What is wrong with you lot?

[true*blue*loyal*royal]

For all the positives thoughts on this thread its hard to ignore the 7 games we got coming up after Sheff utd, I and all Reading fans would so love it to be different, but can anyone seriously see us exceeding 10-12 points after 12 games?
looking on the positive side side we are getting all the hard games out of the way in one go, but it could put more pressure on the players knowing that we are playing catch up football for the rest of the season

it will be tough BUT it ISN'T IMPOSSIBLE to beat big teams

If we win a single game against the 'big five' I will get very very very drunk.

[Cavaman]

12 points from 12 games is survival level. Last season, Fulham only won 4 games away from home and lost 14. They finished 12th. All this doom and gloom when most of us knew we would probably lose more than we win but that doesn't mean relegation is looming.

[West Stand Man]

I haven't read much of the other posts but it doesn't surprise me about the negative reactions to our poultry 3 points.

Those chickens and their paltry 3 points!

[working class hero]

I haven't read much of the other posts but it doesn't surprise me about the negative reactions to our poultry 3 points.

Those chickens and their paltry 3 points!

For clucks sake...

[cmonurz]

WSM, always nit-pecking.

[fozzy]

Totally agree with your post. Supporter since 1970 and it's never been this good. I am quite happy to (and often do) put any whingers right and those around me in middle of East are all very supportive. No signs at Wigan or Villa of any 'supporter' unrest where we were.

We will be OK, and if we're not, enjoy the ride anyway!

URZ!

[From Despair To Where?]

There was plenty of moaning at Elm Park and Elm Park Disease and Taking The Biscuit were full of vitriol aimed at the club every issue. Big difference? They only came out once every 2 months. Different format but same outlet as HobNob. In relative terms, times were indeed worse in the 80's but Elm Park was hardly populated by contented supporters happy with their lot.

[Larry_Parnell]

This is not meant as a criticism to those of you who have been a Supporter of RFC for longer than ten years, but it is true, we have never had it this good. So unless you have been a Supporter since the team were in the old 4th Division, then you have no right to criticise the team.
When the only TV coverage they used to get was brief TV highlights on ITVs The Big Match of a 6-2 win over Bognor Regis in an FA Cup tie. How many of you were there for that? How many of you sung your hearts out watching Reading lose 2-0 at home to Darlington who were then bottom of Divison 3, courtesy of two own goals scored by Trevor Senior? How many remember standing on the terraces at Walsalls old ground where top of the old Division 3, we lost 6-0 having travelled both way in a blizzard? How many of you were there to watch Paul Canoville break his leg in the away game at Sunderland? How many of you were at the Vetch to see Andy Rogers have his life saved by the Reading physio having swallowed his tongue in a collsion with a Swansea player? How many of you remember Reading losing to non-league Colchester in the FA Cup? Or another FA Cup match when Wealdstone and Reading players had a punch up in the centre circle and was the only highlight? How many of you can remember Reading 4 Plymouth 3 in what was probably the best match I ever had the pleasure of watching at Elm Park?
A guy I used to work with a few years ago put everything into prospective when he said to me that he really admired me as a Reading supporter because he was an Arsenal supporter, and all he had to worry about was whether they were going to win any silverware or not, whereas Reading fans had the emotion of promotion and relegation every season to think about.
The majority of supporters on here are 5 minute wonders - and I will probably get slated for saying it, but where were you all when we were shit? Supporting another team probably that was doing slightly better than us. If so, what gives you the right to criticise RFC when the majority of supporters that remember RFC in the lower divisions have been waiting for this season to come round. If you do not like the fact that we have only got 3 points off of our first 3 games and are currently above Tottenham and Arsenal in the table then get off your horses and go back to supporting ManU, Liverpool or Chelsea.
Sorry needed to get this off of my chest.....

What are you aiming for? Who's had it harder supporting Reading? I remember when we used to set off for away games at 5am, 2 hours before we went to bed.
Behave yourself.
If you're old enough to remember the events you mention you're old enough to know better.
PS I got battered at Colchester away in the cup. If you've got no scars from that game you're clearly a plastic. Mug.

[Gordons Cumming]

I haven't read much of the other posts but it doesn't surprise me about the negative reactions to our poultry 3 points.

Those chickens and their paltry 3 points!

