[Lord Snooty]

Reading v Huddersfield Town
The Sky Bet Championship
Tuesday July 7th - 18:00 ko
at The Madejski Stadium

Huddersfield Town travel to Reading on Tuesday for a teatime kick off, hoping for another midweek, six o'clock kick off victory to match the marvellous 3-0 win at the St. Andrew's Trillion Trophy Stadium last week.

Reading will be without suspended centre-back Matt Miazga, who was sent off in the defeat at Derby and Town still have Juninho Bacuna suspended for the last game of his three match ban. We go into the match on the back of two clean sheets in the last two matches, that marvellous 3-0 win at Birmingham and a tense but dreary 0-0 draw at home to Preston North End. Our defence will have to be tight again as Reading absolutely pumped Luton Town in their match on Saturday at Kenilworth Road. Yakou Meite scored four goals for the Biscuitmen Royals in a 5-0 win, with George Pușcaș getting the other one. That was their first post lockdown win and we both have the same record since the restart of one win, one draw and two defeats.

A victory in this match would put us level on points with Birmingham and a two goal margin would take us above them as they don't play until Wednesday at home to Swansea. Charlton are away to in form Brentford on Tuesday, so hopefully we will overtake them, but in this crazy post lockdown world, anything can happen. Also on Tuesday there's a battle of the bottom two as Barnsley go to Luton.

Middlesbrough, who have taken a step back in form after their first win under Neil Warnock with now two straight defeats, travel to Millwall for a 3 o'clock kick off on Wednesday, which must be a first for a midweek game since all grounds were fitted with floodlights. And Hull City travel down to Bristol City. Hopefully the Robins can get that bounce back after sacking Lee Johnson on Saturday.

And then we have the awkward one on Thursday night. Stoke City travel to Bellend Road to take on Leeds Urinals. A win for the white shite will almost certainly see them cement their place in next season's Premier League. Do we really want that? Is it too much to ask to cheer on Leeds? Come on, what's more important? I'll tell you what. Town winning this match at Reading!

COME ON TOWN!!!



A brief history of Reading: formed in 1871, they didn't make it into the Football League until it was extended in 1920 and they were founder members the Third Division South. They were promoted in 1926 as champions. But after relegation in 1931, they remained in the lower leagues until 1986. In 1988 they won their first major trophy, the Simod Cup, beating Luton Town at Wembley. They did get relegated though shortly after.

Originally known as the Biscuitmen due to the Huntley & Palmer's factory in the town, they ditched the nickname when the biscuit factory closed and adopted the new name of The Royals.

All their best seasons have been recent, since the takeover by John Madejski in 1991. He took over, moved the club out of Elm Park, their home since 1896, and moved them into the stadium they have now, named after himself of course. That was in 1998 and soon they were to be promoted again. They finished runners up in 2003, a couple of years after losing to Walsall in the Play Off final. They made an immediate impact in the Championship, reaching the Play Offs, where they got beat by Wolves at the semi final stage.

Not to be deterred though, they won the 2005–06 Championship with a league record 106 points, scoring 99 goals and losing only twice. For the first time in their history, they were now in the top flight of English football. They defied the odds that first season by finishing a creditable 8th, but were relegated again the following season.

They spent their time in the Championship at the top end, reaching the Play Offs the next two years, but being beaten by Burnley and then Swansea. In 2012 however, they won the title to return to the Premier League.

It didn't last and they were straight back down again. They almost made it back again, late in May in Twenty Seventeen, but lost at Wembley on penalties.

Head to Head



Reading lead the overall head to head by 25 wins to 15, with 12 draws.

Earlier this season, Reading beat us at home 2-0. We had Mark Hudson in as caretaker, but things weren't improving yet. Their goals came in the second half from Ovie Ejaria and Michael Morrison.

There was a match between the two clubs at Wembley a couple of years ago. Finished 0-0 after extra time. That came after the two league games had been won 1-0 by the home teams, Phillip Billing scoring for us at the JSS. The previous season had seen loads of goals in the two league games and two FA Cup games we played each other. Reading won the aggregate then 10-9 from a couple of 2-2 draws, a 5-2 win for Reading and a 3-1 win for Town.

