Nigel warns the fans

[paddy20]

I think there are a lot of coded warnings coming out from Nigel at the moment. Interpret all his positivity about the young players and the lack of any funds as;

Our squad is threadbare
We have no chance of challenging this year
We need about 3 years for most if not all our youngsters to be anywhere near Champ. quality
We will try and stay in the championship
I'm getting really pi...ed off with the present situation
The takeover is about to fall through
No-one tells me nuffink

[paultheroyal]

You kind of lost your way at the end of your post there.

[Ian Royal]

I think there are a lot of coded warnings coming out from Nigel at the moment. Interpret all his positivity about the young players and the lack of any funds as;

Our squad is threadbare
We have no chance of challenging this year
We need about 3 years for most if not all our youngsters to be anywhere near Champ. quality
We will try and stay in the championship
I'm getting really pi...ed off with the present situation
The takeover is about to fall through
No-one tells me nuffink

Frankly that's the biggest load of doom mongering bollocks that's come straight out of your paranoia and has nothing to do with anything Adkins has said.

[winchester_royal]

I think there are a lot of coded warnings coming out from Nigel at the moment. Interpret all his positivity about the young players and the lack of any funds as;

Our squad is threadbare
We have no chance of challenging this year
We need about 3 years for most if not all our youngsters to be anywhere near Champ. quality
We will try and stay in the championship
I'm getting really pi...ed off with the present situation
The takeover is about to fall through
No-one tells me nuffink

Frankly that's the biggest load of doom mongering bollocks that's come straight out of your paranoia and has nothing to do with anything Adkins has said.

Quite. If anything Nigel was looking and sounding very positive about the youth and future of the club. I actually think he prefers being able to build from the bottom up, rather than having problematic 'quality' players forced upon him. You only have to see the amount of effort he puts into watching all the academy teams to realise he is very enthusiastic about that side of the football club, and I reckon he'll absolutely relish the challenge of translating what is quite possibly the best academy (in terms of the average player quality) in the country right now into a competitive, passionate, and quality first team group.

Tbpfh if it wasn't for the fact that we'll need a bit of extra investment to keep Cat 1 status, I would probably be hoping that the takeover did fall through. Having gone to Staines yesterday I was reminded what is so fantastic football..seeing local young talent progress and compete, with pride for the shirt and respect for the club and each other.

[paddy20]

I think there are a lot of coded warnings coming out from Nigel at the moment. Interpret all his positivity about the young players and the lack of any funds as;

Our squad is threadbare
We have no chance of challenging this year
We need about 3 years for most if not all our youngsters to be anywhere near Champ. quality
We will try and stay in the championship
I'm getting really pi...ed off with the present situation
The takeover is about to fall through
No-one tells me nuffink

Frankly that's the biggest load of doom mongering bollocks that's come straight out of your paranoia and has nothing to do with anything Adkins has said.

Quite. If anything Nigel was looking and sounding very positive about the youth and future of the club. I actually think he prefers being able to build from the bottom up, rather than having problematic 'quality' players forced upon him. You only have to see the amount of effort he puts into watching all the academy teams to realise he is very enthusiastic about that side of the football club, and I reckon he'll absolutely relish the challenge of translating what is quite possibly the best academy (in terms of the average player quality) in the country right now into a competitive, passionate, and quality first team group.

You can't win anything with Kids!!

Tbpfh if it wasn't for the fact that we'll need a bit of extra investment to keep Cat 1 status, I would probably be hoping that the takeover did fall through. Having gone to Staines yesterday I was reminded what is so fantastic football..seeing local young talent progress and compete, with pride for the shirt and respect for the club and each other.

[FridaysGhost]

I just love the sound of people who fly in the face of reality. We have a squad bereft of many of the players who played well last year. We still have unwanted high-earning failures on our books, the only takeover in sight appears to be by a complete moron and whilst our competitors are strengthening we are totally absent from the Transfer market! Which bit of:- We are f*cked this season do some of you not understand?

[Martin41]

We are screwed are we???
Not one of us knows what lies in store this season, if we did what would be the point of even going??
Yes we have alot of youngsters, and its unlikely we will be challenging..................but you just never know.
How many teams have seasoned pros, and bring in loads of new players, and still they struggle!
Doom, doom and more doom from some people.
If you dont like whats happening and are so sure its going to be a disaster, bugger off somewhere else..we wont miss you!

[sandman]

Can't remember the last time an unfancied team came through out of nowhere to win promotion from the Championship...

It's so unpredictable you can't write anyone off even the utter shambles at RFC.

[ZacNaloen]

This is the exact same situation we were in at the beginning of Rodgers first season, expect we were even more reliant on an academy that was even less ready.

We survived that season and we'll survive this season.

[W&E Royal]

Ok, I'm getting a bit fed up with all this doom mongering. Tips for you, forget your log in and go and enjoy your summer. It's July 13th, the transfer window doesn't close till 31st August. If we don't buy anyone then so be it.

The squad hasn't changed that much, maybe we'll be luckier with injuries this season so that will help.

Jobi - Fair enough, I would have kept him but most people hated him.
Ledge - Didn't play last year, when he did he got sent off.
Bridge - Hardly played.
Gorkss - Surely no one is bothered about this so much?
ALF - We'll miss his goals in January.

