That’s how Reading FC began the 2008/09 season, with a disappointing, dull away draw to newly-promoted Nottingham Forest, a 2-1 win over Dagenham & Redbridge in the League Cup and a 2-0 win over Plymouth just this Saturday.

In the latter circumstance, if you’d told me that Ibrahima Sonko would notch both the goals, i’d have called you a liar, but lo and behold, the central defender nodded in twice from corners to give Reading three healthy points and leave the team fifth in the table.

Obviously, things won’t really start shaking out for another two to three months as the cream begins to rise, but a opening day draw with Nottingham did have me jittery. Not to mention, saying goodbye to Nicky Shorey sucked all kinds of ass.

Not to mention the club Chairman recently went on BBC Radio Berkshire, and listed all the usual suspects of why we haven’t exactly been replacing the players we’re losing. Apparently, the players earn too much (I believe every club in existence have said this by now) and the money has all been spent. Crap as it is to admit, Madjeski has a point. The much-vaunted parachute payments teams relegated from the Premier League recieve aren’t a complete salve for all that ails a club. Any team dumb enough to blow all that money right off on transfers (most of which, let’s admit, will probably be iffy) would see themselves pulling a Leeds easily (or is it a Leicester now?).

It still is disappointing however, to have the realization of the exact station your club is in smack you in the face when the papers are all blabbing on about whatever ludicrous sum the MU Rowdies (© The Fiver) are looking to pay for Mr. Berbatov or Chelsea for Robinho (last rumored to be somewhere in the Umpty-Jiggity-Slap-Dash-Zillion range).

That is, of course, the nature of the game these days. Madjeski is not a sugar daddy, loaded with billions of billions to plunge into the club, nor do we have some secret stash of cash hidden away that Mr. Madjeski simply isn’t telling us about. Reading is a Championship club, and unless Steve Allen needs a new toy, we’re going to be a bit skint if we want to come anywhere near financial solvency.

As for the players themselves though, i’m very intrigued by this Jimmy Kebe fellow. Intrigued in that he’s as fast as greased lightning, although I do wonder if he’ll be able to keep his feet and brain going at the same pace for an entire season. James Harper makes a fine captain, I think, he’s very good in midfield for us, although I don’t think I want to see Stephen Hunt appearing at left-back for an entire season. He was fine on Saturday, yes, but I’m not sure if I want him there when Birmingham come calling.

A good test will come Saturday, when Reading will visit Charlton. Three points? Call me bullish, but I think we should be approaching every game as if we can get all three.

Lastly, I cannot believe Mr. Heskey is back in an England shirt. I mean, I can, but are England truly that short of strikers? Really?

Well, I can’t answer all those questions, although I could try (Yes, no, not really but why not), but that’s not what’s important. What is important, is consolidation. So, first, we say goodbye and good luck to Dave Kitson, who joined Stoke City for a healthy (£5.5million) fee. The ginger behemoth will probably score 10 next year, although i’ll bet he’ll end up getting relegated again. With all do respect to Stoke supporters, i’m not saying you’re the new Derby County, but I have a hard time imagining you staying up.

Filling in for Kevin will be Noel Hunt, previously playing for Dundee United. For those of you not in the know, Dundee finished 5th in the SPL last year, losing the Scottish League Cup Final to Rangers (a game in which Hunt scored). Do I think he’s good enough? For the Championship, I do think so.

Does signing one Hunt mean another will be leaving? I don’t know, but Sunderland has expressed serious interest in Stephen Hunt, and I do imagine that he may depart before the season begins on the 10th against Nottingham Forest. I hope Mr. Coppell will be able to hold to his word and force any clubs that come in with a bid after the season starts to pay a king’s ransom.

In the meantime, here’s some pictures of the boys enjoying their trip to Sweden.

Oh Sweden, don’t you ever change.

So, for those of you interested, the new season’s schedule is out. Reading will begin the year on the road, taking on just-promoted Nottingham Forest on the 10th of August. The home opener will be on the 16th against Plymouth, with matches at Charlton and home against Crystal Palace rounding out the month (along with a League Cup fixture against the mighty Dagenham & Redbridge. Yes i’m being facetious).

Hey! Now people on this side of the ocean can join the STAR Supporter’s Trust so if you’re a Ex-Pat or just a stateside fan, there’s no excuse not to (excluding having no money).

In other news, it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that Glen Little left the club in June to move to Portsmouth. I don’t fault him for it, Portsmouth will be playing European football next year, and seem to be poised to push their way into the top six of the Premier League. Most players will take that over a year in the Championship that may prove very tough, given the size of the target that’ll be on Reading’s backs.

Call it overconfidence, but I think Reading have every reason to believe that they are one of the best teams in the Championship, and that Promotion should be the goal this year. Anything less would be a almighty waste of time.

