Would it be a tragedy if we went down?

[Ark Royal]

The only tradegy for me will be the embarrasment of being in such a low division given where we were 2 years ago, other than that i just enjoy going to watch us, whichever division.

If we do go down bring on the proper grounds, better pies, better prices, better fans, and more than likely better results.

At least we won't lose any of our internationals to the African Cup of Nations.

Hopefully, Walsall's chicken balti pies are still the bollocks.

[Ian Royal]

Feel free to dodd me but leading on from Arch's post I was just wondering if it really would be such a shame if we went down?

Look at the league positions of Norwich, Leeds, Charlton and Southampton this year. It shows that we could bounce back. We also will be financially solvent and with loads of talented youngsters to come through.

I don't want us to go down but I don't think it would be a tragedy if we did. What do you think?

Archie's penalty. The only (massive) flaw in your argument is that relegation would see another round of severe cloth cutting from the Manic Scissor Brothers. Goodbye all of the talented youngsters that were coming through. In contrast I think the teams you mentioned have made some investment to turn their fortunes around.

You are aware that our wage bill in the Premier League was over £30m and the average Championship wage bill is around £11m?
I rather doubt the drop to League One is similar and we'll have to drop from around £10 - 14m wage budget to £3 - 5m to cope with the drop income.

[The whole year inn]

Reading fans trying to play relegation as a some kind of positive.

Adversity brings out the best in people. Everyone knows we are relegated so peeps are looking forward and the positives it brings

[rabidbee]

All those teams (even Sheff Wed now?) are playing well and entertaining their fans every week, which is really all I want from watching Reading (in an ideal world, like). So to be in any of their positions would not bother me one bit, in fact their fans probably have more fun than I do on a Saturday afternoon.

Yep, this is pretty much my attitude, too. There'll still be football every saturday, whichever division we find ourselves in come August. Besides which, I seem to recall away days in the lower leagues being a lot more fun than they are now.

It's only football, ffs. Aside from something like the assault on the Togo players, or Marc Vivian Foé dying on the pitch, using a word like tragedy is just hyperbole. It's not going to ruin your life if we slip down to League One.

[PEARCEY]

One of Leeds, Norwich and Charlton is going to face the lottery of the playoffs. Even if you gave back the ten point deduction, Soton would be in 9th place. It's not all roses down there. No immediate return for Forest or Leeds and how long were Wednesday down there? I don't know how to assess 'tragedy' in this case, but it would not be good, and there would be no guarantees of a happy revival.

If we go down, it's down to bad decisions and bad performances across the board. Everyone at the club will have a share in the blame, and one or two who have already gone. This club should not be where it is, even given the financial decisions of the last three and a half years.

Thats right and the trouble is posters on here seem to think we will waltz back up again immediately. I doubt it very much and we could be in for more traditional Reading fayre of loitering on the bottom two divisions for a good few years. We really need to stay up.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

We'd still have a club, we wouldn't go into administration, you could get a ticket for your mates or family easily and get seats nearby, the prices would drop. No tragedy there.

I started watching Reading in March 2000,and enjoyed impromptu trips to Northampton, Brentford and Swindon amongst others during our lower league days. When I want to watch world class football I just look for the Brazil team of 1982 on YouTube.

[The whole year inn]

I started watching Reading in March 2000

Plastic

[Woodcote Royal]

We were a whisker away from getting back into the Prem.

Madejski bottled it, and now we're fighting relegation.

It wasn't Madejski bottling it when despite our +32 GD we failed to score against Ipswich, Palace, Coventry, Barnsley in March and April. A gritty performance and a goal in any one of those games would have given the final game against Birmingham a wholly different complexion. At the end of January last season, we were widely regarded as the dominant team in the Championship. The rank capitulation came after it was too late to do much, but JM still sanctioned the expensive and useless loans of Little and Kitson. To put the failure down to Madejski is a classic symptom of all that's wrong with modern football. Money is the only measure of quality, as though players putting in duff performances and showing no backbone when the going gets tough, or managers showing no initiative to solve onfield problems is in no way their own responsibility.

Spot on.

Blaming Madejski for the failures of last season is beyond stupid.

Quite agree but that's what Coppell's fan club does; blame anyone but their hero who just happened to be in charge at the time, as he was when we were relegated but it had nothing to do with Stevie!!!

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

We should be a Premiership football club.

Relagation has never been so avoidable.

How a club with money to spend and players desperate to join can go down because of a lack of quality players still kills me.

[Royalee]

I think the word you're looking for is 'travesty'.

[Franchise FC]

We should be a Premiership football club.

Relagation has never been so avoidable.

How a club with money to spend and players desperate to join can go down because of a lack of quality players still kills me.

I don't remember a queue of players 'desperate' to join. I remember Scott Brown 'desperate' not to.

[RoyalChicagoFC]

Feel free to dodd me but leading on from Arch's post I was just wondering if it really would be such a shame if we went down?

Look at the league positions of Norwich, Leeds, Charlton and Southampton this year. It shows that we could bounce back. We also will be financially solvent and with loads of talented youngsters to come through.

I don't want us to go down but I don't think it would be a tragedy if we did. What do you think?

Tragedy?

More like larceny @ this point

[Archie's penalty]