An official thank you to the parking space crew.

[brendywendy]

oooh i like that

[Geekins]

Can i just say that i gave up a ticket to see Dara O'brien in Portsmouth to travel to Reading and show my support. I don't think i told anyone that.

It was worth it and thanks to people on here to tell me to come along! I love this club and i'll sacrifice anything for it. URZZZZ!

did u mention that???

wow i must have missed that

Wish i never said anything now!

[brendywendy]

!

did u mention that???

wow i must have missed that

Wish i never said anything now!

said anything about what?

[AbovetheI]

There was a rally? Why wasn't I told.

[The 17 Bus]

can I add that the word managger goes along the shorter length of the space, and it is marked in white not yello. Free one in medium for me I tihnk would be appro.

[Rawlie19]

can I add that the word managger goes along the shorter length of the space, and it is marked in white not yello. Free one in medium for me I tihnk would be appro.

The word MANAGER is in yellow. The lines might be white, but doing that would add £2 to the T-Shirts. As for a free one, you'll have to speak to Spreadshirt about that.

I saw on the news last night you got a makeover. About time you updated that avatar.

[The 17 Bus]

so it is you would think the club would have used the same colour, might have saved a few bob. As for my new look, naw, I still use the old football special destination roll round banner, we have to have some nostalgia.

[Readingfanman]

Any chance you could make the polo shirt have the manager parking sport a bit smaller? More like a logo?

Yes.



Or did you mean in the middle still, just a bit smaller?

Perfect. Once my cash flow is Ok I shall be purchasing.

[North Somerset Royal]

With the benefit of hindsight those well meaning but misguided peple who persuaded Coppelll to stay have probably done more to set the club back than even Robert Maxwell acheived. At best Coppell will only stay for one more season and what is the point of that when we are losing the nucleus of our squad and what is required is a complete rebuilding job. Even if Coppell starts the process he can do little in one season and when someone else takes over they will inevitably have their own ideas and will want a clean slate. So thank you car park crew in advance for what will be a completely wasted season.

[readingbedding]

With the benefit of hindsight those well meaning but misguided peple who persuaded Coppelll to stay have probably done more to set the club back than even Robert Maxwell acheived. At best Coppell will only stay for one more season and what is the point of that when we are losing the nucleus of our squad and what is required is a complete rebuilding job. Even if Coppell starts the process he can do little in one season and when someone else takes over they will inevitably have their own ideas and will want a clean slate. So thank you car park crew in advance for what will be a completely wasted season.

WTF?

[bobby m's syrup]

With the benefit of hindsight those well meaning but misguided peple who persuaded Coppelll to stay have probably done more to set the club back than even Robert Maxwell acheived. At best Coppell will only stay for one more season and what is the point of that when we are losing the nucleus of our squad and what is required is a complete rebuilding job. Even if Coppell starts the process he can do little in one season and when someone else takes over they will inevitably have their own ideas and will want a clean slate. So thank you car park crew in advance for what will be a completely wasted season.

Sadly, I think you have hit the nail on the head. A top 10 finish will be a reasonable expectation this year and it will also count as a year lost which could have been spent rebuilding for the future. Galling to think we may have to scrap with the likes of Plymouth and Cardiff to achieve respectability though.

[Turns8]

NSR.....YAWN

[PEARCEY]

With the benefit of hindsight those well meaning but misguided peple who persuaded Coppelll to stay have probably done more to set the club back than even Robert Maxwell acheived. At best Coppell will only stay for one more season and what is the point of that when we are losing the nucleus of our squad and what is required is a complete rebuilding job. Even if Coppell starts the process he can do little in one season and when someone else takes over they will inevitably have their own ideas and will want a clean slate. So thank you car park crew in advance for what will be a completely wasted season.

We dont know whether Copps will only stay for one more season. He remains more than capable of doing a rebuilding job and winning promotion although next season may be unlikely if we lose too many more key players.
He does need funds though not only for a transfer kitty but also to pay competitive wages to attract talent to the club.
Lets not write off the manager or the team before a ball is kicked though

[North Somerset Royal]

I agree that Copps is more than capable of rebuilding the side but I think it will be a long term job and he has made it clear that he wants a break. Apart from immediately following relegation when he felt that maybe he should resign he has always said that he would see his contract out and thats what he is doing. Wally Downes was quoted last week as saying that his one year extension was to coincde with SC's end date. I see no prospect of either of them remaining after this coming season.

Had we kept our first team squad in tact and motivated then a quick return to the Prem would have been achievable but we have reduced the players wages by 40% and naturally given the chance they will move on elsewhere to restore their earning capacity. We have already lost two of the best and 4 or 5 others are interesting other clubs. Hammond can hold out for top prices and that may result in some staying but what sort of attitude will they have knowing the club deprived them of the opportunity to earn a lot more and play at a higher level? Those that do not attract offers will probably resent the fact and be demotivated as well and our wages structure will stop us recruiting players who are the finished article.

The only way forward is to bring in youngsters from the Academy and elsewhere and to mould them into the sort of unit that achieved our Championship record. However Copps can only make a start on that process and it would have been better to have brought someone new in at this stage to start the process.

