Reading hypocrites? The Test

[Brovion]

Right. Here is the acid test of whether Reading are hypocrites or not:

If they advertised for the job and Steve Coppell thought "Oh that sounds like a step up" and sent in his CV then fair enough. No approach was made either directly or indirectly and Madjeski can walk around with a clear conscience.

If on the other hand they just went "Oi, Brighton, we want to talk to your manager" then all the words they said about WHU and Pardew is just so much sanctimonious claptrap. Because in this instance we would have had no choice. If Reading's approach had been rebuffed then Coppell would probably have 'done a Pardew' and resigned. Dick Knight did the only thing he could have done which was to shrug resignedly and allow him to talk to them. It was hardly asking for permission, more like demanding it.

 

[tinx]

Well said.........

 

[BrightonBird]

But.....

Either way it still leaves us in the shit, so he's still a wanker (excuse my language)

 

[Brixtaan]

It makes a mockery of this 'permission to talk to' bullshit.Whats to stop any chairman phoning anyone up any evening?

And another thing,why do we get £100,000 when Reading got £380,000?

Madejski's hypocrisy will be shown up and I want DK to come out and say so.He's being too nice,time to start being a bit arsey DK.

 

[Hannibal smith]

Spot on...However, I would now like us to poach a decent manager from another club and spout sanctimonious claptrap rather than pick up someone from the dole and claim the moral high ground.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Its weird innit, i don't see how the media hasn't picked up on this after the Pardew situation, its pretty obvious what Madjeski is doing, no matter what you say approaching somebody who is under contract at another club is poaching.

Knight has done the honourable thing and let Steve choose between us and Reading, if Coppell chooses to go then fair enough but its nice to know that Dick is in there fighting our corner.

 

[CAFC Matt]

And another thing,why do we get £100,000 when Reading got £380,000?

Because of the length of time they have been in charge. Pardew was in longer so they got more money

 

[Brixtaan]

Because of the length of time they have been in charge. Pardew was in longer so they got more money

Stop being sensible Decafe.Not the answer i was looking for.

 

[CAFC Matt]

Sorry

What answer were you ooking for and I will give it to ya

 

[Lady Whistledown]

It's because Coppell only has a 1 year contract, whereas
Pardew-Tosser probably had 3 years left or similar.

Still a travesty, and Reading are hypocrites of the highest order.

 

[Wilts]

Edna is correct about the reason for the level of compensation. It is basically the total wage of the manager until the end of his contract. It must be paid up in full.

It is strange that the media hasn't picked up on it, but then when have the media ever been kind to teams lower than Division One? It "sucks" (for want of a better word), and we all face it unless we're clubs with a history of winning FA Cups, regularly pulling in 30,000 per game... West Ham, even.

The course of events that we're on about here is:

1. West Ham made Pardew top of their shortlist, then asked Madejski to speak to him. Madejski said no. They asked again. Madejski said no again, and said that it should now be the end of the matter, as if he says that he doesn't believe that Pardew should take a sideways step to manage West Ham, then he should adhere to his contract. Then Pardew resigns. Madejski rejects his resignation. Then settles for £380,000 (why, I don't know).

2. Reading ask to speak to Coppell, DK says yep straight away (though said something different in the paper). As soon as he's said yes, there isn't any ground to stand on. If DK had said no, then there wouldn't be a problem here, as Reading would not have come back (Madejski sticking by his word not to poach a manager). However, if Coppell then chose to resign in order to take the Reading job, then that would imply poaching, as he would be tempted/lured away from his current job.

I have no doubt that if DK had said "no", then Coppell would hardly be fuming about not letting him talk to us... and then there would not have been a problem.

Also, note that being a division apart, the West Ham situation isn't the same. West Ham are taking away the asset we wanted to use to get promoted from Division One, and using it against us. That's the thing that really gets the Reading fans. If Coppell came to us, then he won't be used against you in any way.

What really gets my goat on here is the "hopefully he'll see the potential of Brighton over Reading" bollocks. I think its time some people (not all) looked at other clubs and their potential rather than just their own. Not just clubs like Reading, but other similarly sized places with decent catchment areas, and a history of producing quality footballers. Brighton has no more "potential" than Reading, Swindon, the Bristol clubs, Hull, or any other similarly-sized places with similar sized catchment area. The fact of the matter is that we are on an even-par in terms of our support and our potential support. There is no way to disguise anything between the two of our clubs, we are very, very equal.

Anyhow, Coppell has been offered a contract with what appears to be a lot of heavy bonuses, but not as much a wage (to compensate for that). As Pardew found, it isn't the most favoured way to do it, so Coppell may either try for a better offer, or simply leave it. No-one knows yet, so all we can do it speculate.

The hypocrites are not us. Madejski stated in an article before the one from the BBC that you use, that he would happily go after another manager from another club. As would any chairman. You and I know that managers don't just come from the unemploymed market. The thing that seems to make Madejski a hypocrite is what he has said after saying that, which baffles us all...

Get that bloody ground sorted, will ya...

