Steve Clake - New Poll

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Was ALF not sold to pay an imminent tax bill?

Yes that's what the club said but what's to say there weren't other offers on the table that we turned down? It was clear Adkins never rated Alfie.

I would be surprised if money hadn't been offered for McCleary or Gunter for example. Morrison might have been in the wings as well...

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Really I am not bashing Clarke but just happen to think that a return of 7 point sin 12 games is dire. So:

Yakubu - he said himself signing him was a no brainer. I think he mean't he had no brain but I may be wrong.....

Does anyone on this board, unless they have not had a few beers and a chaser or two think HRK should play up front on his own? Honestly?

If Cox had a barney why was he on the bench and was bought on with 10 to go? And as Clarke admitted is on contract for the next season? And he is our "top" scorer.........

Samuel from Cov - why not bring him back? We are short of goals and he seems to be hitting the back of the net?

Sorry. Clarke in my view from day one was a cheap, lives local and was available as an option - Bit like our loan strategy to date under him.

It is a dire return. No one's suggesting otherwise. The season has been an utter shambles & thank goodness the cup run restored a little bit of faith at least. But it's a combination of factors that have gotten us into this mess and it's wrong to now bash Clarke for all of it.

You're also singling out the game v Brentford. So why not single out the game v Arsenal where we were superb? You can't have it both ways....

If Pog was fit he'd have played him but he wasn't. We agree on HRK BTW. As for Cox he clearly doesn't rate Cox & may well have fallen out with him otherwise he'd have started.

FTR - he gave Cox plenty of chances earlier on in the season - it got to the point where Cox was missing 2-3 sitters a match so I don't blame him for dropping him. At least with Pog you get more of an all round game.

[RoyalBlue]

Really I am not bashing Clarke but just happen to think that a return of 7 point sin 12 games is dire. So:

Yakubu - he said himself signing him was a no brainer. I think he mean't he had no brain but I may be wrong.....

Does anyone on this board, unless they have not had a few beers and a chaser or two think HRK should play up front on his own? Honestly?

If Cox had a barney why was he on the bench and was bought on with 10 to go? And as Clarke admitted is on contract for the next season? And he is our "top" scorer.........

Samuel from Cov - why not bring him back? We are short of goals and he seems to be hitting the back of the net?

Sorry. Clarke in my view from day one was a cheap, lives local and was available as an option - Bit like our loan strategy to date under him.

It is a dire return. No one's suggesting otherwise. The season has been an utter shambles & thank goodness the cup run restored a little bit of faith at least. But it's a combination of factors that have gotten us into this mess and it's wrong to now bash Clarke for all of it.

You're also singling out the game v Brentford. So why not single out the game v Arsenal where we were superb? You can't have it both ways....

.

I'll single both out then (if that isn't a contradiction!). So Clarke can motivate players who clearly have high levels of ability to play well at Wembley. However, he has proven time and time again that he cannot motivate those same players who have high levels of ability to play well in the bread and butter of the league. That is why we are likely to continue to struggle next season and why Clarke will be gone by the New Year with us lumbered with another set of poor signings that won't suit the incoming manager.

I really do hope he will prove me wrong but I wonder how many West Brom fans you would find who think that is likely.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

I don't agree RB. They've played quite well in a lot of the games if we're being fair about it. Absolutely lacking a cutting edge but what we were serving up under Adkins this season was worse IMO & he actually had a decent striker then!

I get the jury is out for many on here but I'm choosing to support him & am hoping the club supports him financially to sort this shambles of a squad out.

[Hoop Blah]

FFS open your eyes..... And he plays HRK up front on his own....

Perhaps you should open you're eyes too, then you might realise we played 3 upfront!

I'm at a bit of a loss to explain just why we've failed to take any of the decent chances we've carved out of late (apart from playing Robson-Kanu obviously) but we have been putting in half decent performances along the way.

Clarke really needs to earn his corn over the summer but I'm pretty comfortable with where we are at the moment as I'm chalking most of the shite we've seen lately down to experimentation and rotation based around the cup and summer.

