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The Royal Rumble- Reading Versus Huddersfield - Printable Version

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The Royal Rumble- Reading Versus Huddersfield - jjamez - 30-09-2022

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A stupid international break has come and gone, now the 'proper' football returns as Huddersfield head south to face the Leagues current surprise package Reading. For some the break came at the right time as it allowed Town to get the new manager in and work with the players ahead of the game... Town being Town. they wait until a few days before the game to get him in anyway, so it hasn't made much of a difference. For others, it came at the wrong time, on the back of a home win against Cardiff, a few more games straight after may have seen some momentum carried on from it, and we all know how different the table can look on the back of some wins, but it is what it is and we start again, for what is a busy period ahead of the World Cup in Qatar, there is about 7 games in 4 weeks or something along those lines.

So, in case you missed it, Town appointed Mark Fotheringham as Head Coach on Wednesday afternoon on a deal running until the summer of 2025. You may or may not have heard of him, he had a journeyman career as a player, starting out as a promising youth player at Celtic, but only made three appearances for the side, before moving on to Dundee. He spent two seasons there before making a brave move over to Germany to play for SC Freiburg, after a season over in Germany he left and came to Yorkshire for a trial with Leeds, but was unsuccessful and instead went back to the continent to Switzerland to play for FC Aarau. He only stayed there for part of the season before leaving and becoming a free agent. He would try out at Celtics biggest rivals Rangers for a contract but was unsuccessful. Eventually he would sign for Norwich City, where under Glenn Roeder he became a permanent fixture in the midfield, also becoming captain of the side. Following an incident that occurred when he was substituted against Coventry City, he was stripped of the role and never played for the club again. He was released by the Canaries and went on trial at a few clubs including Espanyol and Sheffield United, but ultimately went to Cyprus to play for Anorthosis Famagusta. He spent another season there before the manager froze him out of the side and banned him from the training ground. Another trial at Sheffield United followed but he went back to his native Scotland on a short term contract with Livingston, after the conclusion of his deal there, he went back to Dundee but played only the one game before being released. Another spell on the continent training with Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim followed but he signed permanently for Ross County before leaving to train with Luzern in Switzerland. He returned to England to play at Notts County and lasted a season there before a surprise move to Fulham. He played just the three competitive games for the Cottagers before being released. He would have a year without a club before rejoining Livingston for the end of the 2016 season, before retiring at the end of the campaign.

He would move into coaching and his first stop was in Germany as assistant manager at Karlsruher SC. They had just appointed Tomas Oral as head coach, who he knew from their time together at Fulham. The pair lasted just 16 games together as Oral was relieved of his duties and Fotheringham followed soon after. He would link up with Gary Bowlan at Cowedenbeath as player-assistant, although he would hardly play. After a two year stint in Scotland he was back in Germany working with Oral again, this time at Inglostadt. The pair were brought in to try and avoid relegation, but were unable to do so and were relieved of their duties. A year later they returned to the same club with them sitting outside of the promotion places, they managed to get the side promoted and left not long after, having won 28 of the 55 matches. He would spend a year out of a job before linking with 'legendary' German manager Felix Magath at Hertha Berlin, they were tasked with keeping Hertha in the Bundesliga and managed, just about before both leaving the club to be replaced by Jurgen Klinsmann. His next coaching role would be a surprise move to Town, with some quarters suggesting that he was recommended by one David Wagner. If you feel a little unimpressed by the appointment of Fotheringham, you don't want to know who the other real candidate was... trust me, you don't.

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So whats happening at Reading so far this season?

Well, they are now managed by Paul Ince after his successful spell as interim manager last season and are currently upsetting the pundits by sitting in 3rd place in the league. Still struggling from the financial mismanagement of a few seasons ago, something that wouldn't have been an issue had they gone up in that playoff final, they too had points deducted last season like Derby, however, not as many and they were able to stay up. This season they are still having to be extremely cautious with the money they spend as the risk of further deductions still linger should they go above their means once again. This has resulted in further big earners having to leave, with free agents on cheaper wages coming in to replace them...sounds familiar...

