Reading boss Steve Coppell never really sounds particularly happy or upset about anything - and his emotional equilibrium was intact as he sat before the press following his team's goalless draw against Preston on Saturday.
Not many smiles and nothing really resembling a frown, although he did become slightly animated as he laid into the concept of the transfer window and demonstrated a wit drier than a desert rose.
Asked whether he would go anywhere given his team now don't have a game until 21 February, Coppell replied: "Croydon"
I laughed, it was a cracking reply, but in all seriousness it probably isn't a bad time for the Royals to take some time off as they prepare for the big push for an instant return to the Premier League.
They might be second in the Championship table but they haven't scored in four games (their victory over Wolves came courtesy of an own goal) and struggled to break down a Preston side that arrived at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday and promptly parked a bus in front of goal.
You've got to hand it to Reading, though, they are not making a bad fist of attempting to bounce straight back to the land of untold riches (or gluttony, depending on your perspective).
The Championship - especially the lower reaches - are littered with 'big' clubs who have dropped out of the Premier League and failed to reappear.
But within days of Reading's relegation - the Royals only went down on goal difference at the end of their second season in the top flight - director of football Nick Hammond was discussing the path back with his chairman John Majedski.
Pivotal to their plans was retaining the services of Coppell, which wasn't necessarily going to be easy.
"Relegation is failure so there had to be a very quick period of reflection," said Hammond, a former Reading goalkeeper who started as an apprentice at Arsenal.
"But I sat down with the chairman and we decided Steve was the most qualified and the best candidate to get us back in the Premier League, although he had been fairly clear that if we got relegated he would walk away."
How refreshing and unusual that a club should want their manager to remain following relegation, rather than dispense with his services, as is often the case. The board went to work - as did the club's fans(I was there), who played a major part in persuading the 53-year to stay put.

Next on Reading's list of priorities in May of 2008 was the squad.
There are financial structures in place at the club Hammond and Coppell are left alone to buy and sell.
Last summer they looked at who was out of contract - whether to renew or reduce the wage bill - and quickly held discussions with those players under contract that they were desperate to keep.
From studying the experiences of other clubs who had been in a similar position, the Royals understood they would be vulnerable - and they also realised that the loss of four or five key players would have ripped the heart out of their squad.
Hammond had structured the contracts so that they were reduced in the event of relegation. But he had also ensured that the key bankable assets were on long-term deals, thus offering the club a measure of protection. "It put us in a position where, in the instance of Dave Kitson for example, we could negotiate a good transfer fee that allowed us to do things elsewhere," added Hammond of the striker who was sold to Stoke for £5.5m.
The likes of Stephen Hunt, James Harper and Kevin Doyle remained so the club succeeded in keeping the key figures on board.
"I think we lost a dozen professionals last summer but we felt that the core of the squad had remained strong," added Hammond.
A conscious decision was made to retain a Premier League feel in and around the squad even if the loss of their top-flight status necessitated unwanted changes elsewhere.
"In terms of commercial and marketing there is not as much to sell in the Championship but we felt it was important to maintain a Premier League standard for the players that remained and were brought in," said Hammond.
Yet in trying to switch from a relegation to a promotion campaign in a matter of months, the club recognised that other changes had to take place.
"Relegation means a need to freshen things up," said Hammond, who strikes me as a very switched-on individual - so much so it was strongly rumoured that Arsenal wanted him after David Dein left the club.
"One of the words we use more than anything is balance and we had to try to find that, between keeping our best players but freshening the team," he said.
Players such as Noel Hunt and Chris Armstrong have impressed after arriving in the summer while several academy graduates who spent last season out on loan have started to impact on the first team this season.
The impressive Alex Pearce was a solid presence in the centre of defence against Preston and looks a real prospect, while James Henry, Julian Kelly and Jem Karacan have played first-team football this season.
Reading have virtually a whole team of young players on loan and gaining first-team experience at various Football League clubs this season - and it hints at the planning, continuity and foresight that have in part helped to shape their push for promotion this season.
Hammond himself had been at the club for 12 years and Coppell for five. The spine of team that won promotion - Marcus Hahnemann, Ivar Ingimarsson, James Harper and Kevin Doyle - is still there.
So it is no surprise when Hammond says: "Continuity at Reading has been the backbone of success over the last 10-15 years."
I picked up on a genuine sense of pride when Hammond stressed that the Royals are a community-based club, hugely keen to develop a young and growing fanbase. They have a large catchment area and believe that they can continue to grow without spending recklessly on an all-out gamble on promotion. In any event, Madejski has made it clear he wants Reading to be able to stand on its own two feet when he does leave the club and would not sanction desperate forays into the transfer market.
The last time Reading entertained North End it was late Feburary 2006 and there was a feeling of triumphalism around the ground. Promotion was increasingly inevitable - they won the division with a record 106 points - and the atmosphere was rocking, the ground sold out.
There were plenty of spaces on Saturday and everything felt a little flat. Hammond is no fool and is quick to point out that this time around the club have an awful lot of work to do if they are to win promotion.
I cannot blame North End for adopting a defensive strategy - and manager Alan Irvine was well pleased with his team's disciplined display - but the onus is on Reading to respond positively to just such a tactic.
Coppell, himself, was quick to acknowledge that he might have to look at the way his team approaches home games from now on.
But despite their recent goal drought I wouldn't be surprised if the end of the season brought with it an outcome that forced even Coppell to smile.
URZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

