Back from the Sweden games... well 2 of them

[Royalee]

You haven't answered my question have you

What is your question?

I am surprised you have so much spare time what with all the noshing you are giving to BR. I bet you have your bedroom plastered with posters of him.

I'm just excited we finally have a proper manager. Why so sad?

[Woodcote Royal]

A decent winger would have been nice - I thought everyone apart from the bald buffoon knew the problem was the midfield?

We were short of a striker for half the season and we created plenty of chances to in games we dropped points in.

Demanding retrospective transfer activity is a waste of time, it would no more have got us promoted than it would have stopped us being relegated.

Are you paid to write this nonsense?

Any team that is short of a player for half a season has the whole of January to rectify the situation.

Furthermore, any manager with Coppell's resources at his disposal (playing in a league where most teams don't have the same recources) and who couldn't win any of his last 8 home games should have been sacked.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

The same resources that Rodgers is now spending sensibly, there is still more to football than just throwing money about, players have to want to leave one club, and join a new one as well, perhaps not many wanted to join Reading.

Coppell said he wanted another striker in Jan, that failed to happen, after the window closed he said he would have liked one more signing, Manager of the Month in Dec to complete failure, then again Hunt was nominated for player of the month in Dec, and what went wrong there?
In fact it was a striker thaCoppell so wanted, however we were the top scorers in the whole league after Watford home, so perhaps Mr Madejski was not so sure we needed another striker, and with Lita not moving, just perhaps they tried to build bridges there instead, but I doubt any bridges would have been at all solid.

Can someone remind me about team spirit, and how well we did after Lita returned to the squad?

[Sun Tzu]

A decent winger would have been nice - I thought everyone apart from the bald buffoon knew the problem was the midfield?

We were short of a striker for half the season and we created plenty of chances to in games we dropped points in.

Demanding retrospective transfer activity is a waste of time, it would no more have got us promoted than it would have stopped us being relegated.

Are you paid to write this nonsense?

Any team that is short of a player for half a season has the whole of January to rectify the situation.

Furthermore, any manager with Coppell's resources at his disposal (playing in a league where most teams don't have the same recources) and who couldn't win any of his last 8 home games should have been sacked.

Sorry Woodcote. You seem to have an issue with dates !
To refresh your memory Doyle had a great time up untl the turn of the year then the goals stopped coming and the second hlef of his season was pretty poor. On that basis you think in January we shoul dhave replaced him ?
That's taking hindsight to a new level !!
As I said, in retrospect and knowing that the goals dried up for him it would have been a master stroke to sell him in january and replace him with (who ?) but who could tell (apart from Woodcote !) in January that February, March, April and May would be unproductive for him ?

As for resources, we were unexceptional in terms of resources last season. 5 other teams had parachute payments and others had access to significant funds.

I laugh at your suggestion that Coppell should have been 'sacked'. At what point ? before the run of games (using your wonderful ability to see the future ?), after them (when he had already left at the end of his contract) or at some mid way point leaving us managerless ?

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

To be fair the goals had dried up in Nov, Just one in all of Dec, despite being top scorer in the division, or as close as dammit, probably why SC wanted to sign a striker, he could see a problem, the same as Woodcote could see it coming.

[tee peg]

The rot set in around xmas and its my opinion that the January transfer window was some form of
cataylst to our second half of bad form.

[Southbank Old Boy]

Sorry Woodcote. You seem to have an issue with dates !
To refresh your memory Doyle had a great time up untl the turn of the year then the goals stopped coming and the second hlef of his season was pretty poor. On that basis you think in January we shoul dhave replaced him ?
That's taking hindsight to a new level !!
As I said, in retrospect and knowing that the goals dried up for him it would have been a master stroke to sell him in january and replace him with (who ?) but who could tell (apart from Woodcote !) in January that February, March, April and May would be unproductive for him ?

As for resources, we were unexceptional in terms of resources last season. 5 other teams had parachute payments and others had access to significant funds.

I laugh at your suggestion that Coppell should have been 'sacked'. At what point ? before the run of games (using your wonderful ability to see the future ?), after them (when he had already left at the end of his contract) or at some mid way point leaving us managerless ?

We shouldnt have replaced Doyle but we shouldve got him a decent partner and done something about the total lack of creativity throughout the side

Bringing Lita back was a massive error in judgement by Coppell and one that just showed how desperate he was if he had to go back to a player he had bombed out and wanted to get rid of

We needed an extra forward all season, it wasnt something new in January BTW

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

I think i pointed out that Coppell might not have had a choice about bringing Lita back to the club.

[Mr Angry]

Also, many many people were posting that "Look how well Lita has done at Norwich - he SHOULD be back in the side".

In fact, I may have done!



How many people were also calling for a "Kitson-type" replacement; then Kitson reappears and very few people objected to his return for footballing reasons (his comments and disruptive nature, yes; for being a striker? Nope)

And lots of people also saw Little as a returning messiah.

What i can't stand are those people who demanded Coppell be sacked because we were relegated; were silent about sacking him when we were playing so well up to Xmas, then came back out of the woodwork again when things went wrong immediately pre-Xmas and for pretty well the rest of the season. How long will it take those individuals to turn on Rodgers I wonder?

[SteveRoyal]

You haven't answered my question have you

What is your question?

I am surprised you have so much spare time what with all the noshing you are giving to BR. I bet you have your bedroom plastered with posters of him.

I photoshopped a willy to pictures of him.

[Henleyensian]

W

Also, many many people were posting that "Look how well Lita has done at Norwich - he SHOULD be back in the side".