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In terms of incomings, former Town defender Naby Sarr joined on a free transfer, but this was only possible at the back end of the window once money had been freed up. He's unlikely to play tomorrow due to a calf injury picked up before the international break. He was 1 of 13 new signings over the course of the summer, also joining him at the Royals was Tyrese Fornah from Nottingham Forest, Baba Rahman from Chelsea, Joe Lumley from Middlesbrough, Mamadou Loum from FC Porto and Jeff Hendrick from Newcastle, all on loan. Meanwhile, Shane Long returned to his old stomping ground having been released by Southampton, whilst Sam Hutchinson joined from Sheffield Wednesday having impressed on trial during the summer, Nesta Guinness-Walker and Dean Bouzanis made the step up from AFC Wimbledon and Sutton United respectively and Andy Carroll rejoined on a free transfer having left the Royals to join West Brom last season. Finally Tom Ince rejoined after spending part of last season there on loan from Stoke, it was always likely that he would join his fathers club.

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In terms of out goings, Terell Thomas, Felipe Araruna, Marc Mcnulty and Orjan Nyland were released, whilst George Puscas and Luke Southwood joined Genoa and Cheltenham on loan respectively. Also leaving the club during the summer Ethan Bristow went to Tranmere, Michael Morrison went to Portsmouth (he claimed that Championship clubs were interested in signing him, with us rumoured to be one of them), Brandon Barker went to Cyprus to play for Omonia Nicosia and Croatian boy wonder Alen Halilovic went back to his home country to play for Rijeka. The big departures for Reading though came in the forms of midfielders Josh Laurent who went to join Stoke (another we were rumoured to have missed out on before Carlos resigned), Andy Rinomhota joined Cardiff (see Laurent) and integral part John Swift went to join West Brom.

They began the season at one of the Ince's old haunts, Blackpool, but it would be the Tangerines that haunted the Ince's as a Callum Connolly goal sent Reading to a 1-0 defeat. Moving into August and the Royals began with the first home game of the season against Cardiff. Callum O'Dowda opened the scoring for the Bluebirds after just 4 minutes but Long equalised from the spot midway through the first half before Ince scored a screamer in the second to seal the win. A youthful Reading side was knocked out of the League Cup by Stevenage before they travelled to South Yorkshire to face Rotherham. The Millers ran out 4-0 winners, thanks in large to some suspect keeping from Lumley. Richard Wood opened the scoring from a corner, before Connor Washington doubled the lead. Lumley then allowed a Jamie Lindsay effort to squirm through his legs before Ogbene rounded him to make it 4 before half time, luckily they drew the second half. Back at home they welcomed Blackburn and produced a surprise result, winning 3-0 thanks to goals from Lucas Joao, Tom McIntyre and Junior Hoilett, they followed it up with another home win, this time against Middlesbrough with Tyrese Fornah scoring his first goal for the club. Naby Sarr scored on his debut for the Royals as they won 1-0 away at Millwall, before they finsihed the month with another hammering in South Yorkshire, this time at the hands of Sheffield United. Ollie McBurnie and Ilyman Ndiaye both got on the scoresheet, whilst a brace from defender Anel Ahmedhodzic saw them to a 4-0 win.

September began with the Royals hosting the Potters of Stoke, Lucas Joao bagged a birthday brace for the Royals, scoring either side of a Ben Wilmot goal. They were unable to follow that feat as Sunderland came to town and left with three points thanks to a Patrick Roberts influenced 3-0 win. The winger scored twice with former Leeds player Jack Clarke scoring the other goal. Last time out it was a trip to the North West to face Wigan at the DW Stadium, Tom Ince scored a great free kick in what proved to be the only goal of the game.

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Words from the managers and team news

Fotheringham

“First and foremost, I feel really privileged to be in this seat today. I’ve done a hard apprenticeship in Germany, and I have experienced relegation and promotion battles – my main focus now is just getting my playing style across and getting that on the pitch.

