We are just not good enough.....

[Cookie]

And, to anyone thinks that we will spend big in championship terms next seaons, then I think you will be dissapointed.

I will be disappointed if we are in the Championship next season but I certainly won't be disappointed if we don't spend big because we simply won't need to; we already have a squad more than capable of bouncing straight back, with maybe one or two additions (depending on likely departures).

Yeah. Just like Charlton, Sheffield United and Watford

Watford had a bit of a hill to climb once they decided to sell Marlon King and Ashley Young. Goals fron those two were lagely responsible for getting them promoted.

[Ian Royal]

Well I mean quality, first touch, stuff like that, something more than honest endevour. I suppose my point is you cant blame the players for not being good enough, maybe we just expect too much of them?

The players are good enough. They just aren't good enough to expect to stay up comfortably. If a team's players are good enough to finish 17th, then they are good enough for the premiership. You don't have to finish 12th to be considered good enough.

Last year we overachieved playing well. This year we've underachieved playing badly.

100% spot on IMO.

Not that some of that hasn't been caused by managerial mistakes and misfiring new signings. We started badly and we've never managed to run up a head of steam or any real confidence, partly because we had no decent right winger for half the season and stil ldon't have an effective central midfield partnership.

Had Marek been a bit pacier and more willing to have a shot, I think the story would be a little different. Combine him with Harper in some weird experiment and we'd have one hell of a midfielder.

[Royal Yank]

I suspect that if we go down, we will find out how good our academy is. Not such a bad thing maybe.

[Royal Rother]

And, to anyone thinks that we will spend big in championship terms next seaons, then I think you will be dissapointed.

I will be disappointed if we are in the Championship next season but I certainly won't be disappointed if we don't spend big because we simply won't need to; we already have a squad more than capable of bouncing straight back, with maybe one or two additions (depending on likely departures).

Yeah. Just like Charlton, Sheffield United and Watford

As I said on another thread last week:

The team below looks far too strong to be doing anything other than challenging for an auto promotion place if it happens to find itself in the Championship. Compare it with squads of Charlton, Stoke, Bristol City, Hull, Palace, Watford etc. and seriously tell me I'm wrong.

Hahnemann
Rosenior Bikey Sonko Golbourne
Little Marek Harper Hunt
Doyle Kitson

With a decent bench (or 2) in Federici, Cisse, Pearce, Long, Karacan, Henry, Kebe, Duberry, De La Cruz, Oster, Murty I think we still have enough youngish players (mixed with the required experience) to maintain a squad capable of jumping straight back.

I am only assuming Shorey, Convey, Gunnarsson, Lita and Fae depart (I think) and I really can't see any more than 1 or 2 of the rest moving on in the event of relegation.

[Big Ern]

I;m pretty sure Hunt and Doyle will go. as well and possibly Marek and Harper as well.

I think you are being too optimistic with regards to who stays and goes. Also alot will depend on the contracts the players have. The club might want to move certain players on depending on the wage bill.

[seahawk10]

We may not be good enough but we just might be lucky enough to survive. A big 'thank you' to the Villans today. Another year would be wonderful, but I think everyone is in agreement that we will go down eventually (sooner rather than later) without significant investment. Let's hope it comes.

[earleyroyal]

We are good enough on occasion, as people have alluded to by mentioning the Liverpool result, but the squad is not deep enough, or indeed good enough, to sustain a Premiership team this year. We may stay up but that won't have much to do with strength of squad, more to do with team spirit and hard work (worryingly absent recently). Relative to the teams around us, our squad is poor.

As I've said a few times before, when we have an off day in terms of effort, we are fcuked, because we can't coast against or easily beat any Premiership teams.

[The whole year inn]

I;m pretty sure Hunt and Doyle will go. as well and possibly Marek and Harper as well.

Agreed apart from Harper.

Matejovsky certainly isn't going to do his international career any favours playing Barnsley and Swansea every week. Especially if he has a decent Euro 2008, he will be the first to go IMO. Such a shame that he is not going to get the chance to show what he can do in a Reading shirt

Hunt, Doyle and Shorey will all leave when we go down

[Royal Rother]

He wouldn't have to play Barnsley and Swansea every week - sometimes he'd be playing Charlton and Sheffield Utd, and who knows, maybe even Southampton.

