[retired_abubaker]

Breaking news!!!!!

It has been reported that Reading manager Steve Coppell has been given the boot by chairman John Madejski as he wanted a new fresh approach to the team. Coppell is said to be heartbroken at this shock announcement and was last seen on the roof at the Madejski Stadium threatening to jump as a result!!!!

In his place, John Madejski has appointed an unknown Scottish manager in Andrew Hepburn who was said to be over the moon at being given the chance to join such a great club. It certainly has been a shock to the Reading fans and players who have never heard of Hepburn before now.

We can now go over live to the press conference where Hepburn is being revealed to the footballing world as the new Reading manager.

Interviewer: So Mr Hepburn what experience do you have in football as no one really knows anything about you in this country?

Hepburn: And what's your point? I used to coach the Celtic youths before getting an assistant manager's job at Pollok juniors. I was just as shocked as you all are when Mr Madejski phoned me up asking if I would like to come down here for an interview for the manager's job. What can I say, the guy must have saw something he liked. He also has a lot of balls for appointing me as he knows the risks involved but I will hopefully repay his faith with a few trophies over the next few years.

Interviewer: So what do you hope to achieve as manager of Reading?

Hepburn: In the long run I hope to bring as much success as possible to this club. In a few years I hope this club will be challenging in both the Premiership and Champions League and taking on teams like Barcelona and Man Utd in their own back yards. Short term, promotion is the goal I would think and I will strife to achieve this. I have not had a chance to look at my players but soon enough I will as see what has to be done to help me achieve this goal. Listen I am not here to make up the numbers, I am here to take this club to a level it has never reached before, I believe in my ability as a coach and as a manager and will stop at nothing to be as successful as possible.

Interviewer: What type of football are we going to see your team play?

Hepburn: Well I think you will just have to wait and see as I haven't clue myself till I see what my squad of players can do first.

Interviewer: Have you got any transfer targets in mind Mr Hepburn to add to your squad?

Hepburn: Not as such but as I said before I want to assess the players I have before jumping into the transfer market. I have just received a list of some targets big Steve was after but if you want my opinion the players on the list were not up the standard I want at this club. Maybe that's why he is no longer in a job at this club.

Interviewer: Have you even had a chance to talk to any of the staff or players?

Hepburn: Not yet as such although I did speak to a wee old guy out on the pitch or sorry shout at him for telling me to get off the pitch. Lucky I didn't get him ejected for tresspassing on the pitch.

Interviewer: Mr Hepburn that was your assistant manager!!!

Hepburn: Your joking!!! Ah well what a start to my life as Reading manager. Anyway lads I have had enough of this so if you don't mind I have a football team to manage.


So Hepburn has already made quite an impression on the press and of course his assistant manager. It remains to be seen whether or not Hepburn is up to this job or not but I guess only time will tell.

That was certainly a lively press conference, Mourinho and Strachan had better up their games in the press conference stakes as Hepburn settles into life at Reading.

[retired_abubaker]

Announcement

Lads, just a reminder that EFB will be starting late tomorrow night as I am working till 8.30pm. So it will be a 9pm start for T&T and ready to go at 9.30pm. Hope to see you all there. :thup:

[retired_pjscott64]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by rouchie:


The Eagle has landed


***TRANSFER NEWS***

With 3.7 million burning a hole in his pocket, Rouch wasted no time in scouring the market to bring in some experience and additional talent for the season ahead. First in was the experienced Martin Djetou surprisingly available on a free! Next in was the promising midfielder Marco Ingrao from Mons at a bargain basement price of £500,000. :thup: A bid came in for Emerson Boyce from West Ham and after some negotiation a £1,1000,000 fee was agreed with a 20% sell on clause saw the Eagle become an Iron. Elvir Baljic was the next player in through the door on a free transfer, closely followed by the aptly named Tottenham defender Rodrigo Defendi for £575,000. Promising youngster Ryan Hall was allowed to join Hull for £1000,000 and a 30% sell on clause. Darren Potter was taken on loan for the season with no contribution to his wages from Palace.

Friendlies

5 straight wins in the pre season friendlies saw the team ready for the season with the teams confidence at a high and fitness levels ready for the arduous season ahead!

[retired_abubaker]

The Royals review - Frustrating start to life at the royals for Hepburn!!!!

