18/19 End of Season Awards

[10539.4 Miles Away]

The official site now has the Goal of the season voting open https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2019/m ... he-season/

What I think is truly telling (as if we didn't know), of the 8 goals available to vote on, 1 (one) was from the Clement era, a Swift freekick, and the remaining 7 from Gomes, 3 of them from our loanees.



Got to be Ejaria's goal for me. Great team work and glimpse of what we could be as a unit.

[Hendo]

The official site now has the Goal of the season voting open https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2019/m ... he-season/

What I think is truly telling (as if we didn't know), of the 8 goals available to vote on, 1 (one) was from the Clement era, a Swift freekick, and the remaining 7 from Gomes, 3 of them from our loanees.



Got to be Ejaria's goal for me. Great team work and glimpse of what we could be as a unit.

+1 for Ovie's goal.

[Snowflake Royal]

The official site now has the Goal of the season voting open https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2019/m ... he-season/

What I think is truly telling (as if we didn't know), of the 8 goals available to vote on, 1 (one) was from the Clement era, a Swift freekick, and the remaining 7 from Gomes, 3 of them from our loanees.



Got to be Ejaria's goal for me. Great team work and glimpse of what we could be as a unit.

We scored a goodly number of goals early on, they just weren't screamers.

It's a tough pick. Anyone know if Rinomhota is left or right footed? Because if he hit that Norwich equaliser on the wrong foot, he's getting my vote here as well.

[URZZZZ]

Pretty sure Rinomhota is predominantly right footed but is comfortable with both feet. Think other goals that could have made the cut are Kelly's vs Bristol, Bacuna's vs West Brom and Meite's first against Ipswich. We didn't really have any standout strikes, but lots of "nice strikes". Would still stick with Ejaria against Rotherham for the build up

On a side note, I noticed Jonathan Low published up his ratings for the season
https://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/foot ... 9-16265820
Must admit, I'm surprised by a couple of them. He claimed Bodvarsson was injured for too long and didn't play enough which is fair enough. But then he gives Oliveira an 8 compared to Bod's 4 even though he played less games and scored less goals than Bod. Also think Jaakkola's is harsh, and Ejaria and Barrow are too high (especially Ejaria)

[Zip]

Pretty sure Rinomhota is predominantly right footed but is comfortable with both feet. Think other goals that could have made the cut are Kelly's vs Bristol, Bacuna's vs West Brom and Meite's first against Ipswich. We didn't really have any standout strikes, but lots of "nice strikes". Would still stick with Ejaria against Rotherham for the build up

On a side note, I noticed Jonathan Low published up his ratings for the season
https://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/foot ... 9-16265820
Must admit, I'm surprised by a couple of them. He claimed Bodvarsson was injured for too long and didn't play enough which is fair enough. But then he gives Oliveira an 8 compared to Bod's 4 even though he played less games and scored less goals than Bod. Also think Jaakkola's is harsh, and Ejaria and Barrow are too high (especially Ejaria)

Yes agreed about the three goals you mentioned. I would have had them ahead of Barrow’s equaliser against Wigan. All three were scored under Clement.

[Hound]

Surprised not more love for Loader’s goal. It was a brilliant roll and strike

[URZZZZ]

I think GOTS can be split into the actually strike itself but also the context of the game. For example, Ejaria’s goal vs Rotherham was a massive goal in the context of things, as well as being a really nice team move. Same with rino at Norwich. In the context of things, Loader’s goal against Boro was really a meaningless goal (apart from for his confidence of course) so won’t receive as much credit. That’s my thinking anyway

[Hound]

oh well, obvs there was a lot more love for Loader than there was on here

Won the vote by almost 20% ( >Rino>Ejaria)

get the point Urrzzz, certainly wouldn't say it was the most memorable or important goal, but completely in the context of just being a great goal, I voted for it.

[Platypuss]

I think GOTS can be split into the actually strike itself but also the context of the game. For example, Ejaria’s goal vs Rotherham was a massive goal in the context of things, as well as being a really nice team move. Same with rino at Norwich. In the context of things, Loader’s goal against Boro was really a meaningless goal (apart from for his confidence of course) so won’t receive as much credit. That’s my thinking anyway

In terms of context, at the time he scored it was potentially massive - it's not like it was a last minute consolation goal at 3-0 down.

