MouldyRoyalRoyalWire I am just after a bit of an overview of the club really. If I could have people's views on the following:
1. Who is the key man for the team;
2. Where is the squad at its strongest;
3. Where is the squad at its weakest;
4. What style of football can I expect to see...I hope its not The Big Sam Patent Pending Long Ball!!!;
5. What do you all think of Mcdermott;
6. What is the ground like;
7. Will we stay up?;
8. Any other useful info?
Also, with being new to football, will it be easy to get tickets for games in my local area...these would be Liverpool, Everton, Wigan, Man utd, and Man City. How much would I be looking at for a ticket. I intend to go to as many local games as I can and maybe squeeze in one or two home games if finances allow!
My new home shirt got delivered this morning ready for the new season! Come on Reading!
In for full gusto yet arbitrary supporting of a team!
Here are my own opinions for your queries above:
1. Hard question as we're more a team unit than one that relies on a couple of individual stars, but new signing and Russian International Pavel Pogrebnyak (Pav, Pog, The Cellar) will be the man relied upon to be getting goals needed to keep us up. Guthrie will be expected to be giving us creativity in midfield, McAnuff and (if/when fit) Kebe on the wings will be the men called for pace and trickery. Austalian Adam Federici in goal is probably the most unsung hero however and will clearly be tested this year.
2. McDermott has strengthened all over, aiming to get two capable players for each position. However our defence was the strongest in the Championship last year and I expect it to be reasonably solid this year even against far better attacks.
3. Most would suggest strikers are our weak point. We relied on goals from all over the pitch last season and our top scoring striker had only 12 goals. Whilst Pog has come in, it's yet to be seen whether he will be able to score consistently in the Prem, the concensus seems to be that we're still looking for a second striker.
4. Fast breaking counter-attacking football. We're very direct. As soon as we get the ball we break for opposition goal. Wing play has been the focus of our football for several years now (ignoring a brief flirtation with possession football under now Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers) so expect the ball to be sprayed out wide to one of our wingers to then try to cross in for a striker. We like our set pieces too, with strong dead ball potential in Ian Harte and Danny Guthrie. Don't expect the ball to stay completely on the deck however, we have been known to "route one" it with some regularity.
5. Universally liked. Took us from the verge of relegation into League 1 to the Premier League. Most of this has been performed on a shoe string budget too. A pragmatist who is some how able to get the best out of his players through savvy man-management. Deadpan sense of humour.
6. Relatively new and fairly boring concrete bowl I'm afraid! Not often the loudest place in the world either. Good views from everywhere, however.
7. Ummm, 50/50 I'd say. This is only our 3rd season in the top division and we're favourites for relegation. We're definitely going to lose more games than we win. If we do go down though, it really isn't the end of the world. Arguably the Championship is a lot more competitive (anyone can beat anyone, there are rarely any shock results) definitely much more cheaper and there is never any struggle to get tickets (useful for a new fan such as yourself).
8. Fans of other teams will say that we have no history, despite being over 140 years old as a club. We do have history, it's just a lot of it is in the third division! Oh, and our new owner's wife is a Victoria's Secret model. I'm guessing that's important.
Ticketing: Everton an Wigan you will definitely be able to get tickets for. City and Utd may not be so lucky. Liverpool I'd suggest there's a good chance of tickets being available. Away tickets are prioritised so that they're available to season ticket holders with lots of "royalty points" first and non season ticket holding general members (i.e. you) last. But for example, the Chelsea away game a week tomorrow is not sold out, available to all members already, so with that as a guide, Liverpool should be ok. Price wise, you're looking at between £30 and £50 depending on the club we're playing I'm afraid.
Not sure how much you know about our squad, but a possible starting XI for Saturday is:
Goal: Adam Federici
RightBack: Chris Gunter
CentreBacks: Alex Pearce and Kaspars Gorkss
LeftBack: Ian Harte
RightWing: Garath McLeary
CentreMids: Danny Guthrie and Mikele Leigertwood
LeftWing: Jobi McAnuff (c)
Forwards: Pavel Pogrebnyak and Adam Le Fondre
(Gives you some names to look up on wikipedia and some faces to get to know!)
One other thing, since we're in the Prem now, most of the games are likely to be live somewhere on the internet if you know where to look.
Welcome!
Good stuff for our new fan who will presumably go to Wigan twice next season.
As he will gather the posters on here are a very mixed bag with obvious favourites in terms of players.
I would be surprised (and disappointed) if our starting eleven doesn't have Nicky Shorey in ahead of Harte but otherwise (unless Mariappa comes in for Gorkss or Pearce) the above team seems about right.
HNA is a knee jerk reactionary place full of bickering and insults. Don't take anything too seriously, be prepared to fight your corner. It's going to be a long hard slog of a season. Reading fans are some of the nicest around... we demonstrate at the stadium when we want our manager to STAY after a relegaion.
