Season 2018/2019

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Sutekh
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Season 2018/2019

by Sutekh » 17 Jun 2018 09:31

This new season will see a division where more or less every club is a real rival to each other thought it might be an idea to have a fresh thread to monitor other teams in the Championship and establish how Reading are stacking up.

Aston Villa - financial worries may well limit Villa to another unsuccessful season. Should be on the fringes of promotion though
Birmingham City - a good organised manager will give them a better season than last but can’t see beyond mid-table obscurity
Blackburn Rovers - too good for Division 3 last time but think they’ll have the same struggle as before at this level, like Birmingham I think they’ll be mid-table somewhere
Bolton Wanderers - think Parky will have close to the same problems as last season with financial limitations so quite probably another struggle lies ahead
Brentford - great little club with limited but well organised resources and a management team that seem able to continually find playing gems. While I don’t think they’ll be promoted they’ll certainly be towards the upper end of the goings-on
Bristol City - Lee Johnson did really well with City last season but it all just tailed off in the last couple of months. This season I think it’ll be more of the latter half of last season form wise and they’ll be one of those inconsistent teams showing great capability one week and then just as much incapabilty the next
Derby County - the rising sun has reached it’s zenith and now slowly nights draws on
Hull City - as the night draws on at Pride Park so shall there be a dawn beginning to emerge at New Boothfery Park, enough to see ‘ull sneaketh to a comfortble top half finish
Ipswich Town - taken a chance by appointing the Shrewsbury boss to the Portman Road hot seat and therefore one of those teams! Like Reading really, that no one knows what on earth to expect.
Leeds United - and the same could be said of this band of happy warriors as they set out on a new season with yet another new manager in the Argentine, Bielsa on a 2 month, sorry 2 year deal. For all the comedy that comes out of the club my expectation is for them is another season challenging the play offs
Middlesbrough - good and well organised team that’s hard to be. Expect them to be around the top 3/4 pretty much all season
Millwall - excellent finish to the season last time out but I think they may well find this season running closer to their standard norm at this level as being on of the also-rans
Norwich City - another consistent season of being remarkably inconsistent this way comes.
Nottingham Forest - there’s something brewing here. Not sure what, how or why but money seems to be appearing from somewhere and a team of last season with fairly useful though horrendously inconsistent individuals might well find themselves involved in a promotion push. The dark horse to watch mantle therefore.
Preston North End - appear to be a team of consistent top 10 finishes but not really quite able to find the top 6. Harder again this time round though and might be the surprise strugglers
Queens Park Rangers - Steve McLaren has taken over and there maybe a little investment available to him as well. Not really expecting very much from them but not really expecting them to struggle either. Typical mid-table well organised difficult to beat team? Probably.
Rotherham United - and thus completed the most pointless Division 3 promotion race for some time with the same three returning. Just boring. Will present murch more of a painful presence about the division than their last sojourn at this level but it’s still hard too see any anything much more than a relegation battle for them
Sheffield United - like Millwall, will find it harder but still too good to go down, thinking upper half
Sheffield Wednesday - I expect a contrasting season to last time out, a much improved set of performances will see them on the fringes of promotion but not quite there yet
Stoke City - a quick return to the top flight beckons. Really struggle to see past them for the title as they have immediately invested wisely in appointing Gary Rowett and will keep the majority of a fine squad for this level. Anything other than promotion will be a shock.
Swansea City - another clever managerial appointment with Graham Potter? Maybe. Good players in their squad too but for some reason I think they will be the one club of the three relegated that might be in for a bit of a rude awakening. Still think there’ll be a challenge from them at some point so wouldn’t rule them out completely.
West Bromwich Albion - I expect to see a side that delivers far more than it fails. Definite promotion contenders though perhaps some players might be found out as they find themselves embroiled in 46 cup finals. Like the look of Darren Moore as a manager so far though, very calm and seems very good at getting things organised. Going to be a tough team to beat.
Wigan Athletic - another challenging season awaits but think they’ll have enough to survive and see the season out satisfactorily

And as for our lot? Really and honestly just do not know what to expect. Could be as bad as last season or worse. Could be a challenge. Let’s play safe and say somewhere between 1st and 24th though I sense our expectation is as low its been for some time and all we want is to see clear and distinct improvement on the pitch and a season of preferably not looking downwards.

Overall, looking forward to a season in the division that actually is the best in the world for competitiveness, unpredictability and entertainment. Much rather be watching this week in and week out than City, United, the pool etc. generally winning week in and week out in the PL snooze fest (doesn’t stop me wanting Reading to get there though :?)

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Snowflake Royal
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Re: Season 2018/2019

by Snowflake Royal » 17 Jun 2018 09:50

Interesting view, thanks. I don't feel particularly threatened by any of the relegated teams this year and would expect at least one to be in bottom half danger. There really don't seem to be many obvious relegation candidates with the likes of Millwall and Brizzle doing quite well and the likes of Reading, Brum, Hull and Wednesday surely likely to improve (please at least in our case). I'd love to see Birmingham stay a shambles and actually drop this time though.

Didn't big Mick say that every club that's sacked him got relegated under their new manager the season after? That'd be amusing, given the Ipswich fans I know were saying they'd prefer the excitement of a relegation fight to another boring midtable snorefest.