Plus, new home kit…

Now, I swear to god, that’s the picture of the new home kit from the website. The major difference is that the team is sponsored by Waitrose rather than Kyocera. So, erm… yay?

No. No it wouldn’t have.

So, club Director of Football Nick Hammond says the club won’t have to sell their best players to keep the wage bill steady. He’s right, I think. We won’t have to, but I can’t imagine the whole team staying, unless Coppell has some truly astonishing powers of persuasion.

One small upside to all of this is that Reading fans aren’t without anyone to support this summer, as Marek Matejovsky is off with his countrymen from the Czech Republic at Euro 2008. Admittedly, he went unused and may not see much time this summer, but it’s something to root for (not to mention rooting against the hated team of your choice. For me it’s Spain, not because I really hate them, but because serial failure is always hilarious).

Hey, and Bikey scored for Cameroon! In African World Cup qualifiers! Erm…

Well, in the meantime, i’ve been watching a lot of my recent subscription to Setanta Broadband, which has allowed me to see more Aussie Rules Football than I have ever seen before in my life (that’d be any, obviously). And watching one game, got me thinking about Reading, relegation, and the Premiership.

The game I was watching featured a team called Essendon, who certainly had the work ethic, but apparently had nowhere near the talent to beat their opposition. They could be workmanlike, but frequently were bereft of attacking ideas, and spent a fair amount of time focusing on increasingly desperate defending. Sound familiar?

As great as Reading were in 06/07, looking at the three teams going up in our stead (West Brom, Stoke and Hull) I’m beginning to wonder if the gulf between the top, say, 15 teams in the Premiership and everyone else in English football is becoming too vast to cross. Nice as it is to see Hull City finally go up, I don’t think there’s a person alive who’ll say that any of those three look certain to avoid relegation (Fulham’s continual flirting with the bottom three aside). And even if Reading manage promotion at the first attempt, will that team be good enough to stay up again?

Reading are probably in one of the best positions of the relegated clubs, but I hope that the club will look hard at the cautionary tales of teams like Leeds and Leicester, clubs arguably “bigger” than Reading who’ll be playing in League One next year. A year of post-Premiership “consolidation” can lead to another age of mid-table mediocrity, although this time in the Championship.

All of this is to say that, once you fall out of the top flight, there’s really not that much going on. Enjoy tooling around in FIFA 08/Football Manager 2008 while you can, it’s the last time we’re going to see Reading in the Premiership for a bit of time.

So, some familiar names are being shown the door. Of them, the only one i’ll miss is John Oster, who wasn’t all bad I think, and was coming on as the season went along. Of course, as he was coming on, the team was getting relegated, so you can look at that another way as well.

I hope (and believe) Little will sign. Were we in the Premiership still, I’d say that he might be deadweight, as much of a favorite as he is at the club, but in the Championship, there’s another year left in those legs.

Meanwhile, Mr. Hahnemann isn’t pleased about relegation, and, while not naming any names, did blast his teammates a bit. I think it’s mostly frustration, I have no doubt that players like Shane Long, Stephen Hunt and James Harper wanted to do everything in their power to stay up. But it takes a team to stay up and a team to go down. Probably most problematic for Reading, it takes strikers to score, and, while it may sound harsh, I just don’t think anyone outside of Kitson is very quality. At least, not on recent form.

What do I think the team need this summer? Well obviously a striker, and a true, creative midfielder would be wonderful. A right back wouldn’t go amiss either, nor would a more dynamic presence on the wing…

…well, let’s just say “quite a bit” and stick with that then, shall we? In the meantime, I suggest we all drown our sorrows in whatever Footy game lights your fire and imagine a world where Reading are up their in the top tier of the table. It looks like that’ll be the closest we’ll be for a while.

I think it goes largely without saying the weekend of May 10th, 2008 won’t be fondly remembered in Berkshire. I think I, like many others, was hoping that the feared “Second Season Syndrome” would result in a 15th place finish at worst. This was…. less than pleasant.

Credit to Reading, who performed as admirably as I wish they had for the rest of the year, albeit, in all honestly, beating Derby 4-0 should be a basic competence test in the Premiership. If you can’t, go home, please try again. So kudos there. If only the team had gotten some desperately needed points in any number of other crunch games (against Bolton, or Sunderland, or Wigan, or surrendering 16 goals to Pompey and Tottenham).

What does this mean for next year? Well, no word yet on whether or not Mr. Coppell will stay with us. I understand this year as a failure, and that his transfer policy, or lack thereof, can be called in to question, along with questionable tactics since, say November. That said, I still have faith int he man as a manager. I don’t thin the man who helped Reading to such an astonishing showing in the Championship last time around is suddenly useless, moreover, this isn’t a situtation like, say, Leicester, where it is all but the end of the world.

