We are staying up? - Reading F.C

[Zlatan]

So since I've got one and a half week off now, I decided to try and lift this forum a little bit by starting a new kind of story/project. My plan is to start as an unemployed manager and go on holiday until the first day of Christmas. Than I take over the club on the rock bottom of the premiership and try to emulate what Portsmouth did last season and what West Ham is trying to do right now. They were declared death and burried halfway through but managed(or are trying to manage) to stay up in the end. Will I be the saviour and become an all time hero of the club I'm going to manage or will I go down the drain and out for the count? Let's find out.

First off some technical information: I play with 5 leagues from 4 nations(Serie A, Primera Division, Bundesliga, Premiership and Championship) on a large database. I use the 7.0.1 official database with no updates whatsoever.

Right, so after I started the game and declared myself unemployed I pressed 'Go On Holiday' and selected to come back on the 25th of December. I had to wait for a bit, so after checking this forum, I went up and made myself some thea(to get in the mood, lol), moments after I returned the game had progressed to Christmas day and I had a look at the Barclays Premiership table.

As you can see, Reading is rock bottom with only 9 points from 19 games. So as planned I took over the team and the rough but fascinating ride begun. Oh and by the way, have a look at Chelsea's position. The title defenders are only 7th and my uncle's club Liverpool is leading the table with 41 points out of 19.

To be continued...

 

[fender]

The great escape can be done, they've got a decent squad.

 

[Zlatan]

The squad

Taking a look at the squad, it would surprise many people, including me that they are tied at the bottom. Most positions have got double coverage except for the DMC position and the AML position(as Steve Coppell seems to have sold Bobby Convey for 12m to Aston Villa). The money from this transfer will allow me though to strenghten the squad a little in the January Transfer window.

The problem seems to be scoring for our squad, which is pretty amazing as we have 3 strikers(Doyle, Kitson and Lita) who all should be more than capable of putting it into the net. Might think about signing a better striker in January though. The main problem seems to be the long injuries to the two goallies though. Hahnemann still has to wait a week to 4 weeks to be able to play again, while reserve goallie Graham Stack won't play for as much as 3 months. Since we don't have decent back-up for this, we now have to play Adam Federici, but he's nowhere near what I want to see in a goallie. So we'll have to buy preferably loan a GK here aswell.

Last but not least we've got the AML position. Coppell seems to have been unable to fill up the gap left behind by Bobby Convey. The only alternative we've got there is Jeremy Hunt, but he's no more than solid on the wings. I was also thinking about playing Seol Ki-Hyeon on that position for the time beeing, but that would leave a gap at the (A)MC position. So I'll have to buy an AML in the winter aswell.

First up though is Everton on Boxing Day, who are chasing a UEFA Cup spot, followed by a pretty important match at Craven Cottage on 30th December against Fulham. That's a must win for us as we're 'only' 7 points behind them, a win would obviously close it down to four and would get our battle for survival back on track again.

To be continued...

 

[Zlatan]

26th of December - Boxing Day - Reading vs Everton

The first match I was in charge started off with Everton presurring and pushing, hoping to kill us off early. Yet we stood tall, the closest they came in the opening minutes was with a counter attack which lead to James McFadden running down on goalkeeper Adam Federici. The Aussie saved well though and the score was still tied at 0-0.

Everton kept having the advantage though, but it didn't really result in any big chances besides the one by McFadden. As a matter of fact, the biggest chance in the first half was for Reading. Forward Dave Kitson smashed the bar when he was beautifully set up by the South-Korean Seol Ki-Hyeon. Yet still no score by either one of the sides as the teams headed into the dressing room. I was rather pleased with the way we played so far. We had about as much shots as Everton had and although they did have more possesion they didn't really manage to do anything scary with it.

