Hard to see any progress for the forseeable future

[Platypuss]

face it, youve spoken too soon.

And you run the same risk. Watford is a biggie.

No he doesant....
Schards is stating we wont make the PLAY OFFS... regardless of what happens at watford there isnt a sane man in the land that would back against us making the play offs

I assume you've put your (Mum's) house on a top 6 finish then? If not, why not?

A season is a long time and I would be surprised if we emerge from January unscathed.

[readingbedding]

Don't be silly. It makes perfect sense. When we beat Palace two weeks ago we were certs for automatic promotion.

Hands up all those who thought after the Palace game that we were certs for promotion? No, me neither. That game said more about Palace's defensive frailties than it did our promotion prospects; basically, if Palace hadn't defended corners like a Sunday League side we would have lost a match which we dominated.

As usual Schards has got it pretty much spot on to be quite honest; a good barometer for a decent, truthful posting on HNA is whether Reading Bedding & winchester_royal disagree with it.

This season: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=sQXsuAey-NE

I agree, let's have a truthful retrospective of this season's fortunes on the 14/09.08.
No one knows what's going to happen, personally, at the moment you could say we're inconsistent.
If we win, it's because the other team was rubbish, and if we lose it's because we're rubbish.
Is that right?

Of course it's right.

Ridiculous.

[juanpablo]

No he doesant....
Schards is stating we wont make the PLAY OFFS... regardless of what happens at watford there isnt a sane man in the land that would back against us making the play offs

I assume you've put your (Mum's) house on a top 6 finish then? If not, why not?

A season is a long time and I would be surprised if we emerge from January unscathed.

are you bitter about being old?

Im 24 moved out a while ago.......
what a complete twat you are with such an insult, if your pathetic old withered body wont say it to my face dont say it atall

and if you want to have a serious bet then lay promotion at around 3's on the exchange's will make yourself a packet (if you dont why not)

[Platypuss]

No he doesant....
Schards is stating we wont make the PLAY OFFS... regardless of what happens at watford there isnt a sane man in the land that would back against us making the play offs

I assume you've put your (Mum's) house on a top 6 finish then? If not, why not?

A season is a long time and I would be surprised if we emerge from January unscathed.

are you bitter about being old?

Im 24 moved out a while ago.......
what a complete twat you are with such an insult, if your pathetic old withered body wont say it to my face dont say it atall

and if you want to have a serious bet then lay promotion at around 3's on the exchange's will make yourself a packet (if you dont why not)

Put those toys away.

Act like a child, get treated like a child - simple.

[juanpablo]

you started it old man

on a serious note....
not many people would back against us making play offs...

would you? (with your heating allowance)

[Schards#2]

:lol: you started it old man

on a serious note....
not many people would back against us making play offs...

would you? (with your heating allowance)

Hmmm....I seem to remember similar comments last year when I said we would be relegated.

Unlike many on here, I do to put my money where my mouth is and made a tidy sum.

Seeing a you think it's such a certainty that we will make the playoffs, care to offer any odds?

[juanpablo]

:lol: you started it old man

on a serious note....
not many people would back against us making play offs...

would you? (with your heating allowance)

Hmmm....I seem to remember similar comments last year when I said we would be relegated.

Unlike many on here, I do to put my money where my mouth is and made a tidy sum.

Seeing a you think it's such a certainty that we will make the playoffs, care to offer any odds?

ive made a tidy profit on betfair from a small stake and on the forum over there if you search you will see i tipped us to go down a few times. I admit i didnt actually have the heart to put any money on it....

i dont bet on certaintys no such thing, like you probably do i bet the value and the chances of us agreeing on it are probably slim...... but ill have a think about it and pm you for a friendly bet

[LUX]

I am a strange mix of RTG (I would never criticise the players, club etc) and STG ( even at 4-0 last night, I was anxious when Sky Sports cut to "Tony Cottee at the Madejski for another goal, who's it gone to, Tony?").

Unfortunately Schards makes many observations that I fear are pertinent in his opening post and many of us are readjusting our sights for another long period of obscurity (but still loving the club, like Schards too probably).

