Royals Return

3 Wins In A Row

2008-12-11T12:47:00.000-08:00

Reading recorded their third win in a row to keep up the pressure on Wolves and Birmingham.

The Royals won 1-0 against a methodical Blackpool side thanks to an Ivar Ingimarsson goal after 27 minutes.

We were helped to the three points thanks to Lee Hendrie being sent off for the visitors midway through the first half. There was bad news for Reading though as Marcus Hahnemann was subbed off in the second half with an injury which could keep him out for a few weeks.

Unfortunately for us Royals both Wolves and Birmingham also won. Wolves won 3-0 against a poor Derby County side and Birmingham manage to nick a 1-0 away win against Plymouth. As we enter the festive period the Royals are well place in third place 6 points ahead of Burnley in fourth.

Lita Extends Loan At Norwich

2008-12-08T13:12:00.000-08:00

Leroy Lita has extended his loan spell at Norwich for a further month.

The striker has already been on loan for the last two months at Norwich scoring 6 goals in 12 appearances. He will stay at the Canaries till the start of January, but will not be allowed to face Reading when the teams are due to meet on Saturday due to league rules.

This is what the Norwich fans will have to look forward to:

For reaction to Leroy extending his loan click here

Other Transfer News: Nicholas Bignall's one month loan at Northampton has expired, discussions on extending the loan are set to start.

Other club new includes the news that Steve Coppell will appeal against the red card shown to Jimmy Kebe in the game against Barnsley at the weekend.

2 Wins In A Week

2008-12-07T07:57:00.000-08:00

The Royal's recorded their seconded win a week to keep up the heat on Wolves and Birmingham.

The omens before the game did not look good for Reading as the team coach broke down on the way to Barnsley's Oakwell Stadium. This resulted in kick off being delayed and Reading having next to no time to warm up and prepare for the game.

Things were made even worse for Reading when Jimmy Kebe was sent off in the 35th minute for violent conduct. Following replays the dismissal did seem harsh. The winger will now miss the next 3 games. For Steve Coppell's reaction to Kebe's red card click here
This video shows what the Reading fans thought of the ref's decision:

Reading battled on and Brynjar Gunarrsson came off the bench to slot home the winner in the 63rd minute. Reading held on to take all 3 points. For a full match report click here

Promotion rivals Birmingham managed a narrow 3-2 home win against struggling Watford. Wolves slumped to their first defeat in 9 games as they lost 1-0 to an improving QPR. This means Reading are in 3rd place four points behind Birmingham and 7 behind Wolves.

Reading face Blackpool at home on Tuesday night, wolves entertain Derby and Birmingham travel to Plymouth.

Back To Winning Ways

2008-12-03T05:27:00.000-08:00

We managed to get our first win in three games on Monday night with a 3-1 win against Coventry, thanks to a Kalifa Cisse goal and a Noel Hunt brace.

It wasn't all plain sailing though as Coventry took the lead thanks to a superb free kick from Daniel Fox, which left Hahnemann with no chance.

But Reading bounced back with 2 goals in five minutes from N. Hunt and Cisse respectively.

Then Noel Hunt sealed the win with a goal in the second half. The match was live on Sky, and Sky awarded the Powerade man of the match to Liam Rosenior. For a full match report click here

Wolves and Birmingham met on Saturday and played out a 1-1 draw at Molineux. This result sees Reading close the gap on second placed Birmingham to four points. We have also moved four points ahead of fourth placed Burnley.

At the weekend Reading travel to Barnsley, Wolves face play off chasing QPR and Birmingham entertain a struggling Watford side.

Team spirit in the Reading camp is as good as ever as Kalifa Cisse and Jimmy Kebe have shared a joke about a goal scoring bet. The bet was whoever scored first would win a £1,000 off the other. Cisse scored back in September and is still waiting to be paid! For more info on their bet click here

My Player Of The Month - November

2008-11-29T12:17:00.000-08:00

My player of the month for November is striker Kevin Doyle. The Irish forward has netted 6 goals in just five games and has caught the eye with some dazzling performances.
November has been a busy month for the 25 year-old as he signed a new contract which sees stay at the Royals until 2011 and he also played for the Republic of Ireland in their 3-2 friendly defeat against Poland.

Check out this video to see Doyle's best goals in his Reading career:

Do you agree withy my decision or do you think another player deserves my player of the month award? Perhaps Bikey for his strong defensive displays, Kebe for his dazzling performances down the wing or Noel Hunt for his vital goals?