[PEARCEY]

I agree that Copps is more than capable of rebuilding the side but I think it will be a long term job and he has made it clear that he wants a break. Apart from immediately following relegation when he felt that maybe he should resign he has always said that he would see his contract out and thats what he is doing. Wally Downes was quoted last week as saying that his one year extension was to coincde with SC's end date. I see no prospect of either of them remaining after this coming season.

Had we kept our first team squad in tact and motivated then a quick return to the Prem would have been achievable but we have reduced the players wages by 40% and naturally given the chance they will move on elsewhere to restore their earning capacity. We have already lost two of the best and 4 or 5 others are interesting other clubs. Hammond can hold out for top prices and that may result in some staying but what sort of attitude will they have knowing the club deprived them of the opportunity to earn a lot more and play at a higher level? Those that do not attract offers will probably resent the fact and be demotivated as well and our wages structure will stop us recruiting players who are the finished article.

The only way forward is to bring in youngsters from the Academy and elsewhere and to mould them into the sort of unit that achieved our Championship record. However Copps can only make a start on that process and it would have been better to have brought someone new in at this stage to start the process.

Good response NSR although you make no reference to new signings. I hope lessons have been learned and new players are bought in before the transfer window closes.
As for Copps I hope he stays on beyond his current contract.

[brendywendy]

Didnt maxwell fail totally?and therefore not damage our club at all.in fact it could be argued that his actions made possible madeskis reign and led to us becoming a prem club. Good argument

[londinium]

With the benefit of hindsight those well meaning but misguided peple who persuaded Coppelll to stay have probably done more to set the club back than even Robert Maxwell acheived. At best Coppell will only stay for one more season and what is the point of that when we are losing the nucleus of our squad and what is required is a complete rebuilding job. Even if Coppell starts the process he can do little in one season and when someone else takes over they will inevitably have their own ideas and will want a clean slate. So thank you car park crew in advance for what will be a completely wasted season.

I assume your post of misery is on the back of the sale of Kitson.

It is a bit folly to think that after relegation our top players aren't going to want to move to a premiership club, Coppell or no Coppell, this would still happen.

With that in mind, Coppell is the best man to know excatly what we have and what we need, so it would be foolish to slag him off before the season even starts and the transfer window even closes.

Oh how I remember all those posts after the Plymouth defeat a few years back!!!!

[Millsy]

With the benefit of hindsight those well meaning but misguided peple who persuaded Coppelll to stay have probably done more to set the club back than even Robert Maxwell acheived. At best Coppell will only stay for one more season and what is the point of that when we are losing the nucleus of our squad and what is required is a complete rebuilding job. Even if Coppell starts the process he can do little in one season and when someone else takes over they will inevitably have their own ideas and will want a clean slate. So thank you car park crew in advance for what will be a completely wasted season.

I assume your post of misery is on the back of the sale of Kitson.

It is a bit folly to think that after relegation our top players aren't going to want to move to a premiership club, Coppell or no Coppell, this would still happen.

With that in mind, Coppell is the best man to know excatly what we have and what we need, so it would be foolish to slag him off before the season even starts and the transfer window even closes.

Oh how I remember all those posts after the Plymouth defeat a few years back!!!!

Good post Londinium.

NSR - misguided, my arse.

Must be quite worrying that 94% of fans on the notoriously negative HNA are misguided eh?

I expect I was misguided when amongst a barrage of abuse I hailed, before it happened, the Parj <--> Coppell change as being the best thing to ever happen to RFC or for campaigning ferociously for Parj to stay during the dark "Pardew out" days?

There is absolutely nothing misguided about wanting Coppell to stay this time either.

Of course we were going to have a shakeup and that's exactly why we need Coppell, because quite frankly there's no other man as good at building a Prem team in the Championship. I'd rather have one year's worth of Coppell's Championship-to-Premiership magic followed by someone carrying on the work, than 5 years of Mr Bullivant/Quinn/Gooding/Pardew/Burns fannying about cluelessly.

Having said all that, losing Kitson et al is a big blow and I'm not happy. But that's a different issue. We can't change the reality of relegation.

But Coppell going after relegation would've been the singlemost tragic thing to happen to RFC in my lifetime at least. I take the point though that of course we would like him to stay longer, and if Madejski isn't the money grabbing well meaning but overcautious so and so I think he is I think he can be convinced to!

[Broxroyal]

I wish people wouldn't weaken otherwise reasonable arguments by talking about Coppell magic. For sure we are going to need some kind of rebuild, the size of which will become apparent over the next few weeks.
It is a reasonable point to say that if if the rebuild needs to be major, i.e. several key players leave soon, then we could have done with a manager who is going to stay for a few years overseeing that process.
Still, we are where we are now; by Christmas we shall know whether the people prancing around the car park deserve our thanks or were misguided fools.
We are all Reading fans and desperately hoping the former is true. The illusion that Coppell has some magic up his sleeve has surely been shattered by now, however.

[floyd__streete]

The illusion that Coppell has some magic up his sleeve has surely been shattered by now, however.

You have been watching:

Emerse Fae
Greg Halford
Seol Ki-Hyeon
Sam Sodje
Jimmy Kebe
Alan Bennett
Aaron Brown


Add Ferdinand and Keown to that, and a goalkeeper in the god-awful Graham Stack. Throw in Paul Brooker perhaps and that is the basis for a pretty hopeless Coppell flop XI.