Madejski confirms forget Premiership

[SpaceCruiser]

Wycombe, I think if you do a bit of reseach, you will find that JM went to live in the Far East for 18 months at the time he sold Auto Trader to 'minimise his tax exposure' in the UK. I would imagine that is what Tamworth is referring to.

And how many years ago was that?

Wycombe, I would have thought as a long time commentator on all things Madejski, and a poster who is fond of ‘definitive’ statements on the subject, you would have had to hand all the relevant details of his 18 month ‘tax exposure’ sojourn in Malaysia. Particularly as he saved himself (and cost the British Revenue) a significant amount of money.

Wasn't he actually in Malaysia to set up the Malaysian version of the Autotrader? If that's the case, then why do people still focus on his so-called tax exile?

[Royal Rother]

It was a tax exile move (as well).

[Forbury Lion]

Maybe the government should introduce maximum wage as an opposite to minimum wage, This means they tax at 100% anyone who has assets above £100k..... How does that sound Mr Chairman?

Clubs have to act within their means, That's the rule that needs to be in place - Fail to cover costs and you get expelled from the league. In fact, I believe there already is a flawed ruling about salaries being a % of turnover.

[brendywendy]

so oxf*rd what, hes a business man, it makes sense to reduce his tax bill in whatever legal ways he can.wtf is wrong with that?

[Forbury Lion]

Wasn't he actually in Malaysia to set up the Malaysian version of the Autotrader? If that's the case, then why do people still focus on his so-called tax exile?

That was the reason he gave publically, I'm sure saving millions of pounds in legal tax avoidance hadn't entered the mind of the shrewd money maker and tightwad Sir John Madejski.

In his shoes I may have acted the same, although Switzerland or the Isle of Man would probably be my choice of tax haven and yes, I would have setup Isle of Man Auto Trader while I was there.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

It is seen as immoral by many people Brendy.

If the entire earnings of a country are 1000 billion, but the top people pay no tax on the top 200 billion then the tax take comes from the rest, at a higher rate than might have been needed.

You only have to look at the loophole that allows residential property to be put into a company name to avoid stamp duty. You buy a house for £251k, there is 3% stamp duty paid, when you sell it the new buyer also pays stamp duty, the rich are setting up companies that buy the property, wholly owned by the individual, then when they want to sell they sell the company, so no stamp duty, as the property is an asset of the company.

Legal, but is it right?

[Svlad Cjelli]

Clubs have to act within their means, That's the rule that needs to be in place - Fail to cover costs and you get expelled from the league. In fact, I believe there already is a flawed ruling about salaries being a % of turnover.

Only in tiers 4 & 5 is this actually a rule.

The FL would like to introduce salary capping but it’s so hard to find a model that’s enforceable and appropriate - and would be accepted by their clubs, because they represent the clubs so all new rules have to be accepted by the clubs. The main problem is that there is such a range on incomes in Tier 2 that no salary capping model fits nicely – you have the relegated clubs such as Newcastle at one extreme and at the other you have the likes of Scunny, Barnsley & Peterborough, so a one-size fits all is the best bet, but fiendishly difficult to find the right way of doing it.

BTW, today is the day that the FSF, Supporters’ Direct and the Supporter Representative on the FA Council (Malcolm Clarke, Chair of the FSF) present their oral evidence to the DCMS enquiry on Football Governance. Expect suggestions of adopting the German model of governance – which insists on pre-submitted budgets, no debt ( “sugar-daddy” owners are allowed to *give*, but not *loan* money), supporter participation and ownership.

But rather than clutter up The Team, see the 97-page thread in General Football “Generic Clubs in Crisis Thread” for an in-depth discussion of all matters football finance related.....

[brendywendy]

It is seen as immoral by many people Brendy.

If the entire earnings of a country are 1000 billion, but the top people pay no tax on the top 200 billion then the tax take comes from the rest, at a higher rate than might have been needed.

You only have to look at the loophole that allows residential property to be put into a company name to avoid stamp duty. You buy a house for £251k, there is 3% stamp duty paid, when you sell it the new buyer also pays stamp duty, the rich are setting up companies that buy the property, wholly owned by the individual, then when they want to sell they sell the company, so no stamp duty, as the property is an asset of the company.

Legal, but is it right?

if those richest people all went elsewhere the economy would take a massive hit.
if they want to close the loophole close it, but dont keep it open, and then moan when people take advantage of it

[PieEater]

You don't have to be rich to take advantage of the loophole, anyone could set up a company and do that.

[rhroyal]

Re player wages, it's called market forces.

Too simplistic. Look at what happened at W&E... the club attracted players who commanded higher wages than the club could actually afford and achieved promotion and cup success on the back of it. It took 5 years or more for the chickens to come home to roost and then the director walks away from £260k debt he'd created. That's not true market forces at work, that's cheating / falsifying the market.

