RFC - a total shambles

[Royal Rother]

What give you the right to voice your opinion by not they?

Where did he say that?

Here, page 2

Are we still 5 points outside the relegation zone? Well, yes, I think we are! Would those teams below us rather be in our position with our number of points? I rather think they would.

Fcuking doom and gloom merchants! Call yourself supporters when all you want to do is look on the worst possible turn of future events without any real semblance of balance to your views. Crap.

The implication seems to be that anyone who holds the opinion that we may be relegated doesn't have the right to call themselves a supporter.

That's the view from his armchair.

Yeah right, one post out of God knows how many I've made on the subject in the last couple of months. And even that doesn't support your assertion that I'm saying people don't have a right to express their opinions. That's a bit weak really isn't it? Still, I suppose I did have a bit of a go at wifey yesterday so should exepect a bit of a backlash to be fair.

[Uke]

I'm quoting, in its entirety, a post he made which makes it clear that any pessimists can't be considered supporters.

There's nothing out of context about that whatsoever.

No single post can really sum up anyone's opinions

I don't read it as him not saying they can be considered supporters, its more along the lines of the 'punching above our weight, lets enjoy it' viewpoint

[Platypuss]

It's a conundrum isn't it? New players who you can be pretty certain are good enough to have an impact will cost £6m+ and demand wages of what, £40kpw? What does that do to the rest of the squad? How will they feel about it? When the going gets really tough and this player is not quite bleeding the same blood as the rest of them, how will they react?

Like the professional footballers they are?

It's also going to cost us significantly more to retain the players we want to keep when approached by others able and willing to pay them more (eg Hunt) so such a differential will close naturally anyway.

How long can RFC look to swim against the tide of paying the going rate?

What do you suggest Reading FC do about their current situation as you sit on that lofty pedestal of yours? Practical suggestions, please.

Just wondered............

A village on that caribbean island is obviously missing its idiot.

Please don't bother wasting my time.

[Schards#2]

I'm quoting, in its entirety, a post he made which makes it clear that any pessimists can't be considered supporters.

There's nothing out of context about that whatsoever.

No single post can really sum up anyone's opinions

I don't read it as him not saying they can be considered supporters, its more along the lines of the 'punching above our weight, lets enjoy it' viewpoint

I would suggest reading lessons.

Perhaps the great man could pull up his armchair and clarify.

[Alan Partridge]

I'm quoting, in its entirety, a post he made which makes it clear that any pessimists can't be considered supporters.

There's nothing out of context about that whatsoever.

No single post can really sum up anyone's opinions

I don't read it as him not saying they can be considered supporters, its more along the lines of the 'punching above our weight, lets enjoy it' viewpoint

Which is incredibly easy if you don't go to the games!!!! That's not a personal dig at RR, that's for anyone saying this who doesn't go away. Go and spend £70 + each time to watch Reading play away and tell me how much you enjoy it.

[Uke]

I'm quoting, in its entirety, a post he made which makes it clear that any pessimists can't be considered supporters.

There's nothing out of context about that whatsoever.

No single post can really sum up anyone's opinions

I don't read it as him not saying they can be considered supporters, its more along the lines of the 'punching above our weight, lets enjoy it' viewpoint

I would suggest reading lessons.

Perhaps the great man could pull up his armchair and clarify.

I'll take reading lessons if you take comprehension lessons

Its not our argument, like you, I'll leave RR to it now.

[Royal Rother]

I'm quoting, in its entirety, a post he made which makes it clear that any pessimists can't be considered supporters.

There's nothing out of context about that whatsoever.

No single post can really sum up anyone's opinions

I don't read it as him not saying they can be considered supporters, its more along the lines of the 'punching above our weight, lets enjoy it' viewpoint

I would suggest reading lessons.

Perhaps the great man could pull up his armchair and clarify.

It had a little emotional thrust behind it, that's all. An emotional one liner against all the irrational emotional outbursts after an expected defeat. Big deal.

[Schards#2]

It's a conundrum isn't it? New players who you can be pretty certain are good enough to have an impact will cost £6m+ and demand wages of what, £40kpw? What does that do to the rest of the squad? How will they feel about it? When the going gets really tough and this player is not quite bleeding the same blood as the rest of them, how will they react?

