Reading v Bolton - 12/2/06 - Pre/During/Post Match [R]

[rms5555]

Still no Convey for this weekend. (http://www.yanks-abroad.com/content.php?mode=news&id=2463) It's a good thing that Hunt has gotten past that mess at the Chelsea match and has been playing well in his absence. However, that might not be so good for Bobby getting back into the starting XI when he does get healthy. Any word on the Johnson trial? I have no idea how we stack up against Bolton. I havn't seen many of their matches this season.

[prvev]

They play less boring now (really, they have for a little while). I watched the Arsenal match and...one other game of theirs. They're a pretty good team. They played Chelsea today, so they may be a bit tired. I'd be happy with a tie.

[Pablo Chicago]

I just watched the Bolton Chelsea match, and despite the win, Chelsea looks the worse for wear. I guess we'll find out soon enough if Bolton's got any gas left in the tank.

[rms5555]

I forgot about the Wednesday matches this week. Thanks god Tivo didn't. I watched the Bolton Chelsea match and it seemed to me that Chelsea could have walked away with this one with a couple more quality finishes. Although it took a brilliant save by Boltons keeper at the end of the first half to keep out that strike from Shevchenko, even though the resulting corner lead to a score anyway. And it seemed to me that the Bolton players really went out of there way to appolgize to the Chelsea players almost every time they knocked one down. I think the guy that we really need to mark is Anelka. I know he just broke his duck against liverpool on the weekend, but he looks to have real quality to me.

[Katsbox]

Yikes!!

Reading Bobby Convey, the winger, is waiting to hear if he will need surgery to resolve a persistent knee problem. “It has got better but it’s still not quite right yet,” he said. “It’s frustrating and it gets to a point where you just want it fixed.”http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,277-2478155.html

And more detail (not quite so "yikes" as I first thought):
http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/readingfc/2005/2005825/convey_awaits_second_opinion

[prvev]

Sonko needs to be massive in this game.

[louis09]

Bobby Convey out three weeks after knee surgery. Its on the Reading website. Sidwell is ok for the Bolton match and Little is still up in the air.

[mschofield]

Bolton is trouble for us. they're really well organized, know exactly what they're about, work hard for each other. They're a more expensively assembled version of Reading, though I think Reading plays a better passing game.
The guy who terrifies me is the defender with the big hair, forget his name. Great deep shot threat. Great player.
Anelka is a super talent/crap attitude, so you never know. But they're a really solid team, and play really well as one.
This is the sort of game I'd like a little more firepower for, and missing kits and convey is a bad thing. Maybe Oster for Hunt pretty early (you know, after he takes out a keeper or two:eek: ). that said, I think we can squeeze at least a point here. They're going to be tired, and off a bit after chelsea.
That said, we have 24 games left, and 18 points more should be well more than enough to guarantee survival.
accumulate.

[Pablo Chicago]

The guy who terrifies me is the defender with the big hair, forget his name. Great deep shot threat. Great player.
Campo?

[mschofield]

Campo?

Yes, him. IMO, he's their best player this season.

[prvev]

Lineups for today's game...

Teams
Reading Bolton
1 Marcus Hahnemann (G) (G) Jussi Jaaskelainen 22
16 Ivar Ingimarsson (D) (D) Tal Ben Haim 26
2 Graeme Murty (D) (D) Nicky Hunt 2
3 Nicky Shorey (D) (D) Abdoulaye Meite 5
5 Ibrahima Sonko (D) (M) Abdoulaye Faye 25
15 James Harper (M) (M) Stelios Giannakopoulos 7
10 Stephen Hunt (M) (M) Kevin Nolan 4
19 Seol Ki-Hyeon (M) (M) Gary Speed 6
11 John Oster (M) (S) Nicolas Anelka 39
4 Steve Sidwell (M) (S) Kevin Davies 14
9 Kevin Doyle (S) (S) El-Hadji Diouf 21
Substitutes
32 Adam Federici (G) (G) Ali Al Habsi 1
22 Andre Bikey (D) (M) Ivan Campo 8
6 Brynjar Gunnarsson (M) (M) Idan Tal 23
8 Leroy Lita (S) (S) Henrik Pedersen 9
24 Shane Long (S) (S) Ricardo Vaz Te 20

I don't really know why we need two strikers off the bench, but whatever. No Campo for Bolton. Oster starts because Little can't go.

[Katsbox]

Yes, him. IMO, he's their best player this season.

Don't ask me why, but Campo bugs the hell out of me. Instant joy when I saw that he's not starting today.

[prvev]

And after the day's first mention of the playoff final against Bolton, we're almost ready to start.

[prvev]

Corner for Bolton..

[prvev]

Caught by Marcus. Good.

[prvev]

And the second mention. More elaborate now.

Oster kicks the crap out of a cross, somehow stays in, headed out for a throw.

[prvev]

Corner now. Hunt takes it, Sonko gets a head to it but no where near the goal.

[prvev]

Oster cross gets kicked out for a corner, nothing comes of it.

My hot chocolate is too milky, not chocolaty enough. Damn.

[prvev]

Nolan gets through, but obviously offside.

[prvev]

They show Coppell..who is deep in thought or bored. I don't know which.