Martin Williams signs for Swindon on a three-month contract with a view to extending it if he can prove his fitness. Williams was released by Reading when his contract expired on 30th June and became a free agent. Those people who state that Swindon have signed Williams "from Reading" are simply demonstrating their lack of understanding of the rules by which modern football has to operate.
Keith Scott, who was sent off in the reserve game against Crystal Palace on 23rd August, will be suspended for three games from 6th September. Barring postponements, that will mean the home games against Brentford and Oldham, plus the trip to Peterborough.
Tony Rougier is expected to be out for at least two to three weeks. It's the first time in his career that he's been out for anything like that length of time. This has got nothing to do with an injury jinx, and everything to do with a referee on Tuesday who failed to stamp out premeditated, cynical fouling. There's better news on Ricky Newman who may even be back for Saturday's trip to Port Vale.
The latest Graeme Murty injury news is that he won't be in full training for another fortnight. That's about the same time as Adie Williams. That means that they might both be available for the home game against Swansea on September 23rd (assuming nothing else happens, of course). If so, that means that Williams is about a week ahead of the previously reported schedule, which had him fit by 1st October. Murty's injury was originally described as a "minor knee problem" by the club, but now it's an "ankle problem"!
Neil Smith and Keith Jones had been predicted to return to training on 28th August. This appears to have happened so they might be available for next week's Worthington Cup or reserve matches in midweek. Scott Howie is predicted to be available by about the same time.
Chris Casper will have the pins taken out of his leg next month (don't know if that means tomorrow or in four weeks!) but we'll still have to wait a while after that before we see him play. Stuart Gray will be back in action "soon", which compares poorly with the last bulletin which stated on 29th July that he would be back within two or three weeks.
The reserves lose 1-0 at "home" to Cheltenham Town. For a match report, click here.
The Times report of the Reading - Stoke match from the previous night states that the at the match was played between "two poor teams whose limitations were exposed in a ragged, if eventful, contest."
Alan Pardew confirms that both Rougier and Newman will be missing for a while. They're both out for the trip to Port Vale on Saturday (although obviously Rougier would have missed it by being away on international duty anyway). It sounds like Newman might be back fairly soon after that, and that Rougier could be some while.
Reading draw 3-3 at home to Stoke City and climb to the dizzy heights of 19th place in the table. Butler, Caskey and Cureton got the goals, whilst Barry Hunter scored one and made one, both for Stoke. For a match report, click here. Tony Rougier and Ricky Newman are both carried off injured. Graeme Murty fails to make an appearance, having picked up either an ankle injury (according to the Evening Post) or a knee injury (according to the club). My money is on both - this is after all Murty we're talking about.
On the day that should have seen us playing against Stoke City, results in other Division 2 games mean that Reading drop to 21st in the table. On the other hand, the fact that the players have an extra day (and a bit) to contemplate their failings at Northampton may not be such a bad thing. A win on Tuesday night could get us as high as seventh, though. It's likely that Jamie Cureton will start the Stoke match alongside Martin Butler up front.
Reading lose 2-0 away to Northampton and drop to 19th in the table (with Oxford and Swindon in the bottom two positions!). Unlike my prediction yesterday, the team line-up really was unchanged from the Swindon game, and we paid a heavy price for it. Both Cureton and Mackie came on as subs to make their Reading League debuts. The performance was the worst since the game at home to Cardiff last season. For a match report, click here.
This year's Academy begins. Both Reading's Under-17 and Under-19 teams are in groups with other Southern teams. However to start the season, the two teams play against Crewe from the Northern group and both Reading teams lose.
Joe Gamble joins the Republic of Ireland Under-18 squad. They are to play against Germany on both Tuesday and Thursday of next week in friendly matches.
The memorial service for Maurice Evans will be held in the Princess Suite at Madejski Stadium on Sunday, 17th September. His funeral (for family and invited guests) is to take place in Didcot on Thursday, 31st August.
