The
Evening Post says that Reading have changed training base again,
and will now be at Bradfield for the rest of the season. I can
personally confirm that they weren't at Sonning this morning! (But
it was a nice morning for a cycle ride.)The
Evening Post says that Reading have changed training base again,
and will now be at Bradfield for the rest of the season. I can
personally confirm that they weren't at Sonning this morning! (But
it was a nice morning for a cycle ride.)
The
Times today has a list of their top 100 last-gasp goals. There
are some exceptionally poor choices in there, with a ludicrous
bias to post-1990 games. However, this does mean that Nicky
Forster gets 93rd place (whoo hoo!) for his second goal in the 2-1
play-off semi-final win over Wigan in May 2001. You can see the
full list here (will require registration if you have not
previously visited the site):
The Times - 100 late goals
Alan
Pardew was a guest on Sky Sports' Goals on Sunday programme
yesterday, whilst John Salako was the studio pundit on the
Carlton version of Soccer Sunday (which believe me is even worse
than the Meridian version).
Andre
Boucaud went on loan to Peterborough United this week and this
afternoon he made his League debut, coming on as a substitute for
the last few minutes as his new temporary employers won 5-1 away
to Mansfield Town.
The
Under-19s beat Southampton 1-0 away from home this morning in the
FA Premier Academy League. The Under-17s had no game.
Reading
lost 1-0 to Leyton Orient in a behind-closed-doors friendly match
this afternoon. Click here
for basic match details. Adie Williams made a return from injury,
playing for about an hour.
Preston
North End have come up with a money-grabbing ploy. They have
issued a new gold away shirt, which their players will wear only
for their games against us and against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Meanwhile replicas are available for purchase on their website.
The front of the shirt will say "Invincibles", so we
shall have to wait and see if it's right!
Not
exactly up-to-date, but I've just found out that Reading won the
Scottish Life Performance of the Week award for the 3-1 win over
Sheffield United on 18th February. The decision was made by a
panel from the League Managers Association consisting of Alex
Ferguson, Howard Wilkinson, Barry Fry, Dave Bassett and George
Burley.
Anthony
Rougier is in the Nationwide Division 1 Team of the Week for the
last seven days. Obviously the best piece of action in Rougier's
week was when he returned to Reading from his loan spell.
Reading
have signed Burnley winger Glen Little on loan until the end of
the season. Both Reading papers, as well as some in the north-west,
had predicted this morning that this would happen. This also
means that Reading have now let Sammy Igoe go on loan to Luton
Town, despite Alan Pardew's previous clear statement about not
letting any players leave before the end of the season.
Andre
Boucaud has joined Peterborough United on loan to the end of the
season. We now know that his appearance for their reserves
yesterday really was a trial, and it seems likely that he will
play for their first team in the near future.
Reading
have re-signed Luke Chadwick on loan from Manchester United. He
was on loan with us for a period of 41 days recently, and by my
calculations we can now have him on loan up to Saturday, 17th May.
The
Guardian this morning have suggested that Alan Pardew is exactly
the sort of manager that Fulham owner Mohamed Fayed is looking
for to replaced Jean Tigana, who will leave at the end of this
season. As a supposedly national and supposedly quality
newspaper, the coverage that the Guardian has given Reading
Football Club in at least the last decade has been appalling, and
I can see no reason to believe that they have learnt who we or
Alan Pardew are now.
As I
understand things, Reading are trying to make one signing this
week (in addition to the re-signing of Luke Chadwick). It is
likely that the new player will be on loan, if a deal can be
completed before the transfer deadline of 5pm tomorrow. There are
reports that Millwall have turned down an attempt to sign centre-forward
Neil Harris, on the (spurious) basis that they have only two
forwards.
The
reserve side lost 5-3 at home to Northampton Town. Worthy of
mention was a superb inidividual goal from Alex Smith, with
Martin Butler getting our other two. Click here
for match details.
Meanwhile, Andre Boucaud was play the whole game for Peterborough United reserves this afternoon as they lost 2-0 away to Norwich City. Peterborough have described him as a trialist, but I'm not sure whether it was instead just to get him some extra experience.
Scott
Mathieson, the referee who incorrectly sent off Nathan Tyson at
Bradford City on Saturday, has admitted his mistake and the
second yellow card has been removed. Obviously, this means that
Tyson will also not get a suspension, and the fact that we still
won the game 1-0 means there was no real harm done. Strangely
enough, on the previous occasion that Tyson was sent off in his
career (whilst on loan at Swansea City) the decision was also
later reversed.
Nicky
Shorey's 75th appearance for Reading has meant a further payment
of £25,000 to Leyton Orient. Although I am absolutely certain
that nothing was said about this at the time of sale, it turns
out that we have paid them a total of £75,000 in appearance-related
fees in addition to the initial £25,000. The only remaining
element of the deal is that Leyton Orient have a 15% sell-on
clause.
