Rodgers - Success? Failure? How long?

[Wycombe Royal]

Coppell's last 18 months were appalling.

Not true, there was a very good 4 month spell running up to around Christmas last season.

[Hoop Blah]

Coppell's last 18 months were appalling.

Not true, there was a very good 4 month spell running up to around Christmas last season.

It's true in my eyes.

Personally I think, and said at the time, that results were flattering our performances quite a bit at that time.

The overall progression and building of that team was obviously not happening, and for me that's as big a part of managing the side as results are. Looking back with a bit of hindsight, I think it's probably a case of players performing that little bit extra in the run up to the transfer window with the hope of getting back to the Premiership a bit quicker that turned poor to average team performances into reasonable wins.

[adamh4608]

my be coppell hands were tied as sir john did not want to invest as we can all see now

[Hoop Blah]

my be coppell hands were tied as sir john did not want to invest as we can all see now

Now isn't then by the way.

Coppell himself said he looked at and nearly signed a few players who would've strengthened us (Cahil, Taylor, O'Neil etc) but he himself decided against it.

I think Rodgers has possibly missed a trick with a few players over the summer as well so that's not a Coppell only accusation from my point of view. I'm yet to be convinced by Rodgers transfer dealings but he is operating under different constraints than his predecessor.

[Scarface]

He should be given the season, however if we're rock bottom at Xmas I reckon he'll be sacked and Murty will be back.

[adamh4608]

He should be given the season, however if we're rock bottom at Xmas I reckon he'll be sacked and Murty will be back.

+1

[winchester_royal]

Can I just ask what did people actually expect given the complete overhaul this summer - where did you realistically expect us to be now?

It's not great at the mo, and could get worse but easily we could be one win away from a decent run.

Unless and it's a big unless we start to get cut off in the bottom three then Rodgers gets the season (and probably til Xmas next season) at the very least. Changing so quickly would do more harm that good. Look at Charlton, Curbishley left and they went through about 3 managers in a year as the fans/club did not have the patience to allow things to gel.

That's just it, and the comedy of it all is that the same people who were warning us it would take time when Rodgers took over are those calling for his head now.

We are playing decent, attacking football. We have some very talented footballers in our group, and a couple of the youngsters are really making their mark. That was all I expected to have happenned by now.

It is no suprise that most of the clubs up there at the moment are those who have a solid core who have been with each other for a while, while those squads who have had a complete overhaul (Nottm Forest, Ipswich, QPR..etc) are struggling.

The results are, IMO, quite clearly within reach, and with a bit more luck we could have been in and around the play-offs ATM. But we're not, and the players have to close out a result sooner or later. However to even consider sacking Rodgers is utter bull, and most fans understand that.

[Forbury Lion]

Give him to the end of the season and then look to replace him with a manager who knows how to get us out of League 1.

Seriously, Roger's main failings are not on the pitch, in training or in the transfer market. They're in his pre and post match interviews.

[Vision]

We have some very talented footballers in our group,

You are Brendan Rodgers AICMFP.

[Alan Partridge]

Can I just ask what did people actually expect given the complete overhaul this summer - where did you realistically expect us to be now?

It's not great at the mo, and could get worse but easily we could be one win away from a decent run.

Unless and it's a big unless we start to get cut off in the bottom three then Rodgers gets the season (and probably til Xmas next season) at the very least. Changing so quickly would do more harm that good. Look at Charlton, Curbishley left and they went through about 3 managers in a year as the fans/club did not have the patience to allow things to gel.

That's just it, and the comedy of it all is that the same people who were warning us it would take time when Rodgers took over are those calling for his head now.

We are playing decent, attacking football. We have some very talented footballers in our group, and a couple of the youngsters are really making their mark. That was all I expected to have happenned by now.

It is no suprise that most of the clubs up there at the moment are those who have a solid core who have been with each other for a while, while those squads who have had a complete overhaul (Nottm Forest, Ipswich, QPR..etc) are struggling.

