Owusu Follows Brooker and Newman
Added by HNA? on 27/06/05
Striker Lloyd Owusu has followed team-mates Ricky Newman and Paul Brooker and left Reading to return to League One side Brentford. Like the other two ex-Reading players to leave during the close season, there is no transfer fee involved. Owusu has signed on a two year deal as Martin "Mad Dog" Allen continues to build his side up for a promotion push. Owusu banged in ten league goals for the Royals and made 25 league starts after joining initially on loan from Sheffield Wednesday in December 2003. Meanwhile, Reading's squad is looking thin with the club promising some signings over the coming week.
Rumour Rating: Definite

Forster Completes Ipswich Switch
Added by HNA? on 23/06/05
Nicky Forster has completed his move to Championship rivals Ipswich Town, signing a two year contract with the club that narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premiership last season. Forster turned down the chance to stay at Reading on a one year deal, instead prefering a longer contract with another Championship club.
Rumour Rating: Definite

New Season Fixture List In Full
Added by HNA? on 23/06/05
The new 2005/2006 Championship fixture list is now available in full on Hob Nob Anyone? after the fixtures were released at 10am this morning. The good news is that Reading will both start and end the season with home fixtures - the season kicks-off with Plymouth Argyle visiting the Madejski Stadium on 6th August 2005 and closes with the visit of QPR on 30th April 2006. After the Plymouth game, Reading travel to Brighton during the week, then to Preston on the Saturday before a second home tie against Millwall on 20th August. The Boxing Day fixture is a trip to Wolverhampton, while the New Years day bank holiday game is played on the 2nd January when Cardiff visit Reading. The Royals travel to Derby County on New Years Eve, and a home game against Leicester on 28th December completes a tough festive programme. Reading will have to wait until 11th February before getting to play newly relegated Southampton at home, with the trip to St Mary's Stadium taking place on 28th September - a Wednesday night. Long distance away trips to Hull and Sheffield United also take place on weekday evenings.

New Season Fixtures
Added by HNA? on 17/06/05
Reading's fixtures for the new 2005/2006 Championship season are released next Thursday (23 June 2005) and thanks to Philpott Black, who sponsor our license, they'll be appearing here first as soon as the press embargo lifts at 10am. The new season gets underway on Saturday 6 August, and the Royals will be hoping to start with a home fixture for the second season in a row. Meanwhile, Reading's busy pre-season campaign starts on the 13th of June as the first team visit Staines Town. There's a trip to Farnborough before the squad leave for Sweden where they'll play three fixtures against Swedish based teams. On return, Reading's only home friendly sees Spurs visit the Madejski Stadium on Saturday 30th July (3pm kick-off). Tickets for the Spurs game are on sale now at a rather pricey £15 for adults and £9 for concessions. The Royals finish pre-season with a journey to Dorchester Town on the 2nd of August before the season finally gets started on the Saturday.

Forster Turns Down Contract
Added by HNA? on 08/06/05
Reading striker Nicky Forster has turned down the one year contract renewal offered to him by the club. His decision to look elsewhere comes immediately after the confirmation that Reading have signed two new strikers from Cork City. Kevin Doyle particually would be seen as a replacement for Nicky Forster giving Forster a clear indication that he may struggle to hold down a place as Reading look to the future. Forster is keen to secure a longer term contract, and to play first team football next season, and is in discussions with a number of clubs regarding a close season move. Forster struggled to find his best form last season after returning from injury but will leave Reading with an impressive record after hitting sixty-seven goals over a six year spell.
Rumour Rating: Definite

Irish Signings Confirmed
Added by HNA? on 08/06/05
Reading have successfully completed the double signing of Irish youngsters Kevin Doyle and Shane Long from Irish league leaders Cork City. Both players are strikers and have played for their country - twenty-one year-old Doyle for the under-21s and eighteen year-old Long for the under-19s. While Long has only reached the fringes of the first team squad at Cork, Doyle is a first team regular and was voted player of the season last campaign. Doyle hit thirteen goals last season after moving from the right wing to play up front and he finished his career with Cork on Monday night by hitting both their goals in a 2-0 victory.

