Andy Gray...On Sky Sports News

[Mr Angry]

Andy Gray : "Sheff Utd have bought loads of players, so thats a real advantage. Whether they will be of the right quality, who knows, but they are the best equipped to survive"

eh??

So simply buying players, regardless of their quality, is a pointer to a side surviving or not???



Frankly, thats rubbish.

[wehateoxford]

considering we've signed no players, and are newly promoted, its obvious the average journos gonna write us off and head straight to the pub.

Im not too bothered everyones tipping us to go down, i believe its gonna be a right down to the wire fight, and it could be either be a last day drop like palace, or miracle like WBA.

the thing that gets me, is we've never had praise but im not that fussed about the nationals, i get more annoyed by that smug oxf*rd on south today who blatantly supports Southampton

we're the big team now you bunch of ponsy private school southampton supporting CNUTS

[poohs pure]

Andy Gray : "Sheff Utd have bought loads of players, so thats a real advantage. Whether they will be of the right quality, who knows, but they are the best equipped to survive"

eh??

So simply buying players, regardless of their quality, is a pointer to a side surviving or not???



Frankly, thats rubbish.

my point exactly. the guy talks bolloks 99% of the time.

he believes his own hype. if he knew cock all about football he would of taken the villa job when he was offered it 10 years ago.

[Gordons Cumming]

All Andy Gray is saying is you need good squad depth to survive in the Premiership and that is something we clearly don't have at the moment, and wont until at least January.

[Wycombe Royal]

All Andy Gray is saying is you need good squad depth to survive in the Premiership and that is something we clearly don't have at the moment, and wont until at least January.

Birmingham and West Brom both had squad depth last season.

[Gordons Cumming]

All Andy Gray is saying is you need good squad depth to survive in the Premiership and that is something we clearly don't have at the moment, and wont until at least January.

Birmingham and West Brom both had squad depth last season.

Nitpicker

[Wycombe Royal]

All Andy Gray is saying is you need good squad depth to survive in the Premiership and that is something we clearly don't have at the moment, and wont until at least January.

Birmingham and West Brom both had squad depth last season.

Nitpicker

I wouldn't say so - that is 2 out of the 3 clubs relegated. That's a majority.

[Gordons Cumming]

Look Wycombe..........you have to agree...................it is sensible to have good cover to be prepared for injuries and suspensions.

Imagine how bad Birmingham would have been if they hadn't had the squad depth last season considering how bad their injuries were.

[Wycombe Royal]

Look Wycombe..........you have to agree...................it is sensible to have good cover to be prepared for injuries and suspensions.

Imagine how bad Birmingham would have been if they hadn't had the squad depth last season considering how bad their injuries were.

They would still have been relegated. But they would have spent less money on tranfer fees and wages.

[RobRoyal]

Note to Reading fans everywhere - doubting our credentials as a top flight team does not make someone a cock. Ignoring the fact that as a Reading fan I think we will be relegated, if I was not a Reading fan, I would without a doubt be tipping us to go down.

It's not the writing us off that f*cks me off - as other posters have said, it's to our advantage if everyone continues to underestimate us. What's more annoying is the constant barrage of 'pundits' who spout out badly researched, often factually wrong opinions - clearly knowing less about general football than most people on this board - and get paid for it. Gray last night raised doubts about Reading because he 'wasn't sure how much money the chairman would allow to be spent.' If he had bothered to watch Sky Sports News before formulating his opinions he might have found out that we've had several bids turned down that would have outdone any of Watford or Sheffield United's spending.

[When Hicks went up...]

It's not the writing us off that f*cks me off - as other posters have said, it's to our advantage if everyone continues to underestimate us. What's more annoying is the constant barrage of 'pundits' who spout out badly researched, often factually wrong opinions - clearly knowing less about general football than most people on this board - and get paid for it. Gray last night raised doubts about Reading because he 'wasn't sure how much money the chairman would allow to be spent.' If he had bothered to watch Sky Sports News before formulating his opinions he might have found out that we've had several bids turned down that would have outdone any of Watford or Sheffield United's spending.

Totally agree. Being tipped to go down doesn't bother me - let's be honest there is a decent chance that we will. It's the lack of any real substance to the opinions that grates.

Andy Gray "Sunderland romped the league two years ago, and look what happened to them"

They finished on 94 points, 7 clear of Wigan. At no point did the "romp" the league. In fact they looked TERRIBLE towards the end of the year - highlighted by the defeat at the stadium of light by a Reading team that was, lets face it, playing some pretty average football.

