SC hasn't a clue.

[brendywendy]

You really do show yourself up as a complete tool at times.

says captain toolbox

[boy1985]

belltool

[Schards#2]

So Reading are 5th in the table of clubs of similar stature.

Considering there are about 40 odd clubs of Readings stature and potential, maybe more, we are definitely doing very well.

Reading's board has the most cautious approach to football finance (compared to the 4 clubs listed above) and there is no doubt that it affects the outcome on the pitch.

I really don't think there is anyone out there who could replicate what Coppell is achieving under Readings unique circumstances. He is doing a truly amazing job.

All this ridiculously high expectation has been created by one truly sensational season that was a one off in not just the history of Reading but the history of any club.

5th in the Championship is a spectacular achievement for a club like Reading.

Do you right this sort of nonsense for a bet?

Have you never heard of parachute payments?

After 2 seasons in the top flight and the resulting £10m? safety net we are currently enjoying, there is absolutely sod all similarity in the respective statures of Reading and clubs like Blackpool or even big clubs like Southampton, Norwich, Ipswich etc for whom parachute payments have now expired.

Add this to our largely intact Premiershop squad that we kept following our totally avoidable relegation and it really beggars belief just how far Coppell's apologists are willing to go to distort the truth, in order to defend the errors he made that have led to 2 seasons as spectacular in their failure as the previous two were in their success.

So how much of this parachute payment did Coppell get to see? As from where i'm sitting, we didn't spend half of the fees we received for Kitson and Shorey, let alone touch any parachute payment.

Chalk another up on the LOL's along with

"we don't miss Sidwell"

"this squad is better than the 2005/6 squad"

"Sanchez could do a good job"

and many many more

Spotted - Woodcote Royal at game, about to flounce out in a hissy fit

[Agent Balti]

Easy. When we're significantly worse off than before he joined. At the moment we're back "down" to pretty much best we've ever been before he joined.

Playing badly compared to the standards HE set is not a valid reason. Being relegated from the success HE brought us is not a valid reason. Being currently a playoff contender in the Championship, and millions of pounds stronger than we were before we joined is at worst equal to the "dizzy heights" we achieved before. There will always be peaks and troughs in anyone's tenure. But when the troughs of today are comparable to the peaks of yesteryear this just shows how incredible he's been. If he drops us next season into a relegation battle from Champ-->League One then will talk of him leaving be anywhere close to valid. Being a strong Championship side in the playoffs (albeit with current confidence issues) is not even the faintest of reasons to consider changing management. The mind boggles at where such thinking comes from. Surely this isn't a difficult concept!????

Okay, can you name another manager where this principle has been used please? (Dario Gradi, excluded.)

[Hoop Blah]

Wood for the trees situation.

Step back and see the bleeding obvious, please.

Whether he has a clue or not, whether he is motivational or not, whether he makes good buys or not, whether he smiles or not, whether he does the windmill or not these are the facts:

Every other club

mediocre
--> in steps coppell -->
a quantum leap forward in terms of success

That's re-writing history to an extent though isn't it?

Palace had been in the top flight under Malcolm Allison and been accliamed as 'the team for the 80's' under Venables whilst making their way back up the leagues and into the top flight.

Coppell then took over and took about 5 years to get them back up to the top flight - no mean feat of course - and into the cup final. He also took them back down again and returned for less successful spells.

Not saying he didn't have success there, or anywhere else, as he's an effective and successful manager but 'quantum leap forward' is a over playing it a little!

[Hoop Blah]

Easy. When we're significantly worse off than before he joined. At the moment we're back "down" to pretty much best we've ever been before he joined.

Playing badly compared to the standards HE set is not a valid reason. Being relegated from the success HE brought us is not a valid reason. Being currently a playoff contender in the Championship, and millions of pounds stronger than we were before we joined is at worst equal to the "dizzy heights" we achieved before. There will always be peaks and troughs in anyone's tenure. But when the troughs of today are comparable to the peaks of yesteryear this just shows how incredible he's been. If he drops us next season into a relegation battle from Champ-->League One then will talk of him leaving be anywhere close to valid. Being a strong Championship side in the playoffs (albeit with current confidence issues) is not even the faintest of reasons to consider changing management. The mind boggles at where such thinking comes from. Surely this isn't a difficult concept!????

You're never going to move the club forward if you take that approach.

Once the club has moved on and is operating in a different league and has set itself new standards you have to do the same with how you judge success.

In my opinion we are now in a worse state than when Coppell took over by the way. Pardew had built a successful side which had failed in the playoffs but had started the season very well before he left. Coppell took on that side and improved it, but I enjoyed Pardew's last 6 months a lot more than the last 6 months under Coppell and we were winning more games in a more accomplished manner.

[Snowball]

No one can question SC's positive achievements at the club. That said, isn't it the job of a manager to motivate and inspire and his squad? Despite departures and some disastrous signings, we still have more than the the basis of a successful Championship side, (although probably not for much longer). Why then, can he not get them to reach at least a reasonable percentage of their potential?

Because there are 4 better teams than us this year.

MAYBE, but maybe not. IF we beat Barnsley this weekend and Burnley beat Sheffield (good possibility) we'll be 3 points behind with an AWAY game in hand at a club with little to play for.

Preston are the best home side in the league 2.14 ppg v Cardiff's 2.13 ppg, so Cardiff could easily lose that one and Preston are still punting for the POs

Now say we win that away game... We are then above Sheffield (and Cardiff if they lost at Preston). That's a perfectly reasonable scenario. Who is the better side, then?

