The Offseason: No Respect for Royals
By: Rob | August 9th, 2007
After a season of getting used to the idea that Reading weren’t merely recently-promoted newbies with a return ticket already booked for the Championship, but actually legit European slot contenders, this offseason came as something of a shock. Turns out most players have longer memories than I do, and in the transfer/contract-renewal market, Reading was knocked back down to small-market status, 8th place finish be damned. But for a cautious team that barely brought in anyone for their first Prem campaign (a move that led to many relegation-zone predictions before last season), the lack of any transfer turnover mayhem may just suit their squad, which relies on chemistry to fill any shortcomings in raw skill. Here then, since we’re coming up fast on the opening round, is another list post, covering the major summer stories for Reading.
1) Farewell, Firecrotch
Undoubtedly the biggest news of the offseason was the departure of Steve Sidwell, the team’s versatile and rather important central midfielder with a really creepy back tattoo. No other news story stirred up vitriol in the normally docile Reading fans like the departure of the lanky redhead, who spurned several contract renewal offers before trading blue jerseys to join Chelsea on a free. Maybe it’s my neophyte status, but I’m finding it hard to get too angry at Sids; to me it’s mostly just sad that he’s gone from being the leader of Reading’s midfield to, like, 11th on Chelsea’s depth chart at the position. It’s telling that in a semi-meaningless Community Shield game with Ballack and Makelele out injured, Sidwell still only saw 10 minutes of play. Enjoy those Carling Cup ties, Steve.
2) Nobody wants to play at Reading
So the main goal of the summer was to fill Sidwell’s shoes, and things started out less than encouraging. I’ll give Sidwell a pass, but Scott Brown, now of Celtic? Total prick. “If I had chosen Reading I would probably be fighting a relegation battle next season and then maybe disappearing into the Championship,” he said after snubbing Reading’s transfer offer. “In two years’ time people would have been saying, ‘Remember that lad Scott Brown - whatever happened to him’.” “[Player] Snubs Royals” went on to become the number one headline of the summer: French defender John Mensah, Czech ogre Jan Koller, West Ham midfielder Hayden Mullins, West Brom winger Jason Koumas, thong-advocate striker Xisco…you could field a half-decent team just off of people who turned Reading down this offseason.
3) Nobody wants to stay at Reading
Meanwhile, in the business of shoring (future pun!) up long-term details with the talent we already have and preventing future Sidwells, progress has also been frustrating. Two Reading stars who famously donned the three lions kit recently – Nicky Shorey with the senior squad, Leroy Lita with the U-21s – resisted Royal efforts to extend their contracts. Fortunately, all is not lost; both are under contract for two more years. But given the desire to avoid a free transfer like Sidwell’s, you can expect both to be wearing for-sale signs all season in preparation for next summer’s transfer blitz. On the brighter side, Reading was able to lock up long-term deals with Kevin Doyle, Stephen Hunt, and Shane Long, so at least some people don’t mind sticking around.
4) Ah, but there’s a happy ending
I should also mention that Reading shipped young defender Greg Halford to Sunderland for a cool 3.4 million pounds, a record fee for the team. That money has given the thrifty Royals some funds to splash on the few replacements willing to live in the London suburbs, bringing in French midfielder Kalifa Cisse from Boavista (not that Cisse), and Ivory Coastian midfielder Emerse Fae from Nantes. I know very little about each, as they’re not the type of players who get YouTube highlight reels, but it seems like if you add them together, you get one Sidwell; not ideal, obviously, but good cover for a somewhat slim midfield.
There’s your quick offseason roundup for the Royals, now for a nice long br– what, it’s time for the season already? OK, come back tomorrow or Saturday for a preview of our opening round against some minnow squad named Manchester United.
Category: Team News
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