In
what we expect to be Kevin Dillon's last game as caretaker-manager,
Reading unluckily lost 2-1 away to Norwich City. Click here for a
match report of sorts - we remain 10th in Division 1.In
what we expect to be Kevin Dillon's last game as caretaker-manager,
Reading unluckily lost 2-1 away to Norwich City. Click here for a
match report of sorts - we remain 10th in Division 1.
Director
of Football Nick Hammond has stated that Reading will appoint a
manager some time this week, although he also added that there
were still more interviews to conduct. There are so many names in
the frame that it is difficult to make any sensible guess as to
who might get the job - the candidate list appears to include
Kevin Dillon, Bryan Robson, Tony Adams, Glen Hoddle, Steve
Cotterill, Steve Coppell, Ronnie Moore, Iain Dowie, Lawrie
Sanchez, George Graham, Trevor Francis, Gary Johnson, Graham Rix
and Tony Pulis.
On the basis that no-one else seems to have mentioned them, could I just nominate Klaus Toppmoller, Peter Withe and Stephen Constantine as possible surprise candidates.
We
slip to 10th in the table after a dreadful 2-0 capitulation away
to Sunderland - click here for
match details. The players had flown to the game, the first time
that the club had done so for a domestic game, and probably the
last.
Reading
will play at home to Huddersfield Town in the third round of the
League Cup. The game will almost certainly be on Tuesday, 28th
October.
The
Under-19 side conceded their first goals of the season in a 2-1
defeat away to Southampton, but remain top of their group. The
Under-17s won 2-1 at home to Leicester City.
Adie
Williams is in the Wales squad for their final Euro 2004
qualifier, at home to Serbia & Montenegro on Saturday, 11th
October.
Reading
progress to the third round of the League Cup with a comfortable
3-1 win away to Oxford United - click here for
match details. The draw is this Saturday, and will be shown live
on Sky Sports at about 5.30pm. The games will not take place
until the week beginning Monday, 26th October.
The
chairman of Hull City has said that Reading approached Peter
Taylor with a view to talking to him about our vacant manager's
job, but Taylor has rejected the approach. Meanwhile, Reading
have apparently already interviewed both Tony Adams and Kevin
Dillon.
In a
move that appears to have taken everybody by surprise (well, me
certainly!), Nick Hammond has been appointed Reading's first ever
Director of Football. This suggests that his job will differ from
that normally associated with this particular title, as other
clubs have normally used it to appoint a very senior football
person whose career is winding down. One of Hammond's first tasks
is to advise on the appointment of a new first-team manager, and
he has said that it would have to be someone who could manage us
in the Premiership.
Reading
decide not to turn up and so lose 2-1 at home to Coventry City.
Click here
for match details - we drop to seventh in the table.
The
Under-19s continue their excellent start to the season with a 2-0
win away to Tottenham Hotspur. That's five clean sheets and four
wins in five games. The Under-17s drew 2-2 at home to Watford.
Yesterday's
potential court appearance was adjourned until today. Reading's
application for an injunction was due before Mr Justice McCombe
with kick-off time at 2pm. However, we withdrew the application
and the next announcement was that Pardew will become manager of
West Ham United (but not for another month). According to ESPN,
Reading will get compensation of £380,000 plus legal costs.
Presumably this means that the London club have now admitted that
they were guilty of illegal poaching, although I suspect we have
agreed not to report them for this.
It
seems that the legal battles have begun, as Reading have
reportedly been to the High Court today to try to force manager
Alan Pardew to abide by the conditions of his contract, although
quite why that would need a court injunction is beyond me.
According to the Evening Standard, the likely scenario is that
the judge will postpone the hearing for two weeks.
The
reserve side continued their excellent start to the season,
albeit against another poor side, with a 5-0 win against Southend
United in a home game played at Didcot. With three wins, three
clean sheets and a goal difference of 15, Reading are easily top
of the table.
I
always find it particularly satisfying when a team of cynical
violent thugs leaves Madejski Stadium with nothing. So I'm
especially pleased that tonight Reading beat Cardiff City 2-1 -
click here
for match details. We climb back up to fifth in the table. (Just
to be clear - on this occasion the violent thugs were those on
the pitch rather than in the away end.)
Next
week's scheduled reserve game at home to Southend United has been
brought forward a week and will now take place at 2pm on
Wednesday, 17th September at the home of Didcot Town.
A long
time ago, I know, but I can finally confirm that Simieon Howell
did play in Jamaica's Olympic qualifier in Cuba on 7th September.
He played the first half in the 1-1 draw. The second leg of the
tie is on Sunday, 12th October - Reading apparently have already
agreed that Omar Daley can play in that game (he is normally the
captain of the Under-23 team), but presumably Simieon will have
to wait until the squad is announced to see if he will also be
involved.
