MATCHWATCH : Cardiff City (h)

[Hound]

Sigh, That Ramy chap now having shots at Dellor over Twitter

Dreadful stuff. Whole site should be shut down

[Brogue]

Sigh, That Ramy chap now having shots at Dellor over Twitter

Dreadful stuff. Whole site should be shut down

yes the two had a shouting match pitch side after the game. Tim not happy with Ramy's headline of 'sack richardson' and running a story on a player leaking the dressing room unrest. Ramy now doubling down. And dellor just posted a interview with paudie basically saying the inside leak was a load of bullshit and stories like that are really not helpful.

Ramy has now quoted dellor from 2022 where he ran a story that after bristol city away a load of players went up to him slagging off the managers tactics. and he has a short memory

is all quite unproffesional. The new chronicle guy has really ruffled feathers since coming in

[Orion1871]

Sigh, That Ramy chap now having shots at Dellor over Twitter

Dreadful stuff. Whole site should be shut down

Should shut it down just for that Dan Moore guy.

[Linden Jones' Tash]

[/quote]

Ramy has now quoted dellor from 2022 where he ran a story that after bristol city away a load of players went up to him slagging off the managers tactics. and he has a short memory

[/quote]

This is quite funny though.....

Dim deserves it...

[Brogue]

Sigh, That Ramy chap now having shots at Dellor over Twitter

Dreadful stuff. Whole site should be shut down

Should shut it down just for that Dan Moore guy.

fairly sure thats DD

[Dirk Gently]

It's a simple equation when a company offers you a service. If you think it's good and worth the money - and provides you the entertainment you want - you carry on giving them your money. If not, you walk away.

I think that's a very logical point - but with football (and maybe other sports), there is a real emotional tie as well. It's not like we're going to the same restaurant each week and complaining about poor food.

Over the last few years, I've continued to debate whether to get a season ticket. I do so, reluctantly, as I don't want to miss out, I feel almost obliged to go, I want to be there for the big season where it finally clicks (still waiting!), and want to support the team and club.

Indeed - it was (partly) tongue in cheek, as football is quite different to any other industry. If Sainsbury's don't do what you want, you can go to Tesco, but very few Reading fans will suddenly start going to Oxford Utd.

Having said that, there's very much a breaking point at which a fan will walk, and if you think of football as being just another "sports entertainment business" rather than an emotional tie, then there are plenty of competing alternatives - including just going to a local non-league team where expectations tend to be much more realistic and inclusion and the value they place on you as a fan/customer are way, way higher.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Sigh, That Ramy chap now having shots at Dellor over Twitter

Dreadful stuff. Whole site should be shut down

yes the two had a shouting match pitch side after the game. Tim not happy with Ramy's headline of 'sack richardson' and running a story on a player leaking the dressing room unrest. Ramy now doubling down. And dellor just posted a interview with paudie basically saying the inside leak was a load of bullshit and stories like that are really not helpful.

Ramy has now quoted dellor from 2022 where he ran a story that after bristol city away a load of players went up to him slagging off the managers tactics. and he has a short memory

is all quite unproffesional. The new chronicle guy has really ruffled feathers since coming in

He doesn't have the maturity needed. He acts like your standard Twitter or HNA? idiot stirring the pot and provoking reactions. Suspect he'll find access to the club harder to come by now and so we'll see even more clickbait and shit stirring headlines.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

rather than the entitled view

Can we please, for the love of oxf*rd God, stop this oxf*rd stupid label of being "entitled" - as if fans of this club are unreasonable to want more.

We've had years of decline, years of complete shit, years of bad ownership and now have a chance to rebuild.

Fans are NOT entitled to want more, to want a better team, to expect more. Many of us have gone for years, through these dire times and long before. I don't feel it's worth my time and continually, every season I say I'm not sure I'll bother. But I do, because I always get caught up in the hope, the new signings, the ambition.

So it's not entitlement, it's the fact this club is capable of so much more

I want us to be doing better - legitimate aspiration.

We should be in the Championship, anything else is underachieving, I'm not going to renew my season ticket because the football is so turgid, I demand both results and the style of football I like - that's entitlement.

I'm not saying there isn't a time for demanding a manager goes, or the owner acts, or the players do better, but thinking that time is now is based, not upon the circumstances, but just wishful thinking.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

Anyone remember how we took the p1ss out of the Brighton fans leading up to an FA Cup tie years ago, where their belief they were such a massive club meant we should have given more than the minimum ticket allowance? That was at the time they were playing at Withdean.

Or West Ham hounding out Pardew because they didn't like the style of football. Did the same to Moyes. Or Spurs getting rid of Ange after he won their first trophy since decimalisation? Because they were such big clubs they could do better.

