Reasons to be hopeful?

[Snowflake Royal]

Which rather contradicts your claim that the gap is getting wider, doesn't it?

In reality, if wages are being cut it will affect the Championship's ability to recruit. Football is a global marketplace. That's the major reason why the quality of the Championship has been so high in recent years. If wages in the Championship decline then we can expect a reduction in quality, but the relationship is probably pretty inelastic in the short term.

What other national leagues pay high wages? Only the influx of rich billionaire owners into the Championship has raised the stakes. Look at our own owner. Only had one aim. Buy promotion at any cost. Should have sold Moore when they were offered £10 million. Wouldn't have lasted more than a season in the top flight.

Well quite. If we suddenly find we can't afford to pay more than Bundesliga or Serie A clubs then we'll find it harder to recruit from those leagues, and they'll be better positioned to compete for players from France or Portugal or the Netherlands.

I think something has gone wrong if we think we should be able to compete financially with top flight clubs in Germany and Italy.

[Jackson Corner]

I’m very positive about next season. Positive we will finish bottom. Swift gone Jaol to be sold. Where are the goals going to come from? We do of course have our productive academy, sadly this years crop are the worst ever finishing bottom of division two of the under 23s and took some real hammerings along the way. We have a proven failed manager who has been out of the game 8 years. What knowledge will he have of the players who are available?
On that note I would like to wish you all a very happy summer, and remember it’s only a game.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

I’m very positive about next season. Positive we will finish bottom. Swift gone Jaol to be sold. Where are the goals going to come from? We do of course have our productive academy, sadly this years crop are the worst ever finishing bottom of division two of the under 23s and took some real hammerings along the way. We have a proven failed manager who has been out of the game 8 years. What knowledge will he have of the players who are available?
On that note I would like to wish you all a very happy summer, and remember it’s only a game.

Season only ended a couple of weeks ago, plenty of time ahead to get ourself sorted

That plus others with possible points deductions and the lottery of the championship

Cheer up m9

[Zip]

By JC’s own standards that was a positive post.

[AthleticoSpizz]

By JC’s own standards that was a positive post.

Reasons to be miserable
Another good excuse to be dead
It’s one more thing to gripe about
As I while away my days in bed


(credit. hmhb)

[SouthDownsRoyal]

By JC’s own standards that was a positive post.

[Snowflake Royal]

Someone doesn't realise that our U23s were almost all teenagers, with almost half eligible for the U18s. And we kept pulling them into our first team matchday squad.

[Millsy]

Then there's not much strength in our U23s

[Snowflake Royal]

Then there's not much strength in our U23s

There's plenty of strength in it, it's just young for the level they’re competing at and the ones playing in it mostly aren't the ones we'd be looking to step up straight away

The young players in transition to the first team are the likes of Clarke, Azeez, Bristow, Andresson, Dorsett and Tetek.

Between those they can't have much more than about 25 appearances for the U23s. Azeez and Dorsett had no starts, Andresson 3, Bristow about 9, Clarke about 12.

Plus they don't have to do well to produce for the first team, if it was 15 duffers and 3 starlets, that's still three starlets who might step up.

[Hound]

Yeah that pretty much. And a number of those u18s who played in the first team looked capable - Clarke, Camara, Abrefa, Ashcroft all put in some good displays

[SCIAG]

What other national leagues pay high wages? Only the influx of rich billionaire owners into the Championship has raised the stakes. Look at our own owner. Only had one aim. Buy promotion at any cost. Should have sold Moore when they were offered £10 million. Wouldn't have lasted more than a season in the top flight.

Well quite. If we suddenly find we can't afford to pay more than Bundesliga or Serie A clubs then we'll find it harder to recruit from those leagues, and they'll be better positioned to compete for players from France or Portugal or the Netherlands.

I think something has gone wrong if we think we should be able to compete financially with top flight clubs in Germany and Italy.

Whether we should is another question, but we currently do. We obviously can’t compete with Bayern Munich or Juventus, but most Championship clubs are spending more than bottom half clubs in Germany and Italy.

Even putting that aside, it’s not necessarily about competing for star players, but competing for players like Danny Williams - squad player for Hoffenheim or starter here.

[tmesis]

Well quite. If we suddenly find we can't afford to pay more than Bundesliga or Serie A clubs then we'll find it harder to recruit from those leagues, and they'll be better positioned to compete for players from France or Portugal or the Netherlands.

I think something has gone wrong if we think we should be able to compete financially with top flight clubs in Germany and Italy.

Whether we should is another question, but we currently do. We obviously can’t compete with Bayern Munich or Juventus, but most Championship clubs are spending more than bottom half clubs in Germany and Italy.

Even putting that aside, it’s not necessarily about competing for star players, but competing for players like Danny Williams - squad player for Hoffenheim or starter here.

A bigger problem is that because of new transfer rules following Brexit, being able to sign such players has got more difficult, as they now need to qualify for work permits. For premier league clubs, going for higher calibre players, it's not such an issue, but a Hoffenheim squad player might not qualify any more.

[Stranded]

I think something has gone wrong if we think we should be able to compete financially with top flight clubs in Germany and Italy.

