Championship - Countdown: Reading

Eurosport - Tue, 04 Aug 10:09:00 2009

Eurosport-Yahoo! continues its countdown to the Championship season with a look at Reading.

FOOTBALL 2008-09 Championship Reading midfielder Stephen Hunt - 0

Manager: Brendan Rodgers

Last 10 Seasons

(1999/2000 to 2008/2009): -/-/-/4/9/7/1/-/-/4

POSSIBLE STARTING XI:

Adam Federici

Andre Bikey - Ivar Ingimarsson - Liam Rosenior - Chris Armstrong

Stephen Hunt (pictured) - James Harper - Kalifa Cisse - Jimmy Kebe

Noel Hunt - Shane Long

BACK-UPS FROM: Mikkel Andersen - Ben Hamer - Alex Pearce - Julian Kelly - Brynjar Gunnarsson - Marek Matejovsky - Hal Robson-Kanu - Jem Karacan - James Henry - Michail Antonio - Gylfi Sigurdsson - Jay Tabb - Scott Davies - Mitchell Bryant - David Mooney - Simon Church - Nicholas Bignall

TRANSFERS:

In - Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea, loan)

Out - Kevin Doyle (Wolves, undisclosed) - Marcus Hahnemann (Wolves, free) - Michael Duberry (Wycombe, free) - Scott Golbourne (Exeter City, free) - Leroy Lita (Middlesbrough, free) - Sam Sodje, Graeme Murty, Alan Bennett (all released)

POSITIVES: Reading seem to be at home in this division and have not finished lower than ninth in their last five attempts. The Royals have managed to retain most of the core of the side which was playing Premier League football two seasons ago and last season proved they are well equipped for promotion back to the top flight.

NEGATIVES: The departures of key duo Kevin Doyle and Marcus Hahnemann, along with the resignation of long-serving manager Steve Coppell, are likely to result in a tough season for the Royals. New manager Brendan Rodgers is relatively inexperienced and it remains to be seen if he is capable of filling in the void left by his predecessor.

VERDICT: In the post-Coppell era, it is likely to take some time before Reading can achieve anything like the success they experienced under their former boss. 12th.

Mario Hajiloizis / Eurosport

Comment 1 - 7 of 7

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  1. hush now andrew smith, reading have agreed a fee with­ doncaster to sign matthew mills...

    From olliejwj, on Wed 5 Aug 2:20PM

  2. Quote, there are a few players in before the weekend­ hopefully if not very early next week. It is now­ Wednesday and your caffer man has still not delivered,­ hot air out of his ar se again, you must be really­ worried about this man as he is all talk and no action,­ 12th seems to be mean I reckon 6th or 7th is more­ likely especially with the teams that came down looking­ to rebound and the stronger teams like Sheffield United­ pushing also.

    From ANDREW SMITH, on Wed 5 Aug 11:28AM

  3. I think Reading will finish in the top six, with a­ little bit of luck, which every team needs, we can be­ there. Give the youngsters a chance. That Yahoo­ reporter should go back to writing romances as he­ doesn't know a thing about football from what I­ have read of his reports about other teams. We can only­ wait and see how the season pans out for us and­ hopefully it will go well. Come on URZzzzzz. You can­ beat Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

    From Lizzy Ingram, on Tue 4 Aug 8:22PM

  4. Well,Mario Hajiloiz from Euro sport...who ever you are!­ There is one thing you are quite right about,that is­ that the championship is getting harder season by­ season.
    And its quite a leveller that Newcastle have­ joined the fight to getting back in the top flight(they­ will find it yery very hard)
    Back to the Royals,yes we­ will miss Coppell,Hahnemanand,Doyle and co but as­ Fergy
    said when he and United met the Royals and I­ quote'they are an very well organised
    crew,with­ quality young players coming on'.If there is any­ dought in my mind its the
    integrity of Rogers but only­ time will tell.c'm on you RRRZZZZSSSS.

    From Bas, on Tue 4 Aug 5:42PM

  5. haha 12th?? we almost beat chelsea (even tho it was a­ friendly), surely that shows we have chemistry in the­ team goin already....playoffs at very least

    From olliejwj, on Tue 4 Aug 1:28PM

  6. The guy who wrote this article obviously did no­ research what so eva. How do these retards get cushty­ jobs as sports writers when they obviously no nothing­ about sport.
    Its gona be a bit of a new look reading­ side this year with a lot of youngsters being given a­ well earned chance but Brendan Rogers is well renouned­ for developing the younger players and we have plenty­ of talent with the likes of Hal Robson Kanu, Scott­ Davies, Simon Church, Alex Pearce and the new lad Ryan­ Bertrand. The championship has become a stonger league­ this year with a few of the big boys joining us but i­ firmly believe Reading will kick on from last year,­ i'l be very suprised if we dont at least make the­ playoffs. Bring on the Forest!

    From n0077490, on Tue 4 Aug 1:11PM

  7. 12TH!!!!

    From n0077490, on Tue 4 Aug 1:00PM
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