The club announce that the team for the Northampton game is likely to be unchanged from that which beat Swindon, with Jamie Cureton starting on the bench (I don't believe a word of it!). The referee is Phil Joslin of Newark, our good friend from the trip to Oldham last season. If you remember he awarded us a hotly disputed penalty for handball, and then let Darren Caskey retake it after an Oldham defender had encroached for Darren's first attempt (which the keeper saved). He's a fairly new referee and I think that's the only Reading game he's taken charge of up till now.
Tony Rougier is selected in the Trinidad & Tobago squad for their game at home to Canada on 3rd September. This would mean him mising the trip to Port Vale on the previous day. Rougier and Pardew make all the right noises about him wanting to stay, but it's not up to either of them and we knew that when we bought him. Given T&T's current position in the group (top with maximum points and needing two points from three games to qualify for the final round) it is just possible that they might not call on their best players, but if I was their manager I would want them all.
Steve Kean, one of the Assistant Academy Directors and the Under-17 Academy coach, is to join Fulham as Academy Director. This means that he's replacing Alan Smith, who took over as manager at Crystal Palace. So if we hadn't beaten Palace 4-0 in that pre-season friendly (which together with other results led to Steve Coppell leaving Selhurst Park and Smith replacing him) we might not now have a vacancy to fill. If the results of last season's Under-17 team are anything to go by, Steve has done a great job at Reading FC, and we hope that he completely fails to do the same as long as he is at Craven Cottage!
The reserves draw 3-3 with Crystal Palace, in their first game at Farnborough, in the Avon Combination League Cup. Trialist Marcus Richardson scores twice. Graeme Murty plays for 90 minutes. I think that's worth saying again. Graeme Murty plays for 90 minutes. For a match report, click here.
Reading draw 1-1 at Leyton Orient (who had won both of their league games so far by 1-0) in the Worthington Cup. Jamie Cureton made his debut and played for the full game. He also got his first goal for the club. John Mackie started and Joe Gamble came on as sub, also making their debuts. For a match report, click here.
Meanwhile, Farnborough borrow Madejski Stadium and beat Gravesend & Northfleet 1-0 in front of 452 spectators. Probably the most noise the West Stand has ever experienced, though.
We learn that John Polston is injured again and needs a cartilage operation. He was on the bench at Millwall on 12th August and played 90 minutes in the reserve friendly at Norwich on 16th August. When John Mackie was named to the bench against Swindon on 19th August it seemed likely that something had happened.
Martin Allen is returned to jail - no, wait a minute, that was another Mad Dog.
As predicted by this site on 2nd August, a further set of tickets for the away game at Northampton have been released for sale. There are 400 more tickets, priced £13 (or £7 for concessions).
Reading announce the signing of Jamie Cureton from Bristol Rovers for £250,000 plus 30% of a sell-on fee. He has a three-year contract and will take the number 12 shirt. Although the news had been leaked by Rovers, and so was not a surprise, we mustn't lose sight of the significance of this signing. Firstly, the fact that we went out and signed anyone following Nicky Forster's injury shows the club's determination to progress this season. Secondly, to get Cureton for such a small fee is incredible - this is a player who has consistently demonstrated his ability to score goals at Division 2 level and with a good fitness level (he writes, tempting fate). He's only 24, so can still improve, and had three years left on his contract. Rovers fans rated him at over £1m.
Finally, if there was any doubt that Bristol Rovers were not going to be a threat this season, then this sale has removed it. Ian Holloway, their manager stated that their fans would just have to trust his judgement. "I got my money back on him and I'll just reinvest it", he said. But where can you get a proven young striker for that little money, now that the Bristol Rovers fire-sale is over?
Bristol Rovers and Peterborough draw, meaning that we stay in 13th place. As expected, Jamie Cureton is not named in the Rovers team or on the bench.
Reading beat Swindon 2-0 and move up to 13th in the League. Rougier steals the show, but Butler makes a great return as well. Butler and Caskey get the goals. For a match report, click here.