The results are, IMO, quite clearly within reach, and with a bit more luck we could have been in and around the play-offs ATM. But we're not, and the players have to close out a result sooner or later. However to even consider sacking Rodgers is utter bull, and most fans understand that.

1 goal from open play in 8 games is hardly decent is it?

He needs some time but having a transition/consolidation season from the moment a ball was kicked when you still have a year of parachute money in my opinion is unacceptable. That's the club more than Rodgers himself in all honesty, but from his part I have been unimpressed thus far with the majority of his signings/team selections. His best signing we have to give back in January.

i applaud his will for Reading to play 'better football' but it's got to have an end product, you don't get points for making 400 passes as the OS likes to spin, you get points for sticking the ball in the net. Coppell's team of 05-early 08 was a much better football team than this current one. The current one is a better passing team than Coppell ever produced but his team was effective and scored goals. That's what people want to see.

Again I read on here about patience being the word needed and also how 'bad the fans are',i tell you this now,there are few clubs sets of supporters that would simply put up and accept the utterly pathetic and appalling home record Reading have served up in the last year. At numerous other clubs, the majority of fans would have had protests,genuine ones, not 4 people on a messageboard, but thousands outside the ground and on the pitch at the results at home and the decline in the last year. I think Reading Fans in the main have been beyond patient. They still chanted Coppell's name, still chant Rodgers name and if Madejski walk on the pitch 90% will still stand and aplaud him. That wouldn't happen at many other clubs.

We are all paying top money to watch a team had the guts ripped out of it still (£26 to watch Reading at home if you roll up on the day) and they haven't provided value for that in nearly a year.

The next set of fixtures are just huge, Watford, then PNE away, Middlesbrough, West Brom it looks horrendous for a team really struggling for confidence and rhythm. They have to win Saturday.

Reading talk a fantastic game throughout the club, how about shutting up and doing something about it?!

[wolsey]

^^^^ Well said that Man

[SteveRoyal]

Turn corner, midtable.
How anyone could say we're going up is beyond me, but hey, I'm sure Burnley didn't think they'd go up last season.

[Ian Royal]

I expected us to be turning up to games and putting in a decent hard working performance every game. I expected us try and win every game, even if it was by defending for most of it and trying to sneak a win on the break. I expected Rodgers to show a clear plan on what he was doing. I expected to spend the first 10 - 20 games averaging about 1 pt per game or higher.

We are not getting this. We are getting decent hardworking performances in bursts, but not all game. We have not tried to win every game. We turned up for the crucial opening game and used it as a training excercise, assuming that position was converted to goals at the end of the match.
Rodgers has chopped and changed every game and doesn't know his best team. He doesn't know his best formation. At least I hope he doesn't because the one he's playing at the moment is likely to see us relegated without a big change. (3 games, 3 loses, 3 for, 7 against)

I know we're only a couple of points off where I'm saying we should be above, but look at our next few games. The realistic chances of picking up good points there are slim.

Look back at the games we've had and you can see we should have picked up more against Forest, Swansea, Peterborough and Cardiff at least, arguably Sheff U could be added to that. I'm not saying you will always pick up points when you should or that we should expect that. But in 4 of our 8 games we should and could have got a better result without a great deal of difficulty. That would double our points, not even considering we should actually have beaten not drawn against P'boro and maybe even Cardiff rather than losing.

[Vision]

I expected us to be turning up to games and putting in a decent hard working performance every game. I expected us try and win every game, even if it was by defending for most of it and trying to sneak a win on the break. I expected Rodgers to show a clear plan on what he was doing. I expected to spend the first 10 - 20 games averaging about 1 pt per game or higher.

We are not getting this. We are getting decent hardworking performances in bursts, but not all game. We have not tried to win every game. We turned up for the crucial opening game and used it as a training excercise, assuming that position was converted to goals at the end of the match.
Rodgers has chopped and changed every game and doesn't know his best team. He doesn't know his best formation. At least I hope he doesn't because the one he's playing at the moment is likely to see us relegated without a big change. (3 games, 3 loses, 3 for, 7 against)

I know we're only a couple of points off where I'm saying we should be above, but look at our next few games. The realistic chances of picking up good points there are slim.

