New Owners - Redwood Watch

[Elm Park Kid]

https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/20 ... portunity/

[Only one Trevor Morley]

https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/2025/06/23/lead-west-brom-academy-coach-departs-to-pursue-opportunity/

Is that a hint?

[Snowflake Royal]

https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/2025/06/23/lead-west-brom-academy-coach-departs-to-pursue-opportunity/

Is that a hint?

If not it seems utterly irrelevant

[Orion1871]

https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/2025/06/23/lead-west-brom-academy-coach-departs-to-pursue-opportunity/

No doubt W[a]nkered delivered an "exclusive" on this about a minute after EPK posted it.

[RG30]

Sounds like it's a done deal judging by Instagram and X.

[morganb]

https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/2025/06/23/lead-west-brom-academy-coach-departs-to-pursue-opportunity/

https://x.com/royalmint90/status/193722 ... mJg4g&s=19

Someone from West Brom wishing Richard Beale luck at Reading

Nice comments on him as a person here

https://x.com/TheTilehurstEnd/status/19 ... pEOeg&s=19

[Norfolk Royal]

https://x.com/drdstarkeycbe/status/1937 ... _H--b2SJ4A

Couhig banging on about history again. Amazed he’s got the time.

[From Despair To Where?]

Does Missy know her husband is a gay historian in his spare time?

[Sutekh]

https://x.com/drdstarkeycbe/status/1937050050611302656?s=46&t=Z6dQXBFaeOgb_H--b2SJ4A

Couhig banging on about history again. Amazed he’s got the time.

That’s it, knew Rob reminded me of someone and it was starting to bug me….

[Orion1871]

Does Missy know her husband is a gay historian in his spare time?

With a slightly dodgy history when talking about race.

[From Despair To Where?]

Think is, I remember him in the 80s when he looked like a cross between Magnus Pyke and Adolf Hitler.

[morganb]

On a recent podcast, Couhig was talking about the impact of media (radio, TV, streaming etc) and presenting Reading to the world by setting up his own channel

Phil Catchpole, a commentator at Wycombe, has just left his role there -

https://x.com/bluntphil/status/19375826 ... AoTVA&s=19

Except to see him at the SCL soon?

James Earnshaw has commented on his post and all comments are very positive

Doubt this will affect Mick, Tim and Adie (or DJ Megaparty)

[Only one Trevor Morley]

I have been and remain a big fan of Couhig. However as we’ve heard so much from him (which is again a good thing) there are some questions that are bubbling up either in relation to what he has said- or indeed what he hasn’t said. Some thoughts

1) Couhig prides himself on his openness but as he himself has acknowledged his biggest weakness is to preempt outcomes. We of course saw this with his aborted initial takeover and we’ve continued to see this in last month. It’s his character and we get good insight into his thinking which is a great thing but he clearly needs to work on over promising and under delivering when it comes to player recruitment. I’m surprised he didn’t say something like -‘look we inherited a team with 6 players under contract, this season will be about making sure we have a squad that is competitive but we need to recognise we’re 10 players behind everyone else in terms of who is under contract and so for us to even stand still we need to do more than anyone else in the division.

2) I like the vision he has for club. He is a great medium term thinker - and I really agree with him on having a development squad. But I think he will underestimate the tolerance of fans in short term on what’s happening on the pitch compared to rebuilding the club off the pitch. I think his passion is fixing the foundations. That isn’t what gets the average fan into the stadium - it keeps them there, but there needs to be the pull of a competitive team. He isn’t daft - he know that but I think we need to hear more about his recruitment strategy if plan A isn’t working as well as they hoped.

3) I get the no leaks policy but I think the club needs to be more open in responding when a cat is out the bag. There are a couple of examples of when you might expect an announcement (the new investors, Beale being appointed as assistant, JJ saying contracts already signed) and yet things suddenly go quiet and sometimes it’s hard to understand why. There seems to be a gap between things happening and then being announced- why is that? On Beale in particular I find it hard to believe he would leave WBA before tieing up reading deal so why not announce it?

4) Couhig alluded to uncovering more problems when they took over and yet won’t say what they were. If these are issues that impact on what we can do financially in terms of supporting team then he should say so - that would be transparent. I think fans would rather hear him say ‘do you know what there were other black holes we uncovered and that is going to have an impact in short term’ or he should say these internet warriors are spreading rumours about us not being able to offer competitive wages or being able to afford a pre season trip and they are false.

Couhig and co have done a hell of a lot in 5 weeks so the above is more a reflection of how best to now proceed. It’s been great to have so much openness - but the odd question still remains.

[Brogue]

I have been and remain a big fan of Couhig. However as we’ve heard so much from him (which is again a good thing) there are some questions that are bubbling up either in relation to what he has said- or indeed what he hasn’t said. Some thoughts

1) Couhig prides himself on his openness but as he himself has acknowledged his biggest weakness is to preempt outcomes. We of course saw this with his aborted initial takeover and we’ve continued to see this in last month. It’s his character and we get good insight into his thinking which is a great thing but he clearly needs to work on over promising and under delivering when it comes to player recruitment. I’m surprised he didn’t say something like -‘look we inherited a team with 6 players under contract, this season will be about making sure we have a squad that is competitive but we need to recognise we’re 10 players behind everyone else in terms of who is under contract and so for us to even stand still we need to do more than anyone else in the division.

2) I like the vision he has for club. He is a great medium term thinker - and I really agree with him on having a development squad. But I think he will underestimate the tolerance of fans in short term on what’s happening on the pitch compared to rebuilding the club off the pitch. I think his passion is fixing the foundations. That isn’t what gets the average fan into the stadium - it keeps them there, but there needs to be the pull of a competitive team. He isn’t daft - he know that but I think we need to hear more about his recruitment strategy if plan A isn’t working as well as they hoped.

