I know it is looking good, but what happened last year still haunts me! You would like to think 20 points SHOULD be enough but i am not counting chickens quite yet. The main difference is we don't rely on Kitson so much now. Lita and (especially considering everything) Doyle have done brilliantly. we have a much better squad . A couple of injurys used to royaly (ahaha ) fvck us up in previous seasons but like you say we've had loads and people have just come in and filled in. Lets also not forget we have had plenty of argubly one of the most important ingredients of a successful season and that is good luck (barring the injuries i guess )Convey has been like a new signing Very pleased that he has come on. also sonko is a hero (well done for pulling out of the African nations as well, must have been a tough decision) imo and Hahnemann has earned us ALOT of points with his saves I remember when we lost at home first game of the season to plymouth, cannot believe the position we are in now. lol 24 league games unbeaten and 8 or 9 won in a row i think it is now, we really should go up. lets hope the lads can keep it up! In fact, i think the biggest potential thing barring us from the premiership is this transfer window; hope teams stay the fvck away from our players while at the same time of course letting us have theirs! Manu, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool; we are coming for you!! Also heres a nice article on Bobby, Good he's looking to sign another contract. we have a nice young team on the most part. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/reading/default.stm
Football League Review show is scheduled for 11pm EST tonight on Setanta Residential channel, if you have it. It should be on there cause there were no matches over the weekend. But can they turn this around so quickly? It will only be about 10 or 11 hours since the games finished.
I'm watching the EPL review show right now so it is possible they could turn it around this quickly. If they get the show from England, like FSC gets the EPL review show from England, then their shouldn't be a problem.
Then lets look at this as pessimisstically as possible so we dont' get our hopes up. Since Leeds is 20 back with a game in hand, Reading really only have a 17 point gap between them and 3rd place. And with Crystal Palace having 2 games in hand, Reading only have a 25 point gap keeping them in the playoff spots. There, seee........ lots to do yet. Must keep the team focused. In other words .... don't count your chickens just yet, but your ducks are all in a row.
If they get 7 in the next 3 games, they'll have 69 points with 18 matches to go. Leeds is in the best position to catch them, with 42 points in 24 matches. If they were to get 2 points a match in their remaining 22 matches, a pace a notch and a half better than they're doing right now, they'd end up at 86. So Reading would need only 18 points from their final 18 matches. I stand by it. If Reading get 7 points in their next 3 matches, they're there. And to touch on what someone mentioned...there's no way Reading gets an offer for any of their players high enough to justify risking promotion.
Precisely, the revenue they'd get just by being in the premier league would dwarf any amount they'd likely see for any player. Reading aren't going to sell anyone they think will help secure promotion unless someone comes in with a rediculous offer.
To further the Secretariat analogy, it would have been a bad idea, despite the huge leads, to sell off a leg or two. What amazes me the most about Reading this year isn't Convey (who is consistently not at all what he was last year) or the solid defense or the fact that Lita and Doyle can score (because they did look good in the highlight reels from their old clubs), but it's the depth of this team. i thought they'd go 14 deep, at most, and any run of injuries (sure to come) would sink them. Instead, they've had a serious and long injury run, and they haven't slowed down. this team is 18, 19 deep, and all quality. Siddy goes down, gunny is just as good. kits and lita, meet doyle, shorey is replaced by makin, and now little gets cut and oster finally gets the chance coppell has been saying he deserves. I really wonder if West Ham thougth when they sent their new sekou to Reading for seasoning that he wouldn't make the bench on this squad. To quote Bobby (in a couple weeks, it's coming) Brilliant.
the other remaqrkable thing about the Reading roster, especially in the midfield and on defense, is that they are YOUNG. If these guys survive their first season, and can keep the roster together....well I'll let it remain unsaid but they'll be hitting their primes in 3 or 4 years.
So, Bobby scored a goal. I'm traveling for Christmas and I'm at a hotel computer now. But, on Christmas night, I dreamt that Convey had a beautiful assist. A goal is better!
I was thinking that, too, but wasn't sure. Thanks for doing the research. So with the TV money, what will Reading do? You have a young squad, that's all-around strong. It's not like you look at their roster and say, OK, we have one good striker and one who won't hack it in the Premiership. RichardL is probably the expert, but from what I know, they don't have any players that they know now aren't up to EPL standards. Paradoxically, that might make it harder for them to stay up. If someone(s) gets exposed, it'll be, say, early October when they figure it out...and they won't be able to buy in for 3 months. Still, given the patience with which they've built the team, and the youth, perhaps they could become a Charlton that doesn't start sucking in March, i.e., a team that pips a UEFA spot in a lucky season, and never is in any late-season-relegation trouble. At least as long as this core of players stays intact. Obviously, Marcus only has a couple of years left in him. Outside of that?
MAybe but we have seen in recent years that teams that dominated div 1 were unceremoniously dumped from the EPL the next year, and sunk in the standings in div 1 the year after that. I think Reading buy a couple of players for sure who have some experience in the premiership, whether it will be enough will be the question.
What formation does REading usually play with and where does Bobbinho line up most of the time? thanks.
??? I know Sunderland this year is horrible, but like I wrote somewhere, that was sorta planned/necessary. I remember Fulham was a runaway winner and did quite well their first year up. What's that website that has all the standings going back forever? It'd be interesting to look over the last 10 years and see how the 5 teams with the most points in the First Division fared the next season.
IUn recent years, without checking memory for accuracy, teams that fit this category are sunderland, norwich, leicester, and I think more. Fulham is the exception, I think, rather than the rule, and Fulham was the beneficiary of a spending spree by an owner who brought them up from the lower divisions.
I think make it easy and look at each team that has been promoted and how have they done. Some have done well like Fulham, Charlton and even Ipswich for awhile. While teams like WBA struggle and manage to stay up for a season or two (we'll see how they fare this season) while teams like Norwhich go right back down. I would guess that the teams are pretty evenly distributed among the three types. A lot depends on how much they invest in players to help them compete in the EPL, and not just willy-nilly spending but prudent, solid spending on good player that can help stabilize a team and have experience in the league. You don't want to become a Leeds that spent itself into serious debt and were very good, for awhile, but had to sell every player worth a pound to avoid being bankrupt. Teams that have gone up and stayed up have done a good job in spending wisely. Also I would submit that the first year up might be the easiest to stay up because all of the other teams aren't really familiar with the team and you could catch a team by surprise and steal a point or three when you really shouldn't. I'm probably wrong on that but I think it has something to it.