Last Cup final of the season

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

Sadly people like Floyd are all too common in Reading. They never have a good word to say about anyone or anything. I am sure that whatever he may say publicly Floyd is desperate for us to go down so that he can come on here and boast about how right he was all along.

I doubt Reading have any more moaners than any other club.

That fact is some people get carried away when thing look poor, and some get carried away when things look good.

I remember a guy called Chris, who I knew from away trips, who could find a big grey cloud from the brightest of silver linings - the sort of guy who'd be convinced relegation was imminent after the first defeat of the season. I don't think he ever wanted to be proved right, it's was just that he saw the potential for defeat more readily than the potential for success.

[Pseud O'Nym]

12 cup finals? Does that mean Coppell won't bother with them and play the reserves?

Sounds like a valid strategy to me, the reserves looked a lot better than the first team at WHL.

[andrew1957]

Andrew,
Haven't you done 3 or 4 identical posts over the past few weeks?
Hasn't Gordon posted at least 200 times that we will stay up?
Does propaganda ever work?
If so perhaps you chaps should be bombarding the players with letters and E-mails spelling out the same line rather than bombarding us,after all they are the ones who can do something about our relegation position,not us.

Hi Victor - yes I have made a few positive posts (all different subjects) but this is to try to counterbalance the 2000 negative posts on hobnob. I really believe we will stay up comfortably - which is why I find all the negative stuff so frustrating.

At the end of the season I will either be proved right or wrong - but either way I will still be supporting the team next year.

It seems that on here positive thinking is despised.

[seahawk10]

I for one am proud that we are playing in so many cup finals. I always dreamed of Reading reaching just one cup final. And now I have seen two and have twelve more to look forward to.

Go hard you Royals!!!

In all seriousness, I am going to do my best to enjoy the relegation scrap we have found ourselves in. We can do it. Just watch us.

[Skin]

It seems that on here positive thinking is despised.

Not here it isn't. Nothing wrong with being positive but you need to see it to believe it. Its actaully difficult to stay positive without something to stoke up the fire. A win against Villa would stoke up the fire. Then you will see positive, well, from more people than at the moment anyway... Positive is being invited to the party on Sunday, we'll know by the end of the 90 if he turned up. At the moment negative is running the show and needs to be have its head ripped off and throat f ucked, bundled into the back of a motor and driven out of town, while we sort out staying up.

[darloroyalbackhome]

Rev, I know exactly who you are talking about and even though this may be an ecumenical matter, I feel that some STG's are more happy to be proved right when things go wrong just so they can go down the pub and join the "I told you so" brigade that it actuallly clouds why they are actually supporting the team.

I for one will be doing my bit in the West Stand and trying to get everyone going.

Oh, and if any of you need a reality check as to where we have come from then I suggest a quick look at the Darlo Rivals website. 3,500 fans in a ground bigger than ours every week? As a famous french lady once said "...let them eat cake"

[papereyes]

I would have loved to have been proven wrong and seen Bryn more than replace Sidwell. It frustrates me that we didn't strengthen this position and it annoys and, yes, hurts me when a team runs through our midfield again.

I would have loved to have been proved wrong and seen more of our players improve on last season instead of stagnating and even getting worse. It happens to every team and it was always going to happen to our team. It annoys me that such a problem was not remedied when we had the chance.

I would have loved to have been proved wrong and seen our side strengthened over the January window with players that have already made some impact on our side, our performances and our results.

I would have loved to see more performances like Liverpool at home and less like Bolton, Portsmouth, Fulham ...

You do understand where the 'I told you so' attitude comes from? It comes from people raising concerns and suggesting that the side might just struggle this season and having a whole bunch of denialist nonsense saying that they were clueless or worse. People might not like some of these comments and arguments but that does not mean that they are not relevent, or true, or balanced.

[Gordons Cumming]

Kevin Dillon said:-

“In my mind we’re safe, but we need to get that through to the players. We need to be positive, that’s the key."

[BR2]

Kevin Dillon said:-

“In my mind we’re safe, but we need to get that through to the players. We need to be positive, that’s the key."

Has he looked at the table lately?

[andrew1957]

Dillon also said he expected us to finish 12th.

At last another positive person. Surely even the most negative amongst us like Floyd and Victor will be happy if we finish 12th!! Perhaps not - I guess they will moan that we should have finished 11th and that as a result Coppell and the team are all rubbish etc, etc, etc.

[andrew1957]

Kevin Dillon said:-

“In my mind we’re safe, but we need to get that through to the players. We need to be positive, that’s the key."

Has he looked at the table lately?

It is where you end up after 38 games that counts - not after 26 games.

[Howser17]

Kevin Dillon said:-

“In my mind we’re safe, but we need to get that through to the players. We need to be positive, that’s the key."

Has he looked at the table lately?

It is where you end up after 38 games that counts - not after 26 games.

Fortunately!

[Fezza]

I'd be happy to finish in 17th just so long as we're in the Premiership next season, then we can look to getting what the club needs most - a new owner. Don't get me wrong JM has been fantastic and has dragged us up from the depths of English football, but, as he himself has said financially he just can't compete, even with those teams around us at the moment.

[Huntley & Palmer]

If you listen to Graham Murty on BBCRB on a Monday morning he frequently comments that the players "do" pick up the vibes from the fans. I suspect that players "do" come on to Hobnob to see what is being said. Let's face it if there was a website devoted to whatever your job was and people were making comments about how you personally were doing your job I bet you could not resist having a look from time to time.

Therefore, the constant tide of negativity "is" harmful to our chances of survival.

if one of you STG's went to work every day and were constantly told how rubbish you were at your job and we could get a thousand people better than you tomorrow do you honestly think your performance would improve? A bit of positive encouragement on the other hand can only be beneficial.

