It is one man's fault

[Tommy Jones]

Have to disagree,

Coppell has made errors but he has put his faith in the players this year and had it kicked back in his face. . . . . Lita, Shorey, Sonko are good examples. There are other influences at work also . . . . Who is it stated clearly Fae was the class player for this team . . . .Put your hands up Mr Hammond !!!! At the end of the day everyone at the club must stand up and take thier share of the blame from the top down !!!

[working class hero]

This has been a really appalling season.
However from 55 mins today the belief seemed to come back and quite frankly we could have scored a couple [but didn't!]. I was pleased with the attitude in the second half.

If Coppell leaves I will be disappointed. Sure there was a transfer budget and he didn't splash cash. But unless there is a competitive wage structure [and I have said before I am agin paying extravagant wages] then he is not to blame. Look at our competitors. They all threw cash and wages around in January. And they are still going to struggle on the last day. IF we win at Derby it will possibly be enough. Even a draw might be enough....

We are not cut adrift at the foot like Derby. We are still competing.

Rather than calling Coppell incompetent we should be praising the ability of a man who took us to record breaking success on a shoestring. Who took us to the verge of Europe in our first ever Prem Season - again on low resources. Who has us in the mix at the end of this season despite being hamstrung by the parsimony of Madejski. The person most to blame is our Chairman. His tight control will possibly cost the Club its status. It should certainly cut his profit if he does manage to flog the club. £108 million? Pull the other one! Talk about spoiling the ship for a haporth of tar.

If Coppell is sacked it will be a disgrace. I suspect he will walk at the end of the season whether or not we stay up. Why stay when the fans are fickle ingrates with the memories of goldfish? And in the knowledge that he will still be constrained by pecuniary restrictions next season.

Coppell is magic,
His critics are tragic.....

[Apocalypse Now]

When the going gets tough, Coppell burys his head in the sand.

Even if he manages a miracle next week he should be sacked.

[earleyroyal]

When the going gets tough, Coppell burys his head in the sand.

Even if he manages a miracle next week he should be sacked.

User avatar
Apocalypse Now
Member

Posts: 62
Joined: 02 Jun 2006 15:01
Location: " Has anyone here at this reading home game, got a season ticket"- Pa Dickhead

Pa must be proud.

[Mr Controversial]

To add my view and to answer the original point of this thread- this is certainly not one mans fault.

I cannot believe how Nicky Hammond comes out of this so unscathed - I mean, what value does an ex-keeper like Hammond bring to RFC. As I understand it, he is in charge of identifying possible transfer targets and ensuring that we encourage them to come to RFC. From my point of view this is the key area in which we have failed and it has had the biggest influence on our impending relegation.

An interesting point that came from the recent Fae/Sonko saga, was a comment made by Fae in which he said "I would never join a club again until I have met the manager". This would suggest to me that Mr Coppell didnt have much to do with the Fae transfer. I honestly believe that the reason we didnt make any significant signings is not due to Mr Coppell but due to a lack of ability by Mr Hammond who in all honestly couldnt encourage someone out of a burning building, let alone in to Reading FC.

Maybe clear lines are drawn that we dont know about, transfers are for Mr Hammond to deal with, Mr Coppell is to stay well clear, and Mr Hammond squeeky voice alone is enough to deter anyone from taking RFC seriously. I suspect we had a long list of transfer targets, I would even wager that RFC made several bids that we are unaware about, I am 100% sure that the reason the transfers failed was due to an uninspiring, football "has been" who never even played anywhere near the level of football we are at now. This might also go on to explain why Mr Coppell didnt feel it necessary to give the limited new signings we have made a decent run in the team.

Wherever you look at RFC, the staff or the players, we are built on a shoestring and we have been caught out - Mr Hammond especially!

As they say, you pay peanuts, you get monkies.

Mr C

[papereyes]

When all's said and done, next season we'll be in a weaker position squad-wise than we were when he took over.

well I think that rather depends on who is here next season.

The squad that he took over wasn't good enough to go up, /

Hahemann in goal

shorey murty

sidwell, harper

that is five. Half the side and arguably the better half

[papereyes]

I'll offer you Forest/Bradford/Leicester/Southampton and Oldham as potential teams for your big ideas.

They all went down. We really could avoid that

[papereyes]

Well we could had spent £40m and gone down, but i guess i am looking on the bright side......

Instead we spent about £5 million and did a good effort at beng mediocre

[Mad Dog's Ghost]

A huge thank you to Steve Coppell for two of the greatest seasons we'll ever see (actually, we'll never see a better season than the Championship year). But it's time for change. 'The Reading Way' has gone out the window this year with players being frozen out, some getting picked week in, week out regardless of form, bitching and moaning (not just on HNA), off the field incidents and the complete abandonment of the flowing wingplay which got us to the premiership. To not have brought in a proper replacement for Little (and actually reduced our options there by getting rid of a right sided attacker, lazy though he was) is bewildering.

