Rumour: James Harper (talks with Wolves confirmed)

[W&E Royal]

LOL, I am deeply sorry people appear to take comments on an internet messageboard to heart so much that they feel they are being 'bullied', although it has made me giggle somewhat!

I enjoy football very much thanks - a lot more now that the old management has left and the team is now being run excellently as opposed to based on nostalgia and sentiment. It would be very stupid indeed to go on a mission to make everyone hate Steve Coppell as he had the club's two most successful ever season - HOWEVER, that does not mean he is untouchable and in the last two and a half years in charge he undid pretty much everything he achieved by stripping away the positivity at the club and wasting the opportunity he had. I don't hate him for it - I'm sure he's a nice bloke, but the hero worship he still gets around some parts is highly baffling.

Lastly, although I'm flattered someone evidently cares where I sit at matches to the extent they felt necessary to begin and inquest on here, it stems from my insistence that I would not renew last season due to the club being taken backwards and I could see the wasted season coming. This season I will be attending every single game I possibly can again and giving my full support, although not in the West Stand which has begun to bore me slightly given the distinct lack of atmosphere. Would you like me to update you if and when that changes so you can update your diary?

It's ok thanks, i'm not too bothered but you were entertaining in a very dull stand but i do still have your Dad.

I'm glad that you are enjoying your football again, it's there to be enjoyed. What i'd like to see though is if you're still enjoying yourself in a few months if we're doing badly, I'm sure you'll come back with, "we won't be doing badly, we'll be top of the league!"

Have a nice day, don't go bullying or forcing your opinions on anyone at work, although i'm sure you're different without a keyboard.

[Royalee]

Is this the same board who spent £2 million on a player last week

You should change your ID to General Hindsight. Does this signing maintain our Premier League status? So why compare a statement I made a year or so ago with the activity of the club in the last week or so?

and Coppell (your hero no doubt) praised all the way through his reign?

Do you need me to dig out all the times I complained about a lack of a Plan B? I sincerely believe that we were fortunate to have a manager of Coppell's ability. I also believe that serious changes should have been made last season esp with regard to the backroom staff to try and freshen things up. Again, this is something that I have stated on here in the past.

You seem to have quite the warped imagination to underline your stupidity with - thank you for explaining your username, now I've got another reason why you're a twat to add to my growing list.

I think that you need to take the blinkers off so that you can see the wider picture. Not everything is monochrome.

Hindsight? I told people what was going to happen 18 months ago and I said then that it was a choice not to strengthen rather than funds not being there - if you recall Coppell said that the run of a couple of decent results in December 2007 changed his mind about strengthening which is why he didn't. Anyway, he's gone.

Quite right, I know not everything is in monochrome although many on here do which is probably why my opinion (sorry, 'bullying' ) seems to cause so much outpouring of emotion on here.

[brendywendy]

and your brand of bile and vitriol isnt emotional?

[Royalee]

LOL, I am deeply sorry people appear to take comments on an internet messageboard to heart so much that they feel they are being 'bullied', although it has made me giggle somewhat!

I enjoy football very much thanks - a lot more now that the old management has left and the team is now being run excellently as opposed to based on nostalgia and sentiment. It would be very stupid indeed to go on a mission to make everyone hate Steve Coppell as he had the club's two most successful ever season - HOWEVER, that does not mean he is untouchable and in the last two and a half years in charge he undid pretty much everything he achieved by stripping away the positivity at the club and wasting the opportunity he had. I don't hate him for it - I'm sure he's a nice bloke, but the hero worship he still gets around some parts is highly baffling.

Lastly, although I'm flattered someone evidently cares where I sit at matches to the extent they felt necessary to begin and inquest on here, it stems from my insistence that I would not renew last season due to the club being taken backwards and I could see the wasted season coming. This season I will be attending every single game I possibly can again and giving my full support, although not in the West Stand which has begun to bore me slightly given the distinct lack of atmosphere. Would you like me to update you if and when that changes so you can update your diary?

It's ok thanks, i'm not too bothered but you were entertaining in a very dull stand but i do still have your Dad.

I'm glad that you are enjoying your football again, it's there to be enjoyed. What i'd like to see though is if you're still enjoying yourself in a few months if we're doing badly, I'm sure you'll come back with, "we won't be doing badly, we'll be top of the league!"

Have a nice day, don't go bullying or forcing your opinions on anyone at work, although i'm sure you're different without a keyboard.

FWIW I think we'll go up this season, whether or not we finish top of the league, but I've got a feeling we will be. I think it's great to finally be able to see an improvement in the standard of the football being played and am generally a patient person when I can see things are moving in the right direction and everyone is pulling in the same direction - something that hadn't really happened since February 2007.

[Royalee]

and your brand of bile and vitriol isnt emotional?

Nope, not really.

[rabidbee]

I'll be happy to eat my words, but I just think that there's no way we'll go up, let alone finish top. We had pretty much our starting back four on Tuesday, and a better club would have eviscorated us for the stupid mistakes we made. It was the same against Forest. Too sloppy and too casual at the back to win the league, and currently too powder-puff up front to predict a high finish in the league. This is a season to blood few youngsters and hopefully set up the core of a good team next season or the season after.

