Roll the dice. It is said to be one of the Reading owner Dai Yongge’s go-to phrases, one that can seem foolish at the best of times, let alone amid the club’s current strife. A thirst to hurriedly elevate Reading to the Premier League, after a near-miss six years ago, has spectacularly backfired. Three weeks out from a first season in the third tier since 2001-02, they are playing catch-up. They have a threadbare squad with a handful of fit senior players, a disillusioned fanbase and a manager who took charge on Friday, 18 days after being appointed, because of delays obtaining a work permit. They also face the threat of another points deduction due to failing to pay wages on time.
Dai, who made his fortune turning disused air-raid shelters into shopping malls in China, has spent about £250m in the six years since he and his sister, Dai Xiu Li, acquired Reading but aside from a sleek training facility, he has very little to show for it. “It’s legalised gambling,” says Paula Martin, chair of the Supporters Trust at Reading of the financial approach. “Throw money at it, and possibly with better advice so that we bought more appropriate players at the time, the gamble might have paid off and we might have been in the Premier League by now.”