Look back at the games we've had and you can see we should have picked up more against Forest, Swansea, Peterborough and Cardiff at least, arguably Sheff U could be added to that. I'm not saying you will always pick up points when you should or that we should expect that. But in 4 of our 8 games we should and could have got a better result without a great deal of difficulty. That would double our points, not even considering we should actually have beaten not drawn against P'boro and maybe even Cardiff rather than losing.

When you say we should have done better than we did in those games , are you talking about "on paper" or how we actually played in the games? If its the latter then surely it suggests the performances were better than the results we got.

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

Agree 100% with AP.

We've got the most apathetic crowd in football. Both ways, prob don't back the team enough. but certainly don't get on their back half as much as most teams.

Others club's I've been involved with would have had the boardroom stormed by now.

We've got 3/4 moaning on a message board and the odd boo/where's the money gone chant....

[Hoop Blah]

Look back at the games we've had and you can see we should have picked up more against Forest, Swansea, Peterborough and Cardiff at least, arguably Sheff U could be added to that. I'm not saying you will always pick up points when you should or that we should expect that. But in 4 of our 8 games we should and could have got a better result without a great deal of difficulty. That would double our points, not even considering we should actually have beaten not drawn against P'boro and maybe even Cardiff rather than losing.

When you say we should have done better than we did in those games , are you talking about "on paper" or how we actually played in the games? If its the latter then surely it suggests the performances were better than the results we got.

And if it's the former you're also talking about Cardiff and Sheff U as being two of the top teams 'on paper' which are games the current set up would probably accept a point against. You could even throw Forest into that considering the way plenty of people have been talking up the money they spent during the summer.

Agree with AP and SKDD though, imagine if the last 18 months had been at Newcastle, Birmingham, Wolves, or any number of clubs. It doesn't make it right, but I think the clubs been shown a lot of patience in the past, I just hope Rodgers is now shown a decent amount too.

[winchester_royal]

We have some very talented footballers in our group,

You are Brendan Rodgers AICMFP.

Well done.

[Ian Royal]

Look back at the games we've had and you can see we should have picked up more against Forest, Swansea, Peterborough and Cardiff at least, arguably Sheff U could be added to that. I'm not saying you will always pick up points when you should or that we should expect that. But in 4 of our 8 games we should and could have got a better result without a great deal of difficulty. That would double our points, not even considering we should actually have beaten not drawn against P'boro and maybe even Cardiff rather than losing.

When you say we should have done better than we did in those games , are you talking about "on paper" or how we actually played in the games? If its the latter then surely it suggests the performances were better than the results we got.

Neither of those are quite what I mean over all 4/5 games.

Forest:- Passed them off the pitch and restricted them to very few decent chances. It's hard to score from inside your own half though. Which is where we were far too happy to spend most of our time on the ball.
Swansea:- This one is more on paper. They've scored 3 goals this season ffs. I didn't see the game, but it certainly sounded (from reports on here and the radio) that we were poor against a pretty mediocre team.
Peterborough:- This one is obvious. 2-0 up at half time against a team yet to win, having been the better team. We threw it away completely. Yet the result was thoroughly deserved based on the performance.
Cardiff:- Again, wasn't there but from here and the radio commentary we sounded the team more in control and should have scored several. Instead we let them catch us out against the run of play. I'm not sure you could say we deserved to win, or draw, but we shouldn't have lost.
Sheffield Utd:- Not there again, but the accounts sound like we were very good in the first half but let them back into it once they sussed our rather one dimensional system and had no counter to their play.Although give the comparative form it's hard to argue that we should have got something out of this one.