Reading
will play a behind-closed-doors friendly against Leyton Orient at
Madejski Stadium at 12noon on Friday to fill the fixture gap
caused by the postponement of the game against Preston North End.
Adie
Williams has withdrawn from the Wales squad for their two
upcoming international games due to his knee injury.
According
to the Colchester United manager, being interviewed on BBC Essex
yesterday, Reading are not going to let any players leave the
club between now and the end of the season, even those not in the
current first team squad. Apart from anything else, this suggests
that Phil Parkinson has enquired about taking someone on loan. It
also of course does not fit with the comments from Joe Kinnear
that I described yesterday! (Later news: That turns out not to be
the excvlusive story I thought it was! Alan Pardew said on BBC
Radio Berkshire yesterday that no player would leave before the
end of the season, that Anthony Rougier would definitely return
from Brighton, and he also confirmed that he was still looking to
bring in a player or two.)
Reading
beat Bradford City 1-0 away from home this afternoon, but stay in
fourth place in the table as all our immediate rivals also win.
For match details, click here.
Nathan Tyson is sent off after receiving a second yellow card
just before half-time.
Anthony
Rougier played for Brighton & Hove Albion and scored a goal
in their game at Ipswich Town today, but his loan spell there has
now ended and he will return to Reading. The impression I get is
that Brighton would like to extend the loan but Reading have
refused to allow them to do so.
In the
FA Premier Academy League, the Under-17s began their play-off
campaign with a game away to Newcastle United. A late equaliser
gave us a 2-2 draw. The Under-19s drew 0-0 away to Arsenal, an
excellent result as Arsenal have the best record of any Under-19
team in the country.
Joe
Kinnear, the Luton Town manager who is unable to keep his mouth
shut, has stated that he had arranged for a Reading player to go
to Kenilworth Road on loan until the end of the season. The deal
fell through because we had lost the services of Luke Chadwick
for today's game. Kinnear didn't name the player concerned, but
from his description it pretty well has to have been Sammy Igoe.
Reading
are currently talking to Georgi Kinkladze with a view to a loan
deal. The Georgian international midfielder announced last week
that he was happy to leave Derby County immediately in order to
help his current club save on his £24,000 a week wages. After
the Paolo di Canio stories earlier this week, Reading are
understandably not making official announcements about a
transfer, but it would presumably be a loan until the end of the
season if everything goes through.
The
Evening Post report that Phil Whitehead has attracted interest
from both Huddersfield United and Oxford United, although a deal
with Oxford has apparently fallen through.
The
Girls Centre of Excellence (which on this website I normally call
the Women's Academy) has won the Puma "Centre of the Month"
award. You can read more about the Centre of Excellence by
clicking here.
If all
went to plan, Manchester United recalled Luke Chadwick from his
loan spell at Reading today. Reading plan to re-sign Chadwick on
loan on transfer deadline day, which is Thursday next week.
The
reserve team beat Wycombe Wanderers 3-2 at Madejski Stadium this
afternoon, with a three-goal burst in seven minutes after being 2-0
down at half-time. Click here for
match details.
As
predicted on this website in July, the home game against Preston
North End has been postponed because of international commitments.
It has already been rearranged for Tuesday, 15th April. This
means that the third game of John Mackie's suspension will be the
home game against Brighton & Hove Albion (the second being
this Saturday's match away to Bradford City. Because of Adi
Viveash's red card last night he will also miss the Brighton game
as well as the home games against Preston North End and
Nottingham Forest.
Reading
lost 3-1 away to Ipswich Town, with Adi Viveash being sent off in
the second half. Click here for
match details. The recent yo-yoing of league position continues
as we return to fourth place in the table.
Darren
Campbell played the whole game for Scotland yesterday in their
final qualifying game for the UEFA Under-17 Championship. They
lost 2-0 to England, which means England progress to the final
tournament. Ahmet Rifat was on stand-by for the England squad for
this mini-tournament, and will now hope for a call-up to play in
Portugal in May.
West
Ham United have rejected Reading's attempt to sign Paolo di Canio
on loan until the end of the season, and Alan Pardew have said
that this is the end of the matter.
(Earlier news) Sky Sports are reporting that Reading are interested in signing Paolo di Canio, apparently on loan for the remainder of this season. Alan Pardew said that he was interested in the West Ham United player in a weekend newspaper interview, and reports say that he has been talking to West Ham officials today. Those reports may be based on a Sky interview given at the training ground this morning, which included Pardew saying he had contacted West Ham to see if we could sign the Italian. He finished off the interview by saying "Di Canio and Reading has a nice ring to it".
