BFTG - Barnsley

[holsgrove breaks a leg]

Despite our current league position, the past year at RFC surely must claim to be the ultimate in 'dull and uninspiring' as claimed by Schards around 5 years ago. I would take half the skill,endeavour and attitude of that set of players over this bunch of mishaps any day. In fact you probably have to go back as far as the Tommy Burns Era to highlight how disjointed and frankly unworkable our squad has now become. At the end of Bullivants tenure and with Burns it was the obsession to become a Barry Fry kid in a sweetshop XII with a squad of approaching 40 crap players that proved our undoing, now it is a combination of mercinary footballers who have had to go back to the begging bowl as their attempts to find anything better failed miserably and of prima donna footballers and triers from Sheff Utd and Crawley that simply looks at odds against each other within the same starting 11. Yes Yes we are 6th but i couldnt care less about that now, it just serves to show what a rubbish division we are in and perhaps highlights a growing gulf between Championship and Premiership football that is once again occuring at an alarming rate. The lack of any 'real' team bonding,commitment and cohesiveness amongst the squad is alarming and plain to see. Not that it should be an absolute key factor in the success of a club, but i just fail to see or get excited about the progression of virtually most of our squad or that they appear happy and enjoying their football. Unlike certain seasons gone by we have no 'real' crowd pleasers or enigmas at the club or players who could do that one thing to win you a match. Ok these things on their own don't neccesarily win games but they certainly create the right environment in which to. As for Adkins, i am very ambivilent towards his time at Reading. For all his cheesy interviews and positive platitudes and certain obsessions with tinkering with formations which clearly confused, he has landed himself in a job where injuries have been rife and since the day he joined he has not been able to start the rebuilding process on his terms. Instead he has to continue utilising several team players that probably should have been released at the end of the promotion campaign or during last season and has had even less chance to maneouvre in the transfer market than Brian had. Ultimately the lack of clarity re ownership serves only to boil things up even more, gaining promotion may entice new owners and actually finally begin Adkins rebuilding process but that is not certain,not gaining promotion though whilst it really doesnt bother me could well lead us down the path of no new interest in the club and a continuation of the fudging about seen this season but with the added unwanted stripping of any real assets while we are saddled with the high earners (ie around the time we sold Long but in a much worse position re wages and ownership). Whatever happens this season the summer is a key period at RFC, if Adkins is to remain he has to be given some of the tools to rebuild, starting with the culling of squad players that should have moved on seasons ago. Promotion is laughably still very much a possibility but im not sure the squad either deserve it and some fans must now start to see through this in the longer term....

[Stevie G]

Just interested, how many lines do you have to write to make your post fill one page of a thread?

The challenge is on.

[SHORT AND CURLY]

Despite our current league position, the past year at RFC surely must claim to be the ultimate in 'dull and uninspiring' as claimed by Schards around 5 years ago. I would take half the skill,endeavour and attitude of that set of players over this bunch of mishaps any day. In fact you probably have to go back as far as the Tommy Burns Era to highlight how disjointed and frankly unworkable our squad has now become. At the end of Bullivants tenure and with Burns it was the obsession to become a Barry Fry kid in a sweetshop XII with a squad of approaching 40 crap players that proved our undoing, now it is a combination of mercinary footballers who have had to go back to the begging bowl as their attempts to find anything better failed miserably and of prima donna footballers and triers from Sheff Utd and Crawley that simply looks at odds against each other within the same starting 11. Yes Yes we are 6th but i couldnt care less about that now, it just serves to show what a rubbish division we are in and perhaps highlights a growing gulf between Championship and Premiership football that is once again occuring at an alarming rate. The lack of any 'real' team bonding,commitment and cohesiveness amongst the squad is alarming and plain to see. Not that it should be an absolute key factor in the success of a club, but i just fail to see or get excited about the progression of virtually most of our squad or that they appear happy and enjoying their football. Unlike certain seasons gone by we have no 'real' crowd pleasers or enigmas at the club or players who could do that one thing to win you a match. Ok these things on their own don't neccesarily win games but they certainly create the right environment in which to. As for Adkins, i am very ambivilent towards his time at Reading. For all his cheesy interviews and positive platitudes and certain obsessions with tinkering with formations which clearly confused, he has landed himself in a job where injuries have been rife and since the day he joined he has not been able to start the rebuilding process on his terms. Instead he has to continue utilising several team players that probably should have been released at the end of the promotion campaign or during last season and has had even less chance to maneouvre in the transfer market than Brian had. Ultimately the lack of clarity re ownership serves only to boil things up even more, gaining promotion may entice new owners and actually finally begin Adkins rebuilding process but that is not certain,not gaining promotion though whilst it really doesnt bother me could well lead us down the path of no new interest in the club and a continuation of the fudging about seen this season but with the added unwanted stripping of any real assets while we are saddled with the high earners (ie around the time we sold Long but in a much worse position re wages and ownership). Whatever happens this season the summer is a key period at RFC, if Adkins is to remain he has to be given some of the tools to rebuild, starting with the culling of squad players that should have moved on seasons ago. Promotion is laughably still very much a possibility but im not sure the squad either deserve it and some fans must now start to see through this in the longer term....