Whether we should is another question, but we currently do. We obviously can’t compete with Bayern Munich or Juventus, but most Championship clubs are spending more than bottom half clubs in Germany and Italy.

Even putting that aside, it’s not necessarily about competing for star players, but competing for players like Danny Williams - squad player for Hoffenheim or starter here.

A bigger problem is that because of new transfer rules following Brexit, being able to sign such players has got more difficult, as they now need to qualify for work permits. For premier league clubs, going for higher calibre players, it's not such an issue, but a Hoffenheim squad player might not qualify any more.

It will probably be easier for us to get a player who is on the fringes of a squad in say the Bundesliga. To get a work permit now, a player must get 15 points, this is based on apperances at club or international level.

So lets take a player at Hoffenheim - Hypo Thetical. He is very much a squad player and 21 years old, sitting on the bench but came on for a minute here or there - probably played 2 minutes over the season as they finished 9th. Leaves the club this summer for free and has just broken into the Costa Rica national side, playing in around a third of their games over the past year.

In terms of work permit points he gets:

10 points for appearing in the squad at least once.
1 point as Hoffenheim finished mid-table
6 points for playing for Costa Rica.

So breaks the points barrier despite barely having played.

Taking Danny Williams as an example, we signed him as he was an EU national but under the current rules based on his apps for Hoffenheim before signing for us he would have had 18 points just from his Bundesliga appearances but would have automatically qualified for a work permit as he had been named in 40% of the USA's national team squads in the year before signing.

[paultheroyal]

Negativity is just depressing on here - but hey, the fans do want it to be the Reading way.

Clear out of players - check
British Director of Football - check
British recruitment expert - check
British manager appointed - check
Exciting transfer window for once coming up - check
Reading fans to be mood hoovers and depressing - check

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Negativity is just depressing on here - but hey, the fans do want it to be the Reading way.

Clear out of players - check
British Director of Football - check
British recruitment expert - check
British manager appointed - check
Exciting transfer window for once coming up - check
Reading fans to be mood hoovers and depressing - check

I'm not sure why specifying British really matters.

[paultheroyal]

Negativity is just depressing on here - but hey, the fans do want it to be the Reading way.

Clear out of players - check
British Director of Football - check
British recruitment expert - check
British manager appointed - check
Exciting transfer window for once coming up - check
Reading fans to be mood hoovers and depressing - check

I'm not sure why specifying British really matters.

Plenty of comments on here about why the need to appoint an unknown Serbian, Portuguese, Iranian/Canadian etc etc - hence keeping it british.

[South Coast Royal]

Negativity is just depressing on here - but hey, the fans do want it to be the Reading way.

Clear out of players - check
British Director of Football - check
British recruitment expert - check
British manager appointed - check
Exciting transfer window for once coming up - check
Reading fans to be mood hoovers and depressing - check

I'm not sure why specifying British really matters.

Plenty of comments on here about why the need to appoint an unknown Serbian, Portuguese, Iranian/Canadian etc etc - hence keeping it british.

Surely it is logical to have people on board with a working knowledge of the level of football that we are playing at and of players across the leagues that we might be able to recruit to improve the team.

They don't all have to be British but there has to be more of an understanding of how it all works in The Championship than may have been the case in recent years.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Negativity is just depressing on here - but hey, the fans do want it to be the Reading way.

Clear out of players - check
British Director of Football - check
British recruitment expert - check
British manager appointed - check
Exciting transfer window for once coming up - check
Reading fans to be mood hoovers and depressing - check

I'm not sure why specifying British really matters.

Plenty of comments on here about why the need to appoint an unknown Serbian, Portuguese, Iranian/Canadian etc etc - hence keeping it british.

So what? They didn't not succeed because of their nationality. Stam and Pauno recorded our highest finishes since being in the Championship (Pauno equaled 7th) and Gomes managed to take us from 23rd (at our lowest) to 7 points clear of relegation. Yes, all short-term success, but it can be argued until we are blue in the face about whether it's just managers incompetence (or arrogance of not changing systems) or club mismanagement, probably a bit of both, but more the club mismanagement I'd say.

Yes, having someone with experience at the club or in this league is obviously a positive, but it's been proven many, many times by ourselves and other teams that it's not the be all and end all.

[ReadingGlasses]

I think I'd call this transfer window more "nervous" than "exciting". There's a big talent gap to fill if many of the out of contract players leave, and possibly not much budget to do it with.

It'll definitely be interesting, have lots happening, and be very important, but I'm not excited by it.

[NathStPaul]

Negativity is just depressing on here - but hey, the fans do want it to be the Reading way.

Clear out of players - check
British Director of Football - check
British recruitment expert - check
British manager appointed - check
Exciting transfer window for once coming up - check
Reading fans to be mood hoovers and depressing - check

I'm not sure why specifying British really matters.

With you on this one. I prefer the term "experienced Championship manager". Not sure their nationality is important at all. If I remember rightly there was a lot of nationality based comments made about Paunovic near the end of his time here. Often referred to as "Serbian fraud" or "the Serbian". I might be alone but I just find it really odd to bring nationality in to it at all. If someone is crap then just say they are crap, leave nationality at the door.