Reading are crap

[Arch]

I think I speak for everyone too.

[Big Foot]

I think I speak for everyone when I say floyd_streete should replace Anthony Fenn as a columnist in the Evening Post.

"The view from the Southbank" - oh f*ck off, has anyone ever actually seen him at Reading game?

I've seen him once.

How do these people get these jobs anyway? I'd love to do it - but I've never seen it advertised to the wider public. Though I admit Floyd would be far better at it than me.

Probably through living in Cav Heights, sitting in the Upper West and drinking Hoegaarden as I'm almost certain is the case with Mr Fenn

[Royal Lady]

That Roger Titford fella came and sat with us once in a pub on an away game - he seemed to know exactly who I was - didn't realise he read this board tbf. That Fenn bloke doesn't speak for me very often in the E-Po - maybe he should log on here and find out what fans think and convey these thoughts to his little weekly column.

[Big Foot]

That Roger Titford fella came and sat with us once in a pub on an away game - he seemed to know exactly who I was - didn't realise he read this board tbf. That Fenn bloke doesn't speak for me very often in the E-Po - maybe he should log on here and find out what fans think and convey these thoughts to his little weekly column.

His views are almost anti-football IMO

"View from the Southbank"

[Barney]

Although I agree with the sentiments of the originator of this thread, I want to add a few points.

1) The title SHOULD have been 'Football is crap', not 'Reading is crap'. A lot of what happens at the MadStad happens at many many other league grounds/clubs....you just don't realise it.

2) The expense. I just don't get this ! 350 quid for 23 league games....just over 15 quid a game. These prices compare very favourably to the majority of clubs in our division. And folks who bleat on about 7-10 quid to park...there are TWO carparks down Acre Road that charge £5.

3) The atmosphere at the MadStad. Moaning about RFC fans chanting this or that....go sit at a Coventry home game !!...you can hear a flea fart.

4) Those that state they rather go watch non-league / Reading Town whatever. Go and do it. You might be able to get a pint quicker, but the game/standard/crowd etc will be as dull as ditch-water.

5) In my view, the biggest culprit is SKY. They have turned a working mans game into an over-hyped circus...which sadly attracts a different type of 'football fan'. Anyone can cancel their SKY subscription in protest...but in truth, the millions of armchair fans will always far outweigh any protest via subscription cancellations.

Everyone has a right to their opinion....free speech and all that. Personally speaking, much as I cringe at some the things I now see at football (and certainly not just at the MadStad) my love affair with this ruddy club seems to have infiltrated by blood stream and I just can not stop supporting the club I have followed for 4 decades. Reading born and bred.

[Terminal Boardom]

Although I agree with the sentiments of the originator of this thread, I want to add a few points.

1) The title SHOULD have been 'Football is crap', not 'Reading is crap'. A lot of what happens at the MadStad happens at many many other league grounds/clubs....you just don't realise it.

2) The expense. I just don't get this ! 350 quid for 23 league games....just over 15 quid a game. These prices compare very favourably to the majority of clubs in our division. And folks who bleat on about 7-10 quid to park...there are TWO carparks down Acre Road that charge £5.

3) The atmosphere at the MadStad. Moaning about RFC fans chanting this or that....go sit at a Coventry home game !!...you can hear a flea fart.

4) Those that state they rather go watch non-league / Reading Town whatever. Go and do it. You might be able to get a pint quicker, but the game/standard/crowd etc will be as dull as ditch-water.

5) In my view, the biggest culprit is SKY. They have turned a working mans game into an over-hyped circus...which sadly attracts a different type of 'football fan'. Anyone can cancel their SKY subscription in protest...but in truth, the millions of armchair fans will always far outweigh any protest via subscription cancellations.

Everyone has a right to their opinion....free speech and all that. Personally speaking, much as I cringe at some the things I now see at football (and certainly not just at the MadStad) my love affair with this ruddy club seems to have infiltrated by blood stream and I just can not stop supporting the club I have followed for 4 decades. Reading born and bred.

Funnily enough, I have been able to do 4 non league games for the cot of one Reading home game plus parking

As for the quality of football, sure - it is not Champions League but there is the positive of honesty and integrity amongst the players. Technically there are some very good footballers outside the Football League but mostly they are undone by the pitch quality and fitness. I have seen some stunning goals scored which would not be out of place in the higher levels of the game. Try it sometime. You might actually enjoy it

And the beer is of a much better quality than you would get in the Mad Stad

Point 5 re SKY - Watch the game in your local

[Big Foot]

I have seen some stunning goals scored which would not be out of place in the higher levels of the game

But is that because the quality of defending/goalkeeping isn't as good?

