Had McAnuff...

While I wallowed in tremendous amounts of self-pity after another night on a bender (well, I'm making the most of my last year at university), I couldn't imagine what was about to come.

A stylish Reading win and more importantly, a clean sheet. It's a Christmas miracle.

Sheffield Wednesday are certainly no mugs and Hillsborough is not an easy place to pick up three points. And Reading, how the current season is going, could have crumbled up there like a Tesco value digestive.

However the Royals' resurgence has given new-found optimism, for the fans and the players are believing again.

I've never warmed that much to Jobi McAnuff in the past and when he signed I rolled my eyes thinking its a poor man's Tommy Smith. The past month has seen something quite different from the winger. He's taken the game by the scruff of its neck and created momentum.

McAnuff's goals has been as valuable as ever and the big tree that stands up front (Gregorz Rasiak) has, gladly, taken advantage of his sublime crossing and scored a few himself.

Brendan Rodgers knew that this team could play like this and its a testament to him that he carried on insisting on playing football, rather than lumping it up like most teams in this division. The second goal against Wednesday showed that with a great passing move and a fine finish from Kalifa Cisse. Goal of the season so far.

The defensive display could be explained by Cisse as well. He's the first real holding player weve had there for a while and gave Alex Pearce and Ivar Ingimarsson some cover that had been missing.

Marek Matejovsky, then, has a licence to roam and link play in a more direct manner, something that was restricted with Brian Howard in the team.

The last five games have a been a vast improvement, let it continue. I want to be jolly this Christmas.

Back in the Big Time

I have never been that excited for a FA Cup draw before, number 32 is what we wanted to come out.

I was thinking, hoping, for a home tie and not really bothering who well play. However as time passed, Liverpool and Manchester United were still there and GET IN! We have Liverpool in the cup.

Four years ago we had never played them and now we've met four times in the league and scored in two high scoring games in the League Cup but now we can complete a welcomed trio. I have no idea what is Brendan Rodgers view on the cup, if it's like his predecessor he would welcome the competition like a parent would welcome a teenage pregnancy.

God bless Steve Coppell but cup competitions were of no interest to him, much like John Oster. But for the fans, it's something to get excited about. The last minute drama against Barnsley in the League Cup was certainly exciting and in the end punishable, the cruelty of letting in that very last minute goal was unforgivable but hey ho! Onwards and upwards.
Memories

But now it's Liverpool, LIVERPOOL! Any Reading fan who do not have that incredibly famous 3-1 win against the Reds embedded in their heads cant be good fans at all.

We beat Liverpool, sadly enough I spent part of my afternoon today watching the game on DVD. Wow! We were good and it was Liverpool's first defeat of the season as well, it was such good football. Stephen Hunt's penalty, Kevin Doyle's glancing header and James Harper, that's right HARPER, sneaking through to score a fine third. It was emotional.

As we have being struggling this season, this will come as a welcomed boost for the players and none of them except Brynjar Gunnarsson, Ivar Ingimarsson and Kalife Cisse briefly, played that day, so it will give this new crop of young talent the chance to prove they are worthy to play against the five time European champions.

This may just act as a catalyst to spur on Reading and start playing to our potential, which is definitely top eight of the Championship. Rodgers please, please give us a day to remember.

BBC take notice

I came across this very interesting article about Alex Pearce and ensure that it is worth a read.

Click Here.

Marek the magician

All hail Marek Matejovsky! The saviour of a dying season. The man who put faith back into the fans. The player that provides the little spark to ignite Reading's motionless engine. The King of Madejski, well for the last two games at least.

The Czech Republic international has already showed more flare and creativity than any other centre midfielder this term and his quality is vital if Reading are going to have a somewhat successful season.

He wasn't favoured by Brendan Rodgers to begin with and injury prevented him having an active influence, but now he's narrowing back to full match fitness his impact will become even more significant.

Against Leicester City, a game that Reading should have never had lost, he was instrumental to everything good the Royals did and fully deserved his man of the match award. It just shows what a little bit of class can do and how it can have a positive impact on the rest of the team.

Suddenly confidence is high and the win at Coventry was no accident. Just a fantastic pass can jeer up the team and especially a crowd. He's single-handedly lifted morale and installed supporters faith back into the team.

He is definitely the most naturally gifted player in the current squad and makes much of the squad look like dirty old average Sunday league players. And after some of the performances this season, you would have thought that was the case.

As reported in the local evening paper recently, Matejovsky expressed his desire to stay with the club and after the way he was treated earlier on in the season, its great that a player of his magnitude shows his commitment to the club.

Marek is definitely the Rolls Royce of Reading FC and an extended run in the team is a must.

Rodgers may just have to thank Matejovsky for saving his job.

Struggling to Score

Fortunes change very fast in football and not even the most pessimistic Reading fan - and there are plenty - could imagine that after 14 games we'd be stuck in the relegation zone.

Who would have thought it? The famously-coined Brendan's Babes are not performing the way everyone was expecting.

Rodgers was once again pleased with his team's endeavour, effort, and approach however - but ultimately rued a lack of luck and clinical finishing in front of goal for another defeat in a dismal home record.

But action is needed; a win is necessary. Before the game Rodgers spoke realistically of play-offs but that may be a little out of reach now unless miracles begin to happen, like Shane Long finding his inner Kevin Doyle and contributing 20 goals. Well we can all dream can't we?

Previous seasons have seen Sunderland and Crystal Palace spring from positions like Reading's and to end up promoted so theres hope but not much to cling on to. Playing for survival is very depressing and perhaps we are all expecting too much.
Humility

A good friend of mine, a huge Tottenham fan, says that after the poor start to the season they endeavoured last season he went into every game expecting to get nothing and ultimately they turned it around; it's not about showing hope but showing humility.

Learn from defeat and make sure the mistakes are cut out and grow as a unit, which, the QPR game aside, we are doing. Last night was a perfect example of that.

The positive thing about the game was how well Reading were playing and it is the lack of quality up front that was missing. Two goals in seven home games is frankly laughable and that stat alone shows there is no home sweet home for the Royals.

My heart was in my mouth when Jobi McAnuff hit the post and the follow-up, I thought, was a dead cert goal but it was all false hope. Even when Simon Church was through a goal surely beckoned but again it was a similar outcome when the shot trickled wide. Church was getting plenty of chances and that's probably the most encouraging thing.

Invaluable

It was blatantly obvious that the return Marek 'Magic' Matejovsky gave Reading that little quality and control in midfield, he was able to pick adventurous passes and create opportunities. And it was good to see the return of Alex Pearce to the heart of the defence where his leadership skills prove invaluable.

Heading to Coventry City is where you expect at least a point, but for now, I insist that a draw will be a good result. Start small people! Then a potential six-pointer against Ipswich Town at the Mad Stad, it must be a game where three points are obtainable. Theres me getting carried away again, a draw would be a reasonable result.

No expectation, no disappointment. Unfortunately I tend to take that philosophy going out on the pull in Walkabout afterwards. Reading is, let's be honest, not the prettiest of towns.

Hunting for Goals

I do loathe the international break; its not my intention too but ultimately having most of your best players playing across Europe cannot do the club any good. And for Reading, well, a team in desperate form, an international break could be the worst thing that could have happened.

Having international players such as Noel Hunt, Marek Matejovsky, etc always adds to the prestige of the club but the sheer fact that the team is in such dire straits on the field at the moment they needed extra time to pull themselves from the utter mare they're currently having. They should be on the training pitch righting all of the wrongs that has been this season.

The defeat to Middlesbrough was a bad one; the game lacked any real imagination. Reading were poor. No, they were terrible. Boro should have run riot and a 2-0 defeat was, on reflection, a let-off. A rare cheer went up after 86 minutes when Hunt managed to get a shot on target.

Brendan Rodgers insists he's the man to drag us out of what he started and true to form, I believe him; he's no mug and he knows these players better than anyone does. He openly admitted that Reading were poor, not blaming the referee like a certain red-nosed old bloke in Manchester.
Hurdle

A home win is all that is needed. If that is achieved then the rest will follow with much ease, but it's getting over that first hurdle which has taken a lot longer than anticipated. We expected great football; I sincerely hope it will come soon.

A dip into the loan market would not go a miss with a striker that can actually find the back of the net the priority. Noel Hunt needs a partner; Simon Church is not prolific, Shane Long is absent for too much of the game and Grzegorz Rasiak is just useless. He's a panic buy if I have ever seen one.

Defensively Reading are sorted. Spoilt with good commanding centre halves, we can boast a solid backline: Ivar Ingimarsson, Darren O'Dea, Alex Pearce and Matt Mills are all top-notch. Ryan Bertrand is class and Shaun Cummings is slowly making more of an impact.

The midfield is fully of talent and some work needs to done to find out what is the best mock-up. For me, it has to be Jem Karacan plus two others. And with the international break who knows what injuries or mysterious illnesses could become apparent.

Nevertheless, an awkward trip to West Brom awaits and if they can beat Middlesbrough 5-0 away, we would be expecting a goal fest. I just hope Reading will be scoring at least one.

Should Reading sign a striker on loan? Is that home win the final piece of the jigsaw? Let us know what you think by filling in the feedback form below and we'll publish the best of your views.