I was flicking back, reminiscing about our championship year, and looking at those that has left us and feel none of them has made major strides into the progress of their own ‘supposed' prodigious careers.

Dave Kitson, Nicky Shorey, Steve Sidwell, Glen Little, John Oster, Jon Halls, Ibrahima Sonko, Chris Makin and Graham Stack were somewhat major players in our memorable championship winning season and has time progressed I do not feel that any of these has stretched and made big inroad for their careers.
Dave Kitson transferred to Stoke City this summer as we managed to receive a huge fee for an aging striker. Moving for £5.5 million after leaving us with scoring 54 league goals in 135 appearances is very impressive but his general all round play would be sorely missed. At Stoke, they like to use his height and ability to hold up the ball; unfortunately, he has not scored nor made the sufficient impact that his £5.5 million tag required. He is often taken off for Ricardo Fuller as his effectiveness has dropped sufficiently. If he had stayed, he would be on at least ten goals and be playing full of confidence. Maybe the shrewd Steve Coppell saw what was going on and managed to get rid of him when he had the chance. He is a confidence player and he does need to be scoring goals to be playing well, we all remember the fantastic strikes for us, a hat trick against Gillingham, West Ham, and Brighton. A memorable winner against Newcastle ruining Michael Owen's return was a yet another amazing win in a truly remarkable season.
I must admit I am a bit smug seeing Kitson not doing as well as he should, as I would have loved him in a Reading shirt still. He may even been regretting the decision as he has already confessed that he hates travelling up north already and it has only been a matter months, we forget he cannot drive at the moment.

Then we arrive at his fellow teammate and the new profoundly named ‘donkey' Ibrahima Sonko. The Championship season he was amazing, without question then it went sharply down hill when he was injured in our Premiership 3-1 win against Sheffield United. The cries of ‘Sonko is Superman' were hugely popular and were promptly needed. It almost became as a 1970's deprived excuse for fashion as some smart arse decided to print those t-shirts that went around the fans quicker than the plague.

His two goals against Plymouth this season gave some indication that his presences maybe needed but after seeing his shambolic performance against a woeful Charlton team, it was obvious that he was not needed. At Stoke, he is achieving minimal success and as Tony Pulis likes his big men, Sonko adds to that representation. He may be in the Premiership but he is no way a Premiership player. Many lessons have been learnt and he was exploited too easily and that will come apparent again as the season draws on.

Glen Little has annoyed me severely since his tail between the legs ‘Bosman' transfer to Portsmouth. He left a deep cold bitter taste in my explicit mouth as the club looked after him for a year out injured and he packed his packs, got up, and left to play reserve team football. Can I add that those players who play reserve team football are those considered not good enough for the actual first team squad or those who are too young to break into that squad?
As Portsmouth suffers an uncertain start to their prevailing European season, Little does not appear regularly nor even mentioned amongst the Pompey faithful. He was always the one player that sent the crowd into a wave of mad impulses as his 14 assists (highest in the league 05/06) and five goals contributed massively to our 106 points and 99 goals season. The first Premiership season he sent many of the world's best left backs into remission and leaving for Portsmouth has done him no favours at all. Jimmy Kebe has fortunately stepped up and been performing beautifully this current season, and that is down to Little departing. We were all exciting for Little to return at the end of last season and motions through the press even classed him as a saviour. There was a brief 25-minute cameo against our defeat to Fulham and that proved to be uninspired. Being 33 years of age, surely he would have wanted to be playing first team football but hey, ‘Blakey' may be on the buses sooner rather than later as a loan spell beckons.