Half Time score: Reading 0 - 0 Everton

The second half was rather dull. I was thinking about preserving the draw, which would've been a rather good start, certainly seeing we were playing Everton who was about 12 places above us. But then James McFadden whipped in a corner to the near post where Nuno Valente would nod it in. Disaster for the Reading side and their supporters. They've fought hard and good to keep off the Everton attack, but now they found themselves behind thanks to a moment of inadvertence.

From then on Reading tried to push to make an equaliser but although we did have more dominance on the field we didn't manage to score. Substitute James Harper came the closest in injury time, by aiming a shot just above the goal of Everton goallie Howard. It just wasn't to be today and so the match ended in a, seeing the way we played, rather dissappointing loss.

Full Time score: Reading 0 - 1 Everton

Match winner: Nuno Valente

To be continued

 

[Oz_Leeds_Fan]

Good idea and the execution so far is engaging

Keep it up!

 

[Zlatan]

30th of December - Fulham vs Reading

The loss versus Everton, had the pressure on this match increased even more for Reading. A loss at Fulham would mean 4 straight loses and a possible 11 point gap with the safe 17th spot. A win here was vital, certainly seeing Fulham was one of the other relegation battlers. In other words: a six-point game.

The game started with Fulham dominating. The Cottagers ofcourse also needed the points badly to survive as they were in 19th. They got off to a good start, with Yankee Brian McBride storming towards the goal and aiming, before his shot was saved by Reading keeper Adam Federici. Apart from a shot by James Harper, Reading didn't really have an answer. Frenchman Franck Queudrue made the new Reading manager shiver as he directed a free kick, from the edge of the Reading box, just over the cross bar. Things seem to only get worse when striker Dave Kitson got injured and had to be replaced. It looked as though he might be out for some time. Shane Long replaced Kitson.

But funny enough, the injury seemed to inspire the Reading team, as they created a vicious counter attack. Full back Ulises De La Cruz played a wonderful ball towards Shane Long. He still had alot of work to do from halfway Fulham's half, yet he managed to get himself onto the wing and curled in a beautiful cross towards Doyle. All the Irishman had to do was put his head to it and so the first goal under my command was scored. Jubilation and joy on the Reading bench and on the field aswell ofcourse. With full confidence we went into the dressing room at half time.

Half Time score: Fulham 0 - 1 Reading

The first few minutes were pretty stormy from a Reading point of view. Kevin Doyle did get a chance to score his second after James Harper curled in a free kick, but Antti Niemi saved. But it was mostly Fulham in the first 15 or so minutes of the second half. Danish international Claus Jensen came the closest as he pounced on a ball played by McBride and directed his shot just wide of the Reading goal.

The lead was still intact, but I felt that I needed to make some changes in order to keep the lead. So I took attacking midfielder James Harper off and put defender Ivar Ingimarsson in as sweeper. We now played a 5-3-2 and it seemed to work well, as the Fulham storm seemed to calm down more or less. Better than that, we even got a few chances. In the 78th minute Shane Long, who had a wonderful game coming on as a sub, finished the game off. A beautiful worked counter was again the basis for the goal and again the same trio combined together to get it done. This time De La Cruz played it to John Oster who played it into the lane of Doyle who looked to be trying to score himself but intelligently layed the ball off to Shane Long, who tapped it into an empty net.

The game was played out professionaly by the Reading squad, but we did get an unexpected blow in the end. Another injury struck our side, this time it was Seol Ki-Hyeon and his injury didn't look good either. Later it would become clear we wouldn't see the South-Korean back for 2 to 4 weeks. A big blow to our relegation battle, again.

Full Time score: Fulham 0 - 2 Reading

A goal and an assist for mr. Doyle. Well done!

----------------------


Meanwhile this intresting offer came by. Osasuna seems to have had it completly with their controlling midfielder Nekounam and are willing to let him go at any price, literally. As I think I'm in need of a solid DMC I accepted the offer.

To be continued...

 

[Mandieta6]

You've inspired me to start a new game, so keep up with the interesting updates!