More Ground Lost

2008-11-26T03:03:00.001-08:00

Reading's hopes of automatic promotion took another turn for the worse last night as they could only manage a draw and both Wolves and Birmingham won again.

Reading drew 2-2 away to Cardiff City. The Royals fell behind after only ten minutes with Wayne Routledge getting the Cardiff opener. But 5 minutes later the Royals were level as Kevin Doyle tapped home following good work by Jimmy Kebe. Then controversy as Andre Bikey was, in my opinion harshly sent off. Cardiff went ahead from the penalty spot ten minutes later. Brynjar Gunnarsson rescued a point in the second half.

For a full match report clcike here
For Steve Coppell's reaction to the red card for Andre Bikey click here

Wolves recorded an emphatic 3-1 away victory against Sheffield United to record their seventh straight victory. Birmingham defeated Ipswich 2-1 at home. Wolves are now a whopping 12 points ahead of Reading and Birmingham are now 6 points ahead.

The Royals are still in 3rd place three points clear of Sheffield United in fourth, so the play offs are definitely achieveable. But like all Royals fans I want us to gain automatic promotion to avoid the lottery of the play offs.

Reading play Coventry at the weekend hoping to get their automatic promotion bid on track. Wolves and Birmingham play each other in a massive top of the table clash. The question is will it be better for Reading if Wolves win or if Birmingham win?

Bad Weekend For The Royals

2008-11-25T08:04:00.000-08:00

Reading had a nightmare weekend as they lost 2-1 against a struggling Southampton side and both automatic promotion rivals Wolves and Birmingham won.

Reading lost their undefeated home record in the league with this 2-1 loss. Bradley Wright-Phillips, son of Arsenal legend Ian Wright, put Southampton 2-0 up with goals either side of half time. Despite Dominating much of the second half the Royals could only manage to pull one goal back thanks to Jimmy Kebe. This was Kebe's first goal for the club. For a full match report click here
To rub salt in the wounds, both Wolves and Birmingham won. Wolves had an easy 2-0 home win against Blackpool and Birmingham earned a narrow 3-2 victory over Swansea thanks to a brace from Kevin Phillips.

Birmingham go 4 points clear of Reading, and Wolves are now a massive 10 points ahead of the Royals. Do you think we can overturn the 10 point deficit and win the league?

Tonight Reading face play off rivals Cardiff City at Ninian Park and will be hoping to get back to winning ways.

International Royals

2008-11-19T07:57:00.000-08:00

This international break has seen many Royals players in action.

Four Reading players were involved in the Republic of Ireland's 3-2 home defeat against Poland. Kevin Doyle started the game and Shane Long, Noel Hunt and Stephen Hunt all came on as second half substitutes. This was Noel Hunts international debut. Late on in the game Shane Long won a penalty which Stephen Hunt converted for his first international goal.

Here are some highlights from the game:

Adam Federici was an unused substitute for Australia in their World Cup qualifier against Bahrain.

Alex Pearce (currently on loan at Southampton) was unable to prevent Scotland under 21's losing 3-1 against Northern Ireland under 21's at home. The promising centre back played the full 90 minutes.

For all details on the Reading players on International duty click here

Academy Player Tragically Dies

2008-11-16T16:33:00.000-08:00

Reading FC Academy player Stewart McEwen, 13, tragically died in a canoeing accident during a trip to Brecon near Wales on Saturday.

Reading Chairman John Madejski said: "This is devastating news and our sincere condolence's go out to Stewart's family, who we will of course try and support in any possible way.

The club have confirmed there will be a minutes applause to celebrate Stewart's life before the home game against Southampton at the weekend. The players will also wear black arm bands as a mark of respect.

Like every Reading fan my thoughts are with Stewart's family at this difficult time.

For full details on this tragic event click here

Convincing Win For Royals...But Rivals Win Aswell

2008-11-16T15:46:00.000-08:00

Reading recorded an impressive 2-0 away win against Sheffield United, but unfortunately for us Royals fans both automatic promotion rivals Birmingham and Wolves won as well.

Reading went 1-0 up early on thanks to a goal from Kalifa Cisse, Cisse has been putting in some impressive performances in recent weeks. Then the prolific Kevin Doyle netted his 14 league goal of the season just before the break.

This victory sees Reading cement their position in third place in the league 4 points clear of fourth place. For a full match report click here

However, both Wolves and Birmingham also recorded victories. Birmingham over turned a 2-1 deficit to win 3-2 against a struggling Charlton team. Wolves recorded a 2-1 away victory against Southampton, Reading youngster Alex Pearce (currently on loan at Southampton) did manage to get on the score sheet for the Saints.

