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Current Rumours

Rumours since the summer of 2000 are as follows (any resolution of the rumour is in square brackets until I come up with a better way to display this page). The newest rumours are at the top of the page:

1. Reading to sign Paul Evans in swap deal - there have been reports for a while that we are interested in Brentford midfielder Paul Evans. Now it is suggested that we might sign him in a swap deal. Brentford are known to be interested in John Mackie, whilst other players we would probably be prepared to let go are Chris Casper, Neil Smith and Anthony Rougier. I still can't see it happening but it would mean the end of any attempts to get Kevin Watson back.
   
2. FC Copenhagen (FCK) looking at Pardew - the Danish club are looking for a new manager after Kent Karlsson resigned in August. Because his predecessor was Englishman Roy Hodgson this makes it open season for lots of links to current English managers. So far FCK have been linked with Bryan Robson, Harry Redknapp and Trevor Francis, and now the attention has turned to Alan Pardew. Or at least it has according to one comic, whose reliability rating is rather less than zero. [On 10/9/2001, FCK announced that their new manager would be Hans Backe.]
   
   
3. West Brom on the hunt - as everyone knows, West Bromwich Albion have recently sold their stiker Lee Hughes to Coventry City for £5,000,001. According to the official West Brom site they have a shopping list of four players to replace him. Now one person always mentioned in connection with West Brom is Jamie Cureton because over a year ago (and before he was a Reading player) he expressed a desire to play with Jason Roberts again some day. Roberts is currently at West Brom although he is injured at the moment. Lazy journalists will therefore always link Cureton to West Brom, and the corrupt ones will try to pretend that he made the statement about Roberts recently, or will even rewrite it to imply that he really really wants to join West Brom.
   
   
4. "The third man" - as reported previously, Reading are expected to bring in a third player over the summer, identity as yet unknown. Initial speculation surrounded Huddersfield's Ben Thornley, but he is also in discussion with Rotherham United who are believed to be favourites to sign him. On 24/6/2001, Sunday papers suggested that the third player was Wigan's Peter Beagrie. On 25/6/ 2001, the Evening Post also mentioned Beagrie, and added Bristol City's Paul Mortimer to the list. Another name mentioned was former England winger Andy Sinton. [On 21/6/2001, Pardew confirmed his interest in Thornley, saying that we would probably play him on trial. On 28/6/2001 in the Chronicle, Nigel Howe confirmed that Beagrie would be given a trial; however, on 10/7/2001, Beagrie signed as a player-coach for Scunthorpe United. On 9/7/2001, Reading confirmed that both Thornley and Mortimer were training with the squad on trial. On 11/7/2001, Sinton ruled himself out by signing a further one-year deal with Wolverhampton Wanderers. On 17/7/2001, Reading signed Alex Smith, previously with Port Vale.]
   
   
5. New signings - various reports during June 2001 suggest that Reading will bring in three players over the summer, and that two will be Adrian Whitbread and Notts County's Andy Hughes. The third will be a Bosman free transfer. Alan Pardew has also stated on 20/6/2001 that we will be looking at a few triallists who are experienced players rather than youngsters. [On 5/7/2001, Reading announced the signings of Whitbread and Hughes. On 17/7/2001, Reading signed Alex Smith, previously with Port Vale.]
   
   
6. Pre-season friendlies 2001- on 10/5/2001, the Evening Post said that Reading might play a friendly against Tottenham Hotspur before the start of next season. On 12/5/20001, a messageboard post said that Reading would play away to Aldershot Town on Saturday, 14th July 2001. [Both proved to be correct.]
   
   
7. New signing - it didn't take long after transfer deadline today before the rumours started again. According to Radio Wales on 26/4/2001, the Welsh international defender David Hughes will be leaving Cardiff City for Reading over the summer. Hughes was signed from Shrewsbury Town for £450,000 less than three months ago, having started his career at Aston Villa.
   
   
8. Transfer deadline signing - in advance of transfer deadline day (22/3/2001), Reading were linked with Andy Hughes (Notts County), the other Lee Hodges (Scunthorpe United), Stuart Ripley (Southampton) and John Salako (Charlton Athletic). The Evening Post later added to that list Chris Lumsden (Sunderland), Lars Bohinen (Derby County) and ex-Royal Simon Osborn (Wolverhampton Wanderers). [On 22/3/2001, Reading confirmed an earlier unsuccessful approach for both Hughes and an unnamed Premiership player, presumably Ripley or Salako. However, on 22/3/2001, Ripley signed for Sheffield Wednesday on loan whilst Salako signed a one-year extension to his contract with Charlton. Also Osborn moved to Tranmere Rovers on a free transfer whilst the others all stayed put. One other non-event was that Kidderminster Harriers tried to sign Neil Smith but failed to do so. On 5/4/2001, the Evening Post claimed that we also put in a bid for Jason Lee of Peterborough United.]
   