We pumped them 6-1 and 4-1 at Leeds Road back in the Mick Buxton era and that wasn't long after we only played them for the very first time back in the 70s. That was in Division 4 in 1975/76 and the home team won both games again. 2-0 to Reading at Elm Park and then Bob Newton and Terry Gray (2) scoring for us in a 3-0 win at home.

Oh go on then. It'd be rude not to watch this again…...

So what's happening at the Madejski? Managed now by Mark Bowen, the former Norwich full back who took the job on when José Manuel Gomes was sacked in October.
As a player he started out as an apprentice at Spurs. He made 17 appearances for them before moving to Norwich City in 1987. He spent 9 seasons at Carrow Road, part of the team that finished 3rd in the first ever Premier League. Having qualified for Europe, he then scored one of Norwich's most famous goals in a UEFA Cup victory away at Bayern Munich. The good times didn't last though and the Canaries were relegated in 1995 and Bowen left for West Ham following a falling out with new manager, Gary Megson. He had made 399 appearances for them.
Just one season at Upton Park was followed by a short spell in Japan, then Charlton and Wigan before he first came to Reading in 1999. He was also capped 41 times for Wales.
After hanging up his boots he went into coaching, firstly with Reading and then Mark Hughes took him on with his coaching team with the Welsh national side. His next move was to team up with ex Norwich team mate Steve Bruce at Crystal Palace and then Birmingham. After that, he teamed up again with Hughes at Blackburn as assistant manager.
He followed Hughes all over the country, getting appointed and sacked at Man City, Fulham, QPR, Stoke and Southampton. Eventually though, the two of them parted company and Bowen returned to Reading, firstly as a consultant and then taking over as manager in October.

Who have Reading got? Well they have some of the best known names in the history of football in Pelé and Pușcaș. This Pelé though is a midfielder on loan from Monoco and the boy Pușcaș is George Pușcaș, a Romanian striker who arrived in the summer, scored twice against Cardiff straight away and against Wycombe in the League Cup. His best performance so far was scoring a hat trick against Wigan in less than 5 minutes in November.

Liam Moore is the captain now. He, you will recall, was the one who sent the ball blazing over the bar in the penalty shoot out. Jordan Obita, who's penalty was saved by Danny Ward is also still there.

Leading scorer so far is Yakou Meite, an Ivorian striker, who now has 16 goals after he scored 4 of the 5 they got at Luton on Saturday. He was with the club when we beat them at Wembley, but Japp Stam obviously didn't fancy him and sent him on a season's loan in the summer afterwards to Sochaux in France. By the end of his loan Stam had left and after impressing new boss, Paul Clement, he signed a new contract.

In goal they have a Brazilian international, Rafael Cabral Barbosa, who signed in the summer and was the hero in the League Cup penalty shoot out against Wycombe Wanderers. They have tons of experience in defence. Chris Gunter has been there since 2012 and has over 500 first team games behind him, on top of that he has 96 caps for Wales. Alongside him is Michael Morrison, who has over 600 first team matches since his start in the Conference with Cambridge Utd, taking in Leicester City, Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton Athletic and Birmingham City on his route to the Madejski.

Up top they have Sam Baldock, who was at MK Dons when we beat them in the Play Offs in 2011. Jamaican international Gareth McCleary is another experienced player who signed from Nottingham Forest in 2012. And a more recent signing who has been there, done that is Charlie Adam, the Scottish international who has played in the Premier League with Liverpool, Blackpool and Stoke City.

They look more like Dad's Army this lot.

Liam Moore

Club connections:

Tommy Elphick: had a half season loan at the Madejski in 2018. He went in January but spent six weeks out with a knee injury and only managed 4 appearances for them. I wonder if it's the same knee he's out knackered with now.