Hunting for Goals

I do loathe the international break; its not my intention too but ultimately having most of your best players playing across Europe cannot do the club any good. And for Reading, well, a team in desperate form, an international break could be the worst thing that could have happened.

Having international players such as Noel Hunt, Marek Matejovsky, etc always adds to the prestige of the club but the sheer fact that the team is in such dire straits on the field at the moment they needed extra time to pull themselves from the utter mare they're currently having. They should be on the training pitch righting all of the wrongs that has been this season.

The defeat to Middlesbrough was a bad one; the game lacked any real imagination. Reading were poor. No, they were terrible. Boro should have run riot and a 2-0 defeat was, on reflection, a let-off. A rare cheer went up after 86 minutes when Hunt managed to get a shot on target.

Brendan Rodgers insists he's the man to drag us out of what he started and true to form, I believe him; he's no mug and he knows these players better than anyone does. He openly admitted that Reading were poor, not blaming the referee like a certain red-nosed old bloke in Manchester.
Hurdle

A home win is all that is needed. If that is achieved then the rest will follow with much ease, but it's getting over that first hurdle which has taken a lot longer than anticipated. We expected great football; I sincerely hope it will come soon.

A dip into the loan market would not go a miss with a striker that can actually find the back of the net the priority. Noel Hunt needs a partner; Simon Church is not prolific, Shane Long is absent for too much of the game and Grzegorz Rasiak is just useless. He's a panic buy if I have ever seen one.

Defensively Reading are sorted. Spoilt with good commanding centre halves, we can boast a solid backline: Ivar Ingimarsson, Darren O'Dea, Alex Pearce and Matt Mills are all top-notch. Ryan Bertrand is class and Shaun Cummings is slowly making more of an impact.

The midfield is fully of talent and some work needs to done to find out what is the best mock-up. For me, it has to be Jem Karacan plus two others. And with the international break who knows what injuries or mysterious illnesses could become apparent.

Nevertheless, an awkward trip to West Brom awaits and if they can beat Middlesbrough 5-0 away, we would be expecting a goal fest. I just hope Reading will be scoring at least one.

A New Era Magnificent 7

A lot can happen in a week. After a thrilling weekend rocking and raving at Reading Festival followed by a ‘lads’ week in Bulgaria, football kind of took a disappointing backseat in my agenda in the last week or so. English papers were hard to come by in Eastern Europe and I don’t think they’ve discovered internet yet, so I was thoroughly intrigued to see whether Reading had been able to improve their squad before deadline day on my return.

Straight on the internet, I go, what a wonderful thing it is, and I see James Harper and Liam Rosenior had both departed to rivals Sheffield United and Ipswich Town respectively on season long loans. What? I had to read again. These players were important ones in the last two years and practically releasing them can’t be good business for us, my only logic is that they were on heavy wages and the clubs that secured their signatures agreed to pay them.

Harper’s departure especially, was particularly baffling; he’s been at the club at nine years and has seen Reading through the complete transformation from struggling in League One to top half in the Premier League. Has he been denied a testimonial now? Who knows but the finest memory of Harper I have is after the 1-0 defeat against Tottenham when we were practically relegated he was the only player to give a lap of appreciation, well can’t really call it honour. That moment will stick to remind me what a character he was and how much he contributed to club and how much the club meant to him. For that, he will be fondly remembered.

In all honesty I was never a big fan of Harper as he normally runs around passing backwards for most of the game but handing him to Sheffield United is disappointing, I thought Wolves were interested and even though how much I dislike Wolves moving there would have been more satisfying.

It shows that Brendan Rodgers is getting rid of everything Coppell and bringing in his own stamp on the team. I understand the ‘new era new start’ motto but giving good players to local promotion rivals cannot make sense, can it?

The additions of Brian Howard, Shaun Cummings and Darren O’Dea on deadline day will strengthen the squad and we have potential three main first team players that could have significant impact for the rest of the season. I just hope these weren’t panic buys, something the club is not fond off after Tommy Burns’ hardly magnificent seven back in 1998.

A couple of weeks ago, Gzegrorz Rasiak and Jobi McAnuff joined Ryan Bertrand and Matt Mills, who were signed earlier on in the window, and we look to have substantial cover in most departments. I still believe we remain a quality striker shy of being ultimately competitive come the end of season but we should have enough in the bag to be on course for a playoff spot.

The seven players we signed back in 1998 on deadline day were Scott Howie, Robert Fleck, Stuart Gray, Jimmy Crawford, Paul Brayson, Jim McIntyre and Patrick Kelly and this group of players struggled to change a side on poor form and out of luck. I’m hoping this new crop of players will do a lot better.

I’m not saying we are in anywhere the dangers of yesteryear but the flurry of players entering the club is certainly a revelation. Does Rodgers believe the squad currently is good enough? Did he panic buy and only found some players available? How will these players adapt? and how long will it take them?

I’m not sure what to make of this signings. Cummings is 20 and for the future, Howard is still relatively young and adds some experience to a very young midfield. O’Dea I presume will act as cover across the back four. Rasiak is another option up front, something different; McAnuff will add competition for Jimmy Kebe and Hal Robson-Kanu. Mills and Bertrand are regulars at the back; so in all some good players have come through the door but is it a case for too much too soon? I hope they can gel as soon as possible.

Lessons Learnt

Well that was certainly an eventful weekend. The trip up there was long, and the performance was, in the end, disappointing. It wasn’t a weekend where Reading went to enjoy themselves but it was one where they were educated by brutal realisation that football in this division maybe harder than first expected.

Newcastle United, full of emotion, played outstanding and it’s a win they wholly deserved without question. Reading however, made it easy for them. Forever pumping long balls to an isolated Shane Long will never, ever work. Long started to sulk in the manner he approached the game and he clearly wasn’t enjoying himself or relishing playing this ‘lone’ striker role. It wasn’t until the introduction Noel Hunt that Long started to look himself again.

The defence looked as stable as a Katie Price relationship and had no answer for the power that was Shola Ameobi. The striker taught Alex Pearce many lessons with endless torments of physical presence and Ameobi, to his credit, took his goals very well. The defender may not come up against a more physical opponent this season, but if the case occurs, he may know how to handle it better next time around.

The midfield was completely overrun and even the enthusiasm of Jay Tabb and Scott Davies had no answer for the vastly Premier League experienced duo of Alan Smith and Kevin Nolan. They completely dominated proceedings and if the Magpies are able to keep them from joining average top-flight teams they would surely be a contender for automatic promotion.

Jem Karacan looked a tad nervous in front of a 36,000 crowd, as some wayward passing was very uncharacteristic of him. Perhaps the occasion got the better of him but as the game wore on, he improved and his passing had rhythm and purpose.

It was obvious that a very young Reading team would have days like this but the fact the team failed to perform, even slightly, as they did against Nottingham Forest is a cause for concern. The last time I remember Reading being completely out played and without any answer was probably the 2-0 defeat against Fulham at the Madejski.

Positively Brendan Rodgers praised the performance and the man does speak a lot of sense: "In the first half we were well in the game but went to sleep a couple of minutes before the first goal. Newcastle deserved to win the game but I am very proud of the young players, this is a great experience to come here. We will be better."

It was an experience for the youngsters and perhaps it was good to get these nerves out of the system early before it could matter at the end.

Trip to Newcastle

I woke up this morning with a slight spring in my step and thrill of football fever.

A trip to the Loony Toons awaits Reading and us loyal royals. The hotel is booked, the transport is ready and the beer’s are in the fridge so it’s set to be a spectacular weekend.

The last journey up there I endured delayed trains, rain and a comprehensive 3-0 defeat courtesy of Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins, and Mark Viduka under the leadership of Kevin Keegan. How times have changed?

From that starting XI for Reading only four remain, but only two can possibly feature this Saturday, which may be a concern. Andre Bikey is suspended for his foolish outburst at Burnley last season; Ivar Ingimarsson is injured so that leaves Liam Rosenior and James Harper who had played at St James’ Park. The fifth member could had been Stephen Hunt but he has now gladly got his wishes and entered the gateway of Hull.

The concern for the game is that our young players could become fazed with all of the attention and emotion surrounding the hysteria at Newcastle. Alternatively, on the other hand, they will relish the opportunity, perform above expectations, and record a famous win. I do hope it is the latter.

Newcastle has been a delicate place for the last few years and it’s been nothing short of a drama starring Robson Green, but Reading have the chance to lay down their early season credentials showing the league that they will not settle for mid-table.

It is anyone’s guess what the outcome will be. Nonetheless, with a little bit of optimism, Newcastle are there for the taking and, although it will be an emotional first competitive match since the death of Sir Bobby Robson, Reading will be a little too wise for the home side as they can dictate the pace play the way they want too.

On paper Newcastle should walk all over the Royals with players at their disposal: Nicky Butt, Steve Taylor, Damien Duff, Steve Harper, Fabricio Coloccini, Kevin Nolan, Alan Smith, Geremi, Jonas Gutierrez are all Premier League class but Reading will have the expertise to make them struggle in a new climate and we’ll give them a true welcoming to the Championship.

So Reading’s youngsters have the chance the portray their talents in front of the Sky Sports cameras, I do hope they put on a great show.

