Howard Webb gets the big game for being a bit crap

It was a terrible decision, and now ref Howard Webb has been punished for awarding Manure a penalty for a perfectly fair challenge by Spurs keeper Gomes. His punishment? He's reffing our game against Bongo on Sunday. Crikey!

Royals sink Canaries to set up epic Bongo clash

Well who knew? The drama started on Saturday evening as Bongo FC contrived to throw away a 1-0 lead over Preston and ended up losing at St. Andrews by 2 goals to 1. A lifeline for the Royals especially when their faint hopes of automatic promotion were dealt a blow when Sheffield United beat Swansea by a solitary goal. We had to win at Carrow Road to make Sunday's showdown with Bongo mean something for both sides and not just a 90 minute exercise in party-pooping. To add fuel to the flames Norwich City were on the brink of an ignominious relegation to League One, realistically they needed a win last night to have any real chance of survival.

By all accounts it was a fairly accomplished win for the Royals last night, following on from a similar performance and scoreline days previously at Derby. Shane Long bagged a second-half brace and continuinh his excellent form, both assists coming from a rejuvenated Jimmy Kebe. Delia's mob looked like a side on their way down, but the job still has to be done. So it's come to this, a match we have to win - but it's at home! If ever we needed to 'back the boys' it is this Sunday. It seems surreal to think after such a long run of indifferent form that we could be promoted to the Premier League. The atmosphere should be fantastic, I'm excited already. As long as the boys give it a go I'll be happy. None of the other play-off teams look invincible by any stretch of the imagination, so if we don't get the automatic spot then we should have a lot more confidence than we did a few weeks back.

Royals find some form to confirm play-off place

Reading got the three points they needed to make the play-offs and a timely boost to confidence with an impressive 2-0 win against Derby County. Dave Kitson and Shane Long were on the score sheet in front of over 31,000 at Pride Park. The Royals had the ball in the back of the net three times in the first half, but all were ruled out for offside. In the second half Jimmy Kebe crossed for Kitson to head home, then Shane Long added a second shortly after which enabled the Royals to calmly play out the last 20 minutes. Astonishingly automatic promotion is still possible. Cardiff were held at Charlton so we would need Bongo to lose on Saturday (against play-off chasers Preston) and Sheffield United to fail to beat the other play-off hopefuls Swansea City.

Maybe that's a bit hopeful, but in any case the result was all important tonight - and what's more we created plenty of chances. It's given us hope that we can go into the play offs in pretty good shape.

Burnley win pushes Royals into 6th

Burnley dented Sheffield United's automatic promotion hopes with a well-deserved 1-0 win at Turf Moor last night. The result takes them above the Royals in the table, but Reading go to Derby County this evening looking to get the win that will cement their play-off place. A point is enough to see us return to 5th due to our far superior goal difference. Come on, we need something to cheer about right now!

Royals found wanting again in search for play-off place

Teams struggling for points at the wrong end of the Championship table have found a warm and friendly welcome at the Madejski Stadium in recent months. Barnsley were the latest side to leave with a point in the bag after easily containing a Reading side clearly still languishing in a deep trough of form . Thankfully there's only one league game to go this season and on recent showings it simply can't come soon enough for the Royals.

Credit where it's due, Barnsley played some quite tidy football, attempting to pass to feet through a fairly makeshift Royals central midfield. Had they had more cutting edge they might have threatened the Reading goal, but like so many Championship sides they fall short in the areas that count. For the Royals Jay Tabb and Jem Karacan acquitted themselves well enough, but elsewhere there were very off days for Jimmy Kebe, Stephen Hunt, Dave Kitson and Andre Bikey. to name just a handful.  Though we still need points to secure that play-off berth but after a poor first 45 you'd be forgiven for thinking we  had nothing to play for and we'd resigned ourselves to another year in the Championship. It's astonishing really, we seem to have lost all belief in our abilities. The crowd were unhappy and vented their frustration with a chorus of boos as the players went down the tunnel; it's one thing being held by high-flying Sheffield United, but to be unable to create one decent chance in 45 minutes against Barnsley was deemed wholly unacceptable by the Mad Stade faithful. 

At least the team looked as if they were trying in the second half, but to be truthful it was all panciky huff and puff. Where there is a need for an assured and calm presence, a tidy pass here, a thoughtful ball there we simply have aimless hoofing and headless chickens. With Marek dropped to the bench we don't have anyone with the quality to make things happen in that way. It seems poinless to single out individual performances for criticsm when so many are under-achieving. Once can 0nly come to the conclusion that if the players are trying their hardest then a lot of them simply aren't good enough. What's most galling is the style of play we have now adopted: one dimensional, prosaic and frankly a bit dumb. We need a rethink and that starts with a manager with a clear vision who is given the power to make tough decisions and the finances to bring in some quality. While it's still not impossible to gain promotion this season it seems such thoughts belong to the realm of fantasy. I fully expect us to sneak into the play-offs because we are at least capable of not losing away from home, but beyond that we're just not good enough.