It has been a frustrating start to life as Reading manager for Hepburn as his plans to bring in a few new faces to compliment the existing squad is not going at all well. He has tried for numerous players but no one seems to be attracted to Hepburn's view of what life could be like in the future at Reading. He has hunted high and low in Scotland and in the lower leagues of England but as yet only one player has signed up to Hepburn's reading revolution. The only player Hepburn has managed to snap up is:

Gordon Greer DC - £120k from Kilmarnock - Much needed added quality to the centre of defence and in Greer Hepburn has bought a player looking to prove himself at the top top level and is exactly the kind of player wants in his team. Tall and strong with a fair bit of pace Greer will be halfing centre forwards left, right and centre during the season.

Apart from Greer, Hepburn has failed to bring more new faces to the club but he is trying his best.

So it was onto the pre season friendlies for Hepburn and his team although his assistant took charge while he was away on scouting duties to try and get players to the club. Here is a rundown of the results:

Reading v Arsenal Reserves (H) 10th July 2005
Final Score - Reading 6 v 0 Arsenal Reserves

Brentford v Reading (A) 13th July 2005
Final Score - Brentford 1 v 2 Reading

Marine v Reading (A) 21st July 2005
Final Score - Marine 1 v 3 Reading

Clyde v Reading (A) 26th July 2005
Final Score - Clyde 1 v 2 Reading

Torquay v Reading (A) 31st July 2005
Final Score - Torquay 2 v 1 Reading

Reading v Parma (H) 3rd August 2005
Final Score - Reading 1 v 2 Parma

A mixed bag of results for Reading during their friendly matches but Hepburn only wanted performances and winning was only a bonus. Things were coming together nicely for Reading as Hepburn was back from scouting duties and it was onto the real start of Hepburn's managerial career as he tried to get Reading into the Premiership.

[retired_abubaker]

EFB Predictions for Season 1

Well now that EFB is underway it is time for some predictions about how the managers are going to do in their first season in charge of their respective clubs:

Andrew Hepburn - Reading
Championship: 12th position or lower
Carling Cup: 3rd Round
FA Cup: 3rd Round

Having started the season so poorly I think I am gonna struggle to make any impact in EFB this season. Still looking for that right formation to get the best out of my players and if my solo effort with Reading is anything to go buy I might be playing League One football next year.

Should be able to get past the early stages of the cups till the Premiership teams come into them before getting booted out for being crap.

Rob Perry - Sheffield Utd
Championship - 2nd
Carling Cup - Quarter Final
FA Cup - Quarter Final

Rob should be playing Premiership football next season as he has one of the best squads in the Championship and has already attracted some very good players to his team. Then again it is Rob we are talking about so anything is possible!!!

He should also do pretty well in the cups and has a great chance of progressing to the latter stages if given the luck of the draw.

Paul Rouch - Crystal Palace
Championship - 1st
Carling Cup - 1st Round :p
FA Cup - Quarter Final

Much like Rob, rouchie has an abundance of talent in his squad and also a load of cash to throw about if he wants making his team one of the best if not thee best team in the division. He also has Andy Johnson who guarantees you goals aplenty so he simply cannot fail to get automatic promotion straight away. Or can he??

In the last EFB rouchie nearly made it to the Premiership on many occasions before losing in the play offs almost yearly!!!! :p. Can his team go the distance this time???

In the cups rouchie should do really well but a little birdy tells me he is already out the Carling cup at the first hurdle so maybe he won't so so well after all in the cups.

Steff Browning - Gretna
Scottish Division 2 - 1st
Bells Challenge Cup - Winners
Cis Cup - Quarter Finals
Scottish Cup - 3rd Round

The only man bold enough in EFB to take on a Scottish team and he has prolly picked the best of the lower league teams. Full of cash and quality I cannot see past Steff taking Gretna to the first division and then maybe onto the SPL. He has started well in all competitions so Steff might actually do well in this EFB!!! :eek:

Cup wise he should go far in everything due to his quality side and would expect nothing less from his team.

Sandy Pettigrew - Wolves
Championship - Play Off Position
Carling Cup - Quarter Final
FA Cup - 5th Round

The unknown quantity in EFB this year as he has only just joined in the last session but has chosen Wolves who are not short of a bob or two. He should be there or thereabouts the play offs come the end of the season or maybe even higher given some of the quality in his squad. In Kenny Miller he has one of the world's best strikers ever and Carl Cort who emm is just a good Championship striker.

In the cups he should do well although he just scraped through his Carling Cup first round match that even I won comfortably!!! :p

So having taken the pressure fimly off me in the predictions race, I should go on to win everything in sight in EFB while the rest buckle under the weight of expectation i have placed upon them!!!!

Good luck lads.

[retired_pjscott64]

Ok, here are my predictions

Andrew Hepburn - Reading
Championship: Automatic promotion
Carling Cup: 5th Round
FA Cup: 4thRound

Based on Andy's previous achievements in EFB I think he has started with the mind games already and is underselling himself!