Prediction: Newcastle 0 – 3 Reading

Reading Youngsters Prove Worth

The performance was quite simply breathtaking; a burst of goals that coincided with some excellent football to make an all-enjoyable evening but many did miss it. The sea of blue seats was a little disheartening but the fans that turned up still made good voice and saw five top quality strikes in a comprehensive 5-1 win.

Although it was ‘only’ Burton Albion, Reading produced a fine display and it just goes to show what a hungry, young squad Brendan Rodgers has at his disposal. This little youngster Nicholas Bignall made his debut and what a debut it was. Not many can claim that they scored two for their hometown club within 9 minutes of the start.

Bignall’s took his goals brilliantly and his all round game was equally as impressive. He caused constant havoc, his speed and energy troubled Burton’s helpless defence, as they didn’t know how to handle him.

I’m sure Burton defenders would have loved some rope to tie him to the corner flag just to have a moment’s rest from his movement off the ball, he must have tried to cover every blade of grass. He was always an option and the midfield consisting of Marek Matejovsky, Gylfi Sigurdsson and James Harper loved picking him out, he chased everything.

Irish eyes must have been smiling over David Mooney; he took his two goals very well, one from an almost impossible angle, to show case his talents in front of new manager Rodgers and fans alike. There’s a fans’ favourite in the making here.

The crowd sung ‘Mooney, Mooney, Mooney, Mooney, Mooney, ahaha’ in a remediation of the Kaiser Chiefs ‘Ruby’, inspirational stuff and no doubt it’ll be heard again. I fancy it for a ringtone in all honesty.

What a cracking little player Sigurdsson is. Before last night’s performance, he seemed a little unhurried and a tad weak to dominate the midfield, but those thoughts are now forgotten.

His goal flew in and I couldn’t believe I missed it. Damn dehydration. However, having the luxury of Sky Sports News and Sky+ I was able to watch it over and over again and once more after that. What a sensational strike it was; Cristiano Ronaldo would be eating his heart out.

Sigurdsson is the youngster in Reading’s Iceland contingent and has fine role models and compatriots he can look up to in Brynjar Gunnarsson and Ivar Ingimarsson. No doubt he has been given guidance and understands what it takes to succeed at the Mad Stad and on this perform, his career certainly looks promising.

New signing Matthew Mills also made his debut and performed amicable alongside skipper Alex Pearce and this is possibly, and hopefully, Reading’ first choice centre back pairing for the season. Mills looked commanding and has a bit of pace about him; first signs are very encouraging.

Rodgers would have a learnt a little more about his side. Now a trip to Newcastle awaits us.

Sky Sports Taking an Interest

See posts here as well as on the Sky Sports Website!

Click HERE

First Sign Encouraging

Well it wasn’t the fairytale beginning of an exciting new era that we all dreamed off, but it’s weren’t too far off.

A stalemate at home is nothing to sneer your nose at and some, even just a little, composure up front and we could have bagged the first three points of the season and a first home win since January.

I cannot believe it’s been that long.

Nonetheless, it was a very, very encouraging performance and it’s spectacular that potential we have. I was excited.

Brendan Rodgers, the youngest manager in the league, showed that he has the initiative, passion and the expertise to exceed in this job and his animated stances and reactions on the sidelines were a pleasure, a complete contrast to what we saw under Steve Coppell.

Rodgers’ tactics were clever and the formation inspiring, the youngsters looked to be enjoying themselves and playing with some creative freedom.

Scott Davies played surprisingly well on debut and he looked a real driving force in midfield, with Jimmy Kebe and Hal Robson-Kanu occupying the width, Reading looked dangerous every time they attacked.

I went into the game a little anxious, unexpected what was to come really. Forest are no mugs by any means and it was blatantly obvious that they’ve brought £6 million worth of talent. When they nicked a 1-0 win at the Mad Stad last term, they didn’t look good. They played well and performed better as an unit; they will definitely be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.

Although Reading have spent significantly on Matthew Mills, signings have not been flooding in and a few new faces are still expected to come to enhance the squad. A 20 goal a season striker could come in handy but I have faith that Reading will do well.

Playoffs for sure.

Alex Pearce, what a fine centre half he’s becoming, captained Reading to a clean sheet and played like a man who’s been in the playing for ten years; he is pinnacle to Reading’s destiny this season.

I was convinced that Kebe had scored when the deflected of him. Then somehow Davies and then Shane Long blasted over from close range – all was needed was a little bit of composure.

Long looked like he had something to prove and he showed what he was capable, he must be relishing not to be wrestling Kevin Doyle and Dave Kitson for a start up front, he needs to have a good season.

The first signs are certainly encouraging.

Skipper Ivar

So it was the conservative decision for Ivar Ingimarsson to be appointed Reading’s new captain, a far cry from the far left decision to give youngster Alex Pearce the armband, he will be given the vice captaincy instead.

With Ingi’s injuries of late, it must have been tricky to give the responsibility to someone who may not be in the team often.

As determined last year and the year before that, Graeme Murty’s presence was solely missed and his influence and passion was left best on the pitch, when out of the side, the team missed that certain drive.

Let’s hope Ingimarsson will be able to supply that drive on a regular basis.

The Icelandic international was always the safe bet as he has been the club since October 2003, Steve Coppell’s first signing, and his love and knowledge of the clubs exceeds most other candidates.

James Harper’s potential move to Wolves, as reported earlier, gave indication that he was never in the running, and with Andre Bikey linked with many clubs it would be doubtful he would be risked with the responsibility, not that he would have been a good leader anyway.

Brendan Rodgers is certainly a clever man and what he said of Ivar speaks volumes: “Ivar has great respect from everybody here and his communication is open. He is ruthlessly simple, he says it as it is. I know he can put my message across when I am not there.”

That’s fair enough really and that is more than enough for me.

Pearce being given the vice captaincy role is fantastic new, Rodgers definitely knows his worth and if he’s playing constantly this season he’ll now doubt be able to fill role to a very good standard.

Rodgers spoke inspiring words of him: “In terms of Alex, I know that over time he can progress into a natural captain and he can learn from guys like Ivar. I want to help Alex in his progress because he is a natural leader of this club. He will learn as vice captain and be mentored to become captain one day.”

This may be the indication that Pearce may not be automatic first choice and with the signing of Matthew Mills he may have to show his worth more and more.

In all, a fine decision. The obvious one.

We just need a good song for him now.

Mills. Mills. Mills.

Excellent we have a signing and one to shout out about.

Matthew Mills is the latest, with some rumoured to follow, signing of a relatively peaceful summer and it’s the first purchase under the new Brendan Rodgers era.

He joins Ryan Bertrand, on loan from Chelsea, in beefing up the defence and it’s two players that I, personally, am really looking forward to seeing.

Last season Mills had a great season and was arguably Doncaster’s finest performer as Sean O’Driscoll exceeded all expectations to finish mid table in the Championship.

Mills comes to Reading for a slightly different task. He and Alex Pearce should form a formidable partnership as the club can get rid of the ever so slightly expansive Andre Bikey for a significant profit. There’s many rumoured in the hunt for his signature.

Doncaster paid a record signing fee for the centre albeit it only £300,000 but they made a grand profit of their own. Gladly he has a winning playoff mentality, when he secured promotion with Donny via the playoffs after beating Leeds ‘Scum’ United, and this may be a crucial factor come the end of the season.

It’s reported that Reading paid anything up to £2.3 million for his services and if he performs well he could attract a higher fee in the future.

It’s a grand transfer policy and a player that fits the bill perfectly. Well done Nicky Hammond.

He’s young, only 23, and ambitious but there is only one serious problem – he was born in Swind*n.

The Shock

If The Independent is regarded extremely left wing, it’s Championship coverage must be the same.

Have a look who they have touted as ‘one to watch’ for next season for the whole Championship.

I’m still in shock.

He's not that good is he?

Highlights of 2008/09 season

I saw something worthwhile when bored searching this wonderful thing called the internet.

I came across a brilliant highlights package on YouTube for last season.

So, If you want to relive last season’s ‘failure’ and the ending of an era feel free.

I certainly did and felt good for doing so. It made me more excited for this up and coming one.

The highlights shows footage of some of the finest players that wore the blue and white of Reading.

So watch Kevin Doyle, Graeme Murty, Glen Little, Dave Kitson, Stephen Hunt (Maybe, or rather hopefully), Marcus Hahnemann, Leroy Lita and ...er........ Michael Duberry for the last time* in a Reading shirt.

Enjoy.

* That's if there not on loan to us come January.

SJM has Good Intentions, Honest.

After reading some, if not many, comments about our ‘supposed’ financial state that Reading are particularly in I feel I need to go on the defensive.

This season especially we have seen big earners Kevin Doyle (Wolves for £6.5 million), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolves for free), Leroy Lita (Released, yet to find a club), Michael Duberry (Wycombe Wanderers for free), and Graeme Murty (Released, on trial at Southampton) all leave the club without replacements being brought in.

Dave Kitson (£5.5 million to Stoke City), Ibrahima Sonko (£2.25 million to Stoke City), Nicky Shorey (Around £4 million to Aston Villa) were all sold at the beginning of last season, so on paper it seems that Reading have made significant profit.

