19,000 see Sonko bag a brace as Royals ease past Argyle

Ibrahima Sonko (The Player Formerly Known As Superman but is now dusting down the cape) found the net twice with both goals coming from corners as we started the home campaign with a comfortable win. We probably should have had more, Kalifa Cisse, who enjoyed a pretty solid afternoon in midfield, went close towards the end and Stephen Hunt could only head the ball over from a superb Jimmy Kebe cross. The lanky winger from Mali really impressed with some purposeful bursts down the right, and his pace and trickery caused problems all afternoon for the visitors. Marcus had little to do in goal and although we didn't create too many chances ourselves, we were well worth the win without really getting into second gear. Argyle offered very little going forward and simply didn't have enough of the ball to cause any real problems. The biggest concern is that Doyle and Lita did very little and need to improve soon if they are to keep Long or Hunt Jr. - who they were replaced by - out of the starting eleven.

A decent crowd of 19,000 (no doubt boosted by the 'bring a friend for half price' deal) watched it, but the atmosphere was a little subdued as the realisation that we are now back in the Championship really sunk in.

Kitson blames those confounded egos

Ex-Royal and self-styled loose cannon, Dave 'Bargain' Kitson has a had a swipe at his ex-team mates and blamed 'egos' for our relegation last term. The Ginger Potter opined about why things went downhill after such a good start to life in the Premier League.

"This changed in our second season. Suddenly we had flash cars, images, egos and everyone knew who we were, and when we didn't freshen things up with new players we were in a dangerous situation."

Um, and you were all playing really badly too.

"There was a real 'Lord of the Flies' split, which I had never experienced before. We didn't feel we were all together and I was partly to blame

See how Dave cleverly shows off his literary knowledge? So who was Piggy then? He may be sticking the boot in, but there's a slight admission of culpability there. Very noble, Dave.

Talking of egos, I seem to recall a Reading player receiving a driving ban after refusing to co-operate with the police - and basically telling the local constabulary how the law works.

When all is said and done, Kitson was a good player and a loyal servant to the club. Perhaps we should forgive him this parting shot when we consider he has a very lonely season of chasing lost causes ahead of him, with one inevitable outcome in May next year. I wonder who or what he might be looking to blame then?

Coppell to play 'safe' with Cisse?

With Marek sidelined for some time the spotlight inevitably falls on our options in midfield. Since the departure of Steve Sidwell things haven't looked right in the centre of the park, signings that were made to fill the void left by the ginger dynamo simply haven't worked. Emerse Fae who was tracked for over a year never got a run in the team and maybe there's a good reason for that that we will never find out. However it did seem strange that in the early part of last season Bryn Gunnarson, as hard working as he is, was preferred to a record signing who seem to promise so much. Kalifa Cisse also seemed to have been brought in as a Sidwell replacement, but his performances have been sporadic at best, and aside from a useful day's work deputising as a central defender against Man Yoo last season, he's fallen short of expectations. So what next? Now that Marek's 'bright inventiveness' (to quote Coppell) is not available for a few weeks at least, will he give youth a chance as he suggested he might? Jem Karacan's good showing against Villa in the recent friendly certainly caught the eye, but it seems unlikely that SC will move away from the Harper/Cisse combination. Maybe it'll prove solid enough against Championship opposition but it simply doesn't set the pulse racing to say the least, and certainly Sunday's showing did not bode well. It's a bit early to start worrying, but we need to impose ourselves quickly on the division and our lack of creative options in this area gives some cause for concern.

Stoch in a moment?

Interesting rumour circulating (which seems to have originated on HNA) that we may be on the verge of an sealing a loan deal for talented Chelsea youngster Miroslav Stoch. The Slovakian has been turning heads already in pre-season and if it actually comes to anything it sounds exciting. It'd be nice to sign anyone at this stage frankly, can't help feeling that we just need a couple of new faces to freshen things up a bit.

Greening wants to 'do a Reading'

Baggies skipper Jonathan Greening wants Albion to emulate us and avoid a relegation battle in their first season back in the Premier League. I suppose he doesn't mean that next year they should invest little, play poorly and then go down on the last day of the season?

Hunt Junior grabs a late winner

Noel Hunt sealed the win in the 89th minute as the Royals progressed to the second round of the Carling Cup against Dagenham & Redbridge. Hunt lined up along side Shane Long in a pretty strong team to face the league two side and marked his debut with a winner following good work from Long. Youngster James Henry's opener was cancelled out by Solomon Taiwo's 25 yard effort, but it was the Royals' who eventually progressed into the second round.

The starting eleven were: Hahnemann; Kelly, S Hunt, Pearce, Ingimarsson; Harper (c), Cisse, Henry, Convey; N Hunt, Long.

Looks like SC decided to give a few of the first team a run out after the somewhat lacklustre display on Sunday. Or perhaps he fancies we can go all the way...

Marek injured again in goalless opener

On the positive side it was a clean sheet and a point gained, and on the negative side Marek Matejovsky is going to be sidelined for 'several weeks' with another ankle injury. Many people have tipped Marek to be pivotal in our aim to return to the top flight so it's a real blow to see him stretchered off after half an hour with damage to the ankle he hurt at the Euro's. It does beg the question as to whether he was quite ready to play, but either way we do now look a bit threadbare in midfield, and it's hard to see where the creativity will come from. Kevin Doyle saw a late effort well saved but aside from that there was not an awful lot to report. We need to improve and start the campaign off at home with a win against Plymouth.