Coppells a waste of space

[Uke]

I think we have to remember that SC only has a year to run on his contract. I'd be amazed if he stayed beyond that, so given the optimistic scenario of an immediate return to the top flight (call me a plasic-spastic little-Readinger if you like, but I'd just settle for winning more than we lose next season) I think any conjecture about Premier League lessons learnt is completely moot in regard to SC. The biggest task for Madeski and Hammond this season will be to line up SC's replacement, and whoever it is will require Premier League experience.

Did Southgate have PL experience? Did Keane have PL experience? Did Colman have PL experience? Avram Grant? David Moyes? Mark Hughes? Steve Bruce?

I'll just settle for a good manager.

If Coppell can then work alongside an assistant to bring them up to speed then all the better for continuity and it would be a sensible approach rather than the traditional clear out of staff.

[brendywendy]

i quite liked bikey and rosenior too

May have helped if he'd played them!!!

'greed

specially bikey

was dropped for no reason at all
and took ages to get back to the 1st team

goal difference would have been better if hed played all year

[CMRoyal]

I think we have to remember that SC only has a year to run on his contract. I'd be amazed if he stayed beyond that, so given the optimistic scenario of an immediate return to the top flight (call me a plasic-spastic little-Readinger if you like, but I'd just settle for winning more than we lose next season) I think any conjecture about Premier League lessons learnt is completely moot in regard to SC. The biggest task for Madeski and Hammond this season will be to line up SC's replacement, and whoever it is will require Premier League experience.

Did Southgate have PL experience? Did Keane have PL experience? Did Colman have PL experience? Avram Grant? David Moyes? Mark Hughes? Steve Bruce?

The situation was different in most of those cases (managers either taking over established Premier League teams or carrying on with the team they took up). Assuming that SC leaves at the end of the 2008-9 season, and assuming we go up, I maintain that this rare(ish) scenario would require the appointment of somebody who already knows something about maintaining a (relatively) modest club's status in the division. Anyway, I've gone far too far into the realms of what-ifs and maybes there, but I take your point.

[Platypuss]

The thing is, we heard Coppell had over £10mill to spend in January and he chose not to spend it. However, we don't know who we could have attracted with our size and wage structure. I have every belief that Coppell was looking into signings in January, as he'd said he would all season before hand. However, it may well be that the only players he was able to attract would not have added much to our squad and would have not got into our first team. With the exception of Matejovsky and Seol for a while, that's been the case with all our Premiership signings. It's all very well saying we could have avoided relegation with a decent central midfielder, right winger and striker, but persuading them to join Reading is a different matter all together.

I feel the write-up of the fans forum will prove rather illuminating in this regard.

[zac naloen]

I feel the write-up of the fans forum will prove rather illuminating in this regard.

Is someone working on this now?

[brendywendy]

i feel the write up of the fans forum will............
oh i cant be bothered

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

People can ignore the facts all they want.

There were a number of Premiership quality players we could have signed, who we could afford and wanted to join us, Coppell chose not to sign them.

There is no answer to why Coppell chose not to sign them. It's the we'll be alright attitude that we need to get rid of.

Is Coppell going to change now?

[readingbedding]

Perfectly reasonable to state that the buck stopped with Coppell.
He obviously feels responsible for this relegation...

The last few days however suggest what I had knew all along.
Coppell realised his mistakes and we as fans would give him some slack - because the man is one of the best managers around.

[Wycombe Royal]

There is no answer to why Coppell chose not to sign them.

Yes there is and he gave them at the fans forum. You may not agree with the answers (and even he may not agree with his decisions now) but he was honest enough to give them.

[Southbank Old Boy]

Perfectly reasonable to state that the buck stopped with Coppell.
He obviously feels responsible for this relegation...

The last few days however suggest what I had knew all along.
Coppell realised his mistakes and we as fans would give him some slack - because the man is one of the best managers around.

but realised them far too late in the day. 18 months after he started to make them in fact, despite saying he'd realised them a few points along the way.

Although he did a great job getting us up there, I'm not sure having that on your CV marks you down as being one the the best around

[Platypuss]

People can ignore the facts all they want.

There were a number of Premiership quality players we could have signed, who we could afford and wanted to join us, Coppell chose not to sign them.

There is no answer to why Coppell chose not to sign them. It's the we'll be alright attitude that we need to get rid of.

Is Coppell going to change now?

Indeed. Would cashing in Hunt for Taylor have made any difference? Possibly not, but could it have been any worse?

And we'd have probably made a profit on the deal!

[Vision]

There is no answer to why Coppell chose not to sign them.

Yes there is and he gave them at the fans forum. You may not agree with the answers (and even he may not agree with his decisions now) but he was honest enough to give them.

Agreed. I wasn't at the fans forum so dont know what he said but he's publicly stated on many occasions that he chose to stay loyal to his existing players and that those that were available (he's mentioned Gary Cahill specifically) and we could (i say could because even had he decided he wanted them we would still have been competing with clubs around us for their signature) have signed he didn't believe were any better than we already had.

Sounds like a pretty comprehensive answer to me whether we agree with it or not.