Rob Perry - Sheffield Utd
Championship - Automatic Promotion
Carling Cup - 3rd Round
FA Cup - 4th Round

I agree that Rob has one of the best squads in the championship, and with the signings he has made,especially Dwight Pezzarossi on a free :eek: he will be difficult to beat.:thup:


Paul Rouch - Crystal Palace
Championship - Playoffs
Carling Cup - 1st Round
FA Cup - 5th Round

Yep, I have a strong squad and AJ up front but as I usually manage to shoot myself in the foot in the closing stages of the season, my prediction is I will lose a couple of crucial games in the run in, fall out of the automatic promotion slot but hang on to 6th place by goal difference alone. I will then reach the play off final and lose after dominating the game and having a player dubiously sent off Bitter experience suggests this could well happen!

Steff Browning - Gretna
Scottish Division 2 - Automatic Promotion
Bells Challenge Cup - Winners
Cis Cup - Quarter Finals
Scottish Cup - 3rd Round

A brave move, and I will follow Andy's lead on the predictions here as I know nothing about the scottish cups, I am sure Steff has the ability to get Gretna promoted

Sandy Pettigrew - Wolves
Championship - Play Off Winner
Carling Cup - 4th Round
FA Cup - 4th Round

Sandy will be the winner of the Playoffs at my expense. Even with 10 men I will dominate until my keeper comes out of his area to launch the ball forwards to our attackers, it strikes the refs arse, bounces off toward the sidelines, but the linesman, running to keep up with play bizarrely falls over and strikes the ball with his head, the ball loops over my stranded keeper in to the neat and I am consigned to yet another playoff final defeat while Wolves bathe in the ill deserved limelight of promotion.

Bitter? me?

[retired_abubaker]

Damn rouchie you can remember almost every moment of your demise in your play off losses!!!

Me for automatic promotion!!!! :eek:

I got so ****ed off with my solo Reading a deleted the fecker!!!

Wish I had picked a decent team now.

[retired_calliecan]

Steff Browning has made a good start to his time in charge of Gretna, he's first actions in charge of the club were to bring in Henry Kjartan Finnbogason on loan from Celtic, the 19 year old striker was said to be delighted at the chance to play some first team football as his chances were limited at Celtic park. Browning also brought in 18year old goalkeepr Milan Barjaktarevic from Hearts on a season long loan.

Browning decided to keep his transfer budjet in his pocket for the time being as most of the players he could buy (i.e ones that would have been interested in comming to Gretna) were of a lower standard than what he already had.

Wednesday 13th July 2005 : Aldershot v Gretna : Friendly : 3-0 win

We controlled this match from start to finish (or so my assistant told me) and this was reflected in the scorline Kenny Deuchar grabbed a double (20 & 37 mins) before James Grady ended the game as a contest in the 68th minute.

Saturday 16th July 2005 : Worcester v Gretna : Friendly : 2-0 win

Another one for the assistant here as I was too busy do other things, like planning how to win the league!
James Grady grabbed his second goal in 2 games with the opener in the 64th minute before Andy "You'll never play for this team again as long as I'm picking the team" Smith added a second 9 mins from full time.

Saturday 23rd july 2005 : Exeter v Gretna : Friendly : 2-0 win

That assistant guy handled this one again , and the shock of shocks! we found ourselves a goal behind after only 6mins!
Craig Farrel gave Exeter the lead after 6mins.
Gretna huffed and puffed but never threatened to score until Kjartan Henry Finnbogason levelled the match a minute from half time.
The second half was a dull affair with only a goal in the 73rd minute from James Grady to liven things up.

Tuesday 26th July 2005 : Gretna v Aston Villa : Friendly : 5-0 defeat

Some people call Gretna the Chelsea of the north, the fact here is the real Chelsea would have struggled to beat Premiership side Aston Villa when they are in this kind of mood.
After a seige of the Gretna goalmouth Milan Baros opened the scoring in the 20th minute, Villa didn't have to wait long for second as Kevin Phillips popped up in the 27th minute to smash home the second goal. Before we could regroup and get our act together Wilfred Bouma had made it 3-0.
Half time and the loyal Gretna fans must have been thinking things couldn't get much worse in the second half, AYE RIGHT!
59 minutes into the match Juan Pablo Angel made it 4-0 and things took a futher turn for the worst as Angel grabbed his 2nd, Villa's 5th in the 71st minute.
And then as quickly as it began it was over with the final scoreline reading Gretna 0 Aston Villa 5.
The only positive we could take for the game is that we managed to injure Kevin Phillips in the 48th minute.