However, the price of relegation far exceeds what people expect. Given the demands of sponsorships and TV money in the top flight and it’s completely different compared to the Championship.

TV money is a small fraction from what you do get in the Premier League and the newly constructed media centre as well as stadium expansion plans all cost plenty of money. The club also paid for the upgrade on the Madejski Hotel annoyingly.

Player’s wages increase significantly and although there's a relegation wage decrease, it's still more than they were originally was on. The parachute payments simply help combat all those things.

Not to mention the empty seats that appears more consistently throughout the season. The playoff game against Burnley wasn’t even a sell out - just one game from Wembley. Every empty seat costs money and if we had the attendances that Sheffield United get we would be able to splash out £2 million on a single player on a regular basis.

It is nothing more than extraordinary that a club, like ours, are balanced brilliantly after suffering relegation, we could have easily gambled to the extent of Southampton, Charlton or Norwich (who are all relegated) and find ourselves in a much more complicated situation.

Birmingham City, for instance, spent two season budgets in one and if they failed to win promotion, they would find themselves in dire straits. Therefore, for a team like Reading, still with many talented players on high wages, it would have been foolish to impose our slim budget any further and gambled unnecessarily.

That’s why this supposed ‘huge war chest’ never came around.

This season has a different prospect however, we can’t afford to gamble anymore and the inevitable departure of Doyle and soon to be departed Stephen Hunt was needed to make sure the club stay stable. This is why that transfer money isn’t available for new players; I’m sure there is some but not to the extent some fans are expecting.

Some unfair criticism is currently pointed at Sir John Madejski for this, it’s becoming more of an everyday occurrence, as it appears that he hasn’t handed any of the previous managers’ war chests to improve the squad; however, there is a reason for this.

He gambled £1 million on Leroy Lita and we won promotion, even though the £70,000 spent on Doyle was a more worthwhile expenditure; he must have that in mind.

Financially speaking we lost £1 million on Leroy but gained £6.4 million on Doyle. Hardly need a mathematician to work out what are the better figures?

So he doesn’t see spending big will be beneficial for the club, and as there are not any Arab billionaires lying around, I think it’s the sensible choice.

The issue SJM has is losing money through his own pocket. The cash he’s invested into the academy has been somewhat pointless ever since its existence but now it is finally paying dividends.

The emergence of players like Jem Karacan, Alex Pearce, Julian Kelly, James Henry, Hal Robson-Kanu, Scott Davies, Shane Long, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Simon Church, Simon Cox, Mikkel Anderson will all, sooner rather than later, make an impact on the first team and his investment is starting to look worthwhile.

Before he saw many of players graduating from the academy, that had potential, being sold off cheaply with other clubs making grand profit.

SJM knows the value of youth and seen his club miss big windfalls as good talent left to make a name for themselves elsewhere.

The fees that some of youth have attracted after leaving have been unforgiving.

Darius Henderson was sold for practically nothing to Gillingham, he moved to Watford for £450,000 and then to Sheffield United for £2 million. Big money lost.

Nathan Tyson moved to Wycombe for a fee believed to be £100,000, and after performing well he soon transferred to Nottingham Forest for £750,000. Still big money lost.

Simon Cox was given to Swind*n Town for £200,000 and not long after he moved to rivals West Brom for £1.5 million. Good enough to lead West Brom’s frontline; surely he would have been a success at Reading?

Jamie Ashdown left on a free to join Portsmouth and we had to settle for a little compensation fee.

All this money nurturing talent was wasted as other clubs benefitted; the ones we trained and introduced into football.

Brendan Rodgers knows this and arguably, it was one of the major reasons for his appointment to get the best out of youth.

Most of the current young players would have been fresh faced 15/16 year olds when our new manager was in charge of the Reading youths back in 2003/2004, now Rodgers have seen them grown in men ready for the next stage of their careers and who would be better to implement them into the first team.

Now it’s time for the management to stop letting these players slip through the club’s fingers, as it’s now time to profit with success and top-flight football.

Pearce: The Ideal Candidate

Down the Baron the other day (what a god awful Wetherspoon it is), I, and some other disgruntled Reading enthusiasts, discussed who would be best to replace Graeme Murty as captain.

It ended up being quite rational as we all came to different conclusions. It was quite astonishing actually.

One argued for James Harper, a brutal runner that quite-frankly does nothing worthwhile on a football pitch, as he’s been at the club for the longest and knows Reading inside and out. Unfortunately, my misguided friend had one too many Carlings’ and it was agreed that Harper would be an awful choice.

The thought of him attending pre and post match interviews fashioning those ridiculous basketball jerseys are cringe worthy and something the club doesn’t really need. Having Andre Bikey in the team alone make Reading a laughing stock.

Supposedly, Harper’s a midfield general but in the ideal Royals team, he would be confined to warming the bench, as he doesn’t make the impact that he once had. He misses Steve Sidwell; he misses him a lot. Fans have not seen the real James Harper, whatever that is, for a long time now and if a club comes in with a modest fee, I can see Rodgers selling him without worry.

One ill-educated Reading fan actually recommended Bikey and resounding laughter subsequently followed. He was dead serious as well.

He claimed that Bikey is a fully-fledged international and has character on the pitch. Well his over exuberant rant after being dismissed at Burnley is not character it was just plain stupidity.

The sensible one offered Gunnarsson and I can see why. The Icelander seems to be the father figure in the team, the go-to guy, the man that often gets the team out of trouble.

If he were five years younger and a constant first team regular, he would be installed as captain as soon as Murty left but that is not the case. If he was appointed skipper it would only be short-term solution and this problem will arose itself again next season.

Another wants Ivar Ingimarsson and to be fair he seems to be the readymade replacement. He was the forgotten man last season; we did miss him considerably, especially in the latter parts of the season.

At 31, he is not too old and he could be the next captain for the four or five years but it’s undecided whether he will be a regular next season as injuries have hampered him for a while now.

I’m a little more left wing than my friends are. I went for Alex Pearce.

Although I would like to hide the fact that he was born in Oxf*rd, his all round ability has been thought a lot of and the way he would have a rant at someone who’s ten years his senior was simply inspiring and a little intimidating in all honesty.

Many may see him as too young, being 20, to lead a team. What is age apart from a nuisance?

The way he conducts himself and the way he leads by example certainly impresses. Whether it’s a headed clearance or creating momentum with a little run out of defence, he gives Reading so much.

Rodgers should see him as pinnacle to his plans and a regular berth at the heart of Reading’s defence is necessary for the club to move on with the next generation.

He’s grown up with the likes of Julian Kelly, Jem Karacan, and James Henry and if he’s installed as captain will give these players the inspiration to be confident to break into the first team if they perform well.

Pearce prides himself on having a strong aerial presence and good awareness. Those assets are clearly visible and his game can only improve.

When sitting close to the pitch at the Graeme Murty testimonial, you could hear Pearce screaming at the whole team and at certain individuals about this, that, and everything. He bellowed at Jay Tabb about positioning and he looked generally upset when the first half penalty was awarded for a nothing challenge.

Although appointing him will probably end up being wide of the mark, a strong character is needed to lead the Royals into the top flight.

And for me, Pearce is the ideal candidate.

Who do you think it should be?

Time for Long to Deliver

I will galvanise a sublime panorama for you. Just imagine a striker that has no real or significant attributes, that has lived on his Irish pals fame, who’s been around for three season and yet to make any thorough impact will lead our attack next season.

Shane Long has been given number 9 and number 9 is what he will wear.
I’ve always been a Longer fan and his 24 is symbolised on the back of my rather too bright Orange away shirt. His four well-taken goals against Tolo IF will surely place him as hot favourite to fill spearhead the attacking 3 in a 4-3-3 that Brendan Rodgers is working so prominently on.

A four nil drumming is always morale boosting and will escalate Reading’s confidence that will be taken so epically into the new season but it’s Long’s goals that were the important factor in this win.

Although the part time pub footballers that we are coming against in Sweden can rarely be classed as ‘competition’, it’s always good to see strikers amongst the goals and with Long scoring all four it shows the fans that he can be relied upon to get a goal or two. Maybe Kevin Doyle’s departure has placed more emphasis on Long and stepping into his boots may be the best thing for him, he’s no longer hiding in the shadows.

The fans often have split loyalties on Longer; half believe he is utter crap and the other half are bedazzled by him. It is difficult to know what Long will turn up but if it’s in one that turned up against Charlton Athletic at home and Norwich City away last season, Reading will not be missing Doyler at all this term.

It’s going to be a big season for him and I rather doubt that he will be given much of an opportunity by Rodgers’ as with only one attacker up top he will need to be performing from the beginning or he’ll find himself warming the bench once again.

He’s needs to be in the goals now and be scoring and playing well with every game he plays up until the kick off the new campaign.

His photo-shoot for the kit launch gave an awe of arrogance from him and with the ‘marketing’ people choosing Long, it indicates that the people behind the scenes all believe that he will make an outstanding impact.

He’s now 22 and been on the fringes of the first team for a long time so it is time he makes his mark and my word I hope he does.

Get Real GetReading - Versatile Davies looking at Breakthrough

Stumbling over some Reading FC news, as you do, I came across a GetReading story about Scott Davies that was rather bemusing.

