by Terminal Boardom »
01 Sep 2009 21:32
Royal Rother We are a Championship club coming out of our parachute period. Our squad was too big and had too many players in their 30s used to the glory days who would have found it difficult being positive whilst being kept out of the team by youngsters - more likely they would, without doing it deliberately, have become a negative presence around the club. They had to go, as did the players worth money who were also the higher wage earners.
Resent it all you like but at this time it's all about balancing the books, cutting the cloth and having a viable model in the short to medium term for the business that is Reading Football Club. It is also about giving the youngsters who have shown so much promise a chance to establish themselves and create a player progression model for the club, together with an obvious income stream from the sale of said players in the medium term.
Think of it this way - although it might have worked for other clubs, high wages and ex-Prem players didn't get RFC into the Premier League in 2005/6, or 2008/9... the model for 2009/10 has far more in common with 2005/6 than 2008/9, and that's just fine with me.
Too many supporters are impatient for success and view our slow start to the season as an indication that what Rodgers / the club are trying to do just will not work, which is short term knee-jerkism of a quite ridiculous level in my opinion.
Rodgers has brought in players he knows and likes in Bertrand, McAnuff and Rasiak (who are surely a better quality than the players of similar mould brought in by Coppell in Shunt, Sonko and whoever else he signed from Brentford) and players he has had his eye on for some time in O'Dea and Mills.
The squad he is building is new, young, vibrant, and yes, transitional but, although it will take time to bear full fruits, for those with their heads screwed on, it is an exciting time to be a Reading fan.
Some supporters just can't cope with Madejski's hair, Rodgers' watch, and indeed transition / change or prudent business practice in their football club and so will look for the negative in everything that is being done. I just find that odd when what Madejski has done in the past has brought such success to the club and when Rodgers has developed such a glowing reputation during his time in the game.
Of course everyone has a right to question moves made but these guys know far more about what they are doing and have a far better record of success in their fields of expertise than anyone on this board - should we not just give it a chance before ridiculing every move made?
Too many players in their 30s? Beig kept out by the youngsters??? I think you will find that the bulk of the players that left went BEFORE the season started.
Balancing the books eh? I will agree that there is a fair amount of money having come in. But how much are we shellig out on the two loanees? Plastic and Daniel O'Donnell won't be cheap that's for sure! And what's more, apart from the time with us we get absolutely no return on that investment.
Change in order to make progress is one thing. But change for the sake of change and to remove all trace of what the club has actualy achieved is plain madness. Supporters of other clubs take the piss out of us as we are perceived to have little or no history. Well, when they see how we go about, ahem, rebuilding, is it any wonder?
, but that post is absolutely spot on.
sorry - second question was meant as a joke 
