Ian; Playing to the strengths of the academy, of whom may make up at most 2/11 players in the side, at the expense of the other 9, seems like a good way to fail.
Maybe it's the football we want. But we need the players for it and we don't keep them long enough to move beyond the first stage of evolution.
Maybe you are right and we will get there, but it's been a long period of time yielding stats, performances and results that kinda suggest otherwise.
BFTG - Wimbledon away (pre-season friendly)
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LWJ
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North Somerset RoyalLower Westtmesis By the way, did anyone else having trouble with traffic?
I know of one fan who only got there shortly before half time, only to find he couldn't get in, so he went home.
Did he use Satnav. Traffic was avoidable.
My sat nav made it worse! After being stuck on the M25 I decided to leave at the M23 following which my sat nav got me stuck in a 5 mile queue on the A308. I got there about 5 mins after ko and of course missed the first goal. The guy who could not get in was lucky. I then had to watch the rest of that shit performance
Get a better sat nav. Ours showed there were queues on the M3/M25 so we then diverted ourselves onto back roads and A roads. Easy and simple.
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I think the Thai's are making the same mistakes as last season. They haven't really learned much at all.
The only difference is instead of bringing in cr*p players on loan they are bringing them in permanently instead.
They are changing too much, too quickly again and their recruitment strategy continues to be the laughing stock of the Championship.
Plucking players out of weaker Polish, French lower divisions and Dutch leagues is only going to result in one thing and that's relegation.
The following 2 expressions need to be heeded by our Thai owners. When you pay peanuts you get monkeys. You generally get what you pay for.
I don't have much hope for our new signings. The player with seemingly the best pedigree in Roy Beerens isn't guaranteed to work out either. We signed Emerse Fae, Marek Matejovsky and Matej Vydra with larger reputations and pedigree and they didn't work out. The club's current ways of recruiting are frankly embarrasing at the moment. They don't recruit properly around players character, motivation, ambitions or personality. They don't even recruit around players levels of skill, ability or potential correctly at the moment either.
Next season is going to be a real struggle.
The only difference is instead of bringing in cr*p players on loan they are bringing them in permanently instead.
They are changing too much, too quickly again and their recruitment strategy continues to be the laughing stock of the Championship.
Plucking players out of weaker Polish, French lower divisions and Dutch leagues is only going to result in one thing and that's relegation.
The following 2 expressions need to be heeded by our Thai owners. When you pay peanuts you get monkeys. You generally get what you pay for.
I don't have much hope for our new signings. The player with seemingly the best pedigree in Roy Beerens isn't guaranteed to work out either. We signed Emerse Fae, Marek Matejovsky and Matej Vydra with larger reputations and pedigree and they didn't work out. The club's current ways of recruiting are frankly embarrasing at the moment. They don't recruit properly around players character, motivation, ambitions or personality. They don't even recruit around players levels of skill, ability or potential correctly at the moment either.
Next season is going to be a real struggle.
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More specifically about this game at Wimbledon.
Stam picked the kind of line-up and formation that we saw a lot of last season. He has already told us that we will be playing 4-3-3 this season so no surprise with the selection. Williams and Norwood in a 4-3-3 were sh*te last season and they will be sh*te again next season. They don't play well together and don't provide the right balance to make the 4-3-3 work effectively.
Brian McDermott already knew all of this and would have made the right moves in the transfer market to address the shortcomings of the squad. But Jaap Stam is going to need to go through this whole process of discovery himself now. It means that we as a club have been set back another year, but more dangerously as the team continues to weaken relegation looks incredibly likely. We survived by a small margin last year, but that margin is likely to be wiped out this year.
In the striker positions, we start this season far worse off than we did last season. It was the goals of Glenn Murray 2 seasons back and the goals of Blackman last season that gave us enough of a head start to avoid the trap door. But this time around, who is going to fire the goals to get us over the line this year?
Very worrying times to be a Royal at the moment. I can see us getting off to slow start and not recovering....