It was not the fact he has been highlighted in the story that was the problem but it was the way the story was constructed and began that startled and annoyed me.

It began, “Rooming with Mikkel Andersen might not have been Scott Davies’ ideal choice, but the midfielder’s two goals on Thursday will help him get over it.”
What the hell does this mean?

Davies doesn’t like Andersen? Is there an instinctive lack of collectiveness in the changing room? I have no idea but in the future let’s hope that Jonny Fordham try to find a more comforting and realistic angle for a story; he makes me miss Nick Ive.

Davies, on the other, should and will be given this season to prove his worth and show why he is a Championship player. He’s performed amicably at Andersh*t and was a big factor for their promotion two seasons ago. His goal scoring rate wasn’t bad either - 13 in 41 outings.

Davies now comes into a side that has a new manager installed and has the chance to show why he deserves a crack in the side and two goals against the Swedish part-timers Jonsered would do him the world of good.

With the introduction of seven substitutes in the Championship next season and with his versatility, he can play right back, right midfield or in the centre, he will look hot favourite to take up a position on the bench. Ideally, he’s our new Brynjar Gunnarsson.

The Republic of Ireland hopeful is relishing playing with some good quality players, a far cry from what he had to put up with at Aldersh*t. He expressed to the Post that he’s enjoyed playing and training with Jay Tabb and Gunnarsson as he is learning a lot.

But with all Jonny Fordham jokes aside, Davies may step up, make a noticeable impact next season, and join Reading’s crop of youngsters to lead us to the top flight once again.

Murty's Highlighted on Sky Sports

Sky Sports special on the one and only Graeme Murty. God I miss him already.

Rumours, Rumours, Rumours,

Ok I’m starting to like this. As the squad departs and have fun in Sven’s homeland, the rest of us are left behind complementing who we are going to sign and some of the players I really like the sound off.

According to the Wokingham Times we were rumoured with Tottenham’s youngster Adel Taarabt and he would have been a brilliant additional to our prevailing squad.

Unfortunately he looks to be heading to rivals Queen Park Bench Rangers nevertheless a good player to be rumoured with and one mad Tottenham fan informed that we missed out on a world class player in the making. I hope he’s not right.

Chelsea’s Jack Cork remains to be heavily linked, he was with Brendan Rodgers at Watford last term. Spurs centre back Dorian Dervitte is another however with Tottenham’s recent centre back crisis, Woodgate, King and Dawson are all apparently
going to miss the start of the season, this looks very doubtful at present.

Another one is Macedonian international Ilco Naumoski. Whoever he is? We are supposedly stuck in a three-way battle to sign the striker with Coventry and Hearts but I’m not sure is good or bad – 29 international games with only six goals is not the kind of striker I personally want to sign.

And according to those brilliant minds at the Dairy Mirror Reading are trying to sign Jobi McAnuff. The winger was, again, at Watford and a bid of £800,000 is expected as a like for like replacement Stephen Hunt.

This is a list of some very good players that I would love to see at our club- they would not only be an asset to the squad but they would an asset to the first team as well.

May the rumours continue.

Murty Man

Every Loyal Royal must watch and love this. I know I do.



What do you think?

£30,000 for What? Hunt needs to go

Ok, I read something extraordinary, eerie and a bit disturbing. It is said on the Get Reading website that Stephen Hunt is being paid something in the region of £30,000 a week. Yes, a week.

Reading, the team that has just been relegated, the team who’s budget in often very limited in the best of times are shelling out far too much for a player who’s, honestly, not that good.

Reading this has just annoyed me more and being paid more than double anyone else in the team surely he’s warranted to put in a big performance now and again. Off hand, it’s hard to remember the last game he played better than average. Back in the glory days of top-flight football, he was good, better than average most of the time and remembering games against Everton and West Ham at home showed the world how good he could be. However a season down in the doldrums of the Championship indicates that he does not want to be with the club anymore.

Brendan Rodgers understand that his budget will be severely torn in half if Hunt does not leave by the end of August and he must be hoping for a bidder to enter the fray sooner rather than later.

Hunt’s mockery cameo appearances against Didcot Town and Kettering were indeed laughable especially that, in both games, he played left back as we don’t have Chris Armstrong up to scraps yet. Ryan Bertrand, just signed on a season long loan from Chelsea, will be sharing left back duty with Armstrong from now on and Rodgers’ seems reluctant to use Hunt in any sort of attacking formality.

And who can blame him. Why should he use a player that is obviously going to move on? Rightly, he’s giving youth a chance, a step I very much encourage. Hal Robson-Kanu performed wonders for Swind*n last season and he deserves a little run in the team to see if he is up to the task. James Henry definitely deserves a run in the team if he does well in preseason, especially with the hopelessness of Jimmy Kebe on our right wing.

It seems rather pointless having Hunt in the first team squad at all especially if Rodgers intentions are not use him and if he wants match sharpest a spell in the reserves wouldn’t be the worse thing.

Rumours on the paper fronts have gone dead recently as gossip of a move to Everton, Wigan, Fulham, Sunderland, or Bolton hasn’t appeared for a few weeks worryingly. No doubt, they will soon pick and these clubs have a potential bargain on their hands as Reading might just accept any bid that heads their way.

Therefore, any half-decent Premier League club out there please take Hunt off our hands, as he will be much more of use to you than he would us.

Beaten by Kettering, but Bertrand set to shine

Football is a results business; fortunately for Reading, friendly results are not. After demolishing Didcot Town 5-1 midweek, our season’s preparation came crashing down to earth with a damaging 2-1 defeat at Kettering (No, you did read that correctly).

And this was with are supposed first teamers. An experimental 4-3-3 formation was intact and the news coming from the website is that we lacked the cutting edge in front of goal. Using just a lone front man, especially in the form of Simon Church or Shane Long, we are always going to struggle to keep possession high up the field although this system relies on instant back up from the wingers it’s a system that we cannot adopt with our current crop of players. Hal Robson-Kanu and James Henry are great prospects and good players but they won’t get us promoted. Without sounding too much like Alan Hanson here, but ‘you won’t win anything with kids’.

Fair enough it’s preseason and this is only the second game into it but form in crucial and heading to the season with momentum is a must; hence why a game against Chelski is not ideal.

Long has yet to score whilst Church scored our only goal to show that he is good for a goal but we still need that defining cutting edge to make us Championship competitors. It scares me that Jimmy Kebe will be relied on to provide Reading with ‘cutting edge’ but he’s as creative as a rock and that’s being a little harsh on the rock.

Meanwhile Rodgers’ first signing as manager, Ryan Bertrand, started the game. He put in a good 45 minutes at left-back before being replaced by Stephen Hunt at half time. He’s supposedly an England under 21 international and is groomed to be Ashley Cole’s replacement at club and international level; on this basis signing Bertrand seems to be a masterstroke however is he joining as a first teamer or as cover.

Chris Armstrong done a fantastic job last term and it will be disappointing to see him pushed to the sidelines to play a bit part role. Rodgers’ has said that Bertrand is the ‘modern day full back’ and his addition to the squad does seem logical. Having two players in every position is crucial and with Julian Kelly out injured as well he will be good defensive cover, as he can play right back if called upon.
Even at the tender age of 19, he’s already ranked up almost 100 senior appearance appearances with various clubs, and at Norwich last term he was one of their most spoke about players, so joining a club that’s hopefully heading in the opposition direction will be good for him to learn his trade.

We’ll please to hear that Bertrand’s aim for the season is to win the league; but has to say that doesn’t he?

The Pre Season is Upon Us

It’s that time again kids. Well time for those overzealous adults for a deep unconditional love for Reading FC to dig deep in their wardrobes to get out their blue and whites, grab that thermos of Bovril and prepare themselves for another whirlwind adventure. Well Reading haven’t been like a whirlwind adventure for a while under the gamesmanship of Steve Coppell but hearing Rodgers’ ambitions and desires the club are set for one hell of a rollercoaster journey and boy I’m excited.

It’s been a long time since that crushing defeat to Burnley at the not very Mad Stad but nevertheless the new dawn is upon us and hope the sun will be shining stronger than ever. The annual trip down the road to the Loop Meadow Stadium is amongst us and surely a few Loyal Royals will be bounded to head down the A4074 to see what the season has in store for us.

I remember three years ago, I think, when a certain Jem Karacan kicked of his Reading career in style with a tremendous volley that any half-decent centre midfielder, and Reading have many of them, would be extremely proud off. This seasons agenda will be similar to last as ‘sticking out the reserves’ is not a welcomed opportunity that we can endeavour anymore. As a Championship side, we need as many games as possible to get the first team squad fit, ready and on form otherwise we are doomed to begin the season badly and we are somewhat famous for our good starts, so a bad start, an ok middle and a poor ending will not be a good season.

Didcot Town won’t provide us any real opposition and a routine win is what’s expected although it would be great to kick off the Brendan Rodgers era with a huge win with plenty of well worked goals. Some say the result don’t matter, I say the result definitely matters – a winning mentality is a successful one and that mindset needs to be implemented as soon as possible.

