Reading FC owner Rob Couhig has outlined his aspirations for the future of the club and how he plans for them to return to the Championship.
Speaking on the UTCIAD podcast, Couhig says that Reading should be competing in the Championship and is aiming to return the club to the second tier of English football.
The former Wycombe Wanderers chairman spoke abut his plans for next season and expects the team to compete for promotion.
Couhig said: “We will have a budget that will allow us to compete to get back this year. It won’t require us dipping in desperately deep into our pockets, and if it does then we’re not running it right.
“I think this club has the potential to be in the Premier League. Look at Bournemouth, look at Brentford. I think we would have to do it with shrewd management of our resources, with good management of our club and a couple of lucky breaks here and there.
“Without question we can be a successful Championship club, midtable or above on a repeated basis. Maybe it’s at that point that Todd and I bring in someone who has really deep pockets who wants to push it.
“A lot will depend on what the fanbase wants.
“One of the great things about Reading is its geographical location. We’re surrounded by good businesses in an affluent area. If we can tap into that, absolutely we can go up.
“We will be putting in our new accounting system to ensure that everything is transparent.
“There was a sizable amount of vendor debt that we will be cleaning out. The club will have pristine books that show no debts of a recent nature. We should be able to operate from that day forward on a sustainable basis.
“That doesn’t mean that we won’t have to dip into our pocket occasionally, or more frequently that perhaps Todd or I want to, but we won’t be fighting these things.”
The full interview is available to watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9ibNFVZwis