Madejski's comments to BBC Radio Berkshire

[Royal Lady]

Stranded - you can't keep looking back. Perhaps we should pay the players the same as we paid the squad in 2005 too.

[Stranded]

Stranded - you can't keep looking back. Perhaps we should pay the players the same as we paid the squad in 2005 too.

We probably are (or not far off).

Don't disagree but in 2005 we had a definitive plan of how to build a squad and it reaped dividends. To me it seems like we are looking to recreate that feeling by getting in a certain type of player. These players don't cost the earth but could gel to make a promotion winning team. I have no problem with that.

The reverse arguement is going out and spending more on players of supposed better quality will enhance our chances but we tried that in the level above to an extent and had our fingers burned. Going back to what we know has worked in the past makes sense at this time, whether it'll work again is of course open to debate.

[Geekins]

It doesn't matter how much they cost as long as they do the job required. If Mooney scored 10-15 league goals then i'll be glad we got a bargain. We don't need 2-5M pound players to do the same. As long as they're good enough for the first team, by that i mean can change the game if needed, by making one through pass or shot that results into a game we draw instead of lose etc etc, then that is what's needed.

[rfc58]

Brendy

As I have stated too many times, if we can repeat the achievements of 2005, i will applaud the club and admit my reservations and doubts were totally unfounded.

I hope I am so wrong, and we are once again building a team in the class of 2005, but taking into account our recent record of signings, I hold the scouting system etc in low regard.

We can argue until the cows drop dead on whether the clubs transfer policy of players out and the calibre coming in, is good/bad or indifferent, come May, we shall see how effective it is.

JM moans about the wage bill, and i don't blame him, he is probably sat looking at the wages paid out, takes away the cost he pays to the players he feels add something to the playing performances, then looks at what he is paying out for players who "are hungry/are the RFC type of player", see's they are no nearer playing for the starting 11, and wonders why they are at the club.

[Schards#2]

It doesn't matter how much they cost as long as they do the job required. If Mooney scored 10-15 league goals then i'll be glad we got a bargain. We don't need 2-5M pound players to do the same. As long as they're good enough for the first team, by that i mean can change the game if needed, by making one through pass or shot that results into a game we draw instead of lose etc etc, then that is what's needed.

Do you believe that there is no correlation whatsoever between a player's value and their ability?

[Wycombe Royal]

It doesn't matter how much they cost as long as they do the job required. If Mooney scored 10-15 league goals then i'll be glad we got a bargain. We don't need 2-5M pound players to do the same. As long as they're good enough for the first team, by that i mean can change the game if needed, by making one through pass or shot that results into a game we draw instead of lose etc etc, then that is what's needed.

Do you believe that there is no correlation whatsoever between a player's value and their ability?

Not always, especially if we are the buying club.

[RoyalBlue]

Out - Kitson £5,000,000 Shorey £4,500,000

In - Hunt £500,000 Mooney £200,000

Net spend - minus £8,800,000

Big up Mr Mad, leaving everyone in no doubt about his commitment to get us back up.

Isn't some £3m of the fees dependent upon certain things happening? That would not be counted yet in any real world accounting.

Ok then, £6.5 million in, £800,000 out - still shows great ambition.

Don't forget that some of the money we've paid out may also be conditional!!

Time will tell whether the likes of you and I are wrong and that and Coppell is able to work some fantastic magic on the cheap again but, at the moment, this really does appear to echo what happened after our play-off final defeat to Bolton. Star players sold and replaced on the cheap. Will Hunt & Mooney prove to be better quality replacements than the likes of Meaker? We can only hope so!

[howser]

Irrespective of the Transfer fee, we have brought someone in, the only slight concern I can see is that when we were in the Premiership it was considered that our "4" strikers were enough, we now have 5 ? does that now indicate that the stories flashing around about Doyle's iminant departure might be true ?

[Royal Lady]

Irrespective of the Transfer fee, we have brought someone in, the only slight concern I can see is that when we were in the Premiership it was considered that our "4" strikers were enough, we now have 5 ? does that now indicate that the stories flashing around about Doyle's iminant departure might be true ?

Gosh. I'm surprised no-one has already mentioned that.

[rfc58]

As everyone says, time will tell whether the gamble was/is a success.

I measure success on promotion, as remember, JM and co say we are deadly serious about promotion this season.

If flogging the quality players, the players I personally believe enhance our chances of promotion, (whether its this season or next) at top dollar, replacing them with bargain buckets proves a winning formula, then i will realise my doubts were totally un-founded, but given our recent raids into the lower end of the market, i am a little concerned.

What the club achieved in 2005 was fantastic, but lets be honest, if it was that simple of buying hungry players who are gagging for a chance to perform, then why aren't other clubs trying this route ??

If, like 2005 our scouting system was first class, i'd be so confident in any signing we made, as back then, their record spoke for itself, but with some of the shite we have bought in recent times, I am very sceptical, but come May, we shall see.

Look at signings from a different angle, I have stated that say three proven Prem players last term would have saved our top flight status, say we'd laid out 15 million on three class acts, and the gamble failed, we still went down, are you really saying that we couldn't have sold these players on ???

