2nd place and climbing

[strap]

Into the top 2 for the first time this season, which makes my prediction of 10th-12th place finish look a bit sick. Shows how much I know!

Anyway, the reason for the post is to ask for help in finding the early season threads where people were spouting the usual (in my case) nonsense of where we'd finish this year. Not counting any chickens yet, but just interested to see who amongst us were predicting automatic promotion, and who (like me) suggested a season of mind-numbing mediocrity thanks to the tightly shut wallet of Mr Mad.

TIA

[floyd__streete]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=83119

Fully delighted - thus far - to be proved wrong myself, although to be fair at the time of writing we had no left back and we still had Ibrahima Sonko committing defensive suicide week on week for us.

[winchester_royal]

Happy to say that I predicted automatic promo. Though I aint gonna count chickens until after Jan.

[eleventh earl of mar]

http://hobnob.royals.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=83119

Fully delighted - thus far - to be proved wrong myself, although to be fair at the time of writing we had no left back and we still had Ibrahima Sonko committing defensive suicide week on week for us.

Not forgetting the fact that Ibrahima Sonko scored the only two goals v Plymouth for which we collected three points, or would you rather this was not mentioned as it does not fit in with your opinion of him?

[winchester_royal]

http://hobnob.royals.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=83119

Fully delighted - thus far - to be proved wrong myself, although to be fair at the time of writing we had no left back and we still had Ibrahima Sonko committing defensive suicide week on week for us.

Not forgetting the fact that Ibrahima Sonko scored the only two goals v Plymouth for which we collected three points, or would you rather this was not mentioned as it does not fit in with your opinion of him?

Funny....I thought Sonko was paid to defend.....

[eleventh earl of mar]

http://hobnob.royals.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=83119

Fully delighted - thus far - to be proved wrong myself, although to be fair at the time of writing we had no left back and we still had Ibrahima Sonko committing defensive suicide week on week for us.

Not forgetting the fact that Ibrahima Sonko scored the only two goals v Plymouth for which we collected three points, or would you rather this was not mentioned as it does not fit in with your opinion of him?

Funny....I thought Sonko was paid to defend.....

Yes he was/is. I would also imagine he trains and practises set pieces with the rest of the team to give him the chance to score and that he gets paid for that also. I take it then that you do not celebrate any defender scoring as it is not what they are paid to do.

[rhroyal]

http://hobnob.royals.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=83119

Fully delighted - thus far - to be proved wrong myself, although to be fair at the time of writing we had no left back and we still had Ibrahima Sonko committing defensive suicide week on week for us.

Not forgetting the fact that Ibrahima Sonko scored the only two goals v Plymouth for which we collected three points, or would you rather this was not mentioned as it does not fit in with your opinion of him?

He was dangerous from set pieces no doubt. However he's never been the same since his knee injury and he was run ragged by a poor Charlton Athletic side, giving away a penalty and getting sent off.

I'll acknowledge his contribution against Plymouth. Indeed I will acknowledge what a great centre back he was for us in his prime, he was superman. However the truth is I'd prefer to see Ivar, Bikey, Doobs and Pearce in our team rather than the Sonko we've seen in the last 12 months or so.

The original post exaggerates, but I think we'll do much better without him and likewise we were playing S. Hunt at left back when a lot of predictions were made. Even those who expected us to invest in a left back didn't expect him to come on as well as Armstrong has.

Many hardly gave Kebe a chance, but the fact was he hadn't made an impact since we'd signed him in January. It was natural to doubt him, even if many on here went overboard. I certainly didn't expect him to be as effective as he has been. The same can be said about N. Hunt, I didn't expect him to fit in quite so well as he has.

Then you have Doyle re-emerging. I knew he would be a useful player down here, but as good as he has been? After last season I didn't expect that. Likewise where did S. Hunt's set piece deliveries come from? Cisse has also stepped up from last season, he now looks like he understands English football and fits in well.

On top of this Pearce, Karacan and Henry have all made minor impacts are have earned Coppell's trust to be thrown into the first team. They have provided depth and competition. Whilst many could have predicted this, you can't be sure until you see them and it makes a big difference to have confidence in them. It's effectively an extra 3 squad members signed for free.

And then there was Coppell. He'd done a great job for us on the whole. However he admitted himself to making a considerable number of mistakes last season. He confessed to being too loyal to certain players and not spending enough money. He did very little in the transfer market over the summer, again. I started thinking, and I'm sure others did, that he hadn't learned from his mistakes.

I predicted we'd be in the mix to qualify for the play-offs, finishing somewhere from 5th - 9th. I was wrong, Coppell has been proved right again and earned my trust that last season was a one off. However whilst I was wrong, I would make the same prediction again in the same circumstances. People who now jump on the bandwagon and say that they were confident all along should ask themselves what they would predict if we were put in those circumstances again.

[floyd__streete]

http://hobnob.royals.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=83119

Fully delighted - thus far - to be proved wrong myself, although to be fair at the time of writing we had no left back and we still had Ibrahima Sonko committing defensive suicide week on week for us.

Not forgetting the fact that Ibrahima Sonko scored the only two goals v Plymouth for which we collected three points, or would you rather this was not mentioned as it does not fit in with your opinion of him?