 

[Brixtaan]

sorry Wilts, i've PM'd you before and everyone says your a nice chap but you're talking out of your arse.

Different planets Rea*ing and Brighton.Can't be arsed to list reasons why right now.

Rich Chairman and flashy ground.End of story.

 

[Brovion]

Wilts you are a reasonable chap who is a great asset to NSC and your comments about the current relative size of our clubs is spot on - but I'm with Brixtaan. At the end of the day 'big' Reading have come along to 'little' Brighton and demanded our manager. You've been kicked by a bigger club so in classic bully mode as you can't kick them back you've come along and picked on somebody smaller.

That's the bottom line, and whatever it is it ain't ethical. All the guff about 'permissions' sounds like the USA trying to justify its invasion of Iraq.

[How about that, I've managed to bring contemporary politics into mthe debate!]

 

[Wilts]

sorry Wilts, i've PM'd you before and everyone says your a nice chap but you're talking out of your arse.

Different planets Rea*ing and Brighton.Can't be arsed to list reasons why right now.

Rich Chairman and flashy ground.End of story.

Brix,

Come on matey. We at Reading try to think of the Thames Valley region as one of the top 5 regions for football, with all the national youth-team winning footballers and school sides that come from here. Its always been a hotbed for football, except that in the past, footballers have gone to London clubs with a lack of a decent club nearby. Now we have around 25 internationals in the youth teams, because they don't have to leave the region anymore because there is a club set up for them, which used to be a tin-pot outfit that no-one wanted to invest in.

I shan't slate your team, as I know how much I like the fans, but the "rich chairman and flashy ground" theory can be reversed to say "good crowds for about 4 years, a similar amount of no trophies in history" for yourselves. Now I don't mean that (obviously!), but its easy to twist things around. I suppose this is the wrong place to talk about my team, so onto your own...

You need that ground sorted. Once it is done though, that isn't the end of it. Most teams that build new grounds look back at their old crowds and believe they can fill it. Usually it is never the case. Stoke, Huddersfield, etc all banked on getting 20,000+ per season like they did in recent history. But it just doesn't happen. You will have to run the business on around 12,000 fans per year (which, I'm sorry, will happen for a while until success comes) at first, and then fulfil the potential. In this day and age there is unlikely to be 20,000 people wanting to watch Brighton on a regular basis in Division One. You may get to that level of attendance in about 7 or 8 years, but it doesn't happen overnight. I have every confidence in you getting there though, as I do with us.

P.S. Some Reading fans will argue the same about Reading and Brighton being different planets, in the opposite direction (not me personally). I suppose its all what bias is about

 

[Wilts]

Wilts you are a reasonable chap who is a great asset to NSC and your comments about the current relative size of our clubs is spot on - but I'm with Brixtaan. At the end of the day 'big' Reading have come along to 'little' Brighton and demanded our manager. You've been kicked by a bigger club so in classic bully mode as you can't kick them back you've come along and picked on somebody smaller.

That's the bottom line, and whatever it is it ain't ethical. All the guff about 'permissions' sounds like the USA trying to justify its invasion of Iraq.

[How about that, I've managed to bring contemporary politics into mthe debate!]

I hope it isn't the big club/little club thing that our board is using, as that would indeed be incredibly unfair.

I'll definitely give you the unethical thing, and I am with you and Brixtaan about that too. I thought my club was better than this type of situation. You'll notice that our fans never discussed Coppell as a replacement because he was under contract. If you were in Division One still (sorry...) there wouldn't be this problem either... not a clue why we have to go through with things like this, its pretty unbearable.

 

[Brixtaan]

[How about that, I've managed to bring contemporary politics into mthe debate!]

clever

 

[Gritt23]

Spot on...However, I would now like us to poach a decent manager from another club and spout sanctimonious claptrap rather than pick up someone from the dole and claim the moral high ground.

I'd rather we didn't, as we'd have to pay compensation which is money better spent on the team.

Steve Cotterill for me, and he wouldn't cost us anything in comp payments.

 

[Wilts]

P.S. Please take everything in the right tone. Not intended to be a rant at all. I don't like this any more than you all do.

 

[Brovion]

I hope it isn't the big club/little club thing that our board is using, as that would indeed be incredibly unfair.

I'll definitely give you the unethical thing, and I am with you and Brixtaan about that too. I thought my club was better than this type of situation. You'll notice that our fans never discussed Coppell as a replacement because he was under contract. If you were in Division One still (sorry...) there wouldn't be this problem either... not a clue why we have to go through with things like this, its pretty unbearable.

That's a very fair assessment Wilts. You are a top chap - for a Reading fan.

 

[Seagullible]

My view on it is that DK is an honourable bloke who will not stand in the way of anyone talking about their options. Madf***wit knew this so makes his statement about not poaching if the club says no knowing fullwell that DK wouldn't stand in the way. As far as I'm concerened, approaching a manager in a job is poaching so they are just a bunch of hypocrits.

Heres hoping they get relagated and there ground burns down!