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Reply | Most under-rated players at the Rs
at 05:56 26 Jan 2024
I thought Kaspars Gorkss and Matthew Connolly were an excellent CB partnership during our title-winning season. Very solid and comfortable on the ball. Played a key part in our promotion but rarely talked about in the same vein as Taarabt, Faurlin, Routledge, etc. |
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Reply | Most over-rated players at the Rs
at 05:46 26 Jan 2024
He’s responsible for an iconic moment, but it’s Bobby Zamora for me. Had he missed that chance against Derby, he’d be remembered as a failure. Frequently injured, immobile and a poor scoring record for us. I also recall him getting sent off for a karate kick in a vital Premiership relegation six-pointer when we were winning, costing us the match. Might have been against Wolves. |
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Reply | Rotherham, Cardiff or a draw?????
at 01:02 28 Apr 2023
Not quite. Huddersfield can overtake us with one win due to our terrible goal difference. Reading can catch us with 4 points from their remaining fixtures. Rotherham overtake us with 1 point. Blackpool could also go ahead of us with two wins.
Of course, this is assuming we lose both our final matches - unlikely, but I don’t trust this group of players. |
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Thread | Armstrong
at 19:16 22 Apr 2023
I thought he made a real difference when he came on today. Chased down long balls superbly and caused problems with his pace and physicality. If he can improve his finishing, I think he could be some player. Great to see his passion for the club shine through at the end as well. |
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Reply | How many points for safety.
at 19:10 22 Apr 2023
I am slightly more optimistic than this as I don’t see Reading getting more than three points from their final two matches - one against Wigan, who are battling, and the other versus Warnock’s Huddersfield away from home. I can’t see Blackpool winning their final two fixtures either.
My estimate:
47: 50/50 on whether this would be enough.
48: 70-80% chance of survival.
49 and 50: Definitely enough.
Obviously we need to keep fighting and try to get one more win to avoid a nervy final day. |
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Reply | Pivotal moments in the season…
at 20:37 9 Apr 2023
Conceding in the 96th minute against Sheffield United was a critical moment for me. Also throwing away two points against Swansea at home. Had we won both those matches, we'd be on 48 points and probably safe. Maybe Critchley would still be here. |
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Thread | Club comms
at 20:08 9 Apr 2023
I get that it’s a results business. Ultimately performances on the pitch determine how we feel as supporters and there can be no dressing up a collapse of this magnitude. It’s a very tough job for the marketing team. However, does anyone else feel that the quality of club comms has been shoddy to say the least over the last couple of seasons and might be making a terrible situation even worse? Just a few examples:
- The ambiguity around injuries has been commented on by many. We know Ainsworth doesn’t share much on team news for tactical reasons but for some time now I’ve been unsure about who’s fit and who isn’t. The lack of clarity might well be deliberate because certain players aren’t pulling their weight and the club hasn’t wanted to reveal that, but it’s surely unsustainable as a long-term policy and not a way to foster goodwill from supporters?
- No one at the club has addressed the revelations from the latest accounts, which showed staggering losses. This strikes me as unwise and more likely to fuel concern and resentment. I accept that the club hierarchy had done a round of podcast interviews prior to their publication - and there’s obviously a limit on how many media engagements they can do - but wouldn’t it have been prudent for Hoos to deal with some of the questions around the results? If he explained the context, the reasons for the losses and the strategy in place to stabilise the situation (including contingency planning for relegation), perhaps the mood towards him might be a little less poisonous?
- The decision to hold a tribute to the 1992/93 team on Friday seemed crazy to me given the level of discontent with Les Ferdinand. His absence has obviously raised questions and looked quite embarrassing
- To be honest, I was a tad surprised the club marketing team thought releasing the Haka video was a good idea. Surely someone should have recognised the potential for that content to go viral and be used to mock a struggling club? Also, didn’t it run contrary to Ainsworth’s other statements about not giving the opposition an insight into training methods? I expect we’ll see a lot of that video again if we are relegated, as appears likely
- I noticed the club recently launched a new hospitality offering (The Corner Lounge) and decided to invite the supposedly injured Leon Balogun to be the player in attendance. Given the perception that he’s one of “Beale’s boys” who’s not bothered to show up since his departure, was this a sensible decision? They got away with it as not many seemed to notice, but this could have easily backfired
- Looking back to last season, Warburton’s departure seemed badly handled, with Les Ferdinand essentially confirming that his contract wouldn’t be renewed in the media with several matches still to play. Surely that contributed to the collapse at the end of last season? Wouldn’t it have been wise to keep that under wraps until the end of the campaign to ensure everyone gave maximum effort? I know that what LF says is ultimately up to him, but who was advising/briefing him?
As above, I accept that the main problem is on the pitch right now. However, the club comms over the last 18 months or so have been characterised by tone deafness and inconsistency: opacity where supporters want clarity (e.g. injuries and club finances) or too much transparency (Haka video). Whatever happens over the next few weeks, I think this needs to be looked at and improved.
Some might say we've got bigger things to worry about, and that's probably true, but I really don't think the above is helping matters.
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Reply | Is it worth taking the drop
at 18:37 9 Apr 2023
Absolutely not. League One is a notoriously difficult division to escape. You've got lots of big clubs down there - Ipswich, Derby, Sheffield Wednesday, Portsmouth, Charlton, Bolton - plus the likes of Peterborough and Barnsley who are specialists at getting promoted to the Championship. I can see us being down there for years and, even if we eventually got promoted, there'd be a risk of becoming a Champ/League One yo-yo club like Charlton or Rotherham. That said, I don't think we're going to have a choice in the matter. |
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Reply | GA
at 19:25 4 Mar 2023
I don’t think he’s got a choice other than to try to be positive in those interviews. As Clive pointed out, the players turned against Critchley when he came out and slagged off the players for slacking. We all agreed with him but all it did was demoralise the players further. Although it might be frustrating to hear, I think GA is doing the right thing by being publicly optimistic. |
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Reply | Very direct today
at 19:19 4 Mar 2023
Obviously we’d all like the football to be attractive but at the moment we just need to get three points. If that comes from lumping it up to Martin and getting a lucky goal, then I’m OK with it. Discussion over style of play is for next season in my view. What matters is getting the players to follow some kind of shape and structure and getting some points on the board. It didn’t work today, granted. |
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Site Scores| Forum Votes: | 33 | | Comment Votes: | 0 | | Prediction League: | 0 | | TOTAL: | 33 |
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