Richardson out

[Half Horse]

Where`s Ian?

Helping Dunning and Kruger with their research.

[themwasthedays]

Yeah tbh I just want to enjoy going to matches again. I didn’t enjoy games last year at all, I did enjoy Luton despite the sickener at the end

No real expectation of promotion or play offs but entertaining football and some progression I’d be ok with

This is it. This is all I want. Win more than you lose. Play good football, give the kids a game or two. And if we end up mid table that’s fine. I just want normal owners who pay the bills and who are not constantly gaslighting fans with unrealistic expectations.

Someone above said they don’t take any notice of what he says? I find that baffling, if you’ve got the owner on the radio every week saying we are going for a promotion push you tend to hold them to that. I’m not unreasonable, I’m not hard to please. I just don’t want to lied to by the owners, is that too much to ask?

Same goes for the stadium revamp. I’m fed up with this hero complex as if he’s doing us a favour. You’re doing it because you want to increase the value of the asset, let’s not beat around the bush. And that’s fine! you’re a businessman, of course you want to increase the value of the assets at the club. But don’t spin it as if you’re doing it for love of the fans. And all the banging on about the pitch? Don’t get me started. Yes yes we know Rob, it’s not just a normal replay of the turf. you’ve had to go right down and replace everything. Well guess what? Part of owning a football club means from time to time (every 7-8 years apparently) you need to do some work on the pitch! It’s happened a few times now with different owners. There wasn’t any fanfare, they just got on with it. It’s part and parcel of being a custodian of a football club. Just shut the fcuk up and be like a normal owner ffs and just do one to two interviews a year. Leave the rest of it to the manager and the occasional sound bite from JJ or someone.

Honestly I wouldn’t care if we stayed in this division for the next 5 years. The away grounds are cool (traditional) we are still playing teams we’ve never played before (Bromley) I’ve never been to stadium MK , which I hope to go this year. We have a chance in the jonstons/ vurtu paint trophy (or what ever it’s called) each year to get to Wembley and win a bit of silverware: The footballs alright ish at this level. That ScL isn’t too packed means I can get a drink and have a fag at half time easier. Parking is easier. Traffic is better. There is a lot to be said for staying in league 1. Just don’t need some brash American twat going on all the time about himself and how amazing he is, and how he saved the club and how we are going to do this that and the other and never go through with it.

I couldn't have put it better myself (although I've given up smoking). Yes, there really are good things about being back in what I would call the old Division Three. Although I'm sure we would all hope to have another stint in the league above, at some point in the near future.

[themwasthedays]

Yeah tbh I just want to enjoy going to matches again. I didn’t enjoy games last year at all, I did enjoy Luton despite the sickener at the end

No real expectation of promotion or play offs but entertaining football and some progression I’d be ok with

This is it. This is all I want. Win more than you lose. Play good football, give the kids a game or two. And if we end up mid table that’s fine. I just want normal owners who pay the bills and who are not constantly gaslighting fans with unrealistic expectations.

Someone above said they don’t take any notice of what he says? I find that baffling, if you’ve got the owner on the radio every week saying we are going for a promotion push you tend to hold them to that. I’m not unreasonable, I’m not hard to please. I just don’t want to lied to by the owners, is that too much to ask?

Same goes for the stadium revamp. I’m fed up with this hero complex as if he’s doing us a favour. You’re doing it because you want to increase the value of the asset, let’s not beat around the bush. And that’s fine! you’re a businessman, of course you want to increase the value of the assets at the club. But don’t spin it as if you’re doing it for love of the fans. And all the banging on about the pitch? Don’t get me started. Yes yes we know Rob, it’s not just a normal replay of the turf. you’ve had to go right down and replace everything. Well guess what? Part of owning a football club means from time to time (every 7-8 years apparently) you need to do some work on the pitch! It’s happened a few times now with different owners. There wasn’t any fanfare, they just got on with it. It’s part and parcel of being a custodian of a football club. Just shut the fcuk up and be like a normal owner ffs and just do one to two interviews a year. Leave the rest of it to the manager and the occasional sound bite from JJ or someone.

