On the night Reading beat Fulham 1-0 in the 2017 Championship playoff semi-final second leg to take one step closer to the Premier League, a major change took place at the Madejski Stadium.
After months of speculation, billionaire siblings Mr Dai Yongge and Ms Dai Xiu Li (now Hawken) were announced as majority shareholders at Reading Football Club.
Our previous Thai owners had helped to steady the ship after Anton Zingarevich’s departure – and provided us with a good platform to build on after a very successful season despite heartbreak in the final.
However, regardless of whether the Royals went up or not, there were always whispers that our new owners would spend big – something us fans had never really witnessed before with the prudent John Madejski and the empty promises of Zingarevich.
Like kids in a sweet shop, a lot of fans, including myself, were excited for this. Would we finally be able to spend our way back to the Premier League and watch some of the best players in the world come to the Madejski Stadium again after being relegated in 2013? Perhaps we would see world class players make the move to Berkshire to both secure promotion and establish ourselves as a top tier side? Foolishly, that was my short-termist mindset.
Well, that plan between 2017 and 2018 did not work. Ron Gourlay took centre stage after his appointment in the summer of 2017, two summers came and went with little success, tens of millions of pounds had been spent on transfer fees and wages. And guess what? The club were in a worse position than they were before.
Brian Tevreden, a key architect in a very successful 2016 summer transfer window when we signed John Swift and Liam Moore for a combined total of just £1m, was pushed to one side and inevitably left the club.
Finally, Gourlay resigned too in November 2018.
But over two years on, we are still feeling the effects of a previously bloated squad, an eye-watering wage bill and overspending in the transfer market.
Our recent acquisitions since then, including the club-record signing of George Puscas in 2019, have not helped – but I can finally feel the tide turning in Berkshire with some of the other signings we have made, including the likes of Rafael, Michael Morrison and Josh Laurent.
Let’s take a look at our starting lineup against Nottingham Forest for example. The only players we have spent considerable fees on are Liam Moore who joined for just £1m in 2016, Ovie Ejaria and Lucas Joao – the rest are either free transfers or academy graduates.
Sometimes, to add that bit of extra quality, you need to spend an extra few million and there is no doubting that. However, the club has shown in the past that when you have a fantastic academy, a good mix of youth and experience and an excellent team spirit, it can take you places – and I still hold this belief in the present day.
And if I had one message I could send to Mr Dai, I would say this: please remain modest in the January transfer window even if the EFL’s profit and sustainability rules are changed. After a much-needed clearout in the summer, we are now building our way back as a force to be reckoned with.
Your huge investment in the club deserves success – but stick with the long-term plan and you may just bear the fruits of this.
By Adam Jones