 

[Zlatan]

1st January - Reading vs Wigan Athletic

The confidence was more or less back in the squad heading into the brandnew 2007 year. With the win over Fulham everyone seemed to have the believe in surviving back again. But apart from the win over Fulham, there wasn't much to be optimistic about. The squad has no more than 7 injuries. Still a rather obscure Aussie in the goal and also there were as many midfielders available as food in Dafur.

We had to face Wigan, who was playing a rather grey season after their unbelievable first season in the premiership last season. They occupy the 13th spot heading into this game, not yet entirely save with six points above the relegation zone, while they could theoratically still get a UEFA Cup ticket, if they would make a marvelous run. In other words, they needed the win just as badly as we did.

And Wigan seemed to want that win the most. They started off furiously, just like Everton and Fulham did in the previous matches. After almost 20 minutes of pressure, the fragile Reading defense broke, Gary Teale tapped in a cross of Emmerson Boyce to make it 1-0 for the visitors. I felt I had to do something now. I tried to close the huge cap lying between our midfielders and strikers by moving Sidwell a bit forward. And it worked, cause in all of a sudden things started going our way. In fact immediatly from the kick-off after the goal Kevin Doyle fired just wide of the Wigan goal. That seemed to jump start Reading. Minutes later, we got a corner which was beautifully whipped in by John Oster. Stephen Hunt rose above the Wigan defense and knocked the ball to make it 1-1 and give a lifeline to his club.

But than in all of a sudden Wigan regained control of the match. Moments after the goal by Hunt, Henry Camara stormed towards the Federici who managed to save it in the end. A few minutes later even he couldn't do anything about it anymore. Lee McCulloch scored off the feed by Antonio Valencia to give Wigan the lead again. After that Shane Long got a chance just before half-time to level it up once again. But the Irishmen fired right at keeper John Fillan and so a good chance went begging.

Half Time score: Reading 1 - 2 Wigan Athletic

In an effort to try and turn things around I brought on attacking mid James Harper for defender Andre Bikey, who had an awful game. But it didn't seem to work as Wigan continued with what they started before the break. It even seemed to be all over in the 58th minute as McCulloch hit the ball into the back of the net, but fortunatly for us he did so from an offside position.

Reading was already kind of accepting defeat when Steven Sidwell suddenly put Kevin Doyle one-on-one with the Wigan goalkeeper. Doyle made no mistake and shot it fiercly into the right corner: 2-2. Looking at it on paper, it wouldn't be such a good result. But as the other relegation battlers were all losing a draw wouldn't be that bad, certainly seeing Wigan had the best of chances all game long. We had to hold on tight in the last 15 or so minutes but we managed to preserve the draw and without any injuries this time. We are now 7 points from savety. We're still alive!

Final score: Reading 2 - 2 Wigan Athletic

Stephen Hunt and Kevin Doyle, Reading's saviours today.

To be continued...

 

[Seán D]

well the Irish lads are doing well for you then

 

[juventusita]

Just adding my support that this is a cool idea and is interesting to skim through and follow.

 

[Zlatan]

Transfer update

Before I report about the FA Cup 3rd round match versus Brighton I'll give you a bit of a transfer update. Javad Nekounam has signed a contract with us and has been granted a work permit. He comes over for no money at all, so that's nice. We also repaired the gap at the GK position by loaning 21 year old Jan Zimmermann from Eintracht Frankfurt, so we now have a reliable keeper again.

Leaves 18m to spend. I desperatly want an AML, as Stephen Hunt is showing lots of determination but doesn't have the quality that I want there. Certainly seeing the injury to Seol Ki-Hyeon, we went out on the hunt for a good left winger. So far with little to no success. Atletico Madrid was willing to let Martin Petrov go for 7.25m but the Bulgarian, who earns 70.000 a week doesn't want to settle for 37.500 weekly, which is the highest I can offer. I already anticipated on that a little and went for 24 year old D/AM L Alex from Lazio. They want 14.5m for him though, which I managed to whittle down to a still whopping 10m. Shame is, though, that Alex doesn't really look like wanting to go to Reading either. So we're still looking out for reinforcement there.

