Looking forward to Robbie Savage eating his words of a few weeks ago - think he had West Ham to top, and Reading through in second. Again, don't want to count chickens yet. If the play-off places remain as they are, who do you think will win it? My money's on Birmingham, as think Chris Hughton seems to be a manager who responds to pressure, and don't have that extra burden of disappointment of not getting autos. The way it's gone with those play-off places, no one from below third has seemed to stake a proper claim to it until recently. So fourth, fifth, and sixth will just be glad to be in there. Would be interesting to see Cardiff go up in the play-offs. IF we go up and they go up, will be the second year running that teams who have come down from the Premiership haven't gone up again straight away - a two year spell of no Premiership bouncebacks, and completely fresh names in the top flight! And a Welsh team for the second year running. All interesting outcomes.
I don't know what exactly constitutes a "nothing club", but I do know that I enjoy watching Reading, and I'm glad they're at the top of the league and not boring old West Ham. I'm sure they have more fans than Wigan anyway.
Dear, oh dear. Far too logical and sensible a post there CF. Of course, it's a completely valid point, you make. Funnily enough, both the auto-promoted teams tend to be overlooked once the play-offs get underway. Then there are the huge headlines about how much the play-off final is worth to the team that wins it. It certainly grabs the attention. They even get a trophy. According to my official correspondent in the FL, the Championship Runners-Up don't get one, so they get completely overlooked. So, when Norwich held a trophy aloft last season it wasn't an official one.
Enjoyed a lot of 'nothing' club away days in L1........you must have hated the last couple of years away from West Ham.
Only because we beat them easily. Bet you wouldn't have enjoyed watching us get beat by Rochdale in a tinpot stadium.
I agree in part because you want a good atmosphere, but a good atmosphere alone isn't enough if you're watching Big Sam's boys playing "who can kick the ball the highest?" Reading pass the ball and it's nice to watch.
I think we can agree that you need a mix of both. However a club's image is created over time - not over a short period of well-styled football.
No I wouldn't, but went to games where we didn't have it all our own way, & still had some good after match drinks with some proper fans. Just find it hard to figure how Reading can be wrote off as a 'nothing' club. The run they have been on is probably the best form of any team in the Championship..................ever. Got to give them a bit of respect for that (& beating WHU & us in our own grounds to take top spot).
Oh, I'm not saying they haven't done well, in fact they've done excellently. It's just that as a club, their history and fanbase, they are (to me) tinpot.
Well hopefully it'll be a long period and they'll grow in stature. They seem to be on the verge of acquiring the money to have a shot at making it happen.
Because they have ambition to be better than they are. Because they are set up to be part of the PL. Because they have an excellent stadium with excellent facilities. Because they have excellent staff and players. Because they have consistently shown, over the last decade that they are a club that is worth watching, in terms of playing style and quality, and that they are going places. If we counted every club's substance by how many bits of silverware they have won then we'd run out after a dozen or so teams. After all, one FA Cup, one FL 3rd Division Championship win, and half a dozen SL Championship wins isn't a brilliant return on 126 years is it..? That's Saints, by the way. Are we a nothing club..? Of course not, and neither are Reading FC. Most clubs will have highs and lows throughout their existence. Back in the 1920's, for example, Huddersfield were the top club, and then they gradually began to sink, almost without trace, at times. They have been coming back for years, but they haven't quite managed it. Reading have been reaching for new heights for several years now. Now they've reached them again. With their new owner they'll probably stay in the PL for the foreseeable future, and I for one will be pleased about that because it means football from the South will get more attention. When Saints join them, I'll be even more pleased.
After the club gets passed on to the new Russian kid................I will probably start disliking them, so I leave my respect there for now.
