|
Welcome to the new but probably not improved Championship thread. Here is a lovely list of all of the teams, their locations and stadiums:  And here is a link to a map displaying all of the teams and telling you how far Brighton have to travel to visit everyone The relegated teams    Wigan, QPR and Reading were all relegated for being poo poo, but are all predicted to be near the top of the table come the end of the season. QPR have managed to hold on to England's finest manager Harry Redknapp, while recruiting former England manager Steve McClaren as a ballboy. Reading have seen massive investment off the pitch from their Russian billionaire owner and have managed to (so far) hold on to their best players. Wigan however have lost Roberto Martinez to Everton and replacement Owen Coyle will face Manchester United in the Community Shield in a proverbial baptism of fire. It would be no massive shock if any of these three go up, but equally so if any of them are 18th come November P45s will probably be in the post. The promoted teams    Doncaster Rovers finished as champions and hosed Brentford over in one of the most memorable season finishers in recent years. Bournemouth won promotion the week before but lost the title thanks to a goalless draw and Donny's injury-time winner. Yeovil Town completed the sensational loving of Breantford by beating them in the playoff final to win their first ever season in the second flight. Yeovil averaged a gate of 4,071 last season. Yeovil are expected to have some issues adjusting to their new surroundings, but Doncaster and Bournemouth are generally expected not to poo poo the bed. Opening weekend  As part of the 150th celebration of the FA, Burnley v Bolton Wanderers and Derby County v Blackburn Rovers will play on the opening weekend. Bolton and Burnley will meet at Turf Moor, one of only three grounds used in the 1888/89 season that is still in use today. The two clubs have met each other on 114 occasions since league football began.
|
#
¿
Jul 23, 2013 18:28
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 15, 2024 13:12 |
|
|
We've got Bristol City away tonight and Swansea at home on Sat to finish our friendlies off. People who've seen the senior side and U21s playing have all said we now play a fast, short passing game. Adkins strikes again.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 24, 2013 11:31
|
|
|
We lost 1-0 to Bristol City last night. In other news: Apparently Kate is a Royals fan so we had a baby kit delivered to them yesterday. I get the feeling someone in marketing has been counting down the past 9 months.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 25, 2013 14:36
|
|
|
He is. Bet the kid ends up supporting Man City.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 25, 2013 15:05
|
|
|
Charlie Austin went to QPR, so Reading fans are going mental that we're lacking in strikers and demanding the club spend some money. Pretty sure most champ sides would be happy with Pogrebnyak and Le Fondre *shrug*
|
|
#
¿
Aug 1, 2013 14:25
|
|
|
Poyet said the following today in response to something Tony Bloom had said.Poyet posted:"It's very interesting. Tony Bloom needs to get over me. If it's true what he is saying, he is talking about before the Crystal Palace game (March 17). A week later I had an opportunity to leave for a Premiership club (Reading)." Apparently it was all agreed at one point for Poyet to take over Reading with Adkins likely to replace him at Brighton, but Poyet changed his mind because he didn't want a relegation on his CV. I wonder how differently things would have turned out if he'd joined us?
|
|
#
¿
Aug 8, 2013 12:50
|
|
|
Before kick off I had no issues with Blackman starting above Le Fondre and Pog, because in recent years we've seen Sig, McCarthy, Bertrand, Pearce, Jem, etc come through unexpectedly. Loads of Reading fans were quite vocal about how awful they thought it was though. Turns out they were right this time, as he looked totally out of his depth most of the game. Also, I have no idea why we always start awful and improve as the game progresses. It's been like this since Coppell left.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 11, 2013 12:56
|
|
|
Reading are to play the Oman full national team at Madejski Stadium on Saturday 7th September, kick off 3pm. We've got a feeder team in Oman and regularly have people from their FA over, seems an ideal way to keep busy during international week. Bit weird though.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 14, 2013 13:01
|
|
|
3-3 with Watford was a decent point and a great game for a neutral. Absolute pint of warm piss if you were 3-1 up though.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 19, 2013 05:58
|
|
|
Agreed, McD is a great manager but somehow makes it look much harder than it should be for most of the season before Xmas. It's weird seeing Reading fans giving it "Adkins out" without any sense of irony, because we're 4 games unbeaten against good sides and drawing 0-0 away to Blackpool. I get the impression they were never exposed to a proper loving at the hands of Grimsby in the third tier.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 24, 2013 16:08
|
|
|
Adkins just laid into Jimmy Kebe in his post-match interview, saying he declared himself unfit yesterday and you can "read what you like into that". Apparently unaware that Kebe called up BBC Radio Berkshire on Sat and said he was fine to play against Blackpool but hadn't been picked, despite Adkins claiming he was injured. Massively unprofessional. Double so to try to shift the blame after a 6-0 loving by a side a league bellow you onto a player who's not played for six months. I don't expect Kebe to be here in a week's time and I expect Adkins laying the blame on a massively popular player probably won't help him keep control of the dressing room. What a massive prick.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 27, 2013 22:28
|
|
|
The comments about Kebe are on loads of news websites including Sky who hosted the interview, however the text in the version published on Reading's site removes all mention of Kebe. Another thing I missed was Adkins said that Kebe's not played since he's been here, but if he was fit from March he'd have kept Reading in the Prem. So, it looks like he's claiming Kebe's been sick noting for six months. I can't remember a manager losing so much respect from so many fans in a single night before. I wouldn't be shocked if he goes to Palace or Cardiff or similar. He's a fantastic player but he's prone to injury. I imagine we'd get about £2m for him, which is fair, he's come on massively since Coppell brought him in. *EDIT* Adkins also wins points for claiming in his post match interview that "Some of the players hadn't played before" apparently unaware that 19yo Jordan Obita had his debut for Reading in 2010. Every other player in the team Adkins had himself picked for a team previously. Bacon of the Sea fucked around with this message at 09:35 on Aug 28, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Aug 28, 2013 09:29
