The Reading Mismatch

[FridaysGhost]

We have a good Manager who is determined to play a certain formation 4-5-1 (no plan B). p.s. remember Brendan Rodgers. And who wants to pass from the back.

We have a good squad who, for years, have played 4-4-2 and used the flanks. With Centre-backs who cannot pass from the back.

We have a good midfield.

We have no-one on our books (except for Roberts(retired)) who can play the forward role in a 4-5-1.

Our Owner expects an immediate return to the Premiership whilst definately retaining the Reading Way of transfers - a situation which has been proved wrong every time the team has tried to progress.

Will Reading end in a promotion position? You tell me.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

You tell me.

No.

[OldBiscuit]

We have a good Manager who is determined to play a certain formation 4-5-1 (no plan B). p.s. remember Brendan Rodgers. And who wants to pass from the back.

We have a good squad who, for years, have played 4-4-2 and used the flanks. With Centre-backs who cannot pass from the back.

We have a good midfield.

We have no-one on our books (except for Roberts(retired)) who can play the forward role in a 4-5-1.

Our Owner expects an immediate return to the Premiership whilst definately retaining the Reading Way of transfers - a situation which has been proved wrong every time the team has tried to progress.

Will Reading end in a promotion position? You tell me.

What do you think i am? The Psychic Fairy or something?

[NewCorkSeth]

We have a good Manager who is determined to play a certain formation 4-5-1 (no plan B). p.s. remember Brendan Rodgers. And who wants to pass from the back.

Wait what? how do you know he has no plan b?? there has only been 2 games and we got good results in both!

We have a good squad who, for years, have played 4-4-2 and used the flanks. With Centre-backs who cannot pass from the back.

How many of our players have been at the club and in the first team for more than 2 years? Centre backs passing from the back is not as important as you make out. A pass to the wings or to a deep lying mid is all that is required of them. They can do this to a standard that is necessary for any tactics.

We have a good midfield.

No arguments here.

We have no-one on our books (except for Roberts(retired)) who can play the forward role in a 4-5-1.

Too many other threads are arguing about this to bring up again here..

Our Owner expects an immediate return to the Premiership whilst definately retaining the Reading Way of transfers - a situation which has been proved wrong every time the team has tried to progress.

We have been promoted twice under that method.. Being sensible with money is a good thing. We dont have that much money! Our funds are largely exaggerated. Ask Ian Royal about this he speaks much better on this than me.

Will Reading end in a promotion position? You tell me.

This season? or... I think likely we will be in the top 6.

[Ian Royal]

We have a good Manager who is determined to play a certain formation 4-5-1 (no plan B). p.s. remember Brendan Rodgers. And who wants to pass from the back.

Well, we have a good manager who wants to play a certain way and pass from the back. There's no evidence he has no plan B at all.

We have a good squad who, for years, have played 4-4-2 and used the flanks. With Centre-backs who cannot pass from the back.

That doesn't mean they can't play a different formation. And there's no indication the centre backs can't pass from the back, they just haven't previously.

We have no-one on our books (except for Roberts(retired)) who can play the forward role in a 4-5-1.

Roberts couldn't play 4-5-1. He isn't a good enough goalscorer. He joined us because he didn't want to play 4-5-1.

Our Owner expects an immediate return to the Premiership whilst definately retaining the Reading Way of transfers - a situation which has been proved wrong every time the team has tried to progress.

When you say proved wrong, you mean proved utterly right in it's ability to gain promotion.

Will Reading end in a promotion position? You tell me.

Noone can tell you, because the future is yet to be writ. And even if they could, you'd be fundamentally incapable of recognising the facts they told you.

[NewCorkSeth]

Oh hey Ian you bit the line too? I gave you a shout out on my post.

[Ian Royal]

Oh hey Ian you bit the line too? I gave you a shout out on my post.

Saw that. 'preciate it. Instantly on my ok list.

I don't mind biting when I'm bored and pissed. Especially if I get to be condescending or rude.

[FridaysGhost]

We have no-one on our books (except for Roberts(retired)) who can play the forward role in a 4-5-1.

