Humble Pie

[Avon Royal]

And if we'd sold players in Jan?

Like I say, we'll never know.

[Arch]

People who thought we were in danger of relegation should eat humble pie, as should those who used the situation in the first half of the season to disparage SJM. He knew what to do to keep us afloat and did it, and he knew what to do to make us really competitive, and barring the signatures he's done that too. Sir John knows. Without (a) Roberts and (b) the confidence that the new investment brought, I think it's fair to say we'd probably be kicking around with the likes of Boro and Cardiff right now. But in the final analysis optimism has proven more prescient than pessimism.

[tink]

Who knows? I genuinely don't think that many were on their way out, maybe Kebe would have gone, but I wasn't overly concerned.

If we'd lost Brian to Wolves, that would have been a different story altogether, so undeniably, the Russian money kept Brian at the MadStad, ergo Russian money got us promoted

[Ian Royal]

And if we'd sold players in Jan?

Like I say, we'll never know.

When was the last time we did that? Oh yeah. Never.

[Man Friday]

I'm simply a pessimist and a cynic. But a fairly cheery one! Isn't that what being English is all about. I read sometimes the positive comments of people on here and wonder what nationality they are.

[Once were Biscuitmen]

The number of posters who said that no deal had happened because SJM was, "holding out for a ridiculous price" or that no deal could go through because he had forbidden any name change to the stadium was absurd at times.

I don't think the fact that money contributed hugely towards the promotion is in doubt but that is not what the dodger-lets were arguing....

[FiNeRaIn]

Brian was doing a fantastic job before the Russians came along, but the signing of Jason Roberts for me was what took us on. Its not just the effect he had on the pitch..it was also the dressing room with the experience and respect he brought, that wouldn't have happened without the investment which also seemed to spurr on the players. Now isn't the time for points scoring nad there is no STG win or an RTG win. The reality is somewhere in the middle as the added investment brought on a team that was already being shrewdly managed and operating successfully in line with expectations. BMD no matter how he got the results he did is paid to win football matches...his record this season and the job he has done with the resources he has been given since he has been here quite possibly makes him the greatest ever Reading manager in my eyes.

[Avon Royal]

And if we'd sold players in Jan?

Like I say, we'll never know.

When was the last time we did that? Oh yeah. Never.

Ah, so because we haven't done it in the past it means that we'll never ever do it. That's good to know.

[Ian Royal]

Brian was doing a fantastic job before the Russians came along, but the signing of Jason Roberts for me was what took us on. Its not just the effect he had on the pitch..it was also the dressing room with the experience and respect he brought, that wouldn't have happened without the investment which also seemed to spurr on the players. Now isn't the time for points scoring nad there is no STG win or an RTG win. The reality is somewhere in the middle as the added investment brought on a team that was already being shrewdly managed and operating successfully in line with expectations. BMD no matter how he got the results he did is paid to win football matches...his record this season and the job he has done with the resources he has been given since he has been here quite possibly makes him the greatest ever Reading manager in my eyes.

Balls to that, the STGs got their point scoring in in abundence when we went down. I'm damned if I'm missing out just because everyone is happy!

[Royal Rother]

We'll never know where the road we were on would have ended. We are on a new road now that none of us envisaged.

I'm going to stick my head above the parapet here - I did predict it.

I have said more than once (on here) during the last 5 years that the way we have been run made us an absolutely ideal target for a takeover - minimal debt, an academy producing the goods, a nice (still newish) stadium with an "easy" extra build, a sound infrastructure and a superb ethos and culture about the club... I was surprised it took so long but I guess that was because SJM would only deal with straight people.

Mind you, him going a bit skint probably helped...

[Avon Royal]

Brian was doing a fantastic job before the Russians came along, but the signing of Jason Roberts for me was what took us on. Its not just the effect he had on the pitch..it was also the dressing room with the experience and respect he brought, that wouldn't have happened without the investment which also seemed to spurr on the players. Now isn't the time for points scoring nad there is no STG win or an RTG win. The reality is somewhere in the middle as the added investment brought on a team that was already being shrewdly managed and operating successfully in line with expectations. BMD no matter how he got the results he did is paid to win football matches...his record this season and the job he has done with the resources he has been given since he has been here quite possibly makes him the greatest ever Reading manager in my eyes.