You get what you pay for more often than not in life, not always, but more often than not, if a telly is cheap in Currys, don't moan when you get it plugged in, and the clour and sound is crap, yes it still will show BBC, but thats where the similarities end.

[Geekins]

It doesn't matter how much they cost as long as they do the job required. If Mooney scored 10-15 league goals then i'll be glad we got a bargain. We don't need 2-5M pound players to do the same. As long as they're good enough for the first team, by that i mean can change the game if needed, by making one through pass or shot that results into a game we draw instead of lose etc etc, then that is what's needed.

Do you believe that there is no correlation whatsoever between a player's value and their ability?

Not always, especially if we are the buying club.

R. Santa-Cruz
Doyle

are two examples that are not. If you are looking for world class players then yes there is a difference. To make a difference to our team, then no.

[Southbank Old Boy]

I think if clubs think Player X or Y is worth £150K a week, fine - but I hope they won't feel agrieved when I don't put any money in the bucket when their sugar daddy pulls the rug financially, and they are left destitute.

It is clear to me that there is a polarisation of thinking amongst Reading fans at this time, a polarisation created by the last 2 Years; generally the 2 camps are:

1, Spend whatever you need to do in order to achieve as much as possible and hang the potential consequences and

2, Spend what we can reasonably afford to achieve as much as we can.

I would rather support Reading in the Championship then have the future of the club put on the line by profligate and unsupportable expenditure in attempting to compete against Chelsea or Man Utd.

And this is the main point of this discussion, and one that has sadly been lacking in amongst all the peurile name calling - where does the club want to be in the future, and what will it do to achieve that goal.

It seemed to me that previously we had but one goal - get into the Premiership; once that was achieved there was little in the way of strategic thinking or planning as to how to achieve the next goal, simply because we didn't appear to have a next goal other than survival in the premiership. What the club needs to do, for its fans, its players and its staff is set out a clear set of goals for the future and then plan to achieve those goals.

Mr Mad likes to say that he wants to run RFC as a business - well, do so then.

They might be the polarised views but how do you know where the club positioned itself? Personally I don't want the club to spend more than it can realistically afford to spend and I too would rather be watching Reading at whatever level we play at than trying to chase the Premiership dream by putting the clubs future at real risk.

However, there is an option 3 which sits somewhere in the middle. A calculated risk, and one that doesn't need to invoved huge amounts of money, it just means buying the right type of player at the right price and keeping the squad moving forward. I don't think that's happened over the last season and a bit. The club gabe up trying to move forward and thats what hurts me most.

Basically I feel, and I think it's a view supported by many, that we didn't do your option 1 or 2. We didn't even do my option 3, we did option 4, which is sit back and see what happens without taking many risks and see how much the current set of players can achieve yet again. Standing still is as good as going backwards.

[RoyalBlue]

I think if clubs think Player X or Y is worth £150K a week, fine - but I hope they won't feel agrieved when I don't put any money in the bucket when their sugar daddy pulls the rug financially, and they are left destitute.

It is clear to me that there is a polarisation of thinking amongst Reading fans at this time, a polarisation created by the last 2 Years; generally the 2 camps are:

1, Spend whatever you need to do in order to achieve as much as possible and hang the potential consequences and

2, Spend what we can reasonably afford to achieve as much as we can.

I would rather support Reading in the Championship then have the future of the club put on the line by profligate and unsupportable expenditure in attempting to compete against Chelsea or Man Utd.

And this is the main point of this discussion, and one that has sadly been lacking in amongst all the peurile name calling - where does the club want to be in the future, and what will it do to achieve that goal.

It seemed to me that previously we had but one goal - get into the Premiership; once that was achieved there was little in the way of strategic thinking or planning as to how to achieve the next goal, simply because we didn't appear to have a next goal other than survival in the premiership. What the club needs to do, for its fans, its players and its staff is set out a clear set of goals for the future and then plan to achieve those goals.

Mr Mad likes to say that he wants to run RFC as a business - well, do so then.

They might be the polarised views but how do you know where the club positioned itself? Personally I don't want the club to spend more than it can realistically afford to spend and I too would rather be watching Reading at whatever level we play at than trying to chase the Premiership dream by putting the clubs future at real risk.

However, there is an option 3 which sits somewhere in the middle. A calculated risk, and one that doesn't need to invoved huge amounts of money, it just means buying the right type of player at the right price and keeping the squad moving forward. I don't think that's happened over the last season and a bit. The club gabe up trying to move forward and thats what hurts me most.

Basically I feel, and I think it's a view supported by many, that we didn't do your option 1 or 2. We didn't even do my option 3, we did option 4, which is sit back and see what happens without taking many risks and see how much the current set of players can achieve yet again. Standing still is as good as going backwards.

I'm with you on that Southbank Old Boy. There did/does appear to be a third/middle way and it is very disappointing and somewhat irritating that JM does not appear prepared to take it.

As for standing still is as good as going backwards, that is something that one of Madejski's former managers, who experienced first hand the man's financial policies/restraints, repeatedly stressed throughout last season,whilst covering games for BBCRB.