A winning mentality in football needs a good goal scorer and at the moment Reading severely lack one – making this game that all more important for players like Shane Long, David Mooney and Simon Church to get in amongst the goals to claim a rightful starting spot. Noel Hunt is good for a goal but the other three have huge boots to fill and scoring a jagged uneventful hat-trick would be good practise to show the Reading faithful as well as the new gaffer that they are capable of replacing Kevin Doyle, Dave Kitson and Leroy Lita.

Stephen Hunt will be in the team and getting rid of him must be a priority. The Irishman has a defining influence on the team and the set-up and the sooner he moves the sooner we can replace him. It’s hardly a new fact that Hunt is looking to move elsewhere and I wouldn’t particular use him in any real format anymore. That left side position is in need of strengthening and the possible signing of Tommy Smith reinitiates our desire to sign the Championship’s biggest names and make a real challenge to get back to the cooperate fat cats in the Premier League.
But for now it’s a game against Didcot and anything par a good win would ultimately be a disappointment.

Go on Longer get us a goal or four.

First Day of Training and It's All Change

The first day of a long season has just begun, the players retreated to Hogwoods for the first day of training and there are plenty of familiar faces missing.

Seeing the pictures were peculiar without the presence of Graeme Murty and Marcus Hahnemann be there at training - it does not seem quite Reading.

To make things a little bit more stranger there was someone wearing the number 9 training kit. Unless my eyes deceive me, it was Shane Long sporting the garment, the one previously worn by Kevin Doyle. Does this mean that Brendan Rodgers sees Long as the long-term fix and the source of goals for next season? Or what is just coincides he wore that jersey?

It was nice to see Stephen Hunt turning up even though a move away is more or less a certainly – Rodgers even claimed on SSN that he expects the Irishman to move on.
Therefore, do we look for his replacement now or leave it when he leaves?

Rodgers spoke of how he wants at least four new players to join the squad he has inherited and he spoke of his desire to bring Tommy Smith to the club. A move that I support, even though Watford have reacted angrily to Rodgers’ comments. Who cares?
If Smith wants to move to Reading, in time he will do so.

Nathan Tyson has been rumoured that he is likely to rejoin the club and this would please me immensely. I always thought we got rid of him far too quickly as in time he would come good. He’s similar to Darius Henderson in retrospect, two young players we just sold cheaply and moved on to make a real names for themselves. Simon Cox is another, even though it’s claimed we have received a ‘significant’ sell-on fee, these players we should have been looking to develop.

At present, the current of crop of youngster should be given time to develop. Jem Karacan, Alex Pearce, Julian Kelly, James Henry, should all be given time to develop and they should ideally all have a pivotal role to play in this season coming up.

Nevertheless, Long is one youngster that will have the time to make the step up to a first team regular and being given the number 9 would give him much confidence to lead the line for the Royals. My God, I hope he does and I think he will.

How to replace Doyle?

It been something like a week since Kevin Doyle’s departed and the confusion hasn’t yet disappeared.

Why Wolves? I simply don’t get it. Someone of his talents deserves better - well at least Fulham I suppose.

Nevertheless, he has walked away from Berkshire for a season trying to save his new club from a relegation battle as we attempt to get back to the topflight.

Kudos to Doyle, thank you for the memories and there are plenty. And to be fair I will miss him dearly, he has constantly been one of my favourite players in our recent era.

The way he plays and the effort he puts in every time is a delight and unfortunately for us loyal royals, Wolves will get to experience all that first hand, as we ponder who will fill his boots.

Now whoever comes in will have huge task wearing that Number 9 shirt and I presume the new management team are looking intently for a suitable and adequate replacement.

We still have some quality left at the club with Noel Hunt good for a goal and I, unlike many, believe Shane Long will come prolific sooner rather than later. We have another Irish youngster waiting in the wings - Dave Mooney – he performed well for Norwich City at the latter end of last season and he could be good for a goal or two.

However, we do need a fourth striker – we have always had four at the club and we’ll be foolish not to splash out on a decent young striker. Similar to what we did with Leroy Lita when we signed him from Bristol City.

Promotion season we had Dave Kitson, Leroy, Doyle and Long and three of them were untested at Championship level at the time, they took the league by surprise and that is something we need to do.

Look to the lower leagues and see who has been scoring. We could have had Simon Cox but we practically gave him away to local rivals Swind*n Town and his goal scoring record was stunning in a team that was close to relegation.

At least we made a reported £6million from Doyle and that money will be put to good use hopefully.

The Joy of No Media

Hello, is anyone there?

The Mad Stad is a ghost town with only the living dead walking around.

It’s official no one in Reading is remotely happy. When getting my eagerly anticipated Graeme Murty testimonial ticket (I urge you to get yours) at the stadium, it remained me of a funeral. There wasn’t even a glimmer of a smile; even a smirk would have been a long shot, there was just people speaking about the good times.

I must have walked past ten people and they must have been all stuck in their dejection of another season in the Championship. I even asked what was wrong with that. Foolish. I almost lost my head. The Burnley defeat hurt but for Pete’s sake, more on.

Even the man who sold the tickets looked like he lost the will to live.

I walked quite happily humming the tune to that latest Take That song (forgive me), people must have thought I was nuttier than squirrel shit but this is a season not to be down. This is one season I am looking forward too.

Yes, there is no Premier League - blah blah blah - but this season the Championship is going to be the most competitive it’s going to be for years. And as my brilliant (I have to say that) university housemate Dave Kifford pointed out in his blog Black and White Toon – media coverage this season so far has been sparse at this level.

Fair enough, Newcastle’s scintillating soap opera may be a tad more extreme than ours but the media hasn’t been out in their masses labelling us ‘relegated Reading’ or asking the question ‘will they bounce straight back up?’

Now it’s time to go through a pre season without the pressure of previous seasons and expectations are not as high neither.

The fact remains no one can judge us yet nor see what we can be capable of doing but at least we know who are manager is (sorry Newcastle and West Brom fans). No doubt Brendan Rodgers is busy preparing himself for a hopeful preseason and an eventful season, when it finally gets here.

We can get players on the quiet and spring a real surprise next term. Fly under the radar so to speak.

Let’s hope that’s the case.

Nevertheless, Murty’s testimonial is on July 21st and the game itself seems a bit of a farce. Reading Now versus Reading 4 years ago is not ideal. It was going to be Celtic but surely the organisers could conjure up something better. An ex-England 11, like Parkinson’s, would be a lot better suited and be more potentially fun for spectators.

However, it does give us the chance for us to familiarise ourselves with some ‘famous’ faces.

What does Chris Makin look like again?

Gladly, Clubs are in the 'Hunt'

Depending on how you see it, there was great news coming out of Reading today.

Nick Hammond says the club have no qualms about Stephen Hunt declaring he wants to leave.

Brilliant, send him packing and to the next bidder, whatever that bid might be.

Don’t get me wrong, Hunt is a very good player - his natural ability is questionable but his exuberance and work rate shines out like a beckon. He has scored some important goals in the Premier League, after playing only a mere cameo role in our promotion season. His dedication to stay with the club was inspiring and down to him Reading’s good (ish) name tarnished in the media with his incident with Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech. Did he mean it? Did he bollocks.

However, the second half of the previous season he was appalling, non-existence and if it wasn’t for the performances of Chris Armstrong our entire left side would have been very weak.

It’s beyond me what Sunderland, Wigan, Everton, Fulham and Bolton potentially see how Hunt could add anything to their teams but maybe a fresh start would be good for the Frodo look alike and propel him to perform to his ability rather than sulk like an irritable child.

Recently Hunt showed a vast lack of enthusiasm for Reading and rarely looks bothered whether he’s involved in the game or not. Therefore, the club and the fans should not want him at the club if he doesn’t want to be there.

It looks if he thinks he has gotten too big for the club so Reading should cash in – a £5 million pound release clause maybe a bit excessive and may scare of any bidders– and buy young player bursting with potential or give Hal Robson-Kanu a go down the left.

Even if he does go, it would be on a slight sour note, Hunt has given us all some good and some very funny memories.

The winner at Everton at home, the cheeky offside goal at Goodison, the one of six against West Ham, his involvement in Keith Gillespie’s sending off, they are all memorable but as this is a new era (it’s kept being said) and Hunt, a big personality living on past glories, needs to move on.

He will be missed. Who else can be as deceptive as he can in passing? or when he takes on defenders? The thing I will miss the most would be his tackling; it’s just not normal.

The Loyal Royal

A heart-warming story or crazy fool?

You decide.

Nevertheless I am in awe of you - Charles McLeod, you take the term Loyal Royal pass all expectations.

And I honour you.

Full Story

'Winning Football'

Brendan Rodgers’ battle cry is in full force. The Reading website seems to have a different interview published every day on the manager’s intentions. Well it fills the void of nothing I suppose.

Today’s strong message was about him wanting the fans’ to be on his side.

“Our supporters are absolutely vital.” Rodgers told the Reading website, “They are down as number 13 on the teamsheet – and they certainly are just that.

“The atmosphere they can create, and the intensity of their emotion, it helps the players, no question.”

It’s all a rather nice sentiment at the moment and it reassure fans that something is happening, even though I expect these words were just an extension of the press conference when he was appointed but oh well it gives us something to read.

