In praise of Reading

[Cripple Creek]

"The training is very good" ... errrr, what does that mean? May as well say "the footballs are very round".

[RepressedRoyal]

I couldn't agree more with the OP.

18 months ago we were pipping Southampton to the Championship.

Forward to November 2013, Saints are deservedly sat third in the Premiership with a flowing and attacking brand of football that has lit up the league.

We are, remarkably, 6th in the Championship, playing football that is in a state of paralysed confusion that lies somewhere between hoofball and the passing game.

Our owner is nowhere to be seen

Our manager probably feels he has been duped

Our 'big' earners don't seem in much of a hurry to play first team football

We got battered 5-2 by a team without a win.

Praise the Lord for our good fortune.

A small club with a small mentality who smacked the financial gift horse that is the Premiership, square in the face.

[Big Foot]

I couldn't agree more with the OP.

18 months ago we were pipping Southampton to the Championship.

Forward to November 2013, Saints are deservedly sat third in the Premiership with a flowing and attacking brand of football that has lit up the league.

We are, remarkably, 6th in the Championship, playing football that is in a state of paralysed confusion that lies somewhere between hoofball and the passing game.

Our owner is nowhere to be seen

Our manager probably feels he has been duped

Our 'big' earners don't seem in much of a hurry to play first team football

We got battered 5-2 by a team without a win.

Praise the Lord for our good fortune.

A small club with a small mentality who smacked the financial gift horse that is the Premiership, square in the face.

Indeed.

[Ouroboros]

I couldn't agree more with the OP.

18 months ago we were pipping Southampton to the Championship.

Forward to November 2013, Saints are deservedly sat third in the Premiership with a flowing and attacking brand of football that has lit up the league.

We are, remarkably, 6th in the Championship, playing football that is in a state of paralysed confusion that lies somewhere between hoofball and the passing game.

Our owner is nowhere to be seen

Our manager probably feels he has been duped

Our 'big' earners don't seem in much of a hurry to play first team football

We got battered 5-2 by a team without a win.

Praise the Lord for our good fortune.

A small club with a small mentality who smacked the financial gift horse that is the Premiership, square in the face.

Indeed.

I also agree that if, at any given point in time, we can be compared unfavourably with an extremely successful team then we are definitely useless.

[AbovetheI]

With all the doom and gloom about at the moment thought I would add this

1. we have a fantastic ground with great facilities

2. We have a great training ground with first class facilities for the players. They are well looked after with first class food and relaxation. These are about to get even better

3. The club is well run administratively

4. The training is very good

5. The organisation and travel arrangements are high standard

This is a first hand account from someone who knows. Lets be proud of our set up even if we may struggle to get promotion this year

It's like saying....

You've got a business struggling to make money. May have to fold. But...

1. The receptionist is friendly

2. Your filing cabinets are kept tidy

3. Stanley in accounting makes a great cup of tea

4. Alan the team leader can do wonders with PowerPoint

5. The office smells nice

[RepressedRoyal]

I couldn't agree more with the OP.

18 months ago we were pipping Southampton to the Championship.

Forward to November 2013, Saints are deservedly sat third in the Premiership with a flowing and attacking brand of football that has lit up the league.

We are, remarkably, 6th in the Championship, playing football that is in a state of paralysed confusion that lies somewhere between hoofball and the passing game.

Our owner is nowhere to be seen

Our manager probably feels he has been duped

Our 'big' earners don't seem in much of a hurry to play first team football

We got battered 5-2 by a team without a win.

Praise the Lord for our good fortune.

A small club with a small mentality who smacked the financial gift horse that is the Premiership, square in the face.

Indeed.

I also agree that if, at any given point in time, we can be compared unfavourably with an extremely successful team then we are definitely useless.

What I am saying is that we were on a level playing field with a club of a similar size and we blew it, big style. I could accept it if we, and most probably, Nigel Adkins, weren't duped into believing otherwise. The pathetic attempt at maintaining PL station was pretty much unforgivable. We could never be a top 4 club but we could, with a bit of imagination, have done a Southampton or Swansea.

I am not qualified to say what the financial situation at the club is but it appears to me that JM was either duped as well, or he just took the first offer that came along to raise funds. Time will tell I guess, but in my opinion, it is an embarrassing shambles.