Are you Spacey in disguise?




It was early morning and I'd had a bad night.

[Mr Optimist]

More maturity shown by Melksham Royal than the author of the first message on this thread and was not even born until nearly 10 years after the author's first match!!

I have been a supporter since my first game in 1979 and I am just loving the "hard time" we are currently experiencing!!!

My moment of clarity cam after the Boro game when I had to queue up for 10 minutes to get into the megastore to buy a shirt for a fellow exile. I was queueing behind some Spanish exchange students and had to fight my way past a group of young Irish lads in their local club tracksuits who many of which were buying home and away shirts. My memory went back to popping in to the tiny shop under the main stand to buy my first replica Patrick RFC shirt in 1984...the place was like a Russian supermarket in comparison!!

When I was queueing up to pay I bumped in to an old mate that I used to drink with at away games in the mid-late to late 80's when I first started going to away games at Mansfield, Exeter, etc with the persil go anywhere for a fiver train tickets and he turned to me and said "I can't wait to see us on Match of the Day tonight" with the enthusiasm of an 11 year old, but we were talking about Reading, not Arsenal or Man Utd...

So...whilst I can sort of understand where the original poster is coming from I say, chill out, sit back and enjoy the ride and the fact that you have seen lean times, as I have and countless others on here, should just make it all the sweeter.

As for what the crowds would be if we went back down two divisions, isn't that just what happens generally in football? Sad but a fact of life, look at Sunderland's first few crowds of 23k 24k this year. If they were in the top flight playing reasonable football against a top team there would be double that going. With every year of growth our traditional hard core support will grow. It used to be 3k hardcore during the 80s and 8k during the 90s. The Madejski years will see this grow to over 10k.

[Skin]

Take each season as it comes and on its merit and manage your expectations as fans. This season I don't expect us to win too many games and I am expecting the end of season relegation fight to feature at the Mad Stad, therefore when we do lose it will just come with the territory we are now in, but when we win it will feel like we've just won the FA Cup. If we finish above Watord this sason I will see that as an achievement, afterall this is not unknown territory to that club. I'll make the most of this season just by getting on and holding tight, any actual achievement is a bonus, especially after last season when we easily forget how spoilt with glory we were. That was then and this is now. We're out of 'OUR' league and in Chelseas now, we're first time visitors not residents yet. We've started at the bottom this time and need to see if we can work our way up. Hope we do.

[Arch]

To be honest, I see very little doom and gloom on the board. Just as I saw very little hype after the Boro win although some people saw fit to post "cut the hype" threads. It's a discussion board. Join in the discussion. Some will be more positive, some more negative, most of us will suffer a bit too much from mood swings from game to game. Bottom line - we've never had it so good!

[strap]

This is not meant as a criticism to those of you who have been a Supporter of RFC for longer than ten years, but it is true, we have never had it this good. So unless you have been a Supporter since the team were in the old 4th Division, then you have no right to criticise the team.
When the only TV coverage they used to get was brief TV highlights on ITVs The Big Match of a 6-2 win over Bognor Regis in an FA Cup tie. How many of you were there for that? How many of you sung your hearts out watching Reading lose 2-0 at home to Darlington who were then bottom of Divison 3, courtesy of two own goals scored by Trevor Senior? How many remember standing on the terraces at Walsalls old ground where top of the old Division 3, we lost 6-0 having travelled both way in a blizzard? How many of you were there to watch Paul Canoville break his leg in the away game at Sunderland? How many of you were at the Vetch to see Andy Rogers have his life saved by the Reading physio having swallowed his tongue in a collsion with a Swansea player? How many of you remember Reading losing to non-league Colchester in the FA Cup? Or another FA Cup match when Wealdstone and Reading players had a punch up in the centre circle and was the only highlight? How many of you can remember Reading 4 Plymouth 3 in what was probably the best match I ever had the pleasure of watching at Elm Park?
A guy I used to work with a few years ago put everything into prospective when he said to me that he really admired me as a Reading supporter because he was an Arsenal supporter, and all he had to worry about was whether they were going to win any silverware or not, whereas Reading fans had the emotion of promotion and relegation every season to think about.
The majority of supporters on here are 5 minute wonders - and I will probably get slated for saying it, but where were you all when we were shit? Supporting another team probably that was doing slightly better than us. If so, what gives you the right to criticise RFC when the majority of supporters that remember RFC in the lower divisions have been waiting for this season to come round. If you do not like the fact that we have only got 3 points off of our first 3 games and are currently above Tottenham and Arsenal in the table then get off your horses and go back to supporting ManU, Liverpool or Chelsea.
Sorry needed to get this off of my chest.....