[Seal]

I really wonder when it came to the crunch how many of you moaners would actually rather been back in the 70s in front of 3,000 fans watching us either:-

- getting spanked by Rochdale in the 4th Division
- having the sh1t kicked out of us by Pompey fans as they 'take' the Southbank for the 10th time.

Most of the key antagonists on this thread got their Reading FC bug in the 'glory days' of the Southbank in the early 90s (when incidentally the money was already coming into football I might add). I'm not sure they really experienced the real pre money days of the late 70s early 80s. It was often by all accounts very very very sh1t.

Yes modern football can be a bit rubbish. But actually I think a lot of your beef is almost more with Reading FC specifically than football as a whole. I guarantee that there were more nerds and jester hats and replica shirt wearing mongs on the Southbank in 1993 then there are at many many clubs in 2010. Reading have always attracted / had a certain type of fan (and therefore experience). That's not football's fault - it's Reading FCs and the socio-demographics of the local area. You go to Spurs, Leeds, any number of clubs and most of you will get the matchday experience you crave.

Only thing we can't change is the onfield performance and the gap between the haves and the have nots. However, I certainly didn't start supporting Reading due the the onfield glory. It was all about the match day experience (as craved above), and I'm pretty sure that was the case with many people on this thread. So moaning about money ruining our chances is pretty irrelevant: we never had one before so why should we suddenly have one now?

Also is it not funny that the most 'glorious' period in our history coincided with when football is apparently at its lowest ebb? Analyse that one....

[Royal Lady]

I was there in the days of no money - demanding Frank Waller out, early 80s - and it goes back to the same old thing - in those days there was no real expectation - if we were top half of div 3 we thought we were doing well. Yes, we've been spoiled by success over the years - but who doesn't want to see their team do well and now having experienced the Prem League and top half of the championship, why shouldn't we aspire to do well again?

[Wax Jacket]

I was there in the days of no money - demanding H.S. Bray out, early 20s - and it goes back to the same old thing - in those days there was no real expectation - if we were top half of div 3 south we thought we were doing well. Yes, we've been spoiled by success over the years - but who doesn't want to see their team do well and now having experienced the Prem League and top half of the championship, why shouldn't we aspire to do well again?

too easy

[Terminal Boardom]

I have seen some stunning goals scored which would not be out of place in the higher levels of the game

But is that because the quality of defending/goalkeeping isn't as good?

I am sure that Rother Royal can substantiate my claim. Both goals in the Windsor v Mangotsield gae last season were stunning and no keeper could have stopped them. One of the goals that Windsor scored v Paulton Rovers was as good a free kick as I have seen. Certainly the first goal Bognor scored v Fleet last weekend was a pure gem - 25 yards out, left foot, bending into the top corner. Obviously, some of the football played is agricultural at times. You could compare it to Matt Mills v QPR last season. How many cross field hoofs in the second half?

[Wax Jacket]

you dread to think of shane long playing on a non-league pitch. shane long is always the answer when people say "the championship has better quality than non-league" btw

[Terminal Boardom]

I really wonder when it came to the crunch how many of you moaners would actually rather been back in the 70s in front of 3,000 fans watching us either:-

- getting spanked by Rochdale in the 4th Division
- having the sh1t kicked out of us by Pompey fans as they 'take' the Southbank for the 10th time.

Most of the key antagonists on this thread got their Reading FC bug in the 'glory days' of the Southbank in the early 90s (when incidentally the money was already coming into football I might add). I'm not sure they really experienced the real pre money days of the late 70s early 80s. It was often by all accounts very very very sh1t.

Yes modern football can be a bit rubbish. But actually I think a lot of your beef is almost more with Reading FC specifically than football as a whole. I guarantee that there were more nerds and jester hats and replica shirt wearing mongs on the Southbank in 1993 then there are at many many clubs in 2010. Reading have always attracted / had a certain type of fan (and therefore experience). That's not football's fault - it's Reading FCs and the socio-demographics of the local area. You go to Spurs, Leeds, any number of clubs and most of you will get the matchday experience you crave.

Only thing we can't change is the onfield performance and the gap between the haves and the have nots. However, I certainly didn't start supporting Reading due the the onfield glory. It was all about the match day experience (as craved above), and I'm pretty sure that was the case with many people on this thread. So moaning about money ruining our chances is pretty irrelevant: we never had one before so why should we suddenly have one now?

