Richardson out

[stealthpapes]

Oh, I'm sure we've all got clunkers.

I just think people are hammering January's deals because Keane has been poor in March - not withstanding the same issue last year, when we brought in Bodin and ...

[Hound]

Keane even started quite impressively. But we’ve already seen this “only bringing his ageing mates” meme evolve, which is mostly just bollocks.

The other noteworthy one being how flat the signing of Marriott was initially received - my favourite comment was describing him as having had a goalectomy.

If/when someone does the inevitable review of the transfers, I’ll go back and find the most cringe comments.

Tbf Marriotts signing on paper was a pretty poor move. And not convinced it will turn out a good signing longer term either. Being out injured for half the year with a hammy isn’t a great sign and personally still don’t think he is a great option to lead the line. If we change to two up then fine. History would suggest he won’t score goals consistently at the rate he did this year

Ward was a good signing. Jury out on other winter signings

Yeah, Marriott has done well, but this is comfortably his best scoring season since his red hot 2017-18 season at Peterborough and the first since that season where he has reached double figures in the league.

Hindsight is 20/20, but we let go of the almost decade younger and considerably less injury prone Wareham who has scored more than Marriott this season.

Oh, and if you're searching stealthpapes, I'll admit that I said on here that I didn't see Wareham as a consistent league 1 goalscorer.

Yeah agree - though it does feel like we let Wareham go to bring in MoM. But would personally swap back Wareham for Marriott in an instant

[leon]

Oh, I'm sure we've all got clunkers.

I just think people are hammering January's deals because Keane has been poor in March - not withstanding the same issue last year, when we brought in Bodin and ...

Keane's been poor since he arrived. Got 2 goals early on that initially masked the fact that he contributed nothing else.

[stealthpapes]

Oh, I'm sure we've all got clunkers.

I just think people are hammering January's deals because Keane has been poor in March - not withstanding the same issue last year, when we brought in Bodin and ...

Keane's been poor since he arrived. Got 2 goals early on that initially masked the fact that he contributed nothing else.

… he played about an hours football in February …

[West F]

Keane even started quite impressively. But we’ve already seen this “only bringing his ageing mates” meme evolve, which is mostly just bollocks.

The other noteworthy one being how flat the signing of Marriott was initially received - my favourite comment was describing him as having had a goalectomy.

If/when someone does the inevitable review of the transfers, I’ll go back and find the most cringe comments.

Tbf Marriotts signing on paper was a pretty poor move. And not convinced it will turn out a good signing longer term either. Being out injured for half the year with a hammy isn’t a great sign and personally still don’t think he is a great option to lead the line. If we change to two up then fine. History would suggest he won’t score goals consistently at the rate he did this year

Ward was a good signing. Jury out on other winter signings

Yeah, Marriott has done well, but this is comfortably his best scoring season since his red hot 2017-18 season at Peterborough and the first since that season where he has reached double figures in the league.

Hindsight is 20/20, but we let go of the almost decade younger and considerably less injury prone Wareham who has scored more than Marriott this season.

Oh, and if you're searching stealthpapes, I'll admit that I said on here that I didn't see Wareham as a consistent league 1 goalscorer.

Marriot is one of the best finishers we have seen at Reading. Comparable to Cureton. His conversion rate this season was phenomenal.
My issue was always his goal record since his grade 3 tear which has left him playing about 50% of matches in a season. Like Owen, who relied on acceleration and pace to get into finishing positions, it is impossible to fully recover from such an injury. Time and age are not Marriot’s friends, and he will always be plagued with hamstring issues. You can have Marriot in your squad, but you would need Wareham in there as well.

[leon]

Oh, I'm sure we've all got clunkers.

I just think people are hammering January's deals because Keane has been poor in March - not withstanding the same issue last year, when we brought in Bodin and ...

Keane's been poor since he arrived. Got 2 goals early on that initially masked the fact that he contributed nothing else.

… he played about an hours football in February …

And less in March

[stealthpapes]

Keane's been poor since he arrived. Got 2 goals early on that initially masked the fact that he contributed nothing else.

… he played about an hours football in February …

And less in March

Nope, played in five of the six games, two starts.

He also hasn’t featured at all the last couple games, unlike the impression the meme “Leam’s mate” gives.

[Sutekh]

Ramy from the Chronicle posted last night that today would be interesting????

Some saying on X there was another bust up in the changing room, this time at half time.

Whatever we all think on here he's gone if this did happen. Managers never survive player power.

Did anyone else have an interesting Sunday?

[Hound]

Tbf Marriotts signing on paper was a pretty poor move. And not convinced it will turn out a good signing longer term either. Being out injured for half the year with a hammy isn’t a great sign and personally still don’t think he is a great option to lead the line. If we change to two up then fine. History would suggest he won’t score goals consistently at the rate he did this year

Ward was a good signing. Jury out on other winter signings

Yeah, Marriott has done well, but this is comfortably his best scoring season since his red hot 2017-18 season at Peterborough and the first since that season where he has reached double figures in the league.