Roberts couldn't play 4-5-1. He isn't a good enough goalscorer. He joined us because he didn't want to play 4-5-1.

So you agree that we are totally missing a forward line able to fire us into the Promotion places and, apart from that, my other questions are swept under the carpet due to the Season having only just started. All of that is fine if you have not seen the games and noticed the problems we have. We are a good, but unbalanced, squad. We have talented individuals but some of them are not good at 4-5-1. Moreover, whilst all around us are strengthening their squads, we have done nothing to address our biggest problem - Goals.

I want my club to succeed but I am also a realist. We will not be promoted this Season with our current squad! In 10months time, gloat over my post or admit I was right!.

[From Despair To Where?]

We have invested heavily in the academy to ensure that we have one of the best in the country and have signed 2 proven internationals plus a 26 year old who was previously bought by arguably the biggest club in the world for £12m. All whilst managing to retain the best players in our squad. I'd say that's a level of investment that would have given SJM a heart attack, it's just not on headline transfer fees. Yes, we're light up front at the moment but there's 2 weeks of the transfer window left and I'd be surprised if the club didn't still have some irons in the fire so who knows what could happen.

[Ian Royal]

We have no-one on our books (except for Roberts(retired)) who can play the forward role in a 4-5-1.

Roberts couldn't play 4-5-1. He isn't a good enough goalscorer. He joined us because he didn't want to play 4-5-1.

So you agree that we are totally missing a forward line able to fire us into the Promotion places and, apart from that, my other questions are swept under the carpet due to the Season having only just started. All of that is fine if you have not seen the games and noticed the problems we have. We are a good, but unbalanced, squad. We have talented individuals but some of them are not good at 4-5-1. Moreover, whilst all around us are strengthening their squads, we have done nothing to address our biggest problem - Goals.

I want my club to succeed but I am also a realist. We will not be promoted this Season with our current squad! In 10months time, gloat over my post or admit I was right!.

I don't agree with anything you type because you're a mentalist wum in need of serious psychological help.

[FridaysGhost]

We have invested heavily in the academy to ensure that we have one of the best in the country and have signed 2 proven internationals plus a 26 year old who was previously bought by arguably the biggest club in the world for £12m. All whilst managing to retain the best players in our squad. I'd say that's a level of investment that would have given SJM a heart attack, it's just not on headline transfer fees. And there's 2 weeks of the transfer window left so who knows what could happen.

I agree (with reservations), but that still doesn't hide the fact that the squad needs goalscorers and it seems they will only arrive if someone buys our overpaid failures! Through GK, defence and midfield we have a good squad. Full stop. Worse teams will overtake us because they have decent strikers. See Watford and Blackburn!

[NewCorkSeth]

Oh god Jordan Rhodes has come up again... Blackburn spent 8 million on him and then didnt get promoted! If they dont get promoted this year it was officially bad business regardless of the goals he scored! Signing a player for 400k and then him scoring 24 goals in 2 seasons is GREAT business! like amazing business! and we got promoted.

[Alexander Litvinenko]

But find that striker - and we can still always buy one, plus we have a couple of kids on the verge of breaking through - and then we're the finished product. And what's more we'll be setup to do well in the Premier League, because we'll have the team and the formation that's right for it.

The alternative to this joined-up, long-term strategic thinking is to go up playing 4-4-2, then come straight back down again because the team has to start from scratch and be rebuilt in a different formation.

If it's all the same to you, I'd rather we planned for the longer-term, rather than just for a year at a time.

[Ian Royal]

BLOLackbuROFLn

[FridaysGhost]

We have no-one on our books (except for Roberts(retired)) who can play the forward role in a 4-5-1.

Roberts couldn't play 4-5-1. He isn't a good enough goalscorer. He joined us because he didn't want to play 4-5-1.

So you agree that we are totally missing a forward line able to fire us into the Promotion places and, apart from that, my other questions are swept under the carpet due to the Season having only just started. All of that is fine if you have not seen the games and noticed the problems we have. We are a good, but unbalanced, squad. We have talented individuals but some of them are not good at 4-5-1. Moreover, whilst all around us are strengthening their squads, we have done nothing to address our biggest problem - Goals.

