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.

...this does have the same feel as 1995.
Then our best player and the fulcrum of the side left in Simon Osborn.
This time that rarest of breeds now in our football-tall,good in the air,good link man with other strikers and a decent finisher leaves for a club that is nowadays (forgetting the past for the moment) not much bigger than our own.

The PR coming from the club in recent days has been dreadful.
Apart from the "Kitson has a cold" nonsense to say that if a player wants to leave he can really does strike me as about as negative as it gets.
Why the f*** hasn't the management being pulling out all stops to persuade the likes of Kitson ,Doyle and Harper that we have ambition to make an immediate return to The Premiership?

Surely the line of "stay on board fellas at least until Christmas to see how we are doing.We'll keep you on Premiership wages until that time and if we aren't doing well we won't stand in your way.Also we will be investing in new players" would have shown the commitment that we and the players would like to have heard?
Instead we were as quick as Defoe putting in a transfer request after relegation to come out with the "Steve will have to sell before he can buy" and latterly this stuff about players being allowed to leave.
It surely is very near the time for a statement of intent by the club especially with little more than 3 weeks to go till the start of the season and our best player about to leave and the second midfield dynamo about to go within the year.
Can't you just hear it "Our ambitions are clear because Stephen Hunt has pledged his future to the club.........."?
The one that many of us want to go will stay as Roy Keane finally comes to his senses and realises that he could get somebody decent for £5million instead of our player of the year (what a sick joke).
Groundhog Day tomorrow then-goodbye Dave you have done well for us and you owe our club nothing.
Know any good strikers?
Best of luck dave ...

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