Football365 Season Preview

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TVPRoyal
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Football365 Season Preview

by TVPRoyal » 09 Aug 2006 20:05

A pretty good preview from football365.com ....

Reading Preview: Coppell Has What It Takes
Posted 07/08/06 12:30EmailPrintSave



Last season: First, Championship; FA Cup - fourth round; League Cup - fourth round
Major players in: Seol Ki-Hyeon (Wolves, £1.5m); Sam Sodje (Brentford, £350,000)
Major players out: None

In March, I bumped into an old friend who supports Reading. They were long since running away with the Championship so I went to offer tentative congratulations on promotion, but he cut me short. Understandably, given my status as a Reading Jonah: the only game I'd ever seen of theirs was the 1995 Division One play-off final, when they were 2-0 up, with a penalty to come and Jason McAteer about to be sent off. Only McAteer was (wrongly) not dismissed and led Bolton's second-half comeback after the penalty was missed.

Of course, 1994-95 was also the only season since the 19th century when coming second in the second division did not guarantee promotion. Truly, Reading's luck sucked. I watched it all unfold with my friend and his wife and was truly lost for words as we sloped out of Wembley. I've made a point of never going to a play-off final with a committed fan of a participant ever since.

Eleven years on, whatever jinxing powers I have had faded because a few weeks later promotion was done and dusted and, for the first time, Reading were in the top flight. But has it been worth the wait? Or are Reading doomed to simply endure an embarrassing tour of the Premiership grounds before slipping back?

Coppell is a good coach. He has taken unfashionable sides to unlikely heights, even if he has failed to defy gravity in the long run. Had the game opened up differently - say had Manchester United gone out in the early rounds of the 1990 FA Cup and Crystal Palace won the competition against other opponents instead of losing the final - then he may have wound up in charge at Old Trafford. Instead the, err, massive jobs have always eluded him, bar that tragi-comic 30 days at Maine Road, when the pressure of taking charge of the game's foremost basket case turned him into one.

Winning the title is no guarantee of success upon promotion, as Sunderland showed last season. But Reading do not come with the baggage of failure that meant that Mick McCarthy's old side came up believing that winning was virtually impossible.

And Reading's efforts stand up well in comparison to the Wearsiders' campaign of 2004-05. They won 12 more points, scored 23 more goals and conceded 11 fewer.

Coppell had identified the shortage of goals as the reason his side failed to sustain their challenge the year before. Only Dave Kitson reached double figures. Last season he was joined by Kevin Doyle, Leroy Lita and, from midfield, Steve Sidwell, who was the most highly rated player in the division in a survey of fans of rival clubs I saw in one national paper.

Coppell has not added much to the promotion squad and there has been the inevitable talk of the difficulty in persuading players to join a club. But what matters more, with such a strong suit to start with, is holding on to the players he has. If Reading reach the end of August with the squad intact then the transfer window system will protect Coppell from predators for a potentially crucial few months.

Chairman John Madejski - who made his fortune from Auto Trader, by selling magazines rather than cars - was never likely to be extravagant, not least because he is thinking about selling up. Reading have debts of £10m; a decent season in the Premiership could clear those, but Madejski is determined not to add to them. If Reading to get into trouble then I don't expect them to try to spend their way out of it.

Reading don't get huge crowds and have a capacity of around 24,000, but their average, more than 20,000, was only four hundred short of that achieved by Wigan in the top flight; Wigan averaged fewer than 12,000 in their promotion season.

The fixture computer has not been unkind: Middlesbrough at home, Aston Villa and Wigan away constitutes a decent August programme. That's followed, after the international break, by meetings with Manchester City and Sheffield United. Playing positively worked for West Ham and Wigan last season and with a start like this Coppell should be able to take significant strides towards establishing his team in the top flight by the time his former club, Manchester United, visit on 23 September.

It may not last beyond this season as the key players will surely get better offers, but at the risk of once more becoming the Reading Jonah, I'm backing them to survive.

Philip Cornwall


The Sheffield Utd one is pretty funny :D Title "Warmock out of his Depth!!" LOL

http://www.football365.com/story/0,1703 ... 71,00.html[/url]

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wallyroyal
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by wallyroyal » 09 Aug 2006 21:46

£10million debts. how the hell does he know that.