Arguably, our best player, Nicky Shorey, departed for Aston Villa and has struggled to hold down a first team place even with their normal left back Wilfred Bouma out injured. Under Coppell's guidance, he managed to achieve two England caps against Brazil and Germany, impressive I must say. You have not even heard his name in reckoning for any of the current England squad as Fabio Capello has overlooked Shorey and preferred Wayne Bridge who's keeping the Chelsea bench warm. Fair enough, Storey is playing European football and gaining a fatter pay packet but technically, he has gotten worse.

Villa are not using his ability for set pieces and as Shorey is a not a run-of-the-mill attacking full back he needs to be involved with the passing aspect of any counter attack and that is not Villa's style. A team full of pace and energy, Shorey do not fill the huge criteria that is needed of him. You can tell at the end of last season his head was not for Reading and that extremely woeful performance against Tottenham sealed his fate.

Steve Sidwell has left us over a year ago and all he has achieved is to earn a huge pay packet from the comfortable place of Chelsea's reserves. His move to Aston Villa, along with Shorey, seemed to be a blessing until injuries have set him back ridiculously. The thing that ponders my mind is that will he be able to get into the team as Nigel Reo-Coker, Stilian Petrov, and Gareth Barry have their places pretty much secured. I will see it difficult for him to break into that team. He was the player full of Reading's desire and it pains me to see him suffering on the fringes of the squad. Even for Sidwell, a call up for the England squad beckoned but now he would have no chance. He needs to be playing decent first team football, just think that James Milner has only been a fringe player for Villa so far and has not justified his massive transfer fee. I hope Sidwell do make it as he was one of my favourites.

John Oster is embarrassingly playing for Crystal Palace and hopelessly contributed to their dire start to the season.

Chris Makin left straight after our promotion season and spent two years wasting away in the Southampton reserves.

John Halls has now dropped to League Two and playing his trade for Brentford after spending most of his Reading career on loan to other Championship clubs.

Graham Stack is now covering goal for Plymouth Argyle as he took over from jail bound Luke McCormick as the number one spot, again after spending numerous amounts of time on loan to other Championship clubs.

Other remaining squad members from our championship winning season has not been doing particularly well as Darren Campbell plays for Fleet Town, Jonathan Hayes went to Leicester City but now makes cameo appearances for lesser League One clubs. Dean Morgan is on loan at Leyton Orient from Luton Town, Jamie Young still remains a reserve figure at Wycombe Wanderers, Johnny Mullins went to Mansfield before moving on to Stockport County, and Curtis Osano is now plying his trade for Rushden and Diamonds.

Simieon Howell and Peter Castle have giving up on playing professional football altogether it seems.

It just shows you that leaving Reading Football Club does not do your career any wonders. What player is the present has achieved better motions than they did playing for Reading?
The only one I can think of is Matthew Upson and he joined us only on loan.

Therefore, Stephen Hunt, Kevin Doyle, and James Harper it is never a good omen leaving Reading, as no one has ever seemed to fulfil their ‘so-called' massive potential.