A day on which the potential signing of a new player has lifted the spirits of all Reading fans, but towards the end of the day comes some very sad news. Maurice Evans, the club's chief scout and one of the club's greatest heroes through the years, has died of a heart attack. In his time as Reading manager, Evans put in unbelievable hours watching football at every level in the town, and more recently as a scout he had been following a similar role. He also played for the club more times than all but a handful of other players. All Reading fans join in offering sympathy to his wife, other family members and friends. There will be a minute's silence before the Swindon match tomorrow.
The referee for the Swindon game on Saturday is Mick Fletcher of Warley. He took charge of Pardew's first game as manager at home to Chesterfield last season, and also the AWS game at Barnet (both wins of course). The previous season saw him at the MadStad for the defeat of York. I can't remember him from any of those games so perhaps that might mean he's OK. Hopefully there'll be no late change like there was at Millwall, or else I'm going to stop adding this information before games!
Reading sign Jamie Cureton from Bristol Rovers, according to the official Bristol Rovers website. The deal is subject to a medical and personal terms, and the fee is only £250,000. Assuming that his recent minor injury is indeed only minor, then this is excellent and surprising news. Cureton already has one League goal this season (more than our entire squad put together!) and played in every Rovers game last season. This means that he has a good fitness and disciplinary record. Reading fans will remember him best for his four goals at the MadStad in January last year. Interestingly, Rovers manager Ian Holloway stated last month that he would only let Cureton leave for "a bigger club" (quote from the Bristol Evening Post 28/7/2000). Well, I'm glad that Holloway has come round to our way of thinking on that one.
The new kit is unveiled - apparently it's for use in certain away games and in particular will be used for away cup games. The design is yellow shirts with blue shoulder flashes and blue shorts, and is supposedly based on the kit worn in the 1978/79 Division 4 championship-winning season. However the away kit worn that season was all yellow with a blue collar. That kit also did not include either a sponsors logo or a club badge. So how can anyone say that the new kit is the same beats me. The kit will be on view at the Swindon game on Saturday.
The club has released pictures of both Martin Butler and a rather attractive young woman modelling the kit (separately) - I think the kit looks quite good, but definitely not much like the one from 1978/79.
The Swindon chairman will get a tour of the MadStad tomorrow before the game. The idea is that he can look for ideas for their proposed new ground. I suggest that he would be better off visiting Minchery Farm - that's a far more likely future for Swindon.
Prices for the reserve matches played at Farnborough are announced. It will be £5 for adults and £3 for juniors. But season ticket holders (both Reading and Farnborough), Junior Royals, and under-14s (one per paying adult) will get in for free.
Tony Rougier arrives back from Trinidad & Tobago's World Cup qualifier, and is still fit! His goal came after two minutes of the game, and was a header from close range.
Eric Van Kessel, the 34-year-old Dutch trialist who played for Reading's reserves against Norwich on Tuesday, signs for Bristol Rovers. He played at left-back on Tuesday, although he was a forward earlier in his career. He has been on trial at Plymouth this month, as well.
Trinidad & Tobago play their latest World Cup match, at home to Panama. They win 6-0, with Tony Rougier getting one of the goals. For the T&T fixture list, and how it might affect Rougier's Reading appearances, click here.
Saturday's game is now no longer all-ticket for Swindon fans. This means that they have the opportunity to pay on the day and so pay us £2 more than they would have done in advance.
Leyton Orient reduce the prices for our visit next week, presumably after hearing that Nicky Forster won't be playing. It's now £12, or £6 for concessions. My previous comments about Leyton Orient soon visiting a receivership court still apply, as they clearly have people running the club who have absolutely no idea about football.
A reserve team draws 1-1 away to Norwich City this evening, marking the club's return to the Avon Combination. For match details, click here. The team includes Martin Butler and Andy Gurney, but missing from the squad is Graeme Murty (who was meant to make his comeback in this game). Could it just be possible that the injury he collected in a "log-carrying" exercise is taking longer than expected to heal? Or has he picked up another one? Neither would rate as a shock.
More details on Nicky Forster - the injury is to his right knee and he will have an operation from which he is expected to need six months to recover. This means that he might be back in eight or nine months. This is slightly less than the whole season, but given the usual RFC estimates on return to action we will consider ourselves fortunate to see him in the 2001 pre-season friendlies.
