If you tuned in to
BBC Radio Berkshire after yesterday's football match at
London
Road, you'd have been forgiven for thinking that
Reading Football Club had been sold for
a fiver to a demented Oxford-supporting billionaire, who'd then decided to immediately change the
name to the
'Thames Valley Arse Drovers', insist we play in yellow and green stripes and
formulate a dastardly plan to erase the good name of RFC from the history books.
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A couple of weeks ago you'd be forgiven for thinking that, five games in to a new season under a
new management team,
Reading FC was a club in some kind of irreversible plummet towards
League One. What a difference an away win can make, not only to the league table, but to the
overall mood surrounding the club and its supporters.
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It's very early days, but the
Championship table shows the Royals languishing in the bottom
three after a drubbing at
St. James' Park. An impressive crowd of 36,000 saw
Brendan
Rodgers' young side start impressively enough but fall behind to a
Shola Ameobi header
ten minutes before half time.
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'Rich Man, Poor Man' is currently being trailed on the
BBC. Looks like a fascinating
'warts and all' profile of
The Chairman. He's a complex and interesting character for sure,
so it'll be essential viewing, not least for Royals fans. Not sure when it's going out yet but it
will be on
BBC4. Click to continue reading...
The Royals thumped
Burton Albion last night by
5 goals to
1. Five
thousand people saw a team of youngsters (hang on, ain't that the first team!?) dish out a
hammering to the league new boys. Five Royals made their full debut, and
Nicholas Bignall
bagged a brace. Whatever you say about the opposition this is a fantastic result, and
Brendan
Rodgers seems to be working some magic already.
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As the curtain falls on
Stephen Hunt's Reading FC career it brings to a close one of
the most protracted transfer stories in the club's recent history. One thing is for sure nobody has
divided opinion and provoked the ire of fans quite like the
tousle-haired Irish
winger. Certainly he has made an impact far beyond anything we could have expected when
he signed on a permanent basis from
Brentford FC in
2005.
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It's a song. About Graeme Murty. A haunting, melancholic paean to a lost legend, a soulful ballad
that tugs at the....um, no it's not, it's a noisy cod-ska rabble-chant - and perfectly acceptable
for all that.
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Icelandic midfielder
Brynjar Gunnarsson has signed a one year contract. As previously
suggested on the
106 Twitter feed he is still very much seen as a man who can do a job in
the Championship, and his hunger and commitment have been duly rewarded.
Nicky Hammond
remarked "He is a very good player, his quality gives him great versatility and he continues to set
a good example for the younger players.
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Doyler's off to
Wolves then. Loads has been said on this already, so I'll not drone on -
after all it was only a matter of who and when, not if. Dunno why but I watched this press
conference and it made me feel a little queasy to be honest. He leaves with the good will and
blessing of the fans for sure - and
Nicky Hammond called him
'our best ever signing'.
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It wouldn't be a huge surprise if the new gaffer made a raid for
Watford's prize assets,
especially as the
Vicarage Road outfit are strapped for cash. Likely target is 29 year old
Tommy Smith who was instrumental in the Hornet's turnaround last season with 17
goals. He seems to have been around for ages, and I recall he was always an out and out striker,
but under Rodgers he has been very effective as a winger, an area we've had problems with recently!
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I found this and thought it was worth a post (despite awful soundtrack!) to sort of mark the
passing of an era. Made me a tad emotional to be honest , seriously though, how
good were
we?! Enjoy.
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The new Brendan Rodgers sign on Reading FC's manager's door is only just up and already we've had
the first transfer rumour of the close season. We all know what to expect in the next couple of
months: rumour, counter-rumour and absurd fantasies are the order of the day. With a new manager in
position it's going to provide even more fertile ground for the gossip-mongers, and it'll be our
'big names' that become the subject of such idle speculation.
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The open secret is almost, finally, very nearly an official announcement as
Watford and
Reading agreed a compensation package that will pave
the way for
Brendan Rodgers to take the helm at the
Madejski
Stadium.I've been reading a few posts on
Watford FC forums recently, as you can imagine
they are particularly disgruntled, but the thing that struck me was how highly he was regarded
there - even after a relatively short spell in charge.
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It seems increasingly likely that current Watford boss Brendan Rodgers will be appointed the new
Reading manager some time in the near future. Nicky Hammond is showing due care and diligence in
carefully sifting through the applications and with the Hornets keen to retain the services of
Rodgers nothing is certain, however it all points to the Irish man taking charge for the new
season.
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So the inevitable happened, albeit sooner than expected. Steve Coppell resigned after six years as
Reading manager late last night. His legacy is one unprecedented success, soured a little latterly
by the taste of bitter disappointment. It's clearly the end of an era at Reading FC. Although he
ultimately failed to takes us back to the Premier League, it's certainly a sad day for the club.
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