Hindsight is 20/20, but we let go of the almost decade younger and considerably less injury prone Wareham who has scored more than Marriott this season.

Oh, and if you're searching stealthpapes, I'll admit that I said on here that I didn't see Wareham as a consistent league 1 goalscorer.

Marriot is one of the best finishers we have seen at Reading. Comparable to Cureton. His conversion rate this season was phenomenal.
My issue was always his goal record since his grade 3 tear which has left him playing about 50% of matches in a season. Like Owen, who relied on acceleration and pace to get into finishing positions, it is impossible to fully recover from such an injury. Time and age are not Marriot’s friends, and he will always be plagued with hamstring issues. You can have Marriot in your squad, but you would need Wareham in there as well.

His finishing last year was unbelievably good. Some of the best I’ve ever seen. For me he doesn’t offer enough all round to play as a 1 up top though. Could play in a 2 or as a sub option/start in certain games for an hour or so, and he’d do a great job. Think it was inevitable and utterly foolish to keep playing him 90m game after game that he’d get injured

[leon]

… he played about an hours football in February …

And less in March

Nope, played in five of the six games, two starts.

He also hasn’t featured at all the last couple games, unlike the impression the meme “Leam’s mate” gives.

number of games wasn't the point I was making....

[stealthpapes]

And less in March

Nope, played in five of the six games, two starts.

He also hasn’t featured at all the last couple games, unlike the impression the meme “Leam’s mate” gives.

number of games wasn't the point I was making....

The pair of posts

“… he played about an hours football in February …”
“And less in March”

Is entirely about how often and how much he featured.

You can hardly be accused of playing badly if you missed all but one game in a month. There’s other criticisms sure but it was explicitly his performances and playing time that you raised.

But to summarise: I said his poor performances in March have been used to tar all of January’s signings. You suggested he’d been bad throughout, when he actually made an impact in his two Jan starts, had most of Feb out of squad, has been poor since.

But, to make things easier, I sure hope his absence from the first team squad recently means he won’t darken our towels next season.

[West F]

Weird one Keane. Thought it was a pretty good loan signing in principle at the time. Would be an experienced striker that took the pressure off Marriot to start every game. Played well in his first games and got on the end of crosses, then picked up an injury. When he returned, Richardson seemed to have him confused with Kevin De Bruyne, describing him as a flair creative player and gave him some sort of hybrid false 8 role. He was very poor in those games and was consigned to the bench. The perception of him was largely shaped by his performances as a midfield creator.
If we were a team that actually played with natural width, then with Keane up front, we would probably have created more issues for the teams we played against. But, as Richardson let it slip in his recent interview, he was always more concerned with teams breaking on us in transition. There in a nutshell was the central issue. Paul Cook’s defensive coach played every match in a strict defensive shape, unwilling to commit men forward to create pressure and goals. To the supporters it looks like we are unable to dominate teams and are incapable of creating chances. The truth is that the team are shackled by the manager’s defensive mindset. Going forwards, this and his mentioning of meeting KPIs gives me most cause for concern.
Is Will Keane a bad player? No, he is a centre forward, not utilised as such.

[katweslowski]

Reading Richardson's comments and general tone, and I am firmly in the Richardson Out camp. I just can't oxf*rd stand the guy, and his stupid deluded comments and views on things.

"It was a fair result- it married with the performance," Leam told RoyalsTV. "I didn’t think we were great in the first half, we lost too many duals around the pitch in most areas. We spoke about it very bluntly at half-time and we were much better in the second half for 20 to 30 minutes. The goal we scored is as good a goal as you will see, the moments we need to produce more of. Ultimately, it’s a professional performance away from home. Can we be better? Absolutely. But we are a work in progress, and we are down to our bare bones. It is another positive result.

"It was disappointing- the goal- because I think we are top on counter-attacks conceded, we don’t concede many counter-attacks. It is something that we take pride in, so it is poor on our part. We have comfortable possession and we give it away in the middle of the pitch. We responded well at half-time.

"We had a couple in the first half where Paddy went through one-on-one and Daniel, but we need more of them. Even after we scored, Daniel has got in again, cut in and had a shot. We need more of that. Going forward, we want more positivity and intent."

"ANOTHER POSITIVE RESULT"... really? What exactly was oxf*rd positive about it? 900 fans went up to watch that utter turgid shit, and another flop of a performance against a team already relegated.

I could stomach this if he was more rational but this concerns me. Next year my fears are (in order):

1) We continue to put out the most boring, most dull, lackluster, uninspiring, totally abject shitty performances with absolutely ZERO intensity or real excitement

2) We then are subjected to Richardson saying how "positive" it was when we draw 1-1 against a team at the bottom, or concede late in the game again

3) We just have ANOTHER season in League One without getting into the playoffs or higher.