blatantly ripped from here

1. 15-Mar-1985 SYMBOLICS.COM
2. 24-Apr-1985 BBN.COM
3. 24-May-1985 THINK.COM
4. 11-Jul-1985 MCC.COM
5. 30-Sep-1985 DEC.COM
6. 07-Nov-1985 NORTHROP.COM
7. 09-Jan-1986 XEROX.COM
8. 17-Jan-1986 SRI.COM
9. 03-Mar-1986 HP.COM
10. 05-Mar-1986 BELLCORE.COM
11= 19-Mar-1986 IBM.COM
11= 19-Mar-1986 SUN.COM
13= 25-Mar-1986 INTEL.COM
13= 25-Mar-1986 TI.COM
15. 25-Apr-1986 ATT.COM
16= 08-May-1986 GMR.COM
16= 08-May-1986 TEK.COM
18= 10-Jul-1986 FMC.COM
18= 10-Jul-1986 UB.COM
20= 05-Aug-1986 BELL-ATL.COM
20= 05-Aug-1986 GE.COM
20= 05-Aug-1986 GREBYN.COM
20= 05-Aug-1986 ISC.COM
20= 05-Aug-1986 NSC.COM
20= 05-Aug-1986 STARGATE.COM
26. 02-Sep-1986 BOEING.COM
27. 18-Sep-1986 ITCORP.COM
28. 29-Sep-1986 SIEMENS.COM
29. 18-Oct-1986 PYRAMID.COM
30= 27-Oct-1986 ALPHACDC.COM
30= 27-Oct-1986 BDM.COM
30= 27-Oct-1986 FLUKE.COM
30= 27-Oct-1986 INMET.COM
30= 27-Oct-1986 KESMAI.COM
30= 27-Oct-1986 MENTOR.COM
30= 27-Oct-1986 NEC.COM
30= 27-Oct-1986 RAY.COM
30= 27-Oct-1986 ROSEMOUNT.COM
30= 27-Oct-1986 VORTEX.COM
40= 05-Nov-1986 ALCOA.COM
40= 05-Nov-1986 GTE.COM
42= 17-Nov-1986 ADOBE.COM
42= 17-Nov-1986 AMD.COM
42= 17-Nov-1986 DAS.COM
42= 17-Nov-1986 DATA-IO.COM
42= 17-Nov-1986 OCTOPUS.COM
42= 17-Nov-1986 PORTAL.COM
42= 17-Nov-1986 TELTONE.COM
42= 11-Dec-1986 3COM.COM
50= 11-Dec-1986 AMDAHL.COM
50= 11-Dec-1986 CCUR.COM
50= 11-Dec-1986 CI.COM
50= 11-Dec-1986 CONVERGENT.COM
50= 11-Dec-1986 DG.COM
50= 11-Dec-1986 PEREGRINE.COM
50= 11-Dec-1986 QUAD.COM
50= 11-Dec-1986 SQ.COM
50= 11-Dec-1986 TANDY.COM
50= 11-Dec-1986 TTI.COM
50= 11-Dec-1986 UNISYS.COM
61= 19-Jan-1987 CGI.COM
61= 19-Jan-1987 CTS.COM
61= 19-Jan-1987 SPDCC.COM
64. 19-Feb-1987 APPLE.COM
65= 04-Mar-1987 NMA.COM
65= 04-Mar-1987 PRIME.COM
67. 04-Apr-1987 PHILIPS.COM
68= 23-Apr-1987 DATACUBE.COM
68= 23-Apr-1987 KAI.COM
68= 23-Apr-1987 TIC.COM
68= 23-Apr-1987 VINE.COM
72. 30-Apr-1987 NCR.COM
73= 14-May-1987 CISCO.COM
73= 14-May-1987 RDL.COM
75. 20-May-1987 SLB.COM
76= 27-May-1987 PARCPLACE.COM
76= 27-May-1987 UTC.COM
78. 26-Jun-1987 IDE.COM
79. 09-Jul-1987 TRW.COM
80. 13-Jul-1987 UNIPRESS.COM
81= 27-Jul-1987 DUPONT.COM
81= 27-Jul-1987 LOCKHEED.COM
83. 28-Jul-1987 ROSETTA.COM
84. 18-Aug-1987 TOAD.COM
85. 31-Aug-1987 QUICK.COM
86= 03-Sep-1987 ALLIED.COM
86= 03-Sep-1987 DSC.COM
86= 03-Sep-1987 SCO.COM
89= 22-Sep-1987 GENE.COM
89= 22-Sep-1987 KCCS.COM
89= 22-Sep-1987 SPECTRA.COM
89= 22-Sep-1987 WLK.COM
93. 30-Sep-1987 MENTAT.COM
94. 14-Oct-1987 WYSE.COM
95. 02-Nov-1987 CFG.COM
96. 09-Nov-1987 MARBLE.COM
97= 16-Nov-1987 CAYMAN.COM
97= 16-Nov-1987 ENTITY.COM
99. 24-Nov-1987 KSR.COM
100. 30-Nov-1987 NYNEXST.COM

link

Government figures published today revealed a sharp down-turn in imperial measurements against their metric equivalents. The mile slumped 400 yards against the kilometre, while the pound fell 3 ounces against the kilogram. Panic was quickly replaced by anger among British holidaymakers in Spain, as they woke up to find themselves anything up to six inches shorter than the day before, while their Spanish counterparts appeared to have had grown by a similar amount.

