Hard to see any progress for the forseeable future

[Uke]

Well, anyway, I'm pretty much done with this thread. Might as well sum up my analysis of it - since all 76 pages are replete with drivel I feel entitled to dump one last effluence into it.

After we lost to Ipswich we had 7 point from five games and had been well beaten twice (albeit by teams who were sure to be "there or thereabouts" this season ). There were broadly three ways things could go: we could get worse and end up in a relegation scrap; we could muck along in mid-table mediocrity; we could improve and get into the promotion mix. Schards could not see the latter without a "sea change". As it happens (as it's happened before), modest adjustments were all that were required to bring the team together and rise above the dross. So his vision was wrong - no need to apogise (which is just silly) and up to him whether he admits it. There's been a good amount of goalpost moving about what constitutes progress, but surely in the context it meant getting to regular winning ways, being one of the best in the division and competing for promotion.

I think the reason the thread has lasted is because it became symbolic. Apart from 05-06 and to some extent 06-07, there have always been people on the board who insisted the Madejski-Coppell business approach was wrong and doomed, and people who saw a long-term trend in every reverse - the STGs. Part of being an RTG is keeping the faith when things go badly. So this thread became about vindicated faith for many people.

And thus endeth the lesson.

With regular summaries like this this thread could become the new Mikeharps Hottie thread!

[Elliott]

We've signed Hreidarsson!!

Source?

Yesterday's Daily Mail and the Sun

[Ian Royal]

We've signed Hreidarsson!!

Source?

Yesterday's Daily Mail and the Sun

I doubt very much they will have a scoop before the club anounces anything. I hope not, especially as I've been saying for ages we shouldn't and won't sign him.

[Franchise FC]

75 pages and counting........................well done, Schards

You may find that a much larger implement is required to extract one from such a hole.

[Thaumagurist*]

Almost 2 weeks into the transfer window and no sign of the fire sale.....

[Franchise FC]

And I've said that Sidwell is currently playing well at Villa (Regardless of his failed move to Chelsea and the unpleasant things he said before leaving this club)

I've also praised Coppell on countless occasions for learning from the mistakes of last season and making AMAZING PROGRESS since the days when many of us feared his time here was coming to an end............................for those who appear too thick to understand, THAT is the point here.

No one gets everything right but very few refuse to admit to getting something so spectactularly wrong as is the case here.

Sorry to go off thread, but what were the unpleasant things Sids is supposed to have said before leaving.

[Gus the teenage cow]

I think we need to get used to mid table championship football at the very best until there is a sea change at this club.

Madejski - clearly, his heart is not in it to the extent it was previously. He would love to sell out but can't find a buyer. He will keep the club sound and stable but has no intention of investing further funds or trying to push the club forwards.

Coppell - if the spirit of the championship had survived, he would definately have been the right man for the job, but it hasn't. The chairman is not fully behind it anymore, many players have left to pursue their own self interest and many still here would like to leave. The golden team has long gone and we have to move on and build a new team. Coppell doesn't, IMHO, have the hunger to do this.

Whilst not being a member of the carpark squad, I applauded their actions as, at the time it was the right thing to do. Had we known that the spirit of the championship side was already totally dead, in hindsight, we should have let Coppell go and started afresh.

As for Madejski, there are some on here who would happily see us drift downwards whilst improving/maintaining our balance sheet in the belief that the rest of football will meltdown around us and we will emerge as one of the last men standing. They are rather like people who build nuclear bunkers in their back garden. Much as I admire and appreciete what Madejski has done, I don't see how the club can go forward with him at the helm and would now like to see someone new who wants to move things forward.

Can't see either leaving anytime soon so supporting Reading's going to be a whole lot duller and uninspiring than in recent years

i hadn't actually read this post up to now.....i was saving it for christmas day and then i thought no, save it until new year's eve and then i thought now, save it for a birthday treat...but i couldn't resist sneaking a peak at the first sentence like a kid tearing a little slit in the gift wrapper of a present and my how i guffawed, i look forward to reading the rest of it one day, perhaps on myr etirement day

[Royal With Cheese]

I think we need to get used to mid table championship football at the very best until there is a sea change at this club.

Madejski - clearly, his heart is not in it to the extent it was previously. He would love to sell out but can't find a buyer. He will keep the club sound and stable but has no intention of investing further funds or trying to push the club forwards.

Coppell - if the spirit of the championship had survived, he would definately have been the right man for the job, but it hasn't. The chairman is not fully behind it anymore, many players have left to pursue their own self interest and many still here would like to leave. The golden team has long gone and we have to move on and build a new team. Coppell doesn't, IMHO, have the hunger to do this.

Whilst not being a member of the carpark squad, I applauded their actions as, at the time it was the right thing to do. Had we known that the spirit of the championship side was already totally dead, in hindsight, we should have let Coppell go and started afresh.

As for Madejski, there are some on here who would happily see us drift downwards whilst improving/maintaining our balance sheet in the belief that the rest of football will meltdown around us and we will emerge as one of the last men standing. They are rather like people who build nuclear bunkers in their back garden. Much as I admire and appreciete what Madejski has done, I don't see how the club can go forward with him at the helm and would now like to see someone new who wants to move things forward.