Ben Hamer: started his playing career with Reading. He had five years there but never played in their first XI. Instead he had loan spells at Crawley Town, Brentford (3 spells) and Exeter City before signing for Charlton. Signed for us from Leicester and immediately got the first team shirt ahead of Jonas Lossl, unfortunately was shite though and is now out on loan at Derby.

David Cowling: is a proper Town legend, being a member of the famous Mick Buxton squad, scoring the goal that beat Leeds in the League Cup and the goal against Newport County that secured promotion, before having a short stint as a Reading player in 1988.
He started his footballing career at Mansfield but came to us without making the first team at Field Mill. He was signed by Tom Johnstone in 1977, but it was Buxton who gave him his chance to shine. He made his debut at Barnsley in a 0-1 defeat. I remember it well. Their player manager Allan Clarke scored the goal and me and my dad were sat behind Charlie Williams in that old wooden main stand and Cowling for some strange reason was wearing the number 5 shirt instead of Dave Sutton. He didn't play centre back obviously and he got kicked from pillar to post by their full back. This, in my opinion, was why he would tend to pull out of 50/50s in future games, something which really riled the vociferous Town supporters and would lead to Buxton shaming them for abuse in the Unexamined a few weeks later.
Buxton signed Ian Robins from Oldham shortly after and during the course of his Town career would gain the benefit of many an assist for his goals from young Dave with his excellent pin point crosses. He played 25 times in that first season, scoring his first goal in the last of them, a late May finish to the season and a 3-1 win away at York City, a match that set us up nicely for the summer knowing that promotion was on the cards in the next season.
Cowling played in 39 of those promotion season matches, scoring 10 goals and who knows how many assists. Four goals in 43 in the next season, including a famous one in a 1-0 home win over Barnsley at Leeds Road, as we just missed out on promotion. He followed that with 9 goals in 81/82, a season we struggled to maintain the momentum of the last few seasons. One of his goals came in a 6-1 win at home to Reading.
We got promoted again though in the next season, with Cowling contributing 7 goals, the last of which was the clincher in a 1-0 win at home to Newport County to seal that promotion. Even more famous than that was his goal in the League Cup win at Bellend Road. Phwoar! What a night that was and for years later we would be singing "Who put the ball in the bastards' net? Cowling! Cowling!"
And so up to Division 2 and only 4 goals this time, but once again, he scored in the League Cup, this time against high flying First Division Watford, the first goal in a tie we won 4-3 on aggregate. He had three more seasons at Leeds Road as Town struggled to make waves in the league and Buxton left at Christmas 1986. Cowling left early on in the 87/88 season for Scunthorpe, having bagged 43 goals in 340 matches, the last goal being in a League Cup win against Halifax Town.
He then went to Reading for a short time before going back to Scunny, taking on coaching jobs with them, Doncaster, Goole, Darlington and Southampton. He was last known to be running a footy academy in Donny, his home town, with his son.

Oliver Norwood played for Town and Reading. He now plays in the Premier league for Sheffield Utd.


Benik Afobe: played on loan with us and then had three games on loan at Reading, in what now seems an eternity ago.

Simon Church: came on loan to us from Reading and was pisch.

Steve Francis: joined Reading from Chelsea in 1987 and 270 matches later came to Town where he played 186 times, one of which was at Wembley in the 1995 Play Off victory over Bristol Rovers.

Craig Maskell: was a prolific goalscorer for Town in the 1980s before leaving to join Reading in 1990. His first season at Leeds Road was the season after the disastrous relegation to the 3rd division in 1988. He was bought from Southampton by new manager Eoin Hand with the money we got for the sale of Duncan Shearer and he ended the season with 33 goals to his name, a new post war record. His first goal was on his home debut in a 2-0 win against Preston. He scored a hat trick in a famous 6-0 win at Bury in April. He went one better in the next one, scoring 4 goals in a 5-1 win at Cardiff and he also bagged a couple in a famous League Cup tie where we almost beat high flying Nottingham Forest, under the management of Brian Clough. We drew 4-4 on aggregate but lost on the stupid away goals rule.
He was sold to Reading at the end of his second season, having scored 54 goals for the famous bright blue and white stripes. So having swapped stripes for hoops, he bagged 10 in his first season and 16 in his second, before moving to Swindon. There he scored in the Play Off final against Leicester to earn himself and the team a crack at the Premier League. His opportunities were limited in the big time though and only played ten times, scoring 3 goals. At the end of that season he left, going back to Southampton, then went to Brighton, a short spell in Hong Kong and then to Leyton Orient. He made it to the Play Off final again with Orient, but being on the losing side this time, he walked off and called time on his professional career.
He played part time with Hampton & Richmond, Aylesbury and Staines, being assistant manager at all three with Steve Cordery. He was last spotted coaching at Barnet.

