Can you see us in the Champions league?

[Royal Ginger]

Meh, I'd won £350 on us going up, so thought i could piss away a tenner on a crazy "Grease win the Euros" type bet.

[Reading4eva]

Not for the next 3 years at least. After that, with the stadium expansion, and a good 3 years of top flight football under our belt... we have the right infrastructure to make an outside jump. Remember Everton's rise into Champions League Football... which they duly then effed up against Villareal

[floyd__streete]

Champions League - NO
Championship - YES

[RepressedRoyal]

If this happened, I would quite happily walk on to the pitch with a throw away barbecue and proceed to cook, then eat my socks! Utter nonsense this, we have not even established ourselves as a bottom quarter club yet. 17th place next season would represent a good start to becoming an established side like Fulham.

[Royal Biscuitman]

I can't see Reading in the Champions League in it's current format, maybe if they extend the number of spots we might be in with a shout, particularly if one or two teams get suspended from the competition or maybe an entire nation like English clubs in the 80's.

[peterroyal76]

Only on Champ Manager...if i cheat...in 2035.

You can't be very good then!

[Vic_Flange]

meanwhile, back on Planet Earth, they got on with playing football.

[If you want a reply - no]

[leww_rfc]

Europa league qualification yeah

[Stretts]

Hi Gus,

Europa League - yes, maybe
Champions' League - no

Bye Gus

PS - Have you signed Sigi yet?

[Wimb]

I don't see any reason why not, if you'd told City fans the day after we beat them 2-0 at their place in 2007 that they'd win the league 5 years later they'd have laughed you out of the place.

I don't think it's particularly likely in the next few years but who knows quite how much TSI are going to put in over the next few seasons.

[Royal Prince]

In 2001 we lost the Division Two Play-Off Final to Walsall. At that point I would have laughed in the face of anyone who said we would be in the Premiership five years later.....

Impossible is nothing!

[percy_freeman]

I gave some money to a tramp once.

[westongeezer]

In 1963 they said man will never walk on the moon, and in Swindon if they see you with a Mobile phone they will hang you for being a witch....i can see us certinally in with a good chance....i love my RTGs and wont be told differant

[Ian Royal]

In 2001 we lost the Division Two Play-Off Final to Walsall. At that point I would have laughed in the face of anyone who said we would be in the Premiership five years later.....

Impossible is nothing!

Disappointingly I said it to some friends at uni the year before. Out by one measley year!

[royal_cornwall]

I gave some money to a tramp once.

Thanks it was a kind gesture shall I give you it back now?

[West Stand Man]

Unlikely but those odds are ridiculous

Go on, can you see how stupid that makes you look. If it is unlikely (let's be fair and say 'seriously low probability', then those are fair odds. Clearly the bookies know more about this than you think.

[RFCUK]

I could see us in the Europa League like Stoke - FA Cup winners or runners up, or the fair play award, or finishing in 5th / 6th / 7th, or winning or runners up in the league cup (what's that called these days?!).

Champions League though, I think not.

It would have to be at the expense of United, City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs, and I'm sure next down the pecking order would be Newcastle, Everton, Fulham? I could see us in front of Liverpool /Arsenal / Spurs / Chelsea (miserable start to the season again..), but that's about it really..

[who are ya?]

I predict our first Champions League fixture will be Porto (a)

[USA_Loyal_Royal]

europa league possibly in the next 5 years.
champions league: possibly 10-15 years away if we play our cards right and establish ourselves first.

i believe in this club, the managment, and our owner so much that i think anything is possible for us.

[BrockManson]

Newcastle gave it a good go last season even against big spenders, it will be tough as there are now six big hitters there in man u, citeh, spurs, arsenal, liverpool and chelsea, we would need to bypass three of them to get a spot but AND I STRESS there should be no limit to our ambitions

that should be our goal and if we spend wisely and the scouts do their job and invest 20-30 million a year then it is not out of the question that we could achieve that goal in 3-5 years

however being a nouveau riche club we have already displayed the classic mistake of grabbing widely for anything that is available, paying big wages for a guy in his late twenties who is not very mobile and will not score much is not a good start

more papiss cisse's and cabaye's please and less pogrebnyaks and carlos sanchez's please, we need hungry young gems, not overpaid mercenaries - disappointed in hammond's eagerness to swallow the cake down, we must remain conaisseurs despite the fact that the bar is open now

No offense but you need to play a little less football manager.

You forget to mention that Newcastle are a highly-regarded club overseas - certainly one of the top 7 clubs in the premiership in terms of size (whether you would class them as a big club or not). Players like Cabaye and Cisse see Newcastle as a step up in their career - certainly playing in front of 50k at home is better than at european minnows in leagues that aren't held in the same regard as the prem.

Pogrebnyak is a coup for a club like Reading, who have only played 2 seasons in the top flight. Just because there's a rich owner at the helm doesn't mean we're suddenly the next Chelsea or PSG! You need a blend of experience and young talent, and where Reading are at now survival is key. Pog is a striker who nabbed a fair few goals and still has a few years left at this level. I doubt he'll be earning as much as has been quoted in the press. The fact that the club are looking at and successfully signing players like Guthrie and Pog show that the ambition is there and these guys are convinced the club is going to progress.

The long term scouting network that Newcastle have used however should definitely be something to aim towards, but it's only recently showing results.

Two full backs needed now who are premiership standard (Van Aanholt on loan would be a great move for example given Harte will be decimated on a weekly basis at this level).