Can't see either leaving anytime soon so supporting Reading's going to be a whole lot duller and uninspiring than in recent years

i hadn't actually read this post up to now.....i was saving it for christmas day and then i thought no, save it until new year's eve and then i thought now, save it for a birthday treat...but i couldn't resist sneaking a peak at the first sentence like a kid tearing a little slit in the gift wrapper of a present and my how i guffawed, i look forward to reading the rest of it one day, perhaps on myr etirement day

That's not entirely true Gus is it?

Still - I have no problems with posting the original words.

I love this thread I do. I may marry it one day.

[Thaumagurist*]

And I've said that Sidwell is currently playing well at Villa (Regardless of his failed move to Chelsea and the unpleasant things he said before leaving this club)

I've also praised Coppell on countless occasions for learning from the mistakes of last season and making AMAZING PROGRESS since the days when many of us feared his time here was coming to an end............................for those who appear too thick to understand, THAT is the point here.

No one gets everything right but very few refuse to admit to getting something so spectactularly wrong as is the case here.

Sorry to go off thread, but what were the unpleasant things Sids is supposed to have said before leaving.

Ah, this would be when we offered him a new contract, he turned it down and said to the media that he had to think about his wife and child.

[Franchise FC]

And I've said that Sidwell is currently playing well at Villa (Regardless of his failed move to Chelsea and the unpleasant things he said before leaving this club)

I've also praised Coppell on countless occasions for learning from the mistakes of last season and making AMAZING PROGRESS since the days when many of us feared his time here was coming to an end............................for those who appear too thick to understand, THAT is the point here.

No one gets everything right but very few refuse to admit to getting something so spectactularly wrong as is the case here.

Sorry to go off thread, but what were the unpleasant things Sids is supposed to have said before leaving.

Ah, this would be when we offered him a new contract, he turned it down and said to the media that he had to think about his wife and child.

Are you going to leave me waiting for the unpleasant bits ?

[Thaumagurist*]

I cannot remember any other unpleasant bits!

[Franchise FC]

I cannot remember any other unpleasant bits!

Damn that Sidwell for wanting to make himself financial stable for the rest of his life. Damn him for not being a Reading fan and expecting to play for the club until we donlt want him anymore.

[Thaumagurist*]

I cannot remember any other unpleasant bits!

Damn that Sidwell for wanting to make himself financial stable for the rest of his life. Damn him for not being a Reading fan and expecting to play for the club until we donlt want him anymore.

Well, it seemed ridiculous to me, that statement, considering that the money he already was on would be enough to look after a wife and child. There are people who are living on less money.

[Royal With Cheese]

I cannot remember any other unpleasant bits!

Damn that Sidwell for wanting to make himself financial stable for the rest of his life. Damn him for not being a Reading fan and expecting to play for the club until we donlt want him anymore.

Well, it seemed ridiculous to me, that statement, considering that the money he already was on would be enough to look after a wife and child. There are people on can live on less money.

It was insensitive at worst.

[Franchise FC]

Damn that Sidwell for wanting to make himself financial stable for the rest of his life. Damn him for not being a Reading fan and expecting to play for the club until we donlt want him anymore.

Well, it seemed ridiculous to me, that statement, considering that the money he already was on would be enough to look after a wife and child. There are people on can live on less money.

But it isn't a case of being able to live on enough money today, it's about maximising your earning potential so that you are secure for the long term.
I'd say £50k a week would have done it for me too.
Besides, when players move and is damn obvious they're doing it for the money, then they spout cr@p about footballing reasons, everyone knows and complains. He admits to it being the money and guess what complaints anyway.

[Mr Angry]

As I understand it, Sidwell was on £9k a week, and valued himself at £25k a week; the club offered initially £14k then £18K. He held out. When it was clear we were safe, we offered the £25k, but by then other teams were interested. He then moved to Chelsea and to £68K a week.

To some, this makes him a traitor and a greedy bollox etc etc etc.

To most, especially bearing in mind his performances for us during that season, it seemed an entirely understandable if somewhat risky strategy to pursue (had he got seriously injured for example, he would have been in deep trouble) but he has been justified in taking that approach by spending a season with some of the best players in the World, and by then moving to a team where he is a regular starter and who currently lie 3rd.

He will always be part of the team that gave us the best Years in RFC'c history.

[rabidbee]

Spacey, if you had the chance to earn a lifetime's salary in 10 years, wouldn't you take it? I would.

[Franchise FC]

Spacey, if you had the chance to earn a lifetime's salary in 10 years, wouldn't you take it? I would.

But it's better even than that. It's a lifetime's salary in 1 or 2 years. Not only would I take it, I'd be retiring at the end of it.

[Thaumagurist*]

Spacey, if you had the chance to earn a lifetime's salary in 10 years, wouldn't you take it? I would.

At 14K a week? Yeah, I would.

[Tommy Youlden's Ears]

Dogs and football fans are loyal.

Footballers are not.

You can argue that it should be otherwise. But only if you're happy to sound foolish.