I want my club to succeed but I am also a realist. We will not be promoted this Season with our current squad! In 10months time, gloat over my post or admit I was right!.

I don't agree with anything you type because you're a mentalist wum in need of serious psychological help.

Ian is good but Royal should be replaced by W*nker! You are one of the problems on this site. Loads of posts - loads of rubbish! Do not reply to my posts, you do not have the ability or intelligence!

This is the big problem of HNA, nobodies suddenly think they are someone if they make lots of d*ckhead responses to decent questions. It is not my job to make inferior beings think that they can talk to the Grown-ups!

[FridaysGhost]

There are (or have been) good contributors to this site. Ian_Royal and Melonhead are not these but why do they think they are? This is a football site and a Reading site. Why do so many contributors think that talking cr*p on this site somehow turns them into someone? They are still simply failures who use an internet site to pretend otherwise. Get a life - and let us talk about RFC sensibly without your rubbish!

[From Despair To Where?]

I'd wouldn't dismiss Watford as a worse team than ourselves. Blackburn are deceptive because the club owners are complete basketcases.

I just don't see the need to spunk £5m+ on a forward just for the sake of it when there are better options available for the formation we want to play and I don't see it as good value at £5m+ when the likes of Vaz Te are reportedly available for £1.5m. If we are going to play 4-5-1 with a big target man up front then I can't see a Rhodes or an Austin being any more effective in that formation than ALF. We need to buy the right player for the formation at the right price and I seen no problem with dipping into the loan market which, in all honesty, is the way I see the club going to resolve the forward issue especially if Pog is still here in September. Ok, that may be a continuation of the Reading Way but it was always about value for money, which should not change just because the new owner has an extra 0 on the end of his bank balance.

[FridaysGhost]

I'd wouldn't dismiss Watford as a worse team than ourselves. Blackburn are deceptive because the club owners are complete basketcases.

I just don't see the need to spunk £5m+ on a forward just for the sake of it when there are better options available for the formation we want to play and I don't see it as good value at £5m+ when the likes of Vaz Te are reportedly available for £1.5m. If we are going to play 4-5-1 with a big target man up front then I can't see a Rhodes or an Austin being any more effective in that formation than ALF. We need to buy the right player for the formation at the right price and I seen no problem with dipping into the loan market which, in all honesty, is the way I see the club going to resolve the forward issue especially if Pog is still here in September. Ok, that may be a continuation of the Reading Way but it was always about value for money, which should not change just because the new owner has an extra 0 on the end of his bank balance.

Hope you are right. Reality check. Being promoted to the Prem would make us about 100m better off all things considered. We have currently lost about 14 players and salaries and have spent 1.5m buying three good players. Given our squad, a proven goalscorer would virtually guarantee promotion. If that cost 5m or 10m, given the prize, why should that be a problem?

[NewCorkSeth]

We have currently lost about 14 players and salaries and have spent 1.5m buying three good players. Given our squad, a proven goalscorer would virtually guarantee promotion. If that cost 5m or 10m, given the prize, why should that be a problem?

What? what players did we lose? name 14. 10 million is a huge investment! This is one of the toughest looking Championship seasons promotion is by no means guaranteed regardless of whether we splash out money we dont have.

[FridaysGhost]

We have currently lost about 14 players and salaries and have spent 1.5m buying three good players. Given our squad, a proven goalscorer would virtually guarantee promotion. If that cost 5m or 10m, given the prize, why should that be a problem?

What? what players did we lose? name 14. 10 million is a huge investment! This is one of the toughest looking Championship seasons promotion is by no means guaranteed regardless of whether we splash out money we dont have.

Oh, for god's sake. Look at who we have let go, loaned, not extended contracts - it is more than 14. We have brought a few people into the youth team and spent 1.5m on transfers. We have three good players in but, compared to other Championship teams, we are showing a distinct lack of ambition. I know we have high-salary players who we don't want but, whose fault is that? Anton made a big mistake with The Pog, let him pay for it!