Stam picked the kind of line-up and formation that we saw a lot of last season. He has already told us that we will be playing 4-3-3 this season so no surprise with the selection. Williams and Norwood in a 4-3-3 were sh*te last season and they will be sh*te again next season. They don't play well together and don't provide the right balance to make the 4-3-3 work effectively.
Brian McDermott already knew all of this and would have made the right moves in the transfer market to address the shortcomings of the squad. But Jaap Stam is going to need to go through this whole process of discovery himself now. It means that we as a club have been set back another year, but more dangerously as the team continues to weaken relegation looks incredibly likely. We survived by a small margin last year, but that margin is likely to be wiped out this year.
In the striker positions, we start this season far worse off than we did last season. It was the goals of Glenn Murray 2 seasons back and the goals of Blackman last season that gave us enough of a head start to avoid the trap door. But this time around, who is going to fire the goals to get us over the line this year?
Very worrying times to be a Royal at the moment. I can see us getting off to slow start and not recovering....
I am struggling to find a GIF with a large enough facepalm.
Is Top Flight right? Everyone seems cautiously positive regarding the signings and have stated that losing is irrelevant in pre-season.
Members of HNA overreacting to a meaningless defeat shocker.
Especially silly considering what TF himself posted 10 days ago:
Especially silly considering what TF himself posted 10 days ago:
Do we have an identity again now?
John Swift has clearly idenitfied something about Reading FC. Jaap Stam, the style of football, his leadership qualities and coaching methods. It is something that he identifies with and wants to be part of....
Are there signs that the club has a positive identity again? A new Reading way? Something positive and unique about us. It may not be the identity that Brian was trying to create, but there is a new identity, something a bit different and something positive.
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Genome, the comments I was making about our identity are how others from outside the club are perhaps perceiving us at the moment. It was more a question rather than what I think our identity is. Once the season gets under way, the same identity of weakness, incompetence and inability will take centre stage once again.
Regarding our team though. Surely, we look vulnerable?
This is the same again as last season.... The same midfield, the same problems, the same lack of quality in attack. We haven't been able to hold on to a proper 20 goal a season striker for more than half a season. Going in to this new season, it doesn't appear that we have one.
Our defence looks like it will concede goals and we don't look like we will get enough goals at the other end. We have all the ingredients of a team destined for the bottom 3. Another new manager who needs to learn about his players all over again. A recruitment policy that brings in disinterested players with poor technical ability from weaker leagues.
Figure it out. It doesn't look healthy. We have to sweep away all the false preseason hope and optimism and look at this in the cold light of day. It does not look good.
Regarding our team though. Surely, we look vulnerable?
This is the same again as last season.... The same midfield, the same problems, the same lack of quality in attack. We haven't been able to hold on to a proper 20 goal a season striker for more than half a season. Going in to this new season, it doesn't appear that we have one.
Our defence looks like it will concede goals and we don't look like we will get enough goals at the other end. We have all the ingredients of a team destined for the bottom 3. Another new manager who needs to learn about his players all over again. A recruitment policy that brings in disinterested players with poor technical ability from weaker leagues.
Figure it out. It doesn't look healthy. We have to sweep away all the false preseason hope and optimism and look at this in the cold light of day. It does not look good.
All you post is a whole load of conjecture and you get your panties in a twist over nothing. Plenty of people are optimistic, and we have signed some decent players. We've not even seen Beerens yet who by all accounts is a very good player. A couple of defensive additions and I think we are competitive. You need to relax and give them a bloody chance before freaking out.
A young side came from behind to beat full strength Swindon last week and plenty were saying how encouraging it was.
A young side came from behind to beat full strength Swindon last week and plenty were saying how encouraging it was.
Last edited by genome on 25 Jul 2016 10:38, edited 1 time in total.
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I'll be supporting us to the hilt next season and for me if Jaap Stam can lead us to a 21st place finish and thus avoid relegation, I will be celebrating that like we've won the league.
Let's win our mini league.
Reading
Burton Albion
Barnsley
Rotherham
We need to finish top of that little lot.
Jaap Stam's Barmy Army!
