Yia sou from currently sunny Zakynthos and my editing suite/sunbed. Figured now I've finished the final book in a trilogy I was reading, I may as well try turn my attention to Reading of a different kind. This weekend sees us slipping off our red Welsh shirts to re-don our Bluebirds attire once more ready to welcome our visitors from the Royal County of Berkshire, namely Reading FC. Who Are You The Royals (formerly known as the Biscuitmen thanks to Huntley and Palmer and their wares) visit us whilst placed perilously just inside the drop zone after a poor start to the season but with ample time to rectify that situation. Indeed, it seems based on recent form they have already started making such efforts, coming into this one in slightly better form than ourselves, with the men from the Select Car Leasing stadium picking up 9 points over their last 6 games, just 1 point less than we have managed in that same period. In their last outing (1-1 away at Exeter) Royals forward Jack Marriott notched his 6th goal in his last 6 games meaning our recently porous defence will have to be on high alert to prevent that run continuing. Looking at their squad they certainly have plenty of talent on paper, employing the likes of Lewis Wing, Jack Stephens, veteran Matt Richie and Robbie's boy (no, not our own Mole Man) Charlie Savage. On The Pitch After the enforced lay off last weekend which was preceded by a quite frankly bonkers game against Orient (ignoring the Newport debacle) it will be interesting to see who has shown enough in training to warrant a place in the starting lineup. I'm sure both Colwill's will be returning from Wales duty with a fire in their bellys having not been given any game time. Predicted Starting 11 Trott Kpakio Lawlor Fish Bagan Willock Wintle Turnbull Kellyman Colwill (R) Robinson First and Last Our first ever tie against Reading was actually our FA Cup semi-final match in 1927, played at Wolverhampton, a game which saw a resounding 3-0 victory for the Bluebirds as they gloriously marched onwards, carving out a large piece of history. April 1930 saw our first league encounter,va division 2 match at Ninian Park, a game that also finished with the Bluebirds victorious via a 2-1 score line. Our most recent meeting was a championship encounter at the CCS in February 2023, a game that saw our gallant boys in blue win via a 1-0 margin in front of an 18k+ crowd. Our winner that day came from a very late Romaine Sawyers goal. Ok, the ouzo is calling (oh alright, I'll confess, it's a cappuccino at this time of day at my age) and Mrs Brizzle is pondering our dinner options, so no offence folks but I'm ending the write up here and thinking about filling my expanding waistline instead. C'mon the City!!!! PS. Apologies for any spelling mistakes, dodgy formatting and omissions. Trying to write all this on my tiny Motorola isn't the easiest!!! Yamas!!!!
Ah well, it's back to the boring League One stuff then.................... I'll just take the red "matchday thread" prefix off your original Non Matchday Thread to avoid any confusion as to which to post on.
Well done Brizzle. I knew you’d get a thread up. Meanwhile I’ve just arrived in Reading for my granddaddy day care stint. Actually that’s just a cover, as I’m on a secret spying mission at Reading FC’s training ground, Bearwood Park, with my hidden camera. I’ll be forwarding all their tactics to BBM
Cheers Sparks. Appreciate the assistance there, that's a good shout, it doesn't take much to confuse us all!!
Back in the day I had a surreal experience at the old Elm Park ground. A mixed race skinhead Reading fan was ejected and plod marched him out past us. As he came past us he gave a sieg heil salute, and chanted 'up the National Front'. It really does take all sorts. The views expressed in my posts are not necessarily mine.
I parked my car outside some woman’s house at Elm Park once, and asked her if it was okay. She said it was fine. About ten minutes into the game there was a PA announcement for the owner with my reg to move it! Sad old bitch! And while I was outside I missed the only goal of the game!
Robbie - why didn't you just post them on here the same as you did on there to avoid even having to ask the question? ..................