“It’s really exciting for me and my family being here, my three young boys have already been asking for shirts and looking at the players and wanting to know everything. I’m looking forward to bringing them to Huddersfield and showing them the Club and the town.”

“We’ve got a lot of good young players here and a lot of good, experienced players.

“I’m a guy who wants to get as many offensive players on the pitch as possible, which will allow us to play with freedom and creativity in the final third, but with some strong scaffolding at the back. It’s important to me that the team reflects the Club, and we need to get that real Terrier Spirit into them.”

“I was really impressed from the last game – the young players played without fear and there was real team spirit. I tell the boys to take the handbrake off and play full throttle – that’s the only way to play. That’s how I want us to train too – give it everything, have that fire in their belly.

“We know it’s a long season, so young players will get their chance.”

We all know it’s a tough league, we’ve analysed Reading and I’m really excited to get down there. We’re going to go and play on the front foot, and I’m sure we can get a positive result. The people here, the fans have a real understanding of the game, they know it doesn’t happen overnight – but this is all about them, they are the Club, and they pay their money to watch us play.

“We need the fans behind us this weekend, it’s amazing to see their support both home and away – that’s special.”

As far as I am aware it is pretty much as you were fitness wise for Town, Pearson is definitely out, whilst Hoggy seems to need another week or so. The mysterious disappearance of Aaron Rowe seems to have been solved as he appears often in the training video earlier in the week, featuring as a left winger/ wing back/ full back... down the blasted left side!



Ince

“We’ve looked at Huddersfield and how they got on against Cardiff… you look at things you want to exploit, but in the back of your mind you know their new manager might change things completely!"

“But we can concentrate on their basics from their game against Cardiff; they won that game, and they could stick with the same team or change things up a bit. It’s always tricky when you’re playing a side with a new manager because the players want to give that extra bit. Everyone thinks they have a chance of playing, the tempo is up in training, they want to show the manager they can be part of the starting 11 or in the squad. We’ll be expecting that – but we have to go in and do what we do."

“After the Wigan game, you’re looking forward to a break – you want a rest, and the players deserve a rest after everything they’ve put in over the past few months. So it was nice to see the family… but as a manager, as soon as you open your eyes you’re thinking about football! You’re thinking about Huddersfield, injuries, and all that type of stuff. So you never really get a break!"

“There’s a good feeling – it’s easy to have a good feeling when things are going well. The test is when things aren’t going well… we still have to come in and create that type of atmosphere. Last year, we saw that spirit and togetherness to keep upbeat. We have to keep doing that – win, lose or draw.”

“Andy Carroll is fit and ready to go – he’s played a couple of games, a friendly against Brentford and for the Under-21s against Millwall on Monday. He’s still not there, but we’re trying to sharpen him up as much as we can, as quick as we can. But it’s great to have him on board."

“Femi Azeez has started doing some running and ball-work – it will probably be a couple of weeks before he can start joining in properly. It’s good to have him coming back, because he’d had such a good pre-season and looked sharp and strong. He was ready to get involved in the first team, so it’s been a tough journey for him. So he’s back on the grass and he’s got a smile on his face."

“Ovie’s back and looks sharp and strong. He trained last week with us. He probably needs a game… he’s looked that good that I’m half tempted to throw him in! We’ve got to be careful; there’s so many games coming up and we’ve still got more injuries, so we have to be careful with players like that.

“Shane’s been in this week and has done some stuff in the gym and on the bike – he’d had the same type of virus before a long time ago, so he knew what it was. He was one we sorely missed; it’s good to have him back in the building."

“It’s still a slow process. Some of these players are still out for a few weeks, and then it takes them a few more weeks to get them back up to speed. It’s okay to have the players back on the grass, but they need to be up to speed. That can take three or four weeks. And we’ve got six or seven games in that time.”


