Summer Rebuild

[ladida_gunner_graham]

go to " NEWS NOW " May need anew manager next season.

Why don't you stop cock-teasing and tell us what is says.

[bcubed]

Reading manager Steve Clarke is considering leaving the Berkshire club after only five months in charge, according to FLW sources.


FLW understands Clarke is considering his future at Reading

FLW understands that the former West Bromwich Albion manager is unhappy with the lack of control he has at the club, with too much outside interferences hindering his role at the side.

The Royals were defeated 2-1 by Steve Evans’ Rotherham United at the New York Stadium last night, in what was Reading’s fourth consecutive Sky Bet Championship defeat.

Steve Clarke’s men have failed to win a single league game since March 10, when they beat Brighton and Hove Albion 2-1 at the Madejski Stadium.

It has well and truly been a Championship season to forget for the club, with an FA Cup semi-final appearance against Arsenal at Wembley being the only highlight of a bleak 2014/15 season.

Speaking after the match against Rotherham United on Tuesday night, Clarke said to Get Reading: “You are now seeing a team and a squad that is in decay,”

“We lack leaders on the pitch. You can see that.

“You can see when something goes wrong, immediately the first response is to stand away and find a place to hide on the pitch.

[Pepe the Horseman]

[paultheroyal]

[Baggie192]

Not really no. If none of the current lot re-sign bye then! FL and potentially also PL players will want to play for Clarke. He has good pedigree, he commands respect and he has good connections.

For every hard luck story, there's another the other way round. Look at Wycombe this season for example. This season's league placing has no bearing on what happens next year - even more so if 2/3 of the starting 11 has changed.[/quote]

No he hasn't. He was handed decent Roy Hodgson side and a Chelsea loanee for £5m in loan fees. That side was dismantled and he signed dreck like Lugano, Popov, Sinclair and Anelka. The last one on record wages He chased an unreasonable target in Kalou letting better targets slip. On deadline day he was reduced to trying to sell Shane Long to Hull for £7m to afford Lukaku for another year only to be gazumped by Everton. Look at Vydra Championship player of the year previously came sat on the bench. Adkins gets slammed here but at least He took Southampton from League 1 to The Prem. In an earlier post you said to me these last games don't matter You're lucky because you are safe What last 5 when you haven't scored? People are saying let's judge him on 10-15 games. This misss the point the past has he doesn't get results either at ours or Reading. Sacking him 10-15 games Just wastes this Summer and saddles the next poor bugger with his signings

[PeterReadingborn59]

Football has a lot to do with a player's mentality and this season the Reading FC squad appeared to be uncertain what style to play and devoid of confidence to build a winning attitude. Gunter as captain never seemed to generate the team approach that previous captains have managed, Murty and Jodi, and Jem sadly never got the chance while Pearce seems to shout with little effect. At the start of the season with such a young and inexperienced squad it need a leader on the pitch and no one took up the mantle and Clarke implied the situation has not changed as Reading seemed leaderless at Rotherham.
Let's see if Clarke has any room to let players move to new pastures and to get suitable replacements in for next season. As Mick Gooding says the old Reading way does not work in todays market yet the "old" leaders in the nicely carpeted rooms are still the same. The Thai owners must understand that for their investment value to increase requires some additional financial backing for Clarke.

[trueroyal1871]

Can't believe anybody reads anything into last night (or the recent run of results tbh). The season's over and has been for a while now - any talk of this beaten and dispirited group of players putting in a shift for the benefit of the 210 fans who travelled North betrays a lack of understanding of how professional footballers function.

My biggest concern about the summer is not being able to shift enough of the crap to bring in decent new players. As Vision says, we may have to let players go just because we can, whereas the real dross still have a year left on their deals.

Either way, my personal stance is that the overhaul required is probably too drastic to allow us to challenge next season.

Absolutely spot on there Mags. I'm expecting a lot of changes in the summer with us unfortunately having to put up with some of the dead wood for one more season and a comfortable mid table finish. I think it'll be the season after that we're challenging for a top 6 finish again.

