FAO Royalee

[Hemenbruff Royal]

But success is relative. Anyone who stood on the terraces (or sat in the stand) of Elm Park in the mid seventies, i.e. me and approximately 3,500 others, continued survival in the 'second' division is fine cos its what we aspired to as dreamland. Two years in the 'first' division against Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal was fantasy land, only ever played out in 'cup' matches in Subbuteo (and sometimes Reading had to play West Germany in the world cup final though can't remember how that scenario came about.)

So if you think upper mid table in the 'second' division (with the season barely a third the way through and a decent chance of a sprint finish for the play offs) is failure then you are deluded. We are a small club similar to Bury and Rochdale where the local support all sod off to watch the 'big' teams, in their case in Manchester, ours in London. On that basis we are punching well above our weight. Sir JM has done a fine job and given time Brian McD will mould this team into one that will get us back to the 'first' division for another year or so (in the same way that Sir SC did), and then we will relegated again. And I for one won't care cos we are still well clear of division four.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

As far as the way Madejski runs the club, I just can't see what's wrong with it. We are not wasting money on over-priced foreign 'stars' (remember Derby, Pompey and Bradford?) but we have a very good chance of still being in business as long as JM doesn't 'do a Ridsdale or Mandaric'.

And still the Madejski rectum brigade spout the rollox and suggest we should celebrate merely because we have a good chance of still being in business!!

That would be in common with virtually all the other clubs in the English professional set up it would seem. They keep talking about clubs folding but time after time those clubs come back from the brink.

well you've already said before that you think Madejski should be spending £20 million every year like QPR's owners, so we know you views are well timed now the panto season is upon us.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

It's not really spot on though is it. It's not just Stoke that have taken their chance with a bit more gusto than we did is it?

What about Blackburn, Fulham, Wigan, Bolton, Birmingham? All sides with similar natural resources to us and most who we've competed with well over the last 15 years or so.

Birmingham are much bigger club than Reading.

With Blackburn, Bolton, Fulham and Wigan, it's not about natural resources, but the unnatural ones.

Blackburn were heavily bankrolled by Jack Walker for years, and his trust for years afterwards. Dave Whelan's deep pockets are no secret at Wigan. Fulham, if Private Eye's close tabs on Al Fayed are to be trusted, are one of the most heavily in debt clubs in Europe at well over £150 million.

Bolton have been a gamble that's paid off. They've just managed to hang in there allowed each tv contract rise to pay their debt.

I would say we are bigger than the likes of Burnley and Preston though.


It just annoys me that so many modern fans see chairman being a sugar daddy as the minimum requirement, and find nothing less than premiership football acceptable. I oculd be very wrong, but I always feel that the ones who say the club needs to spend big in a gamble on going up are the very ones who find something better to do if the financial fallout saw us relegated.

[Millsy]

Do you actually ENJOY watching Reading play?

Not a dig but a genuine question. I just wonder what motivates the vitriol.

I used to, I actually don't at the moment, we play hoofball to Shane Long the most mediocre striker in the world and very rarely am I entertained. It was bearable last season when we had Sigurdsson who'd come up with something brilliant and make you forget about the other 89 minutes, but alas we've sold him and won't bring in a replacement (much like the other players we've flogged since we went down). It just feels like we had an opportunity to really push on like other promoted clubs and we CHOSE not to take it, which makes it so hard to take - we had a great platform to build on but kicked it all down instead.

One of the best paragraphs I've read on HNA in a long while.

[PlasticRoyale]

furking hell 3 pages.....

Thanks for actually answering btw

[brendywendy]

Do you actually ENJOY watching Reading play?

Not a dig but a genuine question. I just wonder what motivates the vitriol.

I used to, I actually don't at the moment, we play hoofball to Shane Long the most mediocre striker in the world and very rarely am I entertained. It was bearable last season when we had Sigurdsson who'd come up with something brilliant and make you forget about the other 89 minutes, but alas we've sold him and won't bring in a replacement (much like the other players we've flogged since we went down). It just feels like we had an opportunity to really push on like other promoted clubs and we CHOSE not to take it, which makes it so hard to take - we had a great platform to build on but kicked it all down instead.

