Promotion? Keep dreaming.

I thought it was more 4-2-2-1-1 but I could be wrong.

For the record I don't believe we have any chance of promotion this season.

Sluffy wrote:I thought it was more 4-2-2-1-1 but I could be wrong.

So that would be:

GK: Bogdan (buy a more expirenced keeper if possible!)

RB: Ricketts
CB: Wheater
CB: ?
LB: ?

DM: ?
DM: ? (We'd now need to buy/loan TWO new DMs!)

RW: Lee/Eagles
LW: Petrov

AM: M.Davies/Holden/Eagles

ST: ?

Filling those gaps and making this squad real promotion contenders is one hell of a job. Good luck Dougie!

Reading were 16th this time last season, Peterborough were 12th and Derby C were 5th.

You're creating chances (going off the BBC stats) so I expect you to make a bit of a surge eventually.

No need to panic just yet.

Natasha Whittam wrote:Ha ha, what a deluded bunch. Probably the same people who were predicting survival last season right up until the last minute at Stoke.

There is absolutely no evidence that we can turn things around. Sure, it might happen, but anyone who thinks that is basing things purely on hope rather than anything they've witnessed.

Im one of those people who thought we could survive last year, and tbh compared to your prediction of us finishing bottom with 25ish points and the fact that we were actually one point off survival and with a bit of luck on the last day would have got it. Along with Wigan finding one of the best forms in the league and QPR spending the GDP of a small country I actually don't think people can be ridiculed for saying we would stay up right to that last game.


Dougie hasn't even had a single game in charge and were forgetting about promotion already? 7 points behind play offs with 33 games left?


Yes it is hope, but what is your prediction based on? the old manager/system/tactics/training/results, so really nothing.

We have a new manager, with a new style, likely new staff, and a transfer window.

Im not saying we will get promotion, but that should still be our aim, and unless Dougie is a hopeless fool there's no reason we can't achieve it.

My Middlesbrough supporting pal who knows this league inside out reckons DF is going to be something special. He says he is very cautious - the anti-Coyle in that he isn't one to send teams out wide open (two strikers, two wingers, an attacking midfielder etc.)
I'm still not overwhelmed, as I feel where we've been going wrong extends beyond this.
That said, whilst DF is no proven talent, he's no proven failure either. I'm looking forward to see what he can do.

ive not read all the comments on this thread yet, but my fear is that if we DONT go up this season... we will do a Rangers.

Simple as that, we dont have the finance in place to stay afloat. all our players will have to be sold to break even, they will have to be replaced with cheaper, inferior players, this will consolidate us in the lower leagues for a long time - maybe even indefinitely as we wont be able to service the debts. Promotion pushes need a good squad, good squads cost money, money we dont have.

I can really see us going in to administration within 2 years if we dont go up this season.

thanks coyle...

Reebok_Rebel wrote:ive not read all the comments on this thread yet, but my fear is that if we DONT go up this season... we will do a Rangers.

Simple as that, we dont have the finance in place to stay afloat. all our players will have to be sold to break even, they will have to be replaced with cheaper, inferior players, this will consolidate us in the lower leagues for a long time - maybe even indefinitely as we wont be able to service the debts. Promotion pushes need a good squad, good squads cost money, money we dont have.

I can really see us going in to administration within 2 years if we dont go up this season.

thanks coyle...

You do love to panic rebel.

Reebok_Rebel wrote:ive not read all the comments on this thread yet, but my fear is that if we DONT go up this season... we will do a Rangers.

Simple as that, we dont have the finance in place to stay afloat. all our players will have to be sold to break even, they will have to be replaced with cheaper, inferior players, this will consolidate us in the lower leagues for a long time - maybe even indefinitely as we wont be able to service the debts. Promotion pushes need a good squad, good squads cost money, money we dont have.

I can really see us going in to administration within 2 years if we dont go up this season.

thanks coyle...

Rebel, the majority of our money is owed to Eddie Davies. The club isn't going into administration anytime soon.

I said we'd be the new boro and it looks like that might be the case.

If we don't get up this season i hope Dougie is given the time to implement his plan, i think it could be exciting down the road, but it will take time I'm afraid. There are still people out there who think we're "gonna walk this league" so if we don't beat Cardiff no doubt some boo's will float around the bok.

Playoffs aren't out of the question yet but it would require a sustained period of good form, with a majority of players playing to their best.

remind me the last time we saw that.... hmm.

It has only gone downwards for the club since i started to follow it. Its a shame. I really hope Freedman can change things so we can fight our way up again.

And, whats already been said - he really need to sort out our defence or we will never reach the playoffs.

Lucky to avoid relegation IMO ..... barring some type of massive change from Dougie.

I said this before the season started and people laughed ......

Many fans think with their hearts not their heads .... I hope we win too ... Natasha is mostly right though.....another clean sweep is probably required.

You can only go with what you've got. Too many sub-standard players means mid table mediocrity at best. Anything better than that means the new manager's done OK.

It shouldn't take Freedman (or anyone else with eyes in their head) long to see that a massive shake-up is required. I would hope to see seven or eight new faces in the team for next season but at the end of the day it comes down to how much cash they'll be trusting him with.

terenceanne wrote:Lucky to avoid relegation IMO ..... barring some type of massive change from Dougie.

I said this before the season started and people laughed ......

Many fans think with their hearts not their heads .... I hope we win too ... Natasha is mostly right though.....another clean sweep is probably required.

I still think there's no chance we'll get relegated, having a more positive outlook doesn't mean I'm not thinking with my head.

From the matches i've seen I really don't think we're far off, sure up the defence and we'll be on the right track.

Had we got a point at boro we'd be unbeaten in three and people would be saying we're looking up.

I think Dougie will sort us out.

I don't want to say "I told you so" but I am a smug bastard and will say it anyway - although it gives me no pleasure, you understand. But come on guys - what do you expect when you cut the wages by half and replace experienced premiership players with a mixture of kids with "potential" and has -beens like Andrews and Mills?

Still laughing at the "favourites for promotion" and "best squad in the league" tags.

As well documented elsewhere we need to rebuild with what we have. There's no way that having just slaughtered the wage bill that we'll be going out to try and buy our way back to the premiership. Sure there might be the odd deal here and there but the net expenditure will be pretty close to zero for the foreseeable future.

JP et al have shown us that all hope is not yet lost with this squad and maybe Freedman can find that little bit extra to turn things completely around.

But I'd happily give up on this season if it was used to bring the youth players and youngsters on because that's where our future lies - not in the transfer market.