[Ascotexgunner]

Most Disappointing signing 90% of them.

I mean I'm not to say whether an opinion is correct or not but I'm genuinely interested to work out who the 90% was

We signed the following:

Walker
Yiadom
O'Shea
Eza
Meyler
Sims
Baldock
McNulty
Ejaria
Baker
Oliveira
Miazga
Martinez

I'm not sure who the 90% is in that list personally...

Loanee's are not signings. Take them out of that list and you'll see what's left.

[Sutekh]

So where can we watch all these goals?

[Hendo]

So where can we watch all these goals?

It was put out on the club's social media channels.

[Snowflake Royal]

Most Disappointing signing 90% of them.

I mean I'm not to say whether an opinion is correct or not but I'm genuinely interested to work out who the 90% was

We signed the following:

Walker
Yiadom
O'Shea
Eza
Meyler
Sims
Baldock
McNulty
Ejaria
Baker
Oliveira
Miazga
Martinez

I'm not sure who the 90% is in that list personally...

Loanee's are not signings. Take them out of that list and you'll see what's left.

Well 90% of six is 5.4, so I take it you though Yiadom had half a good season then?

[URZZZZ]

Most Disappointing signing 90% of them.

I mean I'm not to say whether an opinion is correct or not but I'm genuinely interested to work out who the 90% was

We signed the following:

Walker
Yiadom
O'Shea
Eza
Meyler
Sims
Baldock
McNulty
Ejaria
Baker
Oliveira
Miazga
Martinez

I'm not sure who the 90% is in that list personally...

Loanee's are not signings. Take them out of that list and you'll see what's left.

Walker - didn't disappoint. To disappoint, you need moderate expectations. Everyone had written him off before he'd joined so it's difficult to say he's "disappointed" - he's simply achieved what people thought he would
Yiadom - came second in POTS, enough said
O'Shea - same as Walker
Meyler - a huge disappointment
Baldock - I rate Sam, he hasn't been as good as I'd have hoped, but he hasn't been bad. 1 goal every three games and a couple of important goals for us. Below par, but not a disappointment
McNulty - has been a disappointment but when you're not given a run of more than 1 game in a row, what do you expect. A player that has ability that was mistreated IMO

Understand it's all down to opinions etc etc...but I find your original comment slightly over the top

[Denver Royal]

I mean I'm not to say whether an opinion is correct or not but I'm genuinely interested to work out who the 90% was

We signed the following:

Walker
Yiadom
O'Shea
Eza
Meyler
Sims
Baldock
McNulty
Ejaria
Baker
Oliveira
Miazga
Martinez

I'm not sure who the 90% is in that list personally...

Loanee's are not signings. Take them out of that list and you'll see what's left.

Walker - didn't disappoint. To disappoint, you need moderate expectations. Everyone had written him off before he'd joined so it's difficult to say he's "disappointed" - he's simply achieved what people thought he would
Yiadom - came second in POTS, enough said
O'Shea - same as Walker
Meyler - a huge disappointment
Baldock - I rate Sam, he hasn't been as good as I'd have hoped, but he hasn't been bad. 1 goal every three games and a couple of important goals for us. Below par, but not a disappointment
McNulty - has been a disappointment but when you're not given a run of more than 1 game in a row, what do you expect. A player that has ability that was mistreated IMO

Understand it's all down to opinions etc etc...but I find your original comment slightly over the top

Well, since it's all about opinions , and putting aside the 'But they seemed like a good idea at the time' stuff...

1. Walker - Certainly a disappointment (for me). When we gave him a 3 year deal, you are looking for more. If you knew when he signed his contribution would be what it has been, would you still sign him? As it is, he's likely on his way out already.
2. Meyler - Nuff said.
3. O'Shea - Nuff said.
4. Baldock - Again, when we gave him 3/4 year deal, we were expecting more. Thus, a disappointment, and could also be on his way out already.
5. McNulty - Again, when given 3/4 year deal, we were expecting a bigger contribution surely? Would we sign him if we knew what we know now? Again, a disappointment.

