Lawro's Predictions

[Seal]

hard to argue with that. Our job to prove him wrong.

[Z175]

Paul Merson's prediction -
West Brom v Reading
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-0
I thought Reading would be alright this season, but they were so far out of their depth against Tottenham it was scary. They played 4-5-1 at home to a Tottenham team that was severely under pressure and it played into their opponents' hands. So I've got to go for West Brom to bounce back at home.

You see I dont think anyone could argue that was unfair. You could disagree, but its a statement based on fact.

But Lawro was ridiculously over the top about wanting to replace our entire team! Clearly our management team will take a view on which players have struggled to make the step up in January, but they certainly won't be thinking, "lets get rid of that Pearce", or our captains not up to it, after 1 poor game! If we thought they werent up to it we'd have done more in the summer!

Its a fair point about January, but its another massive stretch to assume we'll be that far behind the likes of Southampton, Wigan, Norwich, WBA, Sunderland, Stoke, Swansea, WHU because we were taught a lesson by a Spurs team with their backs against the wall after a 25 day break. ANyone with any knowledge of football would looke at results Russian and Scandanavian teams get in August and realise being into your season gives a massive advantage. 2 games in a few days then 25 days off meant we were basically in pre season again!

What annoyed me is that he reckons Southampton will win and gives them a positive review yet we've been equally bad and he fears for us.

Equally? 6-1 v chelsea? Home defeat to stoke?

hahahaha

6-1 v arsenal and home defeat to wigan - otherwise totally correct, numpty

Oh thanks for pointing that out, I must have thought I was a Southampton fan

[Z175]

What annoyed me is that he reckons Southampton will win and gives them a positive review yet we've been equally bad and he fears for us.

Equally? 6-1 v chelsea? Home defeat to stoke?

Their results were worse but strangely they somehow have given a better account of themselves with decent performances vs. the 2 manchester clubs.

Your're right in that Southampton can take heart from those 2 performances, but at the same time we were winning at Stamford Bridge at HT and actually Torres was offside so we were the only team deserving a point v the top teams. Southampton played at abject Utd but self destructed by subbing their 3 best players and being awful at the back.

I think they are far from down, and we have had a better start!

The table will look very different in 10 games time.

[Davezk]

What annoyed me is that he reckons Southampton will win and gives them a positive review yet we've been equally bad and he fears for us.

Equally? 6-1 v chelsea? Home defeat to stoke?

hahahaha

6-1 v arsenal and home defeat to wigan - otherwise totally correct, numpty

Read my counter argument before calling me a numpty. If you consider results in isolation, yes they've done worse but as I say they've come out of games with more credit than we have IN MY OPINION.

Our 40 mins of holding on against Chelsea doesn't compare to the trouble they caused both Manchester clubs on the attack.

[The Prisoner]

What a gimp.

Interesting article from Betfair...

http://betting.betfair.com/football/premier-league/premier-league-betting-dont-read-too-much-into-royals-bad-start-180912-201.html

Premier League Betting: Don't read too much into Royals' bad start

Plenty of people are will to write off Reading this season after just three games, but Ralph Ellis isn't amongst them. Here's why he thinks the Royals could survive this year...

I had a text from a friend who had been at The Madejski Stadium on Sunday. It said: "I have seen the club that will finish 20th."

Now I don't think he was talking about Spurs. I know I've got my doubts about Andre Villas Boas, and I don't think he'll deliver a Champions League place at White Hart Lane, but then again I don't see him finishing bottom either. And I tipped Jermain Defoe a month ago to be in the top four Premier League scorers. So that means he must have meant Reading.

And clearly he's not alone in his view. Brian McDermott's side, who have traded at around 8.0 to finish rock bottom, have come in to 4.4 after a fairly dismal 3-1 defeat at home to Tottenham. With fellow Premier League new boys Southampton they are joint favourites at 1.89 for relegation.

At the start of your first Premier League campaign you need a bit of luck, and to maintain the momentum that got you there in the first place. Nobody had more momentum at the back end of last season than the Royals, who put together an astonishing run of 15 wins in 17 games from the end of January to take the Championship title.

When they drew 1-1 with Stoke in their first game it was a promising start. But since then the fates have conspired. They had to fit in an extra fixture at Stamford Bridge to help Chelsea play their European Super Cup final, and then travelled all the way to Sunderland only for the game to get called off for a waterlogged pitch (how come nobody at the Stadium of Light thought to put some covers on, incidentally?)

Take out some time for international week, and the momentum has gone, leaving McDermott to pick up the pieces this week and deal with his first big challenge as a Premier League boss.

Can he do it? I think so. This Reading team is not unlike the one that Steve Coppell brought into the top-flight in 2006. They don't have too many star names, but they do have good organisation and a well established pattern of play. There is a balance to the team, and in Pavel Pogrebnyak they have a striker who has proved he can score goals.

I also think Adam Federici is an outstanding goalkeeper. McDermott left out the Australian on Sunday to try to take some pressure off him following a couple of early season blunders. He has been playing with an injury, but when he's fit he'll be back and has both the ability and the strength of character to find his form.

There is also some stability at the club - unlike at Southampton where the spectre of an out of work Harry Redknapp is already casting a shadow across the prospects of Nigel Adkins. Reading might also be a fairly short trip from Harry's Bournemouth home, but you sense McDermott is far less likely to suffer from owners who are itchy to make a change. The club has been built under Sir John Madejski on a policy of patience, and even though there is now a new and more ambitious owner in Russian Anton Zingarevich the principles remain the same.

