Samrit Bunditkitsada's progressing takeover of Reading has caused a great stir on social media sites, with the man himself happy to accept Facebook requests on his 'personal' page. With all the hype around him many have been trying to temper expectations, with the memory of Anton still fresh. That said, the 39-year-old has won over many fans already. In many ways he's the antithesis of the current regime with his open communication, compared to that of Zingarevich era when the club were conspicuously silent - even in the face of ever growing concerns from the fans - which is evidently garnering a positive reaction.
The biggest issue for many is how much Bunditkitsada's actually worth. A reporter allegedly told BBCRB that he's got no more than £180m, a fair bit less than the 'billionaire' that GetReading seem to suggest - although that's fairly insignificant if he's just the head of a consortium, as the paper have reported (Charles Watts on twitter told me there are definitely other guys with money involved). Plus Samrit's already promised £5-8m for Adkins to improve his squad, and that's a fair amount of investment for a club that hasn't made a permanent transfer in over a year, although only time will tell if it will be enough to seriously challenge for promotion - the inclusion of a collar on this year's kit suggest it may be. Of course there's a worry that the money won't be made available to the manager, but rather be used to fund 'vanity signings' á la Anton, We're still trying to shift RR Drenthe from his tenure, but hopefully if a group of investors are involved they'll be less likely to fund each others whims and more likely to listen to the manager... I can dream, can't I?
Where Anton was rumoured to be funded by his father, which is allegedly why his relationship with the club broke down when Papa Zing. decided - for whatever reason - to pull that funding, there appear to be no such concerns over Samrit's cash flow. However, if he is the head of a consortium, then there's absolutely no guarantee with the rest consortium, but the safety net of multiple investors is another plus for the consortium.
Perhaps the only worry is that SJM, after years of trying to find the 'right' buyer, may have settled for the first buyer who met his valuation. Where fans will be hoping that the Zingarevich saga taught SJM a lesson - even if withdrawing funding with little or no reason is fairly hard to foresee - it's more likely that a quick sale is at the forefront of his mind. With the club in a self-imposed transfer embargo then speed is essential, thankfully we seem to be able to pay everything necessary at the moment - so let's hope this is all wrapped up quickly (as Samrit suggests it will be) and we can get back to wishing for transfers that never materialise, just like days of old.
The biggest issue for many is how much Bunditkitsada's actually worth. A reporter allegedly told BBCRB that he's got no more than £180m, a fair bit less than the 'billionaire' that GetReading seem to suggest - although that's fairly insignificant if he's just the head of a consortium, as the paper have reported (Charles Watts on twitter told me there are definitely other guys with money involved). Plus Samrit's already promised £5-8m for Adkins to improve his squad, and that's a fair amount of investment for a club that hasn't made a permanent transfer in over a year, although only time will tell if it will be enough to seriously challenge for promotion - the inclusion of a collar on this year's kit suggest it may be. Of course there's a worry that the money won't be made available to the manager, but rather be used to fund 'vanity signings' á la Anton, We're still trying to shift RR Drenthe from his tenure, but hopefully if a group of investors are involved they'll be less likely to fund each others whims and more likely to listen to the manager... I can dream, can't I?
Where Anton was rumoured to be funded by his father, which is allegedly why his relationship with the club broke down when Papa Zing. decided - for whatever reason - to pull that funding, there appear to be no such concerns over Samrit's cash flow. However, if he is the head of a consortium, then there's absolutely no guarantee with the rest consortium, but the safety net of multiple investors is another plus for the consortium.
Perhaps the only worry is that SJM, after years of trying to find the 'right' buyer, may have settled for the first buyer who met his valuation. Where fans will be hoping that the Zingarevich saga taught SJM a lesson - even if withdrawing funding with little or no reason is fairly hard to foresee - it's more likely that a quick sale is at the forefront of his mind. With the club in a self-imposed transfer embargo then speed is essential, thankfully we seem to be able to pay everything necessary at the moment - so let's hope this is all wrapped up quickly (as Samrit suggests it will be) and we can get back to wishing for transfers that never materialise, just like days of old.
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