I agree that we shouldn't have mortgaged ourselves to the hilt, but SOME proper investment in the areas where we were so lacking would have really helped. Next season is going to be tough. Very tough IF by some miracle we stay up. And there won't be an exodus if we go down. Very few players who will attract Premiership attention. Doyle is on a very decent long-term contract along with Hunt. Who's going to pay a fee and match our wages? Shorey might go to a newly promoted team. Bikey may stay in the prem simply because he's probably on a modest ish salary and has potential.

[Platypuss]

Coppell and Madejski are equally culpable - they have both been happy to sit within their rspective complacent comfort zones without fear of being challenged by the other.

[RoyalBlue]

Whilst I agree that if we do manage to stay up it will be despite, rather than because of, what Steve Coppell has done this season, I think it is wrong to lay the blame solely at his feet.

Anyone who really believes that he had the freedom to compete effectively in the transfer market when it came to fees and wages really is living on another planet! It's all very well Chairman John stating money was available to the manager but just how much?

Did the manager even know how much he had available? Everyone on this forum ought to be able to acknowledge that it's pretty damn hard to go and do your weekly shop when you don't know how much you have to spend! It could well be that Coppell was left in exactly the same position when it came to shopping for players because Mick Gooding has repeatedly stated that the Chairman doesn't define budgets as such and that managers have to ask for money as they need it. What a way to run a business!! To continue the shopping analogy, how does Coppell know whether he can afford to shop at Tesco or Waitrose? How does he know whether he can buy main course and a desert? Fishfingers or cod steaks?!!! And if it was just fishfingers, maybe that's why he decided to stick with the frozen fish he had in his freezer!!

IMO we have a Championship Chairman at best who lives and talks the PL dream but wants to achieve it on an average Championship budget. I wonder how keen his showbiz 'friends' will be to come to see games against the likes of Swansea next season. JM was happy to bask in the glory with Steve Coppell over the past couple of seasons, he must now share the criticism.

[mr_number]

it seems crazy to blame madejski for getting us to the premier league and then not having the money to finance it. without madejski we'd never have come close to the premiership.

[RoyalBlue]

it seems crazy to blame madejski for getting us to the premier league and then not having the money to finance it. without madejski we'd never have come close to the premiership.

There are others out there who are prepared to buy themselves fame or just blow some of their many millions on an interesting hobby.

What amazes me is that there are still some people who really seem to believe that JM did what he did out of the goodness of his heart and with no thought whatsoever as to what he might get out of it!

He talks a damn good game but this season he's performed about as well as the team has on the pitch (IMO).

[M Brook]

If any one person is to blame, its Madejski. When Coppell walks at the end of the season, I hope he comes clean and tells us the truth about our remarkably niaive (football wise) Chairman.

[mr_number]

There are others out there who are prepared to buy themselves fame or just blow some of their many millions on an interesting hobby.

What amazes me is that there are still some people who really seem to believe that JM did what he did out of the goodness of his heart and with no thought whatsoever as to what he might get out of it!

He talks a damn good game but this season he's performed about as well as the team has on the pitch (IMO).

Where are these others? JM has said he'd be willing to sell to someone with enough money to take the team forward... It's hardly his fault that no one's come forward.
I think you'll also find that for the money JM invested, and the time it took to get his money back (which I doubt he has yet), could have earnt far, far more money in that time in virtually any other means of investing. We should be thankful to him.

[RoyalBlue]

There are others out there who are prepared to buy themselves fame or just blow some of their many millions on an interesting hobby.

What amazes me is that there are still some people who really seem to believe that JM did what he did out of the goodness of his heart and with no thought whatsoever as to what he might get out of it!

He talks a damn good game but this season he's performed about as well as the team has on the pitch (IMO).

Where are these others? JM has said he'd be willing to sell to someone with enough money to take the team forward... It's hardly his fault that no one's come forward.
I think you'll also find that for the money JM invested, and the time it took to get his money back (which I doubt he has yet), could have earnt far, far more money in that time in virtually any other means of investing. We should be thankful to him.

It is his fault that no one will buy the club if he's asking an unrealistic price for it and also wants to keep his own name plastered all over the product!!

There are still other rich businessmen/syndicates coming in to pick up other failing clubs.

It seems to me that the man craves recognition and likes to have his name very much in the public spotlight. How better to do that than become associated with a football club? Is there a cheaper way of putting your name into the public spotlight week in week out? If he had invested his money in premium bonds instead, he would have still been virtually unkown outside maybe the business community. This has been a symbiotic relationship at best. IMO, charity doesn't even begin to come into it.

But if you're happy to keep applauding him each time he comes out to wave his hands at his adoring public.......