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by reading98 » 09 Aug 2006 21:49

wallyroyal £10million debts. how the hell does he know that.


Well the chairman has always been open about our finaces which are solid but we have always run at a lose cause we never got near the crowds we needed so it adds up, doesn't it really.

10 million is basically a profit compard to other clubs.

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by Einstein agogo » 09 Aug 2006 22:16

reading98
wallyroyal £10million debts. how the hell does he know that.


Well the chairman has always been open about our finaces which are solid but we have always run at a lose cause we never got near the crowds we needed so it adds up, doesn't it really.

10 million is basically a profit compard to other clubs.


it was 16 last year so it's gone down
just running costs.. i think the stadium/hotel etc come under a different set of accounts..and generally property is really seen as an asset despite the huge outlay etc.

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by Ian Royal » 10 Aug 2006 01:39

I remember when it was reported as £30M odd a few years ago. I'd be interested to know whether the money we owe Mad John for the Stadium is being counted in this one. I know it was for the £30M


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by rabidbee » 10 Aug 2006 03:13

I think, technically, we don't owe Mr Mad at all, but the bank. I think Mr Mad stood security for the loans.

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by HighburyRoyale » 10 Aug 2006 09:47

I think that's a relatively fair appraisal - it really could go either way and the first 5 games are so crucial.

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by Arthur Pint » 10 Aug 2006 10:54

It's actually really nice to read something positive going into the season. I actually was expecting that all these season previews are going to have us pegged as relegation fodder.

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by HighburyRoyale » 10 Aug 2006 11:58

I suspect most will. Which is understandable, in most people's eyes, we are.

Plus people always make that comparison with Sunderland last season even though the previous record Sunderland held for the First division was followed by a very good season in the Prem.


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by Arthur Pint » 10 Aug 2006 12:09

Of course they will make the comparison with the previous champions, it's lazy journalism at it's best. It's the same as because both West Ham and Wigan did well in the Prem last season and spent around the £8 million mark, suddenly all the papers and websites start saying that if promoted teams spend this sort of money they should stay up.

It would be nice if we could stay up without spending that sort of money and prove that good coaching is just as effective as spending large amounts of cash.

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by Einstein agogo » 10 Aug 2006 14:09

Arthur Pint Of course they will make the comparison with the previous champions, it's lazy journalism at it's best. It's the same as because both West Ham and Wigan did well in the Prem last season and spent around the £8 million mark, suddenly all the papers and websites start saying that if promoted teams spend this sort of money they should stay up.

It would be nice if we could stay up without spending that sort of money and prove that good coaching is just as effective as spending large amounts of cash.


Someone with sense on the team board shock ! :shock:

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by JC » 10 Aug 2006 14:09

It is very interesting how the facts can get so distorted. I have no idea where all these figures come from. The last published accounts were for the year to June 2005 and show current creditors, ie those due within 12 months, to be £36.5 million. Of this £5.8 million is owed to banks and £23.3 milion to JM. The rest is made up of normal trade creditors. This does include financing of the stadium and the hotel, but in addition JM has converted about £15 million of loans to equity
So where do the figures of £10 million or £16 million come from?

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by Forbury Lion » 10 Aug 2006 15:37

HighburyRoyale I suspect most will. Which is understandable, in most people's eyes, we are.

Plus people always make that comparison with Sunderland last season even though the previous record Sunderland held for the First division was followed by a very good season in the Prem.
That's what I keep telling people, plus Kevin Phillips got the golden boot.... but I'm not sure whether to put my money on Lita, Kitson or Doyle! Can't seem to get odds on top English goalscorer either for Lita and Kitson.


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by TVPRoyal » 10 Aug 2006 19:21

Another Preview from Bettingzone.co.uk .....

JT: Let's focus on the battle to avoid relegation then and I notice Sheffield United have taken over from Watford in the last week as the shortest-priced side for the drop.


MH: Neil Warnock appears to be following Mick McCarthy's lead and going for quantity rather than quality in terms of what he's bringing into the club.


JT: That comparison is spot-on - they strike me as this season's Sunderland. It's not as if they were knocking on the door before last season either - they finished eighth in both the previous two seasons and plenty of those players are still involved.


