Season 20/21

[Old Man Andrews]

And let’s just say I’m not alone in the opinion that we are currently a shambles. Ady Williams, Kevin Dillon, Second Tier Podcast, Not The Top 20 Podcast are just a few examples of people/bodies who understand football better than us, who have said we’re going in the wrong direction. Baldock & Blackett’s comments would also suggest things aren’t good.

We have enough quality not to go down this season, but it’s very unlikely the trend will improve if a short-term approach continues rather than a long-term gradual progression.

Rinomhota is a superb player...I hope that’s enough positivity for Nameless now

Radio Berks will be forever negative whilst we have a foreign coach in charge, it is what their core audience expect and want to hear. It is very much Brexit FM.

[Snowflake Royal]

And let’s just say I’m not alone in the opinion that we are currently a shambles. Ady Williams, Kevin Dillon, Second Tier Podcast, Not The Top 20 Podcast are just a few examples of people/bodies who understand football better than us, who have said we’re going in the wrong direction. Baldock & Blackett’s comments would also suggest things aren’t good.

We have enough quality not to go down this season, but it’s very unlikely the trend will improve if a short-term approach continues rather than a long-term gradual progression.

Rinomhota is a superb player...I hope that’s enough positivity for Nameless now

I do think it's relevant to recognise that the management of the club in getting where we are and whether the new guy was a good or sensible appointment to make once we got there is a very different thing to how the new guy manages the team and performs.

At worst, he's got responsibility for being happy to talk to and sign for a club that is treating it's managers badly and going behind their backs.

But ultimately, now he's in charge he should get judged on how he does the same as anyone else. There'll naturally be less patience and leeway from those of us unhappy he's here in the first place.

But we need to remember he isn't the bad guy in this. The bad guy is Dai.

The club no longer has my support and Dai can go to hell, but I still back the Team.

[Zip]

And let’s just say I’m not alone in the opinion that we are currently a shambles. Ady Williams, Kevin Dillon, Second Tier Podcast, Not The Top 20 Podcast are just a few examples of people/bodies who understand football better than us, who have said we’re going in the wrong direction. Baldock & Blackett’s comments would also suggest things aren’t good.

We have enough quality not to go down this season, but it’s very unlikely the trend will improve if a short-term approach continues rather than a long-term gradual progression.

Rinomhota is a superb player...I hope that’s enough positivity for Nameless now

I do think it's relevant to recognise that the management of the club in getting where we are and whether the new guy was a good or sensible appointment to make once we got there is a very different thing to how the new guy manages the team and performs.

At worst, he's got responsibility for being happy to talk to and sign for a club that is treating it's managers badly and going behind their backs.



But ultimately, now he's in charge he should get judged on how he does the same as anyone else. There'll naturally be less patience and leeway from those of us unhappy he's here in the first place.

But we need to remember he isn't the bad guy in this. The bad guy is Dai.

The club no longer has my support and Dai can go to hell, but I still back the Team.

I will always the support the club and team but agree with your view on the owners behaviour in all of this. I already feel our new manager has no chance as I suspect he will be sacked if we are not in or around the play offs as the season progresses. We will be looking for yet another manager some time after a Christmas I suspect.

[Snowflake Royal]

And let’s just say I’m not alone in the opinion that we are currently a shambles. Ady Williams, Kevin Dillon, Second Tier Podcast, Not The Top 20 Podcast are just a few examples of people/bodies who understand football better than us, who have said we’re going in the wrong direction. Baldock & Blackett’s comments would also suggest things aren’t good.

We have enough quality not to go down this season, but it’s very unlikely the trend will improve if a short-term approach continues rather than a long-term gradual progression.

Rinomhota is a superb player...I hope that’s enough positivity for Nameless now

I do think it's relevant to recognise that the management of the club in getting where we are and whether the new guy was a good or sensible appointment to make once we got there is a very different thing to how the new guy manages the team and performs.

At worst, he's got responsibility for being happy to talk to and sign for a club that is treating it's managers badly and going behind their backs.



But ultimately, now he's in charge he should get judged on how he does the same as anyone else. There'll naturally be less patience and leeway from those of us unhappy he's here in the first place.

But we need to remember he isn't the bad guy in this. The bad guy is Dai.

The club no longer has my support and Dai can go to hell, but I still back the Team.

