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.