One of the best paragraphs I've read on HNA in a long while.

i dont- not all of it.even with sig gone, i think kebe is worth the entrance fee alone when hes fit- was superb yesterday-would have had a hatful if hed been on from the start.rest is spot on though.
and i worry for us if kebe is sold in the summer

[Millsy]

I used to, I actually don't at the moment, we play hoofball to Shane Long the most mediocre striker in the world and very rarely am I entertained. It was bearable last season when we had Sigurdsson who'd come up with something brilliant and make you forget about the other 89 minutes, but alas we've sold him and won't bring in a replacement (much like the other players we've flogged since we went down). It just feels like we had an opportunity to really push on like other promoted clubs and we CHOSE not to take it, which makes it so hard to take - we had a great platform to build on but kicked it all down instead.

One of the best paragraphs I've read on HNA in a long while.

i dont- not all of it.even with sig gone, i think kebe is worth the entrance fee alone when hes fit- was superb yesterday-would have had a hatful if hed been on from the start.rest is spot on though.
and i worry for us if kebe is sold in the summer

True.

[floyd__streete]

i worry for us if kebe is sold in the summer

Don't be so bloody ridiculous. He'll be gone in january.

[FiNeRaIn]

Then we will get in someone of the calibre of a current Ruel Fox on the right and claim " its a sign of the clubs ambition", I can see it now.

[FiNeRaIn]

I used to, I actually don't at the moment, we play hoofball to Shane Long the most mediocre striker in the world and very rarely am I entertained. It was bearable last season when we had Sigurdsson who'd come up with something brilliant and make you forget about the other 89 minutes, but alas we've sold him and won't bring in a replacement (much like the other players we've flogged since we went down). It just feels like we had an opportunity to really push on like other promoted clubs and we CHOSE not to take it, which makes it so hard to take - we had a great platform to build on but kicked it all down instead.

One of the best paragraphs I've read on HNA in a long while.

Seconded. Hits the nail firmly on the head, I don't think Shane long is Mediocre though as he does some good work, he's just frankly not good enough for a play-off team or above and can't hit a barn door other than from the penalty spot.

[handbags_harris]

I used to, I actually don't at the moment, we play hoofball to Shane Long the most mediocre striker in the world and very rarely am I entertained. It was bearable last season when we had Sigurdsson who'd come up with something brilliant and make you forget about the other 89 minutes, but alas we've sold him and won't bring in a replacement (much like the other players we've flogged since we went down). It just feels like we had an opportunity to really push on like other promoted clubs and we CHOSE not to take it, which makes it so hard to take - we had a great platform to build on but kicked it all down instead.

One of the best paragraphs I've read on HNA in a long while.

Seconded. Hits the nail firmly on the head, I don't think Shane long is Mediocre though as he does some good work, he's just frankly not good enough for a play-off team or above and can't hit a barn door other than from the penalty spot.

I'd go a bit further than that - he mainly doesn't get into the position to hit a barn door, or is tackled before he can take aim at said door.

[southstand67]

But success is relative. Anyone who stood on the terraces (or sat in the stand) of Elm Park in the mid seventies, i.e. me and approximately 3,500 others, continued survival in the 'second' division is fine cos its what we aspired to as dreamland. Two years in the 'first' division against Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal was fantasy land, only ever played out in 'cup' matches in Subbuteo (and sometimes Reading had to play West Germany in the world cup final though can't remember how that scenario came about.)

So if you think upper mid table in the 'second' division (with the season barely a third the way through and a decent chance of a sprint finish for the play offs) is failure then you are deluded. We are a small club similar to Bury and Rochdale where the local support all sod off to watch the 'big' teams, in their case in Manchester, ours in London. On that basis we are punching well above our weight. Sir JM has done a fine job and given time Brian McD will mould this team into one that will get us back to the 'first' division for another year or so (in the same way that Sir SC did), and then we will relegated again. And I for one won't care cos we are still well clear of division four.

I agree with this ^^

[Millsy]

I'd go a bit further than that - he mainly doesn't get into the position to hit a barn door, or is tackled before he can take aim at said door.

Either way, not fit for purpose.

