Academy - A false dawn?

[KC Royal]

Cardwell seemed to regress last season. Had less of an impact with the U21s and IIRC missed a penalty in the Youth Cup.

[Royal_jimmy]

We have some really talented youngsters, however. I agree that we should not bring more than 4 or 5 of them into the first team next season.

I think Dominic Samuels deserves a chance, he proved he is a goalscorer last season at Coventry. Fosu looks promising and shouldbe a regular on the bench as an impact sub, Cardwell is another one I have high hopes for. These talented attacking options are ones we should not rely on too much however. Sweeney and Cooper are real talents, I think Cooper should play a lot of games for us next season. Kuhl looks ok, I dont think he looks better than Karacan was at his age though and I was really excited about him!

Stacey and Tanner the jury is still out tbh, they look potentially good but raw and lightweight.

[Forbury Lion]

Lets hope the football people at Reading win over the accountants and start signing good players!

I wouldn't blame the accountants, they only report the facts and advise of possible outcomes, The board make strategic decisions about where to spend money.

Perhaps income needs to be looked at - Are the club maximize their revenue stream? You can't save yourself to success as quality will suffer, maybe they need to look at where they can increase income

[Esteban]

Perhaps income needs to be looked at - Are the club maximize their revenue stream? You can't save yourself to success as quality will suffer, maybe they need to look at where they can increase income

I think that's why they have changed the structure of season ticket prices. They seem to recognise that young fans will inevitably drive older fans into the stadium. Tug on the heart strings of the old man. My eldest son isn't 5 until November and though we've been to a number of U21 games, we've only ever been to one first team match and that was a bit of a disaster, as he was too young to pay attention and sit still. Now that his season ticket will be free (and he's that much older), I'm more inclined to buy one. And as a result of that, a friend of mine is planning to come along with his boy. It makes a lot of sense.

Although there is some fair criticism of the Thai's reluctance to spend, there does seem to be some long term thought, which we didn't get during the Zingarevich era.

[melonhead]

With our apparent lack of any transfer activity so far and the loss of experienced players does it appear we are looking to move forward by cutting costs to the bone and relying on Academy prospects to lead the way?

!

its chuffing june

[paddy20]

Lets hope the football people at Reading win over the accountants and start signing good players!

I wouldn't blame the accountants, they only report the facts and advise of possible outcomes, The board make strategic decisions about where to spend money.

Perhaps income needs to be looked at - Are the club maximize their revenue stream? You can't save yourself to success as quality will suffer, maybe they need to look at where they can increase income

I'm thinking JM still has a lot of say as he's is so friendly with the Thais and there is also Nigel Howe on the board. I just hope Steve Clarke has a big input but sadly unless you are a Jose I don't think thats the case anymore. Its all about balancing the books which I understand but sometimes you do need to take a few chances to progress. Thats something accountants aren't familiar with! Sorry but I can only see more players leaving with the lack of ambition and us running around the bottom of the championship.

In pretty much all of the last 8 years we have been in the premiership or challenging. This is the first time we have just avoided relegation and our hopes and aspirations are that we can survive next year. A sorry tale of poor management!

[Ian Royal]

Why are people still demanding we spend money we dont have when the only time we've done it led us to the brink of administration and our worst season in 15 years.

Balancing the books is not a bad thing. Struggle now is better than implode later.

[melonhead]

^^^yarp





oxf*rd easy spending other peoples money on random gambles aintit

[SCIAG]

I'll stick by what I have said before, Cardwell is by the far the standout diamond.... that boy is going to be a household name.

He's a good player, but that first goal against Liverpool aside I've not seen much from him to suggest he'll be quite that good.

Clarke seems to prefer Novakovich which I can't really understand, he's seen more of him than we have I guess. With Samuel now an overage player for the U21s and likely to be involved in the first team, it will be interesting to see how they fit in for the U21s.

[West F]

It has been mentioned already, but we do seem to possess a decent U21 side. I have seen them play and am quite happy with what we have coming through. It is sometimes better to have a little fearless hunger in your side than professional cynicism.

[Green]

With our apparent lack of any transfer activity so far and the loss of experienced players does it appear we are looking to move forward by cutting costs to the bone and relying on Academy prospects to lead the way?

In my opinion this will be a short road to disaster. Whilst some players do make the grade there are rarely more than one or two at any given time that do. At the moment I reckon we need at least 5 new players just to keep us in the division. Whilst football clubs have to balance the books there are many cases where lack of investment have lead to total collapse. Lets hope the football people at Reading win over the accountants and start signing good players!

An over reliance on the kids will almost cetainly backfire on us, .

You'll never win anything with kids.

Bad experience, Kes?