Hob Nob Anyone? News and Views

Chem Campbell Scores Twice As Reading Win Again

graham@royals.org (Graham Loader) — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 16:28:20 +0100

Two first half strikes from loan signing Chem Campbell laid the foundations of a comfortable home win for Reading, the second in four days at the Select Car Leasing stadium. Having failed to impress in his previous appearances the young Wolves loanee turned quickly in the box to tuck away a half chance when the ball fell to him following a run and cut back from Ehibhatiomhan. Buoyed by scoring his first Reading goal the nineteen-year-old added a second just before half time pouncing on a moment of hesitation by full back Williams on the edge of the box. Dispossessing the dithering Williams, Campbell took a deft touch to tee up a low strike inside the post. On the stroke of half time he might have added a third but his shot flew wide.
READ MORE: Reading 3 Burton Albion 1 - Match Report

Knibbs And Elliott Goals Earn Home Win

graham@royals.org (Graham Loader) — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 10:31:15 +0100

Superbly taken goals from Harvey Knibbs and Ben Elliot either side of half time gave Reading a morale-boosting win and three valuable points at the end of yet another turbulent week off the pitch for Reading Football Club. Having made a bright start to the season, both teams were eager to end a run of two defeats their previous games. Huddersfield will be disappointed to come away with nothing to show for their endeavours after dominating possession and taking a deserved lead midway through the first half.
READ MORE: Reading 2 Huddersfield Town 1 - Match Report and Fan Opinion

Rare Home Defeat As Royals Sit Mid-Table

graham@royals.org (Graham Loader) — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 09:30:57 +0100

An appalling basic error mid-way through the first half by goalkeeper Boyce-Clarke, covering for the injured Pereira, ultimately cost Reading all three points in an unexpected defeat at home at the hands of an Orient side, until yesterday, without a win in the league this season. Bindon gave Kelman too much room on the edge of the box and his pacy, but not unstoppable strike straight at Boyce-Clarke, squirmed under his body and into the net. It was a basic goalkeeping error. Nobody however, should place the blame on Reading's inexperienced stand-in 'keeper for this disappointing result who, moments earlier, had pulled off an outstanding reflex save from the scorer Kelman.

In his post-match interview Ruben Selles referred to Leyton Orients 'game plan' as a significant factor in this first Reading home defeat for some time. It is hard to argue with that point of view. Orient's 'game plan' was the main factor in producing three valuable points for the visitors and an afternoon almost devoid of entertainment. Punctuated by cynical fouls and time-wasting by Orient from start to finish, it was a truly dreadful game of football to watch, but Reading only have themselves to blame for not matching the intensity of their opponents or making the tactical adjustments to negate their plan. Too many long balls up to Smith, who was marked by two giants at the heart of the Orient defence, was only part of the problem.

Match Report - Read More: Reading 0 Leyton Orient 1

Another Home Win As Charlton Beaten

graham@royals.org (Graham Loader) — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 13:14:31 +0100

Reading kept up a solid start to the new League One season with a 2-0 home victory over Charlton Athletic at the Select Car Leasing Stadium. Charlton arrived in Reading on the back of three straight league wins but dropped points for the first time this season thanks to late goals from Charlie Savage and Sam Smith. Savage's goal after 66 minutes was his third of the season in all competitions and set Reading on their way to victory in a match with few shots on target from either side. Reading had the better of the first half, with Charlton picking up after the break but failing to create many chances. The win was sealed with 14 minutes left to play when Akande supplied the cross for Sam Smith to score his first of the season.
Reading 2 Charlton Athletic 0 - Fan Opinion

Chem Campbell Signs On Loan From Wolves

graham@royals.org (Graham Loader) — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 13:05:15 +0100

With the takeover completion still yet to go through, Reading's transfer deadline day activity was limited to the arrival of Chem Campbell on a short term loan from Premier League side Wolves. Twenty-one year old Chem will stay with the Royals until 5 January 2025, but was not eligible to play in Reading's 2-0 home victory over Charlton on Saturday. Campbell has been restricted to a small number of appearances off the bench for his parent club in the league, with just a single start in the League Cup. The last few seasons have seen him shipped out on loan at Wycombe, and Charlton before a return to Wycombe to finish last season. His loan transfers mean he is no stranger to League One, where he scored two goals for Charlton last season.