The Prime Minister sought to re-assure the public, and promised to support ‘the very short and the very thin’, for whom further losses could otherwise prove fatal. Standing beside Nicholas Sarkozy who now towered over him despite the new lifts in the Prime Minister’s shoes, Gordon Brown also stressed some of the benefits of the devaluation of the imperial system, noting that those travelling in continental Europe would find journey times slashed, as each mile now carried British registered cars almost 2 kilometres.

There may also be other long term benefits for the UK. With Fahrenheit falling against Celsius, the government believe that Britain may be able to escape the worst consequences of global warming. ‘Sea levels won’t rise as far here, but then everyone will be much shorter – so it’s quite hard to predict who’ll keep their heads above water.’

from News biscuit

Looking in the Mirror from Si on Vimeo.

Five key problems for me.
The squad should be good enough...8 of the starting 11 were in the Championship side of 2005/2006 that walked away with this division. Some of those players are possibly past their best but the likes of Lita, Doyle and Convey should be better now than three years ago when they were still learning their trade. With the likes of Bikey and Matejovsky to come back in and with more promising youngsters than three years ago this squad should be there or thereabouts...but at the moment they are performing way below expectation.

Problem 1..Lack of confidence. Players are under-perfoming and I think the strikers are particularly short on confidence. Its more than that though. Sidwell gave the team that abrasive, cock-sure confidence. Its been missing since he left. He may not be the greatest footballer in the world but without him the team have lost the confidence they had three years ago.

Problem 2 Lack of specialist left back and ball winner in midfield. Its not acceptable to play Hunt at left back in a make ends meet solution to a position that everybody knew would have to be filled twelve long months ago.
The lack of a decent ball-winner in midfield since Sidwell's departure has been glaringly obvious for too long and should also have been sorted out by now.

Problem 3 Coppell's tactics/dressing room.....Surely Coppell can switch from 4-4-2 and move away from playing two widemen all the time. I like Convey but he is not doing enough at the moment and I would rather see a third central midfielder in the side. If that means we play with less width so be it but at the moment playing with two wide players away from home isn't going to work and we will struggle to stop the back four from being exposed.
The lack of effective tactical substitutions isn't helping. Bring on Hunt and Long earlier if need be but give them some time on the pitch Steve.
I also wonder if the likes of Lita and Sonko are really committed to Coppell after last seasons bust-ups.

Problem 4 We need a strong captain. Murts is an excellent captain. Harper isn't. Nor is Ingi. We miss Murt's leadership, his passion, his desire. He really cares for the club. Do some of the others??

Problem 5 The serious lack of investment in the last couple of seasons has meant the club are in danger of going backwards. That lack of investment extends to Madejski's unwillingness to accept that in this day and age modern footballers wages are ridiculous but then again so is the TV revenue coming into the clubs which I'm sure the chairmain isn't complaining about. if we are paying less in wages than other clubs then players wont join will they??

We are in danger of going backwards but the players are primarily culpable. They should be playing a lot better than they are and need to get their backsides in gear because we cannot afford to fall too far off the pace so early on.

A lot of people have been hoping for a direct Sidwell replacement, or a like-for-like for Kitson or Shorey. I don't think it works that way. We can't hope to take the 05/06 team and simply replace components like doing maintenance on a car.
Once Sidwell was gone, we really needed a fundamental rebuild. There's a sense that a new team has to be built around Marek, and certainly it's true that the starting point is to identify where our strengths are likely to be. Still after several months, you have to wonder what chance the Marek-based team has of ever coming together.
A serious Plan B wouldn't be a bad idea. That means identifying the players who have the spark to do something different - Pearce, Karacan, NHunt, for example - and letting them do their thing.

I am bored of....

The continous spin and lies from the Chairman
Lack of ambition
Not having a left back
Not having a decent Right Winger
Having a crap lightweight Midfield
Not having a decent target man
People insisting Bikey is the solution to our midfield woes when he is a central defender
Long Ball tactics
People thinking we will walk this league
Some members of the squad not wanting to be here
Doyle, Convey & Doyle looking a shadow of the players they once were
Sonko getting sent off and looking like a liability
Steve Coppells loyalty to players
None of our signings for the past 2 years being anywhere near good enough.