Coppell rues the 'wind factor' as Royals limp towards the play-offs

Steve Coppell isn't usually one to employ fanciful excuses to defend his charges, but after a woeful seond half capitulation to lowly Blackpool he clearly felt the need for a change of tact. The gaffer bizarrely declared the wind to be 'a factor' when quizzed about the performance on BBC Radio Berkshire. At least he had the honesty to admit that it affected both teams in the same way. Maybe he was vainly searching for an explanation as to why his team contrived to surrender a hard-earned first half lead so meekly. The travelling contingent were left rubbing their hands with glee rather than in any reaction to the bracing sea breeze after Noel Hunt and the recalled Jem Karacan had scored to send the Royals in to the dressing room with a deserved advantage. The game was there for the taking despite the home side pulling a goal back before the interval. With the other promotion-chasing teams failing to take control of their own games we might have dared to believe we had been thrown a lifeline. Suddenly all was not lost: take the points here as we surely will and it's game back on! Unfortunately not. By most accounts the Royals barely strung two passes together in the second half, to summarise they were utterly wretched. Cue some poor defending and Blackpool were level, game effectively over. Despite Bongo and Sheffield United faling to win we are now seven points behind the second automatic spot, and Cardiff City's win over Burnley means we're stuck in 5th. Crucially, Swansea City are 5 points behind us in 7th (but have played a game more) .This effectively means that realistically we need 4 points from 12 to take a play-off spot (mathematically we'd need a point more, but our goal difference is vastly superior...yes, it's true!). This should be achievable even for this team playing in this way. Bring it on, at least then we can start the season all over again.

Play-offs beckon as Royals are sunk at home again

Sheffield United took all three points with a 1-0 win in a physical encounter at the Madejski Stadium yesterday. This hugely disappointing result almost certainly means the Royals will have to gain promotion the hard way through the play-offs. Although Reading hardly deserved to lose, once again they created only a couple of real chances during the entire 90 minutes. The Blades didn't do much more, but took the one decent chance they had. Brian Howard followed up Killgallon's header which came back off the bar, with our players seemingly frozen in their tracks. Ironically Dave Kitson had seen his own header, from a Jimmy Kebe cross, skim the bar just seconds earlier. Prior to that we had looked positive and played some tidy stuff coming out after the break, but were undone by another fairly soft goal. The first half had been notable only for the mid-air collision between former Royal Darius Henderson and Kalifa Cisse which forced the Reading midfielder to leave the field on a stretcher. Jay Tabb replaced him and did a pretty good job: tenacious in the tackle and looking to go forward at all times - thank God Jim Harper wasn't on the bench! With the Royals chasing the game after Howard's goal they lacked cohesion and looked (as Steve Coppell put it) 'panicky'. Dave Kitson saw his fine strike saved acrobatically by Paddy Kenny but other than that we made little impression. Glen Little and Noel Hunt were thrown into the fray to no avail and  the game was effectively up long before the referee blew after 6 minutes of injury time.

So that's it then. We would need to win all of our remaining five matches to stand any chance of a top two finish, and even in the wild imaginings of the most optimistic Reading fan that is not achievable. Our main concern now should be securing the three or four points we most likely need to secure a play-off berth. At least we have a seven point cushion over 7th place! The harsh reality is that we are probably going to go into the play-offs on the back of a shocking run of form. Who wouldn't want to play us? We simply don't do big one-off games even when we're playing well! We live in faint hope.

This team will keep going and Coppell will do his best, but clearly we have run out of ideas and fresh impetus is overdue. Some established players have failed to deliver. But there are encouraging signs: Julian Kelly is coming on leaps and bounds; Alex Pearce has really established himself; Jay Tabb looks like a good signing; Federici looks like he'll be a solid first choice in goal before too long. These players will surely be part of a good Reading team of the future. The truth is that team needs to be managed by somebody bringing in a few new players and some fresh ideas.

Royals v Blades: Head to head

With ten man Bongo beating Wolves last night the picture looks bleak for automatic promotion for the Royals. Small crumbs of comfort might be on offer when we look at our record against Sheffield United in recent years, ahead of our televised Good Friday clash against the Blades. In 13 games stretching back to 2002/2003 (including one League Cup encounter) we have lost just once. It's quite a record, especially when you consider that includes nine victories. We're desperately clutching at straws I know, but maybe we've got a hoodoo over them. Let's just ignore the fact for now that they've won nine times since Christmas and have posted five victories out of the last seven games! This is clearly a huge game for both teams, and we've got to find a performance with the right result to match or the 'promotion decider' against Bongo in May is a dead rubber.

Royals fail to deliver again as Blades close in

Well what do you know? The Royals failed to score and rarely threatened against a Coventry City side who had avery little to play for. Whilst we have now completed a run of three away games without conceding or losing a game, we've only managed one goal and we clearly are not creating enough chances to threaten the opposition. Just four victories since Christmas tells its own story. A season that promised so much is in danger of fizzling into nothing. Once again we failed to make any ground on the leaders - we're now closer to Preston in 7th than we are to Wolves who occupy the top spot. Sheffield United are now level on points, only our superior goal difference keeps us in third and we all know who visits on Good Friday. To keep alive our lingering hopes of automatic promotion we simply have to win on Friday, and after three home defeats in the last four games the fans will be desperate for something to cheer about over the Easter break. Erm, a chance to resurrect our promotion push...?!