Of the 6 players we signed, those 5 could all be gone this Summer, after just one season. That has to be a disappointment, and surely not what we expected (aside from O'Shea) when we signed them to multi-year deals last Summer. If they had panned out better, would we have needed to get 5 loanees in Jan?

[Sutekh]

Well one “end of season” award went to the press in the “Off the record” trophy.

https://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/spor ... m-16291364

[Snowflake Royal]

Loanee's are not signings. Take them out of that list and you'll see what's left.

Walker - didn't disappoint. To disappoint, you need moderate expectations. Everyone had written him off before he'd joined so it's difficult to say he's "disappointed" - he's simply achieved what people thought he would
Yiadom - came second in POTS, enough said
O'Shea - same as Walker
Meyler - a huge disappointment
Baldock - I rate Sam, he hasn't been as good as I'd have hoped, but he hasn't been bad. 1 goal every three games and a couple of important goals for us. Below par, but not a disappointment
McNulty - has been a disappointment but when you're not given a run of more than 1 game in a row, what do you expect. A player that has ability that was mistreated IMO

Understand it's all down to opinions etc etc...but I find your original comment slightly over the top

Well, since it's all about opinions , and putting aside the 'But they seemed like a good idea at the time' stuff...

1. Walker - Certainly a disappointment (for me). When we gave him a 3 year deal, you are looking for more. If you knew when he signed his contribution would be what it has been, would you still sign him? As it is, he's likely on his way out already.
2. Meyler - Nuff said.
3. O'Shea - Nuff said.
4. Baldock - Again, when we gave him 3/4 year deal, we were expecting more. Thus, a disappointment, and could also be on his way out already.
5. McNulty - Again, when given 3/4 year deal, we were expecting a bigger contribution surely? Would we sign him if we knew what we know now? Again, a disappointment.

Of the 6 players we signed, those 5 could all be gone this Summer, after just one season. That has to be a disappointment, and surely not what we expected (aside from O'Shea) when we signed them to multi-year deals last Summer. If they had panned out better, would we have needed to get 5 loanees in Jan?

Baldock - did ok, but injury blighted. The injury is the disappointment not the signing IMO.

I'd also disagree with the idea that a 3/4 year contract means you should expect an immediate impact and strong contribution. When you buy a striker from the lower leagues I don't think you should expect them to do the business straight away. And McNulty did well on loan, and looked decent in his very few appearances for us.

I'd say:
Walker - roughly as expected, back up keeper for the future
Yiadom - excellent, improved first XI
O'Shea - pointless waste
Meyler - disaster, got it totally wrong with him
Baldock - adequate, injury a disappointment
McNulty - promising, sidelined too quickly

Also important to remember that they were bought for a different approach by a different manager and so whilst some might no longer fit plans regardless of original suitability, that doesn't necessarily mean they were poor signings for their original purpose, just circumstance changes.

[URZZZZ]

Loanee's are not signings. Take them out of that list and you'll see what's left.

Walker - didn't disappoint. To disappoint, you need moderate expectations. Everyone had written him off before he'd joined so it's difficult to say he's "disappointed" - he's simply achieved what people thought he would
Yiadom - came second in POTS, enough said
O'Shea - same as Walker
Meyler - a huge disappointment
Baldock - I rate Sam, he hasn't been as good as I'd have hoped, but he hasn't been bad. 1 goal every three games and a couple of important goals for us. Below par, but not a disappointment
McNulty - has been a disappointment but when you're not given a run of more than 1 game in a row, what do you expect. A player that has ability that was mistreated IMO

Understand it's all down to opinions etc etc...but I find your original comment slightly over the top

Well, since it's all about opinions , and putting aside the 'But they seemed like a good idea at the time' stuff...