A giant inflatable dog turd brought down a power line after being blown away from a Swiss museum.
The artwork, entitled Complex Shit, was carried 200 metres on the night of 31 July, reportedly breaking a greenhouse window before it landed again.
The sculpture, by American artist Paul McCarthy, was equipped with a safety system that should have deflated it.
The fake faeces has been returned and will remain on display at the Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern until October.
McCarthy is well known for his inflatable artworks, two of which - Blockhead and Daddies Bighead - were displayed outside the Tate Modern in London in 2003.
The Zentrum Paul Klee, which opened in 2005, houses a collection of about 4,000 works by the noted Swiss painter.

Does this mean it was a "floater"

If we don't replace Shorey before the closing of the window, AND we struggle, boy is it going to kick the management in the teeth.
Serious serious lack of investment here, and I'm not convinced we can hold Coppell 100% accountable either. But he has to be man enough to say what he wants and make sure he gets it. He knows the money that has come through those doors better than anyone, and he too must be frustrated as to why he can't use it.
I gotta tell ya, I'm pretty much losing confidence in everyone at the club.
I still find it hard to accept that we missed out on a european place by one goal and didn't build on it. Now look at us, relegated and STILL not building on it, and money IS THERE.
Just fed up with it really. Hard to accept.

I can understand why there has been little activity in terms of getting players in so far. Now we are a right midfielder light and also a striker light. So those should be 2 areas we are seriously looking at. If and when Shorey finally leaves then we'll need a left back, ditto Hunt. Even if Harper goes, got pretty good hopes for Karacan, it's time we gave some (not all) of the young lads a go. Karacan did well at B'Mouth and Millwall, Pearce did ok at this level last season, Robson Kanu had a pretty decent loan spell and of course there is Henry and Golbourne, we need to find out sooner rather than later if these lads are good enough and worth keeping on.
If some of these young lads come in and do well then that's a cause for optimism. I hope Coppell has learnt from his shocking mistakes last season, things like playing Sodje at Swansea instead of the likes of Pearce and then loaning him out a day later was absolute nonsense. His dithering in the transfer market cost us our place in the Premiership along with his sheer definace in taking out some of his favourites from the side (Doyle, Murty, Harper etc)
I've never been or will ever be a fan of the DOF role at this club, it seems to me to be completely pointless, likewise Nigel howe is another one who seems to do sod all apart from embarass the club in the national media. I wouldn't mind a bit of a shake up in the coaching staff or boardroom.
I think ultimately the 'feel good' factor around the club has been on the decline severely over the last year, not just because of the final league position but from what seems to be a huge lack of ambition and a failure to pay the going rate for good players. When you see the numbers banded around in the press and what other clubs of similar standing to us are throwing at new players and improving their teams, it's hard not to be jealous and a bit annoyed at it. RFC didn't throughout their entire 2 year stay in the Premiership buy a single Premiership player that really came in and nailed down a first team spot and improve us from 2005/06. That's unforgiveable for me.
Last season was just saddening really, they had ample opportunites to put it right, 2 transfer windows, plenty of warning over Little's fitness, Sidwell's departure, can't even blame it on a really bad run of results. The warning signs were there early on (Bolton 3 Reading 0, Reading 0 West Ham 3, Sunderland 2 Reading 1, Fulham 3 Reading 1) Really poor results against teams we should have done better against...still Coppell failed to react.
After such a season and a lack of investment in the playing staff, the last things fans (well most fans) want to hear is the chief executive telling the world 'we can be bigger than Arsenal' as we sign someone from the French 2nd division, £2million new media centre built as the team goes down and new stadium expansion....now not happening.
It just seemed like one boob after another. Terrible PR sending out the wrong message at the wrong time. I didn't want to hear Nigel Howe say we are the next Arsenal, I wanted to hear that we were scouring the market to bring in good players and we would pay the right money to get players in to make sure we stay in the league.
It's easy to see why people are losing heart, it's now the 21st July, the big kick off is a few weeks away, we are now the only club in the CCC who haven't signed a single player. With the club heading out to Sweden in the next day or two, that's another week gone pretty much.
If Coppell decides to go in with no new recruits, maybe 1 or 2 more gone he is walking a tightrope, and more and more people will be happy to see him fall off it and be replaced if we start this season poorly.
Do I have faith in the board? Not really anymore, I've heard it for the last 3 years about us 'spending money' and it's failed to happen every time. I'll still go because it's still Reading at the end of the day but it's why I was bothered if Coppell stayed or went. Stay - OK then learn from last season, don't just sweep it away and close your eyes and hope the exact same team will turn it around. IF he went then it would have meant almost certainly more change, change is always a bad thing but in RFC's playing staff it's a neccesity.