Nothing is certain except death and taxes, so the saying goes.

When the still commonly used phrase was first introduced in 1789, football didn’t exist.

But that statement by Benjamin Franklin – one of the most influential men in USA history – still rings true today.

Franklin was one of the group of people known as the Founding Fathers of the United States. They were responsible for the takeover of what is now the United States of America.

And the phrase certainly applies to Reading FC. We’ve been waiting a year for the takeover to happen and for new owners to be confirmed. Well, let’s be honest, we've been waiting for anything at all that we can hang our hat on - and will give us hope that the future of our club is secure.

We’re not there yet, at the time of writing at least. I’d love to feel hopeful that a new owner is announced by the time you read this, but I can’t see it being confirmed this week. As I said in a recent interview for BBC Radio Berkshire, for months we were hearing that a deal could happen next month. For weeks we’ve been hearing that we could be two weeks away. I wonder how long we need to wait for news that a deal could happen "next week”.

Meanwhile, Reading’s first game of the season is on August 10 at Birmingham City.

Rob Couhig is the man in waiting, with the backing of Chiron Sports Group. He has visited the training ground and met the players. The EFL are doing their due diligence. They need to be certain that the new owner has the funds needed not just to buy the club, but to run it.

Even then, there are a few more hoops to jump through. The EFL need to be convinced that the new ownership’s business plan is viable. And potentially the biggest sticking point is that final terms need to be signed off with the current owner.

What is frustrating for Reading fans is not just the time this is taking. Those frustrations extend to how easy it seems to have been for Dai Yongge to buy the club, how easy it has been for him to destroy it, and how challenging it is to get him out and get a new owner on board.

I will be relieved if we start the season with a new owner, but as one of the Founding Fathers eluded to more than 80 years before Reading Football Club was founded, nothing is certain.

On the subject of history, can you believe it’s 19 years since the start of the 106 season? Our first game of that season took place at the Madejski Stadium on August 6, 2005. We lost 2-1 against Plymouth, but only lost one more game as we secured a place in the Premier League for the first time in the club’s history - and set a new Championship points record that still stands to this day.

At some point over the next few years, I feel confident that Reading fans will be celebrating at the end of a great season. It might not happen this season, but I’m convinced we will have a new owner on board at some point in the not too distant future – even if that doesn’t happen before August 10 – and I think we will be pushing for promotion again before too long.

What we really need next though is stability. Let’s get a new owner in, get our club back in safe hands and rebuild with solid foundations in place for the next chapter in the history of Reading Football Club.

 

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I've just had the great pleasure of coaching a visiting academy team from the USA for a week at Reading University. I was contacted by Scott Lindsay, an Ohio-based Reading fan, a few months ago, to ask if I’d coach a team from Ohio Premier FC during their visit to the UK.

I coached them over the course of five days and also arranged some performance testing for them. It is always interesting to see different styles of play and you might not be surprised to hear that our guests from the USA have good athleticism. They played games against Reading School and Wealdstone while they were here.

My aim during my one-to-one and group coaching sessions is always to coach in a way that helps players to be effective during games.

So I was delighted to hear some feedback from one of the young players I coached. During one of his coaching sessions, we worked on penalty taking technique, as he told me he wanted to improve and score more of the penalties he took.

Alfie told me he took a penalty in a tournament recently. He remembered what we talked about and was happy to let me know that it helped him score his penalty.

My group coaching sessions and Masterclasses are in full swing. So, whether you’d like to focus on improving as a goalkeeper, defender, midfielder or attacking player, or you’d just like to improve your overall game, feel free to get in touch. You can send an email to mark@davekitsonacademy.co.uk for more information.