So the take from all that is, Sarr is definitely out, Carroll could feature, but probably from the bench, although look how that went when he came off the bench for West Brom last season. Azeez may get a bench role as could Ovie Ejara, Long should be back to start for the Royals.

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In terms of head to heads, Reading seem to be a bit of a bogey side for Town, with Town losing 26 games, drawing 13 and winning just 18 of the meetings between the two, that is also including the Play off final as a win, despite it being 0-0. Last season was a rare feat for Town as they completed the double over the Royals, scoring 4 goals in each of the games. The game at the John Smiths Stadium finished 4-0 to Town. Sorba Thomas played a big role, setting up Lewis O'Brien and Matty Pearson for the first two goals, and grabbed the third for himself. Danny Ward scored the final goal of the game. The return fixture was somewhat of a goal fest, with Joao opening the scoring for the home side, before a deflected Sinani effort levelled the game minutes later. Danny Ward would score his first of the afternoon but that lead wouldn't last long as Puscas would restore parity, but only briefly as Ward scored his second. After a lull in scoring, Morrison would score on the stroke of half time to make it 3-3 before Ward scored the pick of the afternoons goals to seal his hattrick and the 4-3 win for Huddersfield. Previous to that Town hadn't beaten Reading since the promotion season, and thats not including the play off win, Phil Billing scored in the home game as Town won 1-0, the away game that season finished 1-0 to Reading with Rajiv Van La Parra seeing red fairly early on for two quick yellow cards. Since Town returned to the Championship, we has only picked up two points before last season, including two home defeats.

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A bit of reading on Reading and Reading FC. Reading  is a town and borough in Berkshire, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers Thames and Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway serve the town. Reading is 40 miles (64 km) east of Swindon, 28 miles (45 km) south of Oxford, 40 miles (64 km) west of London and 16 miles (26 km) north of Basingstoke.

Reading is a major commercial centre, especially for information technology and insurance. It is also a regional retail centre, serving a large area of the Thames Valley with its shopping centre, the Oracle. It is home to the University of Reading. Every year it hosts the Reading Festival, one of England's biggest music festivals. Reading has a professional association football team, Reading F.C. and participates in many other sports.

Reading dates from the 8th century. It was an important trading and ecclesiastical centre in the Middle Ages, the site of Reading Abbey, one of the largest and richest monasteries of medieval England with strong royal connections, of which the 12th-century abbey gateway and significant ancient ruins remain. By 1525, Reading was the largest town in Berkshire, and tenth in England for taxable wealth. The town was seriously affected by the English Civil War, with a major siege and loss of trade, but played a pivotal role in the Glorious Revolution, whose only significant military action was fought on its streets. The 18th century saw the beginning of a major ironworks in the town and the growth of the brewing trade for which Reading was to become famous. The 19th century saw the coming of the Great Western Railway and the development of the town's brewing, baking and seed growing businesses, and the town grew rapidly as a manufacturing centre. Reading is also the county town of Berkshire.

Jane Austen attended Reading Ladies Boarding School, based in the Abbey Gateway, in 1784–1786. Mary Russell Mitford lived in Reading for a number of years and then spent the rest of her life just outside the town at Three Mile Cross and Swallowfield. The fictional Belford Regis of her eponymous novel, first published in 1835, is largely based on Reading. Described with topographical accuracy, it is still possible to follow the steps of the novel's characters in present-day Reading. Reading also appears in the works of Thomas Hardy where it is called 'Aldbrickham'. It features most heavily in his final novel, Jude the Obscure, as the temporary home of Jude Fawley and Sue Bridehead.

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Oscar Wilde was imprisoned in Reading Gaol from 1895 to 1897. While there, he wrote his letter De Profundis. After his release, he lived in exile in France and wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol, based on his experience of the execution of Charles Wooldridge, carried out in Reading Gaol whilst he was imprisoned there. Ricky Gervais, who is from Reading, made the film Cemetery Junction, which, although filmed elsewhere in the United Kingdom, is set in 1970s Reading and is named after a busy junction in East Reading. Jasper Fforde's Nursery Crimes Division novels, The Big Over Easy and The Fourth Bear, are also placed in Reading. The BBC Two sitcom Beautiful People, based on the memoirs of Simon Doonan, is set in Reading in the late 1990s.

