I've hated this season

[Archie's penalty]

I was just watching some of the goals of the last 20 years video and it got me thinking how this season has been just a really crap one to
be a Reading fan. We've had a poor start to the campaign, a massive break due to the Sunderland game being called
off, very few periods of decent play from the lads, the Guthrie incident, Brian not changing the formation, the transfer window where nothing went right
and finally this debacle with the sacking of Brian.

This has been added to by the realisation that the premier league is way less even than it was five years ago when we were last in it.

I just want this season to end. It's been mightily depressing.

[72 bus]

Same here

[No Hoops]

+1

It's the premier league. No chance of winning anything except the odd game.

[paultheroyal]

Only shock is that this type of thread has only just started

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

The 7-0 at Wimbledon was fun.

I'd pretty much accepted we were going down from the opening day, so it's just been tedious really.

[seahawk10]

It's the process not the outcome Archie...

[windermere_royal]

Nobody enjoys continue losing, its a reality of top flight football, but I want to see us grow. and that means either staying in the PL or making a quick return.

[Cripple Creek]

I have tried so hard to enjoy it but it is difficult to reconcile enjoyment with witnessing a failure to learn previous lessons regarding adding quality to the squad. To be honest I really feel for Brian (even more so now) and the players. They never really stood a chance and it must be so demoralising for them to have to play knowing that they aren't good enough and they haven't got the financial support in terms of recruitment that the team so obviously needed. All in all, agreed, a disheartening experience.

[Archie's penalty]

It's the process not the outcome Archie...

I know, but the process also doesn't seem to be working this season.

[Reading4eva]

Here comes the classic Championship/Premiership arguement.

Which league is more competitive - Championship
Which league is more exciting - Championship
Which league is value for money - Championship

I agree we want to test ourselves at the highest level and 06/07 AND 07/08 were both exciting (bar the painful relegation, fukcing Portsmouth), but this season has been dreadful. I actually can't wait for my next season in the Championship to begin! Yeovil Town Away I'm in!

Think we stand a great chance of winning it too... But we know where we end up if we do, that's the problem

[Royalwaster]

I thought 07/08 was dreadful too ... apart from beating Liverpool I can't remember a single decent game.

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

Been stop start a season that I have struggled to get into.

The plus side is the global coverage we have received.

[Royal Ginger]

Suffering at the bottom of a division is always rubbish to watch, be it the prem or the bottom of league 2. We've just been spoiled by a long period of success.

[barelylubedcock]

It's the process not the outcome Archie...

Archie's Polish. Every single day is an existential nightmare.

[PieEater]

I got slated last year for saying I didn't want promotion and much prefered life in the championship, but it's turned out pretty much as I expected.

When they start the season by playing "The impossible dream" you've set the mindset that's it's going to be impossible so you can excuse the nightmare.

[Colin Cheeselog]

I’d excepted that it was highly likely that we’d go down before a ball was kicked, and once you have that expectation it makes losing easier to take. Generally this season within a couple of minutes of games finishing I’ve got over the result itself and moved on to thinking about more important things (such as what’s going to be TV).

What has made this season depressing, and has brought me close to not attending some games is having to listen to a dozen or so fans within shouting distance that just don’t get it. Shouting abuse at McDermott, Leigertwood and McAnuff from very early in the season, continually calling for a player who literally refused to play for us ahead of last years goal scoring hero. One bespectacled ginger adolescent constantly standing up, arms aloft and shouting idiotic abuse such as ‘get im off bwian, he’s wubbish’, presumably in the belief that his ‘peers’ would think, ‘wow, what an inspirational, pioneering deep thinker’. The sheep mentality of abusing McAnuff for literally everything that happens.

It doesn’t make attending the Madejski a very enjoyable experience, and life back in the championship, winning more games than we lose, with at least half of these idiots at home watching soccer Saturday instead, will be much more enjoyable.

[madreadingfan]

Most of it's been shit but we have had some good times this season...

- Going 2-1 up at Chelsea
-3 Goals in last 7 minutes against WBA
- 2 Goals in last 5 mins against Chelsea
- 2 goals against Newcastle with 15 mins to go
- Our first win of the season against Everton
-Beating West Ham (Even sweeter that it was a defensive mistake)
-We've also seen some high scoring games though not in our favour... 7-5 vs Arsenal, 4-3 vs United etc
-Bill Oddie has been sung a lot more this season
-We've had sell out crowds and atmosphere has been a bit better
-Y25/Y26 have started to stand more this season with less hassle of stewards
- We get to play the big teams at home

And think about more upcoming memories we can have from the rest of the season:

-Dolan's first win as Reading Manager against United today
-Fulham away- Will be a great day out and great atmosphere regardless of the result
-West Ham Away- Inflatables Day
- Could beat QPR at home which will hopefully pretty much damage their position to stay up
- Could do the Great Escape "Wigan" style

It's been a mixed season for me but I always knew we were going down from day one so I had already prepared myself for the worse. Just enjoy the rest of the season.

[P!ssed Off]

Here comes the classic Championship/Premiership arguement.

Which league is more competitive - Championship
Which league is more exciting - Championship
Which league is value for money - Championship

I agree we want to test ourselves at the highest level and 06/07 AND 07/08 were both exciting (bar the painful relegation, fukcing Portsmouth), but this season has been dreadful. I actually can't wait for my next season in the Championship to begin! Yeovil Town Away I'm in!

Think we stand a great chance of winning it too... But we know where we end up if we do, that's the problem

There is no point over performing in the Championship. You will just come straight back down from the Prem, after a terrible season as we have seen.
If we go down and by the end of the Summer Transfer Window we cannot honestly say that our squad is in the top 2, in terms of quality, then there is no point in going up.

[blythspartan]

I like this thread.

I really want us to establish ourselves in the premiership but you can't beat the feel good factor of trying to get into the playoffs in the Championship.

May be one day we will be able to establish ourselves but when you look at the big clubs like Leeds and Sheff Weds who can't get there it makes you realise that no club has a divine right to be there. It's amazing that we have managed 2/3 seasons in the Premiership considering the majority of our history has been spent in the 2 bottom leagues.

It's league 1 that I don't want us to go back to.

[Barry the bird boggler]

I wasn't overly impressed by us last season either but obviously things went our way in the end

This season is more of the same without any thought given to the change of playing level and we've been completely found out

The worst thing about this season was not removing Brian in November or December

because he was left in charge so long it makes no sense to have got rid of him now and we might as well have let him continue and see if he learned the lessons in the summer.