"Reading prove patience is a virtue"

[RobRoyal]

Nice piece in the Guardian today. Sure to split views here...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/foot ... n-madjeski

I haven't got time to read that. Have we signed a f*cking striker yet?

Be patient....

[Wimb]

the funny thing is with Schards is that he doesn't really pay attention to the teams that do go and 'bounce back up' and realise just how close they come to financial oblivion while doing so.

It's well documented how Birmingham were utterly up the creek before they snuck promotion on the final day, thanks in part to a clanger from our goalkeeper.

West Brom are total yo-yo but end up bottom or relegated every time they reach the Premier League which doesn't seem very appealing to me.

Newcastle were a one off relegation and bounce back and cannot be compared to Reading.

Meanwhile, despite the financial outlay of teams such as Cardiff, Forest, Leeds, Leicester, Middlesbrough etc are they in with that much more of a promotion chance then ourselves?

And forgive me which sides DON'T sell their best players when monster offers equalling more then gate recipts+tv money combined come in from a non-rival club? When Palace went down they had to sell Johnson, when Middlesbrough went down they had to sell Adam Johnson, when Southampton went down they had to sell Peter Crouch, but no it must just be Reading that have to sell when a big big offer comes in. Or perhaps we should have held onto the other players who WANTED out of the club like Doyle etc....

Southampton, Leeds, Bradford, Norwich, QPR, Sheff Wed have all been relegated down to the third tier after being relegated from the Premier League, partly due to financial mismanagement.

Now just look at Sheffield United, who not only had Parachute payments, but also the Tevez money, gambled it all on big name signings and loan deals and are now looking down at the trap door.

Instead Reading have been within 2 goals of promotion and then an FA Cup Quarter-Final and superb second half of the season, followed up by a decent start this year that's seen another run in the FA Cup and a team within a few points of the playoff zone.
The squad now has several that the club has produced in house, saving valuable money on transfer fees and agent fees, the average age of the team is in the mid to low twenties and not a single 'star' player is out of contract this coming summer, guaranteeing the club at least a decent transfer fee in the summer if worst comes to the worst.

But then I could argue the above points until I'm blue in the face and Schards will never concede we've done pretty well since relegation, nor concede that we're in a decent position to mount another promotion campaign in the next season and a half.

[tlcs]

Just been reading my copy of A decade of dreams....awaiting the follow up

A DECADE OF PATIENCE

[brendywendy]

I don't think we will get particularly close to a play off spot this year as we have not been in them all season

werent we 6th for a whole week damnit?

[Snowball]

I don't think we will get particularly close to a play off spot this year as we have not been in them all season

werent we 6th for a whole week damnit?

we were 7-6-7; then 8-6; then 7-7-6

So that's 7th three times and sixth three times.

[Woodcote Royal]

I'm actually amazed it took 23 posts for someone to post something negative.

+1

[brendywendy]

ha! take that, grumps.

[Snowball]

I'll take 10-10-10-6 for our last four games, thanks

[Terminal Boardom]

It is a well written article. But one thing worries me. Considerable money has been pumped into the Academy yet the club still feels that it needs to recruit youngsters from elsewhere. Manset, Morrison and the lad from Eastleigh coupled with the two from across the pond. Of the Academy products in the first team squad, how many were not imported from elsewhere? Church came from Wycombe, I think Karacan came from elsewhere. What gets me, is that Southampton seem to be able to produce a far higher number of youngsters through their academy that move on to bigger and better things. What is their secret? What are they doing that we are not?

[brendywendy]

It is a well written article. But one thing worries me. Considerable money has been pumped into the Academy yet the club still feels that it needs to recruit youngsters from elsewhere. Manset, Morrison and the lad from Eastleigh coupled with the two from across the pond. Of the Academy products in the first team squad, how many were not imported from elsewhere? Church came from Wycombe, I think Karacan came from elsewhere. What gets me, is that Southampton seem to be able to produce a far higher number of youngsters through their academy that move on to bigger and better things. What is their secret? What are they doing that we are not?

i dont know many clubs that produce a complete team of yooves per generation of their own academy graduates

[Ian Royal]

Excellent post Wimb.

We've survived the financial upheaval of promotion - survival - relegation - failed promotion - end of parachute payments. And we've done it whilst maintaining being competitive in terms of challenging for the play offs, selling off our best players, remaining financially stable and significantly reducing our debt.

Whilst it may not involve pushing hard for promotion by spending money, there is no way that anyone with half a brain can say that that isn't an achievement to be proud of based on our operational plan. You may prefer a different strategy, but the strategy we've implemented has been extremely successfully handled.

And despite Schards' tantrum a couple of seasons ago, we are still in no way having to resign our selves to mid-table mediocrity. I believe our attendences are still higher than those pre our promotion season.

It's only a grim disappointing picture if you want to make it one by ignoring all the positives.

[rhroyal]

I still hope for the D-day when all clubs living beyond their means are liquidated and we're in prime position to take advantage and establish ourselves in the Premiership. Probably never going to happen but seeing Cardiff's reckless spending catch up with them would be a nice compromise.

[brendywendy]

attendances arent much higher apparently. 17k the season before.
but that had the benefit if us being good at the start, but falling apart at the end, meaning that numbers stayed high.

but still, any higher at all is better

[Woodcote Royal]

It is a well written article. But one thing worries me. Considerable money has been pumped into the Academy yet the club still feels that it needs to recruit youngsters from elsewhere.

So we create a successful academy then close our eyes to any promising prospects at other clubs?

Is there no end to the nonsense that gets posted on these pages

[Ian Royal]

attendances arent much higher apparently. 17k the season before.
but that had the benefit if us being good at the start, but falling apart at the end, meaning that numbers stayed high.

but still, any higher at all is better

As long as they aren't much lower, in a comparably successful season, that's fine by me. We know they'll come back if we do well again, possibly in larger numbers than before.

[BR2]

I still hope for the D-day when all clubs living beyond their means are liquidated and we're in prime position to take advantage and establish ourselves in the Premiership. Probably never going to happen but seeing Cardiff's reckless spending catch up with them would be a nice compromise.

Careful what you wish for.
Weren't we a club living beyond our means just a few months ago and had to fill in a black hole of some £4million by selling our best player?

[Schards#2]

attendances arent much higher apparently. 17k the season before.
but that had the benefit if us being good at the start, but falling apart at the end, meaning that numbers stayed high.

but still, any higher at all is better

Average Attendances:

2007/2008 - 23585

2008/2009 - 19936

2009/2010 - 17408

2010/2011 - 17090 (to date)

So, in the period the article covers, gates have fallen every year, or position in the league will have fallen every year if we finish below 9th, and we are told will have to sell players to balance the books.

You can argue the reasons behind this but I fail to see how anyone to put that record up as a blueprint for others to follow.

[Stranded]

So we've fallen back to roughly our pre PL fan base then - as 04/05 was 17,169 - two season before that was 15,095 and 16,011.

So bar a peak around promotion, PL, and immediate relegation crowds are up.

[brendywendy]

i dunno schards.i think weve managed the transition incredibly well.
that the gates fell as we got relegated and failed to return is inevitable, and would happen to any club. ambitious or not.

[Schards#2]

i dunno schards.i think weve managed the transition incredibly well.
that the gates fell as we got relegated and failed to return is inevitable, and would happen to any club. ambitious or not.

So do you think if, say, Stoke got relegated and their board said that there ambition for the next three years is to be top half of the championship, sell our best players and keep selling them going forward and to only lose 27% of our attendances, that the fans would be happy with that as a blueprint to follow?