2012 > 2006?

[Royal With Cheese]

Sidwell was the difference.

For me, I side with Floyd - if we go up this season it will be more satisfying than 2006.

It's certainly not done and dusted as it was this time in 2006!

[Tony Le Mesmer]

I guess I am more excited because its completely unexpected.

2006 was far more unexecpted. We went into this season about 4th or 5th favs. In 2005 the bookies had us down as mid table certainties.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

I guess I am more excited because its completely unexpected.

2006 was far more unexecpted. We went into this season about 4th or 5th favs. In 2005 the bookies had us down as mid table certainties.

But all the ingredients were there in 2006...We weren't selling off our players either. For me, this season has been more of a shock.

[Ian Royal]

I called both.

[BenReadingFC]

2005/2006 was just like a steamroller wiping out everything in its path (bar Plymouth & Luton).
This season has been like a crappy engine that needs some TLC. When you start it up for the 1st time it coughs and splutters and doesn't get anywhere but as you give it more time it soon roars in to action,

[Shackleton Royal]

2005/2006 was just like a steamroller wiping out everything in its path (bar Plymouth & Luton).
This season has been like a crappy engine that needs some TLC. When you start it up for the 1st time it coughs and splutters and doesn't get anywhere but as you give it more time it soon roars in to action,

Nice simile

[rfc2001]

The 106 team would walk over the current crop IMO!

People arguing the 05/6 league was worse, I think you will find that the 106 team was just exceptional. We made the league look poor.

The same team in essence finished 8th in the EPL when the league was a lot stronger than it is now!

This team could not enter a weaker EPL with same players and finish 8th!

Don't get me wrong this current squad is absolutely fantastic with a manager that has the tools and is very close to surpassing STEVE COPPELL

[Tails]

2006 was a one off for any club, let alone Reading so I tend to look it more as something which was a bit too surreal.

2012 has nothing like the certainty of 2006 and therefore has much more excitement for me - we really have the ability to cock this up [especially with our run in].



2012 > 2006 in terms of the 'feeling',if we were to get promotion

2006 >>>>>>>> 2012 in terms of being a 'complete' team.

[Wimb]

2006 was a one off for any club, let alone Reading so I tend to look it more as something which was a bit too surreal.

2012 has nothing like the certainty of 2006 and therefore has much more excitement for me - we really have the ability to cock this up [especially with our run in].



2012 > 2006 in terms of the 'feeling',if we were to get promotion

2006 >>>>>>>> 2012 in terms of being a 'complete' team.

^^ sums it up well

[Terminal Boardom]

2006 was a one off for any club, let alone Reading so I tend to look it more as something which was a bit too surreal.

2012 has nothing like the certainty of 2006 and therefore has much more excitement for me - we really have the ability to cock this up [especially with our run in].



2012 > 2006 in terms of the 'feeling',if we were to get promotion

2006 >>>>>>>> 2012 in terms of being a 'complete' team.

This is the point. 2006 was a matter of "when". 2012 is still very much a case of "if". I remember in 2006 going to games not wondering if we were going to win, more a case of how many we would win by. I would be interested to see what you lot have to say about this season.

[Victor Meldrew]

The 106 team would walk over the current crop IMO!

People arguing the 05/6 league was worse, I think you will find that the 106 team was just exceptional. We made the league look poor.

The same team in essence finished 8th in the EPL when the league was a lot stronger than it is now!

This team could not enter a weaker EPL with same players and finish 8th!

Don't get me wrong this current squad is absolutely fantastic with a manager that has the tools and is very close to surpassing STEVE COPPELL

Agreed.
One of the best things to happen in recent weeks was for Brian to show a ruthless streak in signing the lad from Arsenal when we had other strikers on the books who could come in for an injured Roberts.
I think this augurs well for if we get promoted as to me it shows that when it comes to it Brian can put aside his loyalty to certain players for the greater good of the club and I would expect him to go on and sign 6 or 7 new players to try to improve our squad enough for us not to be embarrassed.
The 106 side was ready for the top level and with few changes reached 8th whereas this side would need significant changes to be made in most positions and I would suggest that Feds is the only certainty to start our first game next season( if that game is in the Premier League) along with possibles such as Ledge,Jem and Jimmy.
If we end up with say 85 points that is massively different from 106.