Kits Changed Again
Added by HNA? on 08/06/05
The club have confirmed that the team shirts will change yet again this season - this time due to a change in sponsorship. Westcoast will no longer be the Royals official sponsors with Kyocera Mita picking up the main sponsorship role. The new deal should be good news for Reading with Kyocera's sponsorship expected to mean a big increase in cash from the previous deal. The new home shirt has a plain blue back to the shirt with only the base of the back sporting the famous hoops. The words "print copy scan fax" is printed just above the arse area. Blue shorts and socks complete the home kit. The away kit is a navy gray colour with side panels to make the larger wearer of the shirt look skinny. Darren Caskey would have loved it.
Rumour Rating: Definite

Prediction League Winners
Added by HNA? on 20/05/05
How did you do in this season's Prediction league? The 10th season saw some close competition and the winners picked up £45 in Reading FC megastore vouchers for predicting the results and goalscorers during the season. Congratulations to Cavaboy who topped the total points table, picking up a round 100 points to beat Young Royal into second place by three clear points. It was even tighter for the best average score with Valda taking the top spot with an impressive average of 3.2 points per game. Katydid narrowly missed out taking the winners prize with an average of 3.1 points per game. Thanks to everyone for taking part this season - check back before the start of the new season to take part in the 2005/2006 Hob Nob Anyone? Prediction League.

Ingimarsson Voted Player Of Season
Added by HNA? on 13/05/05
Congratulations to Ivar Ingimarsson who has been voted Hob Nob Anyone? player of the season. Ingimarsson, nearly ever present until the last part of the season, picked up well over a third of the vote to beat off runner up Marcus Hahnemann and third placed Dave Kitson. Ingimarsson's central defender partner Ibrahima Sonko took the top spot for the most improved player of the season. Sonko's career took a massive turn for the better this season as he established himself as one of the players first down on the team sheet. The victory over West Ham United at the Madejski Stadium, thanks to a Dave Kitson hat-trick, was voted as the best performance of the season. Meanwhile the home defeat against Wolves at the end of the season was voted as Reading's worst performance.

Five Players Set To Leave
Added by HNA? on 12/05/05
Ricky Newman, Bas Savage, Louie Soares and recent signings Les Ferdinand and Martin Keown are all expected to leave the club during the close season. Ferdinand and Keown were always expected to retire after a short stay with the Royals. Keown made five appearances, including three starts after winning a place from Ingimarsson. Ferdinand looked a class act despite only hitting a single goal in 14 games. The biggest departure is probably utility player Ricky Newman who will not be offered a new contract after five years at the club. Newman, who signed on a free transfer from Millwall after a loan spell, made well over 100 starts for Reading. Meanwhile Nicky Forster, Simieon Howell, Jamie Young, Darren Campbell are expected to be offered contract extensions to keep them at Reading.
Rumour Rating: Definite

Royals Miss Out
Added by HNA? on 09/05/05
For the second season in a row Reading finished the season three points outside a play-off place - finishing on seventy points. The season was already effectively over before the final day of the season - but Reading could have still made it with a big win at Wigan. With West Ham winning their final game Reading would have needed to win by a bigger margin, but there was little chance of that with the Royals facing the Division's second best side. Wigan needed the win to seal their promotion to the Premiership and were much the better side to take a deserved 3-1 victory to condemn Reading to another Championship season. The defeat saw Reading finish the season with three straight defeats making it hard to argue that Reading deserved anything other than a mid-table finish. Wigan were clearly determined to pick up their vital victory right from the start and took a firm grip on the game with Reading under immediate pressure. Reading had struggled to get the ball out of their own half and it was no surprise when the home side worked a neat move to finish from close range after eighteen minutes. The Reading defence were having a difficult afternoon, and Sonko's slip three minutes later allowed Roberts to break free and fire past Hanhemann to make it 0-2. There already seemed no way back for Reading but it might have been different if Forster had made the most of Reading's first chances right at the end of the first half. Forster found himself clean through but failed to connect when he might have volleyed Reading back into the game. The second half saw Reading get into the game but struggle to ever break down a strong Wigan side. We failed to create any real clear cut chances and resorted to long hoofs down the pitch in contrast to Wigan's precise passing football. Since we weren't using the midfield, or the wings, Coppell opted for a four man attack with his substitutions leaving Ferdinand, Forster, Kitson and Owusu all waiting for hopeful punts up-field. Despite the man power up front Wigan continued to deal with the threat and then polished the game off with five minutes left when a cross from the right was superbly headed home. Wigan at last dropped their guard and were already celebrating when Sidwell bundled home a late consolation for Reading when Kitson cut the ball back. It was a disappointing afternoon - but the disappointment had been brewing for the last few weeks. Congratulations to Wigan, who may have provided Reading with a few pointers for next season if we are to follow in their footsteps.