In terms of landmarks, The Blade, a fourteen-storey building completed in 2009, is 128 m (420 ft) tall and can be seen from the surrounding area. Jacksons Corner with its prominent sign, former home of Jacksons department store, occupies the corner of Kings Road and High Street, just south of the Market Place. Reading has six Grade I listed buildings, 22 Grade II* and 853 Grade II buildings, in a wide variety of architectural styles that range from the medieval to the 21st century. Reading has over 100 parks and playgrounds, including 5 miles (8 km) of riverside paths. In the town centre is Forbury Gardens, a public park built on the site of the outer court of Reading Abbey. The largest public park in Reading is Prospect Park, an estate in west Reading previously owned by Frances Kendrick but acquired by Reading Corporation in 1901. This is complemented by Palmer Park, a purpose built public park in east Reading gifted to the town by the proprietors of Huntley & Palmers in 1889.

A string of open spaces stretch along one or other side of the River Thames throughout its passage through Reading. From west to east these are Thameside Promenade, Caversham Court, Christchurch Meadows, Hills Meadow, View Island and King's Meadow. Reading also has five local nature reserves: Clayfield Copse in Caversham, with the other four McIlroy Park, Blundells Copse, Lousehill Copse and Round Copse all in Tilehurst. Reading also plays host to the Reading festival each year.

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As for the football, Reading are nicknamed The Royals, due to Reading's location in the Royal County of Berkshire and were established in 1871, the club is one of the oldest teams in England, but did not join The Football League until 1920, and first played in the top tier of English football league system in the 2006–07 season. The club competed in the 2012–13 Premier League season, having gained promotion at the end of the 2011–12 season after winning the Championship, but were relegated after just one season back in the top flight. The club holds the record for the number of successive league wins at the start of a season, with a total of 13 wins at the start of the 1985–86 Third Division campaign and also the record for the number of points gained in a professional league season with 106 points in the 2005–06 Football League Championship campaign.

Interestingly, Reading were formed on 25 December 1871, following a public meeting at the Bridge Street Rooms organised by Joseph Edward Sydenham, who would go on to be club secretary. The early matches were played at Reading Recreation Ground, and later the club held fixtures at Reading Cricket Ground, Coley Park and Caversham Cricket Ground. The switch to professionalism in 1895 resulted in the need for a bigger ground and, to this end, the club moved again, to the purpose-built Elm Park on 5 September 1896. Reading were elected to the Football League Third Division South of the Football League in 1920. Reading's best performance in the FA Cup came in 1926–27 when they lost to eventual winners Cardiff City at Wolverhampton in the semi-final, a placement the club would not match again until 2015, when they lost to holders Arsenal in the semi-final. Reading lost their place in Division Two in May 1931, and remained in Third Division South until the outbreak of World War II. The club won the Southern Section Cup, beating Bristol City in the two-legged final in 1938, and when taking part in the regional London War League and Cup competitions, gained another honour by beating Brentford in the London War Cup Final of 1941 by 3–2 at Stamford Bridge.

When League football resumed after the war, Reading quickly came to prominence once again. The club's record victory, 10–2 versus Crystal Palace, was recorded in September 1946, and Reading twice finished runners-up in the Third (South), in 1948–49 and 1951–52, but they were denied a return to Division Two as only the champions were promoted. In 2001, Reading became the first football club to register their fans as an official member of their squad, giving the "player" registered with squad number 13 as 'Reading Fans.

Getting there

The M4 motorway will remain open this weekend however one lane will be shut between Junction 12 and Junction 11 on Saturday. The address for the ground is Junction 11, M4, Reading RG2 0FL

With over 4,500 tickets sold out as part of our ‘schools and grassroots’ scheme the areas around the stadium will be busier than usual so please allow extra time for your journey when travelling to the game.