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Re: Season 2018/2019

by Elm Park Kid » 17 Jun 2018 12:21

At our level I think that having stability and a good atmosphere at the club is highly important to how you do. I fairly optimistic that Paul Clement is the man to encourage that. Maybe this is just me but I think that we've finally moved on from the whole Russians/McDermott-Thais/McDermott stuff and the club and fans are ready to come back together.

Depending on who we buy I think a 8-13 place finish is likely.

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tidus_mi2
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Re: Season 2018/2019

by tidus_mi2 » 17 Jun 2018 14:25

I do feel Ipswich will struggle, I was under the impression that Mick McCarthy always had them pushing above their weight and they will regret sacking him.

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Zip
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Re: Season 2018/2019

by Zip » 17 Jun 2018 15:15

To do well next season we need more goals from somewhere. That means not just another striker but a creator too.
So over the next few weeks we need those two key signings. So far Clement has brought in players to try and shore up the defensive side of the team. Now time to focus on the attacking side.


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Lower West
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Re: Season 2018/2019

by Lower West » 17 Jun 2018 18:25

Once there's been the in's and out's. Be clearer to see who has strengthened. Early closure of the transfer window is a welcome change. At least no last minute loss of players.

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Re: Season 2018/2019

by Royal_jimmy » 17 Jun 2018 21:41

Of the promoted sides I think Wigan and Blackburn will do ok. I can't see Rotherham surviving though. The 2 others is hard to call at the moment though Bolton could be a good bet to go back down. I can't see us having a great season though. I reckon we will finish no higher than 15th unless we strengthen up front and in midfield at least. If we don't strengthen I think we will struggle again.

I think Stoke, Boro, West Brom, Brentford, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest and Derby will be top 6 challengers.

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JoeyJoeJoeJnrShabadoo
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Re: Season 2018/2019

by JoeyJoeJoeJnrShabadoo » 18 Jun 2018 05:13

thanks

Old Man Andrews

Re: Season 2018/2019

by Old Man Andrews » 18 Jun 2018 09:47

Can't see Rotherham staying up, really disappointed they came back up actually. Would liked to have had a new face or a London team come up, the Championship is so Northern.


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Re: Season 2018/2019

by Hound » 18 Jun 2018 10:36

yep, the 3 teams that came up were desperately dull and horribly northern. Would happily see all 3 go back down again

Predictions - which will no doubt be miles off, and is actually pretty uninspiring:

Promotion:
Stoke
Middlesboro

Play offs
WBA
Swansea
Sheff Wed
Brentford

Relegated:
Hull
Rotherham
Bolton

Reading: 11th.

So many teams in the division that look much the same kind of level tbh

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Re: Season 2018/2019

by Emmer Green Royal » 18 Jun 2018 11:38

[quote="Sutekh"]This new season will see a division where more or less every club is a real rival to each other thought it might be an idea to have a fresh thread to monitor other teams in the Championship and establish how Reading are stacking up.
[/quote]

Many thanks for your consistently interesting and insightful posts.

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Re: Season 2018/2019

by Royalwaster » 18 Jun 2018 11:41

Predicting the championship is a bit like predicting the Grand National ... on paper, some teams look really good and turn out to be rubbish. Every season you look at the league and think: "Wow, a lot of good teams in there .... it's going to be tough' and there's always a few that over-perform and a few like Reading last season who turn out to be total dog sh:t. I agree with others that Bolton have to be relegation contenders but would not be surprised either if they are in top 6 by Xmas ... that's what makes this league so much fun.

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Sutekh
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Re: Season 2018/2019

by Sutekh » 25 Jun 2018 14:14



Old Man Andrews

Re: Season 2018/2019

by Old Man Andrews » 25 Jun 2018 14:22



There are about 8 of them I never wanted to see ever again.

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John Smith
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Re: Season 2018/2019

by John Smith » 25 Jun 2018 14:50

Old Man Andrews


There are about 8 of them I never wanted to see ever again.

Callum Harriot! As I live and breathe!

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Sutekh
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Re: Season 2018/2019

by Sutekh » 27 Jun 2018 14:36

Pre-season press conference with Paul Clement going on now...

http://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/sport ... re-season/

Striking position is a priority. Plans are to try and get a couple of quality players in.

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Re: Season 2018/2019

by Hound » 27 Jun 2018 14:58

Obita not fit for the start of the season. Harriott is, and McCleary ahead of schedule

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Re: Season 2018/2019

by Old Man Andrews » 28 Jun 2018 08:11

Hound McCleary ahead of schedule


Does this mean there is a chance we can get him sold before the window closes?

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Re: Season 2018/2019

by Hound » 28 Jun 2018 08:56

I get the frustration with McCleary, but to be fair to the chap, I don't really think there is much he could have done about the last injury. Seems another failing of the medical team. The season before he was run into the ground by Stam when he could barely walk in some games

And no one is going to sign him when he has been out for the best part of the last year anyway.

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Re: Season 2018/2019

by windermereROYAL » 28 Jun 2018 21:34

Leeds on telly 3 times before the end of August, nothing changes there.

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