I will always the support the club and team but agree with your view on the owners behaviour in all of this. I already feel our new manager has no chance as I suspect he will be sacked if we are not in or around the play offs as the season progresses. We will be looking for yet another manager some time after a Christmas I suspect.

I particularly frustrated as we don't seem to be making much in the way of signings, so if we do well with this squad I really see no reason why we wouldn't have done as well with Bowen. If we do badly, then we've set ourselves backwards for no reason and will be on yet another manager.

[CountryRoyal]

I do think it's relevant to recognise that the management of the club in getting where we are and whether the new guy was a good or sensible appointment to make once we got there is a very different thing to how the new guy manages the team and performs.

At worst, he's got responsibility for being happy to talk to and sign for a club that is treating it's managers badly and going behind their backs.



But ultimately, now he's in charge he should get judged on how he does the same as anyone else. There'll naturally be less patience and leeway from those of us unhappy he's here in the first place.

But we need to remember he isn't the bad guy in this. The bad guy is Dai.

The club no longer has my support and Dai can go to hell, but I still back the Team.

I will always the support the club and team but agree with your view on the owners behaviour in all of this. I already feel our new manager has no chance as I suspect he will be sacked if we are not in or around the play offs as the season progresses. We will be looking for yet another manager some time after a Christmas I suspect.

I particularly frustrated as we don't seem to be making much in the way of signings, so if we do well with this squad I really see no reason why we wouldn't have done as well with Bowen. If we do badly, then we've set ourselves backwards for no reason and will be on yet another manager.

I agree with a lot of what you say Ian but this is just fundamentally wrong. By definition a different manager could get better results from the same group of players than a previous. Be it by different selection, formation, tactics or even basic management of personal. I’m not saying the new guy will get more from the team with largely the same players, but if he does it’s no guarantee that Bowen would have done the same. Performances were largely dire with Bowen and results unspectacular, see no reason why that would have changed. I don’t expect us to all of a sudden be world beaters but if we do I certainly won’t be “frustrated” that we’ve achieved that without Bowen.

[Snowflake Royal]

I will always the support the club and team but agree with your view on the owners behaviour in all of this. I already feel our new manager has no chance as I suspect he will be sacked if we are not in or around the play offs as the season progresses. We will be looking for yet another manager some time after a Christmas I suspect.

I particularly frustrated as we don't seem to be making much in the way of signings, so if we do well with this squad I really see no reason why we wouldn't have done as well with Bowen. If we do badly, then we've set ourselves backwards for no reason and will be on yet another manager.

I agree with a lot of what you say Ian but this is just fundamentally wrong. By definition a different manager could get better results from the same group of players than a previous. Be it by different selection, formation, tactics or even basic management of personal. I’m not saying the new guy will get more from the team with largely the same players, but if he does it’s no guarantee that Bowen would have done the same. Performances were largely dire and Bowen and results unspectacular, see no reason why that would have changed. I don’t expect us to all of a sudden be world beaters but if we do I certainly won’t be “frustrated” that we’ve achieved that without Bowen.

Say rather then, that I see no reason why this manager would do significantly better with the same players as Bowen would, if you find that clearer. Not that no manager could do better with this squad, or no manager can ever make a difference to a squad of players.

That's obviously nonsense and I'd have thought would go without saying.

I'll go further and say IF we do better this season, it'll be because Joao stays fit.

[CountryRoyal]

I particularly frustrated as we don't seem to be making much in the way of signings, so if we do well with this squad I really see no reason why we wouldn't have done as well with Bowen. If we do badly, then we've set ourselves backwards for no reason and will be on yet another manager.

I agree with a lot of what you say Ian but this is just fundamentally wrong. By definition a different manager could get better results from the same group of players than a previous. Be it by different selection, formation, tactics or even basic management of personal. I’m not saying the new guy will get more from the team with largely the same players, but if he does it’s no guarantee that Bowen would have done the same. Performances were largely dire and Bowen and results unspectacular, see no reason why that would have changed. I don’t expect us to all of a sudden be world beaters but if we do I certainly won’t be “frustrated” that we’ve achieved that without Bowen.

Say rather then, that I see no reason why this manager would do significantly better with the same players as Bowen would, if you find that clearer. Not that no manager could do better with this squad, or no manager can ever make a difference to a squad of players.

That's obviously nonsense and I'd have thought would go without saying.

That’s fairer and perhaps it should have which was part of my surprise. Blame my frazzled brain of studying met all day on a hangover

I’m cautiously optimistic about Paunović. For a start, in comparison to Bowen he is at least a manager.