Balls to that, the STGs got their point scoring in in abundence when we went down. I'm damned if I'm missing out just because everyone is happy!

But you don't have any points to score.

Why is it so difficult for you to accept that events in January were game changers, despite everybody else in the football world agreeing that they were?

You may well have been right, we may have won promotion via the playoffs in any event. However, we may well have collapsed and been involved in a relegation battle. We have been known to have had our fair share of terrible second halves of seasons.

Nobody has been 'vindicated' - the fact is none of us will ever know what would have happened. All we know is that investment was forthcoming, Brian used it wisely and promotion was secured.

[Compo's Hat]

I will happily eat some humble pie. When Roberts arrived at the club i thought he would be more a waste than Shaun Goater, how wrong i was!

[The Rouge]

Yep, never would've happened without the Russians

M, your posts usually make good sense. This one not. The crucial factor was B McD.

Well obviously I agree Brian was key to the whole thing but he wouldn't have been able to do it if he hadn't been given funds to sign Roberts, Mullins etc

He wouldn't have even been here to do it!

[melonhead]

TBF, before the announcement of the Russian investment, our previous 11 league matches had yielded 24 pts out of a maximum 33.

Sorry to go all Snowball on you but at 2.18 points per game, that would have resulted in a seasonal points haul of 100.36

So yes, there can be no question that the Russian investment allowed us to really kick on, but we weren't exactly relegation fodder before they came along.

^^

[Maguire]

TBF, before the announcement of the Russian investment, our previous 11 league matches had yielded 24 pts out of a maximum 33.

Sorry to go all Snowball on you but at 2.18 points per game, that would have resulted in a seasonal points haul of 100.36

So yes, there can be no question that the Russian investment allowed us to really kick on, but we weren't exactly relegation fodder before they came along.

Fair, but I don't think anyone was predicting relegation in January!

[melonhead]

just eat it you bitches

[Terminal Boardom]

Brian was doing a fantastic job before the Russians came along, but the signing of Jason Roberts for me was what took us on. Its not just the effect he had on the pitch..it was also the dressing room with the experience and respect he brought, that wouldn't have happened without the investment which also seemed to spurr on the players. Now isn't the time for points scoring nad there is no STG win or an RTG win. The reality is somewhere in the middle as the added investment brought on a team that was already being shrewdly managed and operating successfully in line with expectations. BMD no matter how he got the results he did is paid to win football matches...his record this season and the job he has done with the resources he has been given since he has been here quite possibly makes him the greatest ever Reading manager in my eyes.

I agree with this. There can be little doubt that the announcement regarding TSI plus the acquisitions made in January - Roberts, Connolly and Cywka had a huge effect. It also went a long way towards Kebe signing a new contract. The rest is history. I am happy to have been proven wrong but I stand by what I said at the time because that is what I believed.

[taipeiroyal]

I think STG's are the breed of people who in general see life as shit and can never admit their mistakes. Some of the posting on here just a few months ago was so negative (and vitriolic) even when we were grinding out decent results. For example, I posted that i'd had a bet on us to win promotion at 6-1 and received the reply to the effect of "Why have you done that? Have you seen us play?"
Well, I'm not just celebrating promotion but am £600 richer to boot...will happily go out and buy the humble pie and watch some of you buggers chow down.

[Snowball]

Why is it so difficult for you to accept that events in January were game changers, despite everybody else in the football world agreeing that they were?

Nobody has been 'vindicated' - the fact is none of us will ever know what would have happened. All we know is that investment was forthcoming, Brian used it wisely and promotion was secured.

In the middle third of the season 15-(15)-15+1 games we won 11 = 33 points @ 2.2 per game and were on 45 points

Had we continued at that rate we'd've finished on 80 or 81 points, probably third, so yes, there was a pick up.

You may well have been right, we may have won promotion via the playoffs in any event. However, we may well have collapsed and been involved in a relegation battle. We have been known to have had our fair share of terrible second halves of seasons.

The last thirds of the last three seasons, 15-15- and the last 16 this year added together make a 105 point season

[Magicman]

Will be available in large portions at the stadium outlets on Saturday for all those who were negative about this season.

How much is a slice of this pie and will it cost more next year in the premier league?