[Alan Partridge]

'we shouldn't spend good money, look at Leeds' is possibly the WORST arguement on here.

What about Portsmouth? a similar club to us struggling at the bottom, invested in quality and are a top club now with a cup final to look forward to. Or what about Aston Villa? Or Wigan? Or Sunderland? Or Everton? Fulham gave it a go in January..but i forgot the HNA experts 'Fulham are already down'

No one was asking RFC to risk their future, what they were asking was suitable investment using the money we were given at the start of the season by the league so that we could do just that. The club has a right to spend money once it's in the Premiership. The league and Sky want to show the best product possible, we as fans of a top 20 team in this country want to see the best possible football, and rightly so. Don't want to see half of the cloggers Coppell has actually signed. I made the point about a year ago that one summer apart, Coppell's record in the transfer market has been absolutely atrocious. He has signed ONE player (Bikey) that has actually made a significant difference to the squad in 2 and a half years of transfer money. That is absolutely unacceptable, and if he was a manager of any other club in this league, he'd have been sacked by now.

The main feeling from this season is one of 'we never even tried' we heard all the hot air about ambition, the need to up ST prices so we can compete, we heard all of MAdejski and Coppell's spin on transfers, and yet again we bought it and yet again they haven't delivered. If we go down this year then heads should roll and someone should start taking some responsibilty for this absolute disaster of a season. We've had players in court, players frozen out, players suspended, players falling out with each other on and off the pitch, and Coppell seems to be losing a bit of control of the dressing room.

Sometimes things at clubs can just go stale, it all gets to familiar and a shake up of players or the coaching staff is needed to give the place new life, we COULD well be getting to that stage, coppell's work here over the last 5 years has been unrivalled by anyone in the past, it might just be the time for someone else to try and accomplish something similar for RFC's future.

[Fezza]

And that man is Steve Coppell

1. He decides we need no investment in the summer

2. He decides we need no investment in the winter

3. His subs are too late

4. His team selection is crap

5. He has personal vendettas against certain people

6. He has love affairs with others

If we go down it is his fault, some will blame the chairman, but the money has always been there.....it is coppell who has refused to spend it

Is your surname Fae?

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

it seems crazy to blame madejski for getting us to the premier league and then not having the money to finance it. without madejski we'd never have come close to the premiership.

There are others out there who are prepared to buy themselves fame or just blow some of their many millions on an interesting hobby.

What amazes me is that there are still some people who really seem to believe that JM did what he did out of the goodness of his heart and with no thought whatsoever as to what he might get out of it!
.

simply because for over 15 years Madejski got hardly anything out of it. It seems a curious thing to do, buy a club that's struggling financially and for support, with little obvious prospects of improving, and think "this is going to make famous in 15 years time".

Overall, I don't think it's the fault of any one person. That sort of thinking tends to stem from those who just want someone to kick in frustration to make themselves feel better.

I'd put it down to failure from top to bottom.

Madejski didn't make enough money available, or at least with his "I don't set a budget" philosophy, didn't make it clear how much money was available.

The scouting network has failed miserably to deliver players who can claim a first team place.

The moneymen who agreed to the pre-season tour of South Korea have a hand in it too, as the heat & humidty of the East Asian summer meant we couldn't have a proper pre-season, and we came back looking tired, unfit and lacking in confidence.

Coppell and the rest of the management team were too loyal to the current players, both in not dropping players who are out of form, and also thinking that players such as gunnarsson have earned the right to be given the chance of replacing Sidwell. They knew the season would be hard, and if they chose not to strengthen a lot of blame is at their door.

They are also at fault for not addressing the problems in how the team plays the game, which has seen the style and shape of the team vanish completely, leaving us devoid of ideas even when we put a lot of effort in. The same goes for set-pieces, which have gone from a strength to a weakness in 12 months.

The players are also at fault for perhaps believing they are better than they are and getting slack, and no longer thinking they have to stick rigidly to the kind of gameplan that served us so well in the past.

In a word though, I'd say it's down to complacency. The set-up at the club had worked so well for so long that nobody seemed to question anything, and it seemed to be assumed that everything would just carry on ticking along nicely.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

'we shouldn't spend good money, look at Leeds' is possibly the WORST arguement on here.

What about Portsmouth? a similar club to us struggling at the bottom, invested in quality and are a top club now with a cup final to look forward to. Or what about Aston Villa? Or Wigan? Or Sunderland? Or Everton? Fulham gave it a go in January..but i forgot the HNA experts 'Fulham are already down'
.

Portsmouth, Wigan and Fulham have chairmen willing to throw money away to keep their clubs up. They have not "invested", they are just Abromovich types to a lesser degree.

When we can get average crowds of 40,000 and have fan bases even remotely approaching Aston Villa, Sunderland and Everton, they would be worthwhile comparisons.