[Snowflake Royal]

I agree with a lot of what you say Ian but this is just fundamentally wrong. By definition a different manager could get better results from the same group of players than a previous. Be it by different selection, formation, tactics or even basic management of personal. I’m not saying the new guy will get more from the team with largely the same players, but if he does it’s no guarantee that Bowen would have done the same. Performances were largely dire and Bowen and results unspectacular, see no reason why that would have changed. I don’t expect us to all of a sudden be world beaters but if we do I certainly won’t be “frustrated” that we’ve achieved that without Bowen.

Say rather then, that I see no reason why this manager would do significantly better with the same players as Bowen would, if you find that clearer. Not that no manager could do better with this squad, or no manager can ever make a difference to a squad of players.

That's obviously nonsense and I'd have thought would go without saying.

That’s fairer and perhaps it should have which was part of my surprise. Blame my frazzled brain of studying met all day on a hangover

I’m cautiously optimistic about Paunović. For a start, in comparison to Bowen he is at least a manager.

Bowen did have decades of experience of successful coaching, already knew the club and players and had had a positive influence on results here before he took the manager's job though.

Of our three best modern managers, two had no league management experience.

[CountryRoyal]

Agreed but a good coach does not necessarily a good manager make, as we well know. I’m perhaps playing devils advocate here a bit but the way you’d hear half the reading fans you’d think Bowen was Alex Ferguson. He made us slightly less shit but it’s more a reflection of just how shit we’ve been over the last few years that people hold him in high regard. He did a job for us, but I’m not lamenting his departure.

[Snowflake Royal]

Agreed but a good coach does not necessarily a good manager make, as we well know. I’m perhaps playing devils advocate here a bit but the way you’d hear half the reading fans you’d think Bowen was Alex Ferguson. He made us slightly less shit but it’s more a reflection of just how shit we’ve been over the last few years that people hold him in high regard. He did a job for us, but I’m not lamenting his departure.

I'm firmly of the opinion that if you find a half decent manager, you should give him a chance to show whether he can build into a really good manager, especially if you've previously hired really shit managers consistently.

And I liked him. And he was bald.

And this is our 8th manager in 7 years. And I oxf*rd hate that we've become pcunting Leeds.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

Agreed but a good coach does not necessarily a good manager make, as we well know. I’m perhaps playing devils advocate here a bit but the way you’d hear half the reading fans you’d think Bowen was Alex Ferguson. He made us slightly less shit but it’s more a reflection of just how shit we’ve been over the last few years that people hold him in high regard. He did a job for us, but I’m not lamenting his departure.

Well said that man!

[SouthDownsRoyal]

I’m not a fan of what has happened over the past week or so nor the timings.

I do agree with the idea of giving a manager time BUT only if you feel he is the right man. I personally saw Bowen as a man to steady the ship after Gomez keep us up, he did that and I think that’s how the owners saw him.

What they offered him a year extension baffles me.

We will never know and there are numerous other factors at play but I don’t personally believe had we given Bowen 2,3,5 years that we would have progressed into a top championship team and/or in the premier league so why waste those years?

[Simmops]

So much bedwetting from people who don't even go to games

[Snowflake Royal]

I’m not a fan of what has happened over the past week or so nor the timings.

I do agree with the idea of giving a manager time BUT only if you feel he is the right man. I personally saw Bowen as a man to steady the ship after Gomez keep us up, he did that and I think that’s how the owners saw him.

What they offered him a year extension baffles me.

We will never know and there are numerous other factors at play but I don’t personally believe had we given Bowen 2,3,5 years that we would have progressed into a top championship team and/or in the premier league so why waste those years?

Brick by brick innit

You can't go from consistently shit to great without the step in the middle.

This is part of the problem, the demand for immediate turn around and success. It's bizarre to expect someone to turn an underperforming, unbalanced demotivated squad of failures into play off contenders in one transfer window and six months.

Look at how we've achieved sustained success in the past (and other clubs) and use that as a model. And it's about incremental positive change.

Bowen took us from perennial relegation battlers to comfortably full midtable, despite a pandemic that wiped out our form at the point t we were basically safe.

The next step is replicating that a little bit further up the table and inproving home form. Following a consistent, stable plan and structure. Building a foundation from which you can trial small squad changes that find that mercurial mix that gets you consistently competing inside the top 10. Rather than having to do yet another complete rebuild.