Let's win our mini league.
Reading
Burton Albion
Barnsley
Rotherham
We need to finish top of that little lot.
Jaap Stam's Barmy Army!
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Why do you think we're going to do so much better than that?
What do you see that I don't?
What do you see that I don't?
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Do you see a 20 goal a season striker?
Can you even see any of our strikers getting in to double figures?
Do we have a striker that has got into double figures for any club in the last 2 seasons?
Can you even see any of our strikers getting in to double figures?
Do we have a striker that has got into double figures for any club in the last 2 seasons?
Top Flight Why do you think we're going to do so much better than that?
What do you see that I don't?
I think we will do better as we have a better squad than many of the other teams in our league, full of internationals and lots of experience. As with last season, I don't see any real risk of relegation as there are at least 6 teams that will be easily below us.
I can see some validity in your views, but I do think you are being overly negative.
Top Flight Do you see a 20 goal a season striker?
Can you even see any of our strikers getting in to double figures?
Do we have a striker that has got into double figures for any club in the last 2 seasons?
Couldn't see Kevin Doyle scoring 20 goals in a season after signing for £70K. He got 19 in that first Championship season. You just never know.
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Maybe Bobby, but the difference between our squad as we go into this campaign and previous squads is a total lack of a goalscorer.
We are in a tight division and even a small amount of weakening can send us through the floor.
In two seasons in the Premier League, the only difference to our side from the one that finished 8th and the one that went down was Steve Sidwell. You take one player out the team and everything changes.
We are going in to this season a complete mess yet again with out the goal scorer that will fire us to safety. We were toothless in the second half of last season and we remain toothless as we begin the new campaign. I know there is still just over a month of the transfer window left to address some of the issues of weakness in the squad. But, as things stand right now, we don't look equipped to finish anywhere higher than the bottom 5 or 6.
We are in a tight division and even a small amount of weakening can send us through the floor.
In two seasons in the Premier League, the only difference to our side from the one that finished 8th and the one that went down was Steve Sidwell. You take one player out the team and everything changes.
We are going in to this season a complete mess yet again with out the goal scorer that will fire us to safety. We were toothless in the second half of last season and we remain toothless as we begin the new campaign. I know there is still just over a month of the transfer window left to address some of the issues of weakness in the squad. But, as things stand right now, we don't look equipped to finish anywhere higher than the bottom 5 or 6.
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HendoTop Flight Do you see a 20 goal a season striker?
Can you even see any of our strikers getting in to double figures?
Do we have a striker that has got into double figures for any club in the last 2 seasons?
Couldn't see Kevin Doyle scoring 20 goals in a season after signing for £70K. He got 19 in that first Championship season. You just never know.
True! That's the beauty of football. No one really knows anything!
But it's conjecture TF. You don't know how Rakels is going to fair, Mendes is a complete unknown and could click in the Championship, Beerens might provide the service the strikers were lacking.
You just don't know. You need to give it at least 6 games before being so negative.
You just don't know. You need to give it at least 6 games before being so negative.
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Fair enough.
I'm just saying it the way I'm seeing it. That's how it looks to me right now. It's true, you can't judge from a few preseason friendlies.
But we know this team from the last few years. If Jaap is going to go ahead with something like this:
GK: Al Habsi
RB: Gunter
LB: Obita
CB: McShane
CB: Cooper
This is a back 5 that we are all familiar with and know concedes too many goals.
If our midfield is going to be:
Williams
Norwood
Van Den Berg
Then, again we know this very well. Van den Berg is the only relative unknown.
Up front, we could be
Beerens
Mendes / Rakels / Kermorgant / Samuel
Swift
There is some potential up there but I'm not sure who is going to be the one to bang in the goals. I have more hope that Samuel will surprise us and come good than Mendes.
The problem with this team is the midfield three of which includes Williams and Norwood. They didn't make us tick last season and I can't see them doing well next season. I'd rather see Quinn and Evans alongside Van den Berg to be honest.
I'm just saying it the way I'm seeing it. That's how it looks to me right now. It's true, you can't judge from a few preseason friendlies.