Wolves, currently top of the pile, are now 7 points clear of third place Reading and Birmingham are still one point ahead of the Royals.

Reading face struggling Southampton at the Madejski next Saturday. Wolves entertain mid table Blackpool and Birmingham host an inform Swansea City side.

An Eye on the Future

2008-11-12T07:22:00.000-08:00

Following Arsenals 3-0 humiliation of Wigan last, with a team that had an average of just 19 years 33 days, I thought I would take a look at what a Reading team would look like if it had an average age of just 19 in order to see how the first team may shape up in coming years.
Here are the highlights from Arsenal's demolition of Wigan:

Team(4-4-2):
Andersen
Kelly Pearce Spence Golbourne
Henry Karacan Sigurdsson Robson-Kanu
Illugason Church

Average age: 19.09

Name: Mikkel Andersen
Position: Goalkeeper
Age:19
D.O.B: 17/12/1988
Mikkel is a Danish goalkeeper who signed for Reading in January 2007. He has yet to make a first team appearance for Reading but recently has been no.2 to Marcus Hahnemann as Adam Federici is out on loan. He has represented Denmark at various youth levels. Big things are expected from Anderesen in the coming years.

Name: Julian Kelly
Position: Right Back
Age: 19
D.O.B: 06/09/1989
Julian could have been in that Arsenal side last night but left Arsenals academy to join Reading. He has shown alot of promise already this season and has made 6 appearances in all competitons so far this season.

Name: Alex Pearce
Position: Centre Back
Age: 20
D.O.B: 09/11/1988
Alex is a commanding centre back who is currently gaining first team experience on loan at Southampton. For royals this season Pearce has made 8 appearances scoring 1 goal in all competitions. Pearce has earned call ups to the Scottish youth teams at various ages. Alex has had loan spells with Norwich and Bournemouth in previous seasons. He has a bright future at
the Royals.

Name: Daniel Spence
Position: Centre Back
Age: 19
D.O.B: 22/10/1989
Daniel is a young centre back who is currently gaining first team experience on loan at Woking.

Name: Scott Golbourne
Position: Left Back
Age: 20
D.O.B: 29/02/1988
Scott was signed from Bristol City in January 2006 for an undisclosed fee. He spent the majority of the 06/07 on loan at local rivals Wycombe Wanderers. The left back has so far made only 2 appearances for the Royals this season, both in the League Cup. With a tidy left foot and good work rate he could play a key part in the remainder of the season as an under study to first choice left back Chris Armstrong.

Name: James Henry
Position: Right Midfield
Age: 19
D.O.B: 10/06/1989
James is a local lad and is probably the brightest prospect the Reading youth academy has produced in recent years. He has previously had loan spells at Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Norwich City. This season the winger has made 7 appearances in all competitions scoring an impressive 4 goals. Henry has also been called at England under 19 level.

Name: Jem Karacan
Position: Centre Midfield
Age: 19
D.O.B: 21/02/1989
This young centre midfielder is a product of our youth academy. Jem has made 11 appearances so far this season scoring 1 goal. Jem has impressed so far this season, so much so he has earnt a call up to the Turkey under 21 squad. Manager Steve Coppell expects big things from him in the future.

Name: Gylfi Sigurdsson
Position: Centre Midfield
Age: 19
D.O.B: 08/09/1989
Gylfi is an Icelandic centre midfielder who is currently on loan at Shrewsbury Town. He signed for Reading in 2005 following a trial. Sigurdsson is also an Iceland under 21 international. He has made two substitute appearances for Reading in the League Cup this season.

Name: Hal Robson-Kanu
Position: Left Midfield
Age:19
D.O.B: 21/05/1989
Hal is a pacey left winger who is currentlyon loan at Southend United. So far for Southend, this season, Robson-Kanu had made 13 appearances scoring 2 goals. Hal had to overcome two serious cruciate injuries whilst coming through the academy set up.

Name: Viktor Illugason
Position: Striker
Age: 18
D.O.B: 25/01/1990
Viktor is a young Icelandic striker who signed for the Royals in September 2006 after a trial spell. He spent some time on loan at Eastbourne Borough earlier in the season making 3 substitute appearances.

Name: Simon Church
Position: Striker
Age: 19
D.O.B: 10/12/1988
Simon is currently on loan at Wycombe Wanderers gaining first team experience. Last season he spent time on loan at Crewe Alexandra and Yeovil Town. Church impressed for Wales under 21's in an under 21's European Championship play off match against England, and managed to get on the score sheet.