Can this be summarised please

[AthleticoSpizz]

'dull and uninspiring' ....

(apart from the 7-1, the 5-1 and some away wins)

[RoyalBlue]

Despite our current league position, the past year at RFC surely must claim to be the ultimate in 'dull and uninspiring' as claimed by Schards around 5 years ago. I would take half the skill,endeavour and attitude of that set of players over this bunch of mishaps any day. In fact you probably have to go back as far as the Tommy Burns Era to highlight how disjointed and frankly unworkable our squad has now become. At the end of Bullivants tenure and with Burns it was the obsession to become a Barry Fry kid in a sweetshop XII with a squad of approaching 40 crap players that proved our undoing, now it is a combination of mercinary footballers who have had to go back to the begging bowl as their attempts to find anything better failed miserably and of prima donna footballers and triers from Sheff Utd and Crawley that simply looks at odds against each other within the same starting 11. Yes Yes we are 6th but i couldnt care less about that now, it just serves to show what a rubbish division we are in and perhaps highlights a growing gulf between Championship and Premiership football that is once again occuring at an alarming rate. The lack of any 'real' team bonding,commitment and cohesiveness amongst the squad is alarming and plain to see. Not that it should be an absolute key factor in the success of a club, but i just fail to see or get excited about the progression of virtually most of our squad or that they appear happy and enjoying their football. Unlike certain seasons gone by we have no 'real' crowd pleasers or enigmas at the club or players who could do that one thing to win you a match. Ok these things on their own don't neccesarily win games but they certainly create the right environment in which to. As for Adkins, i am very ambivilent towards his time at Reading. For all his cheesy interviews and positive platitudes and certain obsessions with tinkering with formations which clearly confused, he has landed himself in a job where injuries have been rife and since the day he joined he has not been able to start the rebuilding process on his terms. Instead he has to continue utilising several team players that probably should have been released at the end of the promotion campaign or during last season and has had even less chance to maneouvre in the transfer market than Brian had. Ultimately the lack of clarity re ownership serves only to boil things up even more, gaining promotion may entice new owners and actually finally begin Adkins rebuilding process but that is not certain,not gaining promotion though whilst it really doesnt bother me could well lead us down the path of no new interest in the club and a continuation of the fudging about seen this season but with the added unwanted stripping of any real assets while we are saddled with the high earners (ie around the time we sold Long but in a much worse position re wages and ownership). Whatever happens this season the summer is a key period at RFC, if Adkins is to remain he has to be given some of the tools to rebuild, starting with the culling of squad players that should have moved on seasons ago. Promotion is laughably still very much a possibility but im not sure the squad either deserve it and some fans must now start to see through this in the longer term....

The use of paragraphs would have made your post a lot easier to read!

Disagree at your suggestion of a complete lack of team bonding. I have seen several players, including Drenthe doing their utmost to lift teammates when things aren't going well for them and/or they have made a mistake. Jobi is also a good captain in that respect and can also be seen working his way around the players during the warm up. The official site had a picture of Kelly smiling and chatting to Adkins as they walked to the bench at Birmingham and yesterday during warm up, Kelly again had a broad smile on his face and was happily chatting to his teammates, even though he isn't currently getting much game time. Whilst success is currently hit and miss, the players all seem happy celebrating together when their work does bring goals/results. There do not appear to be any separate cliques.

We have all seen how the whole team and club can get a very substantial lift from a couple of decent transfer signings during the transfer window, even though those signings could cost some players their place.

However, in the last window, rather than that boost, which I believe would have seen us kick on up the table, the manager and players got a massive kick in the balls from the current 'want away' owners. Indeed Santa Madejski even promised them some decent Christmas presents, before reverting to Scrooge pre-visitation.

Given that, is it really surprising if morale is not particularly good at present?

I doubt many players relish playing out of position, or when carrying an injury because the manager has so few other realistic options, particularly when our supporters are quick to jump on their backs if they make a mistake or don't perform to their full potential, due to being out of position and/or not fully fit.

[bcubed]

agree with all o that too.

Not keen on it myself, I'll admit to joining in, but only because it was something, anything, to join in with and make some noise in that graveyard.

As most have said, I don't normally agree with seat banging, or yelling abuse at players, particularly early in a game or for their first mistake that day. But I think that performance was bad enough that by the last 10 - 15 minutes it warranted everything it got, even the childish seat banging that normally makes my blood boil.

