Last Cup final of the season

[SteveRoyal]

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.

He has stated that the club is for sale, so hopefully we'll see a new owner for the next season, and maybe some proven Premier players joining us?
I'm unsure, but a new owner would almost certainly bolster our chances of becoming a permanent Premier League side.
COPPELL DON'T LEAVE US. =]

[Archie's penalty]

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.

Good on you Andrew. 7 games left...

[Platypuss]

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.

A truly pathetic dribble of nonsense.

[Ian Royal]

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.

A truly pathetic dribble of nonsense.

No worse than a lot of Floyd and AP's nonsense this season.

[RoyalBlue]

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.

A truly pathetic dribble of nonsense.

Agreed. And I will happily join those named in eating our words if we stay up. That's all I'm sure we all ever wanted. And that doesn't make everything we previously posted wrong either!

[Ian Royal]

The issue many of us had, was the refusal to see any good, the writing us off as guaranteed relegation in October ish time, the constant slagging and hypercriticalness and the rabid denial of any positivity and abuse to anyone who suggested we weren't utter dogshite and in need of about 7 players to stay up and that Coppell was actually rather rubbish.

Hmm. Must remember to use more fullstops and punctuate better.

[Hampshire Royal]

To those who before Christmas said we were going down, and to those who had this view confirmed when we didn't spend zillions in the January window, and should have spent like Bolton did, and to those who seemed to take a real pleasure in seeing that their predictions of relegation might come true, and to those who poured scorn on theose people who dared to suggest we're not going down, and to those really clever people who actually put hard-earned money on bets saying we would go down I say

[Woodcote Royal]

So, 3 wins out of the last 4, with 2 nailed on pens being turned down at Anfield denying us a well deserved point.

As ever, the East Stand excels when booing failure ( a nil, nil half-time scoreline is still remembered with incredulity ) but remains painfully slow to cheer success, especially when the "experts" in it's analysis department have so overwhelmingly predicted failure

[LUX]

The issue many of us had, was the refusal to see any good, the writing us off as guaranteed relegation in October ish time, the constant slagging and hypercriticalness and the rabid denial of any positivity and abuse to anyone who suggested we weren't utter dogshite and in need of about 7 players to stay up and that Coppell was actually rather rubbish.

Hmm. Must remember to use more fullstops and punctuate better.

we're by no means not safe yet, and I am still plotting our way out, but I've also taken issue on here with AP, Floyd and Platypuss for their OTT negative posts, mostly occurring between the New Year and Middlesboro.

ps I would never accuse them of wanting us to go down, mind.

[bobby1413]

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.

A truly pathetic dribble of nonsense.

Not really. Most of their posts are completely negative from what I've seen, and half of them seem to mention the fact that they never enjoy the game.

[bobby1413]

To those who before Christmas said we were going down, and to those who had this view confirmed when we didn't spend zillions in the January window, and should have spent like Bolton did, and to those who seemed to take a real pleasure in seeing that their predictions of relegation might come true, and to those who poured scorn on theose people who dared to suggest we're not going down, and to those really clever people who actually put hard-earned money on bets saying we would go down I say

Reading have hardly secured their position in this league have they?

Why have a few posters here posted "I told you so", when we are still far form safe. With a post like the one above, I would probably guess that you were probably tipping Reading to go down a few weeks ago until things changed. Are you one of the many supporters who seem completely and utterly unable to look at anything beyond the last 3 games and the next fixture?

[Ian Royal]

The issue many of us had, was the refusal to see any good, the writing us off as guaranteed relegation in October ish time, the constant slagging and hypercriticalness and the rabid denial of any positivity and abuse to anyone who suggested we weren't utter dogshite and in need of about 7 players to stay up and that Coppell was actually rather rubbish.

Hmm. Must remember to use more fullstops and punctuate better.

we're by no means not safe yet, and I am still plotting our way out, but I've also taken issue on here with AP, Floyd and Platypuss for their OTT negative posts, mostly occurring between the New Year and Middlesboro.

ps I would never accuse them of wanting us to go down, mind.

And I hope I haven't either. Clearly they care a lot.

[earleyroyal]

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.

How many times do we have to go through this? Repeat after me:

'Expressing a negative opinion about some aspect of the club, or criticising it in some way, does not mean you want Reading to go down, or that you will be happy if they do.'

This is getting tiresome - the 'STGs' are just as loyal, passionate and likely to be here next year, whatever division. (Apart from a few fishermen.)

[floyd__streete]

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.

Arf. Absolutely delighted in the upsurge in form but you have to admit - as I have said on another thread - that we have been a tad fortunate in each of our three most recent wins; at Middlesbrough the home side could very easily have had a pen at 0-0, Manchester City most certainly should have one when it was goalless at the Madejski the following week and the more I watch McSheffrey's criminal miss barely 5 minutes into yesterday's game the more it makes me smile.

We may well stay up now. And if that is the case then I happen to think that we will stay up by default in many ways; Derby were always going to be relegated, Fulham were as crazy in appointing Sanchez as Bolton were in giving their top job to first Lee and then Megson. Birmingham's long drawn out take-over cost them their manager and Roy Keane invests money about as well as Nick Leeson. Some of us saw problems coming back as early as August ("or will we all remain sensible and realistic?") of course and this season of struggle will almost certainly have a few twists and turns to follow yet. I hope that you are still crowing at the end of the season because believe me no-one will be celebrating as long or as hard as I if we manage to escape.