[Royal With Cheese]

Like Kevin Doyle you mean?

Or like joe gamble or alan bennett. There are two sides to ever coin RR, you should know that.

FiNe RAin, It's a fair, if somewhat cynical, comment you make.

I'm sorry - As Bennett is a defender and Joe Gamble is a midfielder the comparison FineRain makes is completely inappropriate. But hey, why let the facts stop anyone from arguing their case.

The main difference between 2005 and today was that the expectation level was so much lower. We now have a band of supporters convinced that our rightful place is in the top half of the Premiership! Buying nomarks from Eircom League simply does not satisfy our ambitions. Personally I don't subscribe to that view.

[Royal Rother]

SOB and RB, the management was of the opinion that although there were obvious weaknesses we had enough within the squad to stay up.

There would have been significant activity in the transfer market if we had achieved that in order to strengthen for 2008/9.

They got it wrong.

These are the inescapable facts. Repeating the same old arguments won't change anything. Just move on and enjoy the new season and the fact that we are trying to do it the RFC way. It's fun.

[Royal Lady]

Well, if we're not about to let Doyle or Lita go, I'd venture to suggest that a left back was far more important than another striker at this moment in time. I still fail to see why we can get 5 strikers for the CCC but survived with only 3 in the PL when we sent Lita out on loan. As long as people don't think that RFC's ambition is to get straight back to the PL, you can all carry on, but don't moan about it at the end of the season!

[Southbank Old Boy]

THat's just the way it is. Look at what Fulham, Middlesbrough, Bolton spend - yet they still end up in a relegation battle most seasons and they are arguably bigger clubs than we are

cmon!
theres not even a case to put in that argument
they ar bigger clubs, by some way

'Boro are a much bigger club than us & always have been. Bolton you could argue have some heritage but not a huge fan base & given that they've established themselves in the Prem probably are bigger than us. But Fulham!!! oxf*rd right off They are a tin pot little club who would still be struggling in League 1/2 if it wasn't for Al Fayed (you could say the same about us but at least Madejski hasn't completely bankrolled us). They still have no support, they're ground is shit & once they get relegated you watch them fall. They have no foundation whatsoever.

They're not really bigger clubs than us in the current climate. Whilst we were in the Premiership we were getting similar crowds and generating similar revenue. We weren't too far away from all three in terms of wage bill either.

The only thing bigger about them is their ambition and ability to spend their money.

History plays a part in drawing players to the club, but only to an extent. Fulham being a 1970's football equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters doesn't make them bigger than us or more attractive to jonny foreigner. Their real history lies in the days of Johnny Hayes and Jimmy Hill! 'Boro have no better history than us apart from a couple of great players many moons ago and you're not telling me the likes of Alves, Huth and Arca signed for Boro because they grew up hearing stories of Wilf Mannion and Brian Clough!

[Royal Rother]

Well, if we're not about to let Doyle or Lita go, I'd venture to suggest that a left back was far more important than another striker at this moment in time. I still fail to see why we can get 5 strikers for the CCC but survived with only 3 in the PL when we sent Lita out on loan. As long as people don't think that RFC's ambition is to get straight back to the PL, you can all carry on, but don't moan about it at the end of the season!

Me no understand. How does having 5 strikers show a lack of ambition?

[Southbank Old Boy]

SOB and RB, the management was of the opinion that although there were obvious weaknesses we had enough within the squad to stay up.

There would have been significant activity in the transfer market if we had achieved that in order to strengthen for 2008/9.

They got it wrong.

These are the inescapable facts. Repeating the same old arguments won't change anything. Just move on and enjoy the new season and the fact that we are trying to do it the RFC way. It's fun.

Yes, it was a grave error in judgement. And one that the manager himself has admitted, and one that he seemed to realise at points through the season was going to be wrong but still did nothing about it. Same old arguement.

I don't think money being availble was a real concern at the time. I think it might be now though. Either way I want the club to be looking like they're busting a gut to push on at all times, even if that means working within a budget. I don't get that impression from the last 18 months.

You say there would've been significant activity on the transfer market had we achieved safety last season. What makes you say that? And what do you regard as significant activity? We've been told for the last few windows there was a need to strengthen and that we would be bringing in players etc etc, but we didn't really see much evidence of that did we?

[Southbank Old Boy]

Well, if we're not about to let Doyle or Lita go, I'd venture to suggest that a left back was far more important than another striker at this moment in time. I still fail to see why we can get 5 strikers for the CCC but survived with only 3 in the PL when we sent Lita out on loan. As long as people don't think that RFC's ambition is to get straight back to the PL, you can all carry on, but don't moan about it at the end of the season!

Me no understand. How does having 5 strikers show a lack of ambition?

When the quality is going backwards.

Come Monday, I expect us to have 4 forwards. The most proven and tested of which couldn't get near the side last season and we'll have sold the two that kept him out of the side despite not getting more than the odd chance here and there, let alone goals!

The new forwards might turn out to be even better, I hope thats the case, but we should really be in a position to be signing players a little more proven to supplement the gambles on the likes of Mooney.