Rodgers says he is ‘the biggest Reading supporter’ and pledged to ‘give his life’ in order to bring success.

It’s all saying this but nothing has happened of note yet, us fans don’t quite know whose names we can be put on the back of our pending new shirts.

He continues, “It’s my job, with the players, to ensure that energy returns and the way to do that is with entertaining and exciting football – and of course winning football.”

His words do excite me a little.

‘Winning football’ – hallelujah!

Please, please, please, let that be the case.

On a lighter note, I’ve booked and reserved the hotel up in Newcastle for our first away trip of the season; Dick has volunteered to drive up there and that will be one fun road trip.

Let’s just hope it won’t be a fruitless journey.

Not the Sale I Thought

Thank God – the weekend huge clearance sale at Madejski was just limited to the season’s kit and glossy books and not our first team squad. Although I’m sure promoted teams will be able to pick up a bargain or two when the transfer window gets underway.

When this sale was first mentioned to me, I joked that Nicky Hammond and Co went devastatingly loopy and were going to get rid of everything – the players, the management, the match day staff, etc - when they mean a ‘new era’, they mean a ‘new era’. It wouldn’t be entirely bad, would it?

But after calming down from too many dodgy tasting Carling’s and exchanging way too many awkward stares with unattractive women, rationality kicked in and I realised that the items on sale are just endless reminders of when we were unconditionally loved by world football, well England anyway.

Merchandise is cheap; memories are priceless.

The football we played was sensational – the Arsenal of the Championship, some touted – and the support we got was tremendous. But all these memories are ever so slightly in vain if they are going to be casted of the shelves for a pound a piece to capricious supporters that only ‘like’ Reading when the going is good. It is a little disheartening to say the least.

All of this illusive merchandise was all going for bargain prices, it epitomises our distinguishing past, to those that paid hundreds, even thousands to live those memories of promotion but I least I can say, like many others, I was there and knowing that means a lot more. Those feelings can’t be merely brought for a flipping pound.

In essence, it looks as if the club just made the most of our small stint in the Premier League and completely overestimated how many fans supported Reading as their first club.

I, being the complete sad fuck I am, have all of them. The promotion DVD, the Premier League season– both discs, the relegation season and I will probably buy last season’s failure as well just remind myself what reality is like.

Now many of those players that made my wildest dreams come true – well not all of my wildest dreams, I’m still waiting for Jessica Alba to get back to me – will be sold off to the highest bidder and the good luck to them.

I saw Kevin Doyle’s first goal, I saw Leroy Lita slam in the winner against Middlesbrough, I saw Dave Kitson’s chip, and Bobby Convey running the length of the pitch to score against Millwal – these memories will forever be with me.

But I dwelling too much on the past so thanks for the memories lads, but it’s time to have some new ones.

A new season, a new manager, a new team, new prospects and a new way of doing things, this is going to be one hell of a season. I just hope more Reading fans will live every kick with me and perhaps the next lot of merchandise may not end up being worthless.

Wolves are Biting Again

Those Brown shirt-wearing bastards are at it again.

This time it’s for Kevin Doyle. According to Reading Chronicle, well Anthony Smith,
Wolves are closing in on the striker for an estimated £6.5 million to bolster their Premier League survival hopes.

I really, really, really hope he doesn’t join the ignorant, selfish Wolves side.

Those bullies always take our best players, this is a team we comfortably beat twice the previous season and know have the goalkeeper and potentially the striker that played so well against them.

To make daggers in the back hurt a little more, it was Marcus Hahnemann quotes saying that all these players will be leaving, and he probably hopes for company at his new side.

The ex-loyal Royal said, “I think its inevitable will go. They could well move on because I think the club are trying to off load some salaries.”

And to be fair he is right. Hahnemann is 37 years old and on a supposed £12,000 a week, so yeah his salary would probably be good to get off the wage bill.

Doyle’s worth his salary a little more and he will be a lot harder to replace. As long it’s not Robbie ‘I can barely score and cost a lot of money’ Earnshaw it’ll be fine.

Doyle will probably end up going but he can do much better than Wolves. I’m sure Everton or Aston Villa would be great options. He is that good. He’s a starter for his international side and he should be number one choice for his club side too, whoever that might be.

Wolves eat up Hahnemann

Marcus Hahnemann has joined the enemy.

Wolverhampton Wanderers have been snapping at our players again. Fair enough, he’s out of contract but geez he could have joined anyone else.

Simon Osborne, Aidy Williams and Michael Gilkes all moved up north and it was painstakingly punishing for any Reading fan to see our players put on the horrible brown of Wolves. It does leave a bitter taste in my mouth that Hahnemann elected to join them.

I don’t like Wolves. Never have done.

It’s not a case of being bitter but not much about Wolves I like. I remember coming back from a goal down to win 2-1 in the last minutes of the game at Elm Park years ago and I have never felt such relief and excited at a victory. It was the proudest victory I ever saw with my dad and it remains one of my fondest memories at the old Stadium.

Mick McCarthy pounced on a good goalkeeper that we’ve unfortunately released, and he
knows a good one when he sees one. He’ll be a brilliant back up to Wayne Hennessey, and he’ll probably eventually take over the Number 1 spot.

Hahnemann was as important as anyone else in our recent era and it will be difficult to see him wearing any goalkeeper jersey other than Reading’s. Will he be throwing his top into the crowd after a win – I hope not. That was special for us, and kids including my 38-year-old sister adore him to the ground.

The United States international is now back in the Premier League and his eight years at Madejski Stadium will be remembered fondly.

I hope he does well.

Planning for Next Season

The Fixtures are out and it’s sweet, sweet, sweet.

Nottingham Forest at home to begin with will be a good test but should be an expected win; although last season’s 1-0 defeat is trembling in my mind. God, I’ll be nervous.

Then a luscious trip to St James’ Park to play Newcastle United, the biggest away fixture will be out of the way before Reading gets into the thick of the action in the Championship. I’m already planning my trip up there. Last time I was up in the heavens at Newcastle, I witnessed, like many poor Loyal Royals, a convincing 3-0 defeat- damn you Viduka, Owen and Martins ruining my six-hour trip. I hope that we can catch them cold this time around, as they won’t be up to the pace of the Championship, but it’s anyone’s guess.

August in all will be a difficult month with away trips to Swansea City and Barnsley, and a grudge home match to Sheffield United. It would probably be fair to say that this month could outline our season. Maximum points and we are laughing, a few defeats would be damaging. I’m sure Brendan Rodgers will have his team playing slick football when the season starts; well we can hope can’t we?

A game that I’m particularly pleased in seeing is an away trip to Leicester City late March; more or least a repeat of the 2005/06 promotion season where a Kevin Doyle goal sealed our promotion (sobs). I doubt history would repeat itself but there is no harm in dreaming. I am a dreamer after all.

We finish the season with a tough home encounter against Preston North End but I doubt that game will be important; we would have promotion wrapped up in April. See told you I was a dreamer.

My wishful thinking may get the better of me again. Oh well, I have hope and far too excited for the new season.

Urzzzz

Burton Albion are coming

God, it’s only June 16th and the season has started already.

Southampton began pre season training yesterday, and the Carling Cup first round draw was today. Burton Albion could be the first team at the Madejski Stadium (we find out tomorrow with the fixtures) and its hit home that we have succumbed to another season of Championship.

But hey ho, I’m excited.

A summer of unpredictability is upon us, who will stay and who will go. It’s anyone’s guess.

We now have the manager in place, Brendan Rodgers, and now it’s about establishing a team and making them a dominate force in what is going to be a difficult league. The management team is on board with Frank Lampard snr, Dean Austin and Karl Halabi have all joined from Watford to replace Kevin Dillon and Wally Downes. Now the players need sorting.

At present, we know one game next season and it will probably draw in a crowd of 10,000 if lucky. After winning the Conference last term, Burton will be on a massive high and a trip to the Madejski will be special for them. A huge upset is, potentially, on the cards.

I’m waiting in anticipation for the fixtures tomorrow, when we go to Newcastle and Middlesbrough, when our big home games are. Will the trip to the Walkers Stadium be as good as last time?

It’s anyone’s guess , but it’s all rather exciting.

Urzzzz

Jog on Moyes

Transfer speculation continues to grow and there is no sign for any players coming in.

Rumours are circulating that Stephen Hunt and Kevin Doyle are targets for Everton in a combined £7 million bid.

Jog on Moyes!

Doyle alone should be worth that. If Andy Johnson fetched £10 million when he was at Crystal Palace, Doyle should fetch something similar.

Fair enough, Hunt could go as small as £3 million after his abysmal end to the season. He was with the left side midfield position in the PFA team of the year somehow, now that spot should have gone to someone more worthwhile.
Hunt will still have that £5 million get out clause, but I doubt that would be activated.

Imagine still having Doyler in the team next season, we would be so good – well a top six finish at least.

Annoyingly, Newcastle and Middlesbrough already have bides for the first round of the Carling Cup. The Football League must be incredibly happy to have two huge teams in their region and preferable treatment is already underway. Let’s wait to see the fixtures if there really is favouritism.