So there is an insight in to how the Reading first team may shape up in a few years times. However, with the competitve climate of football today it will be hard for all of the above youngsters to break into the first team. How many do you think will make the grade?

Busy Week For Doyler

2008-11-11T15:36:00.000-08:00

The Royals continued there promotion push with an emphatic 3-0 win against Derby County at the weekend. Again Readings strike force caused havoc all afternoon with N. Hunt grabbing a goal and Doyler netting a brace. The win sees Reading just one point off the automatic promotion places following Birmingham's shock 1-1 draw against a struggling Nottingham Forest side.

Kevin Doyle added a silver lining to the win by signing a new contract which will see him stay at the Madejski Stadium till 2011. However, Critics may claim that the new contract will not guarantee Doyle stays in January it may just be a way of bumping up his asking price. For full details of Doyle's new contract click here

A busy week for Kevin Doyle also saw him called up to the Republic of Ireland squad, along with, Stephen Hunt and Shane Long, for the friendly against Poland. Despite an impressive start to the season Noel Hunt missed out on a call up. Surely though it will not be long till the Hunt brothers are linking up for both club and country. Do you think his eight goals this season warrants a call up to the national side?

The weekend sees Reading face fourth placed Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. This will be a tough test for the Royals as we have lost 2 of our last 3 away games in the league. Elsewhere automatic promotion rivals Wolves travel to Southampton and Birmingham entertain Charlton at home. Us Royal fans will be hoping they slip up against there lower place opposition.

Coppell Confident Front Two Can Keep Firing.

2008-11-04T08:55:00.000-08:00

Steve Coppell has shown how confident he is that the strike force of Noel Hunt and Kevin Doyle will continue to bang in the goals to keep Reading in the promotion pack by allowing Leroy Lita to spend a second month on loan at Norwich.

Doyle has struck 11 times in 15 league games this season and summer signing Hunt has netted 5 league goals in 10 league starts. The duo have formed a formidable partnership since Hunts arrival in the summer and have Championship defences running scared. At the moment, from a fans point of view, our promotion bid is going to rely heavily on the pairs goals.

Leroy Lita will now stay at Norwich on loan for a second month after scoring 4 goals in 6 games in October. Lita is becoming more and more of a peripheral player. When he first arrived at the club he was an automatic first choice, but now finds himself fourth in the pecking order. Lita's contract expires next summer and it looks increasingly like it will not be renewed. Coppell is losing patience with the striker due to his involvement in a series of off-field controversies. In my opinion he's a talented player but is more interested in the footballers life style rather than playing football. For more details of Leroy Lita's loan move click here

Other transfer news: young centre back Alex Pearce has joined Southampton on a one month loan deal and Nicholas Bignall has joined Northampton Town on a one month loan deal. Michail Antonio has arrived from non-league Tooting and Mitcham for a nominal fee. On his arrival Antonio said: "I know everything about Steve Coppell. He found Ian Wright -hopefully he can help me turn out like that because Ian Wright was a hero of mine". If Antonio achieves half of what Wright achieved in his glittering career he will certainly be a hit with us fans!

Lets hope the deadly duo of N. Hunt and Doyle are on form on Saturday as we aim to get three points from our home fixture with Derby County.

Welcome To My Blog. Solid Start.

2008-11-01T11:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog. The purpose of this blog is to follow Reading FC's pursuit of promotion from the Coca Cola Championship.

After a summer which saw Reading battle to keep hold of many of our star players, we have began our promotion quest in a solid fashion. At the start of November the team is lying in 3rd place, three points away from the automatic promotion places.

Earlier today the team recorded an impressive 4-1 away win against Bristol City, with goals from Noel Hunt, Kalifa Cisse and a brace from Kevin Doyle. Noel Hunt, brother of fans favourite Stephen, has been the signing of the season so far following his arrival from Dundee United for an undisclosed fee in the summer. For Reading fans still unfamiliar with Noel, here is a video of him scoring against Rangers last season:

A match report of todays game can be found here

Todays result sees us keep in touch with promotion pace setters Birmingham and Wolves. Both Wolves and Birmingham have been impressive in recent weeks with Birmingham only losing 1 of their last 7 games and Wolves recording wins against promotion rivals Watford and Bristol City. Wolves have the form of hitman Chris Iwelumo to thank for their good start to the season. This depsite his horrific open goal miss on his Scotland debut, which most pub team players would have scored.

Reading have tricky fixtures against Derby County and Sheffield United in the coming weeks. The team will need to produce some strong performances to stay in touch with the table topping midlanders.