Clarke won't have a lot of credit in the bank at the start of next season though.

[Lacoste]

He hasn't got any decent strikers.

I repeat - he hasn't got any decent fcuking strikers!!

Blooming nora - anyone with half a fcuking brain knew we'd struggle once Alfie was sold. In addition, Murray was not replaced when he left.

I'm watching the game now - my god we miss him. Always in the right place.

44 goals is absolutely woeful but not that surprising given the options Clarke's had.

FFS open your eyes. He has bought in a striker - Yakubu (he must have rated him?) and never plays him - and had the chance to bring in more on loan and didn't. He could have bought Samuel back from Coventry but didn't. And he plays HRK up front on his own on Saturday leaving Cox in the bench?

I don't know for the life of me why Clarke has so many apologists on this board.

Oh come on. Do you really think Clarke wanted Yakubu? Really?

It was mentioned on BBCRB about Cox - rumours of a bust up apparently. He didn't turn up for training or something.

Why bring Samuel into a pile of steaming dog turd - much better to let him get his tail up out on loan. Whats to say he won't get a chance next season?

How do you know he had the chance to bring in another striker on loan? You're just making that up now!

What a bizarre post. Clarke did want Yakubu, he said so many times and he has form for bringing shit veterans in from his time at WBA. To suggest he didn't want him would just be speculating with no grounds what so ever.

Also, he did have a chance to bring another striker in, he signed Appiah who coincidently hasn't played much, mainly because he's shit.

Honestly don't think Clarke has any method or strategy at all. He see's someone who's available and brings them in. No thought about whether they'd be a good fit at all.

Shit manager, he will buy a load of shit and leave the new manager to deal with it by mid September.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Yes yes........Clarke was hankering for a 33 year old exiled in Qatar. FFS get your head out of your rectum for one minute.

[Lacoste]

So who wanted him then?

What evidence do you have that Clarke didn't want Yakubu?

Suppose he didn't want Anelka either?

[MmmMonsterMunch]

If he has no method or strategy why are the few players that have actually given a toss this season publicly praised his tactics?

If he has no method or strategy why did the players follow his game plan to a T against Arsenal and almost take it to pens?

If he has no method or strategy please explain how the defence is noticeably better?

If he has no method or strategy how come the passing has drastically improved?

If he has no method or strategy then why would Chalobah and Ake want to come here & play for him?

No offence but I think you're talking a load of rubbish.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

So who wanted him then?

What evidence do you have that Clarke didn't want Yakubu?

Suppose he didn't want Anelka either?

What evidence do you have that he did? If you're asking the question would he rather have Yakubu or nothing?... then I'm sure you'll get the answer you want.

[Lacoste]

If he has no method or strategy why are the few players that have actually given a toss this season publicly praised his tactics?

If he has no method or strategy why did the players follow his game plan to a T against Arsenal and almost take it to pens?

If he has no method or strategy please explain how the defence is noticeably better?

If he has no method or strategy how come the passing has drastically improved?

If he has no method or strategy then why would Chalobah and Ake want to come here & play for him?

No offence but I think you're talking a load of rubbish.

A/ Players starting games praising the manager?? surely not....SHOCK
B/ Players raising their game at Wembley?? surely not
C/ The defence could not get much worse, he has marginally improved it but it's still very shit.
D/ Passing the ball around and going nowhere with it? Sounds like Adkins to me
E/ Do you honestly think Chalobah and Ake came to Reading to play for the world famous Steve Clarke?

No offence, but with some of your comments, I can only imagine watching football is a new thing for you. You'll learn.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

No offence but some of your comments are pathetic. Go and read that match report from Arsenal on TTE. It might enlighten you.

[Ian Royal]

MMM forgive me, but you're sounding a little desperate in places.

Adkins is responsible for selling ALF - yes we had a tax bill to pay but there might have been other options? Even if that was the case, and it's utter speculation on your part that Adkins wanted him out and *might* have refused other options, he did perfectly well in replacing him with Murray and Cox for a total of 16 goals (14 under Adkins I believe) in half a season.