Hob Nob End Of Season Awards
Added by HNA? on 04/05/05
Every season on Hob Nob Anyone? we run an entirely unofficial on-line vote to find out who you thought were the stars of the season. The Hob Nob vote allows you to choose your player of the season, most improved player of the season, best and worst Reading performances. Last season Steve Sidwell was voted player of the season, while this season's top scorer Dave Kitson collected the award for most improved player. It wasn't so long ago that Scott Howie picked up the most improved player of the season two years in a row. Make sure you get your vote in using the link below and then check back soon for the full results.

Wigan Game On Sky
Added by HNA? on 04/05/05
Reading's final league game, unless results go our way, will be screened live on Sky Sports TV this Sunday. The Royals travel to Wigan for a 1pm kick-off needing to win and hope West Ham slip up. Meanwhile Wigan need a win to secure their automatic promotion to the Premiership. A draw could see Wigan condemned to a play-off place if Ipswich win and would only be good enough for Reading if West Ham are beaten at Watford. Everything rests on the final day of the season for both clubs, but Wigan will be firm favourites to complete their promotion at the expense of Reading. The Royals have managed to score just 17 goals on their travels, while Wigan have conceeded just 14 - the best home defence in the division. Nicky Shorey is returning to training after missing out on Saturday as Reading were beaten by Wolves and is hopeful to return for the crunch fixture.

Royals Effectively Ruled Out
Added by HNA? on 01/05/05
Reading are all but out of the play-off race after a disasterous home defeat to Wolves. Reading remain outside the play-off places, behind West Ham on goals scored, with one game left to play. To sneak in to sixth place on the final day of the season, Reading will have to find a better result than West Ham next weekend. Something not far short of a miracle is required. West Ham travel to Watford and seem certain to win - meaning Reading will have to win by a bigger margin at second placed Wigan who may need the win themselves to secure automatic promotion. On this showing against Wolves, it's clear that we're simply not good enough for promotion, and it's time to accept that it's Championship football again next season for the Royals. There wasn't a lack of effort from Reading as they slumped to a devastating 1-2 home defeat but we were lacking in all departments against a team that were simply much better quality. It was most evident in midfield where Wolves stroked the ball around at speed and Reading looked lost and unable to build going forward. Wolves had by far the better chances, created much more, and were probably unlucky not to win by more. After a frantic start Reading took the lead against the run of play with our first attempt on goal when Kitson flicked on superbly to Forster who stuck home a fantastic volley into the roof of the net. It was a rare moment of brilliance from the Royals and gave false hope. The rest of the game belonged to the visitors who had to wait until the second half to pull level and then eventually take a much deserved lead. The second goal saw a serious lack of concentration from Sonko who headed possession away and then failed to make a challenge as Wolves simply glided through the middle of defence before smashing it home. Reading had chances late on to steal a point with Harper failing to connect properly with his shot and Ferdinand hitting a solid effort straight at the goal keeper. However there's no arguing with the result, and Reading's near certain seventh placed finish will be a fair reflection of the season.

Royals Drop To Seventh
Added by HNA? on 23/04/05
Reading lost their play-off position, with just two games of the season remaining, after going down 0-2 at Cardiff City. The victory for the home side went a long way towards making them safe from relegation, but delivered a huge blow to Reading's promotion hopes. The afternoon could have been much worse however - Brighton's last minute goal gave them a 2-2 home draw with Reading's play-off rivals West Ham. The Hammers' point was enough to take them above Reading on goals scored but West Ham and Reading now have the same points, the same goal difference and the same games played. The last games of the season see West Ham take on newly promoted Sunderland at home and then travel to Watford, while Reading face Wolves at home before travelling to second placed Wigan. Two wins, and enough goals, would still see Reading push West Ham out, but it's not going to happen unless the Royals improve dramatically from this afternoon's very poor performance at Cardiff. Reading were second best throughout the entire game after getting off to a poor start. Reading's defence fell to pieces after twelve minutes when the offside trap failed dramatically allowing Thorne to volley home from deep inside the area. It was 0-2, and all over for Reading, after half an hour after Reading failed to deal with a Cardiff corner. The second half didn't get much better as Reading failed to trouble the home keeper at all and Cardiff hit the post and should have gone further ahead after an effort flew just over Hahnemann's crossbar. Ferdinand came off the bench and had little impact until a Little cross saw Ferdinand head against the crossbar. However, the game had already been easily won by Cardiff.

