Despite taking what was a fairly strong side into the Championship the Royals failed to show off there great strengths which were displayed during the 2005/06 season when they won the Championship at a cantor. They were relegated from the Premiership after two campaigns and last season failed to make headway.
Under Steve Coppell the club had a decent home record up until the end of January; their fine run included a 6-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday in September and a 4-0 drubbing against Swansea City. On 27th January the Biscuit Men claimed a 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers and until 21 April won only twice; however despite a poor finish to the season Reading finished 4th; claiming a play-off place.
They were expected to be outside winners of the Championship with there fast flowing football and with danger man Kevin Doyle as main striker were always going to find goals; though they had a tough time at Turf Moor in the first leg when Andre Bikey lost his cool, giving away a penalty to Burnley in the dying minutes of the game before being sent off a minute later.
But at 1-0 it wasn't lost, with the opportunity to redeem themselves at the Madejski Stadium - but they fell to pieces again; suffering a 2-0 loss on the night. Manger Steve Coppell handed his resignation whilst star players such as; Marcus Hahnemann (now at Wolves), Leroy Lita and Kevin Doyle (now at Wolves also) have all left the club.
Watford manager Brendan Rodgers was appointed new boss and will have a challenging time in his short experience as a manager - they will do well enough in the league but feel that they may just miss out on a play-off spot.
Blades-Mad Predicted Finish: 7th (downhill after Coppell departure)
| Betting Odds: | |
| Promotion: | Relegation: |
| 5/1 | 25/1 |
2008-09 Players Statistics
| Player Name | Position | DoB | # | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Armstrong, Chris
|
Defence | 05 Aug 1982 | 3 | 40 | 1 |
|
Cisse, Kalifa
|
Midfield | 01 Sep 1984 | 4 | 26 (+13) | 5 |
|
Gunnarsson, Brynjar
|
Midfield | 16 Oct 1975 | 6 | 16 (+14) | 2 |
|
Matejovsky, Marek
|
Midfield | 20 Dec 1981 | 7 | 14 (+11) | 1 |
|
Doyle, Kevin
|
Forward | 18 Sep 1983 | 9 | 40 (+2) | 18 |
|
Hunt, S, Stephen
|
Midfield | 01 Aug 1981 | 10 | 43 (+6) | 7 |
|
Hunt, N, Noel
|
Forward | 26 Dec 1982 | 11 | 29 (+10) | 13 |
|
Mooney, Dave
|
Forward | 31 Oct 1984 | 12 | 0 (+2) | 0 |
|
Kebe, Jimmy
|
Midfield | 19 Jan 1984 | 14 | 40 (+4) | 2 |
|
Harper, James
|
Midfield | 09 Nov 1980 | 15 | 30 (+6) | 1 |
|
Ingimarsson, Ivar
|
Defence | 20 Aug 1977 | 16 | 28 (+1) | 1 |
|
Sodje, Sam
|
Defence | 25 May 1978 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
|
Robson-Kanu, Hal
|
Forward | 19 Feb 1989 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
|
Karacan, Jem
|
Midfield | 21 Feb 1989 | 21 | 17 | 2 |
|
Rosenior, Liam
|
Defence | 09 Jul 1984 | 22 | 44 | 0 |
|
Bikey, Andre
|
Defence | 08 Jan 1985 | 23 | 26 (+2) | 3 |
|
Long, Shane
|
Forward | 22 Jan 1987 | 24 | 17 (+26) | 9 |
|
Pearce, Alex
|
Defence | 09 Nov 1988 | 26 | 17 (+4) | 2 |
|
Henry, James
|
Midfield | 10 Jun 1989 | 27 | 7 (+4) | 4 |
|
Antonio, Michail
|
Midfield | 28 Mar 1990 | 28 | 0 | 0 |
|
Bozanic, Oliver
|
Midfield | 08 Jan 1989 | 30 | 0 | 0 |
|
Federici, Adam
|
Goal | 31 Jan 1985 | 32 | 17 (+1) | 1 |
|
Sigurdsson, Gylfi
|
Midfield | 08 Sep 1989 | 34 | 0 (+3) | 0 |
|
Church, Simon
|
Forward | 10 Dec 1988 | 35 | 1 (+1) | 0 |
|
Andersen, Mikkel
|
Goal | 17 Dec 1988 | 36 | 0 | 0 |
|
Tabb, Jay
|
Midfield | 21 Feb 1984 | 37 | 8 (+3) | 0 |
|
Davies, Scott
|
Midfield | 10 Mar 1988 | 38 | 0 | 0 |
|
Bignall, Nicholas
|
Forward | 11 Jul 1990 | 39 | 0 | 0 |
|
Hamer, Ben
|
Goal | 20 Nov 1987 | 41 | 0 | 0 |
|
Kelly, Julian
|
Defence | 06 Sep 1989 | 42 | 8 (+3) | 0 |
|
McCarthy, Alex
|
Goal | 03 Dec 1989 | 49 | 0 | 0 |
* Statistics up to and including 26 May 2009