Honestly I wouldn’t care if we stayed in this division for the next 5 years. The away grounds are cool (traditional) we are still playing teams we’ve never played before (Bromley) I’ve never been to stadium MK , which I hope to go this year. We have a chance in the jonstons/ vurtu paint trophy (or what ever it’s called) each year to get to Wembley and win a bit of silverware: The footballs alright ish at this level. That ScL isn’t too packed means I can get a drink and have a fag at half time easier. Parking is easier. Traffic is better. There is a lot to be said for staying in league 1. Just don’t need some brash American twat going on all the time about himself and how amazing he is, and how he saved the club and how we are going to do this that and the other and never go through with it.

I couldn't have put it better myself (although I've given up smoking). Yes, there really are good things about being back in what I would call the old Division Three. Although I'm sure we would all hope to have another stint in the league above, at some point in the near future.

And the moral is - 'don't believe everything you're told'. Use your own eyes,ears & natural instinct to formulate an opinion.

[Extended-Phenotype]

i think fans want realistic expectations and honesty

I still maintain that a significant segment of the Fan Base live in rose tinted 1990's RFC land and don't fully gasp the fact that "just keeping the Club alive" means pumping in £10M/year....

To minimise that amount, you need to market a chance at promotion otherwise you risk a cycle of despair and that amount grows and grows....

The concensus seemed to be that another Sugar Daddy owner wasn't welcome....

So here we are....

There will be a flip in the nearish future so lets see what comes next...

Be careful what you wish for...

I don’t think anyone would have been disheartened had the owners said ‘look, I’ve taken over a oxf*rd shambles, this is going to be a 5 year project. The squad rebuild is going to take time.’

Literally no one would have complained. We all knew what state we were in. So I’m sorry I am in firm disagreement about over egging the promotion bid just to keep positivity in the fan base. But hey that’s my opinion, and unlike others on here I actually respect that people have different opinions to me, and don’t try and change them.

But yeah if the owners hadn’t been all ‘spectacular’ from the beginning I think they would have garnered a bit more respect from the fanbase and bought them some more time in the popularity stakes for sure.

Right. But can’t the fans just set aside the public display from the owners on the knowledge that we are fvcked and in a recovery period, and rather than obsess about “holding them to account” on words we seem well aware are for show, chill out and accept things are going to be tight budgets, careful spending and slow progress?

[Linden Jones' Tash]

This is it. This is all I want. Win more than you lose. Play good football, give the kids a game or two. And if we end up mid table that’s fine. I just want normal owners who pay the bills and who are not constantly gaslighting fans with unrealistic expectations.

Someone above said they don’t take any notice of what he says? I find that baffling, if you’ve got the owner on the radio every week saying we are going for a promotion push you tend to hold them to that. I’m not unreasonable, I’m not hard to please. I just don’t want to lied to by the owners, is that too much to ask?

Same goes for the stadium revamp. I’m fed up with this hero complex as if he’s doing us a favour. You’re doing it because you want to increase the value of the asset, let’s not beat around the bush. And that’s fine! you’re a businessman, of course you want to increase the value of the assets at the club. But don’t spin it as if you’re doing it for love of the fans. And all the banging on about the pitch? Don’t get me started. Yes yes we know Rob, it’s not just a normal replay of the turf. you’ve had to go right down and replace everything. Well guess what? Part of owning a football club means from time to time (every 7-8 years apparently) you need to do some work on the pitch! It’s happened a few times now with different owners. There wasn’t any fanfare, they just got on with it. It’s part and parcel of being a custodian of a football club. Just shut the fcuk up and be like a normal owner ffs and just do one to two interviews a year. Leave the rest of it to the manager and the occasional sound bite from JJ or someone.

Honestly I wouldn’t care if we stayed in this division for the next 5 years. The away grounds are cool (traditional) we are still playing teams we’ve never played before (Bromley) I’ve never been to stadium MK , which I hope to go this year. We have a chance in the jonstons/ vurtu paint trophy (or what ever it’s called) each year to get to Wembley and win a bit of silverware: The footballs alright ish at this level. That ScL isn’t too packed means I can get a drink and have a fag at half time easier. Parking is easier. Traffic is better. There is a lot to be said for staying in league 1. Just don’t need some brash American twat going on all the time about himself and how amazing he is, and how he saved the club and how we are going to do this that and the other and never go through with it.

