Are Reading the real deal?

BoroMart said:
They don't have the quality of say Norwich, Newcastle, Leeds promotions in recent seasons.
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Leeds and Newcastle were strong pre-season favourites, so I take your point regarding them. Norwich I think are an interesting comparison: after 8 matches they were in 12th place, with half the points Reading have now and a negative goal difference. No one was talking about their quality at that point. Their quality became apparent over the season, and the same may happen with Reading. They've certainly made a better start than Norwich did.
 
There are better squads than Reading but it looks as if they have great team spirit and confidence. The league is bang average this year and there to be taken. We don’t have to fear anyone, we’ve made all the best attacking sides look toothless and bereft of ideas. We must be horrible to play against, Bettinelli has the easiest job in football this year.
 
Watched some of the Wycombe Watford game last night. For all their depth of squad I thought some of the Watford players were going through the motions to be honest.
 
Funny how people have so many different perceptions! I was just going to say that I think Watford will be the team to beat as they looked good vs Bournemouth, have some great new players and still have some key players like Deeney to come back from injuries.

Reading could be the Brentford-esque package this season, and I know match schedules are skewed this season, but Christmas and January tend to sort the wheat from the chaff. There's a gruelling schedule this year, so not sure if Reading have the depth of squad to run away with it.

Norwich under Farke in this division have the knack of snatching results out of nothing.
 
Frozen Horse said:
Norwich I think are an interesting comparison: after 8 matches they were in 12th place, with half the points Reading have now and a negative goal difference.
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Maybe a better comparison is a team like Leeds in 17/18 or 18/19 who battered everyone the first 7 or 8 matches, then collapsed. Reading could still do that. I'm not really that impressed by teams that go through a purple patch, I'm more impressed by teams when they grind out a 1-0 repeatedly.
 
Zoophonic said:
Watched some of the Wycombe Watford game last night. For all their depth of squad I thought some of the Watford players were going through the motions to be honest.
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I think that’s what happens when some clubs drop from the premier league . Hopefully theyl continue nit being to up for it and drop results
 
Piccadilly Day Tripper said:
Reading could be the Brentford-esque package this season, and I know match schedules are skewed this season, but Christmas and January tend to sort the wheat from the chaff. There's a gruelling schedule this year, so not sure if Reading have the depth of squad to run away with it.
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Reading have a huge squad, but I'm not sure they can sustain their threat if Meite or Joao get injured. Likewise I don't think they can keep tight at the back if Morrison or Moore get an injury.
 
Reading 0 PNE 3
Watford 3 Stoke 2
Reading slide has started , but Watford are getting steam up , the team to worry about IMO
 
Simply red said:
Reading 0 PNE 3
Watford 3 Stoke 2
Reading slide has started , but Watford are getting steam up , the team to worry about IMO
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Teams relegated the year before usually do that. Takes a while to get over the shock of relegation and adapt to a different league but quality shines through. Watford have too good a squad for this league given the players they retained. Remember us playing Charlton the first game of 97/98 and struggling, thought this is going to be hard work but we just got better, having a England international and a Inter Milan striker probably helped though!
 
BoroMart said:
Reading have a huge squad, but I'm not sure they can sustain their threat if Meite or Joao get injured. Likewise I don't think they can keep tight at the back if Morrison or Moore get an injury.
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Moore was missing tonight 3-0, hate to say I told you so, but
 
UKLL1981 said:
Teams relegated the year before usually do that. Takes a while to get over the shock of relegation and adapt to a different league but quality shines through. Watford have too good a squad for this league given the players they retained.
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Reading still 3 points clear at the top. I do now think they just had a good run of form rather than being serious contenders, though it's not impossible they'll recover.

Over the last 10 seasons, the eventual champions of the championship have lost more than 1 in 6 of their games. It's not like the PL where 2 defeats mean your season is over.

I'm a little surprised to see all 3 relegated teams in the top 6; it's become the norm for at least one of them to struggle. That said, I did tip Bournemouth to struggle pre-season, and I think they might be starting to slide too.
 
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