It has led to the state of being half-hearted going viral, spreading from players to supporters; going to games offers a sense of blandness that I can't quite put my finger on.

Supporting Reading at the moment, is about as inspiring as eating a Rich Tea biscuit.

[Barry the bird boggler]

We had our chance in the big time last season and totally blew it due to poor management decisions meaning there was no adequate squad investment last summer and what there was in January was just a pathetic joke.

This seemed to mirror 2007. This club is well run but always want to do things on the cheap playing wise and consequently the high expectations being set for supporters keep failing to be met.

The last transfer window was again pathetic and although we're 6th we have two nasty awkward away trips coming up and we could quite easily be in mid table obscurity come our next home game.

It's not the failing that bothers me, it's the total stupidity of not even trying to compete with the clubs peers at the higher level.

[Once were Biscuitmen]

Southampton are owned by a massive trust fund set up in the will of their formal owner. They were therefore able to subsidise a far higher level of operational losses both in the championship and premiership.

They were never, 'on our level' - even when we beat them to the the title with one of the most over achieving squads of all time.

Compared to say spending an unbroken half century in the third tier the last ten years have been fantastic, with something to play for most years and a couple of play off finals as well. We have become spoilt by this relative success and the moaning is compounded by harking back to a pre sky era of fantastic atmospheres every week that never was.

I'm sorry our rich half owner who helped to get us out of the championship is not quite as rich as we all hoped. But thems the breaks, there are only so many petrochemical billionaires and nasty oil states that want to lose money owning English and welsh football teams.

It's probably more fun to accept this and enjoy going to the football rather than railing against reality on the internet.

[paddy20]

Southampton are owned by a massive trust fund set up in the will of their formal owner. They were therefore able to subsidise a far higher level of operational losses both in the championship and premiership.

They were never, 'on our level' - even when we beat them to the the title with one of the most over achieving squads of all time.

Compared to say spending an unbroken half century in the third tier the last ten years have been fantastic, with something to play for most years and a couple of play off finals as well. We have become spoilt by this relative success and the moaning is compounded by harking back to a pre sky era of fantastic atmospheres every week that never was.

I'm sorry our rich half owner who helped to get us out of the championship is not quite as rich as we all hoped. But thems the breaks, there are only so many petrochemical billionaires and nasty oil states that want to lose money owning English and welsh football teams.

It's probably more fun to accept this and enjoy going to the football rather than railing against reality on the internet.

I once was a biscuit man and fed on scraps and crumbs. I'm now a Royal and eat at some quite nice restaurants. On a couple of occasions I ate at Le Quatre Saisons but its unlikely that I will again for a while

[dogzbollox]

Reading is also host to the AfterDark, the only club I've never, ever had a fight in. Something to be proud of.

Edited for you..

[RepressedRoyal]

Southampton are owned by a massive trust fund set up in the will of their formal owner. They were therefore able to subsidise a far higher level of operational losses both in the championship and premiership.

They were never, 'on our level' - even when we beat them to the the title with one of the most over achieving squads of all time.

Compared to say spending an unbroken half century in the third tier the last ten years have been fantastic, with something to play for most years and a couple of play off finals as well. We have become spoilt by this relative success and the moaning is compounded by harking back to a pre sky era of fantastic atmospheres every week that never was.

I'm sorry our rich half owner who helped to get us out of the championship is not quite as rich as we all hoped. But thems the breaks, there are only so many petrochemical billionaires and nasty oil states that want to lose money owning English and welsh football teams.

It's probably more fun to accept this and enjoy going to the football rather than railing against reality on the internet.

I once was a biscuit man and fed on scraps and crumbs. I'm now a Royal and eat at some quite nice restaurants. On a couple of occasions I ate at Le Quatre Saisons but its unlikely that I will again for a while

That is a very fair assessment Paddy, but Reading are in a great catchment area and whilst I agree we have been spoilt by success (my first game was Rotherham 1979) I can't help but feel that major opportunities have been missed by a club in a great catchment area who are not really that much smaller than the Saints. Swansea are perhaps at better example, as I agree that Southampton were very lucky to get the finances that came their way.