Saturday 30th July : Gretna v East Stirling : Bell's Scottish Challenge Cup 1st Rnd : 3-0 win

Finally! the friendlies are out of the way and I take charge of the team for my first meaningful match in charge, the game say us host the Scottish 3rd division side East Stirling at Raydale park.
One person made all the difference here , Kjartan Henry Finnbogason, the Icelandic forward capped his debut for Gretna with a sensational hattrick , netting the 32mins, 36minds and rounding off an astounding debut in the 90th minute with his 3rd.

Saturday 6th August 2005: Gretna v Stirling : Bell's League Division Two : 4-2 win

First league match in a season were many expect us to gain promotion and things started out well when Stevie Tosh opened the scoring in the 9th minute, Kenny Deuchar added number 2 after 17mins, John Fraser pulled one back for Stirling the 33rd minute to put some pressure back on Gretna, pressure that was kindly relived in the 53rd minute by Stirling player Andy Graham who managed to score a spectacular own goal while 40 yards from his own goal. Kjartan Henry Finnbogason made in 4 in the 58th minute and Chris Hay rounded the days scoring with Stirling#s second in the 61st minute.

Tuesday 9th August 2005 : Gretna v Forfar : CIS Cup 1st Rnd : 2-1

Many exepcted a rout here , but it failed to happen. Forfar gave as good as they got, when Kenny Deuchar opened the scoring the the 10th minute this seemd to jolt Forfar into and the battled away, deservedly getting the equaliser in the 41st minute, and that was it there was nothing to seperate the teams for the rest of the 90mins. Extra came and Jamie McQuilken pounced almost instantly as he grabbed what would turn out to be the eventual winner in the first minute of extra time. Both teams had chances to add to their goal tally but weren't able to take them.
Next round of the cup , YAS! :cool:

Saturday 13th August 2005 : Raith Rovers v Gretna : Bell's League Division Two : 1-1 draw

With two promotion chasing teams meeting so early in the season something was bound to give, well guess what? It didn't!
Eddie Annand (I though he was dead or something :eek opened the scoring for Raith in the 22nd minute, and after the goal Raith seemed to retreat back in their shells allowing Gretna more space to play their own game. Cue Gretna laying seige to the Raith penalty area before finally getting the goal they deserved through Kjartan Henry Finnbogason in the 66th minute. But try as they might Gretna could not find a way through to score a winner.

If anyone finds two points lying the street pick them up for me, they will be the 2 points my team threw away here

Saturday 20th August 2005 : Ayr v Gretna : Bell's Scottish Division Two : 4-2 win

For the second time this season Gretna won a match 4-2 , and also for the second time this season Kjartan Henry Finbogason hit a hattrick :cool:
Finnbogason opened the scoring in the 5th minute before adding his and Gretna's second in the 8th minute, David Graham then effectivly ended the game as a contest when he slotted home a 15th minute penalty.
Jerome Vareille (35minutes) and Chris Robertson (47minutes) pulled goals back for Ayr before Finnbogason completed his hattrick and put the game beyond doubt in the 58th minute.

Tuesday 23rd of August 2005 : Gretna v St. Mirren : CIS Cup 2nd Rnd : 5-1 win

For this first time this season we came up against opposition from a higher league in the shape of first division promotion contenders St. Mirren.
Much had been made about how little a chance we had here with even opposing manager Gus Mcpherson comming out in the Daily Record and telling Hugh Keevins that his side would triumph. Oh how those words will haunt him!
Within 16minutes David Graham had lashed home a loose ball for the 1st, on the half hour mark my favourite Icelander, Mr Finnbogason, had made it 2-0, barely a minute later David Graham grabbed his second of the game making it 3-0.
After half time St. Mirren tried to push forward in an attempt to salvage something from the game, sadly for them their pushing forward left space at the back and this was exposed by Finnbogason after only 5mins of the second half and he slotted home his 2nd goal to make the scoreline 4-0.
St. Mirren did pull one back through an Andy Millen penalty *cough* dive *cough* in the 81st minute, but by this point the game was over anyway and David Bingham put the shine on the result with a goal 2 minutes from time.
First Division promotion contenders my arse!

[retired_abubaker]

The Royals Review - Not so good start to the season for the Royals!!!

The season is four games old and Hepburn and his new Reading side have struggled to get going and lie in 13th position after one win, a draw and losing twice already. Life is tough right now now for Hepburn but I am sure he will eventually get it right and we will see Reading climb the table. Here is a run down of the season openers for Hepburn's Reading......

