Where will Reading Finish?

[Sarah Star]

I don't know why you bother coming here, Kes. Really.

[kwik-silva]

11-16th for me. With an ageing squad and no real pace in the team it's going to be a struggle this season.

ageing squad?? Seriously??

[Apocalypse Now]

Do you ever stop to consider that teams in the Championship don't have top quality strikers or midfielders? Using last seasons scores as some sort of evidence to suggest the side will struggle this season is frankly bollocks.

Do you ever stop to consider that the same players might not be as motivated to perform in the Championship? Using last seasons performances as some sort of evidence to suggest the side will perform as well this season is frankly bollocks.

Poor effort from yourself there mate, standards must be slipping.

Where did I say the team will perform well this season, based on last season? I actually said the sides in the Championship aren't great, which is true. Compared to them, Reading have a better squad than almost everyone. Not to mention a settled coaching staff who have already been there and done it, smashing records in the process.

I'm using the players performances from the last 3 seasons, not a smattering of woeful defeats against mainly decent opposition last year. The players will be motivated this season because the goal will be to return to the Premiership or move to bigger clubs. Either way it means the players will be giving 100%.

Looking forward to the season starting and letting the football doing the talking.

[SpaceCruiser]

11-16th for me. With an ageing squad and no real pace in the team it's going to be a struggle this season.

ageing squad?? Seriously??

'greed, our squad is full of 20-somethings. The only ageing players we have are:

Hahnemann 36
Murty 33
Gunnarsson 32
Ingimarsson 30 (31 in late August)
Duberry 32

And that's 5 out of 20-30 players! Ageing squad, indeed!

[kwik-silva]

11-16th for me. With an ageing squad and no real pace in the team it's going to be a struggle this season.

ageing squad?? Seriously??

'greed, our squad is full of 20-somethings. The only ageing players we have are:

Hahnemann 36
Murty 33
Gunnarsson 32
Ingimarsson 30 (31 in late August)
Duberry 32

And that's 5 out of 20-30 players! Ageing squad, indeed!

and it doesn't really matter if Hahnemann is ageing (does it? )

[papereyes]

If anything it is a touch inexperienced with players like Doyle, Long, Bikey and Kebe playing less than 5 seasons in the English leagues.

I know and understand where Apocalypse Now is coming from but I think the squad we have now is not quite the squad we had then (2 years older for a start), I think we haven't seen our last transfer out and I think there's a real danger that we have acquired a bit of a culture of not caring so much about losing.

Further to that, I think people have utterly misread tightness of the Championship last season and I think it could be a tough league where consistency and mental toughness could be all the difference. Given that when we were faced with a key winnable game last season we tended to concede defeat without even a whimper, this is another area where I have my fears.

That said, play-offs are a more than realistic target and we, as fans, shouldn't readily accept a failure to reach them.

[Ian Royal]

So looking like 11th will be a fairly big disappointment to most on here so far.

But that despite all the concern over players leaving only 1 new signing, the poor form and mistakes of last season and the disappointment of relegation people's expectations remain high.

Hopefully that is an indication of a secret undercurrent of optimism and confidence.

[PlasticRoyale]

Spreads have Reading priced at 72-74

[hutch]

Play offs-I think we`ll hover around the top 6 all season, where despite a late winning run we`ll end up 3rd or 4th.

[Ian Royal]

Spreads have Reading priced at 72-74

I have no idea what that means.

[papereyes]

Spreads have Reading priced at 72-74

I have no idea what that means.

Expected number of points, I'd imagine.

Basically - lower end of playoffs. Which, imo, is about right.

[SCIAG]

Spreads have Reading priced at 72-74

I have no idea what that means.

Expected number of points, I'd imagine.

Basically - lower end of playoffs. Which, imo, is about right.

Expected goal difference, hopefully.

Have any of you watched Championship football recently? The standard is a lot, lot lower than when we went up. I'd say only Wolves, CP, Brum (obviously) and possibly Derby and Charlton are at, around or above the level of the 7th and 8th placed teams then. The first two may just have got in the play offs (with their current squads), and us and Brum maybe could have challenged Watford for third. However, now we have Matejovsky and they have McFadden, who are both as good as any of the players in the divison that year.

[rhroyal]

I voted automatic, we've still got one of the strongest squads in the league and Coppell knows how to do well in this league. I'm wondering who on earth voted relegation

[Archie's penalty]

If anything it is a touch inexperienced with players like Doyle, Long, Bikey and Kebe playing less than 5 seasons in the English leagues.

I know and understand where Apocalypse Now is coming from but I think the squad we have now is not quite the squad we had then (2 years older for a start), I think we haven't seen our last transfer out and I think there's a real danger that we have acquired a bit of a culture of not caring so much about losing.

Further to that, I think people have utterly misread tightness of the Championship last season and I think it could be a tough league where consistency and mental toughness could be all the difference. Given that when we were faced with a key winnable game last season we tended to concede defeat without even a whimper, this is another area where I have my fears.

That said, play-offs are a more than realistic target and we, as fans, shouldn't readily accept a failure to reach them.

I completely agree with your last comment. I don't expect we'll come top two, but if we don't make the playoffs I will be mightily disappointed - I may even shift over to the STG side if that happens

[kwik-silva]

whats STG/RTG

[Ian Royal]

Shit Tinted Glasses
Reading/Rose Tinted Glasses

For how people view all things RFC

[kwik-silva]

Shit Tinted Glasses
Reading/Rose Tinted Glasses

For how people view all things RFC

haha, nice

[2.8 lita injection]

25th.

I am not a doom merchant.

[Ian Royal]

25th.

I am not a doom merchant.

I did think of adding in a couple of options for:

In Administration
Automatic Relegation to League 2

[kwik-silva]

25th.

I am not a doom merchant.

I did think of adding in a couple of options for:

In Administration
Automatic Relegation to League 2

Why to leauge 2? Is going down one league not enough?