2012-13 season previews

[Very near...far away]

"Full" Guardian preview - http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog ... ommentpage

Guardian writers' predicted position: 19th (NB: this is not necessarily Paul Doyle's prediction, but the average of our writers' tips)

Last season's position: promoted

Odds to win the league: 5000-1

Swansea and Norwich showed last season that promoted teams can stay up if they have a shrewd manager; QPR showed promoted teams can stay up if they have lots of money. Following the purchase of the club in May by the Russian tycoon Anton Zingarevich, Reading may have both. But they still have a huge battle on their hands to avoid relegation.

It will certainly not be easy to beat Reading but they may struggle to eke out enough victories. Brian McDermott has drilled his team superbly, producing a prime example of a side in which every player knows his job and does it with gusto. Defensively they offer up little, and Kaspars Gorkss is a delightfully formidable centre-back, though unproven in the Premier League, while Adam Federici, though also inexperienced at this level, looks like a goalkeeper who definitely belongs in the top flight.

Reading kept clean sheets in almost half of their league games last season and McDermott has sought to bolster his defensive depth even further by signing the right-back Chris Gunter from Nottingham Forest and the Watford centre-back Adrian Mariappa. And Reading do have rich Premier League experience at left-back thanks to Ian Harte, who enjoyed a fine season last term. Harte, however, has never been quick and, as he is about to turn 35, Premier League forwards will surely see his lack of pace as a flaw to be exploited – it is hard to see how the return of Nicky Shorey will address that. McDermott doubtless has other options in mind, though possibly at the cost of detracting from one of Reading's main threats going forward, since it will be tough to find anyone with as deadly a set-piece delivery as Harte.

Reading do not currently boast glittering quality in midfield. Jimmy Kebe can occasionally sparkle out wide but may struggle to make the step up in class, likewise Jobi McAnuff and Hal Robson-Kanu. In the centre Mikele Leigterwood and Jem Karacan will also need to raise their performances to a level they have seldom achieved before. The same could even be said of their new signing Danny Guthrie.

Zingarevich has access to vast wealth but McDermott has warned fans to be aware that the new owner is no Roman Abramovich – however, the manager must be hopeful of attracting midfield upgrades before the transfer window closes: his current crop work assiduously but a tad more ingenuity would surely be welcome.

The influence of Zingarevich's wealth has been most apparent so far in the capture of the Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak, who turned down Fulham – where he spent a successful loan period last season – among others, in order to get on Reading's payroll. Jason Roberts's power and nous made a decisive contribution to Reading last season after the striker arrived from Blackburn in January and Pogrebnyak will be expected to make a similar impact, with added mobility and explosiveness.

Noel Hunt or Adam Le Fondre could flit around the main striker to decent effect but there will be a hefty onus on the Russian to provide goals consistently. His spell at Craven Cottage last season was spectacular in parts but did not provide conclusive evidence that he can do that on a regular basis.

McDermott can be relied upon to get the most out of his players. He will likely also have to get more out of his club's owner if Reading are to remain in the top flight.

[Trigger]

Seems pretty fair

[Za Vas]

Agree with most of it tbh, although I think he's a tad harsh on the midfield, especially Guthrie. Didn't go to the friendly (no plastico), but from what I saw of him at Newcastle and Bolton, plus the reports from pre-season, I think we'll be getting enough creativity to add to the hard-working team ethic and hopefully keep us up.

[Ian Royal]

Yeah, ignoring the position, that's all very good apart from Guthrie and Harte's set pieces. We now have Guthrie and Shorey who are also good at them.

[Stuboo]

http://www1.skysports.com/football/teams/reading/profile

predicted to come last, apparently kebe will play left wing, and guthrie is not a key signing and wont start.

I did chuckle that they put Kebe on the left too. Slightly undermines their argument that we will come 20th I reckon.

[LightwaterRoyal]

Le Tissier fancies us

Who will be the surprise package?

"Reading could cause a few surprises this season. I like the way Brian McDermott has gone about his job there; he's got his players playing without any fear. Of course they'll respect people but they'll go out and play attacking football and try to win every match."

[urz13]

http://www1.skysports.com/football/teams/reading/profile

predicted to come last, apparently kebe will play left wing, and guthrie is not a key signing and wont start.

Not to mention our 'pool of creative talent'

[LightwaterRoyal]

http://www1.skysports.com/football/teams/reading/profile

predicted to come last, apparently kebe will play left wing, and guthrie is not a key signing and wont start.

Not to mention our 'pool of creative talent'

Our wingers + Harte are all fairly creative to be fair, I think the idea that we lack creativity is only through the center of midfield, a gap plugged by Danny

[Cripple Creek]

I thought that was a very accurate and, gasp, well-informed account from The Guardian. It's hard to disagree with any of it really. I think if we pick up where we left off last season, sheer grit and professionalism with a bit of class from Guthrie and some outstanding goalkeeping and defending, oh, and scoring more goals from strikers should see us stay up.