Suggesting Yakubu wasn't a Clarke signing? Come on now, please.

You can argue back and forth about Adkins weaknesses, Clarke's disadvantages and his strengths. But lets not go into the world of make-believe.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Adkins did not rate Alf - don't even try to suggest otherwise Ian.

I am prepared to give Clarke more time based on what I've seen so far. WTF is wrong with that?

How fickle people are - one minute everyone is enjoying the FA Cup semi and saying how he got it tactically spot on & then 72 hours later calling for his head. Spineless.

[Ian Royal]

Adkins did not rate Alf - don't even try to suggest otherwise Ian.

I am prepared to give Clarke more time based on what I've seen so far. WTF is wrong with that?

How fickle people are - one minute everyone is enjoying the FA Cup semi and saying how he got it tactically spot on & then 72 hours later calling for his head. Spineless.

First point, I didn't say he did. I asked you to stop going into cloud cuckoo land to criticise him by saying it was his choice to get rid of ALF and suggesting there may have been other options when it's widely accepted ALF went to pay a tax bill. And to accept that he was replaced successfully, at least short term.

Nothing. Haven't said there is. In fact, I'm also prepared to give him time, as are most people. If reluctantly.

Nothing fickle about enjoying a good performance from the team and manager in an individual big game, and complaining about the team and manager's inability to replicate anything remotely resembling that performance across the majority of league games. I haven't called for his head, thank you. I also have a spine.

Calm down a little bit, stop taking any criticism of Clarke as some sort of earth shattering personal insult.

[Lacoste]

Adkins did not rate Alf - don't even try to suggest otherwise Ian.

I am prepared to give Clarke more time based on what I've seen so far. WTF is wrong with that?

How fickle people are - one minute everyone is enjoying the FA Cup semi and saying how he got it tactically spot on & then 72 hours later calling for his head. Spineless.

I'm not doubting the brilliant performance at Wembley, but how many times have you seen the plucky underdog take their more illustrious aponents all the way? It happens all the time. Players will automatically raise their game,

The league is the bread and butter and he can't motivate them or tactically outwit anyone.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Adkins did not rate Alf - don't even try to suggest otherwise Ian.

I am prepared to give Clarke more time based on what I've seen so far. WTF is wrong with that?

How fickle people are - one minute everyone is enjoying the FA Cup semi and saying how he got it tactically spot on & then 72 hours later calling for his head. Spineless.

First point, I didn't say he did. I asked you to stop going into cloud cuckoo land to criticise him by saying it was his choice to get rid of ALF and suggesting there may have been other options when it's widely accepted ALF went to pay a tax bill. And to accept that he was replaced successfully, at least short term.

Nothing. Haven't said there is. In fact, I'm also prepared to give him time, as are most people. If reluctantly.

Nothing fickle about enjoying a good performance from the team and manager in an individual big game, and complaining about the team and manager's inability to replicate anything remotely resembling that performance across the majority of league games. I haven't called for his head, thank you. I also have a spine.

Calm down a little bit, stop taking any criticism of Clarke as some sort of earth shattering personal insult.

Lol I'm really not. I've seen enough to suggest he should get more time & I am actually quite surprised at how much sh1t he's getting on here.

As for the point about the league - they had nothing to play for so prioritised the cup. I'd also add that we've not really been thrashed in any games under Clarke & we've genuinely competed.

I will say I can't see us getting anywhere near top 6 next season though. I think we'll do well to get to 12th TBH. Can see the Thais releasing all the players out of contract and selling everyone they can.

[Ian Royal]

I think we'll do well to get to 18th.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

I think we're set for another crap season but hopefully more faith is placed in the youngsters this time around.

We won't be able to shift any of the higher earners this summer. If we have another woeful season & Clarke cannot get a top half finish will the fans turn on him?

[Lacoste]

They already have.

Night snookums xx