I don't want us to be a League 1 club that struggles to get promoted, but all of the evidence suggests that's just what we are.

[Clyde1998]

I've read all these comments and thought long and hard about our present position.

Whilst I am as frustrated as most about where we are on the pitch I think we need a reality check.

I can't tell you how much it gnarls me seeing our historical piers, Brentford, Bournemouth and Brighton all challenging for Europe but lest not forget we are fortunate to still have a Club.

It wasn't that long ago Bury was a permanent fixture for us. Lincoln were non-league. Coventry were homeless, bankrupt and a basket case. I could go on and on.

I don't actually think Richardson is the right man. But then again I don't think any of his 6 predecessors were either.

Everything these days is sadly contemporary and "I want it now".

We seem to have a safe, decent Owner. This is a massive fix for them and it will take time. Especially getting the right manager.

A lot of people here seem to think we have a divine right to be doing better and whilst I applaud the ambition, as an example, there are well over 20 current EFL Clubs (that DIDN'T nearly cease to exist) who have had previous Premier League membership in the past and are nowhere near regaining it.

I've been saying it for a while, people think we're a bigger club than we actually are.

Expectations have completely over blown, although that was not helped at all with the club's higher ups suggesting we'll improve on last season (ie. reach the play-offs).

There's absolutely no patience from the vocal section of our fanbase, nor any critical thinking as to attempt to understand why things aren't (or cannot) happen quickly.

I don't think expectations will reset properly going into next season either. There will be a big push to get into the play-offs, which will inevitably grow the second we start making signings.

I agree Richardson probably isn't the right manager, but he absolutely needs to be given an opportunity to get some players in which compliment each other and fit his ideal playing style.

I feel Hunt (who I maintain shouldn't've been sacked) and Richardson have both been trying to make the best of a poor summer transfer window in which it felt like we signed whoever was available, rather than signing players who'd fit a system. That to me is a factor as to why the football has been poor: the players don't work well together.

The January window was an improvement and hopefully that implies we've learned the lessons from last summer.

Realistically though, we currently have a mid-table League One squad and we're currently positioned mid-table in League One. Any expectations beyond that are completely overblown.

I think your opening line is a result of the fact that for any Reading fan under the age of 30-35 will have grown up only watching Reading play in the top 2 divisions. Someone born in 1990 for example, will likely only really have memories of watching Reading at the SCL - and from 2002/03 through to 2013/14 had 12 seasons where the club never finished lower than 9th in the Championship - so an "established" Top 30 club in England.

So again if born in 1990 - between the ages of 12 and 24 you will have seen the club be successful at the top end of English football. Even in the clusterfuck of the past 12 years we still had a couple of seasons where promotion back to the PL could have happened.

So the view of the size of the club will definitely be defined by your age and experience - for those of us in our 40s or beyond - we know we are/were a smaller club who built something great but for those say 35 or younger, they will be more inclined to see us as a "bigger" club who are only where we are due to rank mismanagement.

Therefore, I'm not surprised that the overriding angle on social media is an over-expectation, as it isn't really seen as such in a lot of the fan base as they just want/expect Reading to be playing at the level they have always seen Reading as being part of i.e. a Top 10 Championship side with occasional visits to the PL.

I'm twenty-eight, so grew up in the same era (although, I'm at the older end of that group). Prior to our relegation, I hadn't seen us play below second tier-level. My first game was in the October of the 2003-04 season.

I think that twelve season run of being a top thirty side needs contextualising for a lot of people who haven't thought about it:

1. We'd just moved into a new stadium, with the increases of revenue and potential that brought.
2. Since the 2002-03 season: Brentford; Brighton; Cardiff; Hull; and Swansea have all moved into new grounds of a similar size to ours and have since exceeded us (a couple have since expanded). Bigger sides than us have also moved grounds since (like Coventry).
3. Other sides like Stoke and Wigan moved into their grounds just before our move and were following similar trajectories towards the top thirty in the same period as us.
4. Others were doing stadium improvements or have since done them, whilst we were already done with ours.
5. We reached the top thirty just as ITV Digital collapsed and the gulf in the Premier League and Championship revenues ballooned, which put sides in positions they wouldn't have ended up otherwise.
6. Due to the financial situation, we typically ended up above various sides we are a smaller club than.

For the record, the sides which were in the top twenty finishing positions in the twelve seasons prior to 2002-03 (1990-91 to 2001-02), who were ended up above in this era:

1. Leeds [average finish: 6.4 -> 34.1]
2. Southampton [14.5 -> 26.8]
3. Sheff Wed [16.6 -> 42.3]
4. Coventry [16.7 -> 41.3]
5. Nottm Forest [19.7 -> 36.2]
6. Derby [19.8 -> 31.8]
7. Leicester [19.8 -> 30.7]

We went from averaging 47.1 to 22.7.
Every single one of those sides are averaging back above us since the 2014-15 season (Wimbledon were also having above us at an average of 14.6, before the Milton Keynes scenario). We were also above sides like Wolves; Norwich; Crystal Palace; Derby and Sheff Utd on average.

