Coppells a waste of space

[Platypuss]

Interesting perspective from Palace fans:

http://forums.cpfc.org/showthread.php?s=380f4c3a39ee429009e1b56980a4c7fa&threadid=169970

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

I guess some people will always look at the past and remember how good it used to be, some won't.

I guess some people will always call for the manager to be sacked as soon as anything goes wrong, just as some people always insist a change in any player's form is an indication that they aren't good enough, despite how they may have played previously.

Either you can believe coppell is a good but imperfect manager, and take the rough with the smooth, or you can assume he just became a rubbish manager overnight for no apparent reason.

[Wealdstone at home]

Interesting perspective from Palace fans:

http://forums.cpfc.org/showthread.php?s=380f4c3a39ee429009e1b56980a4c7fa&threadid=169970

'the reading and palace( a few times )relegation situation is pretty much the same IMO. both teams only went up due to Coppells undeniable talent spotting and ability to put a decent side together from nothing.
The problem comes when they get up and other teams come sniffing around and the media links the players to bigger clubs. The players want to sign for bigger clubs and for bigger wages than Palace or Reading can pay and they lose interest in playing for the team. When the players are linked to other clubs it breaks up the team spirit and the dream and form falls apart.
As for the money you could give coppell £500 million to spend in the transfer window to buy players , but no matter how much you offer no one good enough with a career in front of them would ever sign for Palace or Reading unless we have been established in the top half of the premiership for at least 5 years. Who on earth that is as good as Sidwell or Ian wright would sign for Palace or reading at the height of their career ? You will only get players who are failing else where or at the end of their careers or injury cases or just interested in getting the money.
Sidwell signed for reading after failing to make it at arsenal and a loan in the lower leagues at brighton and wright after ending up playing park football, but in the second tier or lower leagues for palace and reading they had time to develop. If both players joined palace or reading while in the top flight both probably would have just ended up in the reserves never to be seen again.

Look at the Palace cup final team virtually all from the youth team or non league or reserve team rejects or lower leagues. Martyn was the only player we had competition to sign and even he was working part time before signing for us. Didnt Barber, Pardew ,Wright and Gray all play non league at some stage before signing for us. How could we afford to replace them . If they joined us in the top flight they would have all failed to make the grade quickly enough.

If coppell was in charge of a big team with money i'm sure he would be very successful and as for the reading fans ha ha , they will have to get their manure shirts out from stuffed down the back of their wardrobes now , they might be a bit mouldy after 2 years'


Apart from the final paragraph which I hope isn't the case when the new season starts and our support remains at higher levels, I must say I agree with most of what is said here

[Baines]

Interesting perspective from Palace fans:

http://forums.cpfc.org/showthread.php?s=380f4c3a39ee429009e1b56980a4c7fa&threadid=169970

Very interesting indeed. By and large they seem to find it a lot easier to comment sensibly on us when we've failed as opposed to when memories of our success are fresher in their minds!

[Millsy]

.....of course he clearly isn't, but this thread header is no more OTT than some of the sentimentalist pap written on another thread.


The manager who took us out of the primordial soup of the lower leagues for the first time ever is clearly the best manager in Reading FC history, but everyone has their shelf-life. I would have no problem whatsoever with Coppell remaining at the helm if he had been bullish about correcting the mistakes of this past year and promised promotion or bust next season. Instead we have had vague hints of his desire for a break - a break he has absolutely earned - for the past few months and an (at best) non-committal approach towards the future. For those of you who blame Madejski for the problems and the abject failure of the season just past, then surely that is proof that Coppell cannot take us forward if he is somehow content to be Madejski's patsy.

If his heart is not 100% in it, then Steve Coppell really should not be the Reading manager next season, and no amount of banners and placards should change that.

Good point. As Ian says if his heart isn't in it he won't take it.

I guess what we're saying therefore is we hope he can keep his heart in it enough to at least honour his contract and try his best.

That's the issue, not simply him being here for no reason.

But having said that even a Coppell with his heart not in it is worth 3 of most other good managers and 1000 of any of the crap we might gamble on.

Coppell MUST stay.

[Only one Trevor Morley]

I can understand Floyds argument - but I think we will be in a better position if we dont change things round too much on the managerial side of things

Ultimately Watford did best of the relegated clubs last season, despite finishing bottom, becuase there was an element of continutiy between the side that went down and the side that finished 6th

We're going to be overhauling our playing staff so i think the managerial side should stay.

Coppell takes his position very seriously which is precisely why he is considering his position.

If he doesnt get us back next season, then there is more of a case for considering whether he is the right man - but I think there is more change of us going up at the first attempt if he is in charge......

[PieEater]

And I think he learned a tough and valuable lesson from that course of action, personally.

And when an intelligent man learns a lesson, the first thing he wants to do is apply the knowledge gained.

Agreed. Coppell's made a lot of mistakes this year, but I'm convinced he'll learn from them. It's called experience.

Clubs prosper when there is stability, that's why we need him to stay. He needs to learn from the season, rebuild and carry on with the brick by brick approach.

[Platypuss]

And I think he learned a tough and valuable lesson from that course of action, personally.

And when an intelligent man learns a lesson, the first thing he wants to do is apply the knowledge gained.

Agreed. Coppell's made a lot of mistakes this year, but I'm convinced he'll learn from them. It's called experience.