I couldn't have put it better myself (although I've given up smoking). Yes, there really are good things about being back in what I would call the old Division Three. Although I'm sure we would all hope to have another stint in the league above, at some point in the near future.

And the moral is - 'don't believe everything you're told'. Use your own eyes,ears & natural instinct to formulate an opinion.

Hard to disagree with any of those sentiments...

But given the real world cost of running a League One/ Championship Club, how does a Football Club get an Owner to achieve this?

No-one sane would own a football Club unless Money was no object, and we tried that and it didn't work out...

Chancers who think they can turn a quick buck while boosting their egos is the best we can do atm...

[MR. CYNICAL]

I couldn't have put it better myself (although I've given up smoking). Yes, there really are good things about being back in what I would call the old Division Three. Although I'm sure we would all hope to have another stint in the league above, at some point in the near future.

And the moral is - 'don't believe everything you're told'. Use your own eyes,ears & natural instinct to formulate an opinion.

Hard to disagree with any of those sentiments...

But given the real world cost of running a League One/ Championship Club, how does a Football Club get an Owner to achieve this?

No-one sane would own a football Club unless Money was no object, and we tried that and it didn't work out...

Chancers who think they can turn a quick buck while boosting their egos is the best we can do atm...

Well there are many clubs in the Championship who are plodding along ok, just like we managed to do for 20 or so years so there are some non sane owners out there doing a reasonable job, we were just unlucky to have someone who was badly advised to overspend on average players and then lose interest.

[Linden Jones' Tash]

And the moral is - 'don't believe everything you're told'. Use your own eyes,ears & natural instinct to formulate an opinion.

Hard to disagree with any of those sentiments...

But given the real world cost of running a League One/ Championship Club, how does a Football Club get an Owner to achieve this?

No-one sane would own a football Club unless Money was no object, and we tried that and it didn't work out...

Chancers who think they can turn a quick buck while boosting their egos is the best we can do atm...

Well there are many clubs in the Championship who are plodding along ok, just like we managed to do for 20 or so years so there are some non sane owners out there doing a reasonable job, we were just unlucky to have someone who was badly advised to overspend on average players and then lose interest.

Depends what you mean by 'doing OK'...

If Couhig and co. think League One is expensive, the Championship is gonna be a bit of a shock for them...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/ar ... 35l43w83lo

[WestYorksRoyal]

Interesting that a thread about the manager has become another critique of the owners. But fair enough I say, as ultimately changing the manager doesn't achieve much if there are bigger issues in play.

[linkenholtroyal]

Interesting that a thread about the manager has become another critique of the owners. But fair enough I say, as ultimately changing the manager doesn't achieve much if there are bigger issues in play.

I think the 2 are entwined.

The owners sacked a coach in Hunt and brought a manager in Richardson. Then set out a business plan based amongst what would suit a coach to develop what we have and bring in 3 or 4 players to supplement.
Not saying Hunt was the answer but Richardson was not for there scope.
They have since got rid of some of the coaching staff to make the books balance which also doesn’t suit the model.

In regards to transfers it just doesn’t make sense, we have a limited budget and we have not signed one free transfer. The famous we are not entering a bidding war is the answer but you save on the fee even if you pay slightly more on wages.
The recent signings have been good reading signings with development in them, Dokes, Ward, Lisbie all great but 3 players do not make a squad with what is already a threadbare team.

So you have to rely on developing youth, circle back to manager decision over coach, getting rid of coaching staff.

So they set up a big spend team and then set up a development budget for sustainability…

[WestYorksRoyal]

I think that is the crux of the matter. Our academy and signings all point towards a need for player development, coaching and patience, but public noises are about instant success. Richardson is a manager who has won L1, appointed to win promotion, but not a coach.

There is not a clear strategy and that's why it's not working.

