too confident?

[paddy20]

I could point out that

Adkins won back to back promotions and his sacking was political rather than performance related and has a track record of overachieving whilst playing attractive football,

that we won this league 2 seasons ago with a weaker squad,

that Danny Guthrie was the playmaker in a team that won this league 3 seasons ago with over 100 points, that the Pog is an experienced international who was scored goals and won cups in Europe and that Le Fondre is one of the best natural goalscorers in this league,

that we have strength and experience in depth out wide and that we have characters in the squad capable of making as big an impact as Roberts did 18 months ago

that the likes of Newcastle and West Brom went straight back up by following a similar model of prudent and sensible management

that we have made 3 excellent signings for an outlay of only £2m

that whilst we may lose some of our best players, we will be in a position to sign replacements of equal ability.




or I could just cut to the chase and point out that you're 7 "Facts" are either complete conjecture on your part or totally irrelevant and therefore complete horse shit.

I do agree though that we should be wary of overconfidence.

Just trying to play Devils advocate a bit to counter the over optimism. I think we will do well this season especially if we sign a CF. But its not a gods given and its more likely that we wont go up than we will.

[From Despair To Where?]

Just questioning your use of "facts". I think this season will be more difficult than anticipated. On paper we have a squad that can dominate the league but like 2005-06 we need luck with injuries/suspensions and 7 or 8 of the squad to play at their peak for the majority of the season.

[Avon Royal]

We won't be dominating anything with our current set of forwards.

[PerthPom2013]

Who's being over confident? The fans? All I care about is the attitude of the players and manager. I think we have enough players in our squad who know the Championship is never easy and a Manager who's been there and done it before. If you ask Saints fans if Adkins should have got sacked then 95% of them would say no he shouldn't even though now they probably don't care as much considering they are still in the Premier League. We definitely needed a manager who likes his team to play decent football and has had the experience of getting promoted from the Championship and that's what we have. To be honest even though on his day Kebe is a handful for anyone he hasn't done it enough for me and we have decent cover who are just as good if not better in Robson-Kanu and McCleary. A striker is a problem for me but I'm pretty confident that we will sort that out eventually. I think we have fans who have become slightly too impatient including myself. I think it may take a run of games before we start to properly gel as a team but in a 46 game season I would expect us to still be in with a shout of the top two come May next year.

[royalZILLAAA]

Some people probably are over confident if they think we're going to breeze the league. But I don't really agree with most of the points you made, and I think a lot of people are excited to see what the new look RFC can achieve.

We're now looking at being in the top 20 clubs in terms of youth infrastructure, with a smattering of really promising players, including a young ex-Dutch international + Real Madrid player (ignoring the obvious caveats). We have the money to keep players like Kebe on board, whilst adding to the wage list. Could we really have done that a few years ago?
In relative terms, Reading fans have been around to see a vastly more successful club emerge out of the early-mid 90's to where we are today. It's difficult not to get a bit giddy and imagine ourselves as the best thing the Championship has seen since it saw us jizzing all over its tits a few years ago.

[paddy20]

Does anyone else feel that we are being too confident about this season?
Fact; We have appointed a manager who got sacked from his last job
Fact: we were very poor in the premiership last year
Fact; We were missing an experienced playmaker and a goalscorer - which we still dont have
Fact: Still missing two of our best players - Kebe and Roberts through injury
Fact: Most teams struggle when they get relegated to the championship
Fact: We haven't spent big again this season
Fact:We may still lose some of our best players

Dont want to sound pessimistic but just feel we may be getting over-confident. I do think Adkins is a good manager but he may need a couple of seasons to perfect the way we play. We will need the return of Kebe, Royston to prove a hit, Guthrie to become the midfielder we all want him to be, Macarthy to stay,Zingarevech to spend on a CF and for us to break the mould on teams that come down. Quite a few if's to go right. Just saying we shouldn't be too disappointed if we are not one of the best 4 teams in the division.