Championship

Reading v Sheffield Wednesday (H) 6th August 2005

So the season opener was upon us and Hepburn got a chance to show what he can do with his team in front of a packed Madejski Stadium as they welcomed the Owls who gained promotion to the Championship last season. Reading started very well and immediately had the Owls on the back foot and creating a few opening. It was not long before their pressure counted as a cross came from the left and Ibrahima Sonko bulleted a header home from six yards. Hepburn was up off his seat in the dug out as was the whole stadium as Reading were up and running. it got even better for the Royals as Leroy Lita ran onto a through ball from John Oster to slam the ball home from inside the area. It was fantastic stuff from Reading at this point. The Owls tried to get themselves back into the game but were restricted to long range efforts. In the second half it was more of the same as Reading came out looking for more goals to impress the fans. Midfielder James Harper provided number three for Reading to put the icing on the cake and a fantastic way to start the season for Reading.

Final Score - Reading 3 v 0 Sheffield Wednesday
Goals - Reading - Sonko (17), Lita (23), Harper (61)
Att - 20223
MOM - Ibrahima Sonko (Reading)

Championship

Reading v Watford (H) 9th August 2005

After the fantastic performance against the Owls in the season opener Hepburn was optimistic of building on this to make it two wins out of two for the Royals. In truth it should have been but for some poor finishing and good goalkeeping they ended up dropping two points. The first half was pretty much a non event with both teams cancelling each other out. Hepburn made a tactical switch to give them more options in the final third. This switch led to the opening goal for Reading as John Oster got himself free and slammed the ball home. Now as they always in football your at your most vunerable straight after you have scored and that is exactly what Reading did. No sooner had they opened the scoring, Watford equalised through Marlon King. They were not in the game at all up until this point and in their first attack they equalise!!! Hepburn was not happy with his players. Reading tried in vain to get the decisive winner but it never came and they had to settle for a point.

Final Score - Reading 1 v 1 Watford
Goals - Reading - Oster (49)
Goals - Watford - King (51)
Att - 14370
MOM - Steve Sidwell (Reading)

Championship

Leicester v Reading (A) 13th August 2005

This was a scrappy affair with really not much quality on show from either team. The passing was at times awful and the Reading finishing was really poor for the second game in a row as they are really missing Dave Kitson up front. Leicester opened the scoring right on half time through Joey Gudjonsson and it proved to be the winner. A poor game and a poor Reading performance.

Final Score - Leicester 1 v 0 Reading
Goals - Leicester - Gudjonsson (45)
Att - 32473
MOM - Paul Henderson (Leicester)

Championship

Leeds v Reading (A) 20th August 2005

A really poor performance from Reading here and it could have been a lot more than the 2-1 scoreline suggested. Leeds overan them for most of the game and Reading were chasing shadows most of the time. Completely against the run of play Reading opened the scoring through Lita but the lead did not last for long as Robbie Blake had Leeds level within ten minutes. Leeds went on to dominate and deservedly got a second goal through David Healy but they should have scored a few more but for some good goalkeeping from Reading goalkeeper Graham Stack. It was back to the drawing board for Hepburn away from home as his team have played two goals away from home and looked a mess.

Final Score - Leeds 2 v 1 Reading
Goals - Leeds - Blake (35), Healy (69)
Goals - Reading - Lita (27)
Att - 22110
MOM - Eddie Lewis (Leeds)

Carling Cup 1st Round

Cheltenham v Reading (A) 24th August 2005

After a poor performance against Leeds, Hepburn took his team to League One Cheltenham demanding a much better performance from his team. Reading were clear favourites to win this game but it turned out to be a struggle for them. Cheltenham had nothing to lose and started really brightly and threatened Reading on a few occasions before Reading went ahead with their first attack of the match through Lita who was bang on form and perhaps the only Reading player on form apart from the goalkeeper. Cheltenham came back at Reading and again were knocking on the door threatening an equaliser. Reading held firm and in the second half with only their second attack of the game scored number two through Steve Sidwell and that was enough to send them through to round two. It was another poor Reading performance though and Hepburn knew it, but they did enough to get through.

Final Score - Cheltenham 0 v 2 Reading
Goals - Reading - Lita (7), Sidwell (74)
Att - 5126
MOM - Ivar Ingimarsson (Reading)

A real mixed bag of results and performances from Hepburn's Reading who have not quite managed to get it together yet. lets hope Hepburn can get them playing a lot better for the remainder of the season or they could be in for a long long season.

[Curvature]

new banner for you sandy see you all on tuesday