Get the twat out now.

[leon]

Nope, played in five of the six games, two starts.

He also hasn’t featured at all the last couple games, unlike the impression the meme “Leam’s mate” gives.

number of games wasn't the point I was making....

The pair of posts

“… he played about an hours football in February …”
“And less in March”

Is entirely about how often and how much he featured.

You can hardly be accused of playing badly if you missed all but one game in a month. There’s other criticisms sure but it was explicitly his performances and playing time that you raised.

But to summarise: I said his poor performances in March have been used to tar all of January’s signings. You suggested he’d been bad throughout, when he actually made an impact in his two Jan starts, had most of Feb out of squad, has been poor since.

But, to make things easier, I sure hope his absence from the first team squad recently means he won’t darken our towels next season.

Clearly my wry observational humour is falling short. Never mind.

[Brogue]

number of games wasn't the point I was making....

The pair of posts

“… he played about an hours football in February …”
“And less in March”

Is entirely about how often and how much he featured.

You can hardly be accused of playing badly if you missed all but one game in a month. There’s other criticisms sure but it was explicitly his performances and playing time that you raised.

But to summarise: I said his poor performances in March have been used to tar all of January’s signings. You suggested he’d been bad throughout, when he actually made an impact in his two Jan starts, had most of Feb out of squad, has been poor since.

But, to make things easier, I sure hope his absence from the first team squad recently means he won’t darken our towels next season.

Clearly my wry observational humour is falling short. Never mind.

i gotcha leon! he was saying even though he may have played more minutes in march he was so shit he actually played less football... not sure it needed spelling out, as i thought it was quite obvious what leon was getting at. but here we are

[Hound]

Weird one Keane. Thought it was a pretty good loan signing in principle at the time. Would be an experienced striker that took the pressure off Marriot to start every game. Played well in his first games and got on the end of crosses, then picked up an injury. When he returned, Richardson seemed to have him confused with Kevin De Bruyne, describing him as a flair creative player and gave him some sort of hybrid false 8 role. He was very poor in those games and was consigned to the bench. The perception of him was largely shaped by his performances as a midfield creator.
If we were a team that actually played with natural width, then with Keane up front, we would probably have created more issues for the teams we played against. But, as Richardson let it slip in his recent interview, he was always more concerned with teams breaking on us in transition. There in a nutshell was the central issue. Paul Cook’s defensive coach played every match in a strict defensive shape, unwilling to commit men forward to create pressure and goals. To the supporters it looks like we are unable to dominate teams and are incapable of creating chances. The truth is that the team are shackled by the manager’s defensive mindset. Going forwards, this and his mentioning of meeting KPIs gives me most cause for concern.
Is Will Keane a bad player? No, he is a centre forward, not utilised as such.

Yeah that’s fair. Weird thing is that he played for LR for a couple of years so to play him so deep seemed extremely odd

Don’t think Keane’s fitness is right in fairness. Couple of knee injuries and didnt look ‘right’. Probably pack of match time

[Uke]

Bring back Stevie Richardson

[leon]

The pair of posts

“… he played about an hours football in February …”
“And less in March”

Is entirely about how often and how much he featured.

You can hardly be accused of playing badly if you missed all but one game in a month. There’s other criticisms sure but it was explicitly his performances and playing time that you raised.

But to summarise: I said his poor performances in March have been used to tar all of January’s signings. You suggested he’d been bad throughout, when he actually made an impact in his two Jan starts, had most of Feb out of squad, has been poor since.

But, to make things easier, I sure hope his absence from the first team squad recently means he won’t darken our towels next season.

Clearly my wry observational humour is falling short. Never mind.

i gotcha leon! he was saying even though he may have played more minutes in march he was so shit he actually played less football... not sure it needed spelling out, as i thought it was quite obvious what leon was getting at. but here we are

Yes indeed.

[Extended-Phenotype]

The problem with the “give him the start of next season, reassess in November…” approach, is that it would just set the next manager up for a mid-season rescue operation and a repeat “give him the start of next season” scenario. It’s just a cycle of rescue-reset.

At least if LR left at the end of this season, a new manager could start his career here with a summer to build his team, rather than having half a season in damage limitation mode with someone else’s squad.

[morganb]

The problem with the “give him the start of next season, reassess in November…” approach, is that it would just set the next manager up for a mid-season rescue operation and a repeat “give him the start of next season” scenario. It’s just a cycle of rescue-reset.

At least if LR left at the end of this season, a new manager could start his career here with a summer to build his team, rather than having half a season in damage limitation mode with someone else’s squad.

By the way Couhig spoke in his recent interview, if he gives Leam the summer to build his team then I doubt any sacking would be in November, it is more likely to be reassess/sack in March (unless we are doing really badly) as he was preaching stability and patience.

Also means less of a pay-off if he does get fired in the Spring