[under the tin]

Can't believe anybody reads anything into last night (or the recent run of results tbh). The season's over and has been for a while now - any talk of this beaten and dispirited group of players putting in a shift for the benefit of the 210 fans who travelled North betrays a lack of understanding of how professional footballers function.

My biggest concern about the summer is not being able to shift enough of the crap to bring in decent new players. As Vision says, we may have to let players go just because we can, whereas the real dross still have a year left on their deals.

Either way, my personal stance is that the overhaul required is probably too drastic to allow us to challenge next season.

Absolutely spot on there Mags. I'm expecting a lot of changes in the summer with us unfortunately having to put up with some of the dead wood for one more season and a comfortable mid table finish. I think it'll be the season after that we're challenging for a top 6 finish again.

So taking those points made that we are likely to be saddled with some residual dead wood again next season, some of our better players could depart, looking at the players that have been brought in since SC's arrival, and indeed his track record at WBA, it should come as no surprise that some are of the opinion that maybe attaining a "comfortable mid table" finish may prove to be a little more difficult than others would believe.

[Forbury Lion]

Either way, my personal stance is that the overhaul required is probably too drastic to allow us to challenge next season.

I will just be happy to see us challenge the opposition goalkeeper and win games occasionally, particularly at home.

Agree it's a rebuilding process and the best way to rebuild is to start with a clean slate.

[Forbury Lion]

FLW understands that the former West Bromwich Albion manager is unhappy with the lack of control he has at the club, with too much outside interference hindering his role at the side.

Compare that to the Steve Coppell interview posted elsewhere on this forum where he says the only thing the chairman ever asked of him was to drop by for a pint after the game, no football pressure whatsoever.
However, we have Nicky Hammond who deals with the contracts and the budgets etc etc, So perhaps Clarke wants to be more hands on?

[NewCorkSeth]

Well I guess the most important thing to do is make sure we keep hold of the spine of the team.. Keeping Feds, Hector, Obita, Williams and McCleary should be the first step. Look at promoting some of our youth talent next and sign a striker! I dint have any realistic targets in my head but once we trim the fat we might actually have a bit of money to spend.. I hope..

Fat to trim.
- Guthrie
- Kelly (not necessary)
- Ferdinand (driftwood)
- HRK
- Andersen
- Travner
- Knight
- Blackman
- Akpan
- Yakubu
- Edwards

Leaving us with a base of Feds, Gunter, Pearce, Hector, Cooper, Obita, Karacan, Norwood, Kuhl, Williams, McClearu, Cox and Pog to build off

[melonhead]

FLW understands that the former West Bromwich Albion manager is unhappy with the lack of control he has at the club, with too much outside interference hindering his role at the side.

Compare that to the Steve Coppell interview posted elsewhere on this forum where he says the only thing the chairman ever asked of him was to drop by for a pint after the game, no football pressure whatsoever.
However, we have Nicky Hammond who deals with the contracts and the budgets etc etc, So perhaps Clarke wants to be more hands on?

perhaps its just made up nonsense

[KC Royal]

Was Edwards any good in the beginning of the season. Didn't manage to actually see him play. Was all very excited about him in pre-season. I suspect its not really any bother that we're ridding of him?

He seemed pretty ineffectual when I saw him. Maybe a decent run in a decent team he might have developed. Seems a shame. Not a particularly good sign of Clarke developing home grown talent.

Still, more importantly: MAXIMUM respect for the avatar of Bobby Convey.

He hasn't featured recently for the U21s, but tbf to Clarke it looked like he was going to be released this summer even before he arrived. Earlier in the season I mentioned how not only was he not involved in the first team squad but he wasn't playing for the U21s either. No idea whether there was an injury or another issue that prevented him from playing but it didn't seem likely he'd be offered a new deal at that point.

