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Reading v Arsenal – Match Chat (30/10/2012)

Discussion in 'Reading' started by daib0, Oct 28, 2012.

  1. daib0

    daib0 Well-Known Member

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    READING v ARSENAL
    Tuesday 30th October 2012 - Kick off 7.45 pm
    Madejski Stadium
    Capitol One League Cup – Round 4



    Game Introduction

    Away fans – if you’re coming to Reading, see the special Royals Rendezvous Guide for Away fans – Travel and Drinks/Food :
    http://royalsrendezvous.co.uk/topic/9220871/1




    FORM GUIDE

    Table Positions:
    Reading 18th - 4 points (played 8 games)
    Arsenal 4th - 15 points (played 9 games)
    (doesn’t take into account the Sunday league games... )


    Arsenal Recent form:
    I obviously hardly need to state that Arsenal are one of the biggest sides in English football, but by their own standards I’d guess that they consider their start to the season a little bumpy. True, they’ve had enormous victories, walloping both Southampton (league) and Coventry (League Cup) 6-1, not to forget victories at Anfield (2-0) and a presence once again in the Champions League; but they’ve slightly suffered when it matters most – losing 1-2 at home to London rivals Chelsea, away to unfashionable Norwich 0-1, and only ‘scaped’ home to bottom club QPR on Saturday. Is this enough of a faint light to give Reading hope? Well, personally, given our most abysmal record against the Gunners (see the exact records further down in this presentation) I’d honestly for once have to say no, but we live in hope!


    Reading Recent form:
    So it’s 8 without a win in the league, but half are at least draws so our goal difference negatives are less severe than some of the teams around us. However, although Reading CAN’T continue at this rate! Half the season with draws and the other half losses would see us finish on 19 points – absolute relegation certainties. The cup is a nice distraction to measure up to the big boys, but we HAVE to get a couple of victories in the league to buoy us up, and very soon!




    THE BOSS – the current manager of Arsenal:
    Arsène Wenger



    WEB SITES

    Official Arsenal Club Web Site:
    http://www.arsenal.com


    Unofficial individual club web sites – daib0’s suggestion: Arsenal Mania



    OPPOSING FANS SECTION

    Rivalries, and fan base:

    Manchester, Spurs and Chelsea ...
    Arsenal's longest-running and deepest rivalry is with their nearest major neighbours, Tottenham Hotspur; matches between the two are referred to as North London derbies. Other rivalries within London include those with Chelsea, Fulham and West Ham United.
    The fanbase is large and generally loyal, and virtually all home matches sell out. The club's location, adjoining wealthy areas and largely working-class areas, has meant that Arsenal's supporters have come from across the usual class divides. Like all major English football clubs, Arsenal have a number of domestic supporters' clubs, including the Arsenal Football Supporters Club, which works closely with the club, and the Arsenal Independent Supporters' Association, which maintains a more independent line.

    Famous Fans:
    A big selection of names from all walks of life! – some are sure to be at best just a passing interest than regular attenders ...
    Roger Daltry - singer (The Who), Dido - singer, Prince Harry - royalty, Nick Hornby - author, Ian Poulter - golfer, The Queen - monarch, David Soul - actor (Starsky & Hutch), Phil Tufnell - cricketer, Alan Davies - comedian, Reggie Yates - Radio 1 DJ, Roger Waters - Singer / bassist / songwriter (Pink Floyd), Taufa'ahau Tupou IV - King of Tonga, Geoffrey Palmer – actor, King Olav V - King of Norway, Aleksander Kwasniewski - President of Poland, Paul Kaye - comedian, President Kagame - President of Rwanda, Fidel Castro - Cuban Leader, Tom Cruise – actor, Robin Cook – politician, Clive Anderson – comedian, Natalie Appleton - Ex All saints, Nicole Appleton - Ex All Saints, Jeremy Beadle – prankster, Nigel Benn – boxer, Frankie Dettori – jockey, Audley Harrison – boxer, Kate Hoey – MP, Judge Jules – DJ, Gary Kemp - Martin's Brother, Martin Kemp - Gary's Brother, Rory McGrath – comedian, Lee McDonald – Zammo, Dermot O'Leary - Big Brother Little Brother, Andrew Paul - Dave Quinnan from The Bill, Eric Richard - Sargeant Cryer from The Bill (bignose), Johnny Rotten - punk singer, Greg Rusedski - Canadian tennis player, Shovell - From M People, Mel Smith - The fat one from Smith & Jones, Joe Swash - Micky from Eastenders, Rachel Stevens - S Club, Margherita Taylor - DJ and presenter, Pete Tong – DJ, Michael Watson - Ex Boxer



    Nicknames and Mascots etc.
    The Gunners - Local links to military arsenal, due to the founders were in fact workers on a local arms factory
    “Gunnersaurus Rex” is the official mascot, a dinosaur like creature…



    MATCH DAY EXPECTATIONS

    Attendances:
    Reading’s average at home this season is 24,076 - that's 99.5% of capacity. We are 17th in the attendance charts for home games; and Arsenal sit impressively in 2nd place with an average of over 60,000 per home games.

    Squads and Team News:
    Not available yet - please add any news in your posts and comments - one of the most important things to add here before kick-off!


    They said it!

    Reading manager Brian McDermott after the Fulham game:
    "At 3-2 my weekend was absolutely miserable, but at 3-3 we were trying to kick on and win. It was a strange game - that's the fourth time we've taken the lead in this league and we need to finish the job off. All we can do is talk about the game and playing our football, doing what we have to do and if we do that the win will come. We try to win games and that's what we've done here for two or three years. The players derserve an awful lot of respect for getting back into that."

    Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger on the QPR win:
    "It was a good game overall. We played against a QPR side which has quality.
    "We played quite well but lacked a little bit of the confidence you miss when you have lost two games. We had chances before the sending-off but it made it easier [for us] and more difficult for Rangers. "A draw would have been a big disappointment, but if we had lost today it would have been a crisis."



    SCORE PREDICTIONS

    My own verdict:
    You know me, it’s a rarity for me to predict a Reading loss, but we’ve never beaten Arsenal; therefore, uncomfortably, I have to go with:
    Reading 0 Arsenal 2 – but I sure hope I’m proved wrong!


    What do others say?
    The Oddschecker site, listing nearly all the major betting companies, shows Reading are easily the underdogs in this game, you’ll have odds of over 3/1 for a home win, so maybe worth a flutter despite my score prediction! And you’ll get a draw for an average 13/5 as well (at end of 90 mins or 120 mins? I’m not sure here as to the bookies rules in league cup games).



    FOR THE RECORD

    Last Encounter

    19th April 2008
    Premier League
    Arsenal 2 Reading 0
    [Just for old time’s sake, here are comments on the old BBC 606 service after the game, nearly all are by Gunners fans - http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A34840947 ]


    Head-to-head Reading and Arsenal

    Played in total 9 times: 0 Reading wins / 9 Arsenal wins / 0 draws

    Best Reading victory: - never beaten Arsenal

    Best Arsenal victory: October 2006 – Reading 0 Arsenal 4

    Also interesting: - nothing of note!


    THIS DATE in history

    Great news here at least for Royals supporters! Reading have played 13 times on the 30th October through the years, with a most impressive list of results: W9 D1 L3. The only losses were to Crystal Palace (1920), Bristol Rovers (1983) and in 2004 losing 2-3 to Coventry City away (our goals from Owusu and Kitson). Let’s focus on the good results, and 4 of last 5 games have been wins including v Yeovil 4-2 (H) in the FA Cup in 1999, and a great 4-3 victory over Doncaster (we were a bit fortunate coming back from the dead in this one!) in the championship in 2010, with goals from Mills (9’), Karacan (60’), Harte (74’), and Church (88’).

    How do Arsenal fare then? Not special to be honest; they’ve played 21 times with a W6 D5 L10 reading. Neither them or oppononents have ever scored more than 3 goals in any game. Indeed Arsenal were on a bad run of 7 matches without victory on 30th October, until last time out in 2010 – a close 1-0 victory over the Hammers in the Premier with a goal from Song just two minutes from time. A great relief for the 60,000 crowd present...




    For those who’d like to read a really detailed match presentation please pop over to the specialist Reading FC forum ‘Royals Rendezvous’ where you have even more sections covered (this present article is simply a resume) and many a photo up too … http://royalsrendezvous.co.uk/topic/9748489/1

    Here’s to a good game, all comments welcome! Any snippet copied will be fully credited (and thanked) with your user name and the forum! ...

    daib0
     
    #1
  2. Tilehurstsouthbank

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    Really hard to predict this one. Arsene will no doubt blood his youngsters and Brian will probably change a few faces too. Looking forward to it. close to a sell out by all accounts.
     
    #2
  3. andy2402

    andy2402 Member

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    playing well reading but arsenal have changed 11 players from his last premiership game and you have most of your first team playing. so don't get to excited you will not beat them in the prem with there full team out
     
    #3
  4. swanseaandproud

    swanseaandproud Well-Known Member

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    talk about collapsing .......4-0 up and still dont win....amazing comeback by arsenal...
     
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  5. Jamrag

    Jamrag Well-Known Member

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    Good game Reading.

    Ignore the Welsh wum.
     
    #5
  6. ELLERS

    ELLERS Well-Known Member

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    Great game to watch. <ok>
     
    #6
  7. kcspurs

    kcspurs Member

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    the ref fkd you. why didnt he send of koselny.
    5 half mins injury time yet none of you complain. soft
     
    #7
  8. daib0

    daib0 Well-Known Member

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    we didn't half complain on my forum, mate!!
     
    #8
  9. kcspurs

    kcspurs Member

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    whats your fourum
     
    #9
  10. daib0

    daib0 Well-Known Member

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    Royals Rendezvous, a really friendly place for opposition fans believe me, click on the link at the bottom of my post! The "Rivals, but Friends" section you don't even need to register to post!
     
    #10

  11. daib0

    daib0 Well-Known Member

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    That reminds me, I'll get something up on your board tomorrow mate, OK?!
     
    #11
  12. kcspurs

    kcspurs Member

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    thanks il have a look
     
    #12
  13. Tilehurstsouthbank

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    Gutted doesn't even begin to describe how I feel after that. Got my moneys worth though! :D
     
    #13
  14. daib0

    daib0 Well-Known Member

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    Yep, gutted from being 4-0 up, it's a bitter pill to swallow. But ... taken the perspective from 120 mins, to score 5 against Arsenal is no mean feat, not many teams have done that the last few years! If only the players could get over it, pick themselves up, and take the positives ...

    I do think there's a team choice problem though now, we've already switched and swapped a fair bit this season - so who will be main starting XI for next few games? Anyone's guess ...
     
    #14
  15. ELLERS

    ELLERS Well-Known Member

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    Cool.

    You guys must be gutted. I never thought Arse would get back into that game.
     
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