Relegation the Reading Way

[Vision]

One of the singular pleasures of the last decade on Hob Nob for me has been the lunar regularity with which this kind of thread has been exposed as premature drivel. Same self-indulgent names; same short memories. Wrist-slashing incontinence - the Hob Nob way - never more entertainingly OTT than the night after a League Cup game.

Yep - I remember when this sort of thread was exposed as premature drivel in 07/08......

You barely have to go back a year to reinforce Arch's point though. We were going down the shitter half a dozen games into last season according to some.

Moaners gonna moan. Ostriches gonna keep their head in the sand. It's football innit?

Still reassuring to see some of the usual suspects are still blaming Madejski.

[Avon Royal]

One of the singular pleasures of the last decade on Hob Nob for me has been the lunar regularity with which this kind of thread has been exposed as premature drivel. Same self-indulgent names; same short memories. Wrist-slashing incontinence - the Hob Nob way - never more entertainingly OTT than the night after a League Cup game.

Yep - I remember when this sort of thread was exposed as premature drivel in 07/08......

You barely have to go back a year to reinforce Arch's point though. We were going down the shitter half a dozen games into last season according to some.

Moaners gonna moan. Ostriches gonna keep their head in the sand. It's football innit?

Still reassuring to see some of the usual suspects are still blaming Madejski.

To be fair I wrote that before the threads were merged!

And last year we were going nowhere until we invested..........

[Vision]

Yep - I remember when this sort of thread was exposed as premature drivel in 07/08......

You barely have to go back a year to reinforce Arch's point though. We were going down the shitter half a dozen games into last season according to some.

Moaners gonna moan. Ostriches gonna keep their head in the sand. It's football innit?

Still reassuring to see some of the usual suspects are still blaming Madejski.

To be fair I wrote that before the threads were merged!

And last year we were going nowhere until we invested..........

We were in the relagation zone after half a dozen games or so and on the day the TSI thing was announced we were in a play off spot before we played Hull. I certainly don't think we'd have been champions or even automatic promotion without the investment but we certainly improved pretty steadily from the point (like this one) where everyone was throwing their toys out of the pram and predicting doom and gloom.

[victormeldrewsbro.]

After many years of reading items on this board .some with amusment i have decided to post something for discussion.
Regarding the "Reading way" of always playing with 2 wingers.Ever since i can remember we have always played this way perhaps it is time for a change.
I think the main reason we were relegated from the prem.the last time was Sir Steves refusal to change from playing 2 wingers meaning that in alot of games the opposition would play an extra midfielder therefore cutting off the supply and virtually taking 2 players out of the game.In Brians reign he has been even more rigid in playing 2 wingers even when they may have been carrying injuries and being out of form and even when bringing subs.on it has to be a winger even using the ridiculous ploy of moving Jobi into midfield to accomodate another one.In the Arsenal debacle we still played with 2 wingers and 2 midfielders even when we were 4-1 up when the obvious thing to do was to shut up shop .I think we could try the system fulham played where Berbatov played in between the midfield and strikers although Reading did make it easy for him by not getting any player within 10 yards of him for the whole game .As we are struggling for creativity in midfield maybe we could try it with the players available on saturday with the following line up.
Feds
Gunter Mariappa Morrison Shorey
Legs Tabb Jobi
Pog
Alf Roberts
Maybe with this system we would be able to play through and around teams instead of hoofing long balls from our centre halves to nobody in particular.I know Pog is no Berbatov but i think he is a better player than we have seen and would be a bit more interested playing this role.

[grey_squirrel]

You obviously haven't been reading the board that closely then. This subject must have been discussed 1,000 times already.

[namroyal]

Firstly, oxf*rd off newbie

Secondly, why would you stop 3 or 4 of the best players at the club doing what they do best just to accommodate a different system? It won't work anyway - so I'm not changing it.

[gazmandu]

You obviously haven't been reading the board that closely then. This subject must have been discussed 1,000 times already.

Could you summarise the Board's position?

[The Rouge]

Pog in the hole?
Are.
You.
Fukking.
Kidding.

