So the cup run is over. With a 4-2 loss at home to Aston Villa on Sunday morning, the Royals were finally eliminated in the FA Cup. And obviously, it would have been a dream to make it to the semi-finals and play at Wembley. But there are still so many positives that can come out of the impressive run all the way to the quarter-finals.

Going into the 4^th round draw against Liverpool, Reading was in the bottom 3 of the Championship, unable to win consistently, especially at home. But a 1-1 draw that forced a replay at Anfield was the spark the boys needed apparently. From there, the Royals defeated Liverpool, Burnley and West Brom in the cup. They only lost once in 7 February games and managed to pull themselves out of the relegation zone in the Championship. And the loss to Villa on the weekend was the first home loss of 2010.

The cup run, providing we do stay up, will be looked at as the turning point in a season that looked like it could be heading for disaster. But wins over Premiership sides gave the boys the confidence to turn things around in the League, highlighted by Reading’s 5-0 thrashing of fellow strugglers Sheffield Wednesday last weekend. There are many that thought that Reading, with a little luck, would be able to challenge for a play-off berth this season, and the recent run of play has shown that had the early months of the season not been so dismal, we could. They’ve played positive soccer, looking dangerous and capable even when failing to grab a victory. Even in the loss to Villa this weekend, Reading led 2-0 at half time, with Villa reaching deep and showing their class for a second half comeback.

That there will be some major upsets and that the confidence from those upsets can mean big things for a smaller, lesser known club is one of my favorite parts of a cup competition. I would love to see a cup competition built into the Casa season for those of us that play here in Philadelphia. With 40 teams spread out over 4 divisions, I am positive that there would be plenty of upsets. And it could inspire a mid table Tercera teams to dream of big things.  Unfortunately some major roadblocks exist for this to happen including most notably a lack of field time.

I am happy for Reading’s run. It was nice to see them on TV twice while they were still involved.  It’s great to finally put some faces with names. And it sure is nice to actually see my team win, rather than just read about it or hear it on the radio. And I hope we found a few new fans, who appreciate a gritty, positive 2^nd division team holding their own with the big boys, at least for a little while.

Can we give the Liverpool win back?

I’d trade the win over Liverpool for points in the league any day of the week.  I was of course ridiculously excited when Reading knocked off Liverpool last week.  But if we come out and get played off the pitch for 60 minutes in the League four days later, what’s the point?  Such was the case this weekend, when (an admittedly in form) Nottingham Forest squad ran over the Royals for the entire first half and part of the second before going down to 10 men and allowing Reading into the game.  Listening on internet radio was tough with Forest creating chance after chance and goalkeeper Adam Federici doing his best to keep the game within reach.  It was universally agreed upon that the 2-0 Nottingham lead at the break was flattering for the visiting Royals.

There were a few changes in the side from the Liverpool victory with injuries to some key players from that win. Gylfi Sigurdson, whose spot kick in the 93^rd minute tied the Liverpool game, was especially missed both on the left side of the midfield and for his PK taking abilities, as Brian Howard was stopped from the spot on 64 minutes.  The Royals debuted newly signed striker Gunnar Thorvaldsson, who played all 90 minutes and failed to head home two wide open chances.  Proving that, yes, he does in fact fit right in with the rest of the Reading strikers.

So back to the point.  I’d gladly take some points in the league over the Liverpool victory. It’s great to knock off a one of the big four.  And it’s great to advance in the FA Cup. But where does it lead? With a number of Premier League teams still hanging around in the FA Cup (including Arsenal and Chelsea), what shot do we really have? So let’s make a deal.  Give us say, 6 points (come on, it was Liverpool) in the League and let the pathetic Reds (yes we did see you draw Stoke on Saturday) advance in the FA Cup. Those 6 points could get us all the way up to…19^th place.

Saturday’s FA Cup tie with Liverpool was especially enticing for me because not only would we be playing the storied Reds, but that I would also get to watch the game on TV.  A draw against a major club guaranteed that the game would be available somehow and we found it on Setanta at the Dark Horse.  Up until recently I had only been able to follow my Royals through text commentary but was blessed with the gift of ReadingWorld a few weeks ago, and now I can listen to radio broadcasts of matches through the club’s website. (This has been a fantastic way to experience football by the way.  Crazy English announcers who sound like they are calling the game from the middle of the supporter’s section, and who actually know how to call football on the radio).  But actually being able to see my boys up against the underachieving Liverpool side on Saturday was a special treat.

I was asked before the match by a friend if I thought Reading had a chance against a Liverpool side that has already crashed out of the Champions’ League and played themselves into 7^th place in the Prem.  I reminded my friend that Reading had only won twice (yes 2 times!) at home in all of 2009 and are currently sitting 20^th in the League.  And I admit, I was a little disheartened to see a full strength Liverpool side selected.  How could we match up with Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres? (I was pretty sure we could match up with Lucas).

