FAO Royalee

[PlasticRoyale]

Do you actually ENJOY watching Reading play?

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

[Mike Hunt]

Do you actually ENJOY watching Reading play?

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

He did when Rodgers was here...

Word on the street is that Royalee is now a diehard Jacks fan...

[Royalee]

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.

[PEARCEY]

^ On this I agree with much of Royalee's comments. As a club we have definitely failed to kick on.

[Ian Royal]

18 teams other than us have got promoted since we came back out of tier three.

Half are currently in the Premier League: West Ham, Wolves, West Brom, Wigan, Sunderland, B'ham, Blackpool, Newcastle & Stoke.
But just under half those have been relegated at least once following a promotion: West Brom, Wolves, Sunderland, B'ham. One of those and two of the others are only in their first season (back) in the Premier League: Newcastle, Blackpool, West Brom.
Two of these surviving 9 looked nailed on for relegation this season, with another three in definite trouble: West Ham, Wolves... Wigan, West Brom, B'ham.

So what you mean is we had an opportunity to push on like ... er... Stoke?

[Mike Hunt]

He didn't bite...
Well said Royalee, your opinions on things, which ar often times a bit too pessimistic but valid, are ones that I respect.

I too wish BR succeeded here, but he was the wrong man at the wrong time... It is good to see him to go well at a club that plays his style of football.

[loyalroyal4life]

Not that this has anything to do with the team, but royalees opinion is valid and at least makes sense to a point that alot of royals fan can agree with it.

[Hampshire Royal]

We are a small, third tier club and nothing that's happened in the last ten years or so has changed that. We had a brief moment in the sun, which made all the years of crap worth it! We do not have a right to be an established Prem club, nor will we be - ever! We may get promoted again, which would be nice, but we won't stay there. We may also be relegated again, and, again, we've got to hope that we won't stay there.

Supporting Reading is not about success, because we've had precious little of that in our history. It's about belonging to something special (and that's what being a Reading fan is). I speak to so many Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool etc 'fans' who would see finishing eighth in the Prem as a failure. It was a massive triumph for us.

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'.

[Ark Royal]

We are a small, third tier club and nothing that's happened in the last ten years or so has changed that. We had a brief moment in the sun, which made all the years of crap worth it! We do not have a right to be an established Prem club, nor will we be - ever! We may get promoted again, which would be nice, but we won't stay there. We may also be relegated again, and, again, we've got to hope that we won't stay there.

Supporting Reading is not about success, because we've had precious little of that in our history. It's about belonging to something special (and that's what being a Reading fan is). I speak to so many Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool etc 'fans' who would see finishing eighth in the Prem as a failure. It was a massive triumph for us.

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'.

Author! Author! I agree with every word of that, Hamps.

[Jackson Corner]

We are a small, third tier club and nothing that's happened in the last ten years or so has changed that. We had a brief moment in the sun, which made all the years of crap worth it! We do not have a right to be an established Prem club, nor will we be - ever! We may get promoted again, which would be nice, but we won't stay there. We may also be relegated again, and, again, we've got to hope that we won't stay there.

Supporting Reading is not about success, because we've had precious little of that in our history. It's about belonging to something special (and that's what being a Reading fan is). I speak to so many Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool etc 'fans' who would see finishing eighth in the Prem as a failure. It was a massive triumph for us.

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 'starsu don't like it don't co' (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'.

Outstanding could not have put it better myself. This Saturday we play former league champions Leeds in front of 24k in a superb all seater stadium in the 2nd tier of English football. If you had said that to me 20 years ago when SJM took over I would never of believed you. Simple if you don't like it don't go.

[The whole year inn]

He is a classic early-mid twenties supporter

Probably barely remembers Elm PArk. Only even followed Reading seriously Post-Burns and so has been bought up on success. Hence doesnt know how to deal with the lows and lashes out even though we are a mid-table championship side, a position any true fan would have grasped with open hands twenty years ago

[FiNeRaIn]

What you guys fail to understand is its not WHERE we are which has annoyed a lot of us, its how we got there. We have received massive amounts of money for player sales over the last 3/4 seasons, far more than anyone outside the premier league and i'd go as far as saying probably half of the premiership too. That's fine, we understand some of the better players wanted to leave, I don't resent that at all and I understand some of those offers were way to good too turn down. What I do resent though as SJM running as as if we were in a worse financial position that Portsmouth( how can even they sign more players than us this summer?) and as if we are being threatened with a winding up order. Yes, this will ensure the club is around for 20 years, but no, it won't allow us to compete with those around us looking to get back to the premiership which should be the ultimate goal for every club outside the premier league. People want to see some sign of direction or ambition from their club which they think is realistic as well as enjoying the team play every week. Reading should not be where we are now with the seasons we've had in recent years. The brick by brick approach the club built was the correct one until we got to the premiership, then they destroyed that with a sledge hammer by not investing in the playing staff.