Yes we are incredibly short up front but the first eleven isn't that bad. Although we do have several high earners that will have to go if the takeover falls through.

[Ian Royal]

I just love the sound of people who fly in the face of reality. We have a squad bereft of many of the players who played well last year. We still have unwanted high-earning failures on our books, the only takeover in sight appears to be by a complete moron and whilst our competitors are strengthening we are totally absent from the Transfer market! Which bit of:- We are f*cked this season do some of you not understand?

Players who've left:
Le Fondre? - fair enough, although he wasn't a first name on the team sheet
McAnuff? - fair enough, but he was getting on.
Gorkss? - lol
Leigertwood? - lol
Bridge? - I suppose he was pretty good in his massive 12 appearances.
Carrico? - lol
Taylor? - lol
Partridge? - lol
Ugwu? - lol
D'Ath? - lol

last season's best performers
Obita
McCleary
McCarthy
Pearce
Le Fondre (goals)
Williams
Guthrie (early on)
Gunter
I've probably missed one or two - they're virtually all still here.

We've got one of the best Academy's in the country with a production line of talent coming through to step up. We may find ourselves in some trouble this coming season, I'd say the odds are more likely for mid-table than anything else. We are far from oxf*rd.

[JakeTheRoyal]

We've kept our best performers from last season. With the sale of McCarthy which is inevitable, we can hopefully get at least 2 players in if we get around £5 million for him, its not ideal but we'll have to live with it

[leon]

I just love the sound of people who fly in the face of reality. We have a squad bereft of many of the players who played well last year. We still have unwanted high-earning failures on our books, the only takeover in sight appears to be by a complete moron and whilst our competitors are strengthening we are totally absent from the Transfer market! Which bit of:- We are f*cked this season do some of you not understand?

Players who've left:
Le Fondre? - fair enough, although he wasn't a first name on the team sheet
McAnuff? - fair enough, but he was getting on.
Gorkss? - lol
Leigertwood? - lol
Bridge? - I suppose he was pretty good in his massive 12 appearances.
Carrico? - lol
Taylor? - lol
Partridge? - lol
Ugwu? - lol
D'Ath? - lol

last season's best performers
Obita
McCleary
McCarthy
Pearce
Le Fondre (goals)
Williams
Guthrie (early on)
Gunter
I've probably missed one or two - they're virtually all still here.

We've got one of the best Academy's in the country with a production line of talent coming through to step up. We may find ourselves in some trouble this coming season, I'd say the odds are more likely for mid-table than anything else. We are far from oxf*rd.

Leigertwood was injured most of last season. His last game he ran the entire game and looked back to his best, which was, because Ian obviously you would have seen so many of his games - very, very good. So i think him going is a bit of a loss

[Nameless]

Would Leigertwood have been any more than 4th choice central midfield though ? I would have thought Williams, Guthrie and Karacan would all be ahead, much as I think he has been an excellent servant. He's a loss from the squad and the club but probably not from the starting eleven.

[SydenhamRoyal]

Would Leigertwood have been any more than 4th choice central midfield though ? I would have thought Williams, Guthrie and Karacan would all be ahead, much as I think he has been an excellent servant. He's a loss from the squad and the club but probably not from the starting eleven.

Given the injury problems with Karacan and Williams, a 4th choice central midfielder for us would probably rack up at least 20 performances in the starting 11

[Esteban]

Would Leigertwood have been any more than 4th choice central midfield though ? I would have thought Williams, Guthrie and Karacan would all be ahead, much as I think he has been an excellent servant. He's a loss from the squad and the club but probably not from the starting eleven.

Given the injury problems with Karacan and Williams, a 4th choice central midfielder for us would probably rack up at least 20 performances in the starting 11

You have left out Akpan, Hector can play in midfield and we could do worse than Tshibola and Khul as backup.

[winchester_royal]

Exactly, and he also seems to be ignoring Ledge's less than stellar injury record.

No point in having an excellent academy if we can't put trust in them to be a part of the squad.

[SCIAG]

We need about 3 years for most if not all our youngsters to be anywhere near Champ. quality

So you're saying that most if not all our youngsters will be nearly Championship quality in three years?

I can't wait.

[paddy20]

We need about 3 years for most if not all our youngsters to be anywhere near Champ. quality

So you're saying that most if not all our youngsters will be nearly Championship quality in three years?

I can't wait.

No. Most will take 3 years to develop enough to be assessed

[paddy20]

I think there are a lot of coded warnings coming out from Nigel at the moment. Interpret all his positivity about the young players and the lack of any funds as;

Our squad is threadbare
We have no chance of challenging this year
We need about 3 years for most if not all our youngsters to be anywhere near Champ. quality
We will try and stay in the championship
I'm getting really pi...ed off with the present situation
The takeover is about to fall through
No-one tells me nuffink

Frankly that's the biggest load of doom mongering bollocks that's come straight out of your paranoia and has nothing to do with anything Adkins has said.

Its not what he says that really counts! We all know that Adkins appears to be the most optimistic person on this planet! Unfortunately life isn't a 'box of chocolates'. Its better to be permanently pessimistic as occasionally you get cheered up!! The above statements don't seem too pessimistic but more a probability. I'm quite happy as I have seen Reading get to the promised land twice in 50 plus years of watching. Of course its quite healthy to have you 'glass half full' types around to keep everything in balance ha ha