Season 20/21

[Hound]

bottom third rather than bottom 3. Ie 16th or below

Well now I feel stupid.

well actually its 17th or below isnt it, so I can feel equally thick

[linkenholtroyal]

It is quite hard to tell when the squad is not finished yet. A quality couple of wide players, and another wing back and we would be looking at top half. As things stand anywhere around last years finish would be about right. After Colchester I feel a lot better though. Araruna has been transformed into an ok wing back who can cross. Laurent looks an absolute find. We will be ok.

[Snowflake Royal]

The Second Tier Podcast have predicted us to finish 20th this season.. feels harsh..

Yeah, but probably not by much.

From an outside perspective we're a team that finished badly and have been down there consistently. We've just released about 12 players and brought one in from the lower leagues and we've sacked our manager on the eve of the new season and replaced him with a guy with a spotty record and no English experience. Plus it's known we have financial problems.

It's not hard to see why someone would tip us to struggle.

I'd like to think Luton, Wycombe, Rotherham, Coventry and Barnsley plus Wednesday would fair worse but I think we easily fit in the next tier up of your Birminghams etc.

I agree...they didn’t seem biased against us (unlike Not The Top 20) and raised some very valid points. This is the outside view across the league & it’s due to the instability we have. I’d place us a couple of places higher but no more.

Can’t really expect a manager with no English football experience to come and work wonders straight away

Championship is hard to predict, so whilst I'd lean towards 16th to 19th, if we've somehow lucked into a good appointment despite awful decision after awful decision I wouldn't say its impossible to see us finish 7th to 12th. Particularly if Joao stays fit. Bloody unlikely, but not impossible.

[Crowbar6753]

If we can keep our main core of players fairly injury free and strengthen out wide i really do believe we have the capability of suprising a few people this season.
In Joao and Puscas we have two very good strikers who just need support, in Olise, Ejaria and Swift we have the capability to provide the support to our strikers. Laurent and Rinhomota provide the engine room to our midfield and should allow our playmakers to do their thing.
Defence i would say is our weakest area with another centre back and left back a priority. And in Rafeal and Southwood we have two solid keepers on board.
Our promising crop of youngsters are a year older and wiser and we should start reaping the rewards.

And finally theirs the new manager and supporting staff, i feel for Bowen, but his track record over the later half of the season was appaling. If and its a big if, the new man can motivate the players and we get 3 or 4 new faces in i feel a top half finish is not out of the question.

We will have a better idea after Saturday and especially after the first round of games which are pretty tough.

[Snowflake Royal]

Yeah, but probably not by much.

From an outside perspective we're a team that finished badly and have been down there consistently. We've just released about 12 players and brought one in from the lower leagues and we've sacked our manager on the eve of the new season and replaced him with a guy with a spotty record and no English experience. Plus it's known we have financial problems.

It's not hard to see why someone would tip us to struggle.

I'd like to think Luton, Wycombe, Rotherham, Coventry and Barnsley plus Wednesday would fair worse but I think we easily fit in the next tier up of your Birminghams etc.

I agree...they didn’t seem biased against us (unlike Not The Top 20) and raised some very valid points. This is the outside view across the league & it’s due to the instability we have. I’d place us a couple of places higher but no more.

Can’t really expect a manager with no English football experience to come and work wonders straight away

The first bit is all well and good but the second bit?? There is surely plenty of examples.

Name them for the Championship.

First season uplift of at least 8 places or promotion / PO final, is my arbitrary requirement. If you get more than 5 in the last 5 years I'll buy you an ice cream.

[andrew1957]

As usual where we finish will mainly be down to how we start the season. A strong start normally means a good season in this division. I have tracked this for some years and on average if a side is struggling after 10 games they have an 85+% chance of ending up bottom half at the end of the season.

Rather worryingly we have a tough start by the look of it - certainly in terms of away games to Derby, Cardiff and Boro plus a home game to Watford in the first 6 - although the other two home games v Barnsley and Wycombe should be winnable. 10 points from that 6 would be a good start IMO.

[NewCorkSeth]

I agree...they didn’t seem biased against us (unlike Not The Top 20) and raised some very valid points. This is the outside view across the league & it’s due to the instability we have. I’d place us a couple of places higher but no more.

Can’t really expect a manager with no English football experience to come and work wonders straight away

The first bit is all well and good but the second bit?? There is surely plenty of examples.

Name them for the Championship.

First season uplift of at least 8 places or promotion / PO final, is my arbitrary requirement. If you get more than 5 in the last 5 years I'll buy you an ice cream.

Um.. Nuno and Stam probably it but Farke and Wagner were both inexperienced and got their respective teams up a bit. There's probably someone obvious I'm forgetting.

[Crowbar6753]

As usual where we finish will mainly be down to how we start the season. A strong start normally means a good season in this division. I have tracked this for some years and on average if a side is struggling after 10 games they have an 85+% chance of ending up bottom half at the end of the season.

