Will we finish bottom

[Delboy]

The bookmakers have us to finish bottom, after yesterday I have to agree, but maybe a bet on us staying up would be good odds after 4 defeats!

[Fezza]

If you want to throw your money away you could just give it to me!

[marysiaska]

Saw this online........makes interesting reading and I agree with most of it...what do you guys think?

Newly promoted Reading have been among the most active clubs in the transfer market, having signed seven players, as they seek some much needed Premier League nous. As with pretty much all newly promoted clubs, their sights will be firmly set on the seventeenth position in the division, and anything better than that will be an unexpected bonus.

The last time the Royals featured in the Premier League they had won the 2005–06 Championship with a league record 106 points, and carried this confidence into the following season, where they finished in a highly unexpected eighth position. However, the competition in the Premier League has become even fiercer since then, and though Reading repeated the feat of winning the Championship last season, they may find their staty in the Premier League to be a temporary one. Here are ten reasons why:


1. Bargain Basement Signings

Pavel Pogrebnyak, available on a Bosman free transfer after leaving Fulham, can be considered a good signing. However, aside from this, Reading have picked up a few players from the Championship, Nicky Shorey, a journeyman left-back released by West Brom, Danny Guthrie who has failed to make the grade at either Liverpool or Newcastle, and a seventeen year-old from the League of Ireland. Not a collection of players likely to send tremors through the Premier League.

2. Struggled for Goals in the Championship

Reading topped the Championship last season, but won no less than ten matches by the scoreline of 1-0, and only scored 69 goals all season, considerably less than the other promoted sides, Southampton and West Ham. If the Royals struggled for goals in the Championship, they can expect to find things much harder in the Premier League, and they have signed only one forward, the relatively untried Pavel Pogrebnyak.

3. Not a Particularly Intimidating Home Stadium

The Madejski stadium is one of the smallest in the Premier League, and not known for the rarefied atmosphere associated with the likes of Stoke’s Britannia Stadium, or West Ham’s Upton Park. With Reading needing to make their home ground a fortress, as they are unlikely to win a huge amount of games away from home, this could count against them.

4. Hardly Any Players with Premier League Experience

Apart from the couple of summer signings the Royals have picked up with a little Premier League pedigree, the only players in their side with any experience of the division are Ian Harte and Jason Roberts, both of whom are well past their best days. The rest of their squad is comprised of players who have plied their trade in the lower leagues. Other teams have prospered with similar squads, but certainly the odds are against Reading doing the same.

5. Lower Leagues Manager

Brian McDermott managed Slough Town and Woking before joining Reading as Chief Scout in 2000. He steadily built a reputation at the club, before being appointed manager in 2009. While he must be commended for the achievement of gaining promotion, this season will pose a much tougher task for McDermott, and he has absolutely no experience of any comparable standard of football.

6. No Obvious Goalscorer

Adam le Fondre was the only Reading player to get into double figures last season, with twelve goals, and le Fondre has no Premier League experience, and has spent most of his career plying his trade in the lower leagues with Stockport, Rochdale and Rotherham. The Royals are placing a lot of expectation on Pogrebnyak to score goals for them, as they have few other obvious candidates.

7. Difficult Opening Fixtures

Reading begin the season with Stoke at home, Chelsea away, Sunderland away and Tottenham at home. This is hardly the sort of opening the Royals would have wanted, and they could find themselves near the foot of the table from the start of the season.

8. Small Transfer Budget Means no January Signings

If Reading find themselves struggling come January, the small status of the club will likely mean that there is little or no money available for signings to strengthen the squad.

9. Little Flair

Reading have a squad of honest, mostly British and Irish, professionals, but there is little sign of the sort of creativity and flair that will be required in the Premier League. This may explain why they struggled for goals in the Championship, but this deficiency will surely be magnified in the Premier League.

10. Previous Seasons’ Statistics Against Them

Previous Premier League seasons would suggest that at least one of the newly promoted sides is usually relegated. With West Ham and Southampton both better equipped to maintain their Premier League status it could be that this ignominy is destined to befell the Royals.