3) I get the no leaks policy but I think the club needs to be more open in responding when a cat is out the bag. There are a couple of examples of when you might expect an announcement (the new investors, Beale being appointed as assistant, JJ saying contracts already signed) and yet things suddenly go quiet and sometimes it’s hard to understand why. There seems to be a gap between things happening and then being announced- why is that? On Beale in particular I find it hard to believe he would leave WBA before tieing up reading deal so why not announce it?

4) Couhig alluded to uncovering more problems when they took over and yet won’t say what they were. If these are issues that impact on what we can do financially in terms of supporting team then he should say so - that would be transparent. I think fans would rather hear him say ‘do you know what there were other black holes we uncovered and that is going to have an impact in short term’ or he should say these internet warriors are spreading rumours about us not being able to offer competitive wages or being able to afford a pre season trip and they are false.

Couhig and co have done a hell of a lot in 5 weeks so the above is more a reflection of how best to now proceed. It’s been great to have so much openness - but the odd question still remains.

Good post and agree with 98% of it. But I’d like to know what have couhig and co done in the 5 weeks? Genuine questions and this is my problem with couhig he’s a big pr machine who is constantly sending updates about nothing. What’s he actually done so far?

[Only one Trevor Morley]

I suppose I’d push that question back and ask what do you expect any new owner to have done in 5 weeks. It’s easy to forget that we actually have an owner who understand EFL and league one - most new owners wouldn’t have a clue. And there is also the sheer human effort of pulling off the takeover and getting it over the line by Mid May. That wasn’t a walk in the park and needs to remain in the credit side of the balance sheet.

I think in 5 weeks we’ve secured services of 3 vital players on long term
Contracts , our captain, decent back up goalie, well respected cex installed instantly, more season ticket sales than last season, appointed specialists to sort out pitch and stadium infrastructure, overhauled old fashioned accounts systems, and yes maybe there have been staffing cuts but any new owner would be looking to restructure things.

And sounds like new assistant manager, bearwood day etc will be announced shortly. Again things that they have been working on in those 5 weeks.

So I think plenty to be pleased about and would be ingenerous not to recognise. but as Couhig himself says they’ll get some things wrong. Some questions are now being asked after the initial honeymoon period and in an era of openness and transparency I look forward to hearing the answers.

[Snowflake Royal]

I suppose I’d push that question back and ask what do you expect any new owner to have done in 5 weeks. It’s easy to forget that we actually have an owner who understand EFL and league one - most new owners wouldn’t have a clue. And there is also the sheer human effort of pulling off the takeover and getting it over the line by Mid May. That wasn’t a walk in the park and needs to remain in the credit side of the balance sheet.

I think in 5 weeks we’ve secured services of 3 vital players on long term
Contracts , our captain, decent back up goalie, well respected cex installed instantly, more season ticket sales than last season, appointed specialists to sort out pitch and stadium infrastructure, overhauled old fashioned accounts systems, and yes maybe there have been staffing cuts but any new owner would be looking to restructure things.

And sounds like new assistant manager, bearwood day etc will be announced shortly. Again things that they have been working on in those 5 weeks.

So I think plenty to be pleased about and would be ingenerous not to recognise. but as Couhig himself says they’ll get some things wrong. Some questions are now being asked after the initial honeymoon period and in an era of openness and transparency I look forward to hearing the answers.

On top of that just meeting everyone formally, working through policies and strategies, setting goals, listening to problems, ideas etc is something that in itself would eat up several weeks in most businesses

[Only one Trevor Morley]

Yep good point. The sheer time that is taken up in getting your feet under the desk.

[MartinRdg]

Yep good point. The sheer time that is taken up in getting your feet under the desk.

And, of course, RC was running a trial for 2 weeks so couldn't contribute during that period as much as he would like probably.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Firstly, we know Couhig is a hard bastard in negotiations, it's how he bought the club. It's also safe to say most fans would view the likes of Wareham and Ehibhatiomhan as squad players and not first name on the teamsheet. Craig is a bit different that I think he is genuinely a top half L1 player with the potential to go higher, but he just happens to play in our strongest area.

The point I'm getting to is, do a couple of these players expect more than is being offered, both financially but also in terms of squad role? They would not have been regular starters were it not for our off final situation; perhaps now we're offering them a smaller role and wages consistent with that of a lower L1 player, and they're disappointed.

In which case what would you have the owners do? Pay them more than they're worth?

[Armadillo Roadkill]

Firstly, we know Couhig is a hard bastard in negotiations, it's how he bought the club. It's also safe to say most fans would view the likes of Wareham and Ehibhatiomhan as squad players and not first name on the teamsheet. Craig is a bit different that I think he is genuinely a top half L1 player with the potential to go higher, but he just happens to play in our strongest area.

The point I'm getting to is, do a couple of these players expect more than is being offered, both financially but also in terms of squad role? They would not have been regular starters were it not for our off final situation; perhaps now we're offering them a smaller role and wages consistent with that of a lower L1 player, and they're disappointed.

In which case what would you have the owners do? Pay them more than they're worth?

Presumably it's their agents who do the negotiations, so unless they're a useless one, they should be able to negotiate pretty successfully and not be bossed around by Couhig's team.

The agent will want to maximise their value because that maximises their cut. These players are young men, some of whom are clearly really rather intelligent (for example Craig), some of whom are maybe in need of more guidance. Whatever the circumstances, you'd expect all options would be explored before making a commitment.

It will take time, and the club will get more things right than wrong.