CAR PARKING
Please note that all on-site car parking is sold out for this weekend's game with, as of 10am Friday morning, 150 spaces in Car Park 6 (The old Greyhound Stadium) remaining.

We recommend pre booking for here or use the designated Park & Ride facilities at Mereoak and Wood at Shirehall.

There is also rail strikes happening tomorrow which is causing problems for fans getting down to Reading from Yorkshire.

Played for both

In the current squad, Tom Ince and Naby Sarr both played for Town, whilst Danny Drinkwater had a loan spell at both clubs at different stages of his career. Defender Tommy Elphick spent time on loan at Reading, a few seasons before he joined Town, whilst midfielder Danny Williams joined Town from Reading not long after the play off final. Fellow midfielder Ollie Norwood played at Town for a few seasons before leaving to join Reading as he felt they had a better chance of getting into the Premier League, didn't work out like that. Imposing defender Sean Morrison spent two spells on loan at Town from Reading and helped the club get promoted to the Championship, Town wanted him back permanently but felt out priced on the deal and went for Joel Lynch instead. Striker Simon Church had a brief loan spell at Town from Reading, whilst he scored one goal in the spell he didn't look very good in the process either. Benik Afobe had a loan spell at both clubs and legendary keeper Ben Hamer had a spell at Reading, starting his career there but not playing for the side.

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The Reading Quiz

1- Bitches Minute

2- Together Men Press Manna

3- March In Kits

4- Inverse Rotor

5- Oil Rig Iota

6- Cove Tells Pep

7- Circumstantial Seed Gales





RE: The Royal Rumble- Reading Versus Huddersfield - Lord Snooty - 30-09-2022

Nice one, jjamez. Thumb up

I see someone's told him Huddersfield's a town, not a city. Big Grin

RE: The Royal Rumble- Reading Versus Huddersfield - talkSAFT - 01-10-2022

You could have sold that post as a book, Jjamez. Thumb up

RE: The Royal Rumble- Reading Versus Huddersfield - Lord Snooty - 01-10-2022

Last permanent Town manager to win his first game?

Simon Grayson. Beat Exeter 2-0 at home. Went on to win the Play Offs.

Come on Fozzie's Barmy Army. Big Grin
1- Bitches Minute - The Biscuitmen
7- Circumstantial Seed Gales - Select Car Leasing Stadium

RE: The Royal Rumble- Reading Versus Huddersfield - jjamez - 01-10-2022

Hogg looks to be with the squad

RE: The Royal Rumble- Reading Versus Huddersfield - Lord Snooty - 01-10-2022

Yes, he's on the bench. Alongside Camara. Bit harsh on the young garcon, man o' the match to back on the bench.
The line up is as follows.....

Big Man

Wee Man. Big Man. Big Man. Wee Man.

Wee Man. Wee Man. Big Man. Wee Man.

Wee Man. Big Man.


RE: The Royal Rumble- Reading Versus Huddersfield - jjamez - 01-10-2022

aye that be it

RE: The Royal Rumble- Reading Versus Huddersfield - theo_luddite - 01-10-2022

Nice one jjamez - I finally got round to reading this 1 minute afore kick-off.

Pre-match meal haggis and baked beanz for the squad today?
Town concede from a corner, I'm not surprised for some reason ... Undecided

RE: The Royal Rumble- Reading Versus Huddersfield - theo_luddite - 01-10-2022

This doesn't really sound like it's very inspiring does it?

RE: The Royal Rumble- Reading Versus Huddersfield - jjamez - 01-10-2022

I switched off. It was terrible.


Lots of questions to be asked of those upstairs. Lack of investment equals lack of quality. This is what you get.

Hoyle thinks he could sell for x amount of millions when we are in league one, nay chance, should have invested in the squad properly during the summer and make it a semi appealing proposition for a potential owner.