[readingbedding]

Perfectly reasonable to state that the buck stopped with Coppell.
He obviously feels responsible for this relegation...

The last few days however suggest what I had knew all along.
Coppell realised his mistakes and we as fans would give him some slack - because the man is one of the best managers around.

but realised them far too late in the day. 18 months after he started to make them in fact, despite saying he'd realised them a few points along the way.

Although he did a great job getting us up there, I'm not sure having that on your CV marks you down as being one the the best around

Maybe too late to keep us up, but as I KEEP ON SAYING...the vast majority of Reading fans especially at Derby decided to give him some slack in regards to that - because they know that he will give us the best chance of going straight back up.

You disagree that he's one of the best managers around and I guess that you're a RFC fan so I'm not going to bother to try and change your mind.

[Southbank Old Boy]

There is no answer to why Coppell chose not to sign them.

Yes there is and he gave them at the fans forum. You may not agree with the answers (and even he may not agree with his decisions now) but he was honest enough to give them.

Thats being a little bit picky.

I think what SKDD is trying to say is that there isn't really any logical justification for the decisions that Coppell took. He gave his reasons but they don't really stand up as good enough.

It's a bit like (well it's not but I'll use the analogy anyway) jumping infront of a train because you think you're pretty flixible and will probably just bounce off. It's obviously a stupid reason for doing it and most sane people can see that it's a very flawed arguement for doing so.

Coppell had his reasons. They were wrong. He's admitted it, others seem a little less happy to accept it.

[Southbank Old Boy]

Maybe too late to keep us up, but as I KEEP ON SAYING...the vast majority of Reading fans especially at Derby decided to give him some slack in regards to that - because they know that he will give us the best chance of going straight back up.

You disagree that he's one of the best managers around and I guess that you're a RFC fan so I'm not going to bother to try and change your mind.

Don't get me wrong, I think he's a very good manager at doing what he's good at, building effective teams on a relatively low budget and getting them up. I just don't think he's cut out for the cut and thrust of the top division and all that goes with it. There is a train of thought (don't know what it is about trains this morning), that says he's not great when things are going against him and the chips are down. His relegation record kind of backs that up to an extent, as do some of the things he's come out with over the last few months.

One of the best around? I'm not so sure, it all depends what your club needs I guess.

[biscuitsrus]

Well IMO we NEED him now.

[readingbedding]

Definitely, he goes and quite a few players may see their time over at RFC too.
Even if I think about the players that will probably leave anyway, I still think that continuity is 100% important, and it is VITAL that he stays.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

There were a number of Premiership quality players we could have signed, who we could afford and wanted to join us, Coppell chose not to sign them.

You know that for a fact?

I'm sure there must have been players we could have gone for, but that's not the same as saying they'd have chosen us over other clubs.

Taylor was regarded as a failure at Bolton, by the way, and when his name was being mentioned in January people were saying that although he's a decent player, he'd wasn't a player in a position we were looking for.

Cahill may have helped, but defence wasn't really a problem in the second half of the season - scoring was - and he wouldn't have helped us on that front.


The question is whether there were players that we could have signed who would have made an impact, but we chose not to sign them, or whether there were players available who Coppell thought overall weren't worth signing.

[Southbank Old Boy]

There were a number of Premiership quality players we could have signed, who we could afford and wanted to join us, Coppell chose not to sign them.

You know that for a fact?

I'm sure there must have been players we could have gone for, but that's not the same as saying they'd have chosen us over other clubs.

Taylor was regarded as a failure at Bolton, by the way, and when his name was being mentioned in January people were saying that although he's a decent player, he'd wasn't a player in a position we were looking for.

Cahill may have helped, but defence wasn't really a problem in the second half of the season - scoring was - and he wouldn't have helped us on that front.


The question is whether there were players that we could have signed who would have made an impact, but we chose not to sign them, or whether there were players available who Coppell thought overall weren't worth signing.

O'Neil and Davis were the two that were mentioned by Coppell I think. As well as Taylor (who I think would've been a great signing because Shorey was undroppable this season despite being destinctly below average). Working out at another club or not doesn't really prove they would or wouldn't have been a hit here either and we'll never if they'd have been better than Oster and Fae, but I have a sneaky feeling that might've been.

[papereyes]

There is no answer to why Coppell chose not to sign them.

Yes there is and he gave them at the fans forum. You may not agree with the answers (and even he may not agree with his decisions now) but he was honest enough to give them.

Agreed. I wasn't at the fans forum so dont know what he said but he's publicly stated on many occasions that he chose to stay loyal to his existing players and that those that were available (he's mentioned Gary Cahill specifically) and we could (i say could because even had he decided he wanted them we would still have been competing with clubs around us for their signature) have signed he didn't believe were any better than we already had.

Sounds like a pretty comprehensive answer to me whether we agree with it or not.

Having just read the write up, I'm kind of glad we at least looked at Cahill.

He would have been a cheaper purchase last January, but that's merely my other gripe.

I think what SKDD is trying to say is that there isn't really any logical justification for the decisions that Coppell took.

They make some sort of sense but there's an inherent issue with them. He's relying on players he knew and felt he could trust but also accepts that a number of those very same players completely let him down.