Reading Impress As Wigan Well Beaten

graham@royals.org (Graham Loader) — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 09:24:36 +0100

Reading took an early lead with a goal of real quality in a dominant opening spell which had the Wigan defence in complete disarray. On seven minutes Mbengue curled a teasing cross to the far post which Ehibhatiomhan controlled with superb first touch and picked out Savage who had held his run perfectly to drift into space in front of goal and calmy stroke the ball into bottom corner. Royals were rampant only prevented from racing into an early unassailable lead by some desperate defending, good goalkeeping and wayward finishing.
Read More: Reading 2 Wigan Athletic 0

Pre-Season Underway With Win At Watford

graham@royals.org (Graham Loader) — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 13:16:38 +0100

Reading have started their preparations for the new 2024/2025 League One campaign with a 2-0 away victory in a pre-season match against Watford, played behind closed doors at their training ground. Reading played two full sets of players with a full switch of the team at half time with the score 0-0. Adrian Akande, who recently signed a new contract, and Jayden Wareham scored Reading's goals on 64 and 72 minutes.

Players featured: Pereira, Button, Ahmed, Abrefa, Dean, Mbengue, Kanu, Bindon, Wing, Elliott, Dorsett, Ryan, Rushesha, Senga, Savage, Knibbs, Ehibhatiomhan, Akande, Camara, Azeez, Wareham, Garcia, Tuma.

Reading's pre-season friendlies continue with the visit of Millwall, also to be played on a training pitch behind closed doors, on Friday 19 July. Tickets are available for all of the following four pre-season fixtures with Reading travelling to Woking and Cardiff City. The Select Car Leasing stadium will be used for the visits of QPR and Hull City.

Fri 19 July: Millwall (H)
Tue 23 July: Woking (A)
Sat 27 July: QPR (H)
Wed 31 July: Cardiffy City (A)
Sat 3 August: Hull City (H)

Contracts For Youngsters As Future Unknown

graham@royals.org (Graham Loader) — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 13:06:50 +0100

The future of Reading Football Club is still unknown as fans wait confirmation of new owners ahead of the new season in League One. During the summer the women's team has effectively been disbanded as they drop to the fifth tier, ending life as a professional football club. There is also no certainty for the men's team as pre-season gets underway. With limited options to bring in new players, the club will again turn to youth players to top up the squad, and have handed contracts to a group of Under-21 and Academy players.

Contracts have been signed with goalkeeper Matthew Rowley, and striker Adrian Akande. Meanwhile midfielder Jay Senga-Ngoyi, defender Michael Stickland and forward player Basil Tuma, who have all featured for the first team, have signed new contracts with the club. Akande looks set to play a part in the first team this season after a very promising campaign for the Under 21s last season.

New Season Fixtures In Full: Reading Start At Birmingham

graham@royals.org (Graham Loader) — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 09:13:48 +0100

Reading have been handed a tough start to their new 2024/2025 League One campaign, with an away trip to Birmingham City who have been relegated from the Championship. The new season is scheduled to kick off on Saturday 10 August, and Reading are at home on the second weekend of the season when Wigan Athletic will visit the Select Car Leasing Stadium. Newly promoted Wrexham will see Reading visit in the third match of the season on 24 August.

Reading's Christmas fixtures see home games on both Boxing Day and 29 December against Northampton Town and Mansfield Town. 2025 starts with two away trips with Cambridge United on New Years Day followed by a trip to Charlton Athletic. The season wraps up on 3 May 2025 when the Royals will host Barnsley to finish the season.

Reading's opening match against Birmingham City will be shown live on Sky Sports with a kick-off time of 5:30pm on Saturday 10 August.

Reading FC League One 2024/2025 Season Fixtures In Full

Club And Howe Fined For Olise Negotiations

graham@royals.org (Graham Loader) — Thu, 16 May 2024 12:02:32 +0100

Reading have been handed a massive 200,000 pound fine after former Reading player Michael Olise's agent was banned for six months for breaching FA rules concerning his future transfer away from the Royals. Although the fine dates back to negotiations in 2019, Olise left Reading in 2021 for 8 million pounds to Crystal Palace. The agent negotiated a huge 10 percent payout on Olise's future transfer. Olise is of course, without exaggeration, one of the best Premier League players right now. In a season filled with injury he has still emerged as one to most exciting players in the top tier. When Olise is fit and playing, Crystal Palace generally win games and Olise is always involved with goals or assists. He was fantastic at Reading but has taken it up a level in the Premier League with Palace valuing him at over 60 million pounds. Even with that price tag it is likely a team will come in for Olise this summer, which of course will be big money for his new agent.