[stealthpapes]

Interesting that a thread about the manager has become another critique of the owners. But fair enough I say, as ultimately changing the manager doesn't achieve much if there are bigger issues in play.

Agree with final point but I think the change in focus is due to lack of games. Once there’s specific things to focus on, both players and manager will be targeted.

Our academy and signings all point towards a need for player development, coaching and patience, but public noises are about instant success.

Yup, and it’s also a vibe many fans could get behind. Not all, for sure, but many.

I hadn’t noticed any owner comments this summer tbh. We’ve built a first team that could be competitive but still need a handful of players to make it a competitive squad.

[stealthpapes]

FWIW, I’m not entirely sure Richardson is a big spend manager. I got the impression he was good at man management (there’s an interesting interview with him out there, real focus on players as characters), less of a focus on the subtleties on the pitch.

Hence the insistence about building his own squad. And equally hence tactical naivety.

A wiser head alongside him strikes me as a plan, which I understand we’ve done this summer anyway.

[Hound]

The approach to the academy lads is interesting

I don’t think anyone here would argue about trying to get them loans at as high a level as possible and then try to bring them into our first team with that experience

It’s good the see some loans go out but also a bit of a shame that a lot of them - Tuma; Borgnis, Stickland etc then just got released anyway (not saying they necessarily should have stayed)

I want a manager to believe in the academy lads and get them into the first team. If it means being patient and loaning them first then all good. But we’ve made a right mess last few years - possibly Dorsett and Kelvin E aside (though underlying feeling is we didn’t get the best of him)

[Marcel]

FWIW, I’m not entirely sure Richardson is a big spend manager. I got the impression he was good at man management (there’s an interesting interview with him out there, real focus on players as characters), less of a focus on the subtleties on the pitch.

Hence the insistence about building his own squad. And equally hence tactical naivety.

A wiser head alongside him strikes me as a plan, which I understand we’ve done this summer anyway.

Presume you mean Coleman?
Don’t make me laugh

[Uke]

The approach to the academy lads is interesting

I don’t think anyone here would argue about trying to get them loans at as high a level as possible and then try to bring them into our first team with that experience

It’s good the see some loans go out but also a bit of a shame that a lot of them - Tuma; Borgnis, Stickland etc then just got released anyway (not saying they necessarily should have stayed)

I want a manager to believe in the academy lads and get them into the first team. If it means being patient and loaning them first then all good. But we’ve made a right mess last few years - possibly Dorsett and Kelvin E aside (though underlying feeling is we didn’t get the best of him)

We used to loan our academy stars out to L1 teams for experience

As we are now L1 why are we loaning them out?

[KC Royal]

Going back to Richardson, my thoughts on the Luton game. First half after the drinks break was possibly the best football i've seen since he arrived. Second half we reverted to what i think is his default tactic - in Championship Manager terms mixed passing normal mentality - i've tried that with a few different teams (including two totally different Reading sides) and its good if you've got a top striker but isn't good for anything else.. We definitely settled for a draw though once 90 mins were up. For me how this season pans out depends on how much we see of each of those tactics.

As for signings, personally i don't think we need that many. Another striker and defender but anything else beyond that only if someone leaves (like Savage for example). For me it's more about getting the best out of the players we have.

Mentioned before about looking up Richardson's stats on the game. Must do that soon.

[Stranded]

The approach to the academy lads is interesting

I don’t think anyone here would argue about trying to get them loans at as high a level as possible and then try to bring them into our first team with that experience

It’s good the see some loans go out but also a bit of a shame that a lot of them - Tuma; Borgnis, Stickland etc then just got released anyway (not saying they necessarily should have stayed)

I want a manager to believe in the academy lads and get them into the first team. If it means being patient and loaning them first then all good. But we’ve made a right mess last few years - possibly Dorsett and Kelvin E aside (though underlying feeling is we didn’t get the best of him)

With Dorsett, I think he is actually one of the few players where we got the loan him to develop him bit pretty much right - he had a year with Rochdale in L2 then half a season or so in the SPL with Kilmarnock before moving into our first team squad.

[windermereROYAL]

Not a competitive win since March 28th and given our record in London that won`t change on Saturday.