I'd honest-to-God prefer Keith Scott or Brayson.

[under the tin]

Anyone who stood on the terraces (or sat in the stand) of Elm Park in the mid seventies, i.e. me and approximately 3,500 others, continued survival in the 'second' division is fine cos its what we aspired to as dreamland.

I remember those days, and fully agree.

[under the tin]

We are a small club similar to Bury and Rochdale where the local support all sod off to watch the 'big' teams, in their case in Manchester, ours in London.

Your mind is still in the seventies, my friend. In those days, those probably were our peer clubs.
However, today, the comparison is daft. Give me a ring when Bury or Rochdale start averaging 15-16000 crowds in a £40+million stadium.

[Hampshire Royal]

I'd go a bit further than that - he mainly doesn't get into the position to hit a barn door, or is tackled before he can take aim at said door.

Either way, not fit for purpose.

I'd honest-to-God prefer Keith Scott or Brayson.

Now that's just silly!! If you're trying to wind Snowball up, you really must try harder!!

[under the tin]

Sir JM has done a fine job

I'm glad that you used the past tense there. In that sense, the statement is inarguable.
How that statement works in the present tense is open to debate.....

[Hampshire Royal]

We are a small club similar to Bury and Rochdale where the local support all sod off to watch the 'big' teams, in their case in Manchester, ours in London.

Your mind is still in the seventies, my friend. In those days, those probably were our peer clubs.
However, today, the comparison is daft. Give me a ring when Bury or Rochdale start averaging 15-16000 crowds in a £40+million stadium.

Maybe that just shows what a good job Madejski has done. As testament to how well he is doing now, look at our league position. We have more chance of staying in this division than of going up or going down. Going up (or at least getting to the play offs) is the second favourite. The fact that we are still attracting 15-16000 (perhaps five times the seventies crowds) is maybe a clue as to how much the Reading public appreciate what's being done at the club.

[under the tin]

given time Brian McD will mould this team into one that will get us back to the 'first' division for another year or so (in the same way that Sir SC did)

What Coppell achieved was built on the foundations laid down by previous managerial incumbents who were supported, financially, by the chairman. Burns signed Murty for £700k, Pardew signed Shorey, (I don't really have to list all of them do I?)
It was the culmination of a building process, funded by a chairman, who, at that time was prepared to bail the club out.

Brian is working under a completely different regime. The club is being run self sufficiently, and unlike his predecessors, has no recourse to the chairman at all. The budgets are set in stone, and the club is expected to use the fruits of the academy. Any squad shortcomings that can not be fulfilled by academy players have to be funded by making sacrifices elsewhere. The sale of Gylfi funded the incoming of Zurab.
I think Brian has the toughest Reading managerial job ever. I'm afraid that I don't share your optimism about where he can take the club. He is a good manager, but without the tools to do the job, is facing one hell of a struggle.
Some on here assert that we only need about three additional players to be genuine promotion candidates. That may be true.
Some, like me, are of the opinion that if you took about three players out of the side, then we become geniunely mediocre, possibly relegation candidates.
Kebe is in the form of his career, and the bloke must surely see that right now is the time to get the big move, and pay rise.
We won't be able to stop things like that happening, but sooner or later, we will run out of truly saleable assets to help balance the books. Some of us are concerned that it will culminate in a slow diminution of playing quality, and if that time comes, we will be a lot closer to the old fourth division than you'd like to be, Mr. Hemenbruff.

[under the tin]

We are a small club similar to Bury and Rochdale where the local support all sod off to watch the 'big' teams, in their case in Manchester, ours in London.

Your mind is still in the seventies, my friend. In those days, those probably were our peer clubs.
However, today, the comparison is daft. Give me a ring when Bury or Rochdale start averaging 15-16000 crowds in a £40+million stadium.

Maybe that just shows what a good job Madejski has done. As testament to how well he is doing now, look at our league position. We have more chance of staying in this division than of going up or going down. Going up (or at least getting to the play offs) is the second favourite. The fact that we are still attracting 15-16000 (perhaps five times the seventies crowds) is maybe a clue as to how much the Reading public appreciate what's being done at the club.

Some might say that our lofty position is in spite of his current input