1. Walker - Certainly a disappointment (for me). When we gave him a 3 year deal, you are looking for more. If you knew when he signed his contribution would be what it has been, would you still sign him? As it is, he's likely on his way out already.
2. Meyler - Nuff said.
3. O'Shea - Nuff said.
4. Baldock - Again, when we gave him 3/4 year deal, we were expecting more. Thus, a disappointment, and could also be on his way out already.
5. McNulty - Again, when given 3/4 year deal, we were expecting a bigger contribution surely? Would we sign him if we knew what we know now? Again, a disappointment.

Of the 6 players we signed, those 5 could all be gone this Summer, after just one season. That has to be a disappointment, and surely not what we expected (aside from O'Shea) when we signed them to multi-year deals last Summer. If they had panned out better, would we have needed to get 5 loanees in Jan?

I'd expect Walker would have known he was never going to be first choice here personally considering at the time, Mannone was an obvious first choice. He's been an adequate back up, with some good performances against Bristol and Preston, and Birmingham in the cup. He's not good enough to be a first choice but as a back up for this season I'm OK with that, considering it gave Southwood and Ward some experience. He's still young - which is why he's got the 3 year deal I presume and in the case of Southwood and Ward not being ready in the future, we would have needed an extra goalie

Same with O'Shea. He knew he wouldn't play regularly I presume when he joined. He was probably brought in to guide the younger players/help Clement in terms of experience. Who am I or you to say how well he's done on that front? But the fact Gomes wants to keep him suggest that off the pitch, he's been useful. Scattered with a few decent performances on the pitch, that's not a disappointment

Baldock started off well. It's not his fault he got injured. Re. McNulty, Clement clearly brought him in to play as the "second striker". Hence the use of 4-4-2 at the start of the season. Defence were leaking too many goals, Clement changed to a 4-3-3/4-3-2-1, which doesn't play to McNulty's strengths as he needs a bigger man to work off of. Similar to Baldock but difference is he could play on the left side of the attack, unlike McNulty

Not sure what your last point about McNulty is alluding to. What do we know now? I know he went out on loan, banged the goals in and now they are very keen to bring him back

As for the loanees, it's simple, new manager, new plan

[Denver Royal]

4 of the 6 - Walker, McNulty, Meyler and O'Shea didn't really play much, even under Clement. Even Baldock, even when fit, wasn't really his full-time every day starter? Last Summer we needed help sooner rather than later. If Clement was in here now, reckon he'd say he was disappointed with how it panned out. If that window had been more successful, maybe he wouldn't have been sacked? Some think it was a close thing when he was, that he was unlucky, etc. Maybe if just Meyler had panned out, results would have been better, and he wouldn't have been sacked.

As for the loanees, it's simple, new manager, new plan

Well, I'd say the loanees were more a desperation move, at very short notice, to avoid relegation. So I suppose they were a 'plan' to keep us up, yeah.
Once Gomes took over, he featured the likes of Swift, Barrow, Blackett, Moore, Meite, etc. I'm sure he would have liked to feature some from last Summer's window too, but aside from Yiadom, he didn't. (Yes, Baldock had injury problems, but even without them, not to too sure how much he'd have featured either).

[Snowflake Royal]

4 of the 6 - Walker, McNulty, Meyler and O'Shea didn't really play much, even under Clement. Even Baldock, even when fit, wasn't really his full-time every day starter? Last Summer we needed help sooner rather than later. If Clement was in here now, reckon he'd say he was disappointed with how it panned out. If that window had been more successful, maybe he wouldn't have been sacked? Some think it was a close thing when he was, that he was unlucky, etc. Maybe if just Meyler had panned out, results would have been better, and he wouldn't have been sacked. Anyway...

I don't think anyone is questioning Meyler being a disappointment.

You can't judge every signing by how much they play. Not every signing is brought in to play 20/30/40 games.

Had Meyler been the player Clement thought, or Ezatolahi stayed fit, and Baldock and Bod been available more often, I think there's a decent chance Clement might have lasted the season.

Doesn't matter though. And we can still get value from Baldock, McNulty and Walker. We already have from Yiadom.

I think it's clear Clement thought he already had talent, but needed leaders and strikers. Unfortunately between injuries and existing talent letting him down that didn't pan out.