[Hampshire Royal]

To those who before Christmas said we were going down, and to those who had this view confirmed when we didn't spend zillions in the January window, and should have spent like Bolton did, and to those who seemed to take a real pleasure in seeing that their predictions of relegation might come true, and to those who poured scorn on theose people who dared to suggest we're not going down, and to those really clever people who actually put hard-earned money on bets saying we would go down I say

Reading have hardly secured their position in this league have they?

Why have a few posters here posted "I told you so", when we are still far form safe. With a post like the one above, I would probably guess that you were probably tipping Reading to go down a few weeks ago until things changed. Are you one of the many supporters who seem completely and utterly unable to look at anything beyond the last 3 games and the next fixture?

Of course you're right that we haven't yet secured our position in the league, but when the team in 18th are at least two games away from us with seven to play, we are more secure now than we were in danger a few weeks ago. I'm not denying that the majority of posters on here are Reading fans who don't want us to go down, but to demonstrate that by saying 'we're rubbish' or 'we're doomed' or 'player A is cr@p' or 'we need to spend a fortune to stay up' or 'I'm really clever because I put money on us to go down' is just plain wrong. As somebody says on this thread, we have been a bit lucky in some games, but so has every team in the league. All that's happened this season is that we have had the sort of season that everyone was expecting last season. Through the skill and tenacity of the manager and the players, we look to have secured our position for another season.

I don't get to see many games, because I live in Belfast, and I appreciate that I'm missing a lot simply by not being there, but I have always been positive about us staying up, while occasionally feeling that we were in real danger of relegation. If the worst happens and we do go down, I will not regret in the slightest the fact that I always said we will stay up. In my opinion that's what fans do.

[Chuckle Brother]

To those who before Christmas said we were going down, and to those who had this view confirmed when we didn't spend zillions in the January window, and should have spent like Bolton did, and to those who seemed to take a real pleasure in seeing that their predictions of relegation might come true, and to those who poured scorn on theose people who dared to suggest we're not going down, and to those really clever people who actually put hard-earned money on bets saying we would go down I say

Don't want to sound picky, but what was Bolton's nett spend in January ? I don't remember many on here saying we should have sold our main (if not only) goal threat and not replaced him.

[Hampshire Royal]

Fair play. The loss of Anelka for Bolton is the equivalent of the loss of Sidwell for us. We look as though we may have overcome that issue better than Bolton have. How many people were saying we should have signed Cahill and Taylor and the fact that Bolton signed them helped to secure their survival?

[Schards#2]

Fair play. The loss of Anelka for Bolton is the equivalent of the loss of Sidwell for us. We look as though we may have overcome that issue better than Bolton have. How many people were saying we should have signed Cahill and Taylor and the fact that Bolton signed them helped to secure their survival?

Hardly. Didn't Anelka go for £12 million odd?

Much as I like Sidwell, if he was still in contract, he'd have been £5 million tops. The loss of your only regular goalscorer has a vastly greater impact than the loss of a hard working midfielder.

[Forbury Lion]

Those who compare our remaining games to cup finals make me laugh, Perhaps one day we'll win a cup final in their lifetime and then they'll know the difference.

For what it's worth I would rather we win a cup final and suffer relegation and 10 years in the lower leagues than secure premiership status and finish mid table each year at best.

[andrew1957]

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.

Arf. Absolutely delighted in the upsurge in form but you have to admit - as I have said on another thread - that we have been a tad fortunate in each of our three most recent wins; at Middlesbrough the home side could very easily have had a pen at 0-0, Manchester City most certainly should have one when it was goalless at the Madejski the following week and the more I watch McSheffrey's criminal miss barely 5 minutes into yesterday's game the more it makes me smile.

We may well stay up now. And if that is the case then I happen to think that we will stay up by default in many ways; Derby were always going to be relegated, Fulham were as crazy in appointing Sanchez as Bolton were in giving their top job to first Lee and then Megson. Birmingham's long drawn out take-over cost them their manager and Roy Keane invests money about as well as Nick Leeson. Some of us saw problems coming back as early as August ("or will we all remain sensible and realistic?") of course and this season of struggle will almost certainly have a few twists and turns to follow yet. I hope that you are still crowing at the end of the season because believe me no-one will be celebrating as long or as hard as I if we manage to escape.

Hi Floyd - Well I have to say that I am pleased to know that you will be celebrating survival at the end of the year so I withdraw my earlier comment - in your case anyway.

I think the frustration for me and other so called RTG's is that some of the critcism on Hobnob goes way beyond "contructive" and is instead "destructive" and pointless.

I can honestly say I have never believed we will go down this season - not just out of some vague hope - but because having watched football for more than 30 years I genuinely see huge potential in the current Reading squad.

Obviously potential guarantees nothing but SC and the management team have proved time and again that they do know what they are doing. I think the one thing that can prevent us from achieving several successful years in the PL is if SC moves on.