That said, Coppell’s position is still up to Steve. As of this writing, he still hadn’t made a decision, but if he stays, this Royals fan will welcome him and tell him to get us the hell back to the Premiership.

Players? Well, i’m caught here. We’re going to lose a few, assuredly. Greg Oster, Stephen Hunt, Nicky Shorey, even Dave Kitson may leave (I can imagine the ginger beanpole being Roy Keane’s style). I hold nothing against them. I wouldn’t even mind if we kept Lita, because while he absolutely isn’t Premiership standard, he’ll bang them in in the Championship, I’ll bet.

Of all the teams that were in danger of relegation, I think the ones that did go down were the best equipped for it, so to speak. Fulham or Bolton going down might’ve almost killed both teams, both certainly could’ve “done a Leeds” and just kept on falling. Even though Mr. Madjesky is actively looking to sell, sell, sell, I think Reading is still built to take this trauma, to absorb it, and to come back. Will we come back stronger? Well, that matters on whether we buy and buy smart, and realize that the gap between the Championship and the Premiership is vast and deep, and that it takes a great eye to find what few diamonds haven’t been snapped up already.

Watching your team get relegated, you wonder, “Why do I do this?”. This is especially trenchant for American fans I think, as the concept of relegation is so foreign to us. Not to mention that it puts us (myself included) in a difficult position regarding following our teams. What is a Darlington, or Bradford fan to do if they don’t live in the UK? One would imagine that, at this point, the English FA would’ve smartened up and done its best to broadcast matches from the Premiership, and say, select matches from the Championship on the Internet, but i’m sure there’s a rights wrangling issue at hand there that would make the morass of watching a game in Spain at the moment look simple.

I’m not jumping ship on Reading. I’m dissappointed, i’m disheartened, I’m not as angry as I was on Sunday, but i’m not jumping ship. They are my team, and although my links to them may not be as strong as those I have to teams I grew up nearby, and supported all my life, I know that by continuing to support them, by standing beside them throughout all of this, my affection will grow deeper.

Relegation also makes me wonder about the nature of the Premiership today, of all the major leagues in Europe. I don’t think it’s at all unfair to suggest that the Premiership has three leagues running, the four-team mini-league for the title, another 5-6 teams fighting for the UEFA Cup scraps leftover, and everyone else battling against relegation and hoping for a middling 11th place finish (I’m looking at you Middlesbrough). I know that, unless another Abramovic shows up, Reading aren’t going to be challenging for the Premiership and European honors anytime soon. I have no doubt that I will turn 30 (at least) and never see Reading touch the Premiership trophy.

But I follow these teams because I do believe that for those who follow, Portsmouth, or Hull City, or Huddersfield, or Grimsby Town or any other teams not named Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea or Manchester United, those brief moments of success, when silverware finally arrives at the club means so much, much more. They say that the more a man is deprived of something, the more he is told he cannot have it, the more he covets it, the sweeter it is when he finally gets it.

So that’s why i’ll be watching Reading take on Watford (Ugh) and Plymouth next year. That and total, unabashed, unrealistic hope. Because if you don’t have any hope for the future, you don’t have a reason to follow anyone outside of the big four.

So, i’ll be back this weekend to look at what when right, what went wrong, and where we go from here. Then comes the summer transfer circus, through the prism of the Championship.

Hoo-boy.

However it happens, if Reading luck out and stay up, changes have to be made, that’s undeniable. Reading needs to strengthen its squad significantly, especially up front. There’s a fair amount of dross hanging around the squad right now, and some new blood needs to come in. I understand how Mr. Coppell can be loyal to the players who got the team here, but I think everyone understands now that there’s an enormous gulf between Championship standard and Premiership standard, and too many of our players fit into the former category.

But all of these things are worries for Monday. Monday we can worry about where we will be, who should stay, who needs to go. Monday we can start thinking about next year.

Tomorrow, Sunday, this team has to stand up and be counted, and hope that the fates are kind to them. It’s us, Birmingham and Fulham, and only one team is going to get the chance to experience the Premiership again next year. I’m hoping, i’m trying to stay positive, but the Reaper is behind us now, and that scythe is raised high.

Good luck tomorrow boys. You’re going to need it.

It’s no longer in Reading’s hands now. And they can’t blame anyone but themselves.

Today’s fixture was always going to be tough, but there were a few things that really stood out to me about today’s match as I watched. That it had been over eight hours since Reading had scored wasn’t the news I wanted, nor was Coppell’s decision to play a virtual 4-3-3, given the blunt ineffectiveness of the strike-force recently. Frankly I don’t see the reason in putting the rather tall Dave Kitson up front without any wingers who can give effective service. And don’t get me started on Leroy Lita, who I just do not think is a Premiership striker. He’s like a poor man’s Obafemi Martins, or even Darren Bent, who helped torment Reading today with intelligent runs on and off the ball, and some great link-up play, thing Lita seems incapable of (although he certainly does love a good flail at net from a near-impossible angle).