Going back to the original post I preferred the 106 season because I felt that our club already had a team fit for the Premier League whereas this time IMHO we haven't and Brian would have a very big job to do to upgrade the squad.
The surprise and excitement (of potential promotion) is there but I feel that the worry about next season (if we are there) is considerable and much more so than in 2006.

[Archie's penalty]

But then it's more of a 'typical' promotion season this year then VM, isn't it?

Typically teams don't do what Reading did in 2006. I think with three or four good signings we can end up fifth bottom next year.

But then maybe we're underestimating ourselves. Look at how well Norwich and Swansea are doing (although maybe Norwich are a better comparison cosidering the type of footie they play).

[Hoop Blah]

This is a more thrilling and interesting end to a season, no doubt about that. That may well make the final outcome more exciting and, hopefully, more fulfilling in some ways.

Would it make this season greater then 2006? Hell no. Watching that team was something else, even if they too put in some poor performances and deserved to lose games we won (let alone drew) and weren't always the great team to watch we sometimes remember them to be (they were for the most part of course). For me there's no comparison and the satisfaction was that it feels like we saw that team grow together a bit more than this lot (factually that's probably not true if you look at ages/appearances etc).

As for mental toughness and tactical awareness that some referred to earlier in the thread. Son underestimate how strong the 2006 side had to be to stick to their attacking principles and tempo when things weren't going their way. The way we played took real belief and confidence. Does it take more mental strength to have 6 or 7 behind the ball than to back yourselves to attack decent teams and trust your ability? I'd say it doesn't.

[under the tin]

I think that's over analysing it a little.
However, you touched on the mental side of things, and I believe that the state of mind of footballers plays a massive part in how they perform.
Hackneyed cliche', I know, but winning does become a habit, and the inner confidence that grows from it perpetuates the cycle.
For me, though, the thing that has galvanised the whole RFC movement has been the TSI takeover.
Granted, the team was already on a roll before the news broke, but what I'm trying to get across is that the players and management are ambitious competitive sportsmen, who want to perform at the highest level they can (and be renumerated accordingly).
This group of people are now hearing noises from the TSI people that could help them fulfil those ambitions.
This kind of mirrors the declaration of intent in SJM personally driving down to Bristol to close the deal for Lita.
Forget our league position, the club is, as Shorey once put it: "moving in the right direction"

I think there are similarities between the respective sides, but if I were to put my hand on my heart, the 2006 side is untouchable.

[Woodcote Royal]

I agree wholeheartedly that 2006 will always be immensely special because, firstly, we'd never been promoted to the top flight before and secondly, because of the staggering number of points accumulated in what is normally a very tight league. That season we were probably the best side the second tier has ever seen.

However, there is no need for all that to detract from this team's achievements should they gain promotion by either method.

I also agree that the league is a tough one this season. We have a mentality within our fan base whereby many predict in the summer that we are destined for mid table and when we end up doing well it's because the league is poor

The fact is, two of the promoted teams are serious promotion contenders and they are in addition to an increasing number of clubs enjoying the huge advantage of parachute payments, not to mention the usual contenders such as ourselves and Cardiff. To be where we are in that company, on our budget, having off loaded our best striker is, frankly, no less an achievement than 2006.

Coppell and McDermott's respective teams illustrate perfectly that there's more than one way to skin a cat. Whilst I would agree that the 106 team was superior to the current one, it did have the advantage of being longer in the making.

Apart from that, whereas Coppell went for unknowns and under achievers McDermott has increasingly turned to established experience who I believe would improve significantly as a team (as they are doing right now) given time. The problem here, of course, is that it stands to be a victim of it's own success in that this squad will need to be added to substantially should we go up.

That said, I believe the motivation amongst our many older pros to secure one last big money contract has been a massive and rarely mentioned factor in this teams amazing march up the table. I would see those losing their first team births keeping a well paid place in the squad.