Reading FC's fine comes with Reading continuing to struggle with finances and relying on loans being provided by a potential new owner. There is further bad news for the club with Nigel Howe also in big trouble for his role in the transfer. Howe, who had been, and continues to be, key in negotiations for the sale of the club has been "issued an immediate six-month suspension from involvement with player contract negotiations and transfer related activity, and a further six-month suspension from all football related activity to commence upon the expiry of the first suspension." Howe has also received a 5,000 pound fine personally. Michael Gilkes and club secretary Sue Hewett have also received a warning for their involvement.

Howe's suspension from football, to follow in six months time, essentially means that he has six months to wrap up the sale of the football club to new owners. That timeline was already something we hoped the club would work within, but it now becomes even more pressing. And more pressing again with another massive bill to pay in the shape of this new fine. The report on Howe's involvmement stated: "his own account of his approach to the negotiation with Mr Tweneboah, and indeed such negotiations in general, is nothing short of astonishing".

The club have issued a statement to say they are "extremely disappointed with the decision" but accept "the Club's conduct fell short of the high standards with which we usually operate, and the Club is committed to ensuring this will not happen again." The Club have stated that the sanctions are excessive and it's hard to disagree. It is a huge blow when we are struggling to do the basic things like pay player and back-room staff wages. The massive fine will cause further issues when the club is working work to get themselves out of the mess it has been in due to past years of poor management.

New Contracts Offered As Players Depart

graham@royals.org (Graham Loader) — Thu, 16 May 2024 11:47:21 +0100

Reading have confirmed players that will be leaving this summer as contracts expire and loan spells finish. Thankfully the departures are not as dramatic as recent seasons and the Royals will be hoping to hang on to key players when transfers get underway pre-season. There is also some good news with players who were out of contract having one year extensions activated to keep them at the club.

Nesta Guinness-Walker, Matty Carson, Sam Hutchinson and Clinton Mola are all set to leave the club as their contracts expire. Nesta Guinness-Walker was once a first choice player in the starting eleven but fell out of favour after Reading's poor start to the season and found himself out on loan at Stevenage. At Stevenage he found himself playing more from the bench but did notch up 14 league appearances. Clinton Mola spent just one season with the Royals and has not been offered a new contract. At 34 years old Sam Hutchinson was the experience in a very young Reading squad this season but failed to make an appearance since December last year.

Tom Holmes, Dom Ballard, Zane Monlouis and Paul Mukairu will all return to their parent clubs after their loan spells at Reading expire. It will feel strange to see defender Tom Holmes depart as he has not felt like a loan player after his mid-season transfer to Luton Town. Holmes immediately returned to the club he had spent his entire football career at on-loan, and was clearly emotional to finally wrap up his time at Reading during the lap of honour after Reading's final home game of the season against Blackpool. Paul Mukairu showed great promise but will return to Copenhagan after scoring six goals in all competitions for the Royals and making 38 appearances.

Topping the list of players who will sign-on for an additional year is Femi Azeez who hit great form in the second half of the season. It is a shame that longer contracts could not be offered to prevent these players leaving in a years time. Hopefully the Royals will have an impressive season next term, and perhaps a promotion push. That would be of course be fantastic for the club but could see another whole set of young players out of contract and out of the club to "bigger clubs" with no income for the Royals. We can only hope that new owners are able to extend contracts througout the new season. One year extensions have gone to Femi Azeez, Kelvin Ehibatiomhan, Joel Pereira, Michael Craig, Jeriel Dorsett, and Jayden Wareham. Twenty-seven year old Joel Pereira has impressed after becoming Reading's first choice in goal, so it is excellent news to see him retained. Kelvin Abrefa and Tivonge Rushesha have also been offered new contracts that will hopefully seem them stay in Berkshire.

Reading End Season With Entertaining Win

graham@royals.org (Graham Loader) — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 09:16:21 +0100

Reading rounded off their season with a more convincing victory than the scoreline suggests. This defeat ended Blackpool's run of four consecutive wins in a late charge for a play-off spot. The Seasiders had the perfect start when Dembele took advantage of the time and space allowed by the Royals defence in a typically sluggish start. Reading took control of the game and finally levelled the scores in stoppage time at the end of the first half with a Smith header.

With Blackpool desperately needing all three points to have any chance of a top six finish, the game the second half was predictably more open that the first. As Blackpool pushed forward chances came at either end but ultimately the quality of Reading's passing, movement, and finishing produced the goals required to secure the points.
READ MORE: Reading 3 Blackpool 2 - Match Report