Sean Morrison: came on loan from the then Premier League club Reading in 2012 and helped us beat Sheffield Utd at Wembley in a famous penalty shoot out.

Danny Williams played against us for Reading in the Play Off Final, so we signed him afterwards when we were a Premier League club. Was allowed to leave at the end of last season after being injured for most of it.

Billy Price: could've been the greatest goalscorer in Town history if not for the intervention of the 2nd World War. He scored Town's last league goal before the outbreak of hostilities and the abandonment of professional football competitions. That was the winner in a 2-1 win over Sunderland at Roker Park. Over the next few years, the FA set up regional wartime leagues to keep moral up on the home front and in this time Billy Price notched an amazing 179 goals in the bright blue and white of Huddersfield Town. The quality of the opposition at times may have been a bit ordinary, we had an 11-0 win over Rochdale in 1941 in which he scored a hat trick, but had he been playing under normal circumstances, who knows how many goals he could've notched as a Town player?
His official total is 31 goals in 60 appearances at either end of the war, stretched over a ten year Town career. He then transferred to Reading in 1947 at the age of 30 with his best years behind him. He turned out 15 times for the Biscuitmen, scoring twice, before departing for Hull and then Bradford City.

The most famous one though would be Phil Parkinson: assistant manager to Alan Pardew at Charlton in April 2007 he decided to come and sign for Ken Davy as the new manager of Huddersfield Town. His managerial career at the MacAlpharm Stadium was completely unblemished, not losing one single match in his spell in charge of the club. Unfortunately for Town, the lure of the Premier League and the desire to help Charlton drop to league One, was too much for him and he returned to the Valley.
He then took a break from football by accepting employment with Bradford City. He's now at Sunderland, failing to get the biggest club in League One into the Play Offs.
In his playing days though, Parkinson was a genuine Reading legend. Player of the Season twice in the 1990s, he captained them to two promotions, clocked up over 300 appearances and was voted by the fans into their best ever XI.
He will, of course, be always remembered fondly in these parts though as Phil "the chair" Parkinson.

Any more? Brian McDermott started his career at Arsenal and then Oxford Utd when they were in the top flight. He then came on loan to us in 1986, playing 4 matches and scoring once in a defeat at Valley Parade. He later managed Reading in the Premier League before giving up on life and becoming the Leeds manager in 2013.

'Ow to get there and where to sup: Errm……… Well...….?        







Reading in popular culture: It is of course, home to the Reading Festival, which is something to do with popular music and not literature. They ought to have a reading festival though, they do boast a certain Jane Austen as one of their residents. She attended Reading Abbey Girls' School at the back end of the 18th century. Mary Russell Mitford lived in the town and her novel Belford Regis is based on the town. Thomas Hardy referenced the place in his first novel and famously Oscar Wilde spent time in Reading Gaol, penning The Ballad of Reading Gaol on his release. Paddington author, Michael Bond is from there and more recently, comedy writer Ricky Gervais was born and raised in Reading.



He's not the only famous one from the town, most famous for biscuits. The list is quite impressive for actors. John Altman, Lucy Benjamin, both of East Enders, Felix Bowness (Hi-de-Hi), some lad called Kenneth Branagh, and some lass called Kate Winslett are all from the town. TV personalities are aplenty as well. Sarah Beeny, Charlie Brooker, Keith Floyd, Arthur Negus, the odious Jeremy Kyle, and legendary Tiswas front man Chris Tarrant, all born in Reading. As was some posh lass called Kate Middleton. Whatever happened to her?
Musically, apart from the festival, which is for some daft reason twinned with the shithole known as Leeds, they have a couple of famous musicians. Marianne Faithfull went to a convent school in Reading, whereas Mike Oldfield was born there.