I'm a big fan of Adkins, but even I can't help but think that the entire club seems disjointed and split on everything and perhaps we need a change to act as a new starting point and unifying force. It's been clear from the start that no matter what he does some would never support him.

This was such an exceptionally bad performance, devoid of any redeeming features, that any crowd reaction is forgiveable. In fact as some have said it was actually very restrained.

I noticed nearly everyone was seated after ten minutes. The atmosphere is always worse when that happens but again whose fault is that. The team was uninspiring and given our recent home form I suspect no one really believed that anything different was going to be served up.

So dont blame the crowd, blame the team for as clueless, hapless and gutless performance as I have ever seen and ever want to see again,

[Ian Royal]

I stood for 45 minutes, it didn't help ease what I was watching.

[bcubed]

I stood for 45 minutes, it didn't help ease what I was watching.

I stood for 40 minutes then got myself a Bovril

That didn't help

Sat through the second half. That didn't help either

[Ian Royal]

I stood for 45 minutes, it didn't help ease what I was watching.

I stood for 40 minutes then got myself a Bovril

That didn't help

Sat through the second half. That didn't help either

I've never had bovril.

csb







This post was an attempt to be as devoid of interest and entertainment as the match last night.

[bcubed]

I stood for 45 minutes, it didn't help ease what I was watching.

I stood for 40 minutes then got myself a Bovril

That didn't help

Sat through the second half. That didn't help either

I've never had bovril.

csb







This post was an attempt to be as devoid of interest and entertainment as the match last night.

Bet you wish you'd tried it now. You could have missed five minutes of that game

[higher]

After this display I feel it is time to reward some of the youth for their endeavors.Given the current ownership flux focus should now be on clearing out overpaid dross and injecting some of the promise evident in the youth set up.

[Royal Ginger]

With Bovril?

[bloody Volvo driver]

For all clowns who bang on about "Worst fans in the league" "Go and support Chelsea" blah blah blah. Check out the reaction at Upton Park tonight after they BEAT Hull then thank your lucky stars.

Are we the best? yards away. Are we the worst? - absolutely miles away.

[winchester_royal]

^lol

[royalsteve]

Despite our current league position, the past year at RFC surely must claim to be the ultimate in 'dull and uninspiring' as claimed by Schards around 5 years ago. I would take half the skill,endeavour and attitude of that set of players over this bunch of mishaps any day. In fact you probably have to go back as far as the Tommy Burns Era to highlight how disjointed and frankly unworkable our squad has now become. At the end of Bullivants tenure and with Burns it was the obsession to become a Barry Fry kid in a sweetshop XII with a squad of approaching 40 crap players that proved our undoing, now it is a combination of mercinary footballers who have had to go back to the begging bowl as their attempts to find anything better failed miserably and of prima donna footballers and triers from Sheff Utd and Crawley that simply looks at odds against each other within the same starting 11. Yes Yes we are 6th but i couldnt care less about that now, it just serves to show what a rubbish division we are in and perhaps highlights a growing gulf between Championship and Premiership football that is once again occuring at an alarming rate. The lack of any 'real' team bonding,commitment and cohesiveness amongst the squad is alarming and plain to see. Not that it should be an absolute key factor in the success of a club, but i just fail to see or get excited about the progression of virtually most of our squad or that they appear happy and enjoying their football. Unlike certain seasons gone by we have no 'real' crowd pleasers or enigmas at the club or players who could do that one thing to win you a match. Ok these things on their own don't neccesarily win games but they certainly create the right environment in which to. As for Adkins, i am very ambivilent towards his time at Reading. For all his cheesy interviews and positive platitudes and certain obsessions with tinkering with formations which clearly confused, he has landed himself in a job where injuries have been rife and since the day he joined he has not been able to start the rebuilding process on his terms. Instead he has to continue utilising several team players that probably should have been released at the end of the promotion campaign or during last season and has had even less chance to maneouvre in the transfer market than Brian had. Ultimately the lack of clarity re ownership serves only to boil things up even more, gaining promotion may entice new owners and actually finally begin Adkins rebuilding process but that is not certain,not gaining promotion though whilst it really doesnt bother me could well lead us down the path of no new interest in the club and a continuation of the fudging about seen this season but with the added unwanted stripping of any real assets while we are saddled with the high earners (ie around the time we sold Long but in a much worse position re wages and ownership). Whatever happens this season the summer is a key period at RFC, if Adkins is to remain he has to be given some of the tools to rebuild, starting with the culling of squad players that should have moved on seasons ago. Promotion is laughably still very much a possibility but im not sure the squad either deserve it and some fans must now start to see through this in the longer term....