Also is it not funny that the most 'glorious' period in our history coincided with when football is apparently at its lowest ebb? Analyse that one....

I was there when we were shit. First game 1971. In the 631 at Macclesfield for the game againt Chester. Losing to Colchester in the cup when they were non league. 7-1 defeat at Chesterfield. I could go on. But there was always the hope yet little expectation. An away win was always savoured so when the likes of 78/9 came along we lapped it all up. Anyone else remember the cartoon in the old Supporters Club bar under the Norfolk Road stand? The one with a loudspeaker with the words "Reading 5 Liverpool 0, the shape of things to come"?

The dream eventually became a reality. Sadly, that dream is no more.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

I was there in the days of no money - demanding Frank Waller out, early 80s - and it goes back to the same old thing - in those days there was no real expectation - if we were top half of div 3 we thought we were doing well. Yes, we've been spoiled by success over the years - but who doesn't want to see their team do well and now having experienced the Prem League and top half of the championship, why shouldn't we aspire to do well again?

So was I - at the game when we lost home to Preston in front of a gate of 1700 when it all kicked off. The current lack of ambition in the boardroom is very reminicent of the Frank Waller days.

We really need to get behind McD - everyone is signing players apart from us - Kitson to Pompey today - he has had the worst deal of any RFC manager for the last 30 years.

[Barney]

Although I agree with the sentiments of the originator of this thread, I want to add a few points.

1) The title SHOULD have been 'Football is crap', not 'Reading is crap'. A lot of what happens at the MadStad happens at many many other league grounds/clubs....you just don't realise it.

2) The expense. I just don't get this ! 350 quid for 23 league games....just over 15 quid a game. These prices compare very favourably to the majority of clubs in our division. And folks who bleat on about 7-10 quid to park...there are TWO carparks down Acre Road that charge £5.

3) The atmosphere at the MadStad. Moaning about RFC fans chanting this or that....go sit at a Coventry home game !!...you can hear a flea fart.

4) Those that state they rather go watch non-league / Reading Town whatever. Go and do it. You might be able to get a pint quicker, but the game/standard/crowd etc will be as dull as ditch-water.

5) In my view, the biggest culprit is SKY. They have turned a working mans game into an over-hyped circus...which sadly attracts a different type of 'football fan'. Anyone can cancel their SKY subscription in protest...but in truth, the millions of armchair fans will always far outweigh any protest via subscription cancellations.

Everyone has a right to their opinion....free speech and all that. Personally speaking, much as I cringe at some the things I now see at football (and certainly not just at the MadStad) my love affair with this ruddy club seems to have infiltrated by blood stream and I just can not stop supporting the club I have followed for 4 decades. Reading born and bred.

Funnily enough, I have been able to do 4 non league games for the cot of one Reading home game plus parking

As for the quality of football, sure - it is not Champions League but there is the positive of honesty and integrity amongst the players. Technically there are some very good footballers outside the Football League but mostly they are undone by the pitch quality and fitness. I have seen some stunning goals scored which would not be out of place in the higher levels of the game. Try it sometime. You might actually enjoy it

And the beer is of a much better quality than you would get in the Mad Stad

Point 5 re SKY - Watch the game in your local

Well if the beer is better, and it is so much cheaper, and the goals are so much more stunning.....makes you wonder why Windsor's average gate is 250, and Reading's is over 15, 000

[brendywendy]

beer is vastly improved this season at RFC if anyone had noticed

[under the tin]

I was there in the days of no money - demanding Frank Waller out, early 80s - and it goes back to the same old thing - in those days there was no real expectation - if we were top half of div 3 we thought we were doing well. Yes, we've been spoiled by success over the years - but who doesn't want to see their team do well and now having experienced the Prem League and top half of the championship, why shouldn't we aspire to do well again?

So was I - at the game when we lost home to Preston in front of a gate of 1700 when it all kicked off. And I.
The current lack of ambition in the boardroom is very reminicent of the Frank Waller days. Amen to that, brother

We really need to get behind McD - everyone is signing players apart from us - Kitson to Pompey today - he has had the worst deal of any RFC manager for the last 30 years.

I doubt that's strictly true. McGhee had a few choice words to say about some of the penny pinching after he left.

[brendywendy]

faile dmanagers often look for any old excuse

[under the tin]

faile dmanagers often look for any old excuse

Largely true, but McGhee wasn't a failure here.

[pea]

beer is vastly improved this season at RFC if anyone had noticed

They changed the pipes, apparently, or something like that. I think they sold Rasiak in order to do it, after getting him to install it on the cheap first, obv.