Post Lockdown Form:
Town 0-0 Preston
Birmingham 0-3 Town
Forest 3-1 Town
Town 0-2 Wigan

Luton 0-5 Reading
Reading 0-3 Brentford
Derby 2-1 Reading
Reading 1-1 Stoke

Town are 20th in the Championship table with 46 pts. Reading are 14th with 52.

Other fixtures to keep an eye on:

Tuesday:
Brentford v Charlton Athletic (18:00)
Luton Town v Barnsley (18:00)

Wednesday:
Millwall v Middlesbrough (15:00)
Birmingham City v Swansea City (18:00)
Bristol City v Hull City (18:00)
Wigan Athletic v Queens Park Rangers (18:00)

Thursday:
Leeds United v Stoke City (17:00)

Can we really say it? Come on L***s!

[WakeyTerrier]

Stoke are above us so I'll be cheering Stoke on on Thursday, i still haven't given up hope of Brentford catching Leeds and they do have a far superior goal difference

[Baggiebob(BBB)]

Brilliant write up by the way, best I've seen.

I hope Hudd beat Reading, but have my doubts.

I wonder if Leeds will falter, or wba, allowing Brentford to be in top two. I say 4/10 against.

[Lord Snooty]

Would be brilliant to see Leeds bottle it again. Have to say they're leaving it a bit late this time. You Baggies better keep the pressure upon them.

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Brilliant write up by the way, best I've seen.

Thanks, Bob. It's helped fill in the long hours of lockdown. I'm still furloughed.  

[Lord Snooty]

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If you can't be arsed listening to the whole lot...…..

Huddersfield Town Manager Danny Cowley says the Terriers must dust themselves down and get ready for another test at Reading on Tuesday evening.
Town will make the trip to the Madejski Stadium to face the Royals on Tuesday evening, just three days on from the goalless draw with Preston North End.
Having picked up four points from the last two games, including two clean sheets, Town’s Manager says his side must be prepared and ready to go again against Reading.
Speaking to the media via his virtual press conference on Monday afternoon, Danny said that Town are looking to build on what has been a positive few days on the pitch.
“We are in a good place. We’ve been very resolute in the last two games and we want to take those qualities in tomorrow’s game,” he said.
“The games are coming thick and fast. There’s no doubt it’s a tough schedule, the boys have expended an awful lot of energy fighting for the cause and it’s important for us as a squad that we dust ourselves down.
“What we don’t want to do at this time in the season is break anybody because it’s probably season-defining for any player that gets injured now.”
Town make the midweek trip down to Berkshire off the back of a resilient showing against a promotion-chasing Preston North End side on Saturday.
Danny explained what he took from that game, and what he is hoping to see the Terriers improve on come kick-off on Tuesday.
“We always felt it would be a good result to pick something up against Preston.
“For us, we did really well against the ball, but we would like to do better with the ball, and that’s the balance we’re probably trying to find.
“We’d like to be better in terms of our possession and in terms of the attacking transition.”
The hosts themselves come into the encounter at the Madejski Stadium off the back of their most prolific league performance in nearly five years, beating Luton Town 5-0 away from home at the weekend.
Town’s Manager is well aware of the challenge posed by Mark Bowen’s side.
“Reading are a very good team. They’re excellent with the ball, what they did to Luton they have the capabilities in their group to do that to anybody.
“They’ve got real athleticism, lots of power and they carry real threat with the ball.
“We will need to be at our very best to compete with them and that’s what we intend to do come tomorrow evening.”
Ahead of the game, Town remain two points above the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone, occupying 20th spot in the table.
Danny insists that rather than dwelling on their current league position, the Terriers’ focus remains on actively trying to do something about it.
“You can look at it, but it won’t change unless you do something about it.
“The only way we can make it change is by putting our focus and energy into the bits that we can control which is our performance, and that’s what we’re trying to do.
“We’ve got a big week ahead of us; it’s a week that we’re looking forward to.”