Effectively, we were dealing with an early mover advantage throughout that period (which no longer exists), coupled with a unique financial situation and a bit of good luck.

The only sides we probably should be ahead of given the relative fanbase and infrastructure, who we haven't averaged above since 2014-15, are arguably Bournemouth and Brentford.

I think a lot of the younger fans/social media crowd simply haven't thought about things and that's maybe something we need to actively address to get expectations back to a reasonable level. Although it's entirely understandable for people to believe sides should be where they were when they grew up (I think of sides like Bolton and Blackburn as Premier League teams due to their finishes in my formative years).

[Clyde1998]

I agree Richardson probably isn't the right manager, but he absolutely needs to be given an opportunity to get some players in which compliment each other and fit his ideal playing style.

This, oft stated, viewpoint honestly baffles me a bit.

I don't like the revolving door, but it just seems illogical to me to say you think he's not the right manager, and then want the club to spend more money to, in all likelihood, prove you are right.

The people employing him will know much more about him that I do; and know what alternatives there would be.

If they believe he's the right manager, they should back him properly to maximise his performance. That doesn't necessarily mean we need to spend a lot of money either. I'd much prefer we signed free agents on low wages who fit the team, rather than spending millions on players who don't. Also we may end up spending more money by sacking a manager (and paying off his staff) and getting a new one in.

[Royal Rother]

I agree Richardson probably isn't the right manager, but he absolutely needs to be given an opportunity to get some players in which compliment each other and fit his ideal playing style.

This, oft stated, viewpoint honestly baffles me a bit.

I don't like the revolving door, but it just seems illogical to me to say you think he's not the right manager, and then want the club to spend more money to, in all likelihood, prove you are right.

The people employing him will know much more about him that I do; and know what alternatives there would be.

If they believe he's the right manager, they should back him properly to maximise his performance. That doesn't necessarily mean we need to spend a lot of money either. I'd much prefer we signed free agents on low wages who fit the team, rather than spending millions on players who don't. Also we may end up spending more money by sacking a manager (and paying off his staff) and getting a new one in.

Whilst your last point is certainly valid, if, by saying you don’t really believe he is the right man, it kind of feels like putting off the inevitable.

But yes, business decisions are always a tough balancing act of actual cost v potential reward, and while we can debate and speculate from the sidelines, ultimately I do respect that only the owners have the ability (the right) to do those sums and make the decisions.

[katweslowski]

I agree Richardson probably isn't the right manager, but he absolutely needs to be given an opportunity to get some players in which compliment each other and fit his ideal playing style.

This, oft stated, viewpoint honestly baffles me a bit.

I don't like the revolving door, but it just seems illogical to me to say you think he's not the right manager, and then want the club to spend more money to, in all likelihood, prove you are right.

Yes this is my view too.

I said earlier I think that I think Richardson probably does deserve more time, but I don't think he should be given it because I just don't believe he's the right man long term.

The next question then is, well who should replace him. For that, I have absolutely no answer. But then my knowledge of managers is pretty poor really.

I have no real feeling towards him, I don't really feel a connection to him, the style of play (lolz), the whole ethos. I hear him speak and feel nothing. I know this is completely meaningless, but usually with a manager, there's a point-in-time where you passionately back him, sing his name, feel something for him and the management team. I just don't have that.

[PieEater]

I have no real feeling towards him, I don't really feel a connection to him, the style of play (lolz), the whole ethos. I hear him speak and feel nothing. I know this is completely meaningless, but usually with a manager, there's a point-in-time where you passionately back him, sing his name, feel something for him and the management team. I just don't have that.

+1, I wondered who the guy clapping the fans prematch was - some injured player? I've never got over that.
It's all

[Brogue]

We don’t even have a song for him. Is that the first time ever we don’t sing our own managers name

[West F]

We don’t even have a song for him. Is that the first time ever we don’t sing our own managers name

There is nothing to sing about. He is a dull and uninspiring manager. One who seems to concentrate on playing without the ball with a preference for workrate and out fitnessing the opposition. There is no evidence of joined up football as yet, and most of our games have been largely agricultural. Probably so much so that next season’s sponsors will be Massey Ferguson and John Deere

[tidus_mi2]

We don’t even have a song for him. Is that the first time ever we don’t sing our own managers name

Do we ever do anything beyond "Manager's barmy army"