) how devastating it would be to face that as a fan, to face actually losing your club.
Going back to the earlier analogy, you can disapprove of someone's gambling but that doesn't mean you'll be happy watching their life fall apart as a result of it - and even less so the lives of those who depend on them. I can't understand anyone who feels schadenfreude or hubris in this.
I do believe FFP was meant with all good intent to protect fans from situations like this, but it can't completely prevent it - and if clubs ignore it and take the hit, it will still be the fans who suffer. FFP adds to the risk side when weighing up approach, but while the rewards for success are so great financially, there will still be some owners / management who think it's worth it.
I still wince in transfer windows when I see people asking why we're not spending the money from Caicedo on a big name, or suggesting players on stupid wages like Henderson (ffs). While, yes, I'm having the ride of my life at the moment, I'd still rather be sustainable, boring and back getting rained on in league 2, than spunk it all trying to win everything, at the risk of losing Everything.
We are so lucky a) to have incredible fans who fought and fought for our survival, b) to then have first Dick Knight, now Tony Bloom, as owners, and Barber as CEO, and c) to have the history, however difficult at the time, that hopefully steers us and our owners and management away from making mistakes like these in future. Others are not so lucky.
SO.
I have no love for Reading as an entity, as a competitor who took a risk that didn't pay off, who tried to gain an unfair advantage and were punished (if my reading of that situation is right).
But I have a connection with every real football fan whoever they support (yes even Palace), because they have an irrational, insatiable and irreplaceable love for their club, as I do for mine. No-one deserves to lose that in their life.
They are clearly suffering from some terrible, ongoing financial mismanagement which goes beyond just bad results and points deductions. So if a) above is where Reading fans are right now, I'm with them. Good luck to them in their fight and I will support in whatever small way I can, as with other clubs' campaigns in the past (*not Man Utd), and as others did for us when we needed them.
Never forget how close we came.
Never wish that on others.
Never forget those who helped us.
Never take for granted how fortunate we are.
Never lose sight of what really matters.
If NSC do something as a group, please count me in.
(And apols if you feel like you've just read the Sunday papers, I appear to have been on one of my long NSC rambles again... I did warn you)
)
