Little joining Pompey

[willz_royal]

I haven't read the thread so i don't know if this has been said, but with all the money the club now has, and the sheer desperation the team has with regard to the right wing crisis, why did the club let arguably our most skillful player just walk away? Surely we couldve stumped a little more to tempt him to stay with us until retirement.

I mean, we are trying to be a bona fida "premier league club", so why not try and compete with the premierleague in all areas.


On the other hand, Little is also at fault. We paid his wages whilst he was useless, stuck by him, and even offered him a new contract through all of this. Where is Little sense of appreciation and gentlemanliness? I dont see why he would go straight for the money now, when he owes us.


Its a shame. Wake up RFC, start paying with cash, or your going to continue paying with your respectability.

[rfcjoe]

He left for Premiership football and the chance to work with Harry - nothing to do with money.

[willz_royal]

He left for Premiership football and the chance to work with Harry - nothing to do with money.

really? so you think money had NOTHING to do with this?

[rfcjoe]

Not really tbh. He said he felt robbed or summin like that at not getting another crack at the big time so this is a great chance and prob the last as he's getting on a bit. And in interviews he said it was too good and oppurtunity to turn down at the chance of working with HR.

[Royalee]

Michael kightly please or..... Ivan sproule

Could have got those two if we'd stayed up. No chance now, especially with the signs Coppell's been sending out about the club.

Put it this way, if you're deciding who to sign for and you see that one of your prospective managers wanted to leave less than two months ago and it took a last minute RTG protest for him to stay and then add to that players going on strike and shouting about about him not giving his new signings a chance, are you likely to want to sign?

Although prospective players aren't likely to take a professionally cynical view of things !
For every Fae we have a Bikey, a Doyle, a Murty and I rather suspect most players wouldn;t give too much credence to what Fae has been going on about any more than players won;t sign for Man Utd becasue of Ronaldo wanting out.

Coppell's situation is hardly as described either.

Ronaldo's going to Real Madrid because it's his 'dream to go there' (the money and climate probably helped his decision too), Fae wanted to play for us and was not given a chance, whether his attitude was right or wrong. As for the other three, a lot has changed since they've joined the club and it is not perceived in quite the same way now to what it was when we were showing ourselves to be a little more ambitious.

Not all footballers are thick and they will often weigh up these points before putting pen to paper - and if they don't, their agents will.

[Top Flight]

Its quite depressing watching our history making team being ripped apart. The heart was ripped out of it last summer when Sidwell departed and since then we have lost the most flair and quality parts ot the team and predators are circling ready to make further attacks.

By the end of the summer our Championship winning side will be threadbare with all the heart and soul taken away. We will have been set back years and be back to square one. We will be left with possibly a worse group of players than Coppell inherited when he first took over at the club.

Its not Coppells fault that his team will have been ripped to pieces. Its the financial status of the club and our inability to compete with everyone elses ambition in the top flight that has led us to this situation.

Being realistic and fair to Coppell, there is no way he is going to put together a strong promotion winning side playing with the same spirit and style as the team of 2006. It will take Coppell around 3 to 4 years to get us back to where we were if he follows the same formula that brought success in 2006.

Good Luck Coppell finding a replacement for Little and everyone else that you're gonna lose.

Coppell will probably add 1 or 2 quality additions this summer. He will need 2 or 3 more years of adding 2 quality players each transfer window to build a new great Reading side. This is gonna take him considerable time.

There is a very strong chance that Reading may not get back to the Premier League for another 20 to 30 years. That could be it for us now.

[floyd__streete]

To be honest I partly said it to get a rise out of AP and Floyd who are so consistently negative about our chances of going up.

I was consistently negative last season from when I figured out early on that the side had been totally sussed out by most Premier League opposition and that the club had dropped a b*llock in the appaling summer transfer dealings. So I'll stick with my opinion over yours, cheers all the same.

[Royalee]

Its not Coppells fault that his team will have been ripped to pieces.

Who's fault is it then, the boogeyman's?

You're quite right, we are going to have a weaker squad than when he took over five years ago, which is why he should have been booted out.