AE

[REMTARDROYAL]

I think the main reason we were relegated from the prem.the last time was Sir Steves refusal to change from playing 2 wingers

compounded with us not having two wingers to actually play. I think 11 players played right midfield that season, including Ulises De La Cruz and Emurked Fae

[Alexander Litvinenko]

Pog in the hole?
Are.
You.
Fukking.
Kidding.

AE

Quite! The position where the players who are fastest and most mobile do best?

I've seen grand pianos that are faster and more mobile than The Pog.

[Focher]

[melonhead]

would happily change th system if we had the players to do it.
we dont, until january at least.
until then wingers please.

brian is happy to change the system when he has players to fit it
(sig behind the striker/shane long up front on his own)

[Victor Meldrew]

This expression is used so often on here and by our struggling manager and by our chairman as if it is SO different from other clubs and smacks rather of "holier than thou".
My interpretation is that the Reading Way is presumably a club run on sound economic footings (like Everton,West Brom,Swansea,Middlesborough,Doncaster,Peterborough and countless others) and..............................................................................?
Anybody care to elaborate?
The only other things I can think of are incredibly expensive car parking (IIRC Wigan charges nothing) and no information ever coming from the club about injury updates etc.
I gather that the Evening Post no longer comes out every night but the other midweek night I counted 3 full pages of info from AFC Bournemouth with interviews with players and staff and that in an area that could hardly be described as a football hot bed.
It may only be my perception but I get the impression that "we know best so don't need to involve you lot (paying customers)" is the mantra of the club and the Reading Way and ,compared to our Elm Park and lower division days ours is no longer a club in touch with it's fans.

[Muskrat]

[Stooper]

Doncaster? Sound?

They employed a whole team of merceneries to put themselves in the shop window and got relegated beacuse of it.

[Victor Meldrew]

Doncaster? Sound?

They employed a whole team of merceneries to put themselves in the shop window and got relegated beacuse of it.

Classic Hob-Nobbing-pick on a very minor point but have nothing to say on the topic.

[Stooper]

Doncaster? Sound?

They employed a whole team of merceneries to put themselves in the shop window and got relegated beacuse of it.

Classic

Thanks very much.

[Royalee]

This 'Reading Way' nonsense does my head in - we play long ball shit with no creativity and poor results. We should focus on the winning way.

[REMTARDROYAL]

Doncaster? Sound?

They employed a whole team of merceneries to put themselves in the shop window and got relegated beacuse of it.

Classic Hob-Nobbing-pick on a very minor point but have nothing to say on the topic.

When its a fucking stupid point, it deserves picking.

[REMTARDROYAL]

This 'Reading Way' nonsense does my head in - we play long ball shit with no creativity and poor results. We should focus on the winning way.

/deep exhale of breath

We can't compete with the rest of the Championship, let alone the Premiership, if we try and match them like for like. We don't have the resources or the history or the reputation, really. It's not me fishing or being unduly harsh, I'm just trying to be as fair as possible. So, in terms of the football side of things, we've tried to circumvent the usual methods. Buying relatively cheap players on their strengths and how they fit into the team; buying players that other teams have utterly undervalued for a number of reasons. And our managers have sought to play a style of football that utterly confounds the tactical genius of the rest of the league (or lack of).

Recall in 05-06 that we were slated for being a dull, long-ball side. Yeah, and the record points score and nearly triple figure goals tally counts as what?

Even with Rodgers, the club were looking to set up something different and its no surprise he's gone on to implement that at other clubs.

In terms of the off the pitch side of things, we tend to keep our cards close to our chest in terms of deals and in dealings with the media. While I might not get a full update on Danny Guthrie's rusty nugget, it means that a lot of the things that can really destabilize a club or players within it happen to a far lesser extent. Deals don't tend to linger and fester. Players are moved in and moved on with an efficiency that most other clubs do not match.

As Dirk has said on a few occasions, and it pains me to agree with him twice in two days, other clubs have started to follow our method and, if you know people around the game, our approach is highly rated.

And because of this, we've punched way above our weight for the best part of a decade. What more could you want? P
oor results this season, sure? Not last, or the season before that. A decade of us doing well. Yes, with the odd blip, but what do you expect?

Call it asymmetric warfare, call it Moneyball, call it what you want. In our corner of Berkshire, its the Reading way.

Oh, shit, I pay for a car parking space. Everyone OUT. Boooo.