What are you aiming for? Who's had it harder supporting Reading? I remember when we used to set off for away games at 5am, 2 hours before we went to bed.
Behave yourself.
If you're old enough to remember the events you mention you're old enough to know better.
PS I got battered at Colchester away in the cup. If you've got no scars from that game you're clearly a plastic. Mug.

Scars from a Colchester encounter? PAH! Lightweight! Shall I Show you my ALDERSHOT scars??! Now THAT'S a story - except too drunk to really remember how it happened!

[fallen angel]

Areat post.How many of you saw the heartbreak of two own goals against Arsenal back in 1971,or the two relegations to the old fourth division like some of us can recall.For christ sake,we are in the best league(open to question of coarse) and some are moaning after two defeats.I remember a 5-1 home defeat by bloody Bury in the old third divison!We are going to suffer some big defeats this season so you better get used to it but stop worrying,we will secure enough points to stay up.

[Arch]

I remember a 5-1 home defeat by bloody Bury in the old third divison!

They did us 5-1 twice in a month!

[ScottishRoyal]

... I think you are missing the point here.
Going on the basis that our rise to the big time has really been nothing short of meteoric, none of us are really in a position where we can criticise considering what we were putting up with twenty years ago. What I was saying is that - for example the Supporters who do not remember the Elm Park days who did live in Reading and had no reason not to support their local team, who have come out of the woodwork now we are doing well - I am aware of more complaints from Supporters now than when we were a struggling lower division side, and I can only think that is because we have Supporters on here who do not remember what we were like when we were bad.
And like you said I am entitled to my own opinion. Got lot of response though, eh?

I guess my first game was about 93 and then I started going regularly with mates from 96 onwards so the worst times I saw were the Bullivant days. I'm only 22 and I think that there are many others in the same boat so supporting the club (conciously) for 20 years would be impossible.

I think that what you must consider though is that the criticism is all relative. Players aren't criticized because they're not performing like John Terry or Gerrard each week, they're criticized because they are not playing to the high standards which they have set. We would never have criticized the teams from 96-99 for the mistakes our current players make, but that is because they were not nearly as talented.

As I say it's all relative.

[Tails]

its not that i will come out and criticise the team/management or what not. But i feel under the circumstances, a little frustrated that we are here in the top flight, having invested minimally (for whatever reason) and could easily be on 9 points and top of the table.... as it is we seem to be setting ourselves up for a much harder battle for the latter of the season then we otherwise could have....

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

and could easily be on 9 points and top of the table.... as it is we seem to be setting ourselves up for a much harder battle for the latter of the season then we otherwise could have....

firstly. why did anyone think away games and Villa and Wigan ought to have been easy, even if we had brought more players in?

why do people seem to assume not signing more players is some kind of game plan, and that we haven't tried to sign more?

[Forest Gump]

I remember 4-3 v Plymouth Argyle very well; a superb second half fight back with Jerry Williams almost single handedly demolishing the Argyle defence.

I don't think we should be too unhappy with 3 points so far. The only point I would make is that even if they lose we hope that the team plays well - like at Aston Villa where they deserved more. However, by all accounts the performance against Wigan was not very good which, despite the result, is the main negative from the game.

I think we should enjoy where we are and keep giving maximum encouragement to tyhe team while they adjust to the division.

[Tails]

and could easily be on 9 points and top of the table.... as it is we seem to be setting ourselves up for a much harder battle for the latter of the season then we otherwise could have....

firstly. why did anyone think away games and Villa and Wigan ought to have been easy, even if we had brought more players in?

why do people seem to assume not signing more players is some kind of game plan, and that we haven't tried to sign more?

Sorry, i dont articulate myself properly,

I'm pleased on the whole, but surprisingly, I still feel that with a bit more luck... we could be sitting a whole lot prettier...

I would have thought we would be sitting with less points and in the games where we have been beaten, we would have been played off the park. As it has materialised, we could have got more out of both wigan and villa....