Preston
North End so far have two players called up for international
duty on the weekend of Saturday, 29th March and expect to have
two more among the Scotland squads named later this week. If just
one Preston player is in a Scotland squad, this will allow them
to call off their game away to Reading, and it seems likely that
they will do so.
After
Australia decided that they couldn't arrange a friendly against
Argentina in Reading (or at Watford or Queens Park Rangers) they
have now agreed to play it in the Canary Islands.
Another
set of cheating Londoners leave Reading with exactly what they
deserved - nothing! A very late James Harper goal gave Reading
all the points in a 2-1 home win over Crystal Palace, with Steve
Brown getting his first goal for the club in the game as well.
Click here
for match details. The win moves us back into third position in
the table.
Alex
Smith played for Shrewsbury Town in their 2-1 home defeat to
Oxford United today, but that was the last game of his loan spell
and he will now return to Reading.
In the
FA Premier Academy League, Reading's Under-19s lost 3-0 at home
to group leaders West Ham United, whilst the Under-17s completed
their regular season campaign with a 2-0 win away to Millwall.
This means that the Under-17 side finished seventh in the eight-team
group C and will now have three play-off games against Watford,
Manchester City and either Derby County or Newcastle United.
ITV1's
On The Ball had a four-minute feature on Reading this morning. As
these things go, it was actually quite a reasonable piece with
short interviews with lots of Reading players as well as Alan
Pardew. However, ITV did show their general ignorance of football
by using the club badge from more than five years ago.
On
Friday, Darren Campbell played for Scotland Under-17s as they
beat Czech Republic 3-0 in the UEFA Under-17 Championship second
qualifying round. Darren started the game and scored the second
goal before being substituted two minutes from time. Their last
game is against England at 4pm on Sunday afternoon at Prenton
Park, and will decide who qualifies for the final tournament in
Portugal in May. The team that wins the final game would
progress, but England only need a draw.
Darren
Campbell played for Scotland Under-17s in the UEFA Under-17
Championship second qualifying round in Southport yesterday. They
drew 0-0 with Slovakia, and Darren played the whole game. Their
remaining games on Friday and Sunday are against the Czech
Republic and group leaders England, with only the group winners
progressing to the final tournament in Portugal in May. Ahmet
Rifat was on stand-by for the England squad, but did not get a
late call-up.
Jamie Young was in the England squad to take on Switzerland in an Under-18 friendly in Lugano yesterday. I think that it was a 0-0 draw, but I have no news yet on whether the Reading goalkeeper played.
Reading
lost 1-0 at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers - click here
for match details. We drop one place, to fourth in the league
table.
Before the game, 16-year-old centre-back Peter Castle signed his Academy scholarship forms. Then it was announced that Luke Chadwick was staying for the rest of the campaign, although it wasn't made at all clear what that meant. What will happen is that his loan has been extended to include next week's game at Ipswich Town. He will then be recalled to Manchester United before returning to Reading on transfer deadline day. This will make him eligible for the play-off semi-finals, but he can only play in the final if we purchase him outright.
There may be a knock-on effect on Anthony Rougier. Originally Reading said that his loan spell at Brighton & Hove Albion would not be extended as we would be losing Chadwick. Rougier's loan runs out on Saturday, 22nd March and we might now consider an extension.
The
latest England Under-20 squad has been announced, for a match
away to Switzerland next week, and despite his two goals in the
last game Nathan Tyson is not in it. This is probably not a bad
thing as it leaves him available for Reading's game away to
Ipswich Town on Tuesday.
Soccer
Australia have apparently confirmed that they will not be
scheduling a game in Reading (or indeed anywhere in England) this
month, and that a more likely alternative is that they will hold
games in the autumn. Hopefully, Madejski Stadium will be in the
running at that time.
Sky
Sports did some filming at Reading's training ground yesterday in
advance of tonight's match. They are showing a five-minute piece
on us on Sky Sports News today, including interviews with Nicky
Forster and (surprise) Luke Chadwick, plus a lot of goal action.
Phil
Whitehead played in Queens Park Ranger's reserve game away to
Plymouth Argyle this afternoon, as a trialist. QPR lost 3-0.
Adie
Williams has received another international call-up for Wales,
this time for the two forthcoming European Championship
qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Serbia & Montenegro (formerly
Yugoslavia). This means he will miss the home game with Preston
North End on Saturday, 29th March unless that is called off.
It is quite possible that that game will be postponed because Preston currently have 19 players on their books with some sort of international experience. Although this includes youngsters, players from countries not playing on that date, and players whose international career has ended, there's still a realistic chance that they will have three or more players called up and so will be able to postpone the game. On the other hand, they may choose not to do so.