A
first defeat of the season as Reading lose 1-0 at West Ham United
- click here
for match details. We drop to seventh in the table.
Reading's
Under-19s lose their 100% record but have still not conceded a
goal this season following a 0-0 draw away to Millwall in the FA
Premier Academy League. The Under-17s lost 2-1 at home to
Birmingham City.
The
Football League have stated that they will investigate claims of
poaching by West Ham United if and only if Reading put in a
complaint. Meanwhile, the League Managers Association have called
for an inquiry into the situation and also told Alan Pardew that
he can expect no help from them. West Ham United, meanwhile,
appear to be looking elsewhere for a manager in a desperate
attempt to deflect the blame.
Adie
Williams was again an unused substitute as Wales drew 1-1 at home
to Finland in a European Championship qualifying match.
From
this page five days ago: "My view is
that Pardew would have to be an idiot to take the [West Ham] job."
Admittedly I've been happy to express negative opinions about
Pardew before, but I can now add "idiot" to the list of
ways to describe him. Today, he attempted to resign from Reading
giving an exceptionally flimsy excuse about not being allowed to
talk to a rival club. Reading have rejected his resignation and
for the moment Kevin Dillon is in charge of the team assisted by
Nick Hammond, Brian McDermott and Niall Clark.
Pardew is presumably on gardening leave and can expect to stay there for some time, with reports suggesting that his formal period of notice is six months. Whether West Ham United will wait for him, or attempt to buy out that clause, remains to be seen. The FA should also use this saga as an opportunity to set an example by charging West Ham for an obviously illegal approach to our manager.
Steve
Sidwell was an unused substitute as England Under-21s lost 2-1 at
home to Portugal this evening, which ends our chances of progress
to the later stages of the tournament.
The
reserves won 3-0 away to Queens Park Rangers this evening, to
remain top of our division.
West
Ham United have made another approach to Reading to take Alan
Pardew as their next manager. Reading have again told them to go
away. Expect further developments on Tuesday. (Later news added
Tuesday: Might have got that wrong.....)
Omar
Daley played the whole game as Jamaica lost 2-1 to Australia in
an international friendly at Madejski Stadium. It was the first
time the town of Reading had staged a full international and so
Daley obviously became the first Reading player to appear in such
a game (although a number of Reading players have appeared in
youth internationals at either Elm Park or Madejski Stadium).
Simieon Howell is in the 18-man Jamaica Under-23 squad in Cuba for an Olympic qualifier today. The game finished 1-1, but I don't know if Simieon took part. The second leg is in five weeks time, with Omar Daley expected to play in that game.
Adie
Williams is an unused substitute as Wales are totally outclassed
in Milan this evening, eventually losing 4-0. The next Wales game
is at home to Finland on Wednesday and Adie might have a better
chance to play as one of tonight's defenders will be suspended
for that match.
After
the two Division 1 games that took place today, Reading remain
second in the table. Meanwhile, Andre Fashanu played his first
game for Farnborough Town whilst there on work experience, coming
on as a substitute in their 5-0 home defeat against leaders
Hereford United.
In the
FA Premier Academy League, the Under-19s won 2-0 at home to
Wimbledon to make it three wins out of three, but the Under-17s
lost 3-1 away to Aston Villa.
Steve
Sidwell won his fourth cap for England Under-21 today, but the
side managed only an exceptionally disappointing 1-1 draw away to
Macedonia.
In the
absence of any facts worth reporting, I had not previously
bothered to mention on this website that West Ham United are
currently without a manager and some people think that Alan
Pardew is a candidate for the job. Today, things have moved on,
with West Ham formally asking to be allowed to speak to Pardew
and Reading saying that they can't. Subsequently, Pardew's agent
has said that Pardew did want to talk to West Ham, although of
course what that really means is that Pardew's agent saw the
possibility of another payday for himself and so was happy to fan
the flames a bit more in the hope that it would happen anyway. My
view is that Pardew would have to be an idiot to take the job.
The saga so far has included misleading statements from many of the parties involved, and has not shown Reading Football Club in a good light at all. The way the club have handled matters has ensured that if Pardew does not move on now, we will be subject to the same sort of speculation every time a job becomes available at any club in the top two divisions. It is fortunate that we have no game this weekend as we do not have to worry about anyone being distracted. And next Saturday we can look forward to beating West Ham no matter who their manager is.
Andre
Fashanu has joined Farnborough Town on a work experience basis (which
is similar to a loan). At the start of this season he was
apparently on a week-to-week contract with Reading, although it's
difficult to reconcile that with the statements made surrounding
this latest move.
The
reserves drew 2-2 at home to Aldershot Town at Madejski Stadium
this afternoon in a League Cup game. Click here for
match details.
Rotherham
United have now confirmed the signing of Martin Butler, whilst
the loan spell of Darius Henderson at Brighton & Hove Albion
has been extended up to (I think) Saturday, 4th October.
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