The counterpoint to that is that he isn't a newbie - has he really learned from his previous experiences?

[Baines]

The counterpoint to that is that he isn't a newbie - has he really learned from his previous experiences?

He's learned things about this group of players.

[Southbank Old Boy]

The counterpoint to that is that he isn't a newbie - has he really learned from his previous experiences?

He's learned things about this group of players.

I worry that it took him so long to learn those things and even longer to take any action.

It was plain to see the weaknesses in the squad but he failed to act.

[Platypuss]

The counterpoint to that is that he isn't a newbie - has he really learned from his previous experiences?

He's learned things about this group of players.

Indeed (but far too late) - but what has he learned regarding selecting the next group of players?

Maybe a tad presumptuous, but while I believe SC is probably the best option we have to get us back up again, his history fails to convince that he's able to build a long-standing Premiership legacy. But then again, who is?

[The 17 Bus]

Agree PP, we are still a small fish in terms of Premier League experience, it is much easier to keep Newcastle West Ham etc at that level than it is a club our size, the expectation is always of relegation struggles, same with Fulham and Wigan, Bolton took a few goes to get it right as did Blackburn,

[Schards#2]

The counterpoint to that is that he isn't a newbie - has he really learned from his previous experiences?

He's learned things about this group of players.

Indeed (but far too late) - but what has he learned regarding selecting the next group of players?

Maybe a tad presumptuous, but while I believe SC is probably the best option we have to get us back up again, his history fails to convince that he's able to build a long-standing Premiership legacy. But then again, who is?

I would imagine that he'd have learned to be more objective and ruthless in team selection, and to improve the team during the good times rather than waiting until it's falling apart.

Also, if someone wants to leave you may as well let them as, once they've decided they want to be elsewhere, you've already lost them as the player they were previously.

With hindsight, we should have sold both Shorey and Hunt in January though i'm quite prepared to put my hands up and say i'd have been fuming at the time if we had. If the scenario arose again, i'd be advocating letter the player in question go.

[Baines]

The counterpoint to that is that he isn't a newbie - has he really learned from his previous experiences?

He's learned things about this group of players.

Indeed (but far too late) - but what has he learned regarding selecting the next group of players?

Maybe a tad presumptuous, but while I believe SC is probably the best option we have to get us back up again, his history fails to convince that he's able to build a long-standing Premiership legacy. But then again, who is?

I don't think he's stopped learning just because he's been around a bit. It was the first time he's managed in the top flight for a little while - I'd be surprised if the experience hasn't had some positive influence on him.

[Fezza]

I guess some people will always look at the past and remember how good it used to be, some won't.

I guess some people will always call for the manager to be sacked as soon as anything goes wrong, just as some people always insist a change in any player's form is an indication that they aren't good enough, despite how they may have played previously.

Either you can believe coppell is a good but imperfect manager, and take the rough with the smooth, or you can assume he just became a rubbish manager overnight for no apparent reason.

For me SC has been a great servant to the club, but, last season he continually faffed around when decisive leadership was required.

Do I blame him for our relegation - yes absolutely
Do I want him to stay - I'm not certain
Do I think he is the best option out there to manage Reading - probably - which for me is the only reason for wanting him to stay

He didn't become a bad manager overnight, it took 9 months of abject football and inane decisions for me to lose faith.

[Smoking Kills Dancing Doe]

The only thing that worries me is simply, will he sign the players we need?

Everyone says he'll learn his lessons, he didn't do that in January.

His make do attidude, will not get us back to the Premiership.

It would be terrible if he left, we need the stability off the pitch if we're gonna bounce straight back, but we can't just make do and say well we've got this player, who alright, so we won't sign anyone better.

Please stay Steve, even more please change.

[The 17 Bus]

With hindsight, we should have sold both Shorey and Hunt in January though i'm quite prepared to put my hands up and say i'd have been fuming at the time if we had. If the scenario arose again, i'd be advocating letter the player in question go.

I said at the time, take the money, was told what Coppell said about Shorey at the forum though, and that adds a bit to what went on.

[Platypuss]

Indeed (but far too late) - but what has he learned regarding selecting the next group of players?

Maybe a tad presumptuous, but while I believe SC is probably the best option we have to get us back up again, his history fails to convince that he's able to build a long-standing Premiership legacy. But then again, who is?

I don't think he's stopped learning just because he's been around a bit. It was the first time he's managed in the top flight for a little while - I'd be surprised if the experience hasn't had some positive influence on him.

Not convinced that SC knows how to spend the "big" money wisely (and/or we don't have the right scouting), and that's not something that can be learned - and that is a prerequisite to staying in the Prem longterm.

[Baines]

Not sure it can't be learned...but his record certainly suggests it's not his preferred way of doing it. In any event, as I think you'd agree, we're much better off seeing how he can a second time do than trying someone else.

[PieEater]

But that is not Coppells style, he wants young hungry players who play for each other.

Having cash and spending it wasn't the problem, there was cash there. The problem was the wage structure that was set at a level not to bankrupt the club, it turn out that was too low to attract any better players than we already had. So I really think Coppell did what he could to sign players within the limits set by his management.

The lessons learnt are collective. His Madj said that our promotion season was a £6m gamble that he funded, and as it turned out it worked. In the prem we need to modify the business constraints (ie spend more to accumulate more) to stay there next time.