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=83328

Have a read of the Stoke fans opinions on this thread.....and weep.

[JoebyRFC]

yh its great to see us be 2nd in the table and thumping wolves and birmingham at there places

looking at all the games at the start of the season i thought all would be difficult with 1 goal seperating the teams but reading have sure proved me wrong.

the form we are in now we could have easily beat notts forest, burnley, preston etc

[brendywendy]

i said id be happy with playoffs, but believed if we keep the team together that we would be good enough to be top by xmas and stay there or there abouts,

so actually we are a bit behind!

[Rex]

Clawing Wolves back might not be easy. We shall see. we have had the (naturally) far shakier run of results. The team have now seemingly settled. We shall see.

[Ian Royal]

Very very happy and pleasantly surprised.

Kebe and Cisse are exceeding expectations, NHunt is doing what I'd hoped as is Armstrong (I spent a long time saying if Shorey went we'd replace him), Rosenior has found his feet and Doyle, Ingimarsson and SHunt (to a lesser degree) have refound their form.

Add to that the bonuses of Karacan, Henry, Pearce and to a lesser degree Kelly.

negatives:- Convey still nowhere, Bikey's still showing he has the talent, but not necessarily the temperament or concentration, Hahnemann's injury, Lita in general and Long going nowhere fast.

My only concern is how many players are up to the Prem...

Harper & Matejovsky with the right partner (not together in a two), Doyle, SHunt, Rosenior and Armstrong.

Probably/possibly - Hahnemann, Duberry, Bikey, NHunt (as a squad player).

Now we can afford a couple of players not quite up to it, but not many. A lot of people will disagree with some on my list, and plenty will think I've left off some obvious ones, but that's the way I see it for various reasons.

[eleventh earl of mar]

http://hobnob.royals.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=83119

Fully delighted - thus far - to be proved wrong myself, although to be fair at the time of writing we had no left back and we still had Ibrahima Sonko committing defensive suicide week on week for us.

Not forgetting the fact that Ibrahima Sonko scored the only two goals v Plymouth for which we collected three points, or would you rather this was not mentioned as it does not fit in with your opinion of him?

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=83328

Have a read of the Stoke fans opinions on this thread.....and weep.

No need for me to weep. I am not in the least bit interested in what he does for Stoke. He had good games and bad games for Reading and I am interested in what Reading are doing now with the players we now have.

[Ark Royal]

I am always a pessimist by nature as far as RFC are concerned, but I was not too concerned when Shorey and Kits left. Sonks was well past his sell-by date. Good, honest players in to replace and the kids have stepped up as well. I am not evened that concerned is Shunt goes in January. It is looking good at the moment.

Now the Prem is another story, but let us get there first...

[londinium]

I will blow my own trumpet and say that I predicted automatic promotion and expected us to win the division... which is so far so good.

Also predicted Ipswich to do well... so what the fukc do I know???

[stlmike]

I though QPR would win, Derby would get auto, and Reading would win the Playoff.

[PlasticRoyale]

If we are competing for top spot it will only lead to more football related posts. Just what this board needs

[Gordons Cumming]

I predict that if we go up or stay down Coppell will leave.

[Vision]

I was a fringes of the play-offs man myself.

Question marks for me were about whether Coppell had the will to do what was necessary to remould a new side. Got to say i was looking at it taking a couple of seasons which would have been perfectly acceptable to me as long as it incorporated a couple of youth players as part of the plans.

To say we've done it quicker than i expected is an understatement.

What's also been impressive is that we seem to have overcome each potential doubt as the season has progressed.

1) Would the key relegated players have the stomach for the grind of another Championship season?. Well Yes to that after the initial hangover.

2) Could the new(er) players step up to contribute what is necessary for a promotion chasing side ?. Armstrong, Kebe, Cisse and Hunt have all done that added tp the contributions of the youth players Pearce,Karacan & Henry.

3) Addressing our abysmal early season away results. Well thats well and truly been transformed.

4) Can we overcome adversity i games.? We were great when things were going well but i had the impression we lacked a bit of steel and character when the going got tough. Well the beauty of our recent run is that it has come when the rub of the green hasn't necessarily been with us. We may have played better at other periods this season but i think these recent performances could prove to be more significant.

We're 2nd now and looking good BUT the way i see it . there are still 2 obstacles that we have to overcome.

The transfer window still looms and we really need to hold onto all of our current squad to continue the momentum we have established.

Secondly , i still think we need a plan B if teams find a way to starve the wings of service. Fresh legs are one thing and can work (Henry & Long coming off the bench against Norwich for example) but i still believe we are just missing that element of surprise. That ability to be able to adapt and offer a ddifferent threat if the need arises. This is why i believe we do need to harness Matejovsky and his talents over the course of the next few months. It may only be in the vein of cameo appearences here and there, something he won't be particularly happy about, but i can see it being essential to secure results in games as the pressure builds at the end of the season.

Its looking promising at the moment but theres still a way to go yet.

[Dick Habbin's hairdo]

As I am totally inept at anything to do with numbers and Excel in particular, isn't it about time that one of you clever chaps started all those charts that depict RFC against the others and the countdown to promotion.... ? You know, the thingy from three seasons ago.....

Thanking you