What’s Going On With Mark Bowen?
Alex’s take on this week’s developments surrounding (reportedly now-former) head of football operations Mark Bowen.
For those who missed it, The Times released an article on Monday stating that Mark Bowen has been relieved from his duties as Reading’s head of football operations for having brought the club into disrepute, adding that he is now in a legal dispute with the club regarding this.
There’s a lot to unpick here but I think there will be a number of varying opinions on whether this was the correct decision. I will try to be balanced in this review/analysis of the situation but, for the record, I am very firmly in the “bad decision” camp and I’ll share/justify my thinking on this during the course of this article.
The first thing I have to say on the matter is the manner in which this information has reached the public domain. I’ve been very critical on the poor communications regarding the Women’s team and this is just more of the same. I get it’s not good news, I get that it’s difficult to announce and I get that the timing isn’t ideal either (more on that shortly), but really guys, again no official announcement on the site?
There is an old German saying that goes along the lines of – once translated, of course – “once is never and twice is always”. Essentially, this means if something happens one time and only one time, it’s a one-off and there’s no form for it. However, if that thing happens again then there is being a clear precedent being set. With this saying in mind, we are now not seeing a blip in internal communications but a full regression back to type. Type, in this instance, being really bad at communicating important stuff.
Now, to Bowen himself. The first thing that struck me reading this news was: “Hold on…Bowen brought the club into disrepute? With these owners, surely that’s the pot calling the kettle black?!”
Because - let’s face it - not paying taxes, not paying staff, not submitting the accounts to the government (which should have been done back in July), binning off staff before just before Christmas, not giving them heating during the winter at work and binning off the Women’s team is all really sketchy behaviour. I am trying very hard not to do a swear word while writing this, so I think describing these things as sketchy behaviour is being quite generous.
I am fully aware that Bowen has broken the rules of football by placing bets, albeit not anything related to Reading, and that’s not OK. However, let’s have a little bit of perspective here, shall we? Gambling can be an addiction, and addiction is an illness. Bowen has previous many years ago from having done this, so as foolish as doing this again is, it’s very likely he has an addiction. Indeed, this was covered during the disciplinary hearing.
There are two sides to this: firstly, can you imagine working for Reading over the last two years? It must have been awful, really horrible and challenging to cope with. The stress of the job, the absence of the owner and all the other horrible things happening in the club would quite understandably take a toll on anyone.
Further, this is a man who needs help and support from those around him and from his employers. Reading have a duty of care to make sure he gets the support he needs. Dismissing him from his role, on these terms, is pretty much the exact opposite to that. Phrasing of “bringing the club into disrepute” being a serious breach of a contract is one way to look at it, but there is so much more context behind that.
Frankly, again, while what he did was wrong and yes, of course it doesn’t look good for Reading. But let’s be honest here: he’s done more than most to try and keep Reading being a respectable organisation, and his appearances in the media - notably before the FA Cup match against Eastleigh where he said he would defer his salary until everyone has been paid - is just about as far off to the other end of the scale with regard to disrepute as you can get. For a supposedly community club, this is not a great way to look after one of your own who given so much to the cause.
The next question that I have in my head is: “So who the hell actually dismissed him?” We have had no announcement on the takeover, so seemingly Dai Yongge and his associates are still in charge, so was it one of them? Or was this a clearing of the decks by Rob Couhig and his new team?
If it was the latter… can they even do that? The timing of this is unusual, to say the least, given the fact that we have a gaping leadership hole within the club and Bowen was just about the most senior one left at club level to keep things ticking over.
Certainly that would fit with the theory that Couhig was looking to bring his own people in, with Joe Jacobson rumoured to being prepared by the new owners to take a senior role in the club.
I guess it is quite hard to write about this without being a little bit emotional, because I have always advocated for how much Bowen has done for us. The structure, the academy reboot, the recruitment, the contacts and just generally having someone visibly give a damn about the team I love and support means a lot to me, and I am sure I am not alone in this.
He deserved and deserves better than what he’s been through with Reading, and I hope that in the annals of times he will be recognised and remembered for being key to how we have been able to survive and begin to right the ship.
This may be difficult to remember if this goes through the courts, something like a messy divorce. I sincerely hope that’s not the case, and I can certainly understand why he feels hard done by. I just pray it can be kept amicable and out of the media circus. And furthermore, I hope this is the last time Reading handle something so critical so poorly, because the club leadership ought to take a long, hard look in the mirror and start putting the wrongs right.
Sorry to see you go, Mark. Thanks for everything.