Just to get the conversation up and running. Please merge into official thread once made. With all our players making strong recoveries and with a wave of new signings, I'm almost lost with what we have available. Who am I missing below? GK - Bachmann (& 2 backups) RB - Just Gaspar? LB - Kamara & Morris CB - Porteous, Hoedt, Sierralta(?) Cathcart CM - Choudhury, Kone, Bacuna, Asprilla AM - Sarr, Martins ST - Davis, Araujo, Assombalonga Actually not that bad if that's correct. RB looks the weakest
So the Transfer Window slammed shut so we know what we have to play with. I'm sure most people would liked to have seen a quality midfielder brought in but we've certainly had worse windows Hopefully Bilic can now concentrate on the football rather than the players he didn't want joining and those he did want not joining! The jury is very much out on Bilic at the moment but I hope he is given at least till the end of the season so we can see how he gets on with hopefully the majority of the players fit. Unfortunately the game is sold out for anybody wishing to go who doesn't have a ticket but if anybody has a spare I would be most grateful Reading FC One of the newish grounds in the league and possibly the only one with a worse atmosphere than The Vic. Really not a fan of the place stuck in the middle of an industrial estate with quite honestly no redeeming features. Burger outside the ground for £7 is a pi55 take as well. If you want to have a drink before the game there are a couple of pubs by the station which are popular with away fans and you can get a bus up to the ground from there which I think run every 10 minutes. Reading currently lie 16th in the table but apparently still believe they can make the play offs and in fairness they are only 6 points from 6th as it stands. I would be surprised if they did make it and certainly the times I've seen them this season they've showed nothing to suggest a play off push including struggling to beat our under 15's in the FACUP a few weeks back Famous people from Reading include Jeremy Kyle (who sadly lives in the same village as me), Kate Winslet, Ricky Gervais, Justin Fletcher (Mr Tumble) and Chris Tarrant. Winslet aside I would say that lot are not a lot to shout about although apparently Jane Austen was also from Reading but on checking Google it seems she was born in Winchester! Reading architecture This is a piece by Banksy on the wall of Reading prison. The prison itself was closed in 2014 but famous inmates include Oscar Wilde who was serving time there for homosexual tendencies and heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua who spent two weeks in the jail while on remand Probably Reading's most well-known historical site, the Abbey was founded in 1121 by King Henry I , who was buried there 15 years later. At the time, it was the fourth largest church in Britain, with royal funerals, weddings, court and parliament meetings held there. The abbey owned the town of Reading and developed it, creating new streets such as Broad Street, Friar Street, London Street and Market Place. King Henry VIII closed the abbey in 1539 along with hundreds of other abbeys in England and Wales. It was subsequently converted into a royal palace. It was destroyed during the civil war in the 17th century. The ruins were closed to the public in 2009 and reopened in summer 2018 after a nine-year £3m renovation project Players who played for both sides There are many players who turned out for both clubs but recently the likes of Matej Vydra, Darius Henderson, Jobi Notenuff and Adrian Mariappa. Vydra was inexplicably loaned to Reading after our promotion to the Premier League where he struggled in a poor side scoring just 3 goals. Darius Henderson played for Reading at the start of his career, his first club of the thirteen he played for scoring 11 goals from 71 games. He became a little more prolific later in his career scoring 29 times for Watford in just over 100 games and most famously scored our third goal in the play off thumping of Leeds United Jobi Notenuff joined Reading directly from Watford who he had played 82 times for and went on to play 180 times for Reading. One of the most frustrating players we've ever had as much like Sarr, he had ability but didn't show it enough Adrian Mariappa joined Reading after his first spell with Watford but only ended up playing 29 times for The Royals. He would later re join Watford when to be honest we probably didn't need him and made nearly 300 appearances in total for the club. Incredibly he is still playing and currently turns out for Burton Watford The injuries seem to be subsiding a little and last week saw Davis return and it appears that Louza, Sema and Pedro are not far away but suspect this game is too early for them. The addition of two new centre backs is welcome and suspect Hoedt will start alongside Cathcart. It would be nice to see Davis play alongside the kid from Benfica or even as a three with Sarr or Martins as the third striker. Never thought I would say this but maybe Sarr on the bench might not be a bad idea No idea why, but feel we will win this. 2-0 to us
Bachmann Gaspar Cathcart Hoedt / Porteus Kamara Choudhury Bacuna / Kone Sarr Martins Davis Araujo Go attacking, 4-2-2-2 / 4-2-4.