Well, the news is out. Nicky Forster has a cruciate ligament injury and is out for the season.
The National Criminal Intelligence Service issues its report of trouble at football matches last year. As usual, it demonstrates that they have absolutely no clue at all about what they are doing - just why do we continue to sink huge amounts of taxpayers money into this utter waste of space with absolutely no return? Two of the games highlighted in the report are our home game with Bristol City and the away match at Oxford. Clearly these people don't consider that Millwall fans throwing rocks at Reading fans in wheelchairs constitutes a problem. They also give no indication at all that they have any idea of how to stop future disorder.
Really this speculation rather than news, but what the hell. On the 9th August, I wrote that I sensed conspiracy about Nicky Forster's injury. My theory was that he was in fact going to be fit for the Millwall game and we were just playing mind games with the opposition (something that they were clearly doing to us with several of their players playing full and active roles in the game despite being doubtful two days before). In fact, it looks now as if the conspiracy was in the other direction, with the injury being much worse than originally stated. Either that, or I was right all along, and Forster picked up something completely different whilst training.
Reading lose 2-0 at Millwall. For a report, click here. Paul Durkin does not referee the game. Rougier makes his debut, wearing a shirt with "Rugier" written on the back. He, Newman and Henderson were the only players to perform to anything like an acceptable level. Martin Allen gets sent from the dugout and joins the Reading fans in the stand.
The first game of the season, the away trip to Millwall, is now just one day away. The referee is Paul Durkin of Portland, last seen by us at the away League game at Bristol Rovers last season. Although we won the match he was blatantly biased towards the home team.
One thing I am really looking for from this game is a good performance from Ricky Newman. He was treated badly by Millwall and will undoubtedly get stick from their fans. It is time that we had a player who had the game of their life against one of their formerclubs, rather than it just always being the other way around.
The day's main news is that Reading sign Tony Rougier from Port Vale. He's a Trinidad & Tobago international and cost £300,000 (£325,000 according to Teletext, £340,000 according to the Evening Post). The Port Vale chairman Bill Bell said that it was a good deal for "someone with Rougier's international commitments during the season". So is it a good deal for us? There's some doubt about whether he is left- or right-footed, and more doubt about how often he'll be available. Remember Mikhailov and Sarr? Rougier is going to have to play bloody well before I accept that this is a smart move.
And something I don't understand. Surely we need to get a work permit for Rougier following a change of employer. So how come he's straight in the team for the Millwall game?
Caskey to stay! - well, it makes a change from the usual rumour!!! Contract negotiations between Darren Caskey and the club are at an advanced stage, and the hope is that the deal will be concluded once John Madejski returns from holiday on Monday.
Don't forget the Fans' Forum organised by the Supporters' Club - tonight at the stadium following the Supporters' Club AGM which is at 8pm.
The Times predict that Reading will be in contention for promotion this season but the article doesn't go into any more detail about what they really think.
The first Farnborough "home" game at Madejski Stadium will be a Ryman League Premier Division game against Gravesend & Northfleet on 22nd August, a fixture that attracted 453 spectators last season. This fixture has already changed date twice, and now venue once, so there's plenty more opportunities for it not to happen. This replaces the planned Isthmian Charity Shield game against Dagenham & Redbridge on that date because D&R have a Conference game that night.
The second game will be the rearranged friendly against Reading. Let's see if I can get this right - Farnborough (whose home is in Farnborough) will play Reading (whose home is in Reading but whose reserves play in Farnborough) at Reading. The game will officially be a home game for Farnborough. This replaces the previous Farnborough home game between the two clubs, which was scheduled to have taken place in Farnborough.
Reading are to play their Avon Combination reserve "home" games at Cherrywood Road, the home of Farnborough Town (capacity 4,900, or slightly less for segregated games). In return, Farnborough will get to play a couple of their home games at Madejski Stadium. To put this into context, Farnborough's record attendance is 3,069, their largest last season was 1,750 and their second largest last season was 942. It appears that one of the two games will be the Isthmian Charity Shield fixture against Dagenham & Redbridge - the other might conceivably be the Boxing Day game against Aldershot Town, giving the first chance for Aldershot supporters to compare the gulf between their club and ours.