Fact: We were missing an experienced playmaker and a goalscorer - which we still dont have
Fact: we looked poor yesterday, not withstanding they were good
Fact: Kanu cant play in the hole
Fact: We cant play Pearce and Morrison together as they are both too slow
Fact:Drenthe looks promising although leaves Kelly exposed
Fact We CANT play Alfie on his own up front
Fact: We need to spend money if we are to challenge
Fact:Jobi is getting slower.
Fact: We haven't solved our lack of penetration where it matters with our change of style
Fact:

[NewCorkSeth]

Brilliant.

[Get Carter]

Fact
Wigan 0-3, Villa 1-2 OG, Southampton 0-2, Liverpool 0-0, QPR 0-0, Man City 0-2, Swansea 0-3
No Reading player has scored at home for over 10 hours - Adkins has been in charge for 5 of the 7 games at home,
with Pog, Hunt, Alf, Blackman & HRK at his disposal but even with new tactics, still no goals or many attempts.
Hunt has left & not been replaced & apparently we hope to win the league - I think that may be a tad overconfident.

[paddy20]

Fact
Wigan 0-3, Villa 1-2 OG, Southampton 0-2, Liverpool 0-0, QPR 0-0, Man City 0-2, Swansea 0-3
No Reading player has scored at home for over 10 hours - Adkins has been in charge for 5 of the 7 games at home,
with Pog, Hunt, Alf, Blackman & HRK at his disposal but even with new tactics, still no goals or many attempts.
Hunt has left & not been replaced & apparently we hope to win the league - I think that may be a tad overconfident.

Well said my man

[Ian Royal]

Things have shuddered to a bit of a halt in terms of squad building and the rather uninspiring pre-season results, so it's not a huge surprise confidence in our chances is dropping and people are questioning our confidence.

I wasn't very encouraged by a couple of our pre-season performances. None of our goalies have inspired confidence this pre-season and Karacan had undone his change and decided to sit between the CBs and add nothing. The good work Adkins did last season seemed to have disappeared and we looked like we'd returned to totally bypassing the centre circle. But Adkins has a good record and we've still got one of the best squads, even if we could do with one or two more. It may take us a little time to find our feet at the start of the season, but I still think we're in for a good time.

The Championship is always tough though. And there are always a dozen teams who could realistically win it.

[Extended-Phenotype]

Have a feeling that following all the positive noises from AZ, we have once again f/cked up the transfer window and are going into the season with an incomplete team.

No AM, no striker and just another bunch of frees. If we were serious about promotion and staying up we need to spend some actual money. If we aren't, fair enough - stop billing us to be more than a shoestring team entering a lottery and giving us this false hope.

[LoyalRoyal22]

Have a feeling that following all the positive noises from AZ, we have once again f/cked up the transfer window and are going into the season with an incomplete team.

No AM, no striker and just another bunch of frees. If we were serious about promotion and staying up we need to spend some actual money. If we aren't, fair enough - stop billing us to be more than a shoestring team entering a lottery and giving us this false hope.

Well said. The signings we have made are quality, but they need to finish the job with 1 or 2 more.

[Maguire]

Not sure we need to spend some "actual money". Getting players on a free and paying them a fortune is still a big outlay.

We must have a thumping wage bill now. I'm not going to suggest we're nailed on for auto as we're clearly not, but we have to be up the top end of the table or it's going to be a bit of a disaster really.

[Extended-Phenotype]

Not sure we need to spend some "actual money". Getting players on a free and paying them a fortune is still a big outlay.

We must have a thumping wage bill now. I'm not going to suggest we're nailed on for auto as we're clearly not, but we have to be up the top end of the table or it's going to be a bit of a disaster really.

Didn't AZ promise something like 7 new players at one point? A week to go and we haven't even made half that. Thought maybe I was being greedy and we'd be okay with what we have - this weekend demonstrated we are severely lacking in the very areas fans had their concerns about.

I still have no idea who we are going to play upfront; the choice seems to be between a man who can't and a man who won't. Hooper/Austin/Sharp/Lambert - maybe these 'targets' were just club spin once again.

Sigh. I thought we had moved on from this nonsense.

[paddy20]

Have a feeling that following all the positive noises from AZ, we have once again f/cked up the transfer window and are going into the season with an incomplete team.