So the game….absolutely amazing!  Reading was on the front foot from the opening whistle and had most of the early play.  Moving the ball around well with Jobi McAnuff particularly giving the Reds fits down the right side (as he has done all season against lesser competition).  We earned a few set pieces, looking especially dangerous on corners.  And it would be a free kick in the 24^th minute that led to the unbelievable, Reading going up 1-0.  A long ball was kept in by Gregor Rasiak on the touchline and Simon Church was standing 2 yards from goal to push home the loose ball.  Holy shit, we are leading Liverpool!  Of course I didn’t say it, but I thought to myself “I don’t care if we go on to lose this; the fact that we scored and went up is good enough.”  I really was just hoping to not be embarrassed at home (again) and to be up was a cherry on top.  But the goal awoke the sleeping Red giants and Liverpool tied the game on a long effort from Gerrard that Adam Federici couldn’t get a hand to.  1-1 at halftime.

I figured on the second half being Liverpool holding on to the ball and looking for their chance to take the lead.  I looked at the Reading subs list and saw almost no one that could be the missing piece to find the winner, while the Liverpool bench had the likes of Yosi Benayoun, Ryan Babel, and Alberto Aquilani (sure, why not?)  But it was Reading who had most of the early play, with McAnuff still running rampant down the right side.  Chances were few for both teams and Liverpool responded by bringing on Benayoun and Aquilani.  Reading swapped out Rasiak for Shane Long and were forced into replacing goalkeeper Adam Federici when he was injured 20 minutes from time.  Backup goalkeeper  Ben Hamer looked uncomfortable from the beginning and I thought our luck may have finally run out.  But it never came.  Torres came closest in stoppage time, heading just over the bar.  But the final whistle came and it finished 1-1.  Back to Anfield we’ll go.

Absolutely amazing.  Not only did we manage a draw with one of the best teams in the world; we did it playing organized, attacking football.  And even better?  I got to see it on TV.  And we get to play Liverpool again!  And as I said above, we can lose at Anfield and still be happy with the result from Saturday.  But there is that nagging thought in the back of my head, what if we can win at Liverpool?  What if?  Adam touched on the thought that the FA Cup might not hold the luster that it used to.  But I assure you that this game meant everything to the Royals and the Reading fans.

&*#@! Why can’t we win at home?  In 12 home games at the Madjeski this season, Reading have one win.  Leading 1-0 through Grzegorz Rasaik’s 16^th minute header, the Royals surrendered their lead in the 80^th minute to Scunthorpe’s Gary Hooper.  Scunthorpe started the weekend in 18^th place, just one spot ahead of Reading.  These are the games that we need to secure all 3 points in.  From all that I have read (and I read a lot of Reading news), there is no argument that the Royals were the better side on Saturday.  But that just makes it all the more frustrating that we only took a point.

Rasaik seems to be holding his own (6 goals in 9 league appearances) but no one has stepped up to claim that 2^nd striker role with any consistency.  From all reports, Jobi McAnuff has been marauding down the right wing and supplying fantastic service.  But good service isn’t of much help when you have no one to finish.  Striker Gunnar Thorvaldsson will be joining the Royals on loan in January, and frankly the new year can’t come soon enough.  The Iceland international will provide another attacking option (along with one more name I can’t pronounce) and I can’t see how he could be any worse than what we’ve been putting out there, even though I’ve yet to see him lace up his boots.

Reading right back Jay Tabb was correct in claiming “You’ve got to be good enough to hold off at 1-0 but we’ve also got to be good enough to go 2-0 up.”  The defense has preformed admirably in most matches this season, and it would be nice to see the offense step up and put away their chances to relieve a little pressure at the back.  The Royals confidence at home is clearly very shaky, so a 1-0 lead late in the game is simply not good enough to secure the points.

I am getting very tired of reading these match reports that claim Reading have outplayed the opponent right off the pitch but haven’t won the match.  How many times can that happen without the manager’s role coming into question.  There has to be some belief put into the squad to go out and get a result (I’d gladly take the 3 points in a game we have no business winning than 1 pt from a game we’ve dominated).  So when the opposition fans chant “There’s only one Steve Coppell” and the Reading fans join in, one can’t help remember the good ol’ days.

I am often greeted with the reaction of “Really?  Why?” when I tell people I am a Reading fan.  And it’s not the easiest explanation really.  Reading are toiling around in the relegation zone of the Championship this season, after flirting with immediate promotion back to the Prem last year.  So how did I become a fan of a mediocre 2^nd division team?