Rather worryingly we have a tough start by the look of it - certainly in terms of away games to Derby, Cardiff and Boro plus a home game to Watford in the first 6 - although the other two home games v Barnsley and Wycombe should be winnable. 10 points from that 6 would be a good start IMO.

10 points from the first 6 games should be mid of the table and a great platform to push on, especially after those first set of tough fixtures.

[Snowflake Royal]

The first bit is all well and good but the second bit?? There is surely plenty of examples.

Name them for the Championship.

First season uplift of at least 8 places or promotion / PO final, is my arbitrary requirement. If you get more than 5 in the last 5 years I'll buy you an ice cream.

Um.. Nuno and Stam probably it but Farke and Wagner were both inexperienced and got their respective teams up a bit. There's probably someone obvious I'm forgetting.

Someone doesn't want an icecream much.

[NewCorkSeth]

Name them for the Championship.

First season uplift of at least 8 places or promotion / PO final, is my arbitrary requirement. If you get more than 5 in the last 5 years I'll buy you an ice cream.

Um.. Nuno and Stam probably it but Farke and Wagner were both inexperienced and got their respective teams up a bit. There's probably someone obvious I'm forgetting.

Someone doesn't want an icecream much.

Bielsa! Thats 3. Give me time.

Jokanovic is 4 and Carlos Carvalhal is 5.

[SCIAG]

If Jaap Stam counts, Frank Lampard?

[NewCorkSeth]

If Jaap Stam counts, Frank Lampard?

Turns out I didnt need him.

[Snowflake Royal]

Should have said 10

I'm afraid the icecream is collection only.

[NewCorkSeth]

Should have said 10

I'm afraid the icecream is collection only.

You save that ice cream. The majority of those managers flopped shortly after anyway.

[SCIAG]

Should have said 10

I'm afraid the icecream is collection only.

You save that ice cream. The majority of those managers flopped shortly after anyway.

Did they? Stam and Carvahal, sure, but the rest, at worst they're still writing their stories.

[Notts Royal]

I could be completely wrong here but I thought Farke had a very average 1st season at Norwich and they were hovering around mid table - was talk about him being sacked at one point. As Norwich are a really well run club they stuck with him and it paid off

Wagner I think had a greater impact at Huddersfield but they didn’t win promotion I’m his 1st season.

Will Dai give his man the same amount of time? Bowen showed considerable improvement but it wasn’t enough. Both those podcasts have alluded to that and said what Reading really need is stability and Bowen started to provide that but we pulled the trigger too quickly.

It’s highly unlikely Paunovic is going to be able to work out the squad before the start of the season so there’s a fair chance we will be slow starters and then panic buy on transfer deadline day again. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen as we have a decent enough 1st team and what they badly need is time, and a bit more depth. Hopefully strategy will change and they will be given that time, but history tells us there’s no point holding out any hope!

[linkenholtroyal]

Pure speculation so not worth own thread but Jack Robinson has just become third choice lb at Sheff Utd. Plays wing back for them aswell. Might be one we are looking at.

[NewCorkSeth]

Should have said 10

I'm afraid the icecream is collection only.

You save that ice cream. The majority of those managers flopped shortly after anyway.

Did they? Stam and Carvahal, sure, but the rest, at worst they're still writing their stories.

You are quite right. Those 2 just sucked so bad that I brought down the rest of the grades.

[NewCorkSeth]

I could be completely wrong here but I thought Farke had a very average 1st season at Norwich and they were hovering around mid table - was talk about him being sacked at one point. As Norwich are a really well run club they stuck with him and it paid off

Wagner I think had a greater impact at Huddersfield but they didn’t win promotion I’m his 1st season.

Will Dai give his man the same amount of time? Bowen showed considerable improvement but it wasn’t enough. Both those podcasts have alluded to that and said what Reading really need is stability and Bowen started to provide that but we pulled the trigger too quickly.

It’s highly unlikely Paunovic is going to be able to work out the squad before the start of the season so there’s a fair chance we will be slow starters and then panic buy on transfer deadline day again. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen as we have a decent enough 1st team and what they badly need is time, and a bit more depth. Hopefully strategy will change and they will be given that time, but history tells us there’s no point holding out any hope!

Hence why those 2 were not included in the 5.

[Nameless]

Will Dai give his man the same amount of time? Bowen showed considerable improvement but it wasn’t enough. Both those podcasts have alluded to that and said what Reading really need is stability and Bowen started to provide that but we pulled the trigger too quickly.

It’s highly unlikely Paunovic is going to be able to work out the squad before the start of the season so there’s a fair chance we will be slow starters and then panic buy on transfer deadline day again. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen as we have a decent enough 1st team and what they badly need is time, and a bit more depth. Hopefully strategy will change and they will be given that time, but history tells us there’s no point holding out any hope!

You are just so relentlessly negative !
You’ve talked yourself into such a downbeat approach for very little reason.
Just stop over analysing, try being a little more objective ! This is just football, really not worth being a depressive for no reason.....