Brighton vs Reading - 6th January 2007

To the match now. With all the problems in the premiership, it's nice to have your minds set on something else. Brighton offered a nice oppertunity for this, as we had to play them in the FA Cup 3rd round. We should still be able to beat them easily and get a bit of a confidence boost.

For the first time under my command, we were the team on top in the beginning part of the match. Which is ofcourse not as surprising versus Brighton, but still. Anyway after having a few good chance in the first ten minutes, Kevin Doyle, again, managed to fire in a goal. 1-0 to Reading. The start we desired. But after that goal concentration seem to slip away a bit from the Reading defense. This even resulted in a few chances for Brighton, but nothing serious. But than in all of a sudden a cross came in and Alexandre Frutos hit it beautifully to make it 1-1.

The goal by Brighton came as a surprise and it seemed to effect the Reading squad. For a few moments Brighton dominated the game and we went into half-time all square.

Half-time score: Brighton 1 - 1 Reading

Brighton were still able to keep track of us, just after half-time. Again they got some half chances but neither side was able to really get a clear chance. Rather dissappointing, certainly for the Reading side. Things seem to only get worse when an injury struck Reading again. Leroy Lita, who had just recovered from a bruised rib, had to go off and so Shane Long was given a chance once again.

Things didn't really seem to chance much and a replay was luming, but then in all of a sudden Long got the ball in the area. With only one minute to go, the Irishmen turned around and managed to squeeze in a shot from an almost impossible angle into the goal. The Brighton supporters were silenced and dissappointed. The Reading supporters, though, felt mostly relieve. It would've been a humilation if Reading had to play a replay against Brighton. But Long saved the day and got Reading into the 4th round. It doesn't matter how you win, aslong as you do, I suppose.

Full Time score: Brighton 1 - 2 Reading

Shane Long saves the day!

To be continued...

 

[Tom]

Good old Frutos for my Brighton, top man

 

[Áļéאָ]

and what a name

 

[ReadingsFinest]

Well for that left wing postion you should be able to pick up Andres Guardado from Atlas ,Mexico for around 3million , even Freddy Adu for around 2.5million from Real Salt Lake also i would recomend Eddie Johnson from Kansas City Wizards for around 1-2 million

 

[Sean Walsh]

How do you get the screen shots from the game like you did when you showed everyone your squad and by the way great idea doing it now in my one

 

[Zlatan]

I have noticed many questions recently about the posting of Screen Shots at soccergaming so here is a guide of exactly what to do. This works best if FM is in windowed mode.

1) On FM go to the screen you want to take a screen shot of.

2) Press the 'Print Screen' button (in the top row of your keyboard).

3) Minimise (or exit) CM and go into a basic drawing programme, MS Paint is perfect.

4) Go to the 'Edit' drop down menu and then select 'Paste'.

5) Do any editing you want to do the save the file in the
.jpg format. (I recommend you save it to your desktop as it is easier to find. You can always delete it straight after you've posted it).

6) Go to Soccer Gaming and go to the thread you want to post the screen shot in. Press reply as normal.

7) Where is says 'attach a file' click browse. Find the screen shot (saved in the .jpg format) and double click on it.

8) Click 'Post Reply/Submit New Thread' as normal. Please note it will take longer than normal to post.

9) Sit back and admire your beautiful screen shot.

Zarkov

There you go.
In other words just press print screen, paste it in paint and save it.

 

[Sean Walsh]

thanks mate

 

[X-Ter]

Nice topic, keep it up

 

[Mandieta6]

Any updates?

 

[Zlatan]

I guess I could give you an excuse to say I'm too busy to keep playing it(which is partially truth). But the truth is, I really can't get into this game(or FM 2007 for that matter) anymore.