Opposition fans back from the game - 24/25 page 225 onwards

[Linden Jones' Tash]

I'd also say Reading fans are one of the better groups for looking for brick by brick sustainable success after our experience with Madejski, and then Zingaravich and now Dai. 'The Reading Way' is oft quoted. And that's certainly not buying instant success as far as we're concerned.

I'd argue that "The Reading Way" means selling your better players at a premium to survive in the Championship.

Nicky Hammond was the architect of a lot of these sales that kept the club afloat - Gylfi, Long, Doyle, etc.

He was routinely decried on this forum for doing just that - a quick search can find multiple examples of this - his "squeaky" nickname was hardly an homage to his skills as a negotiator.

When we were last in this division under Pardew & SJM, we did exactly what Birmingham and Wrexham are doing now - to ignore this would be hypocritical

Our current plight and rose tinted specs are doing a lot of heavy lifting...

[From Despair To Where?]

My only gripe with Wrexham is the media portrayal of their rise as some sort of Hollywood fairy tale. It's off the back of big spending

What I find ironic is that they are moaning about their striking options when they have Mullin,Smith, Lee, Fletcher, Rodrigues (2 of them are club record signings and a third is a Championship player) and others to hand and meanwhile they've farmed Sam Dalby off to Dundee United because he's not considered good enough and he's the top scorer in the SPL.

[RoyalBlue]

To be fair, a few did say we played them off the park.

Parky not a popular guy, it seems. Maybe harsh in the context of where they are and where they've come from but a fair few think he's taken them as far as he can. A few comments echoing the criticisms of him raised at Bradford; hoofball, no plan B, unable to manage big personalities. A drawback of owners throwing money at the problem, I guess. Mullen, Fletcher, Rodrigues, Lee, Smith. Can't keep them all happy. Wonder if he brought his trap door to North Wales.

After the game I heard one of their fans describe our second goal as 'embarrassing'. I think we can take that as a compliment! I also think the contrast of our display on the night showed up Wrexham as being a typical Parky team. Physical, committed, hard working, direct but not particularly skilful.

I also suspect they may be correct in their assessment of Parky as a manager.

[RoyalBlue]

My only gripe with Wrexham is the media portrayal of their rise as some sort of Hollywood fairy tale. It's off the back of big spending

What I find ironic is that they are moaning about their striking options when they have Mullin,Smith, Lee, Fletcher, Rodrigues (2 of them are club record signings and a third is a Championship player) and others to hand and meanwhile they've farmed Sam Dalby off to Dundee United because he's not considered good enough and he's the top scorer in the SPL.

You missed Ollie Palmer off that long list of prolific goalscorers! His exclusion, along with that of Mullin, seems to have pissed off a lot of their supporters and I doubt the players concerned are overly happy either!

[Brum Royal]

My only gripe with Wrexham is the media portrayal of their rise as some sort of Hollywood fairy tale. It's off the back of big spending

What I find ironic is that they are moaning about their striking options when they have Mullin,Smith, Lee, Fletcher, Rodrigues (2 of them are club record signings and a third is a Championship player) and others to hand and meanwhile they've farmed Sam Dalby off to Dundee United because he's not considered good enough and he's the top scorer in the SPL.

Yep, similar to "plucky little Bournemouth" the underdogs spending big on their way through the leagues. I don't begrudge Wrexham or Bournemouth their time in the sun (or most other clubs bar Pox and Swine really), but the media portrayal I think is what annoys most other fan groups.

[Snowflake Royal]

I'd also say Reading fans are one of the better groups for looking for brick by brick sustainable success after our experience with Madejski, and then Zingaravich and now Dai. 'The Reading Way' is oft quoted. And that's certainly not buying instant success as far as we're concerned.

I'd argue that "The Reading Way" means selling your better players at a premium to survive in the Championship.

Nicky Hammond was the architect of a lot of these sales that kept the club afloat - Gylfi, Long, Doyle, etc.

He was routinely decried on this forum for doing just that - a quick search can find multiple examples of this - his "squeaky" nickname was hardly an homage to his skills as a negotiator.

When we were last in this division under Pardew & SJM, we did exactly what Birmingham and Wrexham are doing now - to ignore this would be hypocritical

Our current plight and rose tinted specs are doing a lot of heavy lifting...

We spent a fair bit in L1 last time we were here, but to suggest we did the same as Birmingham, who have spent something ludicrous like 6 times the combined total of the rest of the division is bonkers. And we did it whilst building the attendance and moving to a new stadium to facilitate club growth.

And I wouldn't say Wrexham have been buying success in this division as such, they did their buying in non-league and league 2, they've spent a fair bit this season, but not to truly crazy extents as far as I'm aware.

Yes, there were idiots decrying Hammond and sales. But there are always a vocal minority of idiots.