TM: I think they'll have a lot more fight that Sunderland but if they get off to a bad start then I'm not so sure. The fans could easily turn against Warnock.


MH: I noticed the Racing Post tipped up Warnock at 18/1 in the sack race and those odds are now long gone. Given the circumstances that was a massive price.


DT: I'd back them to finish bottom at 11/4 without any hesitation - that's surely the bet now. Because we've been talking about the influence managers have and Aidy Boothroyd at Watford strikes me as one for the future and capable of getting his side well ahead of the Blades. He's got plenty of new ideas and they've got some really decent players. Ashley Young looks a cracking player and the only worry with him would be that he'd be so good that someone will try and nab him in the transfer window.


MH: Given the the teams that have stayed up in recent seasons you are almost better off looking at the profile of the managers. They young, studious ones have definitely triumphed over the old school types who don't seem willing to embrace a whole new type of thinking about how to line teams up - they do it the same way they've done it for years and years and reckon it will still work. I'm sure we could all name a few of those.


JT: Look last season at Wigan. They had plenty of pace up front and you have to have that. It will cause any team problems and it means you're not under the cosh all match. That's why I can definitely see Watford - and certainly Reading - surviving.


MH: Watford might have to take a few hidings during the season but they'll be undeterred and keep picking themselves back up. If they stay positive rather than just try and scrape draws then that's their best chance. I'm still not sure they will quite have enough quality but they've got a manager to give them a chance. Ashley Young and Marlon King will score goals and win matches so it could be touch and go.


TM: Reading should be fine. They have a clever manager in Steve Coppell and a decent striker in Dave Kitson who looks sure to get goals. I'd look elsewhere for sides who could face the drop.

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by davis69 » 10 Aug 2006 19:25

Einstein agogo
reading98
wallyroyal £10million debts. how the hell does he know that.


Well the chairman has always been open about our finaces which are solid but we have always run at a lose cause we never got near the crowds we needed so it adds up, doesn't it really.

10 million is basically a profit compard to other clubs.


it was 16 last year so it's gone down
just running costs.. i think the stadium/hotel etc come under a different set of accounts..and generally property is really seen as an asset despite the huge outlay etc.


all madejski has to do is give us that 10 million instead of spending it on art

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by Stranded » 10 Aug 2006 19:27

davis69
Einstein agogo
reading98
wallyroyal £10million debts. how the hell does he know that.


Well the chairman has always been open about our finaces which are solid but we have always run at a lose cause we never got near the crowds we needed so it adds up, doesn't it really.

10 million is basically a profit compard to other clubs.


it was 16 last year so it's gone down
just running costs.. i think the stadium/hotel etc come under a different set of accounts..and generally property is really seen as an asset despite the huge outlay etc.


all madejski has to do is give us that 10 million instead of spending it on art


:roll:

Just no.

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by Ian Royal » 10 Aug 2006 19:45

Stranded
davis69
Einstein agogo
reading98
wallyroyal £10million debts. how the hell does he know that.


Well the chairman has always been open about our finaces which are solid but we have always run at a lose cause we never got near the crowds we needed so it adds up, doesn't it really.

10 million is basically a profit compard to other clubs.


it was 16 last year so it's gone down
just running costs.. i think the stadium/hotel etc come under a different set of accounts..and generally property is really seen as an asset despite the huge outlay etc.



all madejski has to do is give us that 10 million instead of spending it on art


:roll:

Just no.


well when you stump up a considerable portion of your own fortune on top of what ever you spend on RFC then you may just have a right to say that. Otherwise get lost!


(not you Stranded)

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by JC » 10 Aug 2006 22:25

davis69
Einstein agogo
reading98
wallyroyal £10million debts. how the hell does he know that.


Well the chairman has always been open about our finaces which are solid but we have always run at a lose cause we never got near the crowds we needed so it adds up, doesn't it really.

10 million is basically a profit compard to other clubs.


it was 16 last year so it's gone down
just running costs.. i think the stadium/hotel etc come under a different set of accounts..and generally property is really seen as an asset despite the huge outlay etc.


all madejski has to do is give us that 10 million instead of spending it on art



What £10 million?

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