Reading
Reading v Swansea City: a tactical preview
The battle for a place in the Premier League sees two teams with contrasting styles take to the pitch at Wembley, writes Tangerine Dreaming.
In their semi-finals, both managers got their game plans spot on in the second legs to secure their passage to the final. Both managers know each other well and Brian McDermott will be trying to get the better of Brendan Rodgers after the latter led …
Football League play-off finals - At-a-glance form guide
Championship - Reading v Swansea City
Most recent on the left:
Last 10 results
Reading: WDWDLDWWWW
Swansea: WDWWWDLDWL
Last 5 scorelines
Reading: 3-0, 0-0, 2-1, 0-0, 2-3
Swansea: 3-1, 0-0, 4-0, 2-0, 4-1
Clean sheets
Reading: Kept clean sheets in last 4 away games
Swansea: Kept clean sheets in last 3 away games
Unbeaten league run
Reading: 4 games
Swansea: 6 games
Goals scored in last 10 games
Reading: 18…
McDermott plots to write Reading into history books
Barcelona win the European Cup Final at Wembley Stadium. It is 1992. From afar, Sven-Goran Eriksson watches. Within weeks, he is in charge of the beaten finalists. From Sampdoria, he moves on to Lazio and then to England. But he never coaches at Wembley - the historical old venue is being reconstructed to the tune of £757million. After leaving his role with England, Eriksson then takes an infamously circuitous route …
Shane Long: a brief history of Reading’s star striker
Shane Long was a complete unknown when he arrived at Reading in June 2005, writes Royals supporter Jon Keen. In fact, many wondered if his only role was to keep Kevin Doyle company, as they were both signed together from Cork City. This was for a combined fee of around £80,000, on the recommendation of Cork’s manager, Pat Dolan, to his brother Eamonn, who was Reading’s academy manager. But …
Winning the Championship play-off final? Priceless…
I went to four Second Division play-off finals at Wembley in the 1990s. At various times both in the approach to these events and on the day of each game, I felt nervous, tense, elated, despairing, hopeful, miserable… the works. But at no time do I recall thinking: “Bloody hell, think how much money my club will earn if they win this match.” For fans of Reading and Swansea City, …