Are you getting excited yet?

[percy_freeman]

6 signings , new manager, can't be worse than last year........ I've got a semi....

[percy_freeman]

I must admit, I did have a little bit of wee when Roy the boy Beerens signed. I'm going to miss Hal Robson Gnu not ever, goal of the euros..... oxf*rd laughable, he won't score another one for a couple of years.

[Davezk]

*Tumbleweed*












Not particularly excited. We need to see how the first few games of the season goes. Don't know enough about the new players and whether they will gel. Last season we loaned in some decent players on paper (Vydra, Piazon) but just didn't work out.

[Royality creeps In]

I must admit, I did have a little bit of wee when Roy the boy Beerens signed. I'm going to miss Hal Robson Gnu not ever, goal of the euros..... oxf*rd laughable, he won't score another one for a couple of years.

[JIM]

This could be a good season,

[TBM]

Weren't we all saying this last season when Piazon, Vydra, Sa, Quinn, McShane, Bond etc signed.....

I'll hold off until I've seen us play live

[blueroyals]

No, most of the signings so far are crooked deals involving his agent's firm

[K.URZ13]

Reserving judgement. I remember being equally excited last year.
I'd be happy with; good football, young players coming through and a mid-table finish.

[PieEater]

The main positive for me is that we're getting a team together in preseason rather than last minute transfer deadline deals.

Let's hope Stam can work on these players and get them playing as a team before the season starts.

[Jack Celliers]

I'm reserving judgement. I know nothing about the players who are coming in and the manager does little to excite. All the official news coming from the club reads like soviet-style press releases that my first thought is to disbelieve. My gut feeling is that we are about 500-1 to get promoted. We'll see...

[Armadillo Roadkill]

Yes, I am getting excited. Very.

Football. A beer before hand. The sight of the pitch.

New players, new gaffer, the promise of attacking football.

A new story, a new season, watching it happen live, unmediated by a television, but a few metres away from me in real time with no replays and no half time pundits except the people who sit near me that I've known for years.

I don't give a monkey's poop about promotion - I want us to win plenty of home games and be entertained in the process.

If you're not excited about the prospect of a new season of football at the club you support where we have no idea what might happen you may be wasting your time and money going.

[blythspartan]

Yeah,in CW I trust as he seems pretty positive about Stam and from what he has seen so far. He is the best reporter we have ever had following the club.

When I think about where we could have been after AZ's ownership of us, surely you have to be excited about things at the moment.

As mentioned above, it's good to see the new signings joining the club preseason, 6-8 weeks can make a big difference to a team.

[Maneki Neko]

Moderately positive.
Wait and see.

Its if course perfectly possible it could be worse than last year.
As well as better.

We all got swept up in the 6 exotic sounding signings excitement last year too.

[Ian Royal]

Not hugely. Last year's influx looked great on paper. Once burned twice shy.

Mendes doesn't seem to have much to recommend him.

Gravenberch, the Finn and Van der Berg seem decent at least. Solid.

Reach, Swift and Beerens seem to have plenty of potential.

The only one that stands out to me is Campi and he's not definite yet.

I don't think many more signings is a good thing without departures. Lots of new faces needing to gel is rarely productive. Despite the seven signings, we're still relying on Keown, McCleary, Griffin, Dickie or Watson to cover the uninspiring Gunter.

We still don't seem to have a central striker who can be relied on to score, though there do appear to be more goals elsewhere now.

And the reliance on academy graduates seems to have fallen by the wayside with Tish going and three or four signings who'll be competeing with the places of the likes of Fosu, Samuel and Tanner.

Stam does at least seem to want to play a viable and entertaining system. We shouldn't be in the relegation battles. But then again we've got a tough early run and a bad start can be huge in this division with a new manager and lots of new players.

[Royal1988]

Never mind this time last year, I'm fairly sure most of us were getting excited around October time last year.

Therefore this season, I will reserve judgement, and won't get excited until we are well into the season and I see that the players are playing well together, and I am convinced that the owners will stick with the manager for the whole season. Still not expecting promotion by any stretch, but a decent mid-table finish would do me just fine next year.

[Barcelona Blue]

Yes, very,very excited.

I really like the look of Stam and I think the players respect him and he is also a draw for players like Swift who want to be managed by someone whose worn the T-shirt, Hes putting a system and gets his tracksuit on and trainswith them but he seems to command respect

He also seems to be signing physicalplayers with technical skills, I think he´ll be a massive hit this season

If he does start to get good results and we shoot up the table I just hope some big club doesnt come in for him before hes done a couple of seasons with us

[CountryRoyal]

Not hugely. Last year's influx looked great on paper. Once burned twice shy.

Mendes doesn't seem to have much to recommend him.

Gravenberch, the Finn and Van der Berg seem decent at least. Solid.

Reach, Swift and Beerens seem to have plenty of potential.

The only one that stands out to me is Campi and he's not definite yet.

I don't think many more signings is a good thing without departures. Lots of new faces needing to gel is rarely productive. Despite the seven signings, we're still relying on Keown, McCleary, Griffin, Dickie or Watson to cover the uninspiring Gunter.

We still don't seem to have a central striker who can be relied on to score, though there do appear to be more goals elsewhere now.

And the reliance on academy graduates seems to have fallen by the wayside with Tish going and three or four signings who'll be competeing with the places of the likes of Fosu, Samuel and Tanner.

Stam does at least seem to want to play a viable and entertaining system. We shouldn't be in the relegation battles. But then again we've got a tough early run and a bad start can be huge in this division with a new manager and lots of new players.

If last season has taught me anything it's not to build too much hope and expectations based on signings with apparent reputations.

We've had your big name charlies and where have they got us? Am more than happy to get some relatives unknown and forge a team based on how they would interact with the team, rather than individual abilities.

[sandman]

Not overly.

Signings bar Beerens and Swift aren't exactly inspiring and the manager's lack of experience is a major concern.

[leon]

No I've been drinking steadily since 3 o'clock and I'm feeling a bit sleepy.

[percy_freeman]

We've got a new manager with no previous but a major name in European and English football. He needs to be given a chance. We also have, so far,5 new signings. Not mercenary loanees that don't give a shite but young, hungry players signed on 3year contracts that will be hungry to prove their worth here at Reading FC. We still have most of the players that smashed last seasons championship winners within 2 Mins at home last season. Put that all together and then tell me your not even slightly optimistic....