Archive for the 'europe' Category

Madejski wants to sell but also wants Europe

Published by
Terry
at April 27, 2007 in Reading, europe and madejski. 0 Comments

John Madejski has repeated calls for a billionaire to come and buy Reading but is making all the right noises about only selling for the right reasons and will not cut and run.

I did predict that football would go the way of the super-rich some time ago and what I don’t want to happen is for Reading to be left behind in that process. We have a fantastic club here and it would suit a benevolent billionaire from somewhere.

However, he does show he is a fan, by stating

“I can understand the manager’s reservations. But as chairman, I’m allowed to say, ‘let’s give it a go and let’s get into Europe.’”

Meanwhile, Europe is casting a few glances at Reading. uefa.com a site that usually concentrates on the Champions League and internations has a piece on Reading called Reading on the rise. It notes Steve Coppell’s reticence for European competition but is very complementary. It has an interesting quote from Irish international Kevin Doyle when he stated that he’d “never scored a goal as important as that” referring to an Intertoto Cup goal for Cork.

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Is getting into Europe a good idea?

Published by
Terry
at March 20, 2007 in Articles, Reading, bolton, coppell, europe, sidwell, uefa cup and west ham. 1 Comment

It seems that most managers and fans think that qualifying for Europe is a good idea. Except Reading manager Steve Coppell.

Coppell said :-

“We’re not geared up for Europe.
“It would be too heavy a load in our development, which would not be good for us.”

Why wouldn’t a manager show the ambition to get into Europe?

For a start it is important to remember that it is Reading’s first ever season in the Premiership and they have vastly exceeded expectations. It is reasonable to believe that the Pragmatic One is looking at next season and thinking that Reading will struggle. It is reasonable to believe that Reading will not finish as high next season as this. No one knew anything about Reading this season. Next season they will.

It is important to get as good as start next season as we did this, where we amassed enough points at the start to get over a dodgy spell where we played United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool in the space of 6 weeks. Add in a few games in Europe and a little tiredness means a few more dropped points and suddenly, you are lucking at a West Ham season.

Another thing is that the UEFA Cup is not the Champions League. It doesn’t produce as much money as you think. Premiership money is more important and is guaranteed.

Finally, all the comments from Steve leads us to believe that he is trying to cement Readings place in the Premiership. He knows that if you can stay up the next two seasons, you can aim to stay a long while. Compare Bolton to West Ham.

On the other hand, getting into Europe will give Reading extra exposure to getting the better players to the club. It might make Sidwell more likely to re-sign.

I’m sure that Steve is “taking it one game at a time” and that if a European place is achieved, he will welcome the challenge. And put out a “reserve” side against Dynamo RussianFarAwayPlace.

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