Or should we wait until 46 games have been played before we make our pronouncements?

We have beaten Wolves Home and Away for an aggregate 4-0 (and one of those games was during our bad run)

We have won at Birmingham 3-1, at Sheffield 2-0 (so are 2-1 over Sheffield over two legs) (and one of those games was during our bad run and we were unlucky)



In truth there is not a great deal to pick between the top sides, and Reading's form against the top six is FAR superior to all the other top six sides

[Hoop Blah]

In truth there is not a great deal to pick between the top sides, and Reading's form against the top six is FAR superior to all the other top six sides

How good is that form against the top six in the last 2 months or so?

[Snowball]

In truth there is not a great deal to pick between the top sides, and Reading's form against the top six is FAR superior to all the other top six sides

How good is that form against the top six in the last 2 months or so?

We have only played Sheffield United from the top six in the last two months, played quite well and were very unlucky to lose

Go back THREE months and you include a win versus Wolves and three months ago exactly the defeat at Swansea

Go back FOUR months and we then have a win at Birmingham and a 1-1 draw with Cardiff

Go back 5 months (and a day) and we have 2-2 at Cardiff (with ten men for an hour) and a 2-0 win at Sheffield


2 Months W0 D0 L1 0-1
3 Months W1 D0 L2 1-3
4 Months W2 D1 L2 5-5
5 Months W3 D2 L2 9-7

[Hoop Blah]

My point being that form against the top six is pretty irrelevant when it's not that recent and our whole problem is that over the last few months we've not been anywhere near as good as we were.

A brief up turn (in spells) within the last two games might be the first signs of a return to form, but I'm not holding my breath!

[brendywendy]

I wouldn't have a clue either who to pick from the bunch of over hyped and over paid bunch of players we have at the mo! Hardly any of them are worthy of a first team place!

ok, now i think you are just one use of the word primadonnas from being hugo at the coventry match, just before he fell asleep.

[Royal_Belly]

I wouldn't have a clue either who to pick from the bunch of over hyped and over paid bunch of players we have at the mo! Hardly any of them are worthy of a first team place!

ok, now i think you are just one use of the word primadonnas from being hugo at the coventry match, just before he fell asleep.

Hugo and I are singing from the same hymn sheet! I didn't go to the Cov game - I listened to some of the game whilst cleaning my car in the sunshine! It sounded dull!

[Royal Rother]

Easy. When we're significantly worse off than before he joined. At the moment we're back "down" to pretty much best we've ever been before he joined.

Playing badly compared to the standards HE set is not a valid reason. Being relegated from the success HE brought us is not a valid reason. Being currently a playoff contender in the Championship, and millions of pounds stronger than we were before we joined is at worst equal to the "dizzy heights" we achieved before. There will always be peaks and troughs in anyone's tenure. But when the troughs of today are comparable to the peaks of yesteryear this just shows how incredible he's been. If he drops us next season into a relegation battle from Champ-->League One then will talk of him leaving be anywhere close to valid. Being a strong Championship side in the playoffs (albeit with current confidence issues) is not even the faintest of reasons to consider changing management. The mind boggles at where such thinking comes from. Surely this isn't a difficult concept!????

Okay, can you name another manager where this principle has been used please? (Dario Gradi, excluded.)

Every manager ever given a job has seen peaks and troughs in his team's form and season-end positions. It's all relative but Busby, Ferguson, Wenger, Clough et al would have been given marching orders if patience had not been shown when form dipped.

[brendywendy]

I wouldn't have a clue either who to pick from the bunch of over hyped and over paid bunch of players we have at the mo! Hardly any of them are worthy of a first team place!

ok, now i think you are just one use of the word primadonnas from being hugo at the coventry match, just before he fell asleep.

Hugo and I are singing from the same hymn sheet! I didn't go to the Cov game - I listened to some of the game whilst cleaning my car in the sunshine! It sounded dull!

so dulli was in the concourse after 20 minutes

[Snowball]

My point being that form against the top six is pretty irrelevant when it's not that recent and our whole problem is that over the last few months we've not been anywhere near as good as we were.

A brief up turn (in spells) within the last two games might be the first signs of a return to form, but I'm not holding my breath!

agreed, but the big difference IMO is the return of Noel Hunt. Let's hope he avoids injury and continues to buzz

I still REALLY fancy our chances

[cmonurz]

I don't. And it's all very well highlighting results against the top teams in the division, but our results against the bottom sides (only 3 points from 6 games against Forest, Charlton and Soton, for example) are poor, and we have three of those bottom sides in our next three games.

[Woodcote Royal]

Spotted - Woodcote Royal at game, about to flounce out in a hissy fit

I've never met a two year old who doesn't love a clown.

[Royal_Belly]

ok, now i think you are just one use of the word primadonnas from being hugo at the coventry match, just before he fell asleep.

Hugo and I are singing from the same hymn sheet! I didn't go to the Cov game - I listened to some of the game whilst cleaning my car in the sunshine! It sounded dull![/quote]

so dulli was in the concourse after 20 minutes[/quote]

making your way through the balti pies?!

[Schards#2]

Spotted - Woodcote Royal at game, about to flounce out in a hissy fit

I've never met a two year old who doesn't love a clown.

you'd better report that faulty ignore button AGAIN.

[Royal Lady]

And I've met plenty of 2 year olds, and older, who absolutely loathe clowns.

Plus, why is someone a "two year old" because they mock someone else's quite strange beliefs?