Were it not for Marcus Hahnemann and a incompetent line judge, it could’ve (should’ve) been 3-0 going into the half. Tottenham were absolutely rampant, while Reading had no bite in midfield, no ideas whatsoever, and while i’m generally against the home fans turning on their own, deserved some of the barracking they got as they trudged off at the half.

Credit to the team, they came out fighting in the second half, and even managed a few spells of pressure. Perhaps, with some luck, Bikey’s shot might’ve flown in rather than hitting Zokora, or Cerny wouldn’t have made that fantastic save to prevent Liam Rosenior from equalizing. But Tottenham really should’ve been further ahead when Darren Bent smacked the inside of the post.

I never thought I’d hear anyone saying this, but i’m not particularly confident heading into the match against Derby. Reading are (understandably) nervous and frustrated, and with today’s results, are staring smack-dab into the mouth of the abyss. In most other circumstances, i’d expect the team to get all three, but I think Derby, despite their uselessness, will be up for the final game of the year, to give their loyal fans something to remember from a forgettable season.

Next week is, obviously, do or die. That’s it, end of. We need at least a point and are relying on results from other games to stay up, which is the worst possible situation. The situation is the team’s own doing, and some of the blame has to be on Mr. Coppell, who showed admirable loyalty in sticking with his players but may have handicapped the team by not strengthening in August or January, especially after the loss of Steve Sidwell.

Hopefully, Mr. Coppell will be smart and start the best midfielder (on form) we’ve got right now in Matejovsky. And maybe the team will finally realize that this is the veritable definition of a must-win game. But if I said i’m confident right now, i’d be a liar.

Oh yeah, the game. Do we have to?

First and foremost, condolences to Kevin Doyle, who found out that his cousin, her husband and two children were all found dead following a house fire in Co Wexford in the early hours of the morning. Doyle chose to play anyway, which was very noble of him, although I don’t think anyone would’ve or could’ve blamed him if he went to mourn with family. Relegation would suck mightily, but it doesn’t compare.

I’d like to call this a “battling display”, but after watching Fulham continue to survive (Huzzah!), the drama of ManU and Chelsea, and Tottenham’s enthralling draw with Everton, let’s be honest.

This game sucked. A lot. If it was a advertisement for the Premier League, i’d buy something (anything) else. But it is a point, a desperately needed point, but not the three needed to keep us safe.

Tottenham may have nothing to play for on Saturday, but they still have the quality to beat us, and it’s becoming increasingly obvious that our last-day visit to Derby is going to decide whether or not we stay up. I’d say I don’t like this turn of events, but i’d hope that’d be without saying at this point. Given how the last few games have gone, I don’t know how this will end. We could revive that desperate, battling spirit that showed in the second half against Wigan and will keep us up, or we could get nervy, sloppy, start lumping hopeful long-balls upfield and go straight down.

I’m searching for more to say here, but what truly is there? We must win at Darby, we can’t afford to lose to Tottenham. A minimum of four points is neccessary, six would be wonderful.

C’mon the Royals! Make us proud!

Getting anything from Arsenal at Arsenal was always going to be an ask of the team. I was hoping that, given the horriffic few weeks that Arsenal have suffered that we could perhaps make something special happen, maybe get a point. Now, with Bolton, who i’d honestly assumed were dead and buried, getting yet another vital three points, we’re a point off relegation, ahead of Birmingham.

It wasn’t a contest, not in the slightest. Arsenal are the better team, and it showed from first to last. A 19-4 shot kind of shows that. It probably could’ve been as bad as Birmingham’s shellacking at the hands of Villa, but thank god for Marcus.

What this means is that next week is absolutely, incomprehensibly massive. Wigan are nearly safe, but not entirely so and will be desperate for the points, and we’re going on the road to boot. The good news is that Birmingham are against Liverpool next week. The bad news is that Birmingham have a habit of keeping it tight with the big four.

I think it’s entirely realistic to ask that Reading can go Draw-Draw-Win, get five points and stay up. I don’t think that’s outside the realm of possibility, and then the team can start considering what to do next year (Upside: Noone on Reading will be fatiguing themselves by competing in Euro 2008 this summer. Downside: Noone on Reading is good enough to compete in Euro 2008), like finding a reliable striker. Or midfielder. Basically, we need to just ensure that we’re not going toe-to-toe with Bristol City in the relegation battle next year.

I still have hope. But losing to Wigan is utterly unacceptable. Less than acceptable. Minus acceptable. This is the dogfight, this is what it is all about, like it or not. The last time we played them, it was September, and we won 2-1. By god, we can do it again.