Same applies (and will happen to) to the clubs who are paying more than they can afford in the professional ranks. I've been forecasting it for 4 years and it's slower happening than I thought - but I am convinced that large scale financial meltdown will happen unless there is an immediate change in the financial governance of the game. And even then it will probably happen anyway as it's just too late... incomes WILL drop over the next 2 years and hardly any clubs have the reserves to get them through tough / tougher times. The wealthy benefactors are going to get hacked off with it and pull out, etc. etc.

Of course it is simplistic. Fact is, it is a straight choice of either living within the financial limits within a club or taking the gamble on making an investment. I agree that investment should only occur if the money is available. SJM has put a considerable amount of money into the club but it is all covered off by loans. In all fairness, his risk is offset by the fact that when someone buys the club from him he will get his investment back.

Personally, I would like to see football properly regulated and managed in this country. There has to be some sort of salary cap. There also has to be some sort of regulation regarding ticket prices. But I won't be holding my breath on this happening.

It's a gamble that simply wouldn't exist anywhere else in the business world. Clubs effectively borrow money to gamble. If it comes off, they do the same again to push higher. Eventually one of the gambles won't pay off, but clubs are deep in debt which they have pissed away on "gambles".

The word "investment" to me suggests a worthwhile, calculated risk which, whilst accepting you might lose out, you expect to make a return on. The word "gamble" means a foolish flutter undertaken for amusement with a decent chance of success. Neither of these words really encapsulate how football clubs are run these days. Better terms would be "Unsustainable", "ridiculous" and "oxf*rd stupid". Clubs accrue debts greater than the value of the stadium and their assets; if you gambled with that sort of money and lost at a casino you'd rightfully be declared bankrupt.

Rules need to change or a meltdown is surely on the cards in the next 5-10 years, latest.

I for one won't be crying when that happens.

[Terminal Boardom]

Clubs have to act within their means, That's the rule that needs to be in place - Fail to cover costs and you get expelled from the league. In fact, I believe there already is a flawed ruling about salaries being a % of turnover.

Didn't stop Notts County being 350% above the salary cap in League 2. Fact is, the mongtards who run football in this country haven't got a clue. They are running scared of the clubs and the media.

[seahawk10]

Sir John says 'we'd look perfectly at ease in the Premiership':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_zNFpIUtDw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_zNFpIUtDw#t=1m51s

[Terminal Boardom]

Sir John says 'we'd look perfectly at ease in the Premiership':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_zNFpIUtDw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_zNFpIUtDw#t=1m51s

Old man talking silly bollocks again

[West Stand Man]

So, after 4 pages of comment are we all agreed that he didn't confirm that we should forget the Premier League?

[Royal Rother]

Sir John says 'we'd look perfectly at ease in the Premiership':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_zNFpIUtDw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_zNFpIUtDw#t=1m51s

Old man talking silly bollocks again

That's clever!! I didn't know you could set a time in the link for when the vid will start. Nice one.

As for talking bollocks, well, yes, to believe that, as a result of the performance on Sunday, we would be "at ease" in the PL next season with that team, is certainly pushing it a bit.

[Man Friday]

Only on a Reading fans' website would you find discussions about tax havens, tax avoidance, etc, and such intelligent, informed insight - especially on a team board!!!

We've definitely got a different type of fan!

[RoyalBlue]

After a welcome period of respite, the Chairman's spouting off again. Deluded or what?!

Reading chairman Sir John Madejski wants his club’s FA Cup run to be the catalyst for promotion back to the Premier League.

Madejski watched on as his side pitted their wits against Manchester City at Eastlands on Sunday and were cruelly denied anything from the game by Micah Richards’ second-half header.

And now their entrepreneur chairman is backing manager Brian McDermott to steer the team into the top flight as they sit just six points outside the play-off zone, with one game in hand.

“I just hope this resonates through the rest of the season now when we play all the other teams in the Championship,” beamed Madejski.

“We certainly deserve to be up there (in the Premier League) now.

“We held our own against one of the most expensive teams in the world and the whole squad can hold their heads up high and be proud of what they’ve achieved.

“If we can do this, though, there’s no reason on this earth why we can’t get into the Premier League.

“This squad is capable of doing anything in football. It underpins how good it is and can take on anybody.”

Now I was really chuffed and proud of the team's performance at City but to suggest that one performance supports these sort of claims is sheer lunacy.

'Displaying the Mad in Madejski'

[Ian Royal]

Under McDermott we've played six games against Premier League opposition and aquited ourselves well in all of them, being narrowly beaten once. Now clearly his Madj is exaggerating and putting positive spin on things... but what do you expect?

Everyone chairman bigs up their own company's performance and potential.

We aren't that far away, we're a narrow margin from being top two and with one or two right additions and keeping our best players we could well be right in the mix next season, assuming we don't do something crazy this season.