No AM, no striker and just another bunch of frees. If we were serious about promotion and staying up we need to spend some actual money. If we aren't, fair enough - stop billing us to be more than a shoestring team entering a lottery and giving us this false hope.

I agree. Our team looks pretty average at the moment. Adkins seems to be trying things we have seen before but have not worked. E.g. Kanu in the hole, Karacan as a holding midfielder (he hasn't got the passing range), Alf up front on his own, playing out from the back but getting nowhere as no-one runs off the ball, persevering with Jobi on the wing although he's lost his pace. I was hoping for more from him. Why is Marriapa ( arguably our best player last year) on the bench? Why no Macleary? Apart from the fact we are passing better our penetration looks no better than the Rodgers era. I think the results in the friendlies are a bit of a wake up call for this season. Lets hope it all comes together by next saturday. I had hoped the too prudent watching of the purse strings would have eased a bit by now but with no real major signings yet its a worry.

[Maguire]

The transfer window is open until September and often players don't become available until later on with clubs only willing to sell when they have their own replacements lined up. Premier League doesn't start for another two weeks after all.

I guess I'd say "let's wait and see" before writing off transfer policy more than a month before the window actually closes.

On the pitch - can't make much of a judgement until we play a game in anger. Friendlies are strolls so personally I wouldn't get too concerned about them, they're not predictors of the season to come.

[Extended-Phenotype]

Spose. Just getting the jitters, I guess.

Some folk seem to be of the opinion signing players constitutes gambling with the clubs future.

It was a gamble NOT investing in the team last season that cost the club 60 million. Struggle to see how anybody can even suggest signing two much needed players for circa 3-5m is even in the same league of risk but there ya go.

Let's hope something is on the horizon because we look awfully short even against lower league sides.

[WestRoyal]

Does anyone else feel that we are being too confident about this season?
Fact; We have appointed a manager who got sacked from his last job
Fact: we were very poor in the premiership last year
Fact; We were missing an experienced playmaker and a goalscorer - which we still dont have
Fact: Still missing two of our best players - Kebe and Roberts through injury
Fact: Most teams struggle when they get relegated to the championship
Fact: We haven't spent big again this season
Fact:We may still lose some of our best players

Dont want to sound pessimistic but just feel we may be getting over-confident. I do think Adkins is a good manager but he may need a couple of seasons to perfect the way we play. We will need the return of Kebe, Royston to prove a hit, Guthrie to become the midfielder we all want him to be, Macarthy to stay,Zingarevech to spend on a CF and for us to break the mould on teams that come down. Quite a few if's to go right. Just saying we shouldn't be too disappointed if we are not one of the best 4 teams in the division.

Fact: We were missing an experienced playmaker and a goalscorer - which we still dont have
Fact: we looked poor yesterday, not withstanding they were good
Fact: Kanu cant play in the hole
Fact: We cant play Pearce and Morrison together as they are both too slow
Fact:Drenthe looks promising although leaves Kelly exposed
Fact We CANT play Alfie on his own up front
Fact: We need to spend money if we are to challenge
Fact:Jobi is getting slower.
Fact: We haven't solved our lack of penetration where it matters with our change of style
Fact:

Drenthe should at least look promising don't you think considering his pedigree.

[MouldyRoyal]

See: Luke Chadwick.

I'd rather not.

[AirRaidSiren]

Not sure we need to spend some "actual money". Getting players on a free and paying them a fortune is still a big outlay.

We must have a thumping wage bill now. I'm not going to suggest we're nailed on for auto as we're clearly not, but we have to be up the top end of the table or it's going to be a bit of a disaster really.

Didn't AZ promise something like 7 new players at one point? A week to go and we haven't even made half that. Thought maybe I was being greedy and we'd be okay with what we have - this weekend demonstrated we are severely lacking in the very areas fans had their concerns about.

I still have no idea who we are going to play upfront; the choice seems to be between a man who can't and a man who won't. Hooper/Austin/Sharp/Lambert - maybe these 'targets' were just club spin once again.

Sigh. I thought we had moved on from this nonsense.

Or maybe the fact the club have tried signing others but those that haven't arrived maybe didn't want to come to us? That's my belief. It certainly isn't the case of us not trying to get players in.

Patience is needed here.