Of course there are no easy fixtures in the Premier League. But Reading have from now until December before they meet any more of last season's top four. That can give them time to find their feet. Then comes the January window when some of the Zingarevich cash can be used to strengthen further.

Nobody is suggesting it will be an easy season. But finishing 20th? I fancy my friend has got it wrong.

[creative_username_1]

What do any of these 'experts' actually know about predicting results. They pull them out of thin air based on their
opinion like anyone else. They're not held accountable or if they are it's a '75% win rate' which prolly means they're
only breaking even.

[3 veesinarow]

Ralph Ellis = most sensible, even-handed, non-hysterical, reasonable, balanced, informed and educated pundit...ever.

[Ian Royal]

Not much point taking issue with Lawrenson predicting us to lose away when we've not won a game yet, got stuffed in our last outing and are the new boys.

If we start winning games and he's still predicting us to lose every week, then have a go.

[Stuboo]

Not much point taking issue with Lawrenson predicting us to lose away when we've not won a game yet, got stuffed in our last outing and are the new boys.

If we start winning games and he's still predicting us to lose every week, then have a go.

I don't think it is Lawrensen predicting us to lose, but more the over the top doom laden analysis he gives, which is the issue. Writing off our whole squad is clearly excessive, and he makes no mention of the more positive things like Pogrebnyak, our good manager, our tendency to start slow, or our great squad mentality.

He's already done that. We went on a massive winning run at the end of last season and he was predicting us to choke and fall away.

[RoyalBlue]

Not much point taking issue with Lawrenson predicting us to lose away when we've not won a game yet, got stuffed in our last outing and are the new boys.

If we start winning games and he's still predicting us to lose every week, then have a go.

I don't think it is Lawrensen predicting us to lose, but more the over the top doom laden analysis he gives, which is the issue. Writing off our whole squad is clearly excessive, and he makes no mention of the more positive things like Pogrebnyak, our good manager, our tendency to start slow, or our great squad mentality.

He's already done that. We went on a massive winning run at the end of last season and he was predicting us to choke and fall away.

Our tendency to slow start is in no way a positive thing when we are trying to survive in an extremely high quality league with a significantly smaller number of games in a season.

[bracksroyal10]

Think it was Lawro/Hansen who assumed we would go down last time as well in our 1st prem season.

As for Paul Merson he is just the most clueless o.t.t pundit in the business he doesn't know what he is talking about half the time. Thats the one thing our team has always been good at which is bouncing back the next game.

We will come good and I would be happy with a point come saturday as long as we don't lose I am happy.

[Stuboo]

Not much point taking issue with Lawrenson predicting us to lose away when we've not won a game yet, got stuffed in our last outing and are the new boys.

If we start winning games and he's still predicting us to lose every week, then have a go.

I don't think it is Lawrensen predicting us to lose, but more the over the top doom laden analysis he gives, which is the issue. Writing off our whole squad is clearly excessive, and he makes no mention of the more positive things like Pogrebnyak, our good manager, our tendency to start slow, or our great squad mentality.

He's already done that. We went on a massive winning run at the end of last season and he was predicting us to choke and fall away.

Our tendency to slow start is in no way a positive thing when we are trying to survive in an extremely high quality league with a significantly smaller number of games in a season.

It is our ability to pick ourselves up after a poor start, which we've shown in the past, which is what I was referring too. This is an encouraging sign that a slow start this season is nothing to be overly concerned about surely

[bracksroyal10]

^ agreed even an in form Reading would of struggled to beat Spurs at their best. As long as we are not throwing away silly points to the teams in and around us e.g. losing to Southampton, I have every confidence we will be alright.

[melonhead]

spurs were only at their best cos we allowed them to play how they wanted and build confidence and form through the game.
their defence was shaky as hell, and could have been got at.


lol at griping at lawro for predicting losses and saying we are rubbish


as far as he is concerned all hes seen of us is teh spurs game. and all of his comments seem pretty fair from that perspective

[Stuboo]

LOL at that analysis Melonhead. Lawro has been saying we're rubbish even when we've been good. He's supposed to be a pro and research other games, not just the ones on tele like Tottenham. He's a clown.

[TBM]

Why do you lot get so worked up over the truth?!

[melonhead]

LOL at that analysis Melonhead. Lawro has been saying we're rubbish even when we've been good. He's supposed to be a pro and research other games, not just the ones on tele like Tottenham. He's a clown.

technically we are pretty rubbish compared to most teams in this league
thats what hes judging it on


if we manage to do well, or just stay up, it will be bacause of our togetherness and team work, more than our individual skills and abilities
this is what we know we have, but that he finds difficult to assess due to not knowing us very well


stop being so precious

[melonhead]

LOL at that analysis Melonhead. Lawro has been saying we're rubbish even when we've been good. He's supposed to be a pro and research other games, not just the ones on tele like Tottenham. He's a clown.

he doesnt getpayed to predict, its not his job.
prediction is a very shaky business.

im sure he gives his prediction nothing more than cursory thought every week
cos thats all anyones are worth

[Gordons Cumming]

I'm not sure if anyone is aware of this, but Lawro has been employed this season by Reading FC as their chief motivator.

HTH

[Stuboo]

Well, I don't believe what Lawro says to be the truth (it's not the full truth anyway, just the bad bits). And I think it's entirely natural to be a bit miffed about Lawro's unballanced comments, unjust as they are. But it's not just that, it's his miserable, depressing punditry and his snidey, negativity about everything.

Good point Gordon - the team may be able to use Lawro's unfair negativity as motivation to prove him wrong.