Coppell !! . . Has he lost it ?

[Tommy Jones]

Oh dear ! . . . . .another defeat !!!

I think its fair to say we have been well and truely sussed out as an average championship team. In fairness there is no team in this division which will cope with the challenges of surviving in the Premiership next year, but surely, after having had that opportunity, the players should be positively thriving and showing they are capable of showing true fighting spirit and demonstrating that extra skill and determination.

Sadly, i have to question the recent decisions made by Steve Coppell. Bringing back Little and Kitson, smacks of desperation !! . . . Let us remember Little was quick to rubbish a club which provided him with the opportunity to show his talent at the highest level. Kitson, is not a premiership player. The transfer to Stoke was an exceptional piece of business for the club but to bring him back???? . . .Lita (Bless him !!) is more interested in the nightlife and he should have been sold when the opportunity arose. The Hunts have not been able to sustain the early form but when did they have chance to be rested? . . . unfortunatley they are suffering the dreaded burn out syndrome . . . Doyle has had to shoulder an awful lot of responsibilty, which has affected his game . . . Long, after all this time is perhaps now looking a prospect . . but somehow I doubt he has the ability to challenge an average league one defense.

We now have a midfield unit of which no-one player knows where they stand because of the constant changes made. Fair to say not one of them has made this postion into thier own but if there was concern fro the management why did they not look into the purchase or loan of a solid, dependable player capable of controlling this area. . . . . . .Harper has come in for a lot of grief from certain parts of the crowd but give him his dues he is a grafter . . . . sadly not a creator !!! . . . this was Matejovesky's role and he has not risen to the challenge!!!

I still believe Coppell is a great manager. If Reading are to continue moving forward he has to remain at the club but whether thats as manager at the end of season is another thing. Personally, if they fail to get promotion i believe he will go however, should they regain the form of early season they can still sneak into an automatic promotion spot and he will remain at the helm for at least another twelve months . . . this is then the period where Madjeski needs to spend money on the team to survive and to plan for Coppell's replacement

[Royalee]

He barely ever had it.

[Ozymandias]

He barely ever had it.

[Royalee]

He barely ever had it.

People tend to forget the changes thrust upon him by contracts prior to 2005/6, one wonders if he'd have had the balls to play Convey had Norwich not bid for Hughes or bring in new strikers had Forster's contract not been up. I doubt it.

[Ozymandias]

He barely ever had it.

People tend to forget the changes thrust upon him by contracts prior to 2005/6, one wonders if he'd have had the balls to play Convey had Norwich not bid for Hughes or bring in new strikers had Forster's contract not been up. I doubt it.

Sorry fella, didn't realise you were a football manager, or that you were in the know at the club.

Otherwise it would be pointless theories and assumptions.

[Royalee]

Lol, listen to yourself.

[bottom left hand corner]

End of season.

A new start.

Sean O'Driscoll gets my vote for manager. He could get us playing proper football

[Rex]

The season was a gamble, with relegation and self motivation clearly a possible uphill struggle. On occasion the team have risen to this challenge, on other occasions failed badly, on other occasions we have strolled the games. This season we had to bring in fresh young players and to a degree this has been heartening to see. So far it's Kebe, S Hunt , S Long, and Harps,with the occasional Marek thrown in, who have had the vitriol aimed at them. Oh and SJM and Coppell. Clearly to some the club is fooked. The expectation of the playoffs was in my mind a realistic position to be in come the end of the season. It's a mighty stroke of incredible fortune to get to the automatic position. As the play offs are more of a reality and the least of out expectations lets hope we do not fall out of the top six come the end of the season.

Coppell will probably go at the end of the season. Lets not rip the memories apart and turn into another support base who still carp on about Pardew as if it was yesterday. Coppell delivered success to this club, we richly deserved the plaudits in the first season -remember that.

The rest of the season is a defining moment in this clubs history, next season even more so.

