Richardson out

[Royal Rother]

These are PROFESSIONAL footballers - their actual job is to kick a ball, head a ball and run with it or wirhout it.

They can do all that, but in between are the skills of controlling it, kicking it with accuracy, finding space, all with the ultimate aim of retaining possession whilst moving the ball forward to the opposition's goal, hopefully at speed.

I simply do not believe that these people are not capable of achieving that ultimate aim more often than they have done during this season just (thankfully) ended.

As it is nobody seems comfortable doing any of those things consistently apart from, (and even that's only on occasion), Wing and Marriott.

How can the otherwise excellent Perreira be so unutterably awful with his distribution? Just fcuking practice kicking it straight, spend an hour a day doing something to improve your weakness - it ain't rocket science! It's not about pre-season and all that bollocks - if everyone put the work in to improve themselves, as guided by capable coaches, things would look a lot better. It's crystal clear that none of that work is done, because everyone's 1st touch is rubbish most of the time. Attempts to dribble past players are often laughable. Passes to more advance players are so often totally aimless giveing no realistic chance of receiving the ball.

That simply has to be because of instructions and coaching.

It won't matter who joins the squad - and anyway, who the hell would want to come and play under Richardson? Anyone remotely decent with 2 similar options (as anyone decent will have) will take one look at our style of play and, unless the money is stupid levels, choose the other option.

[Elm Park Kid]

Reasons for keeping Leam:

1. It's unfair to judge any manager on one partial season where he hasn't had a chance to properly build his own team.
2. Constantly changing managers hasn't done us much good in the past.
3. The new manager could be even worse.
4. It will annoy Brogue.

Reasons for getting rid of Leam:

1. So far the evidence is that he wants to play a style of football that will suck any joy out of watching games.
2. The way we finished the season has led to a toxic environment that could persist into next season.
3. If we let him spend money this summer and he fails then Couhig may just give up.

[Clyde1998]

Reasons for keeping Leam:

1. It's unfair to judge any manager on one partial season where he hasn't had a chance to properly build his own team.
2. Constantly changing managers hasn't done us much good in the past.
3. The new manager could be even worse.
4. It will annoy Brogue.
5. He's identified a fitness issue with players, which he says can be resolved with a good pre-season.
6. The style of play may have been down to the situation he's faced (injuries; fitness; capabilities of the players; etc).
7. Last season saw a huge amount of squad churn, which is unlikely to happen this season.

Reasons for getting rid of Leam:

1. So far the evidence is that he wants to play a style of football that will suck any joy out of watching games.
2. I think he used this style of play at Rotherham and Wigan.
3. The way we finished the season has led to a toxic environment that could persist into next season.
4. If we let him spend money this summer and he fails then Couhig may just give up.

Some additional thoughts.

[Royalwaster]

Reasons for keeping Leam:

1. It's unfair to judge any manager on one partial season where he hasn't had a chance to properly build his own team.
2. Constantly changing managers hasn't done us much good in the past.
3. The new manager could be even worse.
4. It will annoy Brogue.
5. He's identified a fitness issue with players, which he says can be resolved with a good pre-season.
6. The style of play may have been down to the situation he's faced (injuries; fitness; capabilities of the players; etc).
7. Last season saw a huge amount of squad churn, which is unlikely to happen this season.

Reasons for getting rid of Leam:

1. So far the evidence is that he wants to play a style of football that will suck any joy out of watching games.
2. I think he used this style of play at Rotherham and Wigan.
3. The way we finished the season has led to a toxic environment that could persist into next season.
4. If we let him spend money this summer and he fails then Couhig may just give up.

Some additional thoughts.

I am actually generally still against sacking LR for the reasons you give - my only slight tendency to support a sacking is Reason 2, because I'm afraid of what the toxic environment will result in. I'm honestly worried that this seems to be a general trend that goes beyond with the way social media ends demonising people and all the toxicity that ensues. I honestly have been shocked by some of the comments on this board ... OK the football was terrible a lot of the time, but I remember several games or parts of games that were OK or even good when key players such as Marriott and Doyle and previously DK were fit AND Leam has proven when at Wigan that he is not such a despicable human being as some here seem to want us believe. In fact, quite the opposite a lot of fans there still hold him in very high regard and so do several professionals who played under him during that period and have been more than happy to follow him to Reading. But it seems like in so much in society that those with the loudest voices tend to dictate the conversation ... which I think is a really terrible state of affairs.

[Marcel]

‘Marcel’ reads like Brogues sleeper account
Anyways oxf*rd off ahem newbie

I might be new on here but have been supporting the club since the 1967/68 season.
Sorry if you don’t appreciate my thoughts but understood this forum was for everyone to have their say.
I don’t always agree with your opinion or that of others but won’t be suggesting you or anyone else should
F/off.
I’m as entitled to air my view just as you do.