West Ham Keep The Pressure On
Added by HNA? on 20/04/05
Alan Pardew's West Ham United scored a late winner at Stoke City last night to keep in touch with the play-offs and move to within a point of the Royals. With the game locked at 0-0, Zamora came off the bench with quarter of an hour left to play and found the back of the net just two minutes later. The only team with a game in hand remaining is Derby in fifth place who have the same points and goal difference as the Royals. Reading remain in the final play-off place with West Ham a point behind with a worse goal difference, and Sheffield United four points adrift of the Royals. Three straight wins for Reading would guarantee a play-off place, but anything less and things would depend on the results of games involving Derby, West Ham and Sheffield United.
Remaining Fixtures
Derby: Gillingham (H), Leicester (A), Coventry (A), Preston (H).
Reading: Cardiff (A), Wolves (H), Wigan (A).
West Ham: Brighton (A), Sunderland (H), Watford (A).
Sheff Utd: Watford (A), Millwall (H), Wolves (A).

Royals Make It Three From Three
Added by HNA? on 16/04/05
Reading took a huge step towards securing a play-off spot this afternoon, beating Nottingham Forest 1-0 at the Madejski Stadium while West Ham could only draw at home to Millwall. With Sheffield United only managing to pick up a single point from their two games during the week, Reading moved four points clear in sixth place. Sheffield United seem destined to miss out on that vital top six finish, leaving West Ham the key side to watch over the last few weeks of the season. Alan Pardew's side have a game in hand over the Royals but that would still see them behind on points even if they picked up a win. The Hammers also have three away games from their last four - and their only home game is against league leaders Sunderland. Reading still have to pick up some points to secure a play-off finish but must now be firm favourites for a fifth or sixth placed finish.
The Royals had Harper to thank for his winning goal with just over a quarter of an hour to go this afternoon, shortly after the visitors were reduced to ten men when their keeper was sent off. Reading's super sub Les Ferdinand once again impressed and played a big part in the turn around. The key moment came when Ferdinand put the keeper under pressure and forced him to handle the ball outside his area, picking up a red card. Reading had had much the better of the game but had been frustrated after a goalless first half. The Royals had some good chances to go ahead with Kitson and Forster both narrowly failing to get on the end of crosses. Murty was getting forward well and had a couple of shots saved by the Forest keeper. Down the other end Forest managed to hit the crossbar and put one just wide but Reading were defending well despite Ingimarsson being left on the bench in favour of Keown, who had a very solid game. After the break the chances were few and far between as Forest packed their defence and the sending off may have been a crucial moment to see Reading pick up their third consecutive win.

Royals Win At Sunderland
Added by HNA? on 09/04/05
Reading pulled off a massive result this afternoon with a shock victory over table-toppers Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. In front of the biggest crowd to watch Reading this season, and the Sky TV cameras, the Royals once again came back from a goal behind to score two late goals to make it four wins from six games. Sunderland started the game firm favourites after winning eight straight league games in a row to take them clear at the top of the Championship. The home side had previously lost only two league games at home all season, and got off to the more positive start. Reading had clearly come to play a cautious game and were content to soak up Sunderland's early possession. Marcus Hahnemann had another excellent game as he came steaming off his line to make two crucial saves when Sunderland twice broke through to go one-on-one with the keeper. Although Sunderland were restricted to just a few shooting opportunities they nearly squeezed ahead with an effort that dipped to hit the crossbar. However, Reading continued to frustrate Sunderland with some decent defending until Ingimarsson made a rare mistake seven minutes into the second half when he failed to clear. The ball was crossed from the right and found Murty caught between two players, allowing a straight forward far post header to put Sunderland a goal up. Once again Coppell made some inspired substitutions to turn the game around. This time he opted for experience with Keown replacing Ingimarsson and Ferdinand replacing Newman as Reading adopted a more forward thinking game. Ferdinand was quickly involved, as Reading started to dominate the game after Sunderland's earlier superiority. Sunderland became pinned in their own half with Reading desperate to take something from the game. The effort paid off with quarter of an hour to go when Forster and Kitson paired up to bundle the ball through the centre of the defence before Kitson got his leg on it to guide it home. Reading were now clearly on top and the winner came after Steve Sidwell burst into the area and was taken down for a penalty. Kitson blasted his spot kick, low to the left of the keeper for his second of the game and to seal an amazing 2-1 victory against the odds. Reading's return to form couldn't have come at a better time with just four games of the season remaining. Reading's rivals - Preston, Derby, West Ham and Sheffield United - all also picked up wins to keep it tighter than ever for the play-off places.