[Sutekh]

I'd also say Reading fans are one of the better groups for looking for brick by brick sustainable success after our experience with Madejski, and then Zingaravich and now Dai. 'The Reading Way' is oft quoted. And that's certainly not buying instant success as far as we're concerned.

I'd argue that "The Reading Way" means selling your better players at a premium to survive in the Championship.

Nicky Hammond was the architect of a lot of these sales that kept the club afloat - Gylfi, Long, Doyle, etc.

He was routinely decried on this forum for doing just that - a quick search can find multiple examples of this - his "squeaky" nickname was hardly an homage to his skills as a negotiator.

When we were last in this division under Pardew & SJM, we did exactly what Birmingham and Wrexham are doing now - to ignore this would be hypocritical

Our current plight and rose tinted specs are doing a lot of heavy lifting...

We spent a fair bit in L1 last time we were here, but to suggest we did the same as Birmingham, who have spent something ludicrous like 6 times the combined total of the rest of the division is bonkers. And we did it whilst building the attendance and moving to a new stadium to facilitate club growth.

And I wouldn't say Wrexham have been buying success in this division as such, they did their buying in non-league and league 2, they've spent a fair bit this season, but not to truly crazy extents as far as I'm aware.

Yes, there were idiots decrying Hammond and sales. But there are always a vocal minority of idiots.

Agree. Slight difference between £750k for Butler and £15m for Stansfield! And why would anyone decry a Hammond sale, the prices he got for some players was just

[Mid Sussex Royal]

I'd argue that "The Reading Way" means selling your better players at a premium to survive in the Championship.

Nicky Hammond was the architect of a lot of these sales that kept the club afloat - Gylfi, Long, Doyle, etc.

He was routinely decried on this forum for doing just that - a quick search can find multiple examples of this - his "squeaky" nickname was hardly an homage to his skills as a negotiator.

When we were last in this division under Pardew & SJM, we did exactly what Birmingham and Wrexham are doing now - to ignore this would be hypocritical

Our current plight and rose tinted specs are doing a lot of heavy lifting...

We spent a fair bit in L1 last time we were here, but to suggest we did the same as Birmingham, who have spent something ludicrous like 6 times the combined total of the rest of the division is bonkers. And we did it whilst building the attendance and moving to a new stadium to facilitate club growth.

And I wouldn't say Wrexham have been buying success in this division as such, they did their buying in non-league and league 2, they've spent a fair bit this season, but not to truly crazy extents as far as I'm aware.

Yes, there were idiots decrying Hammond and sales. But there are always a vocal minority of idiots.

Agree. Slight difference between £750k for Butler and £15m for Stansfield! And why would anyone decry a Hammond sale, the prices he got for some players was just

Butler was huge money back then for third tier and could have even been a record.....add in Forster, and then Rougier and Cureton the following season Pardew was given huge resources.

Going back to Wrexham, they've under-achieved since January, it's quite amazing that our PPG is better than theirs in the period since the transfer window.

They really should have kicked on and been well above Wycombe with the resources given....

[RoyalBlue]

I'd argue that "The Reading Way" means selling your better players at a premium to survive in the Championship.

Nicky Hammond was the architect of a lot of these sales that kept the club afloat - Gylfi, Long, Doyle, etc.

He was routinely decried on this forum for doing just that - a quick search can find multiple examples of this - his "squeaky" nickname was hardly an homage to his skills as a negotiator.

When we were last in this division under Pardew & SJM, we did exactly what Birmingham and Wrexham are doing now - to ignore this would be hypocritical

Our current plight and rose tinted specs are doing a lot of heavy lifting...

We spent a fair bit in L1 last time we were here, but to suggest we did the same as Birmingham, who have spent something ludicrous like 6 times the combined total of the rest of the division is bonkers. And we did it whilst building the attendance and moving to a new stadium to facilitate club growth.

And I wouldn't say Wrexham have been buying success in this division as such, they did their buying in non-league and league 2, they've spent a fair bit this season, but not to truly crazy extents as far as I'm aware.

Yes, there were idiots decrying Hammond and sales. But there are always a vocal minority of idiots.

Agree. Slight difference between £750k for Butler and £15m for Stansfield! And why would anyone decry a Hammond sale, the prices he got for some players was just

Yes, we were accused by supporters of other clubs of being big spenders and buying success but that was purely them making incorrect assumptions based on the fact that we had (back then) an extremely wealthy owner! Truth was, that owner was always financially prudent and had a good team working for him who managed to secure some great signings at very reasonable prices. Whilst supporters of other clubs moaned about our supposed big spending, some of us were more worried that the owner had very deep pockets and very short arms!

[From Despair To Where?]

Nah, we were spending massive amounts for the league at the time, not Birmingham levels but certainly £750k for Butler (and even £650k for Forster) at the time was a much bigger deal than the reported £2m Wrexham spent on Smith. Throw in the odd £250k for the likes of Rougier and Cureton, Evers and fees for players like Igoe and Robinson (£100k for Gurney lol) and we were spending a lot more than the rest of the league. Even Murty (£700k) was signed for the third tier.