[The Prisoner]

Sky doing a different pundit everyday, and whilst Le Tiss yesterday had us down as the surprise package, Charlie Nicholas just has us down.....

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11096/7979803/Premier-predictions

"We say Wigan every year - and I'm going to have to say them again. I spend a lot of time in Mallorca and I think they have signed a very good player from that club in Ivan Ramis, a tough, no-nonsense centre-back. Last season's change to a back three also helped them massively, but they are not signing goals, could lose Victor Moses and should be down there again.

"I think Steve Clarke could find it tough to bed in at West Brom as sometimes fans can be ruthless when they don't get a big-name manager so the Baggies could be around the bottom. I also think Reading might struggle. I hope I am seriously wrong because I'd love my old mate Brian McDermott and his team to march on but they are quite an attacking side. That will make them entertaining but could also make them vulnerable."

Why does everyone think we are an attacking team?! Last year's success was dourly built on not getting beat!

[Mike Hunt]

Great articles from Le Tiss and the Guardian.

Still think we will have enough to stay up. 14th for me.

[Ian Royal]

Sky doing a different pundit everyday, and whilst Le Tiss yesterday had us down as the surprise package, Charlie Nicholas just has us down.....

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11096/7979803/Premier-predictions

"We say Wigan every year - and I'm going to have to say them again. I spend a lot of time in Mallorca and I think they have signed a very good player from that club in Ivan Ramis, a tough, no-nonsense centre-back. Last season's change to a back three also helped them massively, but they are not signing goals, could lose Victor Moses and should be down there again.

"I think Steve Clarke could find it tough to bed in at West Brom as sometimes fans can be ruthless when they don't get a big-name manager so the Baggies could be around the bottom. I also think Reading might struggle. I hope I am seriously wrong because I'd love my old mate Brian McDermott and his team to march on but they are quite an attacking side. That will make them entertaining but could also make them vulnerable."

Why does everyone think we are an attacking team?! Last year's success was dourly built on not getting beat!

We have an attacking mindset. Our aim is to go out and win every game. We do it by countering hard off the back of a solid defence. Our defence is going to be less solid in the Prem, so it seems a pretty reasonable view to me.

[The Prisoner]

Daily Mail: Bottom

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2187729/Reading-Premier-League-preview-2012-13.html

Welcome to Sportsmail's team-by-team guide to the new Barclays Premier League season. Here we look at Reading's vital statistics, their summer signings and sales and analyse their chances.
Manager: Brian McDermott
Position last season: Promoted as Championship winners
Nickname: The Royals
Ground: Madjeski Stadium
Capacity: 24,200
Key man: Pavel Pogrebnyak

Big name: Pavel Pogrebnyak is a good acquisition
Chances: McDermott's men finished like a train last season to claim the Championship crown, but the Royals will be set for a tough return to the top flight, which could just prove a step too far.
Picking up Pogrebnyak is certainly a good way to go about readying the team for Premier League duty, but despite his impact at Fulham, doubts still remain.
Athough Reading play a decent brand of football, the smart money is on them to return from where they came from.
Sportsmail verdict: 20th - Harsh, perhaps, but someone has to finish bottom. Reading look most likely to.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2187729/Reading-Premier-League-preview-2012-13.html#ixzz23baNTCRQ

[The Prisoner]

Daily "expert" for Sky Sports today is Phil Thompson who doesn't mention us (i.e. doesn't have us going down) http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11096/7980122/Premier-Predictions

That is 1/3 of their pundits who has us going down (Charlie Nicholas), whilst Le Tiss said we would be the "surprise package"

[MouldyRoyal]

For most, it seems, surprise package would simply be us finishing 17th!

[andrew1957]

Guardian article seems fair enough and relatively well informed.

To be fair RFC probably don't have as much in the way of quality as most other PL teams. However, if past seasons are anything to go by we make up for this with grit, determination and hard work.

I think the difference between relegation and European football will be very little in terms of points this season - so we really could finish anywhere between say 7th and 20th depending on how well we start and how quickly confidence is built. I am still cautiously optimistic of a mid table final outcome.

[M Brook]

BBC Preview - http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18857152

[ddetisi]

About 11:30 Sky sports news will be speaking to Alan smith about his predictions. Some Reading goals to be shown.

[urz13]

I think we'll be fine. I just can't really see our defence being troubled by Wigan, Southampton, Villa etc in the matches that matter. And I think we have enough with the wingers and Guthrie, and from set plays, to score goals to win these crucial matches.

[MouldyRoyal]

From @Betfairpoker's pre-season review of the Premier League: (http://storify.com/betfairpoker/premier ... -2012-2013)

"READING. Nickname: The Sex Tyrants. Fish equivalent: Salmon. Celebrity fan: Madame Cholet. Rating: 27.8"

I agree it may not be the most helpful preview of all time but at least we're not favourites to go down!