[PremAddict]

Didn't see this posted anywhere on the board:

Former Reading boss Coppell ready for return
By Harry Harris

September 23, 2009

Steve Coppell is ready to make a comeback in football management, and that news will alert a number of clubs who are already on the point of reviewing their present coaching setups.

Coppell walked away from Reading to take a sabbatical and sources close to the former England and Manchester United star tell me that he wanted to follow his son playing golf in America. However, he is now ready to return.

My source revealed to ESPN Soccernet: "Steve wanted to help support his son who is a trainee professional golfer, who was taking part in a series of tournaments in major University States. Steve is now back and eager to take up his career in management again.

"He made it plain at the time that he had no intention of retirement, and that is reinforced by his mood at the moment, that he is ready to get back into management."

Coppell's decision is sure to alert clubs like Portsmouth who are in a perilous state at the foot of the Premier League. Having survived in the Carling Cup at Carlisle, manager Paul Hart faces the make or break moment in his career in management against Everton this weekend.

Another defeat and Pompey could be seeking a new manager, with David O'Leary and Glenn Hoddle top of their expected wanted list if those circumstances should arise.

However Hoddle turned down a job with one of the top clubs in Holland only this week and has rejected 15 approaches since he initiated his Academy in Spain.

Hoddle would rule himself out of any likely managerial shortlist to be put forward to Pompey in the event that Hart should lose his job.

Hoddle told me from Spain: "I cannot see myself going into management while I am still involved with my Academy, it would not be feasible. I could have taken over a top club in Holland but had to say 'no' only this week, but there might, sometime in the future, be an opportunity for me to return to management, but that is not going to happen just yet."

That would leave O'Leary as the clear favourite, but news of Coppell's impending return to the game would also interest not only Pompey but a number of clubs.

• Harry Harris has twice won the British Sports Journalist of the Year award. His book Down Memory Lane is now available.

[mzungu_royal]

Look back at the games we've had and you can see we should have picked up more against Forest, Swansea, Peterborough and Cardiff at least, arguably Sheff U could be added to that. I'm not saying you will always pick up points when you should or that we should expect that. But in 4 of our 8 games we should and could have got a better result without a great deal of difficulty. That would double our points, not even considering we should actually have beaten not drawn against P'boro and maybe even Cardiff rather than losing.

When you say we should have done better than we did in those games , are you talking about "on paper" or how we actually played in the games? If its the latter then surely it suggests the performances were better than the results we got.

Neither of those are quite what I mean over all 4/5 games.

Forest:- Passed them off the pitch and restricted them to very few decent chances. It's hard to score from inside your own half though. Which is where we were far too happy to spend most of our time on the ball.
Swansea:- This one is more on paper. They've scored 3 goals this season ffs. I didn't see the game, but it certainly sounded (from reports on here and the radio) that we were poor against a pretty mediocre team.
Peterborough:- This one is obvious. 2-0 up at half time against a team yet to win, having been the better team. We threw it away completely. Yet the result was thoroughly deserved based on the performance.
Cardiff:- Again, wasn't there but from here and the radio commentary we sounded the team more in control and should have scored several. Instead we let them catch us out against the run of play. I'm not sure you could say we deserved to win, or draw, but we shouldn't have lost.
Sheffield Utd:- Not there again, but the accounts sound like we were very good in the first half but let them back into it once they sussed our rather one dimensional system and had no counter to their play.Although give the comparative form it's hard to argue that we should have got something out of this one.

I wasn't at Forest, Swansea, Peterborough or Sheff Utd, but from what I heard on the radio for the 'borough game, we kicked them off the park 1st half, only to destroy it 2nd half. My friend said to me 'we'll lose this one' and we did. For Cardiff, we weren't quick enough with the balls into the box. By the time we got them in, they had numbers back and we were forced to pass it square or lump it for Rasiak to be out jumped. When he did get up for headers, they would go wide or no one picked the ball and smashed it into the oxf*rd goal. There goal was lucky, but a slip and/or foul on Bertrand was the cause. Feds was beaten too easily front post.