Is this situation currently enjoyable - no - frustrating - yes.

Forest away was the acid test for this club to grind out results, that game did not really bode well for the overall season. True it was only the first game of the season but it showed this club the test this season was to become. We might succeed - we might fail. We shall see.

[Alivey]

we all lose ones close to us they bring u such happiness that u never forget then one day they go and u are spending rest of your life wondering what went worng

[Kitson12]

we all lose ones close to us they bring u such happiness that u never forget then one day they go and u are spending rest of your life wondering what went worng

It's spelt 'You' not u, but gr8 m8, gr8 post!

[Chaney]

Phil Parkinson please, he will manage with the same passion he had as a player

[Bristol Paul]

we all lose ones close to us they bring u such happiness that u never forget then one day they go and u are spending rest of your life wondering what went worng

Sounds like you're on the same planet as Coppell

[Royalee]

Phil Parkinson please, he will manage with the same passion he had as a player

No fanks.

[Gunny Fishcake]

Phil Parkinson please, he will manage with the same passion he had as a player

Won nothing ....don't be silly

[hutch]

Phil Parkinson please, he will manage with the same passion he had as a player

Won nothing ....don't be silly

Sadly +2, Parky was and always will be an absolute RFC legend as a player but apart from Initial success at Colchester has done little or nothing as a manager. So no thanks as manager of RFC.

[Sir Rodney Effing]

I think this is the big question (doh!)
and...

I hate to say this Sir Steve,

you keep your knighthood and always will but...

in answer to the question... "Yes"

Since Xmas, your team has just not been good enough. And as manager, you have to take responsibility. We are not good enough, and we deserve better. (or do we?)

[papereyes]

Officially Bored With This Season

[sawyers left arm]

Quite simply yes

[Very near...far away]

Sack everyone - the manager, the team, the kitman, everyone, the fans, the stewards, the man who takes cameras away, Oliver Holt, and Chris Tarrant.

Then we should bulldoze the Madejski and build a monument to "pure football", perhaps a giant granite football as tall as a skyscraper. What would really set it off would be some of those little headphone stands at the bottom where the kids could listen to Jimmy Hill and Alan Green talking about pure football and what it means to them. Every visitor would get a free copy of the Evening Post and HNA regulars could collect the money at the gate. No doubt, with the excellent transport links to London, many a visiting world footballer would take his family and friends to the home of "pure football" and send photos home via flickr.com. Finally, the great Sepp Blatter would anoint England's 2018 World Cup bid there and would hug Bobby Charlton as the cameras rolled.

Only then can we all be happy.

[andrew1957]

Steve Coppell will go down in history as our greatest manager to date - But there is an issue with SC. He is a brilliant manager when things are going well but he does seem to lack the ability to change things when things are going badly. We have seen this on three occasions - first in 2004/5. Again we were 4th at Christmas and looked nailed on for at least a play off place - then everything went to pot in the New Year and we went on an 11 match run without winning. He brought in Ferdinand and Keogh in desperation and that failed completely.

Last season was the same. A good run up til New Year and the 8 losses in a row.

This season yet another repeat performance. And again we bring back old players from the past in the hope that experience will be the key to success.

I really think this is a mistake. I would rather see Henry on the right. At least he would get some experience even if we fail to go up - but a bit of youthful enthusiasm may well go a long way at the moment. As for Kitson I really hope I am wrong but he is 29 and has not scored a goal all season - hardly a sparkling endorsement. Can we really expect him to turn the clock back and be the answer to our problems. Better to persevere with the strikers we have already. If we had got promoted I would have been happy to see Kitson back as a good pre season could have seen him back to his best BUT I fear now that the loan will be a failure and then he will leave for good at the end of the season and end up joining the other 10 strikers at Birmingham!!

As the chances of automatic promotion are now slim I would like to see the youngsters back now. Let's give Karacan, Kelly, and Henry a chance to show what they can do.