I was not a fan of immoral Russian funding from the start but I deluded myself that we may have got a decent one. There is a feeling of being conned throughout the club and I wish we had never gone down the route we did but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I need to get over myself and start enjoying it again but something wont let me at the moment. Hopefully I am a shallow enough individual to change like a chameleon with a run of good performance. Like most fans, my morals go out of the window with a bit of success

[glass half full]

Couldn't they just play golf around prospect park or something? Dig a little hole on one side of the park and hit the ball from the other side over the loony bin or through the wooded area in the middle. Best of all, it's free. I knew someone who used to do this at ashenbury. It's not like anyone even goes to parks in Reading. They're always empty.

There used to be a 'pitch and putt' course, also a putting green at Prospect Park. I remember once scoring a hole-in-one, also taking 22 putts on another occasion.

I also remember Duggie Webb taking Reading's youngsters on a run up and down Prospect Park's slope. No ball in sight!

[ankeny]

I couldn't agree more with the OP.

18 months ago we were pipping Southampton to the Championship.

Forward to November 2013, Saints are deservedly sat third in the Premiership with a flowing and attacking brand of football that has lit up the league.

We are, remarkably, 6th in the Championship, playing football that is in a state of paralysed confusion that lies somewhere between hoofball and the passing game.

Our owner is nowhere to be seen

Our manager probably feels he has been duped

Our 'big' earners don't seem in much of a hurry to play first team football

We got battered 5-2 by a team without a win.

Praise the Lord for our good fortune.

A small club with a small mentality who smacked the financial gift horse that is the Premiership, square in the face.

Brilliant ,that's it.

[paddy20]

Southampton are owned by a massive trust fund set up in the will of their formal owner. They were therefore able to subsidise a far higher level of operational losses both in the championship and premiership.

They were never, 'on our level' - even when we beat them to the the title with one of the most over achieving squads of all time.

Compared to say spending an unbroken half century in the third tier the last ten years have been fantastic, with something to play for most years and a couple of play off finals as well. We have become spoilt by this relative success and the moaning is compounded by harking back to a pre sky era of fantastic atmospheres every week that never was.

I'm sorry our rich half owner who helped to get us out of the championship is not quite as rich as we all hoped. But thems the breaks, there are only so many petrochemical billionaires and nasty oil states that want to lose money owning English and welsh football teams.

It's probably more fun to accept this and enjoy going to the football rather than railing against reality on the internet.

I once was a biscuit man and fed on scraps and crumbs. I'm now a Royal and eat at some quite nice restaurants. On a couple of occasions I ate at Le Quatre Saisons but its unlikely that I will again for a while

That is a very fair assessment Paddy, but Reading are in a great catchment area and whilst I agree we have been spoilt by success (my first game was Rotherham 1979) I can't help but feel that major opportunities have been missed by a club in a great catchment area who are not really that much smaller than the Saints. Swansea are perhaps at better example, as I agree that Southampton were very lucky to get the finances that came their way.

I was not a fan of immoral Russian funding from the start but I deluded myself that we may have got a decent one. There is a feeling of being conned throughout the club and I wish we had never gone down the route we did but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I need to get over myself and start enjoying it again but something wont let me at the moment. Hopefully I am a shallow enough individual to change like a chameleon with a run of good performance. Like most fans, my morals go out of the window with a bit of success

Totally agree. Its a bit like going out on a date a couple of times with Cate Blanchett and then never hearing from her again! ' Better to have loved and lost than never loved at all'

[72 bus]

Totally agree. Its a bit like going out on a date a couple of times with Cate Blanchett and then never hearing from her again! ' Better to have loved and lost than never loved at all'

And you are left with the thought nagging away at you, that with a bit more effort on your last date you might have shagged her

[paddy20]

Totally agree. Its a bit like going out on a date a couple of times with Cate Blanchett and then never hearing from her again! ' Better to have loved and lost than never loved at all'

And you are left with the thought nagging away at you, that with a bit more effort on your last date you might have shagged her

Brilliant ha ha

[Barry the bird boggler]

Who is Cate Blanchett?

[SpaghettiHoop]

Plays for Havant & Waterlooville