Inspirational or Deluded - You Decide??

[Blue and White Toucan]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/reading/8138460.stm

With a team that was mid table at best since January and without seemingly adding any strength at this moment in time I could possibly go on the side of deluded!!!!

I hope to be proved wrong in the coming years though!!!!

[winchester_royal]

Damn that Rodgers. How dare he not settle for second tier mediocrity.

[Terminal Boardom]

Nothing wrong with aiming high. Unfortunately, all this will do is bring more pressure to himself by increasing the already ludicrous expectation levels of a lot of supporters.

I just hope the players have the intelligence to understand what BR's plans and aspirations are. I know of one who would struggle though...

[Snowball]

The players had the ability.

There was something "wrong" though, throughout the club
and my guess was, much as I admired the man, Coppell.

Lita-Kitson-Little just seemed so wrong.

The signing of Little, in particular, told me something was badly off.

[CMRoyal]

The guy oozes confidence. That will seem like hubris if we don't make a decent stab at top six this season. It's certainly quite refreshing at the moment though.

Having said that, if one more person says something premature about the perceived lack of transfer activity, I'll....I'll....probably try a bit harder to stick to my vow to avoid any football talk till the season starts...

[Royal Rother]

"People think that being world class is about money - it's not. It's about the standard you work to. I will outline the standard and then we will go to work, and work well."

Beautiful.

[Royal Lady]

How many world class players don't play for the richest teams in the various leagues? How many world class players were bought very cheaply? Just asking - I don't know the answers.

[Royal Rother]

He wasn't talking about world class players. HTH.

[Stranded]

How many world class players don't play for the richest teams in the various leagues? How many world class players were bought very cheaply? Just asking - I don't know the answers.

Every world class player was developed somewhere, why not here over the coming years?

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

MAn U bought ronaldo for £12M and sold him for £80m, sounds like Man u got him cheap.

[CMRoyal]

How many world class players don't play for the richest teams in the various leagues? How many world class players were bought very cheaply? Just asking - I don't know the answers.

Rather than footballing ability, surely what he's talking about is the kind of attitude and approach to work that gives you an edge. The attitude of the class of '06 as opposed to the last two seasons, the kind of attitude where Murts becames the captain of a Premier League team despite theoretically being less talented than, say, Rosenior (not picking on him deliberately, but Murty just seems a timely example to choose).

[Alan Partridge]

Can we say both?!

[SteveRoyal]

I love this man.

[Blue and White Toucan]

The main thing I stuggle with is that I am probably thinking of the last 4 months of the season and TBF to Rodgers he has not worked with the team yet, but I wonder how a new manager can change by motivation and coaching alone so many players, as being honest we had very few players that proved themselves during that time.

If and its a big if Rodgers can turn Harper and Marek into the best central midfield pairing in the championship then that will be great but I feel it may also be asking an awful lot!!!

[Barry the bird boggler]

I have no problems with these statements. We should have a target and everyone at the club should know what that target is.

Therefore this is more inspiration than delusion.

However as a fan I do not expect Reading to be storming the division next season, I expect us to lurk about in the Top 10 and perhaps be good enough to sneak into the play offs, if it turns out to be so much better than that then, brilliant!

[Thaumagurist*]

I'd settle for winning the Premiership.

[Ian Royal]

I see nothing but an ambitious man talking about the club's potential and long term goals.

He specifically says the goal is to get the Prem, but that European football would be fantastic. Given we missed out on it by a matter of a few points and not applying only two seasons ago it hardly seems deluded.

It is a sensible long term aim. There is no point making getting to the Prem the be all and end all. The club has to be set up to push on once that objective is achieved. Something I don't think we were under Coppell. That's no cirticism of the great man, its because of the way we got there and the club as a whole's inexperience of what being there entailed.

But he is setting himself up for fall of truely Greek proportions if he can't deliver after raising fans expectations with interviews like this.

[readingbedding]

Regular European football?
Easier said than done.

Unless we spawn it in the FA Cup, surely he's not talking about finishing in the top 6 of the Premiership???

[Ian Royal]

I'd settle for winning the Premiership.

Step 1 - get to the Premier League
Step 2 - stay there
Step 3 - get European football
Step 4 - keep getting Eurpean football
Step 5 - break the "big 4"'s power lock on the Champions League
Step 6 - challenge for the title

I think steps 1 to 3 are more than enough of a challenge for now thanks Spacey, you xenophobic plank.

bedding, where does it say anything about regular in that article? We finished 8th 3 seasons ago. 6th is only 2 places higher than that and isn't the only way to get into Europe.

[readingbedding]

"But if I can be a coach that takes it into European football then that will be a wonderful achievement."

Yes it certainly would Mr Rodgers, I bet his big bumper book of super soccer tactics has a bit blank at the end for European opponents.