New season, new ideas

With the 2007-8 season just over a month away, the Reading PA team has been trying to come up with some different features for the Madejski Stadium. A few old numbers could well be consigned to the memory, but rest assured they would be replaced with brighter, more original and innovative ideas. The finishing touches are being put to the new ideas and all will be revealed shortly.

The summer can be quite a barren time for football enthusiasts, especially when there isn’t a World Cup or a European Championship to bridge the old and new seasons. In order to keep football on the agenda, I have been watching the transfer market closely. Not just for Reading but for the whole of the top flight. With Chelsea the first visitors to the Madejski Stadium next year, the comings and goings at Stamford Bridge are of great significance to Reading. Steve Sidwell’s transfer is obviously one that has been in the minds of Reading fans, but the PA team have looked at other names in the Chelsea squad with a real touch of foreboding. While Shevcheko might be on the move and Khalid Boulahrouz has been loaned to Sevilla, the introduction of Florent Malouda and Tal Ben Haim has evened out the pronunciation difficulties.

As already mentioned, Chelsea will be the first visitors of the season to Madejski Stadium and of course Manchester United is the first road trip for Reading. Playing the top two in the first week of the season may be quite a good thing. Get them out of the way early doors; seems to be the general consensus among Reading fans. I for one think Reading could take some points off of both teams. New signings at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge mean that the teams may not gel straight away and perhaps a little pressure may be felt by both sets of players.

Reading on the other hand have a bit of pressure themselves, as far as second season syndrome is concerned, or do they? All and sundry have predicted that Reading will suffer like so many other clubs have in their second season in the top flight. However, similar predictions were made last season about Reading’s debut in the Premiership. Reading proved the doubters wrong and then missed out on Europe by a single point. Reading can kick on from here and go for Europe and who knows even more. A bullish attitude surely must be the way to approach things. I don’t subscribe to defeatist talk before a ball has been kicked and I’m sure Steve Coppell and the rest of the Reading squad feels the same.

By Stuart Croucher