No one was expecting multi-million pound foreigners for 5 million + , however the realistic options of players we had like matty taylor, gary o'neill, gary cahill,etc were all affordable and we were linked with all but never made a move. Each of these ended up costing a few million here and a few million there and had good premiership pedigree, the type of signings we should have made. They all went to smallish clubs we COULD have competed with. We didn't, we got relegated as a result of that. We stayed down, flogged our entire squad and haven't really invested since a decent fee for mills and a few hundred thousand here and there.

There still seems to be no direction within the club, we haven't given our budding young manager any funds to play with after the skill and great managerial class he showed last season to put us on that run. Looking at that team we were possibly 3 quality additions away at the start of the season from really pushing on. As it stands we got a few injuries with our bare bones squad, had a few crap results, took ages to get khiz in and have really dropped off the pace without a quality striker converting chances we seem to make every week. The weaknesses are so obvious its not even funny yet we fail to address them.

Butter it up how you like, this season so far is another missed opportunity in my eyes and mentioning that we were a " We are a small, third tier club " doesn't really matter anymore when you sell youth academy products for 7 million and have gates above 16k most weeks. ( we averaged more than birmingham when they were here for crying out loud)

I get absolutely sick and tired of nonsense comparisons to leeds, bradford, derby,etc I mean honestly, get real. The RTG's have been belting those names out for years yet no reading fan has ever asked for that kind of investment. I can't express my loathing at hearing them mentioned on this board in that context. We simply want ASTUTE spending, putting back into the team some of the millions worth we've sold. This is entirely reasonable but as usual, i'm expecting to be fobbed off by the club in January.

All I want is a couple of solid signings which should be WELL within our means, especially after the siggy windfall, for crying out loud whats the point in running a club if you are going to sell all your players than bring the fans through the gates and not bother replacing them? The fans will continue to disappear and decline in numbers unless they are given a reason to come and enjoy watching the game and having affiliation with the players.

[Ferris]

What you guys fail to understand is its not WHERE we are which has annoyed a lot of us, its how we got there. We have received massive amounts of money for player sales over the last 3/4 seasons, far more than anyone outside the premier league and i'd go as far as saying probably half of the premiership too. That's fine, we understand some of the better players wanted to leave, I don't resent that at all and I understand some of those offers were way to good too turn down. What I do resent though as SJM running as as if we were in a worse financial position that Portsmouth( how can even they sign more players than us this summer?) and as if we are being threatened with a winding up order. Yes, this will ensure the club is around for 20 years, but no, it won't allow us to compete with those around us looking to get back to the premiership which should be the ultimate goal for every club outside the premier league. People want to see some sign of direction or ambition from their club which they think is realistic as well as enjoying the team play every week. Reading should not be where we are now with the seasons we've had in recent years. The brick by brick approach the club built was the correct one until we got to the premiership, then they destroyed that with a sledge hammer by not investing in the playing staff.

No one was expecting multi-million pound foreigners for 5 million + , however the realistic options of players we had like matty taylor, gary o'neill, gary cahill,etc were all affordable and we were linked with all but never made a move. Each of these ended up costing a few million here and a few million there and had good premiership pedigree, the type of signings we should have made. They all went to smallish clubs we COULD have competed with. We didn't, we got relegated as a result of that. We stayed down, flogged our entire squad and haven't really invested since a decent fee for mills and a few hundred thousand here and there.

There still seems to be no direction within the club, we haven't given our budding young manager any funds to play with after the skill and great managerial class he showed last season to put us on that run. Looking at that team we were possibly 3 quality additions away at the start of the season from really pushing on. As it stands we got a few injuries with our bare bones squad, had a few crap results, took ages to get khiz in and have really dropped off the pace without a quality striker converting chances we seem to make every week. The weaknesses are so obvious its not even funny yet we fail to address them.

Butter it up how you like, this season so far is another missed opportunity in my eyes and mentioning that we were a " We are a small, third tier club " doesn't really matter anymore when you sell youth academy products for 7 million and have gates above 16k most weeks. ( we averaged more than birmingham when they were here for crying out loud)

I get absolutely sick and tired of nonsense comparisons to leeds, bradford, derby,etc I mean honestly, get real. The RTG's have been belting those names out for years yet no reading fan has ever asked for that kind of investment. I can't express my loathing at hearing them mentioned on this board in that context. We simply want ASTUTE spending, putting back into the team some of the millions worth we've sold. This is entirely reasonable but as usual, i'm expecting to be fobbed off by the club in January.

All I want is a couple of solid signings which should be WELL within our means, especially after the siggy windfall, for crying out loud whats the point in running a club if you are going to sell all your players than bring the fans through the gates and not bother replacing them? The fans will continue to disappear and decline in numbers unless they are given a reason to come and enjoy watching the game and having affiliation with the players.

Only read the first line, but agreed with that.