[AthleticoSpizz]

‘Marcel’ reads like Brogues sleeper account
Anyways oxf*rd off ahem newbie

I might be new on here but have been supporting the club since the 1967/68 season.
Sorry if you don’t appreciate my thoughts but understood this forum was for everyone to have their say.
I don’t always agree with your opinion or that of others but won’t be suggesting you or anyone else should
F/off.
I’m as entitled to air my view just as you do.

you might’ve been around Elm Park sixty years ago (I was only a couple of years behind you), but you are obviously new around here (I’ll leave the joker's amongst the posters here to explain the ‘newbie’ welcome.

[The Cap]

‘Marcel’ reads like Brogues sleeper account
Anyways oxf*rd off ahem newbie

I might be new on here but have been supporting the club since the 1967/68 season.
Sorry if you don’t appreciate my thoughts but understood this forum was for everyone to have their say.
I don’t always agree with your opinion or that of others but won’t be suggesting you or anyone else should
F/off.
I’m as entitled to air my view just as you do.

Marcel, the f*ck off newbie comment has been running for years mate and, in time honoured tradition, anybody new to this board gets the royal welcome. Time for a person to start worrying is when they're not welcomed in such a hospitable way

[Clyde1998]

Reasons for keeping Leam:

1. It's unfair to judge any manager on one partial season where he hasn't had a chance to properly build his own team.
2. Constantly changing managers hasn't done us much good in the past.
3. The new manager could be even worse.
4. It will annoy Brogue.
5. He's identified a fitness issue with players, which he says can be resolved with a good pre-season.
6. The style of play may have been down to the situation he's faced (injuries; fitness; capabilities of the players; etc).
7. Last season saw a huge amount of squad churn, which is unlikely to happen this season.

Reasons for getting rid of Leam:

1. So far the evidence is that he wants to play a style of football that will suck any joy out of watching games.
2. I think he used this style of play at Rotherham and Wigan.
3. The way we finished the season has led to a toxic environment that could persist into next season.
4. If we let him spend money this summer and he fails then Couhig may just give up.

Some additional thoughts.

I am actually generally still against sacking LR for the reasons you give - my only slight tendency to support a sacking is Reason 2, because I'm afraid of what the toxic environment will result in. I'm honestly worried that this seems to be a general trend that goes beyond with the way social media ends demonising people and all the toxicity that ensues. I honestly have been shocked by some of the comments on this board ... OK the football was terrible a lot of the time, but I remember several games or parts of games that were OK or even good when key players such as Marriott and Doyle and previously DK were fit AND Leam has proven when at Wigan that he is not such a despicable human being as some here seem to want us believe. In fact, quite the opposite a lot of fans there still hold him in very high regard and so do several professionals who played under him during that period and have been more than happy to follow him to Reading. But it seems like in so much in society that those with the loudest voices tend to dictate the conversation ... which I think is a really terrible state of affairs.

I'm not in favour of sacking him myself (which is why I added more reasons to keep him than get rid of him to that list).

There have certainly been small sections of most games where we've looked good in parts; and we've had the odd game that has been fairly positive throughout (even if the results haven't come in them).

My estimation of Richardson as a person went up massively when I went to the STAR fans' forum. He came across as a genuinely likeable person and did discuss why he's ended up playing the way he has (most notably fitness issues and lack of players to play how we wants). He needs time to address the issues he's identified.

Maybe he doesn't come across well in interviews due to the context and being asked the same questions continuously.

Social media is often toxic, due to how platforms promote things which will get engagement. Logical, thought out arguments don't get engagement. That spreads into wider society.

In terms of our fanbase (and perhaps society in general), there seems to be a lot of confirmation bias going on; not enough critical thinking to try and understand the reasons for things; oversimplification of problems; people assuming part of a group thinks something, so the whole group thinks the same way; lack of constructive criticisms.

A large amount of the arguments for getting rid of Richardson are the exact arguments for getting rid of Hunt too.

[stealthpapes]

A large amount of the arguments for getting rid of Richardson are the exact arguments for getting rid of Hunt too.

Yeah, on the plus side, that did make everyone happy.

[stealthpapes]

Some additional thoughts.

I am actually generally still against sacking LR for the reasons you give - my only slight tendency to support a sacking is Reason 2, because I'm afraid of what the toxic environment will result in. I'm honestly worried that this seems to be a general trend that goes beyond with the way social media ends demonising people and all the toxicity that ensues. I honestly have been shocked by some of the comments on this board ... OK the football was terrible a lot of the time, but I remember several games or parts of games that were OK or even good when key players such as Marriott and Doyle and previously DK were fit AND Leam has proven when at Wigan that he is not such a despicable human being as some here seem to want us believe. In fact, quite the opposite a lot of fans there still hold him in very high regard and so do several professionals who played under him during that period and have been more than happy to follow him to Reading. But it seems like in so much in society that those with the loudest voices tend to dictate the conversation ... which I think is a really terrible state of affairs.

