Relegation the Reading Way

[melonhead]

its an ethos, a way of running the club, and a way of playing
which as a whole distinguishes us as a club form others

many companys have such buzz words and slogans. they mean something, but they dont mean alot

[Victor Meldrew]

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.

Nothing new there from what I can see that differentiates us from so many other clubs.

[REMTARDROYAL]

like Doncaster.

[Victor Meldrew]

like Doncaster.

If you insist,delete Doncaster and add Oldham or Stevenage.

[REMTARDROYAL]

I think the main difference is that we've done it better, consistently better, for longer.

We're doing something right.

[REMTARDROYAL]

like Doncaster.

If you insist,delete Doncaster and add Oldham or Stevenage.

Oldham

when were they last in the Championship, let alone the Premiership?


I guess Stevenage have won the FA Trophy recently. We haven't.

[melonhead]

for me -the reading way is what has got us the best ten years in our history, while managing our finances well, being a family club , playing 4-4-2 football, with two wingers and a quick breaking style

[REMTARDROYAL]

I can't remember where I read it, but I read a good article, related to Moneyball, that the clubs do better when there's a fit, almost a connection, between manager, team 'style' and fans.

This might be related to your post, melons

[Victor Meldrew]

like Doncaster.

If you insist,delete Doncaster and add Oldham or Stevenage.

Oldham

when were they last in the Championship, let alone the Premiership?


I guess Stevenage have won the FA Trophy recently. We haven't.

Nobody is on about where they are in the structure of English football,we are on about how a club is run doh!

[REMTARDROYAL]

So our recent successes count for nothing but the cost of your parking space does?

[Victor Meldrew]

for me -the reading way is what has got us the best ten years in our history, while managing our finances well, being a family club , playing 4-4-2 football, with two wingers and a quick breaking style

Managing finances well and playing 4-4-2 strikes me as what many clubs do but when our manager and chairman speak they make the Reading Way something totally different such as playing 9-1 or getting players who are amateur or giving us a pint at every game plus a free programme.
I'm not convinced we are different from the norm as most clubs want to buy players that are undervalued,develop your own players and run the club on sound finacial principles.
I believe it is the few rather than the majority that don't also do things the Reading Way like Chelsea,Pompey and QPR for example.

[Victor Meldrew]

So our recent successes count for nothing but the cost of your parking space does?

our success-that's a different matter altogether.
BTW I don't park there I park in Whitley and walk to the ground-it's my way,not the Reading Way.

[REMTARDROYAL]

I'm not convinced we are different from the norm as most clubs want to buy players that are undervalued,develop your own players and run the club on sound finacial principles.

Most clubs don't. That's why there's such a gap in the market for a club, our club, to exploit.

[Victor Meldrew]

I'm not convinced we are different from the norm as most clubs want to buy players that are undervalued,develop your own players and run the club on sound finacial principles.

Most clubs don't. That's why there's such a gap in the market for a club, our club, to exploit.

If we were mid-table like Swansea I might agree with you but our league placing hardly suggests that in football terms we are a raging success nor would being relegated twice in three years of Premier League membership.
I can see an argument for Arsenal being seen as different and successful but I really don't see ours as being so different.
Let's hope the club makes loads of money for Anton as that is what it seems to be all about with the football and entertainment being secondary.

[Once were Biscuitmen]

Look what you could have won^^^^^^^^^^^^


The Reading way is trying to run a football club like any other sane business.

However when you compete with clubs that dope on debt, have still more indulgent sugar daddies than ours, or are massive global corporations it is not always going to make for the quiet life of Premiership mid table obscurity that so many on here seem to dream for.

[Royalclapper]

Seems like a watered down and affordable version of what Arsenal do. Stick to a budget, be as competitive as you can, make good returns on your best players who want a move away, pick the players that you can hopefully add some value to although there will be blips and flops amongst them.

Trouble is, they can afford higher class coaching and technical development for their players and thus employ an attractive style of play. Even then, they are always seemingly under pressure if they don't bag any silverware.

[REMTARDROYAL]

I'm not convinced we are different from the norm as most clubs want to buy players that are undervalued,develop your own players and run the club on sound finacial principles.

Most clubs don't. That's why there's such a gap in the market for a club, our club, to exploit.

If we were mid-table like Swansea I might agree with you but our league placing hardly suggests that in football terms we are a raging success nor would being relegated twice in three years of Premier League membership.
I can see an argument for Arsenal being seen as different and successful but I really don't see ours as being so different.
Let's hope the club makes loads of money for Anton as that is what it seems to be all about with the football and entertainment being secondary.

It depends where you see our natural level as.

Obviously you think 2 and a bit seasons in the premiership really means we've made it at that level.

[RoyalBlue]

Look what you could have won^^^^^^^^^^^^


The Reading way is trying to run a football club like any other sane business.

.

Oh not the old bogie man line again!

Any type of variation from the true 'Reading Way' is insane and will inevitably lead to disaster!

[akranes]

It oxf*rd sucks

[Green]

Tenacity, Spirit and Flair