How many people were also calling for a "Kitson-type" replacement; then Kitson reappears and very few people objected to his return for footballing reasons (his comments and disruptive nature, yes; for being a striker? Nope)

And lots of people also saw Little as a returning messiah.

What i can't stand are those people who demanded Coppell be sacked because we were relegated; were silent about sacking him when we were playing so well up to Xmas, then came back out of the woodwork again when things went wrong immediately pre-Xmas and for pretty well the rest of the season. How long will it take those individuals to turn on Rodgers I wonder?

In my opinion it isn't all about strikers, though it is obvious that more goals could have helped. I think it is mainly due to injuries, particularly among the defence. There was one game towards the end of the season when it was remarked to me that all of the "back 5" on the field were not in the regular side. It seems that, most of all we missed Ivar, both for his play and his organisation. Also, though many people on here seem to have a down on Harps, the midfield missed him and things would have been worse without Jay Tabb. The trouble is that losing becomes a habit, just as winning does. and just one draw instead of losing was all we needed (as in the previous year) and it is always the last hurdle that is most difficult!

[Southbank Old Boy]

Also, many many people were posting that "Look how well Lita has done at Norwich - he SHOULD be back in the side".

In fact, I may have done!



How many people were also calling for a "Kitson-type" replacement; then Kitson reappears and very few people objected to his return for footballing reasons (his comments and disruptive nature, yes; for being a striker? Nope)

And lots of people also saw Little as a returning messiah.

What i can't stand are those people who demanded Coppell be sacked because we were relegated; were silent about sacking him when we were playing so well up to Xmas, then came back out of the woodwork again when things went wrong immediately pre-Xmas and for pretty well the rest of the season. How long will it take those individuals to turn on Rodgers I wonder?

Personally I was pretty critical of the way we were playing in November and December, maybe even earlier than that, but people said it didnt because we were winning. Winning whilst playing badly is a good thing if its just a lull in form, if its the standard, which it was but Doyles scoring exploits and our pretty sound defence earned us loads of points, then you end up getting caught out at some point

Thats what happened, we got caught out and didnt do enough to prevent it. I thought the Kitson move could well have been a master stroke, but Little was a bit of a desperate measure as he was never going to be fit enough to hold down a place and recreate that form. What we should have done was get in a winger or a centre mid who would hold down a place and improve the side. We didnt do that for whatever reason

However, I dont think Coppell should really have been sacked at that point, he should never have been in charge following the relegation to be fair, but I can totally see why people would say he should have gone

[strap]

Many thanks for the reports and feedback. Just one question really, (and it's not loaded, merely a genuine request), do any of you who went on tour think that the Academy youngsters are really ready now to step into the 1st team on a regular basis? Is the optimism put out by BR well founded, or is it merely the usual window dressing/rhetoric nonsense that we have come to know and expect from RFC over the last 4-5 years?

This season could either be the most exciting, or miserable, one for quite some time, (106 excepted of course).

Roll on Forest.

[tee peg]

I think we will have a tough start as the new regime takes time to bed down.No doubt there will be calls for BR to go
etc but I feel things will get better and we will have a good second half (for a change).

[Woodcote Royal]

Sorry Woodcote. You seem to have an issue with dates !
To refresh your memory Doyle had a great time up ununtilhe turn of the year then the goals stopped coming and the second hlhalff his season was pretty poor. On that basis you think in January we shshould haveeplaced him ?
That's taking hindsight to a new level !!
As I said, in retrospect and knowing that the goals dried up for him it would have been a master stroke to sell him in january and replace him with (who ?) but who could tell (apart from Woodcote !) in January that February, March, April and May would be unproductive for him ?

As for resources, we were unexceptional in terms of resources last season. 5 other teams had parachute payments and others had access to significant funds.

I laugh at your suggestion that Coppell should have been 'sacked'. At what point ? before the run of games (using your wonderful ability to see the future ?), after them (when he had already left at the end of his contract) or at some mid way point leaving us managerless ?

Do you have a problem with basic arithmetic?

The last time I brushed the dust off my abacus, I calculated that last years Championship contained 24 teams and only someone willing to give birth for Coppell would attempt to suggest that we were not one of a handful of teams that had £11m of parachute payments, or any similar sum, at their disposal whilst the vast majority of the league had to survive on a comparative pittence.

From Christmas on, we were regularly out played by many of these teams not least by Burnley, who already looked like they belonged in a different league by the time they'd despatched us from the playoffs.

Had Coppell brought a shot gun to work and blasted both barrells into a stand of his choice apologists such as yourself would still have found reason to justify not sacking him.

However, back on planet earth, 5,000 missing STH's suggests I'm far from alone in knowing that Coppell and his squad grossly under performed over the last 2 seasons.

Burnley's manager was one of many who would have achieved far more with the same resources and, needless to say, more than enough to have ensured that our Premiership squad wasn't relegated in the first place.

I can't wait for Coppell to get another job so his pathetic fan club can post their cringeworthy nonsense elsewhere.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Same Coppell that took us from 11k st to 18k st in just a season and a half was it??

[Royalee]

Same Coppell that took us from 11k st to 18k st in just a season and a half was it??

Remind me, how quickly did his last game in a winnable playoff semi final sell out?

[Woodcote Royal]

Same Coppell that took us from 11k st to 18k st in just a season and a half was it??

The same Alf Ramsey who won our only World Cup in 1966 was sacked in 1974 and?

[Royalee]

I think i pointed out that Coppell might not have had a choice about bringing Lita back to the club.

?

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Means it is all pointless statistics.

What I really want to know is when WR wanted Coppell sacked, just when had Coppell lost it so much that it was inevitable? i cant be arsed to search back through the threads tho.