View from the opposition – Reading 10 March 2012
A bit about you:
Name: Esther Madden
Current home town: Sandhurst
Birthplace: Guildford
How long have you supported your team?
Since 8pm Tuesday January 15th 2008
Overview of your club:
Favourite thing about your home ground: That’s a hard one to answer… the clank of the turnstiles, the wind-turbine… I’m struggling here…
Favourite match played by your team & why: I know we lost, but the quarter finals of the FA Cup against Aston Villa was one of the most exciting games I’ve seen involving every emotion. We thought we were off to Wembley at half-time. It beats actually going there at the end of last season… although if I’d actually been there, beating Liverpool in the cup last year would be right up there. Beating Cardiff in the playoffs was good too.
Favourite player of all time who played for your club: Dave Kitson. Saw him on Tuesday playing for Portsmouth . He wasn’t the same player he was for us.
About our forthcoming match against you:
Your favourite current player in your squad and why? Jobi McAnuff – player with a brain, a level head and our current captain, who goes on these mazy runs through the defence. Still my favourite.
Player in your squad we should most fear and why? Last time I said Jimmy Kebe because he has quick feet, but to be honest McDermot plays to the strengths of the whole squad and mixes and matches depending on who we play – hence why we have no top goalscorer. They all chip in.
Player in our squad you most fear and why? Last time I feared most of your squad, but not now… maybe Nugent as he seems to have scored most of your goals.
Up and coming prospect in your squad? Jordan Obita – the “wonder-kid” is on loan at Gillingham at the moment. Alex McCarthy, a young goalkeeper who some believe is better than Federici is on loan at Ipswich . If you want to see one of our home grown talents just breaking into the squad, look out for Hal Robson- Kanu.
Where do you think you’ll finish this season? Last time I said there or (more likely) thereabouts. Being a self-sufficient club means no big spending, relying on what we have and the magic of our manager… doesn’t seem to have done us much harm lately, but we can’t quite bring ourselves to the point where we break out of the championship. Now we have our Russian billionaire on board and I’m looking for automatic promotion – not that the two go hand-in-hand, but I can’t face another day like Wembley last year.
How do you think you’ll do against us? Last time I expected a 1-1 Draw – but only because I couldn’t bring myself to predict a defeat for us. Now I think we’ll win, but it won’t be easy or pretty to watch.
Any other comments? I hope you enjoy your trip down to the Mad Stad and there is some entertaining banter.
Esther is a co-opted board member of STAR (Supporters Trust at Reading) handling communications, for latest news from STAR follow this link http://star-reading.org/