As always, friendly greetings from daib0. So onto our game together this coming Saturday â and I wondered if I could have a few views from yourselves to inform the members on Readingâs âRoyals Rendezvousâ . Guaranteed absolutely no âwind upsâ on our forum, to the contrary, our highest respect! Here's a few ideas to probe and coax you!! A] ** As we speak Watford are going pretty well, obvious play-off contenders if not for the auto places themselves. So I wondered â so how do you think your season will go from now on, using both your head and your heart? B] ** How is your squad clicking together this season â please take us through a few players; any who should Reading particularly fear (OK, I know youâre tempted but donât just say âeveryoneâ!!), and any really promising youngsters now bursting through or about to arrive on the scene? C] ** How strong do you see the general level of the Championship this season? Who do you see as your fiercest competitors for autos and play-offs? Any surprise teams to you, for good or bad, this season? D] ** Our own week in Reading has been tremendous as youâll know. Royals Co-chairwoman, Lady Sasima Srivikorn, explained: âWe have appointed Steve because of his proven history as a manager and coach. We look forward to moving up the league and the board share the view that we have found the right man in Steve.â Most WBA fans speak fairly well of him I believe. But how do YOU see it? COULD I HAVE YOUR OPINIONS PLEASE to relay over to my forum?! E] ** So on to the weekend game? How do you see the match going? By all means leave a prediction here even if youâve given it or will give it in another thread! Cheers, and many thanks in advance for any contributions daib0/David
A) i think we will be 'in the mix'. We have the first team but not totally sure we really have the squad in all areas. What we need is the manager to play the best 11 each match rather than tinker too much. If he does this, then I think we will be top 6, and maybe not too far off the autos B) The squad isn't really clicking. The 4th 'head coach' already, each with their own ideas/formations etc. At least the latest one has reverted back to a 3-5-2, which seems to suit the team better. Obvious players to look out for are the attacking 3 of Deeney, Vydra and Abdi. If allowed, Tozser and Munari will control the game, plus Anya seems to be picking up form now he is back to wing-back C) Championship does seem it's strongest for a while. More and more players coming down from the Prem or from abroad, so a good 10 teams are looking at promotion, with a few teams struggling who you think would be up there too. Derby are the obvious ones to go up, as maybe Norwich - who I think have the team but don't have the manager for automatics. Bournemouth are doing very well, playing some great football (Howe should be picked up by a bigger club if they don't go up) but think Boro are a good shout for autos! They seem very organised with a few decent players in there D) As for Clarke... the first thoughts are 'bugger'. Why couldn't you hold out for another week. He probably won't have much time to get his opinions across, but there is that 'new manager' syndrome where players seem to get a lift and want to impress. Don't actually rate Clarke too highly yet, not sure he's done too much in the game at managerial level... but think the game will be a lot tougher now. E) As for the game itself. I think it will be tough. Clarke won't have done too much on the tactics side, but imagine he will work on you defensively all this week, and think you will be tough to break down. We always seem vunerable at the back, especially at crosses, so if you play a big man up front and whip a lot of crosses in, you will score! I've gone for a 2-2
We once had a manager not long ago - Brian McDermott - who failed in the non-league with Slough and Woking but who didn't do too badly for himself at all at Reading. Obviously past history is important but it isn't going to make or break a good candidate... I look at Steve Clarke and although not that proven there is optimism amonst the Reading fans, they were fed up with Nigel Adkins ...
Very sound post from Salisbury. I didn't quote it as it is long, but I agree with the lot (except I would go for 'boro and Bournemouth as the autos). I think this will be a very tough game for us and probably (sorry, Hornets, I'm a bit of a pessimist anyway) a 1-0 victory for the Royals.
Think Salisbury kev sums it all up well. couple of extra thoughts... 1) Our current 'style' seems to encourage opponents, whereas same players at beginning of season pretty much blew opposition away. Present headcoach seems obsessed with control - which somehow seems to inhibit us. When we throw off shackles and 'have a go' ( as in most of final 20 against wigan) we looked more threatening. So, if we are 1 goal up with 20 to play, I would be nervous (but then traditionally, WFC supporters are nervous when we are 3 up with 5 mins to go!) 2) If Vydra stops running everywhere, (even though it's quite effective)and sits on shoulder of last defender, and then runs, goals will come. 3) Our squad is built to last the season - and maybe get reinforcements in Jan as well. Just hope head coach is built to last too! Personally I think so. If we are 1st-4th on 31/12, and system is settled, I think we'll go up auto. I think we'll have a good Dec, reasonable Jan/Feb, brilliant March (makes a change) and scrape through in April.
Sound reasoning JT. GT used to talk about the "Tunnel" - i.e. the months between the clocks going back and then forward. It may be obvious but from now until the end of March are the fixtures that determine whether we will be in the mix come April. To cope with the long grind, we certainly have the strength in depth of the squad - more so than most of our opponents. I wonder whether Bournemouth have the squad to cope with missing 2 or 3 of their key players over a number of weeks.
Interesting about the 'Tunnel', vic, never heard that. Makes sense so must be GT. Re Bournemouth injuries, Howe seems to be able to make proverbial silk purse from whatever he has available, so I'm guessing all will be well for them.
A. Promotion. It's more a question of will other teams hold their nerve? We've had a bit of a wobble and we're still right in it. B. Not got into third gear, not even at Fulham. Either that or we're not as good as we think we are, which is entirely possible. C. Stronger generally. As to the fiercest rivals that will be whoever holds their nerve over the rest of the season. Could be anyone in this league. D. Steve Clarke is an excellent coach. The right man for the job. Had he been appointed here I think he would be a success. E. I shall be at the game. Like every match in the Championship it's nigh on impossible to predict but I'm going for the draw. 2-2. New manager syndrome (lost count how many times we've been the new guy's first game or first home game) and our penchant for losing concentration will ultimately deny the Hornets the win that the quality of the squad should get.