I'm not in favour of sacking him myself (which is why I added more reasons to keep him than get rid of him to that list).

There have certainly been small sections of most games where we've looked good in parts; and we've had the odd game that has been fairly positive throughout (even if the results haven't come in them).

My estimation of Richardson as a person went up massively when I went to the STAR fans' forum. He came across as a genuinely likeable person and did discuss why he's ended up playing the way he has (most notably fitness issues and lack of players to play how we wants). He needs time to address the issues he's identified.

Maybe he doesn't come across well in interviews due to the context and being asked the same questions continuously.

Social media is often toxic, due to how platforms promote things which will get engagement. Logical, thought out arguments don't get engagement. That spreads into wider society.

In terms of our fanbase (and perhaps society in general), there seems to be a lot of confirmation bias going on; not enough critical thinking to try and understand the reasons for things; oversimplification of problems; people assuming part of a group thinks something, so the whole group thinks the same way; lack of constructive criticisms.

A large amount of the arguments for getting rid of Richardson are the exact arguments for getting rid of Hunt too.

Sorry, sarcasm done. Can we just print this every day on this thread, k thnx

[MR. CYNICAL]

Can't believe the bloke is getting so much support on here, were any of you at the game on Saturday? It was shocking, no shots on target again, toxic atmosphere, how can he come back from that?He can't be stupid enough to not of known what was going on.
He's got no grace going into next season, couple of bad results and all the toxic stuff will return. People on here saying give him to October whatever but if things go badly, he won't make the end of August!

[AthleticoSpizz]

You do go on

[Gunny Fishcake]

‘Marcel’ reads like Brogues sleeper account
Anyways oxf*rd off ahem newbie

I might be new on here but have been supporting the club since the 1967/68 season.
Sorry if you don’t appreciate my thoughts but understood this forum was for everyone to have their say.
I don’t always agree with your opinion or that of others but won’t be suggesting you or anyone else should
F/off.
I’m as entitled to air my view just as you do.

Marcel, the f*ck off newbie comment has been running for years mate and, in time honoured tradition, anybody new to this board gets the royal welcome. Time for a person to start worrying is when they're not welcomed in such a hospitable way

+1

[Marcel]

‘Marcel’ reads like Brogues sleeper account
Anyways oxf*rd off ahem newbie

I might be new on here but have been supporting the club since the 1967/68 season.
Sorry if you don’t appreciate my thoughts but understood this forum was for everyone to have their say.
I don’t always agree with your opinion or that of others but won’t be suggesting you or anyone else should
F/off.
I’m as entitled to air my view just as you do.

Marcel, the f*ck off newbie comment has been running for years mate and, in time honoured tradition, anybody new to this board gets the royal welcome. Time for a person to start worrying is when they're not welcomed in such a hospitable way

In that case thanks for that.
Really appreciate the traditional welcome

[Brogue]

Reasons for keeping Leam:

1. It's unfair to judge any manager on one partial season where he hasn't had a chance to properly build his own team.
2. Constantly changing managers hasn't done us much good in the past.
3. The new manager could be even worse.
4. It will annoy Brogue.

Reasons for getting rid of Leam:

1. So far the evidence is that he wants to play a style of football that will suck any joy out of watching games.
2. The way we finished the season has led to a toxic environment that could persist into next season.
3. If we let him spend money this summer and he fails then Couhig may just give up.

You seem obsessed with me.

[Royalwaster]

Reasons for keeping Leam:

1. It's unfair to judge any manager on one partial season where he hasn't had a chance to properly build his own team.
2. Constantly changing managers hasn't done us much good in the past.
3. The new manager could be even worse.
4. It will annoy Brogue.

Reasons for getting rid of Leam:

1. So far the evidence is that he wants to play a style of football that will suck any joy out of watching games.
2. The way we finished the season has led to a toxic environment that could persist into next season.
3. If we let him spend money this summer and he fails then Couhig may just give up.

You seem obsessed with me.

Well you generally seem obsessed with Leam .... so it kind of fits together.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

‘Marcel’ reads like Brogues sleeper account
Anyways oxf*rd off ahem newbie

His 7 posts are all about LEAM out so he definitely wants him out

[Clyde1998]

Can't believe the bloke is getting so much support on here, were any of you at the game on Saturday? It was shocking, no shots on target again, toxic atmosphere, how can he come back from that?He can't be stupid enough to not of known what was going on.
He's got no grace going into next season, couple of bad results and all the toxic stuff will return. People on here saying give him to October whatever but if things go badly, he won't make the end of August!

