Rob Couhig makes claim on ownership problem in English football after Dai Yongge issues at Reading FC | OneFootball

The years of suffering under Yongge's iron fist are finally over.

Rob Couhig, the new owner of Reading FC, has appeared to take a shot at former custodian Dai Yongge after the American completed the takeover of the club.

14th May 2025: a momentous day in the history of Reading Football Club, but, honestly, one that should never have come to fruition in the first place. No club should have to face the strain that they were put under.

The weight has finally been lifted from their shoulders by Couhig, his business partner, Todd Trosclair, and everyone else associated with Redwood Holdings Ltd, whose purchase of 100 percent of the Royals' shares, as well as the Select Car Leasing Stadium and the club's Bearwood training facility, was confirmed on Wednesday.

An agreement in principle for Yongge to sell to Couhig and Trosclair was announced on the final day of the 2024/25 season, when Noel Hunt's side failed to reach the play-offs, after the previous owner was ordered to sell by the EFL after he was disqualified as an owner/director.

Rob Couhig sends shot at Dai Yongge following Reading sale

Now that Yongge is officially no longer connected to the club, his successor has taken the opportunity to send a strong message to his new adoring supporters, as well as a dig at the man he has just secured a deal with.

On the assurances he can give Reading supporters going forward, Couhig told Sky Sports: "Well nobody can really assure anybody of anything, except to say 'look at the past'.

"When we ran Wycombe, I think most people would say that we ran it as an exemplary example of how a club should be run. You run it with integrity, you run it honestly, you run it transparently and, most importantly, you run it with financial discipline.

"I think one of the problems with English football is that too many people get involved in football and see it as a big toy, and so they buy the toy, and they grow tired of the toy, and then, shockingly, they don’t want to put more money into it.

"We have always believed that the right way to club - any business - is you let the club generate the revenues on which it will succeed. Now, what is silly about it is that the club, without radical revision, won't generate enough revenue to do what we want to do, which is compete and succeed and get promoted up the pyramid."

Rob Couhig's ownership history is a very encouraging for Reading

The lawyer didn't take the Chairboys to great heights in the way that other former third tier clubs like Ipswich Town have shot up the English league ranks, but they were nothing if not a stable, solid club under his stewardship.

Wycombe won promotion to the Championship in 2020 and, when they came back down, maintained themselves as an upper-end League One outfit.

Reading have done extremely well to survive and then thrive in this division these last couple of terms. The conditions that everyone, from the manager, to the players, to the staff behind the scenes, have had to work under - they're the real heroes for keeping the club ticking despite all the chaos.

Couhig's solid approach to football ownership should only enhance their chances of success. Brighter days are certainly ahead.