But we know this team from the last few years. If Jaap is going to go ahead with something like this:
GK: Al Habsi
RB: Gunter
LB: Obita
CB: McShane
CB: Cooper
This is a back 5 that we are all familiar with and know concedes too many goals.
If our midfield is going to be:
Williams
Norwood
Van Den Berg
Then, again we know this very well. Van den Berg is the only relative unknown.
Up front, we could be
Beerens
Mendes / Rakels / Kermorgant / Samuel
Swift
There is some potential up there but I'm not sure who is going to be the one to bang in the goals. I have more hope that Samuel will surprise us and come good than Mendes.
The problem with this team is the midfield three of which includes Williams and Norwood. They didn't make us tick last season and I can't see them doing well next season. I'd rather see Quinn and Evans alongside Van den Berg to be honest.
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LWJ
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Having watched the majority of last seasons games (35+) and seen the last two friendlies, these are my current thoughts.
Our defence hasn't improved, in fact it's got worse (lost AF and MH). So we will still let in soft, comical goals (Wimbledon's 1st). JC needs to go out on loan to a L1 side, we can't afford to give him the game time to learn from his mistakes. I was excited to see the new goalkeeper challenge AAH, but unfortunately it looks like we will stick with AAH for the time being. So again, same soft, comical goals (Wimbledon's 2nd).
The midfield hasn't changed a great deal. Stam is just trying to stick Van der Berg in between ON and DW who we all know don't play well together. I'm slightly disappointed 1 of them wasn't sold to force us into changing this. SQ doesn't look like he will get much of a look in apart from off the bench this season. I just don't see how he fits into the team currently. I would be interested in seeing a Quinn/Berg/Williams midfield tried at some point, or even a Quinn/Berg/Swift midfield just to give us some variety.
Beerens is a RM, GM is a RM, who is our LM? Fosu lacks the pace to go past a player (based off the last two games), he has the skill but constantly cuts back doesn't ever power forward which is disappointing as I thought he would.
YK didn't play a part in the last two games, no mention of any injuries from what I can see. On his way out?
Unlike others I thought Mendes had quite a good game and made a couple of powerful runs. Having watched their shooting practice he does seem to have a rather weak shot though..
We did dominate the game against the Dons, created a few chances, saw the ball cleared off the line twice, but lacked something throughout. I am not overly optimistic about our chances this season, but I don't think we are relegation candidates. I would like to see Stam bring in somebody to partner McShane who has a bit of pace.
Our defence hasn't improved, in fact it's got worse (lost AF and MH). So we will still let in soft, comical goals (Wimbledon's 1st). JC needs to go out on loan to a L1 side, we can't afford to give him the game time to learn from his mistakes. I was excited to see the new goalkeeper challenge AAH, but unfortunately it looks like we will stick with AAH for the time being. So again, same soft, comical goals (Wimbledon's 2nd).
The midfield hasn't changed a great deal. Stam is just trying to stick Van der Berg in between ON and DW who we all know don't play well together. I'm slightly disappointed 1 of them wasn't sold to force us into changing this. SQ doesn't look like he will get much of a look in apart from off the bench this season. I just don't see how he fits into the team currently. I would be interested in seeing a Quinn/Berg/Williams midfield tried at some point, or even a Quinn/Berg/Swift midfield just to give us some variety.
Beerens is a RM, GM is a RM, who is our LM? Fosu lacks the pace to go past a player (based off the last two games), he has the skill but constantly cuts back doesn't ever power forward which is disappointing as I thought he would.
YK didn't play a part in the last two games, no mention of any injuries from what I can see. On his way out?
Unlike others I thought Mendes had quite a good game and made a couple of powerful runs. Having watched their shooting practice he does seem to have a rather weak shot though..
We did dominate the game against the Dons, created a few chances, saw the ball cleared off the line twice, but lacked something throughout. I am not overly optimistic about our chances this season, but I don't think we are relegation candidates. I would like to see Stam bring in somebody to partner McShane who has a bit of pace.
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