Who creates this toxic atmosphere? In a number of games towards the end of the season, I've heard booing and negative chanting within ten minutes of the game starting. How do people think that will impact on the players' confidence and moral during the game?

Having no shots on target isn't great, true. However are we ultimately suggesting we should take shots from fifty yards simply to have shots on target and make the stats look better?

Also have people seriously considered:

1. Whether the players as good as they think they are;
2. Whether the players compliment each other, in terms of style of play;
3. Whether the players' decision making is part of the problem;
4. Whether there is anything going on behind the scenes we don't know about;
5. Whether the players are fully fit and not having to carry any minor injuries into matches;
6. What the strengths and weaknesses of the players are;
7. Whether how we're playing is simply the most effective strategy with those players;
8. If we play like the fans want, what would the impact would be on results;
9. If Hunt and Richardson is viewed to have failed, perhaps changing the manager yet again won't resolve the core issues;
10. Whether the recruitment has been good enough;
11. Whether having a period of stability in the management team would result in longer-term positives;
12. The cost of sacking Richardson and his coaching staff (both financially and psychologically);
13. Whether those costs would impact on the club's ability to move in the transfer market in the summer;
14. Other clubs are actually better than people think they are;
15. What the alternative managers available to the club would be;
16. What longer term damage still needs to be fixed from the previous owner;
17. Whether what we've ended up with is to be expected with what the manager has available;
18. Whether the manager (and other staff members) has more information that us to make more reasoned and informed decisions;
19. The coaching staff have already identified issues, but can't resolve them until the season is over/pre-season has begun;
20. How long it takes to actually get a team a manager is happy with

Ultimately, football is all about opinions. I just cannot see the benefit to sacking Richardson without giving him a serious opportunity.

[MR. CYNICAL]

Can't believe the bloke is getting so much support on here, were any of you at the game on Saturday? It was shocking, no shots on target again, toxic atmosphere, how can he come back from that?He can't be stupid enough to not of known what was going on.
He's got no grace going into next season, couple of bad results and all the toxic stuff will return. People on here saying give him to October whatever but if things go badly, he won't make the end of August!

Who creates this toxic atmosphere? In a number of games towards the end of the season, I've heard booing and negative chanting within ten minutes of the game starting. How do people think that will impact on the players' confidence and moral during the game?

Having no shots on target isn't great, true. However are we ultimately suggesting we should take shots from fifty yards simply to have shots on target and make the stats look better?

Also have people seriously considered:

1. Whether the players as good as they think they are;
2. Whether the players compliment each other, in terms of style of play;
3. Whether the players' decision making is part of the problem;
4. Whether there is anything going on behind the scenes we don't know about;
5. Whether the players are fully fit and not having to carry any minor injuries into matches;
6. What the strengths and weaknesses of the players are;
7. Whether how we're playing is simply the most effective strategy with those players;
8. If we play like the fans want, what would the impact would be on results;
9. If Hunt and Richardson is viewed to have failed, perhaps changing the manager yet again won't resolve the core issues;
10. Whether the recruitment has been good enough;
11. Whether having a period of stability in the management team would result in longer-term positives;
12. The cost of sacking Richardson and his coaching staff (both financially and psychologically);
13. Whether those costs would impact on the club's ability to move in the transfer market in the summer;
14. Other clubs are actually better than people think they are;
15. What the alternative managers available to the club would be;
16. What longer term damage still needs to be fixed from the previous owner;
17. Whether what we've ended up with is to be expected with what the manager has available;
18. Whether the manager (and other staff members) has more information that us to make more reasoned and informed decisions;
19. The coaching staff have already identified issues, but can't resolve them until the season is over/pre-season has begun;
20. How long it takes to actually get a team a manager is happy with

Ultimately, football is all about opinions. I just cannot see the benefit to sacking Richardson without giving him a serious opportunity.

Some of those points could be addressed by better management/coaching.
Ridiculous comment about shooting from 50 yards, are you accepting that's as close as we ever get to the goal? It's not the stats, just would be nice to get the ball and players in the box more, especially at home.

[Clyde1998]

Ridiculous comment about shooting from 50 yards, are you accepting that's as close as we ever get to the goal? It's not the stats, just would be nice to get the ball and players in the box more, especially at home.

My point is people can cherry pick stats easily to make their point.

We had fourteen shots in total against Blackpool; nine from inside the box. We just didn’t hit the target with any of them. We had twenty-two touches in their box, compared to their twelve in ours.

Against Cardiff we had fifteen shots; eleven inside the box; seven on target; twenty-four touches in their box (they had twenty in ours).

We’ve been getting into the box and having shots (at least in home games). It’s often been the quality of finishing and decision making that’s been the problem.

The manager can’t do much in the short term to resolve that.