Like the professional footballers they are?

It's also going to cost us significantly more to retain the players we want to keep when approached by others able and willing to pay them more (eg Hunt) so such a differential will close naturally anyway.

How long can RFC look to swim against the tide of paying the going rate?

What do you suggest Reading FC do about their current situation as you sit on that lofty pedestal of yours? Practical suggestions, please.

Just wondered............

A village on that caribbean island is obviously missing its idiot.

Please don't bother wasting my time.

The trademark feeble response to anyone who takes issue with platypuss.

Less effort than discussing the issues I suppose.

[Huntley & Palmer]

No-one disputes that we've got a real fight on our hands to retain our status in PL but can I just bring a note of realism to the discussion again - there are currently 7 teams below us in the table.

It's narrow for sure and it will doubtless still be narrow at the end of the season but there are actually 7 teams who have performed worse than us so far.

This isn't being complacent, RTG wearing or anything else you'd like to call it, it is a fact. And it is also a fact that this has been achieved whilst refusing to get involved in daft money transfers for rubbish, like most of our rivals down there have.

Maybe the investments being made by those rivals this month will pay dividends and shove us down to the botom 3 by the end of the season but they haven't done so far have they because they are below us in the table aren't they? And they're £30m+ lighter as a result.

It's a conundrum isn't it? New players who you can be pretty certain are good enough to have an impact will cost £6m+ and demand wages of what, £40kpw? What does that do to the rest of the squad? How will they feel about it? When the going gets really tough and this player is not quite bleeding the same blood as the rest of them, how will they react?

Of course it is disappointing that assurances made earlier in the season about new faces have not been fulfilled, but if the right player isn't available for the right money then we have to move on or undo a lot of what this club has been built on which is underpinned by calculated and prudent risk management.

The poor little cherubs, having to put up with someone who potentially is better than them earning more money than them. I thought that was the whole point of building brick by brick, you get a solid foundation of core players in every position then you build on it. Are the signings of obscure African and Czech players part of this vision? Looks like it currently, I'd only say that Rosenior was bought with a view to replacing Murty at some stage and Seol was certainly bought with a view to replacing Little originally but he was unwilling to wait his turn.

[Platypuss]

"The trademark feeble response to anyone who takes issue with platypuss.

Less effort than discussing the issues I suppose."

It's my standard response to people who have amply proven that they are incapable of discussion, yes.

Is there a problem with that?

[Royal Rother]

I asked the question how will they react, not for a mini-diatribe about how spoilt they are.

Can you answer the question?

[Gordons Cumming]

It's a conundrum isn't it? New players who you can be pretty certain are good enough to have an impact will cost £6m+ and demand wages of what, £40kpw? What does that do to the rest of the squad? How will they feel about it? When the going gets really tough and this player is not quite bleeding the same blood as the rest of them, how will they react?

Like the professional footballers they are?

It's also going to cost us significantly more to retain the players we want to keep when approached by others able and willing to pay them more (eg Hunt) so such a differential will close naturally anyway.

How long can RFC look to swim against the tide of paying the going rate?

What do you suggest Reading FC do about their current situation as you sit on that lofty pedestal of yours? Practical suggestions, please.

Just wondered............

A village on that caribbean island is obviously missing its idiot.

Please don't bother wasting my time.

In the words of the great John Cleese. " You have absolutely no sense of humour, do you?"

[brendywendy]

some say we are ahead of our rivals right now, have january to finish and a great run in

others say we are doomed if wholesale changes arent made now

its all just opinion

can we all just pull together, get behind the lads, and help drag ourselves out of the poo we are close to landing in, and stop with the jumping down peoples throats for disagreeing with each other

[Mr Angry]

Firstly, I'm certainly not saying that people aren't entitled to their opinions, nor that being more worried at this time than someone else means someone is "less" of a fan; I'm just trying to give a bit of balance to the non-stop pessimism that appears to be all pervading on here at the moment.

Positives??

1. We are 13th, 4 points of being 11th.

2. We have players wanted by other teams in our Division.

3. We have an experienced, succesful Manager that has proved his worth to us time and time again.

4. We have money available to spend on the RIGHT players.

5. We have plans to expand the stadium and improve the fabric of the club off the pitch.

6. We have players coming through from the Academy knocking on the door for selection in the first team for League games.