|
|
|
Transpires Kebe was told to pull out of Tuesday by the club physios. Kebe was fit for Blackpool and Watford but not picked by Adkins, but tweaked his hamstring in training on Sunday and went to a local private hospital for a scan with two members of the medical staff from the club. This was noted at the time by a Reading fan who happened to work there. Adkins spoke on live tv saying how he had no idea what was going on Kebe and insinuated he was a sick note, when if he'd bothered talking to any of the medical team in the two days prior to the game he'd have been told why he pulled out.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 30, 2013 09:14
|
|
|
Kebe is off to Palace. I think a decent number of Reading fans are getting a bit sick of the spin. The club has claimed in the recent past: We're out to win in the championship this season We are aiming to score 100 goals and keep 21 clean sheets in the league We want to emulate Wigan and win cups We have a transfer budget of £30m We have an 8 year plan to be established in the Prem like Everton or Spurs We will bring in six or seven prem league quality players Reality however is that we've brought in 3 players at a combined spend of £700k and Adkins has managed to only win 2 of his 13 games in charge. We have an awful record of having kept two clean sheets and conceded 34 goals in those 13 games too. Scapegoating Kebe dodged the bullet, but we have to start keeping clean sheets. Adkins has said he wants 3 players before the window shuts and lots of our fans are currently excited that we'll sign Defoe, Vaz Te, Marcello Trotta or blah, but the reality is no one of that stature is coming. It's still early days and Adkins is trying to bring about a sea change in the way we play football, so he'll have plenty of time to change things and the fans are in general quite realistic. The club ramping up expectations isn't helping though.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 31, 2013 02:29
|
|
|
It's always the same. I remember our fans moaning when we signed Le Fondre for £300k rather than an aged striker from the Prem, even though ALF had hit almost 30 a season for the previous two years.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 31, 2013 11:00
|
|
|
In the post-match interview Adkins was asked about Kebe signing for Palace and said he was "supposed" to have gone for a medical yesterday but knew no more. He added that the next three days would be very busy as he wanted to get promoted. Scrappy win, but 3 points and the clean sheet will do. On to the next one.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 31, 2013 17:46
|
|
|
Following our deadline day failure, Reading have taken the 1984 route and removed the stories from the official site about how Adkins had named his targets and expected 3 big signings in the final days of the window.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 3, 2013 12:50
|
|
|
Nigel Howe was on the radio this morning doing a massive beckpedal and explaining that Reading "aren't in a financial position" to complete any transfers and that the £5m raised by sales in the last days of the window was absorbed to cover for lost revenue incurred by relegation. The senior squad has 3 central defenders and 4 strikers, inclusive of Jason Roberts who we'll probably never see play again, Pog who doesn't give a gently caress, Alf who doesn't fit properly into the system as a lone striker and Blackman who doesn't fit anywhere above league 1. Doomed.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 4, 2013 11:22
|
|
|
We are. Nigel said we have no money for players in one breath, but confirming we're in for Sissoko in the next. I'm sure we could more than pay the fee and wages for someone like Nahki Wells with the wages Sissoko would earn.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 4, 2013 11:51
|
|
|
Word is he's talking to Rafa/Napoli, so we're out of the picture. Saw two articles today where Adkins said he felt disappointed by our window and we won't be able to reach the 100 goal/21 clean sheets target now. I hope we strike lucky in the panic loan/unemployment raffle.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 6, 2013 16:57
|
|
|
We lost 2-0 to a really well drilled, Paul Le Guen managed Oman national side, fielding a team half consisting of our own U21 players. Lots stayed away in protest of the poor end to the window and some of our fans booed at the end of the match, which probably did wonders for the lads making their debut in the first team. I have no idea when our fans became awful but it's teeth grindingly bad right now.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 9, 2013 13:03
|
|
|
Loads of our fans are just as confused. We were promised big things and the fans responded by buying a record number of season tickets, but in the end we spent more signing Carl Asaba in 1997 than we did in total in this window.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 11, 2013 10:18
|
|
|
Apparently Macheda is well known for drinking and smoking and being a bit poo poo now according to a Manchester based friend, but he likes the other local team so IDK if he would be biased. Reading have done well this loan window with zero players coming in and Hope Akpan expected to leave on loan for Steve Coppell's Crawley Town in the next couple of days. That's about £1m we spent on him Jan, with us loaning him back on a free in Sept. Steve Coppell is a wizard and I wish he was still at the club.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 17, 2013 09:27
|
|
|
Thought last night was a point a piece tbh, Alf scoring in the last minute is fairly standard though. As is Jem Karacan getting injured against Leeds, fingers crossed it isn't another break.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2013 08:30
|
|
|
Reading complete double over Arry by signing Fulham defender Chris Baird who had been training with QPR for the past two months. Redknapp is rumoured to be livid.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 20, 2013 13:46
|
|
|
According to local press in Southampton and Reading Billy Sharp is close to securing a loan deal to Reading and will more than likely feature in the team tomorrow, despite having not met the players or staff ahead of the game.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 20, 2013 19:31
|
|
|
Holy crap! Pog's playing a blinder!