[Schards#2]

We are a small, third tier club and nothing that's happened in the last ten years or so has changed that. We had a brief moment in the sun, which made all the years of crap worth it! We do not have a right to be an established Prem club, nor will we be - ever! We may get promoted again, which would be nice, but we won't stay there. We may also be relegated again, and, again, we've got to hope that we won't stay there.

Supporting Reading is not about success, because we've had precious little of that in our history. It's about belonging to something special (and that's what being a Reading fan is). I speak to so many Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool etc 'fans' who would see finishing eighth in the Prem as a failure. It was a massive triumph for us.

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 'starsu don't like it don't co' (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'.

Outstanding could not have put it better myself. This Saturday we play former league champions Leeds in front of 24k in a superb all seater stadium in the 2nd tier of English football. If you had said that to me 20 years ago when SJM took over I would never of believed you. Simple if you don't like it don't go.

I still don't believe you - the crowd won't be near 24K.

Anyway, given that we are approaching an unterrupted decade in the top two divisions, I would say the club has evolved from third tier to second tier over the last 15 odd years.

[Wycombe Royal]

I still don't believe you - the crowd won't be near 24K.

There isn't much the club can do if people who have bought tickets don't turn up.

[Hoop Blah]

I think we wasted a very good opportunity to stay in the Premiership by being overly frugal and cautious with our signings but I still put the start of our decline down to the total lack of ambition and balls the club showed by not going for a place in European competition. I think that turned the players off and proved to them that they needed to go elsewhere to further their careers.

It's things like that which have stopped us moving on from the Elm Park based third tier club we once were. To say that's all we are or all we have the potential to be is ludicrous. In some ways I wish we still were that club, but from the moment we moved into the new stadium we became a different club.

A little more investment here and there and we could easily have sustained Premiership football but, as much as I think Madejski has it right with trying to run us on a sound financial footing, it means we'll never really compete with the big boys on a long term basis because they're not playing by the same financial rules. Money talks in this game, and ours is just a faint whisper.

Wigan, Stoke, Blackburn, Bolton (see their owner debts though!), Boro, Fulham and Birmingham are all similar sized clubs to us who have made a proper attempted (with varying degrees of success) at bettering themselves recently. Have we?

[ZacNaloen]

Hoop, Coppell has outright said we were going for Europe, just not publically. Just like he refused to admit we'd be getting promoted until it was nailed on.

[Hoop Blah]

Hoop, Coppell has outright said we were going for Europe, just not publically. Just like he refused to admit we'd be getting promoted until it was nailed on.

So why didn't aim to take a place via the inter-toto then?

Blackburn finished 2 places below us and took the place (Pompey qualified via the FA CUP) whereas I think both Spurs and Bolton qualified by right. We had the chance to apply (I think you have to enter earlier in the season and see where you finish) but didn't bother.

I'm aware the club and Coppell have said they were going for it, but they seemed very happy not to make it as it meant less of a strain on the squad. Personally, I don't think we pushed that hard to get the last UEFA Cup spot over the last few games, especially the way we lost to Watford at home, it just looked like the players were already on the beach celebrating a great season.

[Terminal Boardom]

I think we wasted a very good opportunity to stay in the Premiership by being overly frugal and cautious with our signings but I still put the start of our decline down to the total lack of ambition and balls the club showed by not going for a place in European competition. I think that turned the players off and proved to them that they needed to go elsewhere to further their careers.

It's things like that which have stopped us moving on from the Elm Park based third tier club we once were. To say that's all we are or all we have the potential to be is ludicrous. In some ways I wish we still were that club, but from the moment we moved into the new stadium we became a different club.

A little more investment here and there and we could easily have sustained Premiership football but, as much as I think Madejski has it right with trying to run us on a sound financial footing, it means we'll never really compete with the big boys on a long term basis because they're not playing by the same financial rules. Money talks in this game, and ours is just a faint whisper.

Wigan, Stoke, Blackburn, Bolton (see their owner debts though!), Boro, Fulham and Birmingham are all similar sized clubs to us who have made a proper attempted (with varying degrees of success) at bettering themselves recently. Have we?

Stoke, Middlesbro and Birmingham are traditionally much, much bigger than us. The same could, arguably, be said of Fulham, Bolton and Blackburn. Just look at their histories and memebership of the Football League.

[brendywendy]

18 teams other than us have got promoted since we came back out of tier three.

Half are currently in the Premier League: West Ham, Wolves, West Brom, Wigan, Sunderland, B'ham, Blackpool, Newcastle & Stoke.
But just under half those have been relegated at least once following a promotion: West Brom, Wolves, Sunderland, B'ham. One of those and two of the others are only in their first season (back) in the Premier League: Newcastle, Blackpool, West Brom.
Two of these surviving 9 looked nailed on for relegation this season, with another three in definite trouble: West Ham, Wolves... Wigan, West Brom, B'ham.

So what you mean is we had an opportunity to push on like ... er... Stoke?

spot on gorgeous