For context, the 3rd tier transfer record at the time was the £750k Brentford spent on Hermann Hreiðarsson. So we spent close to the league transfer record 3 times in the space of 7 months.

Madejski moaning about having to rummage down the back of the sofa was just a front because we always found the money when we needed to make a signing. It was only when we got to the Championship that Hammond became DoF and the canny deals really started.

[RoyalBlue]

So transfer markt reckon Wrexham have spent 4.96M euro on transfer fees this season.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/wrexham-afc/transfers/verein/1112/plus/?saison_id=2024&pos=&detailpos=&w_s=

[From Despair To Where?]

I've seen reports, admittedly from Wrexham sources, suggesting Smith was £700k up front, £2m. with add ons.


Again, contrast. In 98/99 we spent £2.5m and in 99/00, we spent £2m. And then consider the 2005/06 team cost about £4m in total.

[Snowflake Royal]

I've seen reports, admittedly from Wrexham sources, suggesting Smith was £700k up front, £2m. with add ons.


Again, contrast. In 98/99 we spent £2.5m and in 99/00, we spent £2m. And then consider the 2005/06 team cost about £4m in total.

You would expect recently relegated teams to spend at the top end. I doubt we were msssive outliers compared to other bigger L1 clubs at the time.

It's all a bit of a daft argument anyway, given we clearly were operating in the 'Reading Way' described once we were in the Championship, and I even called us out as an example of being bigger spenders in the post that seemed to kick this off.

[RoyalBlue]

I've seen reports, admittedly from Wrexham sources, suggesting Smith was £700k up front, £2m. with add ons.

I'm not sure a mere £700K up front would've been sufficient to keep us afloat for the duration required.

[Snowflake Royal]

I've seen reports, admittedly from Wrexham sources, suggesting Smith was £700k up front, £2m. with add ons.

I'm not sure a mere £700K up front would've been sufficient to keep us afloat for the duration required.

We did sell Bindon as well.

[From Despair To Where?]

I've seen reports, admittedly from Wrexham sources, suggesting Smith was £700k up front, £2m. with add ons.


Again, contrast. In 98/99 we spent £2.5m and in 99/00, we spent £2m. And then consider the 2005/06 team cost about £4m in total.

You would expect recently relegated teams to spend at the top end. I doubt we were msssive outliers compared to other bigger L1 clubs at the time.

It's all a bit of a daft argument anyway, given we clearly were operating in the 'Reading Way' described once we were in the Championship, and I even called us out as an example of being bigger spenders in the post that seemed to kick this off.

We were definitely outliers and we're constantly derided as tinpot Reading trying to buy success by opposition supporters. Admittedly, Fulham, awash with al Fayed's money did what Birmingham are doing this season but Man City spent less than half what we did despite signing 7 players. We were spending sums that would still be considered significant in League 1 now, 25 years later. The "Reading Way" only really came about in the Championship when we couldn't compete financially with the big guns.

As I said, I don't begrudge Wrexham spending big because we've been there. Just wish the coverage was a bit more honest.

[Royals and Racers]

Are the Posh fans saying we were worthy winners ?

[AthleticoSpizz]

Yes, smarting about the (non) penalty of course, but mainly resigned to the fact that we were too good.

[Carnabyswhiskers]

Not exactly an 'Oppositions fan' but this from the Peterborough Evening Telegraph:

3) Posh earn plaudits from opponents because they always try and play rather than rely on hoofball and the tedium of long throws. It’s rarity in League One this season and the ugly nature of the division could be exposed to the nation in the play-offs if say, Wrexham, Huddersfield, Charlton and Stockport, were all involved. Reading sneaked back into the play-off places yesterday and I hope they stay there. Their football was excellent at times yesterday. They kept possession in tight areas much better than Posh. They looked a vibrant young team well led on the pitch by experienced midfielder Lewis Wing. Given what’s gone on at the club in the last couple of seasons they are the real fairytale story of League One this season rather than the club in North Wales.

For full article:
https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/spo ... es-5057974

[bcubed]

Not exactly an 'Oppositions fan' but this from the Peterborough Evening Telegraph:

3) Posh earn plaudits from opponents because they always try and play rather than rely on hoofball and the tedium of long throws. It’s rarity in League One this season and the ugly nature of the division could be exposed to the nation in the play-offs if say, Wrexham, Huddersfield, Charlton and Stockport, were all involved. Reading sneaked back into the play-off places yesterday and I hope they stay there. Their football was excellent at times yesterday. They kept possession in tight areas much better than Posh. They looked a vibrant young team well led on the pitch by experienced midfielder Lewis Wing. Given what’s gone on at the club in the last couple of seasons they are the real fairytale story of League One this season rather than the club in North Wales.

For full article:
https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/spo ... es-5057974

Well played Peterborough Evening Telegraph! Kind words but true enough