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20 minutes ago, ariotofmyown said:

I'll be watching in Turkey. Seen plenty of Sky sports places advertised so guess I'll end up watching with some Chelsea fans who wish that had as much hope as we do.

So true. What a turn around. Nobody happier than Frank. That guy knows how to get people on board, even people who do ot want to get on board. Last seat still available for Bris. ??

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With half an hour to spare and feeling I needed to up my own personal level of arrogance I thought I’d prepare this useful guide on ‘All you need to know about Reading’.  If we lose on Friday Frank can blame me….

History:  Evidence of a settlement at Reading, can be traced back to the 8th century AD.  Confusingly the towns name is pronounced "redding", which is due in main to a high proportion of illiterate ginger inhabitants in the town.  The town also saw the only violence of the 1688 Glorious Revolution.  The fact that Reading folk were the only people in England prepared to fight to keep the puritanical rule of Oliver Cromwell et al goes a long way to explain their current choice of football manager.  As the Industrial Revolution developed Reading became famous for their three ‘B’s – brewing, bulbs and biscuits.  In more recent times Reading manager Paul Clement has been keen to build on this heritage and his style of play has had been designed to get Reading fans singing about their own three ‘B’s with chants of ‘Boring, Boring, Boring’ often heard at the Madjeski.  Reading has grown in the 20th century in no small part due to the M4 and has applied for Royal assent to become a city three times. Unfortunately when the Queen stopped laughing all three applications were rejected.

Culture and places to visit:  Home of the famous Reading Festival every August the bad news is that it’s not on this weekend.  The event is held at Little John’s Farm providing further evidence that Robin Hood lived nowhere near Nottingham.  Reading also has four Travelodges.

Reading FC History:   Formed in 1871 Reading spent the first few decades of their life watched by three men and a dog, but by the 1920’s that had risen to over a hundred people and Reading were asked to join the Football League.  Since then it’s been a stellar rise as Reading have won the London War Cup in 1941 and the Simod Cup in 1988. Reading have twice been promoted to the Premier League, on both occasions sell-out crowds bolstered by the large number of Man Utd fans in the Home Counties prompted Reading to think about expanding their ground.

Nicknames:  As a result of playing in Berkshire and having royal blue and white hoops on their shirt, Reading are affectionately known as the Royal Berks.

Closest rivals:  With football not really being high on the agenda in the Home Counties, Reading's closest rivals are the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club.  Both teams contest the Steve Coppell Cup every year.  The polo club always win though on the basis of their greater equine pedigree, with Reading limited to fielding the odd donkey at the match.  You can make your own joke about Nick Blackman here. In terms of direct footballing rivals a 2012 poll (genuinely) identified Aldershot as their main rivals.

The manager:  Former Rams manager Paul Clement will be in charge in the Reading dugout on Friday night.  The first in a series of anti-football managers at Derby (that include Pearson and Rowett), Clement had a world class pedigree in putting out cones for very good players at teams such as Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.  He will be keen to get one over his old team and demonstrate what Derby are missing out with his cone management and ability to phone Ronaldo or Lewandoski for a chat.

Players to watch:  Reading are led by their talismanic centre back Paul McShane.  Originally famous for playing ‘Ted Bovis’ in the BBC sitcom HiDeHi the former funnyman is a commanding presence at the back.  Joining him in the back four is John O’Shea the former Man Utd player who was a key presence for the Busby Babes.  Up front Modou Barrow is the grandson of American sharpshooter Clyde.

Prediction:  Reading players will be well aware that a strong start to the season could see them lumbered and playing anti-football until their inevitable relegation next year.  Both fans and players might accept a thrashing in the short term to hasten regime change.

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Can't see why Johnson gets on the bench. He probably will because he's like Stephen Pearson. A crap player that just won't go away. That plays loads of games and when he finally goes everyone will finally say he's crap. 

He can't pass, he doesn't win the ball often despite having a decent reputation for it. He doesn't score many goals and yet again has a reputation for it. He's good in the air. 

This is where I'd like to see a youngster pushed forward rather than a "know what you're gonna get" Johnson. 

I imagine Thomas and/or Bennett will be gutted to miss out on a place in the squad. 

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14 minutes ago, Alpha said:

Can't see why Johnson gets on the bench. He probably will because he's like Stephen Pearson. A crap player that just won't go away. That plays loads of games and when he finally goes everyone will finally say he's crap. 

He can't pass, he doesn't win the ball often despite having a decent reputation for it. He doesn't score many goals and yet again has a reputation for it. He's good in the air. 

This is where I'd like to see a youngster pushed forward rather than a "know what you're gonna get" Johnson. 

I imagine Thomas and/or Bennett will be gutted to miss out on a place in the squad. 

I quite like his endeavours. Yet I agree, he doesn't add enough that makes me think he is worth a squad place over a younger player who could be wisely coached into something far better. Doesn't every squad have to have a player who lingers about stealing games?

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The reason Johnson will be in the bench (imo) is his versatility. He can cover any of the 3 midfield positions if someone takes a knock. I don’t think any other player can, Hudds certainly can’t which is why I doubt he would make the bench.

i reckon Bennett, Jozefzoon and Marriott will be on the bench as there starting positions will be doing most of the pressing with Bryson. We should always have 2 wingers and a striker in the bench for this formation and how we press.

which would leave 2 spaces for Pearce and Fozzy at a guess. 