Wales
Under-17s ended their UEFA Under-17 Championship campaign on
Friday with a 4-2 win over Bulgaria. This meant that they
finished third in their group, but winners Spain qualified for
the final tournament in Portugal. I don't know if Russell Lucas
played in the third game after being substituted early in Wales'
second match, but he was not one of the goalscorers.
From the Reading perspective, attention now turns to the mini-tournament starting on Wednesday, including both England and Scotland. Darren Campbell is in the Scotland squad, whilst Ahmet Rifat is apparently on stand-by for the England team. Again, only the group winners qualify for the final tournament.
Watford's
FA Cup win today means that our game against them scheduled for
Saturday, 12th April will be postponed as that is also FA Cup
semi-final weekend.
It
seems likely that Australia will play two friendly internationals
at Madejski Stadium soon, with the planned opponents being
Argentina on Sunday, 30th March and Cameroon on Wednesday, 30th
April. Australia are looking at a permanent base in England to
use for friendly games and it seems that we are in pole position.
Hopefully, this will be a stepping stone to ridding our ground of
the current egg-chasing infestation.
In the
FA Premier Academy League this morning, the Under-19s drew 0-0
with Fulham at Bisham Abbey. Reading are currently fifth of the
nine teams in our group (see the table here), but today's result
does mean that there is no longer any chance of us taking place
in the end-of-season play-offs which at this age group are only
for the group winners.
Meanwhile the Under-17s lost 6-3 away to Wimbledon. At Under-17 level, every team takes part in the play-offs with the teams in each play-off group determined by league position. Reading have one more game before the play-off series begins, which is away to Millwall next Saturday. If we lose that game we will finish last in our eight-team group and go into play-off group 4 with Manchester United, probably Derby County and probably either Ipswich Town or Wimbledon. Any other result next week will see us up to seventh and therefore into play-off group 3 with Watford, Manchester City and probably Newcastle United. I expect that we will have one home game and two away, whichever play-off group we're in.
The
Football League are apparently considering docking points from
clubs that go into administration, although I confidently predict
now that such a move will never happen. John Madejski is
apparently one of the chairmen pushing for this to go through,
with the tax treatment of Leicester City being the catalyst for
the investigation. Whilst most clubs, including Reading, have
paid their tax bills, Leicester have gained a sort of advantage
by doing a deal with the Inland Revenue to pay only a percentage
of the amount owing.
Reading's
reserves drew 2-2 at Peterborough United this afternoon. Click here
for match details. After a series of fairly disappointing
results, we are now tenth in the Avon Insurance Combination
league table.
Wales
Under-17s lost 3-0 to hosts Spain in their second game in the
second qualifying round of the UEFA Under-17 Championships
yesterday. Russell Lucas started the game but went off after ten
minutes, presumably with an injury. There is one game remaining
against Bulgaria, but Wales cannot now qualify for the final
tournament in Portugal.
A 1-0
win at Norwich City takes Reading back into third place in the
table. Click here
for match details. For the second game in succession we lost a
first-choice central defender through injury in the first half -
this time Adie Williams took a knock allowing Adi Viveash to make
his first appearance of the season.
Tonight's
results mean that Reading drop to fifth place in Division 1,
although even a draw at Norwich tomorrow evening will put us back
in third.
The
Wales Under-17 side began their second qualifying round campaign
in the UEFA Under-17 Championships in Spain yesterday. Reading's
Russell Lucas is in the squad. (Ryan Crockford was on stand-by
for the mini-tournament but did not receive a late call-up.)
Anyway, in their first match Wales lost 7-0 to France after being
four goals down after 23 minutes. Russell started the game but
was substituted after 44 minutes. With only the group winners
proceeding to the final tournament, qualification already looks
unlikely. Wales play the hosts Spain tomorrow and against
Bulgaria on Friday.
Meanwhile, England and Scotland have named their squads for the same stage of the tournament. They are both in the mini-tournament being played in the north-west of England. Darren Campbell is in the Scotland squad, whilst Ahmet Rifat is not in either squad. Ahmet is eligible for both countries, and Reading had announced last week that he was in the England squad for this tournament but that appears to be incorrect. There will yet be changes to at least one line-up, as both England and Scotland have listed Martin Cranie, a Southampton defender, among their 18 players.
As
expected, Alan Pardew won the Nationwide Division 1 Manager of
the Month award for February. He's the first manager in the
division to pick up two awards so far this season.
The
latest good run comes to a juddering halt as Reading lose 2-0
away to Wimbledon. For match details, click here. We
stay in third place in the table.
(Added
Sunday, 2nd March.) The Under-19 side had a fine 1-0 win over
Leicester City in the FA Premier Academy League. The Under-17s
had no game today.
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