[Scarface]

I agree we're not good enough, it is actually sad to see what our team has become this season. We have a centre back in Sonko who is so shot away he can barely kick a football and more often or not air kicks. And as for Jimmy Kebe, would he get a game in a league 2 side ? Has he been tested for colour blindness, because he passed more balls to Arsenal players than he did to Reading players.

We can't defend, we can't score goals and we seem to find it difficult to pass the ball to each other.

[Zammo]

.....and that's Kebe signed from the French second division

Oh yeah, we are sooooooooo good enough to stay up.

[Stranded]

At the moment, we are just good enough to stay up, that is what the table says.

Doesn't mean that we've not been awful for a lot of the season though (certainly during 2008).

[andrew1957]

At the end of the season if we are 17th or better we were good enough and if we are 18th we were not good enough.

I am getting really fed up with the debate. If we stay up let us all give praise where it is due and then use the summer to rebuild. If we go down there will be three months for recriminations.

We cannot buy any more players til the end of the seaosn so all we can do is back the boys and make some noise!

[Wycombe Royal]

Matejovsky certainly isn't going to do his international career any favours playing Barnsley and Swansea every week.

I didn't see Zoltan Gera leaving West Brom when they were relegated. I would be very surprised if he left us in the summer and if he does it would be for a significantly higher fee than we paid.

[The whole year inn]

Matejovsky certainly isn't going to do his international career any favours playing Barnsley and Swansea every week.

I didn't see Zoltan Gera leaving West Brom when they were relegated. I would be very surprised if he left us in the summer and if he does it would be for a significantly higher fee than we paid.

Hungary have not qualified for a WC finals in 20 years, a European cup finals in over 30.

Matejovsky will be sacrificing playing in the 2010 world cup if he sticks with a Championship team. At 28 (?) too; 30 by the time the WC comes around it is realistically his last chance

[chilipepper91]

26. 20 December 1981. He'll be 28 for the WC, arguably his prime.

[RoyalBlue]

Matejovsky certainly isn't going to do his international career any favours playing Barnsley and Swansea every week.

I didn't see Zoltan Gera leaving West Brom when they were relegated. I would be very surprised if he left us in the summer and if he does it would be for a significantly higher fee than we paid.

Hungary have not qualified for a WC finals in 20 years, a European cup finals in over 30.

Matejovsky will be sacrificing playing in the 2010 world cup if he sticks with a Championship team. At 28 (?) too; 30 by the time the WC comes around it is realistically his last chance

Quite. And any agent worth his/her salt will have ensured there was a clause in the player's contract enabling him to leave if we are relegated from the PL. I dread to think how many of our 'star' players have such clauses in their contracts. Rest assured we will see a 'sale of the century' just as we did after we lost the Wembley playoff final.

[Wycombe Royal]

Matejovsky certainly isn't going to do his international career any favours playing Barnsley and Swansea every week.

I didn't see Zoltan Gera leaving West Brom when they were relegated. I would be very surprised if he left us in the summer and if he does it would be for a significantly higher fee than we paid.

Hungary have not qualified for a WC finals in 20 years, a European cup finals in over 30.

Matejovsky will be sacrificing playing in the 2010 world cup if he sticks with a Championship team. At 28 (?) too; 30 by the time the WC comes around it is realistically his last chance

Not necessarily, there are many international players playing in the Championship and it is certainly no worse than playing in the top Czech division which is where he was when he broke into the Czech sqaud. If a BIG offer comes in then he will leave, but if he doesn't have any sort of relegation release clause in his contract then he won't be going anywhere.

[sucatraps]

Mildly amused by some of the remarks here about how bad we are, how useless the players are and how they will all leave if we're relegated. If we and they are so bad where are they going to go? who is going to buy them? I don't play poker, but is there not an adage about playing the hand you're dealt? I guess that's what we are obliged to do and hope for the best! Personally I think our manager is top and probably in more demand than any of our players, strange that isn't it!

[papereyes]

Mildly amused by some of the remarks here about how bad we are, how useless the players are and how they will all leave if we're relegated. If we and they are so bad where are they going to go? who is going to buy them? I don't play poker, but is there not an adage about playing the hand you're dealt? I guess that's what we are obliged to do and hope for the best! Personally I think our manager is top and probably in more demand than any of our players, strange that isn't it!

In poker, can you arrange with the dealer to give you better cards?