Never saw him play apart from pre-season highlights, will be interesting to see how his career develops, Oliver Bozanic hasn't done badly since being released by us! From that interview his preference is to stay in Europe, so we may see him in the lower leagues next season.

[BraisingsteakRoyal]

^ Saw Edwards play a few times this season - away at Brentford he was fairly anonymous. Then saw him in a youth game at Basingstoke - again, he was fairly anonymous.

Looks the part though - like a young Patrik Berger.

[KC Royal]

It strikes me that the last time we had a squad in a mess was at the end of the 2004/5 season. That season had ended in disappointment with three straight defeats and we had missed out on the play offs. Steve Coppell had experimented by signing older players like Martin Keown and Les Ferdinand in early 2005 (similar to Knight and Yakubu this season). Many fans wanted Steve Coppell’s head by the end of the season.

What he did was to cull the vast majority of the squad. In fact I think we had just 10 contracted players by June 2005.

Then during the summer he added the likes of Doyle, Lita, Long, Hunt, Gunnarsson, Oster and Makin and the rest as they say in history.

Admittedly we are coming from a much lower base this time (19th as compared to 7th) but fans were very dispirited that summer too and no one could have predicted the turn round that was to follow in 2005/6. However, where we are stronger this time round is that we have a very good crop of young players coming through the Academy.

Because we are coming from a lower base this time, I think it will take the new SC two seasons and not just one summer to rebuild the squad. Only time will tell if he can produce success or not, but I think it is obvious to all that a major cull needs to take place this summer. Then the question is whether he can find hungry young players (as well as our own youngsters) to improve the squad for next season. If so then a top half finish next season will give a springboard for a promotion push in 2016/17.

Excellent post. I've been thinking for the last week or so that 2005 was the last time we had a summer as big as this and remember vaguely that Coppell was under pressure at the end of that season, hadn't thought of the similarities with our Jan signings though. I discovered the footballforums site last summer and looking at the posts from 2005 in the Championship section i'd completely forgotten just how many players left that summer.

I've thought since day 1 that if we haven't won promotion by the time Clarke's contract ends in 2017 then he'll be off. I was disappointed with his appointment, and I think my reason for it has been vindicated so far despite getting the impression from others that I was talking nonsense, but I've liked the way he comes across from his very first press conference so i'm fine with him having the summer to make signings and a pre-season to make his mark. Irrespective of the ins and outs if we struggle again next season then I don't see him being here beyond the season.

[GH Royal]

As far as we've been told, we're in for a summer of big changes being made to the current squad. So, if you could give Clarke a realistic list of 3 players you would love to see us sign (permanent or loan) and 3 players you'd hurry out the door (whether that be sell or release), who would they be?

I'll kick us off;

IN
Nakhi Wells
Jordan Ibe (loan)
Jed Wallace

OUT
Robson-Kanu
Nick Blackman
Ferdinand

[melonhead]

In
Targett- loan
Chalobah- loan
solanke- loan

out
Guthrie
drenthe
ferdinand

[tee peg]

IN

No

id

ea

OUT

Hal

Robson

Kanu

[biff]

Ibe and Solanke would be a wet dream. Ive played with Ibe a few times and he's going all the way to the top. Mourinho also supremely confident in Solanke. reckoning he will be in the England first team very shortly.


It'd be impossible to pick 3 to leave. Its gonna have to be a few more. Dead players (ferdinand), then dead wood (blackman), THEN a few uncomfortable decisions (hrk, pearce, karacan?)

[Hoop Blah]

As far as we've been told, we're in for a summer of big changes being made to the current squad. So, if you could give Clarke a realistic list of 3 players you would love to see us sign (permanent or loan) and 3 players you'd hurry out the door (whether that be sell or release), who would they be?

I'll kick us off;

IN
Nakhi Wells
Jordan Ibe (loan)
Jed Wallace

OUT
Robson-Kanu
Nick Blackman
Ferdinand

You've said be realistic but then you've implied that someone is going to pay to take those 3 off our hands...