Reading FC

Reading are among the favourites to win next season’s Championship, although their hopes of making an immediate return to the Premier League have been seriously dented today. While Steve Coppell was hopeful of keeping hold of one of his star players, the lure of playing in the top flight has proved too much for this England international. [click to continue…]

Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill looks to bounce back from the imminent departure of club captain Gareth Barry to Liverpool, by shoring up his defence in a £8.5 million double full-back swoop. [click to continue…]

Harry Redknapp is probably the Premier League manager who most likes to bang on about how small his squad is. While others are probably equally, if not more, concerned by the need to strengthen in certain areas of the pitch, they don’t rabbit on about it like the Portsmouth gaffer. Thankfully, it appears that two new players are to arrive at Fratton Park this week, which should at least mean that Pompey have eleven players to field for their first game of the season at Chelsea! [click to continue…]

Admit it, you love a good football story. Whether it’s a long drawn-out novel from your mate about his recent footballing endeavours, the unbelievable story of how Blackburn won the title in 1995 (yes, they actually won the EPL title), or that moment in history when Eric Cantona tried kung fu on a rabid Palace fan, there will always be stories from the past that allow us to reminisce about how great football was back then.

With the 2008-09 Premiership season less than a month away, we only thought it was right to take a look back at some of the insane and impossible moments from the past 20 years of the Premier League. Each week, we will highlight a particular moment in history that may have gotten pushed aside. Where were you when the moment happened?

December 29, 2007 — Tottenham/Reading

On paper, the match wasn’t really worth a look unless you were a Reading or Spurs supporter. The clubs were 12th and 13th in the table at the time, and from the looks of it, most supporters could have never imagined that an afternoon at White Hart Lane could produce one of the most amazing second half finishes of the 2007-08 Premier League season.

The first 45 minutes of the match produced little in the way of fireworks. Dimitar Berbatov scored within the first 10 minutes of the match to give Tottenham the early lead, before Reading equlaised less than 10 minutes later with a goal from Kalifa Cisse (all thanks to a Paul Robinson howler). The rest, as they say, is history.

After coming out of the dressing room for the second half, the next 45 minutes provided some of the most entertaining football of the entire season. Ivar Ingimarsson would head Reading in front, 2-1. It was in the 53rd minute of the match, when Ramos replaced Ledley King for Jermaine Defoe that things really got interesting.

With a swift kick of his right foot, Berbatov sent the White Hart Lane faithful into a frenzy with an equaliser to square the match, 2-2. With the game looking more and more uncertain, Reading’s Dave Kitson did his best to make sure his club would leave with nothing less that a draw, after he scored two goals in the span of five minutes to give Reading the 4-3 lead (Berbatov scored in the 73rd to bring the score level at 3-3).

With Reading leading the match with only 15 minutes to play, Tottenham would once again prove why they were one of the most exciting teams to watch last season, as Berbatov and Co gave Reading more than they could handle down the stretch. A Steed Malbranque goal in the 76th minute — just two minutes after Kitson gave Reading the lead — allowed Spurs the chance to put Reading away with their defence in disarray.

Jermaine Defoe — the catalyst for the entire offensive barrage in the second half — would be the hero on the day, as the striker slid in with a diving header to tuck away Robbie Keane’s missed spot-kick. With Reading mentally deflated, Berbatov would answer the cheers one last time in the 83rd minute with a cracking goal that came from a volley from the edge of the area. The goal would give Berbatov his fourth goal of the match — a double brace — and the opportunity to be part of what would go down as one of the best finishes of the season. In the end, Tottenham managed to come back on three different occasions before taking the lead for good.

The eight goals in the final 37 minutes of the match was nothing short of magnificent. Both defences gave way to an offensive clinic that may have only been bested by the Reading’s 7-4 match against Pompey earlier in the season.

Sometimes we fans need a game like this to remind us why the Premier League has the best football in the world. The Reading and Tottenham match did just that with some of the best offensive football of the season.

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Quality over quantity appears to be the motto for Tony Pulis, who is looking to add a pretty decent striker to his Stoke City squad. This guy could easily hit double figures for the Potters next season. [click to continue…]

After fighting tooth and nail with Villa boss Martin O’Neill over midfielder Gareth Barry, it appears that after some consideration, the Midlands club are finally ready to give in to Liverpool’s final offer. [click to continue…]

Money, Greed and WAGs. If there was ever a motto that most EPL players live by today, this would no doubt be the one.

In a world where players constantly jockey for more money in a business built on who’s making more per week, the EPL summer transfer window has turned into a free-for-all where even the most dedicated stalwart has a price. [click to continue…]

There comes a time in every club’s existence where a player of quality comes along where, regardless of the price, you’d be crazy not to make a offer. Now I’m not condoning throwing millions around for players you don’t really need (Are you listening Chelsea?), but sometimes it’s ok to meet another club’s asking price. For West Ham, this should be one of those times. [click to continue…]

FA Cup-winning manager Harry Redknapp has admitted he is looking to sign Reading’s England international left-back.

Nicky Shorey, who won his first England cap against Brazil last year, is high on Pompey’s shopping list and, following Reading’s relegation to the Championship, could be close to a cut-price move to Fratton Park.

The move would be good for both sides. Pompey look to expand a squad that’s left with 3 players and a ball-boy whenever African international matches are played. Whereas, Shorey can get back in a successful team and perhaps push into Fabio Capello’s England squads. Redknapp told the Reading Evening Post:

Shorey is a player I like. He’s a good player and a good footballer. We’re looking for players who would give us something a bit different and he would do that.

Shorey was linked to Newcastle and West Ham last season, with Reading turning down a bid from the latter, but following the Royals relegation, the 27-year-old’s wages are likely to lead to his reluctant departure.

Pompey prepare for their first ever season in Europe and Harry Redknapp knows he needs a larger squad capable of challenging for honours:

He would give us something different to Hermann (Hreidarsson). Having said that, Hermann did a fantastic job for us and was brilliant for me. But we are going to need a squad and we are going to need cover.

We are going to be playing more games than ever next season and it’s going to be a lot tougher for us.

Harry Redknapp is well-known for his wheeling and dealing in the transfer market, and looks to have landed a cut-price bargain from Reading this week. [click to continue…]