But, on the other hand, I have absolutely NO IDEA where we'll finish this season.

Here's hoping.

Oh and Come on Reading.

[The 17 Bus]

The golden team has long gone and we have to move on and build a new team.

Which of course is what Coppell is now doing. Pearce, Karacan, Armstrong, Bikey, Matejovsky, N Hunt, Rosenior. Anyone know any of last nights back four from the golden years??

[Schards#2]

The golden team has long gone and we have to move on and build a new team.

Which of course is what Coppell is now doing. Pearce, Karacan, Armstrong, Bikey, Matejovsky, N Hunt, Rosenior. Anyone know any of last nights back four from the golden years??

Murty and Ingimarrson would probably have been playing if fully fit.

The golden team is gradually being sold off to be replaced by cheaper inferior players. This is not building a new team, it's shoring up the remnants of the old one. I would have no complaints if the money gained from the sales was reinvested, even 50% of it, but it isn't.

Even if we are competing at the turn of the year, in January, others will push on for their promotion challange by investing in players. Can anyone honestly see Reading doing that? January will be like the summer, a period of fretting about the extent by which we will be weakened.

Which brings us back to the thoughts of the original post. Our chairman doesn't want to invest in the club and without investment it's hard to see progress. I'm not having a go at Madejski, he has no duty to invest. If he was sitting on the club refusing to sell to others who would invest then I would be critical but it appears these people aren't out there so Madejski will keep it ticking over until they are. Ticking over won't bring progress, therefore, it's hard to see progress in the forseeable future.

One impressive win won't change that.

[The 17 Bus]

Although football is going to get hit by the global markets, and as yet we do not know what this may mean to RFC, after the ITV debacle we pushed on, you do not need to spend big on players to have success. This is how we did it before, we have seen what big players were like in the team, Kitson, Shorey, Sonko and Little, got too big for their boots, spoiled the feeling at the club, as far as i am concerned they can oxf*rd off and rot.

As for Jan, I would rather wait and see than get depressed about what might happen in 4 months, enjoy the moment.

[ayjaydee]

The golden team has long gone and we have to move on and build a new team.

Which of course is what Coppell is now doing. Pearce, Karacan, Armstrong, Bikey, Matejovsky, N Hunt, Rosenior. Anyone know any of last nights back four from the golden years??

The golden team is gradually being sold off to be replaced by cheaper inferior players. This is not building a new team, it's shoring up the remnants of the old one. I would have no complaints if the money gained from the sales was reinvested, even 50% of it, but it isn't.

This is surely no more than the cyclical nature of football. Apart from possibly Man Utd name one other recent "golden team" that was improved on. The majority of clubs have one or two great years at their respective levels without ever coming anywhere near again. Will Watford or Ipswich ever finish 2nd in the Prem again? Will Forest ever win a European Cup again?

We have had our golden time and whilst we may very well be promoted gain in the future it will never be the same.

I will alway look back with fondness and thank my lucky stars that I did see top flight football with my team.

[The 17 Bus]

Have to agree there AJD, some things stick in the memory, Simod Cup, first promo to this level in my lifetime, same to Prem, play off at Wembley. But I tell you what it may never feel the same but the next promotion will still feel damned good.

[LUX]

spot on AJD (oh, alright and you too 2-0)

[Stranded]

Surely the positive thing at the moment is despite taking a measly point away from home we are sitting in 4th place in the table.

At the moment, we look capable of beating just about anybody at home and are scoring goals for fun - if we can take a modicum of that away with us, the results will pick up away. One win on the road could well see the tide turn for us there, and if it does then we will be right in the mix come the end of the season in my mind.

[Wycombe Royal]

The golden team is gradually being sold off to be replaced by cheaper inferior players.

Can you remember how much that "golden team" was assembled for? Do you remember the success we have had of buying more expensive players?

We have had more success buying "cheaper inferior players" and last night I would say that Noel Hunt looked far from being a cheaper inferior player and Pearce is looking a very good bet to be a better player than Sonko (he certainly looks less of a liability). The only other one we sold was Shorey and we had no choice in that, and we were also never going to find a left back as good as him who would be willing to join us.