Can this be summarised please

shit

[paddy20]

Despite our current league position, the past year at RFC surely must claim to be the ultimate in 'dull and uninspiring' as claimed by Schards around 5 years ago. I would take half the skill,endeavour and attitude of that set of players over this bunch of mishaps any day. In fact you probably have to go back as far as the Tommy Burns Era to highlight how disjointed and frankly unworkable our squad has now become. At the end of Bullivants tenure and with Burns it was the obsession to become a Barry Fry kid in a sweetshop XII with a squad of approaching 40 crap players that proved our undoing, now it is a combination of mercinary footballers who have had to go back to the begging bowl as their attempts to find anything better failed miserably and of prima donna footballers and triers from Sheff Utd and Crawley that simply looks at odds against each other within the same starting 11. Yes Yes we are 6th but i couldnt care less about that now, it just serves to show what a rubbish division we are in and perhaps highlights a growing gulf between Championship and Premiership football that is once again occuring at an alarming rate. The lack of any 'real' team bonding,commitment and cohesiveness amongst the squad is alarming and plain to see. Not that it should be an absolute key factor in the success of a club, but i just fail to see or get excited about the progression of virtually most of our squad or that they appear happy and enjoying their football. Unlike certain seasons gone by we have no 'real' crowd pleasers or enigmas at the club or players who could do that one thing to win you a match. Ok these things on their own don't neccesarily win games but they certainly create the right environment in which to. As for Adkins, i am very ambivilent towards his time at Reading. For all his cheesy interviews and positive platitudes and certain obsessions with tinkering with formations which clearly confused, he has landed himself in a job where injuries have been rife and since the day he joined he has not been able to start the rebuilding process on his terms. Instead he has to continue utilising several team players that probably should have been released at the end of the promotion campaign or during last season and has had even less chance to maneouvre in the transfer market than Brian had. Ultimately the lack of clarity re ownership serves only to boil things up even more, gaining promotion may entice new owners and actually finally begin Adkins rebuilding process but that is not certain,not gaining promotion though whilst it really doesnt bother me could well lead us down the path of no new interest in the club and a continuation of the fudging about seen this season but with the added unwanted stripping of any real assets while we are saddled with the high earners (ie around the time we sold Long but in a much worse position re wages and ownership). Whatever happens this season the summer is a key period at RFC, if Adkins is to remain he has to be given some of the tools to rebuild, starting with the culling of squad players that should have moved on seasons ago. Promotion is laughably still very much a possibility but im not sure the squad either deserve it and some fans must now start to see through this in the longer term....

Can this be summarised please

Needs paragraphs. Much easier to read

shit

[Extended-Phenotype]

For all clowns who bang on about "Worst fans in the league" "Go and support Chelsea" blah blah blah. Check out the reaction at Upton Park tonight after they BEAT Hull then thank your lucky stars.

Are we the best? yards away. Are we the worst? - absolutely miles away.

Yeah our fans are shit with all their watching the football. I wish I was a big club supporter so I could stand next to an adult man sing-shouting camp nursery rhymes like “we are City, we are City, we are City, yes City you heard me” in an affected man-voice continuously throughout the game like a gruff autistic.

Shut up and watch the football, you dick. I don’t go to a gig and scream all the way through it or sit in unbroken ear-splitting hysterics in the audience of a comic. WTF judging people on how much noise they make?

Cheer in the right places, groan if you need to, give em a little wave, go home and thank the world you aren’t still a sad little man still hanging around in a group of 20 other paradoxically lonely twats, walking up the road like you are carrying a television under each arm, singing rude songs and substituting skill with shouting 'fuck'.

[winchester_royal]

For all clowns who bang on about "Worst fans in the league" "Go and support Chelsea" blah blah blah. Check out the reaction at Upton Park tonight after they BEAT Hull then thank your lucky stars.

Are we the best? yards away. Are we the worst? - absolutely miles away.

Yeah our fans are shit with all their watching the football. I wish I was a big club supporter so I could stand next to an adult man sing-shouting camp nursery rhymes like “we are City, we are City, we are City, yes City you heard me” in an affected man-voice continuously throughout the game like a gruff autistic.

Shut up and watch the football, you dick. I don’t go to a gig and scream all the way through it or sit in unbroken ear-splitting hysterics in the audience of a comic. WTF judging people on how much noise they make?

Cheer in the right places, groan if you need to, give em a little wave, go home and thank the world you aren’t still a sad little man still hanging around in a group of 20 other paradoxically lonely twats, walking up the road like you are carrying a television under each arm, singing rude songs and substituting skill with shouting 'fuck'.

+ fucking 1

[Eaststandman]

'greed! never did quite understand who has the right to decide about the validity of my good/bad fan rating credentials. Quite like enjoying my recreation, in my own way, without having to be qualified in any way to do it, other than by buying my ticket!!! Thanks

[floyd__streete]

Its only Reading fans who ber8 the team when they are disatisfied at paying good money to watch a poor performance. "Worst fans in the country" as someone pointed out on this thread. It literally happens nowhere else.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26761549