For the record, I have set the NOTW article as my desktop background at work. I'm hoping it will affect my performance in the stands tomorrow.

[Forbury Lion]

I saw Andy Gray's bit about the 3 newcomers to the Permiership.

In summary:

Would love to see a couple of teams do a Watford or West Ham and be proved wrong.

Reading - Will be up against it, If Steve Coppell receives backing they might have a chance. Need to keep in mind the Sunderland team that stormed the league and went down.

Watford - Would love to be able to say they'll stay up, but can't see it. They will struggle.

Sheffield United - Favourites to beat the drop, They've signed about 11 players but it remains to be seen whether they've improved on quality or just quantity. For this reason they have a chance.



It didn't sound that controversial to be honest, Just a realistic view that we're in for a tough season but are in with a chance of staying up if we strengthen the squad - How can anyone other than a RTG argue with that view?

[SpaceCruiser]

No, but it's not factual, is it, Forbury? Sunderland didn't exactly storm the Championship, did they?

[When Hicks went up...]

It didn't sound that controversial to be honest, Just a realistic view that we're in for a tough season but are in with a chance of staying up if we strengthen the squad - How can anyone other than a RTG argue with that view?

I think my issues with what he said were this:

1) He seemed to think that the managers were more important than the playing squads, yet paid little attention to Coppell's undoubted (apart from on here!) ability.

2) He seems to have just looked at the In/Out Columns that appear on Sky Sports News. I'm not sure any of Sheff Utd's signings would get near our starting eleven, and they had a far worse side to begin with.

3) Like every other jurno he doesn't seem to have a clue about when Sunderland set their frickin points record!!!

[floyd__streete]

Sheffiled United are the best equipped and most likely to stay up because they "will compete".

Yes, whilst weak-willed Reading just won't bother trying will they?

Andy Gray has zero credibility in my eyes anyway; he is the archetypal old pals network pundit who rarely criticises the players and shows a shocking grasp of the laws of the game.

[floyd__streete]

They finished on 94 points, 7 clear of Wigan. At no point did the "romp" the league.

Quite correct. I dug out the programme from the Stadium of Light fixture towards the end of that season and it was only a run of 7 or 8 wins in the spring (ended by Dave Kitson that afternoon of course) which took them top. They struggled early on and were competing with Reading in and around the top six below Wigan and faltering Ipswich until that late burst.

Dreadful research from Gray; the comparison with Reading 05/06 (leading since November, top two since September and 106 points) is a poor one.

[poohs pure]

I saw Andy Gray's bit about the 3 newcomers to the Permiership.

In summary:

Would love to see a couple of teams do a Watford or West Ham and be proved wrong.

Reading - Will be up against it, If Steve Coppell receives backing they might have a chance. Need to keep in mind the Sunderland team that stormed the league and went down.

Watford - Would love to be able to say they'll stay up, but can't see it. They will struggle.

Sheffield United - Favourites to beat the drop, They've signed about 11 players but it remains to be seen whether they've improved on quality or just quantity. For this reason they have a chance.



It didn't sound that controversial to be honest, Just a realistic view that we're in for a tough season but are in with a chance of staying up if we strengthen the squad - How can anyone other than a RTG argue with that view?

my original point being that he said sheffield united are favourites to stay up, blatantly total shite and proof that andy gray is scared of any confrontation with warnock this season. the big scottish jessie

[When Hicks went up...]

Dreadful research from Gray; the comparison with Reading 05/06 (leading since November, top two since September and 106 points) is a poor one.

The ironic thing, of course, is that this story is repeated year in year out. I don't have the stats to hand, but i'm pretty certain that only about 50% of clubs that go up come straight back down.

This time next year the "experts" will be tipping the three promoted clubs to go straight back down, whilst posing the question...

"Can anyone do a Reading?"

[Royal With Cheese]

Like every other jurno he doesn't seem to have a clue about when Sunderland set their frickin points record!!!

Because if he had bothered to look he would have seen that Sunderland finished 7th in the Prem the next season. That'll do me!

As lazy as his haircut.

[markwilson88]

Personally Im much happier going into the season with people writing us off, giving the team something to prove.

Would you rather be in Wigans shoes with the expectations that come with a succesful first year? I think Wigan have a tougher task than us, but thats a personal opinion not shared by many Im sure!