Worked in Reading for about 11 years and lived near there (Twyford) for about 15 years. Went to Elm Park a few times in the EY box (wooden sheds at the end of a long wooden walkway) and spent the match wondering how the hell i would get out, and how many would perish if someone dropped a cigarette butt. The Mad Stad just gave me vertigo. Looking forward to seeing how Bilic's new winger and CM perform. Must win game. RFC 2 (Senior, Vydra) WFC 2 (Vydra, Senior)
Good shout. Two debutant CB's might be a little ambitious though, but I'd rather have Cathcart on the right ahead of Gaspar and/or Ngakia. It all depends on who we have available for this one. Will Pedro, Louza, Sema, Kayembe (I think that's the quartet we saw on the grass last week), be fit enough for a spot on the bench. I certainly hope so. I'm optimistic we'll have enough to win this one though. I was at the cup match where we played our academy and we were unlucky not to draw the game, so on that basis, I'm hoping we'll get back to winning ways.
Ok that was really odd.... when I merged it I don't know why it made the original the primary one. Anyway thank you @Knight GT for the great preview - it still counts as yours despite the forum suggesting otherwise
There was also that Icelandic midfielder who played for both. Can't remember his name. About 8 letters ? G............sson.. EDIT - Brynjar Bj*rn Gunnarsson
So our only fit RB is Gaspar, who has excelled in a new role recently. Please Bilic, for the love of all things yellow, do not have Choudhury as makeshift RB again like last weekend. Should be a better performance than the FA Cup game from us, so I expect us to get something out of this one, with the other new addtions hopefully making an impact. A draw would either be bad or good other results pending, but a better performance from last weekend would be much more pleasing. Reading are very up and down form wise (as are we), so a draw looks the likely outcome. 1-1
Another uninspiring performance from our insipid bunch of shirkers, and more excuses from Bilic post match. ORNS
Thanks, can't believe @Knight GT has tried to steal my thunder when clearly I'd done a thorough piece already.
We don't tend to do too great with 3 at the back, but looking at the squad I'd be tempted to go 3-5-2. Allows us to play 2 of our 3 fit strikers and have 3 in CM as we get overrode there a lot. Biggest issue - RWB. No Ngakia? In which case either; Gaspar - not great at defending and not great at attacking Sarr - not great at defending but COULD be great at attacking (not so much right now)
Bachmann Cathcart Porteous Hoedt Morris Sarr Kone Choudhury Martins Araujo Davis Hamer, Gaspar, Kamara, Bacuna, Asprilla, Assombalonga, Adeyemo. Four four f*cking two. Reading 1 - 3 Watford. 'Orns!
Madejski is *****. Genuinely a soulless place with even more who turn up that support multiple teams than at the Vic. Oh, and the in laws are all “Ding” **** em.
Bit m'eh about this, a dull 1-1. However, I am excited to see what WendoverOrn chooses for his take-away: will he stick with the Special Fried Rice or go all exotic with Duck in Plum Sauce? Anxious.
Bachman, Ferreira, Hoedt, Cathcart, Kamara; Choudhury, Kone; Sarr, Araujo, Martins; Davis Here’s to hoping Pedro is able to play 45.
The mad thing is that there is a fantastic Thai place in Wendover that he is completely disregarding.
Joao Pedro and Tom Cleverley in contention for #WatfordFC returns tomorrow at Reading. Will be checked in the morning. Kabasele, Louza among others edging closer to fitness (returns few weeks now). @TheAthleticFC
Not sure if he's ever played there but wondering whether Porteous could be deployed there. He's played in midfield so presumably he can pass the ball a bit.
Another few weeks at least until Louza is theoretically available to play any part at all, with 1/3rd of the season left to go at this moment - absolute vindication not to bother to recruit anyone who could fill his currently otherwise non-existent and integral role in the squad
Cathcart seems likely. I imagine Gaspar will be in midfield again A back four of Cathcart Porteous Hoedt and Kamara
I wonder if we should try Sarr at RB? He might actually want to play football and be pro-active for more than one game in a row. Middlesbrough had to be one of his worst performances in a while, mind you nobody exactly covered themselves in glory.