[jjamez]

Always lose when I go or watch. So obviously gonna watch and hopefully break the duck

[theo_luddite]

Marianne Faithfull? Her of a Mars a Day helps you work rest and play fame?? Nudge, nudge, wink, winK. No wonder she sung a few tunes from Mick Jagger's writings. Think he had her and the Mars Bar in what might be called a central midfield position, depending on which way you were playing, one afternoon during a plod raid. But I digress and it was all News of the Screws headlines anyway.

This one isn't going to go to penalties so lets's hope their forwards burned themselves out at Luton and return to their previous form at home to Brentford.

Some more good research from young Master Snoots in this one too

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PS - still give the old Tubular Bells a good airing once in a while

[Lord Snooty]

Another team change again tonight. The Barber is still unavailable, so replacing bald headed legend Iain Dunn, it's Crisp Owl.

[Lord Snooty]

Town’s team vs Reading
49. Jonas Lössl
3. Harry Toffolo
6. Jonathan Hogg
8. Trevoh Chalobah
10. Chris Willock
16. Karlan Grant
24. Steve Mounié
26. Christopher Schindler ©
27. Jon Gorenc Stanković
29. Andy King
32. Emile Smith Rowe
Substitutes
Joel Coleman; Elias Kachunga, Richard Stearman, Alex Pritchard, Collin Quaner, Rekeil Pyke, Jaden Brown, Demeaco Duhaney, Lewis O’Brien

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Danny Cowley makes five changes to his starting XI
- Huddersfield Town side to face Reading
- Danny Cowley makes five changes
- Steve Mounié starts for the Terriers
Huddersfield Town Manager Danny Cowley has made five changes to his starting XI for this evening’s Sky Bet Championship game against Reading; 6pm kick-off at the Madejski Stadium.

One of those comes in the back-line as Jon Gorenc Stanković returns to the starting XI in place of Richard Stearman; that’s Jon’s first start since Town’s match against Barnsley in mid-January 2020.
Andy King comes into the middle of midfield for Lewis O’Brien, whilst Emile Smith Rowe replaces Alex Pritchard. Another change comes out wide as Chris Willock returns in place of Elias Kachunga.
The other comes upfront as Steve Mounié starts! The Benin international will start his 50th game for Huddersfield Town this evening. Tonight's game comes a bit soon for Fraizer Campbell, who is managing the issue that kept him out at the beginning of the season restart.
There’s also a landmark for Karlan Grant today; he’s making his 150th career league appearance.
There’s a welcome return to the bench for young left-back Jaden Brown. Jaden had missed all of Town’s games since the season restart due to appendicitis.
Alongside Campbell, Danny Cowley is also without Tommy Elphick (knee) and Juninho Bacuna, who is serving his third and final game of his suspension.

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Reading: Rafael, Osho, Blackett, Morrison, McIntyre, Rinomhota, Pelé, Swift, Méïté, Obita, Pușcaș.
Subs: Walker, Gunter, Moore, Baldock, McCleary, Boyé, Olise, Adam, Richards.

After the weekend’s 5-0 win against Luton Town, Mark Bowen opts to make just a single change for our home game against Huddersfield – Jordan Obita comes into the XI, replacing Ovie Ejaria who misses out with an ankle injury.
Ejaria sustained an ankle knock in the 5-0 win at Luton last weekend and Obita is likely to take a berth on the left flank, with Saturday’s four-goal hero Yakou Méïté on the other side and George Pușcaș leading the line.
It also means a retained place for both Tom McIntyre and Gabriel Osho in defence for Reading – the Academy graduate duo looking to keep another clean sheet this evening.

[Lord Snooty]

Encouraging first half. We look a lot more positive with Smith Rowe in the team. Hope he can last longer than an hour today. Willock as well has looked better tonight.