It is not yet known whether photography will be permitted at reserve games.
In a practice match between the reserves and the Academy, Martin Butler plays for 70 minutes (although with an addition to the rules saying that no-one was allowed to touch him!) and Neil Smith plays for the whole game. The reserves won 3-1
Jim McIntyre is declared fit for Saturday. The physio states today (Wednesday) that they are still waiting for the results of the scan on Nicky Forster's knee, but on Tuesday the club announced that they had the results and Forster would definitely miss the Millwall game. I still smell conspiracy here.
Apparently the trialist James Hall (who played at the Maidenhead game) is not related to Eric Hall (who spectated at the Maidenhead game) - see the Where Are They Now? section of The View from South Wales for details.
No news is good news (well, no more injuries, apparently)
Injury news - Robinson expected fit for the Millwall game; McIntyre possibly fit for Millwall; Forster, Butler, Murty, Jones and Neil Smith expected fit for the Swindon game. We can of course hope that Nicky Forster's injury is in fact a massive psychological con-trick designed to lull Millwall into a false sense of security.
Phil Hadland signs for Rochdale. Probably.
Ceefax announce their predictions for the year via their season preview. In previous years they have tried to keep everyone happy by predicting four or five teams for promotion, 10 or 12 for the play-offs and absolutely no-one to go down. This season they've gone for something more realistic - they've tipped Millwall and Wigan for automatic promotion, and have got Reading down as "play-offs at least". Obviously not very realistic to have two teams in front of us....
The game against Charlton takes place without any trialists on show, which is a bit unfortunate as it sees injuries to Robinson, Forster and McIntyre. Reading lose 3-1 - for a match report, click here.
Press Association Sport tip Reading to finish second in the division behind Wigan, with Millwall winning the play-offs. But what do they know?
The reserve game at Farnborough, scheduled for Saturday, is called off. This is because Reading do not want to risk picking up any more injuries (although we have agreed to take a strong team to Farnborough for a match in the future). So get ready to see a few trialists thrown in against Charlton!
The open evening at the stadium takes place, with apparently 3,000 people turning up. I know it was free to get in, but that's a lot more than for the AWS game last season! Those able to attend appear to have enjoyed themselves - and the rest of us will just have to hope that there is one next year as well.
More injury news - Keith Jones is confirmed as having torn a hamstring before limping out of the Kingstonian friendly He is out for "up to two or three weeks" and so will miss the start of the season.
Tickets for the away game at Northampton on August 26th go on to sale to season ticket holders only. We have 814 seats for the narrow stand behind the goal. Although we will obviously sell out these tickets, the stand is unreserved (so those of us that get there early will get the best view!). The small allocation is not surprising as the ground holds only 7,500 and Northampton have reportedly sold over 3,000 season tickets. However, in the past Northampton have sometimes released a further block of seats to visitors and also allowed visiting families into the family enclosure so we may yet get more fans at the game.
Joe Gamble is now offered a two-year contract.
It appears that contract negotiations with Darren Caskey have begun. Eric Hall, his agent, states that he is advising Caskey to stay at Reading. So, we have to ask ourselves, what is in it for Eric?
A Reading reserve side including several trialists (coincidentally including Eric Hall's son, James, who played pretty well) draw 1-1 at Maidenhead. Click here for a match report.
The club state that Adie Williams has suffered medial ligament damage to his knee. He will be out for up to two months.
Joe Gamble returns to the club after accepting a one-year contract. Originally on trial, he returned to the Republic of Ireland to think over our offer, having wanted a two-year deal. His former club Cork City are entitled to a percentage of any sell-on fee should such a thing ever happen.
In a friendly, Reading beat Kingstonian 3-0. Click here for a match report. Both Barry Hunter and John Polston miss the game as a precaution because of very slight knocks.
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