[wolsey]

and your brand of bile and vitriol isnt emotional?

Nope, not really.

No, just pathological

[Royal Lady]

I'll be happy to eat my words, but I just think that there's no way we'll go up, let alone finish top. We had pretty much our starting back four on Tuesday, and a better club would have eviscorated us for the stupid mistakes we made. It was the same against Forest. Too sloppy and too casual at the back to win the league, and currently too powder-puff up front to predict a high finish in the league. This is a season to blood few youngsters and hopefully set up the core of a good team next season or the season after.

^^ this.

[brendywendy]

and your brand of bile and vitriol isnt emotional?

Nope, not really.

its faux emotional then

theres emotion there, whether you mean it or not

[Woodcote Royal]

Is this the same board who spent £2 million on a player last week and Coppell (your hero no doubt) praised all the way through his reign? You seem to have quite the warped imagination to underline your stupidity with - thank you for explaining your username, now I've got another reason why you're a twat to add to my growing list.

now im the biggest club apologist in the whole world, but even i can see the inherrant pointlessness of arguing that 2 million spent out of the gazillions we got in for sold players is somehow a statement our ambition.
i understand why we are run as we are, and agree with the policy, but you cant really use it to beat anyone with Royalee

It can certainly be used as a stick to beat a large section of our fan base who insisted for months that it was SJM who was preventing Coppell spending more than a small fraction of £14m? we raked in last season and even wanted us to believe that the manager was only saying what he'd been told to say when he said he had money available (which was every time he was asked throughout his five years in charge, as far as I remember)

Furthermore, as a Championship club with a large squad and a host of youngsters banging on the door, not to mention at least 4 players more than capable of playing at centre half, any unambitious chairman would not have been stuck for excuses to keep the money in his pocket.

[Royal Lady]

Thing is NO-ONE on here knows the truth about what money was available. However, I still find it hard to believe that someone as clever as SC didn't try to plug the obvious gaps - and as I've said on a number of occasions - saying "I have money available" "money is available to the manager" is a factually correct statement, even if that amount is only £5 - so, personally, I'm still of the opinion that although money was available, it wasn't enough to secure the services of the right types of player to keep us up last season. How many times have we heard "we must cut our cloth"? That doesn't sound to me like there were millions of pounds of previous transfer payments to us available to purchase more players. Anyway, it's my opinion, you can all have your opinions - but it doesn't make either of us right!

[Royalee]

Thing is NO-ONE on here knows the truth about what money was available. However, I still find it hard to believe that someone as clever as SC didn't try to plug the obvious gaps - and as I've said on a number of occasions - saying "I have money available" "money is available to the manager" is a factually correct statement, even if that amount is only £5 - so, personally, I'm still of the opinion that although money was available, it wasn't enough to secure the services of the right types of player to keep us up last season. How many times have we heard "we must cut our cloth"? That doesn't sound to me like there were millions of pounds of previous transfer payments to us available to purchase more players. Anyway, it's my opinion, you can all have your opinions - but it doesn't make either of us right!

If this was the case, being a 'clever' guy, surely Coppell would have come out and said he wanted more money given at the time he was the best thing since sliced bread and if Madejski hadn't backed him he could have had a fans' revolt on his hands? Surely the last thing it would make sense for Coppell to do if he had no money available would be to come out in the press and say the chairman had been excellent and always backed him when needed? What possible benefit would this provide Coppell with?

[brendywendy]

having never been a member of the "wheres all the money gone" clique i can agree with that

i still think it doesnt ring true to say "hah-weve just spent 2 million- i told you so" when weve been raking in millions for players for the last few seasons,(apart from those who said wed never spend more than 1 M at this level) thats all.


plus SC never held back on spending IMO-just spent some of it on the wrong players, and hoped the ones we did get may develop quicker than they did

[Royal Lady]

A job?

How many managers slag off their chairman whilst still employed at the club?

[Royalee]

A job?

How many managers slag off their chairman whilst still employed at the club?

We both know Coppell would have walked into another job at the time.

[readingbedding]

“If there was one player I wished we had been able to sign then it would have been Lescott after we had gone up.
We were in for him and it would have been a real signal of intent, but with Everton there as well it was always going to be very hard to get him. He was the one that got away.”

[Royalee]

“If there was one player I wished we had been able to sign then it would have been Lescott after we had gone up.
We were in for him and it would have been a real signal of intent, but with Everton there as well it was always going to be very hard to get him. He was the one that got away.”

Yes, all promoted clubs should compete with top 6 clubs with 40,000 capacity stadiums immediately and the players will definitely prefer to come to Reading instead of being guaranteed European football year in year out! Rational as always readinbedding!

[readingbedding]

Reading have made a club record £3.5m bid for Rennes defender John Mensah.

[Royalee]

Reading have made a club record £3.5m bid for Rennes defender John Mensah.

And?

[Royal Lady]

Clutching at straws there Readingbedding!