Cant see anything but the same starting eleven that played against Wolves unless someone’s got a knock.

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1 hour ago, Alpha said:

Can't see why Johnson gets on the bench. He probably will because he's like Stephen Pearson. A crap player that just won't go away. That plays loads of games and when he finally goes everyone will finally say he's crap. 

He can't pass, he doesn't win the ball often despite having a decent reputation for it. He doesn't score many goals and yet again has a reputation for it. He's good in the air. 

This is where I'd like to see a youngster pushed forward rather than a "know what you're gonna get" Johnson. 

I imagine Thomas and/or Bennett will be gutted to miss out on a place in the squad. 

Harsh on johnson he is not a crap player but he is not a great one either and there will be a time and a place for him this season it’s the championship 

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4 hours ago, Alpha said:

Can't see why Johnson gets on the bench. He probably will because he's like Stephen Pearson. A crap player that just won't go away. That plays loads of games and when he finally goes everyone will finally say he's crap. 

He can't pass, he doesn't win the ball often despite having a decent reputation for it. He doesn't score many goals and yet again has a reputation for it. He's good in the air. 

This is where I'd like to see a youngster pushed forward rather than a "know what you're gonna get" Johnson. 

I imagine Thomas and/or Bennett will be gutted to miss out on a place in the squad. 

He's technically the worst footballer in the squad by far, in that he finds it extremely difficult to control or pass a football well. So I agree with you there. His aerial power might help and he is more physical so brings a level of power into the midfield if needed.

I thought Butterfield might be more Lampard's cup of tea, but it looks like we're trying to persuade him to move by not selecting him. I'd rather have had Elsnik or Guy on the bench, but both have had invisible preseasons. Maybe the new kid from Reading will displace Johnson? Hope so. I always prefer a team of quality footballers and bringing Johnson in was such a backwards move.

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6 hours ago, EnigmaRam said:

The reason Johnson will be in the bench (imo) is his versatility. He can cover any of the 3 midfield positions if someone takes a knock. I don’t think any other player can, Hudds certainly can’t which is why I doubt he would make the bench.

i reckon Bennett, Jozefzoon and Marriott will be on the bench as there starting positions will be doing most of the pressing with Bryson. We should always have 2 wingers and a striker in the bench for this formation and how we press.

which would leave 2 spaces for Pearce and Fozzy at a guess. 

Cant see anything but the same starting eleven that played against Wolves unless someone’s got a knock.

Bradley Johnson is versatile I agree. You can play him in any position and you know what you’ll get - sheer crap.

The guy is the worst £6m player I have ever seen at Championship level. 

You can play him in holding midfield, centre-midfield, wide left, attacking midfield... All with the same result. Crap.

The reason why Huddlestone isn’t deemed versatile is because he’s a much better holding midfielder than he is in other midfield roles. Yet he’s still do a better job than Bradders in any other position.

The reason why BJ is in contrast deemed a versatile player is because he puts in the same performance level and quality level in every position. It doesn’t fluctuate. He’s equally crap in every position.

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Bloody hell whats Brad done to some of you on here , number one scapegoat already , unbelievable, yes Brads got his limitatations but there isnt another midfielder at the club that will get his foot in or run through brick walls like him , there will be games this coming season where Brad will be invaluable , we cant get by with pretty footballers all season , leave our Brad alone

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1 minute ago, Premier ram said:

Bloody hell whats Brad done to some of you on here , number one scapegoat already , unbelievable, yes Brads got his limitatations but there isnt another midfielder at the club that will get his foot in or run through brick walls like him , there will be games this coming season where Brad will be invaluable , we cant get by with pretty footballers all season , leave our Brad alone

Brad will run through brick walls 100%, I just wish he didn't lose the ball while doing so

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2 hours ago, Bris Vegas said:

Bradley Johnson is versatile I agree. You can play him in any position and you know what you’ll get - sheer crap.

The guy is the worst £6m player I have ever seen at Championship level. 

You can play him in holding midfield, centre-midfield, wide left, attacking midfield... All with the same result. Crap.

The reason why Huddlestone isn’t deemed versatile is because he’s a much better holding midfielder than he is in other midfield roles. Yet he’s still do a better job than Bradders in any other position.

The reason why BJ is in contrast deemed a versatile player is because he puts in the same performance level and quality level in every position. It doesn’t fluctuate. He’s equally crap in every position.

Blimey. bris you are turning in Mr Grumpy.

 

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3 hours ago, Bris Vegas said:

Bradley Johnson is versatile I agree. You can play him in any position and you know what you’ll get - sheer crap.

The guy is the worst £6m player I have ever seen at Championship level. 

You can play him in holding midfield, centre-midfield, wide left, attacking midfield... All with the same result. Crap.

The reason why Huddlestone isn’t deemed versatile is because he’s a much better holding midfielder than he is in other midfield roles. Yet he’s still do a better job than Bradders in any other position.

The reason why BJ is in contrast deemed a versatile player is because he puts in the same performance level and quality level in every position. It doesn’t fluctuate. He’s equally crap in every position.

So he about as good at football as you are at supporting our players and team, plus writing posts. 

Glad we cleared that up ?

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