Sinking Ship

[MeMeMe]

As I said in my Draw your own conclusions post:

If you sit there watching your best staff leave you will start to question. When you do this your performance and approach will change, others will notice and they will be affected too. Before too long you have an under-performing team that cannot achieve what it did when it's best staff were there. This is where the manager steps in to quell the unrest, motivate staff and maybe bring in a 'star performer' to lead by example.

See the gap ?

So how do you explain the poor performances before Long went, going back to pre-season?

And clubs always sell players. They don't just completely give up hope as a natural consquence.

It's not solely down to Long leaving, it's an ongoing trend and perceived 'leadership message' that will unsettle. If this continues, watch Kebe and possibly others run in January if an offer comes in and terms allow.

[Row Z Royal]

We're playing without balls.

Well what do they do in training all day then?

[Rick_Dangerous]

Yeh isn't that a bit like playing scrabble without the dice?

[RoyalBlue]

Doncaster haven't won in 18 league games. Pack your bags for Carlisle, Yeovil and Hartlepool if they win on Saturday!

0-0 or 1-1 is my bet, if we lose im selling my season ticket for a massive cut price under classifieds.

Forget price cut, the market will be flooded with them. You'll probably have to pay someone to take it off your hands!

[The Prisoner]

Gotta love the team board. Always a far better reactionary/WUM read after a few defeats. Five bad results and your mother's cat has shat on the meaning of life itself.

TBF I'm more entertained reading this sh1te than I am the back patting stuff after a few wins. You learn far more about yourself in defeat than you ever do in victory. I'm backing Brian to pull his socks up and sort this out. I may be wrong of course, but that's why we support Reading and not Man Utd.

[Cookie]

The one crumb of comfort is that it looks to me that there are a load of teams in as much mire as us (a point per game or less) in the bottom half of the table and
though it will be a long hard fight we just have to be better than three of them over the season....surely we can manage that.... The top six or so are flying away and we will never catch them...

Long term that picture will not change unless the ownership does.

Never? That's a long time mate. Check this post out in March. Good post BTW.

[Paul Cowin]

If my memory serves me well the last time we lost a championship play-off we were soon in League One.

The players must have been absolutley gutted and maybe they just can't get past getting so close.

It's like in real life when you just miss out on that big job promotion , you are absolutley deflated and if Maccy D feels and shows it, its gonna filter down to the players.
As if the ones that are left don't feel bad enough about coming within a post's width of the Premier League.

It's tough to pick yourself up, dust yourself down and start all over again, but winners HAVE do it.

I'm sure he has the balls for it, its just gonna take time, for us its our part-time passion as we have jobs to do ourselves, the playing staff have to deal with this day in day out.

I worked for Waitrose for years as a department manager and every day at the staff meeting if your department was fully staffed and another short your staff got nicked and you would be under pressure to get the work done ,and if you came up short you'd be in the shit, even though it was not your fault.
It's the same for McD when he sees his best players leave , and sub-standard players signed and the Chairman and fans still demands promotion.

We are all human, I'm sure that McD is absolutley hating his job right now but its his job to make the most of a situation he has not created himself.

I have empathy for him, he's a great bloke.

[paultheroyal]

Got to agree with Tredder here. Brick by brick Reading are going down the pan. They've been lucky with cheap signings for so long now, there was going to be a day when it all went wrong and the fans would be crying out for some 'established' signings. luckily, you've got a lot of the season left, but I fear McDonut will be out the door by Christmas if results do not dramatically improve.

Always good to dig up an old thread!

[jazz]

For me the best single consequence of our promotion is that it will give Brian McD the opportunity to manage in the Prem. He deserves it in spades. He has proved that he has great talent. May he be given the funds to buy the players needed to succeed there.

[Oxon_Royal]

Doesn't this post prove what meaningless, insignificant drivel is posted on forums like this by fans (or otherwise, in this case).

No wonder the players are told not to go onto sites like this!

[LUX]

hope a few more threads like this get dragged back up. Luckily my contribution back then wasn't that bad.



RTG for life. What's the point otherwise?

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Having said all that - I do think we will turn things around eventually & I don't expect us to be relegated. 5th place seems a distant memory now though. If we finish top half BM will have yet again worked miracles as that squad lacks any star quality from back to front.[/quote]




I love you Brian.

[tink]

I'm backing Brian to pull his socks up

should have backed Jimmy

[Muguire]

Tredder getting the hoops mixed up and actually predicting his own clubs demise

[Hampshire Royal]

Someone's going to have to remind me what 'Dull and Uninspiring' means. If the past few seasons have been, then I'm hoping that next season is going to be another one.

[peterroyal76]

Tredder getting the hoops mixed up and actually predicting his own clubs demise

[Schards#2]

Someone's going to have to remind me what 'Dull and Uninspiring' means. If the past few seasons have been, then I'm hoping that next season is going to be another one.

Think going nearly a year without a home win.

Out of interest, how many matches have you been to in the past 4 seasons?

[Hampshire Royal]

Not many. How far do you have to travel to games and how much does it cost you? I don't really care about the crap you wrote in that original 'D & I' post of yours, but (as I recall) no season since then has been Dull. What makes me laugh about it is that you wrote it with a level of authority.

I've got a four year old and a two year old who, from time to time, get really upset if they don't get exactly what they want, when they want it.

[Schards#2]

Not many. How far do you have to travel to games and how much does it cost you? I don't really care about the crap you wrote in that original 'D & I' post of yours, but (as I recall) no season since then has been Dull. What makes me laugh about it is that you wrote it with a level of authority.

I've got a four year old and a two year old who, from time to time, get really upset if they don't get exactly what they want, when they want it.

It's not a contest, I just wondered if you were particularly ideally qualified to judge. I'd say not tbh.

Whatev's, just enjoy the moment, it's more fun for that trying to make some petty point.

[3 veesinarow]

Fcuk me, Schards, don't get too pompous on people, will you? If it's not a contest, why did you need to know the last four years' attendance of another poster before qualifying your reply? Why not just stick to your guns and say you found the football dull and uninspiring? Yes, some matches have been painful to watch, but I would argue that the last decade has never seen a season that could be thus described, which is what HR was talking about. Think bigger picture, not small pixels.