The perspective thread.

[FiNeRaIn]

1.5 million, were any of the teams who played yesterday less than us? doncaster and scunthorpe? If ever I have seen a lack of investment highlighted clearly its there.

[Platypuss]

I think in this particular instance, Rodgers relative naivety as a manager has been laid plain for all to see -

Really?

I'd say Coppell's naivety was exposed over the last 2 seasons in trying wherever possible to hang onto his 106 team and the result is the side Brendan Rogers fielded today.

[Archies Volley II]

Newcastle's bench didn't cost anything?

I thought Xisco was £5-6m alone wasn't he?

[Ian Royal]

LOL at everyone.
What a bunch of pussies.
We lost to Newcastle. Expect it. Accept it. Move on. Thats it.
We played a load of youngsters, because thats the model we've adopted, and no-one is going to abandon that model after two games.

I know we've been spoilt by success, but, FFS, there is nothing less edifying than someone who cries after a defeat. Man up.

Good shout. I'd hoped we might be able to hit them with a counterattack or two whilst staying solid at the back after our display against Forest and Chelsea. Obviously not.

Anyone who thought the first 10 games would be anything other than really tough and lacking in results didn't really have their heads screwed on right.

We have one tall player in our attacking players and he is about as good in the air as a headless chicken. If you've got no threat from crosses then all the other team has to do is camp on it's 18 yard box and you'll never get through. Especially if you only have 4 players who are willing to go more than 10 yards into the oppositions half.

Rodger's will start reintroducing some of the older heads, still has time to make a couple more signings and has shown with Watford that if "Total Football" isn't working he can go a bit more direct.

Our performances so far have looked reminiscent of Watford's visit to the Mad Stad in January. Pretty, ineffective and susceptable to leaking silly goals. But look how they were turned around eventually.

[Royal Lady]

Turned around? Where did they finish?

[ZacNaloen]

Turned around? Where did they finish?

midtable wasn't it?

[Royal Lady]

Great.

[ZacNaloen]

They were looking relegated until he came in. That's a turn-a-round in pretty much any book.

[Ian Royal]

Great.

From odds on relegation? Yeah that is pretty good. Trying looking at the relative improvement rather than the final position and you might not be quite so disappointed.

[Royal Lady]

TBF I'm not bothered what he did at Watford - I'll give him this season to do something of note here.

[Ian Royal]

TBF I'm not bothered what he did at Watford - I'll give him this season to do something of note here.

Then why comment? Nice sidestep of acknowledging your comment was clueless and so very generous of you to say he can have a season to see what he can do.

[Royalee]

Great.

Yeah, what have you done lately?

[Royal Rother]

With a points tally in the 2nd half of the season that, if replicated in the 1st half, would have seen them in the play offs.

[Jinx]

Great.

From odds on relegation? Yeah that is pretty good. Trying looking at the relative improvement rather than the final position and you might not be quite so disappointed.

So what is our "relative improvement" on last season then? Automatic promotion?

[ZacNaloen]

Irrelevent because it's a completely different team.

Watford is relevant to brendans managerial skills as it was a case of having the same players as his predecessors and getting the best out of them.


For Reading this season is a fresh start at the beginning of a three year plan.

[Ian Royal]

Great.

From odds on relegation? Yeah that is pretty good. Trying looking at the relative improvement rather than the final position and you might not be quite so disappointed.

So what is our "relative improvement" on last season then? Automatic promotion?

Who is saying anything about Rodger's improving on our final position last season? I'm certainly not.

I'm saying that he has proved that he can turn a side that was used to playing direct rubbish, into a team that plays pretty, but ineffective passing football and from there into a team that can play effective slightly more direct football and win games.

As the season goes on we'll get better at his style and I believe he will slowly modify his style from the extreme it is at for the moment, to something that is much more effective. Then next season, or the one after, we may well see a strong promotion push.

That was always very unlikely this season. Although two games certainly haven't ruled it out.

[winchester_royal]

Great.

From odds on relegation? Yeah that is pretty good. Trying looking at the relative improvement rather than the final position and you might not be quite so disappointed.

Not to mention that their form in the second-half of the season would have seen them into the play-offs had they done it for a whole season.

[Royal Lady]

TBF I'm not bothered what he did at Watford - I'll give him this season to do something of note here.

Then why comment? Nice sidestep of acknowledging your comment was clueless and so very generous of you to say he can have a season to see what he can do.

How long did he have at Watford before "turning them around"? A season to do something spectacular here is pretty generous in that case I'd say!

[strap]

Newcastle's bench didn't cost anything?

I thought Xisco was £5-6m alone wasn't he?

Couldn't find a reference for a fee for Xisco, ditto Ryan Taylor and Kadar, so just noted them as "Signed", (a la Soccerbase). So the figures I've used really are pretty conservative. If Ryan Taylor was 2.2M or more then their starting XI cost was a nice round £40M. I wonder if that's the most expensive 2nd tier starting XI ever?

[Archies Volley II]

Newcastle's bench didn't cost anything?

I thought Xisco was £5-6m alone wasn't he?

Couldn't find a reference for a fee for Xisco, ditto Ryan Taylor and Kadar, so just noted them as "Signed", (a la Soccerbase). So the figures I've used really are pretty conservative. If Ryan Taylor was 2.2M or more then their starting XI cost was a nice round £40M. I wonder if that's the most expensive 2nd tier starting XI ever?

I reckon it has to be!

God knows if this site is realiable or not but they have Xisco at just over £5m:

http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/spiel ... daten.html