Royals Fight Back To Win
Added by HNA? on 06/04/05
Reading put in an excellent second half performance to secure a vital 2-1 victory against Millwall after going in a goal down a half time. It was a classic game of two halves with Reading looking destined for another poor result after a shocking opening forty-five minutes. The second half was a different game altogether with Reading playing some of their best football of 2005 and taking a deserved victory to keep them in fifth position. The first half was a very scrappy affair that saw passes continually miss targets and neither side manage to settle down. Although Reading created a few chances and looked the better side, it was Millwall that took the lead with a strange goal six minutes before the break. A quick ball forward saw Sonko appeared to freeze to allow Millwall's Dichio to break through alone into the area. With Hahnemann advancing he lobbed the ball over his head and it dipped just in time to hit the back of the net - either very lucky or a very impressive goal. The second half saw Reading shift to a more attacking line-up with three excellent tactical substitutions. Ferdinand, Brooker and Harper all came off the bench and all had major contributions and Reading got stuck in to turning the game around. After a period of sustained pressure the break through came on 73 minutes when Sidwell played the ball in from the right and Kitson found himself with a simple tap-in to make it 1-1. Reading had the momentum and there seemed to be only one possible result - a Reading win. Sure enough, further pressure led to the winner with seven minutes left to play when Brooker beat his man and crossed for Forster to firmly head home. Ferdinand looked a class above most of the other players on the pitch with some superb headed knock-downs and an excellent run that saw him burst through before unleasing a superb effort that needed a good save from the Millwall keeper. A defeat would have left the Royals ninth in the table and made it very difficult for Reading to secure a play-off place with five games left. Reading's remaining play-off rivals - Preston, Derby, West Ham, and Sheffield United - all picked up important victories to keep the pressure very much on with the season coming towards a close.

STAR Fans' Forum
Added by HNA? on 05/04/05
The latest STAR (Supporters' Trust At Reading) Fans' Forum has been scheduled to take place at the Madejski Stadium's Princess Suite on Thursday 28 April at 8pm. The forum, which allows fans to put their questions directly to the management team, will feature Reading team manager Steve Coppell along with potentially other guests to be announced later. With just two league games to follow after that date it will no doubt be a crunch time for the Royals and Coppell will face some interesting questions depending on how the season has panned out... Questions for Steve can be sent to info@star-reading.org. This forum is open to STAR members only but STAR membership can be obtained on the door, or via the STAR website (www.star-reading.org) or at the shop in the East Stand.
Rumour Rating: Definite

Another 0-0 As Royals Move To Fifth
Added by HNA? on 02/04/05
Reading's third 0-0 draw in five fixtures saw the Royals somehow climb into fifth place in the Championship table this afternoon. The visitors, play-off rivals Sheffield United, were probably more happy with the result that keeps them two points behind with a game in hand. Reading moved above Derby on goal difference after they were beaten at Ipswich and West Ham's win at Wigan saw them move to seventh - also just two points behind the Royals with a game in hand. It's very tight at the top of the table and Reading will be frustrated not to have picked up the three points today after enjoying the better of a close fixture. Nicky Forster has had a interesting time recently after putting in the winner in Reading's last league fixture at Brighton and earning himself an offer of a year's contract extension. He made a return to the starting line-up this afternoon and looked a much improved player from his appearances earlier this season that saw him being left out of the side. Forster worked hard all afternoon both in attempting to create chances and to take the ones he was presented. He came close to scoring twice in the opening half. Firstly with a opportunistic lob of the goalkeeper that narrowly flew over the crossbar as it dipped, and then he worked his way through the defence before firing in a low shot against the United post with the goalkeeper nowhere to be seen. Steve Sidwell also nearly found the target only to see his shot hit the foot of the same post. Reading were clearly on top but the visitors might have gone in a goal up when they looked certain to score only to find Murty on the line to hack the ball clear. The second half lost some of it's tempo after a lively, and tough, first half and the chances were few and far between as the game drifted towards 0-0. Dave Kitson seemed hugely out of form and looked a shadow of his usual self in all departments. Forster was replaced with Ferdinand as Reading looked for a late win and he impressed in his short time on the pitch heading down a few balls to create openings. Unfortunately Kitson failed to make the most of a couple of loose balls in the area and Sonko fired a header wide when he had the whole goal to aim at. So another draw as Reading struggle to pick up the points. With six games of the season remaining a win against Millwall on Tuesday night is essential.

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