[Royal Rother]

To be honest I partly said it to get a rise out of AP and Floyd who are so consistently negative about our chances of going up.

I was consistently negative last season from when I figured out early on that the side had been totally sussed out by most Premier League opposition and that the club had dropped a b*llock in the appaling summer transfer dealings. So I'll stick with my opinion over yours, cheers all the same.

Forget last season, give us a list of things you're looking forward to about next season.

And write some song lyrics about it.

I love those.

[Royal Rother]

It is a good line-up but depends a lot on two things

1) Whether those three players are our options come August. Both Lita and Doyle have been speculated to leave, and Kitson wouldn't look out of place on the books of most Premiership clubs.

2)Whether Lita decides to have another season long run of form that makes me look prolific.

Let's not forget Shane Long - I think he'll do well for us next season.

[Row Z Royal]

It is a good line-up but depends a lot on two things

1) Whether those three players are our options come August. Both Lita and Doyle have been speculated to leave, and Kitson wouldn't look out of place on the books of most Premiership clubs.

2)Whether Lita decides to have another season long run of form that makes me look prolific.

Let's not forget Shane Long - I think he'll do well for us next season.

'greed.

He'll be getting the Championship experience we've been clamouring for.

[papereyes]

To be honest I partly said it to get a rise out of AP and Floyd who are so consistently negative about our chances of going up.

I was consistently negative last season from when I figured out early on that the side had been totally sussed out by most Premier League opposition and that the club had dropped a b*llock in the appaling summer transfer dealings. So I'll stick with my opinion over yours, cheers all the same.

Oh come on Floyd, you're just being negative there.

On what basis can you make that judgement?


RR - fair point. The only striker we have who is unlikely to have attracted Premiership interest.


(look, I just hate the new winky smiley. If you can't see the dashings of irony and dollop of 'yes, I know that Long's actually quite good', then bugger off.)

[juanpablo]

we needed a right winger whether glen was here or not. Henry will get a chance i hope but we cant rely on him, as we couldnt rely on Glen to be fit. If people think a 32 year old who has been injured for about a year is the end of us then they need to wake up imo. He is\was one of the best ive seen in a Reading shirt but im not even sure he had a whole championship season in him. As others have stated this team without Glen missed out on staying in the prem by 3 goals, in theory that should mean a large core are still capable of going straight back up.

looking forward to the season

[Archie's penalty]

To be honest I partly said it to get a rise out of AP and Floyd who are so consistently negative about our chances of going up.

I was consistently negative last season from when I figured out early on that the side had been totally sussed out by most Premier League opposition and that the club had dropped a b*llock in the appaling summer transfer dealings. So I'll stick with my opinion over yours, cheers all the same.

Thanks for the explanation. Last year was sh*t - hopefully this year will be better...

[earleyroyal]

At least he can say he played for a successful club. With wright philips, crouch etc all signing, we are going to challenge for the european cup in years to come.

I just read that again. Either the work of a good wind up merchant or a truly deluded fan, or both.

[glass half full]

Sonko serious injury>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> not the same player

Little serious injury>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>not the same player?

[Royal Rother]

Indeed, and more likely at 33 years old.

[floyd__streete]

Forget last season, give us a list of things you're looking forward to about next season.

And write some song lyrics about it.

I love those.

Fnar. Still bitter about last season are we? I suspect that the squashing of your ego pained you more than relegation.

[Royal Rother]

Forget last season, give us a list of things you're looking forward to about next season.

And write some song lyrics about it.

I love those.

Fnar. Still bitter about last season are we? I suspect that the squashing of your ego pained you more than relegation.

Squashing of my ego?

OMG... Is that what you think it all comes down to?

So, I predict our team will stay up, support them when times are tough, have some banter online with people who are consistently negative, get proved wrong about relegation and you think my ego takes a bashing!!?

I think football and HNA might just be a little too important in your life if you think that's how it works for other people.

Good grief.

[floyd__streete]

I think football and HNA might just be a little too important in your life if you think that's how it works for other people.

Not for other people, no. Just you. Just my sensible and realistic theory anyway. Thank you, as ever, for your time and interest.