Bowen probably wasn't the guy to get us up, but he probably was the guy who could build the platform for us to attract the right players and staff to go there next when it was the right time to move on in a year or three. A Hughton for example. The sort of guy we currently have zero hope of attracting.

And just maybe, he would have been the guy to take us right back up there. And maybe we'd have been in another shitty season hovering around relegation in which case we'd have genuine reason to sack him and move on.

And what are the consequences of sacking Bowen? A new manager who needs to assess the squad. Which means yet another chance for a player who has proved himself inadequate under 4 previous managers. What a oxf*rd waste of time that is.

[Hound]

Don't disagree with any of that really Ian, but its happened and time to move on

[SouthDownsRoyal]

I’m not a fan of what has happened over the past week or so nor the timings.

I do agree with the idea of giving a manager time BUT only if you feel he is the right man. I personally saw Bowen as a man to steady the ship after Gomez keep us up, he did that and I think that’s how the owners saw him.

What they offered him a year extension baffles me.

We will never know and there are numerous other factors at play but I don’t personally believe had we given Bowen 2,3,5 years that we would have progressed into a top championship team and/or in the premier league so why waste those years?

Brick by brick innit

You can't go from consistently shit to great without the step in the middle.

This is part of the problem, the demand for immediate turn around and success. It's bizarre to expect someone to turn an underperforming, unbalanced demotivated squad of failures into play off contenders in one transfer window and six months.

Look at how we've achieved sustained success in the past (and other clubs) and use that as a model. And it's about incremental positive change.

Bowen took us from perennial relegation battlers to comfortably full midtable, despite a pandemic that wiped out our form at the point t we were basically safe.

The next step is replicating that a little bit further up the table and inproving home form. Following a consistent, stable plan and structure. Building a foundation from which you can trial small squad changes that find that mercurial mix that gets you consistently competing inside the top 10. Rather than having to do yet another complete rebuild.

Bowen probably wasn't the guy to get us up, but he probably was the guy who could build the platform for us to attract the right players and staff to go there next when it was the right time to move on in a year or three. A Hughton for example. The sort of guy we currently have zero hope of attracting.

And just maybe, he would have been the guy to take us right back up there. And maybe we'd have been in another shitty season hovering around relegation in which case we'd have genuine reason to sack him and move on.

And what are the consequences of sacking Bowen? A new manager who needs to assess the squad. Which means yet another chance for a player who has proved himself inadequate under 4 previous managers. What a oxf*rd waste of time that is.

A lot of maybes in there!

I agree with all you say about the approach but I still am no convinced Bowen was the right man. I know many factors are at play but I think had the season gone on much longer we would have slipped further down, we only finished above two other teams on GD and Wigan would have finished above us so I think to convince ourselves that we turned a corner last year isn’t quite right.

And as I say I am all for giving a manager time but only if he is the right man, it’s a waste of time giving the wrong man time.

We could debate it till the cows come home with no right or wrong but we are where we are, who knows, maybe the new guy will do well and be given time?

[NewCorkSeth]

You know, looking at the team that faced Derby a couple of seasons back in the opening game I am struck by how much we have actually improved. I know there is a lot to be negative about but I am much more positive now.

[Westwood52]

Anybody read on FB ,other clubs view of our seasons likely outcome ?One of the reviewers remarked that we should not have allowed Loader and Blackett to go,as they always gave their club problems LOL !Who are our most dangerous players ? Ovie certainly on his day.Jao can be a prolific goal scorer and Olise should be a real handful if he can start hitting the target .Ovie and Olise however are not even certain starters.
OMA will be pleased to know no more BFTG or BF I Follow from me for the foreseeable future;I cannot see fans even in a limited number being allowed back in before the New Year and. I am not going to fork out a tenner a game for I Follow.

[paultheroyal]

on a separate note and not to have a dig at the previous poster but the amount of bed wetting going on about charging £10 for ifollow. How much would a family of 4 cost them to watch an away game up at Derby for example? Some fans are just, well, embarrassing.

[Hendo]

on a separate note and not to have a dig at the previous poster but the amount of bed wetting going on about charging £10 for ifollow. How much would a family of 4 cost them to watch an away game up at Derby for example? Some fans are just, well, embarrassing.

What I don't understand are the people who think it should be free!

It was only free last year, because we had already paid season ticket money.