Christopher Morris || WorldSoccerBars.com

Share this:






































Tags

Adam Johnson Agüero Arsenal Aston Villa Barcelona Barclays Premier League Bars Brendan Rodgers Chelsea Clint Dempsey EPL EPL Season Previews Euro 2012 Everton Fulham Gareth Bale Juan Mata Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Man City Man Utd Martin O’ Neill Newcastle Norwich Oscar QPR Reading Robin van Persie Sir Alex Ferguson Southampton Spain Steven Fletcher Stoke Sunderland Suárez Swansea Theo Walcott Torres Tottenham UEFA Champions League Bars van Persie Wenger West Brom West Ham Wigan






Home |
About |
Advertise |
Get Listed |
Contact Us |

(c) 2009 - 20012 WorldSoccerBars.com - All Rights Reserved
The bars & pubs listed here show English Premier League (EPL), La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, UEFA Champions League, Europa League, FA Cup,

[Big Ern]

Yes

[MeMeMe]

All true, but point 9 hits the nail on the head:

"9. Little Flair

Reading have a squad of honest, mostly British and Irish, professionals, but there is little sign of the sort of creativity and flair that will be required in the Premier League. This may explain why they struggled for goals in the Championship, but this deficiency will surely be magnified in the Premier League."

When it comes to creativity, our midfield is dire. We have a midfield of run and puff nothing more at the moment, maybe Kebe & Guthrie apart, but they are both nowhere to be seen.

So if it stays that way... bottom place, championship and one embarrassed Anton here we come.

[AirRaidSiren]

Yes, and the way we are going, with a record Premiership lowest points tally

[SydenhamRoyal]

Yes, and the way we are going, with a record Premiership lowest points tally

No. We may finish bottom but we will get more than 11 points

[RoyalBlue]

5 and 9 so absolutely spot on.

With the benefit of hindsight, someone with significant PL management experience should have been appointed to assist B McD. Would have probably proven to be a superb signing!


And yes, we will finish rock bottom (love to be proven wrong) because, unlike Brian, Harry is telling it as it is and isn't afraid to upset people and ring the changes.

[bcubed]

All true
Who wrote it and when?

[dodgydave1987]

Yes.

[Ian Royal]

If McDermott stays I can't see much else right now. QPR have already almost caught up with us.

[Terminal Boardom]

face the facts and accept that the squad is not good enough. The style of football that sneaked the Championship last season is absolutely no threat to any of the PL teams. It is like trying to break into the Bank of England armed with a pea shooter.

[bcubed]

face the facts and accept that the squad is not good enough. The style of football that sneaked the Championship last season is absolutely no threat to any of the PL teams. It is like trying to break into the Bank of England armed with a pea shooter.

But 19 goals scored is better than 7 other teams, suggesting that defence is the problem
so to me its not that we are no threat it is that we concede too much possession with the system we use and put ourselves under too much pressure
In the championship we got away with this because opposition teams were not as fast or as clinical

[REMTARDROYAL]

face the facts and accept that the squad is not good enough. The style of football that sneaked the Championship last season is absolutely no threat to any of the PL teams. It is like trying to break into the Bank of England armed with a pea shooter.

But 19 goals scored is better than 7 other teams, suggesting that defence is the problem
so to me its not that we are no threat it is that we concede too much possession with the system we use and put ourselves under too much pressure
In the championship we got away with this because opposition teams were not as fast or as clinical

exactly, we played a high pressing, counter-attacking game. It's not dependent on flair but decent defenses will cope. The problem is that Championship players broadly cannot create goals out of nothing, while most Premiership teams have a player or two who can.

[REMTARDROYAL]

Also, I think 7 plus the rearranged fixtures hammered us in that we couldn't get momentum and we had time to stew over a relatively poor (but not unexpectedly so) start.

[jazz]

No, below that.

[TommyF]

Point 11. That the quality of the refereeing in the early games will be so poor that no matter how well they play they get screwed. This will make the team feel like nothing is going for them and leave them totally demoralised and frustrated, feeling the weight of points 1-10 more heavily than they otherwise would.

[SydenhamRoyal]

face the facts and accept that the squad is not good enough. The style of football that sneaked the Championship last season is absolutely no threat to any of the PL teams. It is like trying to break into the Bank of England armed with a pea shooter.

But 19 goals scored is better than 7 other teams, suggesting that defence is the problem
so to me its not that we are no threat it is that we concede too much possession with the system we use and put ourselves under too much pressure
In the championship we got away with this because opposition teams were not as fast or as clinical

So we broke into the Bank of England well enough but made our get away in a Reliant Robin?

[Rea Ding]

Mcdermott will get us out of trouble, starting next monday

[SydenhamRoyal]

Mcdermott will get us out of trouble, starting next monday

So you reckon we'll lose tomorrow?