celticjack

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Brian McDermott has, significantly, been given another chance as Reading's manager. This announcement follows the news that Nigel Adkins has retired from football management. McDermott attended a press conference and gave his views on becoming Reading manager for the 2nd time in a matter of years. This is what he had to say:

"Well, obviously it wasn't my decision to leave the first time around, I never wanted to leave the club. I jumped at the chance of becoming Reading manager, again. I vow to turn things round at this club and consolidate this club's participation in the top division."

Will post an update tomorrow morning/afternoon with pre-season results, transfers and tactics!
 
PRE-SEASON, TRANSFERS AND TACTICS

I let my assistant take over friendly games, using my tactics but not my team selection. I feel that there isn't a point in playing friendlies, but that's just me! Let's crack on..

Sheff Wed 0-3 Reading
( Akpan, Morrison, Le Fondre )
An expected win, but only a friendly.

Hayes & Yeading 0-1 Reading
( Le Fondre )
Made tough work in winning this game, but a win is a win.

Huddersfield 1-0 Reading
Shock loss, but again, only a friendly.

Oldham 2-1 Reading
( McAnuff )
Another shock loss, might need a change of tactic..

Reading 0-1 Porto
A game we were never expected to win and we made them work for it.




The tactic that I am using is a 4-2-3-1, with 2 DM's. Screenshot below:
View attachment 339480

The transfer market wasn't really busy, there isn't a whole load of quality willing to come to Reading but I'm hoping we can move the club forward with these 2 transfers:
View attachment 339479

Will be updating again today, first couple of months should be up in a couple of hours!
 
August

Premier League

Reading 0-1 Tottenham

An 89th minute goal from Adebayor earned all 3 points for Tottenham. We dominated possession for most of the game but just couldn't do anything with it. Gutted to concede a late goal.

Premier League

Newcastle 0-1 Reading
( Drage )

A massive 3 points! Newcastle dominated possession but we took our chances, we could of had 2 or 3 as well! Fantastic win and I'm hoping we can build on it.

Capital One Cup (2nd Round)

Notts County 2-2 Reading (Reading win 3-4 on Penalties)
( Guthrie, Kebe )

A weakened Reading team made very tough work of this game. Notts County dominated from start to finish and deserved to win the game in the initial 90 minutes, we'll take this!

August Player of the Month

Only 3 games in this month, but the award has to go to Jem Karacan! Been solid at DM with an 84% tackling completion rate and a 90% pass completion rate.


September

Premier League

Reading 2-3 Norwich
( Drage, Shorey )

WOW! Absolutely speechless! Every single one of Norwich's goals were penalties. We dominated the game and did not deserve to lose. We'll move on from this with hopefully a win.

Premier League

Southampton 3-0 Reading

We got absolutely killed in the first half, we were 2-0 down at HT which made the game very much in their favour. We came out battling in the 2nd half but it wasn't enough and we conceded a late goal. Moving on...

Premier League

Fulham 2-1 Reading
( Drage )

We got dominated the whole game, lucky to get a goal
. Starting to doubt Le Fondre..

Capital One Cup (Third Round)

Scunthorpe 1-0
Reading

Left this game to my assistant expecting a win. Oh well, got to concentrate on the league and turn this poor form around.

Premier League

Reading 0-1 Swansea

Yet another penalty. Conceded 4 this season already! Need to start taking our chances, we had 15 shots but only 1 on target.. says it all really. Ends a disappointing month.

Player of the Month

No-one really deserves this but I'll give it to Thomas Drage for more or less carrying us through this season with his goals.

League Table

This is the table at the end of September. Our aim is to avoid relegation, which so far we are, so I suppose I can't be unhappy with the team's efforts. Need a consistent goalscorer though! Next update either later tonight or tomorrow sometime. Any feedback is welcome. :)


View attachment 339504







 
October

Premier League


Reading 3-2 Man City
( Kebe, McAnuff x2 )

Tried Kebe at AML and stuck Maloney up front to see what happened, and this was the result! Great start to October.

Premier League

Reading 2-2 West Brom
( Drage, Maloney )

Gutted not to win this, we were 2-0 up with 83 minutes on the clock and they hit back in style, they deserved at least a point nonetheless.

Premier League

Everton 2-0 Reading

Deserved to lose, got murdered here. Didn't expect anything else, though. Moving on..

Player of the Month

For me, this goes to Maloney. He adapted to his position well and bagged a goal and an assist in October.


November

Premier League

Arsenal 1-0 Reading
Again, didn't expect anything else. We lost and they deserved to win.

Premier League

Reading 0-0 Sunderland
Should of won, dominated majority of the game but it's better than a loss.

Premier League

Wigan 0-0 Reading
Boring game, no-one deserved to win. A draw was a fair result.

Premier League

Stoke 3-1 Reading
( Le Fondre )

Poor result to end the month, poor performance as well. Le Fondre scored the only goal of the month, sums it up really.


This is what the league table looks like:

View attachment 339555
Not looking amazing, but we're not in the relegation zone, which is the aim. QPR at home to kick off December, must win. Will update, most likely, tomorrow afternoon but there may be an update later tonight.. watch this space! Again, all feedback is welcome :)
 
No update tonight.. but I have played up to late December. Will post an update tomorrow when I get to the end of January with the results and transfers.
 