7. We have senior management in place that doesn't panic and make knee jerk decisions based on the rantings of fans on phone ins or on internet forums.

To be brutally honest, I would rather be a Reading supporter RIGHT NOW then the supporter of pretty well any other team in the prem rather than maybe Villa or Everton (who seem to me to be on the verge of breaking the 4 team stranglehold on the top of the Premier League); lets just get some perspective on the current situation.

[brendywendy]

Aaaaaah

thats better

thanks mr angry
cheered me up no end

[Dr Hfuhruhurr]

But in the meantime giving the team anything other than 100% support for their honest endeavours seems futile and feeble. The players are only as good as they are, and, in my opinion they are good enough to stay up - just.

Honestly Ill do what I like, rather than what you like and if that means sitting in my seat grumbling when our once good left back has suddenly forgotten how to play, or how our forward now wants to play for someone else. Or when Coppell starts with Gunnarson. Yet. Again. (Especially when we've apparently bought lots of midfielders recently, though I havent seen much evidence of that), then you know what, thats exactly what Ill do, regardless. Much more funny than RL's 'Jolly Well' is any assertion that we have to watch what we say on an Internet Forum in case it upsets a passing player.

What especially rankles me this year is the assertion that finishing above Sunderland, Derby and AN Other somehow constitutes an applaudable season. I honestly dont care if we go down, in fact it seems more fun down there - especially if life in premiership involves setting your standards so low. And is there any standard lower than finishing above the teams that got promoted last year?

[Schards#2]

"The trademark feeble response to anyone who takes issue with platypuss.

Less effort than discussing the issues I suppose."

It's my standard response to people who have amply proven that they are incapable of discussion, yes.

Is there a problem with that?

No, just overwhelming indifference.

[brendywendy]

But in the meantime giving the team anything other than 100% support for their honest endeavours seems futile and feeble. The players are only as good as they are, and, in my opinion they are good enough to stay up - just.

Honestly Ill do what I like, rather than what you like and if that means sitting in my seat grumbling when our once good left back has suddenly forgotten how to play, or how our forward now wants to play for someone else. Or when Coppell starts with Gunnarson. Yet. Again. (Especially when we've apparently bought lots of midfielders recently, though I havent seen much evidence of that), then you know what, thats exactly what Ill do, regardless. Much more funny than RL's 'Jolly Well' is any assertion that we have to watch what we say on an Internet Forum in case it upsets a passing player.

What especially rankles me this year is the assertion that finishing above Sunderland, Derby and AN Other somehow constitutes an applaudable season. I honestly dont care if we go down, in fact it seems more fun down there - especially if life in premiership involves setting your standards so low. And is there any standard lower than finishing above the teams that got promoted last year?[/quote]

yes, finishing below any of them

[Platypuss]

"The trademark feeble response to anyone who takes issue with platypuss.

Less effort than discussing the issues I suppose."

It's my standard response to people who have amply proven that they are incapable of discussion, yes.

Is there a problem with that?

No, just overwhelming indifference.

Obviously.

[Barry the bird boggler]

Boxing Day until the end of February was always going to be our worst period of the season as the number of what you would call "winnable" games, on first glance, amounts to just one at the beginning of February.

Once the misery of this period is done we only have the trips to Arsenal and Liverpool that are write offs the rest are all games we can give it things a real go in and while some are a little awkward and will see us get b*gger all (e.g. Newcastle away) we certainly will still have an opportunity to make up the ground we're losing at the moment.

Just thank yourselves that this period didn't make up March and April otherwise we really would be down and out.

Anyway, to try and put a little bit of hope back into you all next Saturday the fixtures are:

Birmingham v Chelsea
Blackburn v Middlesbrough
Fulham v Arsenal
Liverpool v Aston Villa
Man City v West Ham
Newcastle v Bolton
Portsmouth v Derby
Reading v Man Utd
Tottenham v Sunderland
Wigan Ath v Everton

So looks to me like all the bottom 8 sides have dodgy games heading their way which will hopefully mean virtually no change in terms of the current position and will hopefully mean us just about keeping ahead of the game overall.