This club needs to retain most of these transfer fees to ensure we do not have any financial difficulties in the next few years. Yes if we go up that may not be an issue, but even with reinvesting all the transfer fees there is a strong possibility that we would not be promoted (and for that I again refer to our lack of success with expensive signings). Madesjki has made the right choices with our finacial policies and as Coppell has stated - Madejski has NEVER refused him the money for a player when he has asked for it.

[papereyes]

This is surely no more than the cyclical nature of football. Apart from possibly Man Utd name one other recent "golden team" that was improved on. The majority of clubs have one or two great years at their respective levels without ever coming anywhere near again. Will Watford or Ipswich ever finish 2nd in the Prem again? Will Forest ever win a European Cup again?

We have had our golden time and whilst we may very well be promoted gain in the future it will never be the same.

I will alway look back with fondness and thank my lucky stars that I did see top flight football with my team.

Wouldn't 'cyclical' suggest going back up again?

In most cases, the main reason why teams don't is that they get complacent. Certainly, look at Liverpool in the 90s for that attitude and how it extended onto the pitch.

[Royal Rother]

Although football is going to get hit by the global markets, and as yet we do not know what this may mean to RFC, after the ITV debacle we pushed on, you do not need to spend big on players to have success. This is how we did it before, we have seen what big players were like in the team, Kitson, Shorey, Sonko and Little, got too big for their boots, spoiled the feeling at the club, as far as i am concerned they can oxf*rd off and rot.

As for Jan, I would rather wait and see than get depressed about what might happen in 4 months, enjoy the moment.

I really can't be bothered to get involved in these debates any more, but the above post says it all for me.

One additional comment though - we are now in a much better position than when we did it last time because we have actually started to produce our own players. There are going to be ups and downs in the next couple of years but these are still great times for RFC.

Forget the past, just enjoy what's happening at the moment. There's plenty there if you are prepared to open your mind to it.

As I have said many times before, some people just prefer to be negative - it's in their nature. I'm sure they will have plenty of opportunities in these next couple of seasons to sate their appetites, but most of us should just let them have their "fun" in the secure knowledge that this is a well run club that is still, in the big scheme of things, on the up.

[Schards#2]

The golden team is gradually being sold off to be replaced by cheaper inferior players.

Can you remember how much that "golden team" was assembled for? Do you remember the success we have had of buying more expensive players?

We have had more success buying "cheaper inferior players" and last night I would say that Noel Hunt looked far from being a cheaper inferior player and Pearce is looking a very good bet to be a better player than Sonko (he certainly looks less of a liability). The only other one we sold was Shorey and we had no choice in that, and we were also never going to find a left back as good as him who would be willing to join us.

This club needs to retain most of these transfer fees to ensure we do not have any financial difficulties in the next few years. Yes if we go up that may not be an issue, but even with reinvesting all the transfer fees there is a strong possibility that we would not be promoted (and for that I again refer to our lack of success with expensive signings). Madesjki has made the right choices with our finacial policies and as Coppell has stated - Madejski has NEVER refused him the money for a player when he has asked for it.

I really like the look of Noel Hunt but, if you accept he's a replacement for Kitson, it is a fact that he is cheaper and IMHO is inferior to Kitson. Recently Long has been used as Kitson's replacement. He's vastly cheaper and I can find the words to accurately describe how inferior he is.

Pearce looks promising but is factually cheaper than Sonko and certainly inferior to Sonko at his best.

[papereyes]

you do not need to spend big on players to have success. This is how we did it before,

Except, dear boy, this bit isn't quite true.

To get out of tier 3, we spent a lot for that level - players like Forster, Cureton and Butler were not cheap for that division, no matter what the chants say. A bit like Wigan did at that time.

To get out of tier 2 last time, we coupled buying young players with a few years to grow (Harper, Sidwell, Shorey first time round) with spending a decent amount for the level, and a big amount for us, on key players (Convey one season, Lita the next).

We've never spent big but we've never really done it completely on the cheap. It would be incredibly naive to suggest that we did.