|
|
#
¿
Sep 21, 2013 16:21
|
|
|
Blackman staring down the away fans after he scored was mental. When the ball went in there was no celebration at all, he just stood up and stared them down.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 21, 2013 17:06
|
|
|
There's a proper gap opening between the promotion pack and the rest of the table. I know it's early days and blah, but a 5 point gap between 7th and 8th after 9 games is pretty weird.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 28, 2013 18:13
|
|
|
Jem Karacan hosed up both his cruciate and medial against Leeds and will be out for at least the rest of the season. The last time he played against Leeds his ankle got snapped and he spent the rest of the season on crutches. RIP.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2013 12:24
|
|
|
Anton Zingarevich was meant to pay the rest of the money to take over Reading by September this year, but hasn't. They've extended the deadline, but it's not something anyone can spin as massively positive.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 3, 2013 09:46
|
|
|
Bacon of the Sea posted:Anton Zingarevich was meant to pay the rest of the money to take over Reading by September this year, but hasn't. They've extended the deadline, but it's not something anyone can spin as massively positive. Apparently Zingarevich has bailed and wants to sell off his 51% of the club to middle-east investors. Haven't seen him pictured at a game all season aside from the friendly against Oman and our opening game against Ipswich. Fingers crossed the new owners don't Portsmouth us. http://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/readingfc/articles/2013/10/07/93802-breaking-zingarevich-could-sell-stake-in-reading-fc/
|
|
#
¿
Oct 7, 2013 16:30
|
|
|
At least we know why we spent nothing in the last window. I thought it was suspect when people were arguing he had no cash, but he was buying ice hockey teams abroad.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 7, 2013 17:06
|
|
|
Here's a quote from a local paper today:Reading Chronicle posted:READING FC chairman Sir John Madejski has ordered a media clampdown amid fears the sale of the club is about to fall through.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 11, 2013 13:02
|
|
|
Madejski already owns the other local paper. DUN DUN DERRRRRRRRRRR
|
|
#
¿
Oct 11, 2013 13:19
|
|
|
Apparently we only paid £38k compensation for Crystal Palace's u16 captain, England youth player and schoolboy championship winning captain. Not being a tier 1 club in the EPPP world is brutal. *EDIT* Comparatively we just signed Georgia U19 international Lasha Dvali for £1m from Skonto Riga. Bacon of the Sea fucked around with this message at 17:57 on Oct 14, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Oct 14, 2013 17:50
|
|
|
Billy Sharp took part in a shirt signing today in Reading. He's on loan until Jan and three weeks into his Reading career has so far come off the bench once for 13 minutes and is injured until further notice. People spent real money on buying football shirts with his name and number printed on the back and then queued to have him sign those shirts.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 21, 2013 20:00
|
|
|
Reading played Bournemouth in a behind closed doors friendly today, with Reading fielding ten first and second year academy players and four first team players. Finished 2-2 with Brett Pitman scoring both Bournemouth goals. Amongst the ten U18 players were Aaron Kuhl and Niall Keown, both sons of their respective Martins and both 17. How old do you feel right now?
|
|
#
¿
Oct 22, 2013 17:26
|
|
|
Alex Pearce almost signed for Liverpool or Newcastle when his contract expired at the end of last season He is an awful, awful footballer
|
|
#
¿
Nov 2, 2013 21:10
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 15, 2024 13:12 |
|
|
12 mins left against 10 men to grab 3 points. Also 12 mins left for Pog to get sent off on a second yellow. Good game this.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 9, 2013 14:55
|
|