   
9. New signing (yes, more!) - according to Teamtalk on 26th February (and obviously that means that the chances of this being true is exceptionally small), Reading are interested in strikers Steve Claridge, currently at Portsmouth, and Darren Freeman, on the transfer list at Brighton. With Nicky Forster soon to return, neither deal seems particularly likely to me. Of course, I'm sure that the fact that these stories appeared on a very slow news day is just a complete coincidence. [On 27th February, Steve Claridge stated that he would make no decision about his future until the end of the week. On 28th February, there were further rumours about our interest in Freeman, and apparently we were planning to watch him in Brighton's reserve game that evening, but the game was postponed.]
   
   
10. New signing (again) - there have been yet more players linked with us. The recent additions to our apparent wish list are: Ken Monkou (Huddersfield defender), Anthony Barness (Bolton left- or right-back ), Neil Heaney (Dundee United winger / wide midfielder), Adrian Pennock (Gillingham defender), Nicky Southall (Gillingham defender), Adrian Whitbread (Portsmouth defender), Ryan Maxwell (Crystal Palace, but has been playing for our Under-19s recently). [Monkou definitely did turn down a loan move to Reading because he didn't want to drop down to Division 2, Barness was also a definite target because Martin Allen mentioned him, but Bolton have said he's not leaving. The Gillingham manager has got in a pre-emptive strike by saying that Pennock is going nowhere, but did not mention Southall. Adrian Whitbread joined on a three-month loan on 8/2/2001. Ryan Maxwell signed from Crystal Palace in the first half of February 2001.]
    
    
11. New signing - Reading have been linked with several players in the last few days. The most recent is Fitzroy Simpson, an English-born Jamaican international midfielder with Hearts. According to Planet Football we are interested in taking him on loan until the end of the season. Other players linked with Reading are Portsmouth left-back David Birmingham (in a report from Teamtalk so probably rubbish) and Bristol City's midfielder Scott Murray (even more likely to be rubbish given that his price will be measured in millions). Also the Reading Chronicle has mentioned Swansea centre-back Matthew Bound and "Scunthorpe's Chris Hope" (who signed for Gillingham in July, so they really have just made that one up!). [On 17/1/2001, the Evening Post reports that Reading have lost interest in Fitzroy Simpson because we were not allowed to take him on loan for less than three months. But surely the club knew about that rule - after all, that's why Evers went on loan to St. Johnstone for three months. On 2/3/2001, Simpson signed on loan for Walsall for the remainder of the season.]
    
    
12. Pardew after winger - Alan Pardew has stated that he is interested in a winger, and then given tantalising clues about the player's identity. He's currently playing for his side's first team, is out of contract in the summer, but is under 23 and so not available on a Bosman free transfer. So who is it? Not too surprisingly, people have mentioned Mark McKeever (who Sheffield Wednesday have said that they don't want to sell but are prepared to let out on loan), but no-one really seems to know who it is yet. In any event, McKeever is not currently playing first-team football, and has only just returned from injury so he doesn't fit the description. [I suppose this could be Andy Hughes, although he is not really a winger.]
    
    
13. Caskey and Butler to stay - I've got fed up with the continual rumours about Caskey leaving and so I'm not going to bother reporting on them any more. In particular, you won't find on this website an exclusive story stating that he's moving to Leicester followed by another exclusive saying that he's going to Crystal Palace. (Of COURSE they were exclusive - both stories were just made up by shoddy websites looking for traffic!) Neither am I going to get into the new game of predicting that Martin Butler is leaving for every Premiership and Division 1 club. So here you can read that Darren Caskey and Martin Butler are both staying with Reading. [As at 30/6/2001, they were both still with us, but Caskey's contract expired on that date and he joined Notts County. Butler is still at Reading.]
    
    
14. Neville Stamp at York - Teamtalk reported on 10/10/2000 that Neville Stamp has joined York on a month's loan. The problem with this is that Teamtalk previously reported that Reading had released Stamp, so exactly who do they think he is on loan from? [Stamp in fact signed a one month contract with York on 10/10/2000 (having been on a week-to-week contract at Reading), so has not moved on loan. He is hoping to sign a longer-term deal with them.]
    
    
15. Pardew to stay but Allen to go - both Alan Pardew and Martin Allen have been offered three-year contracts, according to the Evening Post on 4/10/2000. They add that Pardew is likely to sign his but that Allen will not until a couple of clauses are changed. It is believed that one of these relates to him having the option to leave should a managerial vacancy come up. Meanwhile, Teamtalk have linked Mad Dog to the vacancy at Yeovil whilst messageboards have speculated that he might be going to Oxford or Brentford. If he was to take up any of those three posts rather than remain at Reading, he would be mad indeed. [On 12/10/2000, the club announced that both Pardew and Allen had signed contract extensions taking them up to 30/6/2003.]
    