It all started in 2005-06.  This was the year I really started following the EPL as a league instead of just catching which ever game happened to be on TV that week.  As I  was watching West Brom, Sunderland, and Birmingham go down, I started to take note of Reading who had been tearing up the 2^nd division.  The Royals eventually finished first, with a record 106 points, losing only 2 games in the whole season.

As 06-07 rolled around, I began shopping for an EPL team as my interest in the league grew.  Not satisfied with just cheering for quality football, I wanted to ride the highs and the lows (and now the very lows) with a team.  I wanted to give high fives when we scored and roll my eyes and look to the sky when we lost.  But I’ve never been a front runner.  I couldn’t just go out and choose a Big 4 team so I would be on board with a proven champion.  So here is a scrappy promoted team, off to a good start in the Prem in the beginning of 2006.  And I said why not?  They have two Americans?  Even better.

So as the 06-07 season evolved, it seemed like Reading were a team built to stay in the first division.  They exceeded all expectations by finishing 8^th, just one spot out of UEFA Cup qualifying position.  Steve Coppell seemed like a Premiership level manager.  And they played some gritty, positive soccer, generally not throwing all 11 guys behind the ball.  So I did it.  I bought my blue and white hooped jersey and joined the Royal faithful.

And then the 07-08 season rolled around.  We started the year brightly, and were mid-table in January.  But after a few embarrassing results (a 7-4 loss at Portsmouth) and a horrible string of home defeats, we found ourselves in the relegation zone on the last day of the season.  Despite beating Derby 4-0, we went down on goal differential when Fulham managed a 1-0 win to stay up.  And then I thought to myself, “shit, well now what?”  I wouldn’t be able to see Reading play on TV at all.  And I would have a tough time even wrangling up video highlights.  But, I had made my choice.  And fans don’t abandon their teams just because they have a lousy season.

So since then, I have seen a total of two Reading games.  Watching both online, on my computer.  The 2^nd game I managed to catch was Reading’s 0-2 home defeat to Burnley that gave them a Play-off Final berth and ended Reading’s promotion hopes.  Since that, the last game of last season, the manager has left, along with almost every player from the Premiere League season.  They have no Americans, with Bobby Convey now stinking it up in the MLS and Marcus Hahnemann moving to newly promoted Wolverhampton.  But I remain loyal to my Royals.  Following match reports online.  Cursing the terrible job gaffer Brendan Rodgers has done (all without seeing a game he has coached).  And still dusting off that blue and white jersey once in a while.  I’m just hoping I get to see them in the Prem again sometime soon.

Reading lost away to Derby 2-1 on the weekend.  I caught the game report on BBC.  We’re currently in 22nd place, just outside the relegation zone.

Posted via web from The Philly Soccer Page

Rants and raves (but mostly rants) about following a 2nd division team.

Brendan Rodgers thanks the Reading faithful.

Reading coach Brendan Rodgers called it “like winning the world cup” after Readingdefeated Blackpool 2-1 at the Madjeski on Saturday. Sure, Blackpool is off to a great start (4^th in the league going into the weekend).  And yes, the Royals have struggled (22^nd).  But like winning the world cup?  Come on.

You see, it has been a long time since Reading has won at their home ground.  It has been17 games since the blue and whites took down Wolverhampton on January 27^th.  Just one win, 3 lousy points, in the last 7 home games of last season would have assured the Royals of an automatic promotion to the Prem.  But it never came, and instead, we settled for the playoffs, where Burnely took us down 3-0 on aggregate.

So Gregorz Rasiak’s 83^rd minute winner on Saturday was huge.  Absolutely huge. And I’ve heard it was lovely.  But I haven’t seen it.  I wasn’t watching when they won on Saturday.  I wasn’t listening on the radio.  I was following the only way I can, reading the BBC text commentary.  And when the little time box updated from “2^nd half” to “final”, I let out a little “yes!” with a fist pump.

So this is what it has come to? I am excited when Reading pick up 3 points at home and move themselves out of the relegation zone to 20^th place? It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago that Marek Matejovsky was ripping a 25 yard strike past Jose Reina to give Reading a 3-1 victory over Liverpool. But how quickly fortunes change in this beautiful game. And one season removed from an amazing 8^th place Premiere League finish, the Royals were relegated to the Championship on the last day of the season in 07-08 on goal differential (Fulham, I have not forgotten, and I will not cheer for you, no matter how many Americans you sign). And for me, an American fan of a 2^nd division team, I am now left sifting through text reports and still pictures for all my Reading news.

For my first column, I planned on this being my explanation of how and why I became a Reading fan. But this victory is too sweet not to savor by itself. So I’ll have to get to my poor team selection next week…

Posted via web from The Philly Soccer Page