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.