    
16. Cox to join Reading - Arthur Cox left Fulham on 28/9/2000 by mutual consent. A source informs me on 30/9/2000 that his next job will be at Reading as part of our Academy set-up. This would mean that he would join fellow North-Easterners Kevin Dillon and John Stevenson. It's also possible that Steve Kean (who recently moved from Fulham to Reading) has put a word in somewhere to help the deal along. Cox's other current work is with the England team.
    
    
17. Royals interested in Andy Hughes - The Evening Post on 28/9/2000 reports that Reading may pursue their interest in Notts County midfielder Andy Hughes, should Keith Scott leave and therefore reduce the wage bill. The Evening Post first reported that we were interested in this player on 7/6/2000 - they were wrong then and it's difficult to see why we would need yet another midfielder now. [On 22/3/2001, Chief Executive Nigel Howe said that we had been talking to Notts County about Hughes but they did not accept our bid.]
    
    
18. Academy player left - The Evening Post on Tuesdays prints pictures of the Academy scholars (that is, those in the Under-19 and Under-17 squads). The 5/9/2000 issue includes Craig Brown, but he has been left out of the 12/9/2000 edition. This has meant a shuffling around of the pictures and a gap at the end, so is unlikely to be just an accident. [However, Craig Brown did play for the reserves against Southend on 20/9/2000, so perhaps this was cock-up rather than conspiracy. Indeed, his picture returned to join the other 21 scholars on 19/12/2000]
    
    
19. More transfer rumours - Teamtalk on 21/8/2000 reckoned that we are still looking for one more player, possibly a winger. Sounds pretty unlikely to me, unless you include the various trialists we're looking at, who are normally either without a club or from non-league. A fan posted to the Yahoo! Reading FC club on 22/8/2000 that Chris Casper was in talks with Bury. This sounds unlikely until he is fit at which point Casper might well want first team football. He might well get it at Reading, of course. [Well, it's 23/2/2001, six months on, and neither of these look close. As I said at the time in fact.]
    
    
20. Reading to sign striker - it looks like we really are looking for a replacement for Nicky Forster, according to the Evening Post and Reading Chronicle on 17/8/2000. Messageboard rumours have concentrated on Jamie Cureton of Bristol Rovers - the Post and Chronicle both mention this, the Post adds Mark Nicholls of Chelsea and the Chronicle adds Danny Allsopp of Manchester City. Rovers were looking for £500,000 for Cureton, and although the price may drop he still has three years left on his contract. Last season we offered £400,000 for Nicholls but Chelsea wanted £800,000. Allsopp is currently injured, but we may show interest once he's fit. [On 18/8/2000 Bristol Rovers announced that we had signed Cureton for £250,000, subject to a medical and personal terms. On 21/8/2000, Reading confirm this.]
    
    
21. Forster out for a long time - the word is that Forster is pretty badly injured, and likely to be out for several months. This is why we went out and bought Rougier at the last minute. [Well, we shall probably never know the truth about buying Rougier but on 14/8/2000 it was confirmed that Forster is extremely badly injured and likely to be out for the entire season. On 21/3/2001 he made his return in a reserve game.]
    
    
22. Programmes to go up- programme price for next season to be £2.30. That would mean that the journey by bus from the railway station plus programme would set you back a nice round £4.00, but it still seems a strange price. [The club confirm that this is the new price, but the new programme will have four more pages, more articles and less adverts, and (wait for it) a glossy cover!]
    
    
23. Sweetener for egg-chasers- source an egg-chasing messageboard. This says that John Madejski has paid £500,000 to the aforementioned tenants to encourage them to move to Reading.
    
    
24. Major building work at Madejski Stadium - source an egg-chasing press release 6/6/2000. This says that Reading will be opening ten new concourse bars at the stadium this season and will in time be building a clubhouse for the egg-chasers. (Source is exceptionally unreliable, of course, but don't you just wonder when Reading FC fans are going to learn about this information?) [Clearly there are no new bars at the MadStad for the 2000/01 season, but there are now pumps to sell Guinness.]
    
    
25. Reading to launch new kit this season - initial source HNA? messageboard. The club confirmed that they were launching a unique kit which would "be based on a championship-winning strip from the Club's past". It appears that this will effectively be a third kit for the 2000/01 season. Further rumours suggest that the kit will be the colours of Brazil - this doesn't fit with the "championship-winning" part, unless they meant a championship other than for Reading. It also means it's the same colours as Crystal Palace introduced as their reserve strip in the early 90s. [The kit was launched on 18/8/2000 - it is not much like the Brazil kit, and nor is it much like the 1978/79 away kit, which is the one the club claim they have based it on.]
    
    
26. Egg-chasers to play at Madejski Stadium - initial source Teamtalk. [Unfortunately this turned out to be true. A homeless London outfit have agreed a one-year deal to bore people to tears in Reading.]
    
    

Most football rumours inevitably revolve around players or managers joining or leaving the club. There were so many of these over the summer of 2000 that I set up separate pages for them. To read those off-season personnel-related rumours, follow the links:

1. Rumours of Players In - summer 2000 only
   
2. Rumours of Players Out - summer 2000 only

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