BACK TO ARCHIVE INDEX © All written site content is copyright ComeOnBoro.com 2004-2007, unless otherwise stated, and is not to be used without prior permission.	READING v MIDDLESBROUGH TALE OF THE TAPE Gordon Dalton The waiting is over, the expectation is fair to middling and now its time to see if Mr Gareth will wear a suit or adopt a Cloughie style tracksuit. Ladies and Gentlemen, take your seats. Let battle commence! Ding! Ding! Round one! Marcus Hanaheman v Mark Schwarzer Ladies and Gentleman, introducing the man, the mask, the soft goals, and a transfer request. Probably the best-loved keeper at Boro since "England's, England's No.1", Stephen Pears, Skippy is up there with the best in the league. In the opposite corner is man-mountain and USA reserve keeper Marcus Hanaheman, whose surname sounds like a Steve Martin joke. Kept twenty-two clean sheets last year but will lose out on Saturday day as Skippy is better looking. Hanahmahaenahan 6pts - Skippy 8pts Nickey Shorey v Julio Arca Having played for Sunderland, Arca gets two points deducted out of spite. He is also Argentinean, so there goes another. However, he is playing with our badge on his chest now and will be a key player in linking up with Downing. His counterpart is a bright young left back, but hasn't played at the top level. You could say the same for Arca. Shorey throws in the towel in the 80th minute. Shorey 6pts - Arca 7pts Ibrahima Sonko v Chris Riggott Hopefully Mr Gareth has had Riggott out in his backyard all summer, trying to head a ball attached to a piece of string. Like a lot of the young Boro lads, Riggot has England potential written through him like a stick of rock, which is quite painful. He must step up now as a senior player and show the qualities he must have learned from the Boss. Sonko is no mug and will give as good as he gets. A possible future signing? Riggott with an unseen rabbit punch in the sixth. Sonko 7pts - Riggott 8pts Ivar Ingarmarson v Emanuel Pogatetz Ingarmason is the foundation of this Reading team, and was Coppell's first signing. Together with Sonko they will prove a formidable barrier to goal. And Pogo? Southgate has tried unsuccessfully to sign two centre backs. That tells it's own story. Pogo gets disqualified in the last for bleeding too heavily. Ingarmarson 7 pts - Mad Dog 6pts Sam Sodje v Stuart Parnaby Sodje makes up the rest of an impressive international back line for Reading. Parnaby seems to have lost all confidence in going forward, and looks like he has forgotten to shave, never mind defend. Must try harder, but will give him the benefit of the doubt - for now. Controversial draw - rematch at La Riv. Sodje 6 pts - Parnaby 6pts Steve Sidwell v Fabio Rochemback Will he play? Is the Sidwell deal dead and buried? Probably. Fabio will be sighing a breath of relief because if he doesn't pull his socks up, get his haircut and get rid of those women's tights on his head he will be out on his ear. Lots to prove and will edge it today. Stick to Samba football Fabio, not Flaming Sambucas. Sidwell 7pts - Rochemback 8pts Brynjar Gunnarson v George Boateng Although Boat's legs should last this season, I'm glad Cattermole is pushing for a regular place. Our new skipper will pull no punches here though, eating up Icelandic Herring for tea. George doesn't like Bjork, and will take it out on Scholes lookalike Gunnarsson. George with a knockout in the third. Gunnarrson 5pts - George 8pts Bobby Convey v Stewart Downing Convey made three starts for the USA at the World Cup, and Downing didn't look out of his depth in Sven's crumbling circus. Mr Gareth has applied brilliant managerial skills to Stewey, mainly by deleting Martin Jol's phone number off his mobile. Downing to take it in the third with a new trick he learnt of Joe Cole. Convey 7pts - Downing 9pts James Harper v James Morrison Out of all the Boro players, Morrison perhaps has most to prove this season. If we can see the speedy lad down the right wing and, here's the hard part, actually crossing it to someone in red, then we will be happy. Any glimpses of the headless chicken with his shoelaces tied together (chickens? shoes?) and James 'not a singer' Morrison might get farmed out. Close, but no cigar for Harper. Smoking is frowned upon for players, y'know. Unless your French. Or Gazza. Harper 7pts - Morrison 7pts Leroy Lita v Yakuba Lita has the potential to score goals at any level, but hopefully will be feeling the after effects of breaking his ankle at the end of the last campaign. I get the feeling that Yak is glad that SMAC is gone, and will start showing fans the blistering pace and firepower he hinted at last season. Needs to completely overpower opponents unless he will turn into Michael Ricketts. Scary thought. Yak stands on Lita's foot in the warm up. Easy win. Lita 8pts - Yak 9.5pts Seol Ki-Hyeon v Mark Viduka International battle of clichés up front with the energy of the diminutive Korean contrasting with Duke's er, more rounded, laid back style. If Viduka doesn't score fifteen goals this season, we will struggle as Yak cant do it all on his own. They need to link up better and outfox and out muscle the opposition. Another easy win sees Duke put a dog on the Barbie, mate. Ki-Hyeon 7pts - Viduka 9pts Summary Reading 73 - Boro 85.5 Boro will storm to joint top of the table with an impressive 1-2 away victory. The Premier new boys will have a good home following and score first through sheer enthusiasm. But Boro will be sick of losing pre-season friendlies, and suddenly remember that they were UEFA Cup finalists. It wont be pretty, but then neither will we. READING FANS WELCOME IN THE NEW HOLGATE MESSAGE BOARD READING v BORO MATCH PROGRAMME INDEX
Sitemap || Search Site || Terms and Privacy || Set as Homepage || Bookmark Site
This website designed, maintained and managed by Waking Lion ©2004-2008