December

Premier League


Reading 0-2 QPR

Far from good enough! Shocking performance and there's no excuses for losing a game such as this. New tactic I think


Premier League

West Ham 0-1 Reading
( Drage )

FINALLY! First win in quite a few games. Tried out a wacky tactic and it paid off! View attachment 339739



Premier League

Reading 0-1 Liverpool

Used the tactic again, and we played well. A point was a fair result in my opinion and that's what we would of got if it wasn't for a late Jordan Henderson winner.


Premier League

Reading 1-1 Chelsea
( Gorkss )

A really good point. We were on the back foot for the majority of the game so to earn anything is amazing.


Premier League

Man Utd 5-1 Reading
( Hunt )

Tried to park the bus but it failed MISERABLY! They ended up with a shot total of 34 by full time. Didn't expect anything from this game anyway.


Premier League

Aston Villa 1-2 Reading
( Kebe, Le Fondre )

We were 1-0 down at HT but we didn't deserve to be. We fought back and came out eventual winners against a Villa side also fighting relegation.


Premier League

Tottenham 3-0 Reading

Didn't expect anything from this game. Tottenham are sitting top of the table with only 1 loss all season. Moving on..


Player of the Month

Has to be Thomas Drage.. brilliant, consistent performances from this exciting prospect.


January

Transfers

I bought Jelle Vossen for a total fee of 5.5m, as I needed a goalscorer. I also signed David Ospina on a pre-contract. He arrives in January, Federici likely to go the other way.

I let Jimmy Kebe go for a fee of 3.3m, wasn't a key player, 3.3m is useful. Shaun Cummings also went the other way for 130k.





Premier League

Norwich 0-1 Reading
( Guthrie )

Priceless 3 points! Tactic is really working well for me.


FA Cup (Third Round)

Millwall 2-1 Reading
( Robson-Kanu )

Left this game to my assistant as I wanted to concentrate on staying up the relegation zone. Not too concerned.


Premier League

Reading 4-3 Newcastle
( Gouffran OG, Le Fondre, Robson-Kanu x2 )

An absolute thriller of a game with fellow relegation battlers Newcastle! End to end stuff but in the end I think we deserved the win.


Premier League

Reading 1-1 Southampton
( Le Fondre )

A solid point for us against in-form Southampton. Also good to see Le Fondre getting some goals (eventually!)


Premier League

Swansea 2-2 Reading
( Drage, Gorkss )

Brilliant point! We were 2-0 down before a 69th minute Drage goal got us back in with a shout. We were looking down and out until a Kaspars Gorkss 90th minute rebound got us a solid point!


Premier League

Man City 3-0 Reading

Under-achievers Man City were in no mood to mess about when they played us. Didn't expect a win here, not too bothered.


Player of the Month

Got to be Le Fondre! Been consistent and bagged some important goals.


League Table

This is what the league table looks like as of 2nd February. The position doesn't look too good but look how many points away we are from the relegation zone! Looking good.

View attachment 339763

Next update either later tonight or tomorrow. As always, any feedback is welcome. :)



 
February

Premier League


Reading 2-3 Fulham
( Le Fondre, Drage )

We were actually 0-3 down until the 85th minute where we scraped 2 goals in 5 minutes. Fulham dominated and deserved to win.


Premier League

Reading 1-0 Everton
( Le Fondre )

Great result. Dominated the game with shots and deserved to win.


Premier League

West Brom 4-0 Reading

Poor result. Poor performance. Didn't expect anything from this game but I wasn't expecting to lose by 4..



Player of the Month

Le Fondre again for me, helped us with his goals and he stood out the most.



March

Premier League


Sunderland 1-0 Reading

Gutted to lose this. They were one place below us at this point and to lose dragged us closer to the relegation zone.


Premier League

Reading 1-2 Arsenal
( Vossen )

We deserved to win this game. We dominated the shot count and we would of won if it wasn't for 2 Santi Cazorla free kicks.


Premier League

Reading 0-1 Wigan

Wigan were one of the teams in the relegation zone at this point. Starting to worry now..


Premier League

Reading 1-2 Stoke
( Maloney )

An 89th minute goal from Dean Whitehead sealed all 3 points for Stoke. Gutted to say the least.


Player of the Month

No-one deserves it this month.



April

Premier League


Reading 1-0 West Ham
( Le Fondre )

West Ham were close to us in the table so this was a big win! Dominated the game and could of had 3 or 4 on another day.


Premier League

QPR 1-0 Reading

Gutted to lose this but we're looking good to stay up.


Premier League

Chelsea 1-1 Reading
( Vossen )

Brilliant point! Surely we've got to stay up now.


Premier League

Liverpool 2-1 Reading
( Le Fondre )

We actually dominated this game, surprisingly. Gutted not to get at least a point.



Player of the Month

This one goes to Vossen simply for the goal, which earned us a point, vs Chelsea.



May

Premier League


Reading 0-2 Man Utd

Seen it coming, oh well.


Premier League

Reading 0-1 Aston Villa

Poor result to end the campaign, was that the result that sent us down?


Player of the Month

Alex Pearce gets this one after a solid two games.




Final League Table


View attachment 340034

WE ARE STAYING UP, SAY WE ARE STAYING UP! We had a poor end to the league but I'm delighted to complete my objective, which was to avoid relegation. Also got a new contract until 2016!


Next update with pre-season and transfers probably tonight.
 
Sorry. No update tonight, will update twice tomorrow, though!
 
This thread can be closed, don't think enough people are interested tbh
 
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