But I know the STG brigade will never agree with me. I think you are a small vocal minority and in the end most positive people just leave this forum and give up reading the negativity.

I just want the players (assuming any of you do read this) to know that most of us are 100% behind you. Please ignore the STG's.

What utter drivel. There is no comparison between a normal job and being a footballer in any shape or form. There has been little to no negativity from the fans, I think Bolton was the only game I know of where I heard booing. People sound off on here about it because it's something to do when you are bored, not because it will affect the players.

[Archie's penalty]

If you listen to Graham Murty on BBCRB on a Monday morning he frequently comments that the players "do" pick up the vibes from the fans. I suspect that players "do" come on to Hobnob to see what is being said. Let's face it if there was a website devoted to whatever your job was and people were making comments about how you personally were doing your job I bet you could not resist having a look from time to time.

Therefore, the constant tide of negativity "is" harmful to our chances of survival.

if one of you STG's went to work every day and were constantly told how rubbish you were at your job and we could get a thousand people better than you tomorrow do you honestly think your performance would improve? A bit of positive encouragement on the other hand can only be beneficial.

But I know the STG brigade will never agree with me. I think you are a small vocal minority and in the end most positive people just leave this forum and give up reading the negativity.

I just want the players (assuming any of you do read this) to know that most of us are 100% behind you. Please ignore the STG's.

What utter drivel. There is no comparison between a normal job and being a footballer in any shape or form. There has been little to no negativity from the fans, I think Bolton was the only game I know of where I heard booing. People sound off on here about it because it's something to do when you are bored, not because it will affect the players.

Good point H%P. HNA is all about staving off boredom and is good for people to let off steam. I for one am positive about our chances. A defeat against Villa might change my mind somewhat...

[brendywendy]

If you listen to Graham Murty on BBCRB on a Monday morning he frequently comments that the players "do" pick up the vibes from the fans. I suspect that players "do" come on to Hobnob to see what is being said. Let's face it if there was a website devoted to whatever your job was and people were making comments about how you personally were doing your job I bet you could not resist having a look from time to time.

Therefore, the constant tide of negativity "is" harmful to our chances of survival.

if one of you STG's went to work every day and were constantly told how rubbish you were at your job and we could get a thousand people better than you tomorrow do you honestly think your performance would improve? A bit of positive encouragement on the other hand can only be beneficial.

But I know the STG brigade will never agree with me. I think you are a small vocal minority and in the end most positive people just leave this forum and give up reading the negativity.

I just want the players (assuming any of you do read this) to know that most of us are 100% behind you. Please ignore the STG's.

What utter drivel. There is no comparison between a normal job and being a footballer in any shape or form. There has been little to no negativity from the fans, I think Bolton was the only game I know of where I heard booing. People sound off on here about it because it's something to do when you are bored, not because it will affect the players.

ive heard booing at a few games this season-never joined in , but it was only after a couple of our worst performances
in that respect i think weve done ok, where other prem fans would have been ripping up their season tickets on the pitch, and howling for the managers head. as long as during the game the crowd are fully behind the lads, trying to lift them, im not totally against a bit of a post whistle grumble when they fall below their own standards

[Chuckle Brother]

I, along with many others, will make critical comments on here when appropriate having thought them through rather than going with knee-jerk reactions. However, come kick off I will be totally supportive of the players and will be in a very positive frame of mind about the result. Having said that, after 6 or 7 pints I also think I can pull fit birds and can take anyone on in a fight.

[andrew1957]

So we lost again - but Villa were one of the strongest sides we still had to face.

Nothing has changed really - we still need 4 wins and a couple of draws. It will all be down to how we do against the bottom half teams of which we play 7 in the last 11 games.

[Alan Partridge]

Another runners up medal today.

Looking forward to the latest interview in the EP, we need to win away, 10 cup finals to go before losing and then the week after 'home comforts will be our saviour' Cya.

[andrew1957]

I know I will be derided as one of the RTG brigade but during the last few days I been thinking that we have every reason to be confident of PL survival this year.

1/ We now have a virtually fully fit squad and even Little is on the way back. This will increase competition for places.
2/ The players know we effectively have 12 cup finals left.
3/ They also know they are playing for their PL survival - certainly with Reading. If we go down the best 5 or 6 players will be moving to new clubs and the older players will know they will have no future in the PL and possibly at the club. The newer players like Cisse, Matejovsky, Kebe etc know they still have a lot to prove. I believe this will spur them all on.
4/ The task is well within grasp. 6 wins (50%) means certain survival but 5 or possibly even 4 wins and a couple of draws are likely to be enough. This is well within grasp for a motivated team.
5/ The players are well rested and only have to play one game per week until the end of the season - as far as I can see none of our games are likely to be postoponed because of FA Cup clashes or other disruption. This enables a good pattern of training, match, training match and so on.
6/ When you look at our squad it really does look much stronger than the teams around us.
7/ We have played most of our really difficult games (apart from Arsenal and Liverpool) whereas other bottom teams have far more tough games.
8/ We only have to finish above Birmingham, Derby and Fulham to stay up. Birmingham and Fulham have much tougher run ins than us.
9/ Whatever happens - the next three months will be really exciting for players and fans alike. I will look forward to every game. I think there is every reason to be optimistic.

I would appeal to even to most negative STG's to be positive and to stand up and support the club and we will pull through. I am sure that most fans agree with me but the negative sentiments spouted by some do no doubt get through to the players and some positivity can do no harm at all.

I have not posted for a while as I usually get loads of abuse for being far too positive but thought I would update this article as it has turned out to be quite accurate so far.

I am sure Alan P, Victor and Floyd amongst others must be really drowning their sorrows tonight as it looks ever more likely that Reading will be in the PL again next season!

Bad luck chaps - maybe your wishes will come true next year.