Newcastle were in the Champions League not so long ago and Boro’ were UFEA cup finalist and it looked that the League may already be leaning in favour of the ‘Top Two’ in the Championship. It’s like they’ve been rewarded for being relegated, surely the playoff finalist should have one of those spots as they played a very season for nothing.

It’s a competition that we’ve not taken seriously for some time now and I’m not sure to prepare myself for a possible cup run. I was hoping for a trip to Wembley last season, I think I’ll keep my excitement to myself and who knows what will happen.

So here's the New Era

So here it is. The fresh start of the new era.

Brendon Rodgers takes the helm at the Mad Stad to begin his quest for a royal return to the Premier League. Unfortunately we will have to endure a nourish summer where anything is possible.

The Rodgers appointment didn’t shock me, he is a good candidate and he will do a good job. In a perfect world I would had seen Preston’s Alan Irvine at the helm as has done a stunning job in the North West and his man management and keen eye for potential would be vended well a Reading.

Now that’s not the case and it’s all Brendon Rodgers. I hope that inspirational crowds will be at the stadium next term to support Rodgers quest ‘to be the second man to take Reading to the top flight.’

He worked for the club as youth manager before being promoted to coach, he will be able to judge how good players like Jem Karacan, Hal Robson-Kanu, Simon Church, Julian Kelly are and how to implement them into the first team. They are our future and I would love them to have a big impact next season.

Commercially, Sir John Madejski labelled Rodger’s as ‘our chosen one’ and believes his time under the ‘chosen one’ Jose Mourinho at Chelsea will only be good for us.
No doubt, his connections and contacts will come in handy as we may see a flurry of Chelsea reserves turn out in the hoops next term.

Rodgers expressed and gave of the impression that he is somewhat of a local boy, something we been longing for some time.

Rodgers said epically, “I’m one of you”, well if that is the case, he will have the unconditional backing of the fans. I loved how Alan Pardew showed his passion and how much he had his heart on his sleeve, Sir Steve Coppell was a little different to say the least.

It’ll be more animated in the dugout, and I don’t mean Londoner Wally Downes starting a brawl, Rodgers will be on the touchlines kicking every ball along with his players.

It will certainly be interesting.

Now with passion once again firmly in our bleeding eyes, Rodgers may be that man to boost Reading’s fortunes as this season is going to be make or break – failure to win promotion may cause us to do a Norwich, Charlton, Southampton the following season.

Rodgers – good luck, it’s down to you.

My Forever Coppell

Some things are simply too much to bear, Steve Coppell has left Reading after six years, giving us the best stint of our history. It was on the back of bad form and bad results that what was hard to take. I always thought he would call his time with Reading on a good note so he can ride off into the sunset and look back knowing he has done well.

Instead, he looks back now at a squad that will be obliterated; it will not be his legacy no more.

Premier League has been and gone and it is Championship football again for another season at least. Ten years ago, even five, I would have bitten Sir John’s hand off for a fourth place finish in the second tier, now to many fans that is not deemed good enough and what fair-weather fans they are. Remember the 6-0 home loss to Bristol Rovers – we could have still been there.

End of an era indeed and an era that, in the future, my grandchildren will get quickly bored of the stories about Stephen’s Hunt winner against Everton, James Harper scarpering through against Liverpool, Glen Little’s chip at Plymouth, I easily go on all day. Coppell was the messiah and the composer of all what was good about Reading, he deserves all the praise he gets, if not more.

What Bill Shankley was to Liverpool, Coppell was to Reading. What Bill Nicholson was to Spurs, Coppell was to Reading. What Sir Matt Busby was to Manchester United, Steve Coppell was to Reading.

Coppell will not be able to boost the trophies the three great men have but his impact was very similar.

He may have only added a Championship Title to our embarrassingly small trophy cabinet but that small token means so much. It speaks volumes. It put us on the map. It made Chelsea hate us. It made Oliver Holt hate us even more. We won plaudits, and more importantly, we proved Mark Lawrenson wrong (insult added to injury, we salute you Robin Friday).

There should be a statue erected outside the stadium, at least; it would give us some much needed football culture, it gave us a history. The Coppell Stadium may be a bit too much. Renaming a stand? Possibly but his work should never be underestimated or forgotten.

I will be forever Coppell and no new man will ever be able to fill his shoes in the slightest. He would be the man that made my dreams come true, made old friends see top flight football for the very first time. Whoever this new man will be, he will have an incredibly hard act to follow.

And good luck to him. Just don’t spoil what has been done.

Urzzzz

The Village Bikey

I wondered if you looked for the definition of the word ‘Twat’ in the dictionary it may come out with Andre Bikey.

Well that is what Bikey symbolises – a man who is a stupid, incompetent fool.

He gave away a needless penalty where he tugged an opponent’s shirt when the ball was not even close to him.

He then started to perform some strange S Club 7 dance routine after he was sent off for embarrassingly stamping on Robbie Blake.

He may have been throwing his shirt around ‘like he just don’t care’ but he was making a laughing stock out of himself and his club, Reading.

Bikey’s girly tantrum coincides with Chelsea’s Didier Drogba rant last week. There is no element of accepting a decision and moving on instead some player just cry about what has happened and refuse to be rational or gracious.

Steve Coppell found it hard to defend Bikey, so he didn’t. And good on him for doing that.

He said, “There is no space for that in football. He got it 100% what he deserves – I have no reservations about that.

“His reaction was just a hugely emotional one, given the five minutes he’d had. He was fouled first which frustrated him, but there is no excuse for is behaviour.

“We just don’t accept that at our club.”

Throwing his shirt to the ground after being dismissed was disrespectful and to the neutral, it probably appeared outrageously entertaining but for Reading fans it probably the confounding end to their promotion push.

The Cameroonian also refused to settle down when American Marcus Hahnemann came over to try to make peace. But his efforts just feel duly on death ears. He took an age to leave the pitch as his all round attitude and performance was a thorough let down.

Bikey has always been one to make headlines, he was sent off on a preseason tour whilst he was on trial at the Berkshire Club. And that was in a friendly in Sweden for a headbutt that Mike Tyson would have been proud off.

He moved from Lokomotiv Moscow, where he did not shy from controversy as he alleged racial abuse from fans of rival teams. This was his excuse for not settling.

Everyone would famously remember his sending off for Cameroon at last year’s African Cup of Nations. A bizarre incident to say the least, he pushed over a stretcher-bearer, with much force, who was helping his teammate Rigobert Song after he was injured.

It was as if that this was written for a comedy gaff DVD.

Bikey will be known for all the wrong reasons.

The Jem

Another goal feast at the Madejski!

There would be more chance that Jimmy Kebe staying on his feet longer than 30 seconds.

I haven’t seen Reading score a goal at home since Leroy Lita’s strike against Watford on January 9th.

I missed Shane Long performing miracles with his brace against a relegated Charlton Athletic team. I don’t count the Wolves own goal, we hardly forced it did we?

Barnsley came and they got what they wanted. A draw that is ever so vital to them.

We just got a point closer to confirming a playoff place that is yet to be secured.

It was a horrible first half performance, even the Cop man himself declared it as ‘disheartening’.

Second Half, I thought, was excellent we looked our dominant self again. I don’t mind if we lose games if we are really pushing at the other end.

Jem Karacan was outstanding and I have it down to him why we played so well.

He linked everything, our go-to-guy.

He got the ball of the defence, pushed it out wide, collected it again and worked the other flank. Even his runs caused a worry for Barnsley’s defence.

Pardon the pun but we have a real gem in our squad and we need to play him regularly.

His tackling is not perfect nor his set piece taking, but his awareness and distribution is up there will the best we have.

A move down our right hand side involving Jem, Glen Little, Long and Liam Rosenior was outstanding and it reminded me of how we played in our promotion season.

Jem put the ball down the right-hand side for Long to chase, and he gave it back to
Jem who gave it Little and suddenly out of nowhere Rosenior produced a Murty-esque overlapping run and put in a cross that Kitson headed over.

That played caused havoc and if do that regularly we would be scoring by the truckload. At the moment, it’s all rather complacent.

I was so pleased after seeing that and I declare that three wins is need to carry momentum into the Playoffs.

Urzzzz.

The Unknown Barn Door

Barnsley next, and I have no idea what the outcome is going to be.

Ok, Reading can beat these on any given day, but the Reading of late would struggle to beat a team of John Oster’s.

The Tykes come to the hardly fearless Madejski Stadium with a need of some points, they would take heart that Southampton, and Nottingham Forest has managed to win points in our backyard.

The team should stay the same as Monday’s against Blackpool with only Alex Pearce who should be restored to the starting line up instead of the comic that is Michael Duberry.

He should definitely not be captain.

Noel Hunt and Jem Karacan had scoring returns to the first team and should still be in the first team.

Steve Coppell says he‘s looking for individuals to step up and don’t they need too!
Someone need a big performance to carry the team, loan signings Dave Kitson and Glen Little have hardly set the place alight.

Kevin Doyle is completely off the boil; Andre Bikey looks more likely to score.

Wally Downes has said this week that the Royals are realistically looking at the Playoffs and I would want to finish third or fourth to make sure we get the first leg away. Perhaps there may be a hostile atmosphere at the Mad Stad for once.

Come one win and we have more or less guarantee that playoff place and almost a place at Wembley.

Urzzzz