Englisher Fussball Bund - EFB FM06 Clan Thread Mrk III

[ChefRobGaming]

Fa Cup 3rd Round

Vs

Cardiff City 4 Boston United 0

No suprises in this one Cardiff came out firing on all cylinders Ivana opened the scoring on the half hour and he added his second on 42mins Joo Young added the third one minute after the restart before youngster Johann Iversen killed off Boston on 85mins with a stunning left footed drive into the top corner from 30yards out

Attendance 15230

MOM Ivana 8

Vs

Cardiff City 1 Liverpool 2

Cardiff are enjoying life in the Premiership at the moment and had hoped to topple Liverpool in this one but Cisse was on fire today it took him only ten minutes to open the scoring and he then secured the win for Liverpool on 55mins, Cardiff fought back but couldnt break down the defence until the 84mins when Wilhelmsson scored a well earned consilation goal

Attendance 29967

MOM Djibril Cisse 9

Vs

Arsenal 1 Cardiff City 4

A visit to Emirates Stadium was a scary thought on paper but Cardiff proved anything can happen Ivana opened the scoring on 38mins but Ryan Smith equalised on half time Joo Young would then put Cardiff into the lead and they never looked back on 60mins Belluschi would grab a double on 78 and 87mins to kill off Arsenal, Arsenal fan Perry said it was a honour to play such a fantastic side and beat them convincingly

Attendance 54342

MOM Belluschi 9

Fa Cup 4th Round

Vs

Cardiff City 1 Middlesbrough 2

It all looked to be going so well... Ivana opened the scoring right on half time for Cardiff and they went in the much happier side, Malbranque pulled Boro level on 66mins 20mins later Agnew struck to end Cardiff's Fa Cup hopes

Attendance 19857

MOM Patrik Tuninen 8

Vs

Cardiff City 0 Tottenham 0

Both teams played very defensive football and cancelled each other out in this one

Attendance 29969

MOM Michael Dawson 8

Vs

Man Utd 5 Cardiff City 3

8 goal thriller at Old Trafford, Cardiff took the lead on 25mins from a Carrick penalty 2mins later Paul Scholes made it 1-1, Lenny making his debut for Cardiff made it 2-1 on 35mins Van Nistelrooy made it 2-2 on halftime, Lenny would score again on 46mins but Van Nistelrooy would score on 55mins to tie it up once more Evra would then put Utd into the lead on 57mins and on the hour Van Nistelrooy spoiled Lenny's debut but sealing the victory for the home side

Attendance 75445

MOM Van Nistelrooy 10

Vs

Cardiff City 1 Man City 1

Not a very good game Carew would put Man City ahead on 33mins and it was a Jordan own goal that would give Cardiff a share of the points on 54mins, Cardiff looked tired from the 5-3 drubbing at the hands of Man Utd and are just glad to get out of this one with a point

Attendance 29590

MOM Onuoho 8

Vs

Charlton Ath 1 Cardiff City 3

Cardiff came here looking to get back to winning ways Ivana opened for Cardiff on 26mins, Darren Bent made it 1-1 on 32mins Freddy Eastwood on his debut for Cardiff would make it 2-1 on 53mins before a returning Theo Walcott made it 3-1 on 73mins

Attendance 20545

MOM Tobias Hysen 8

Lenny was named 2nd in the Young Player Of The Month Award

Vs

Cardiff City 3 Crystal Palace 1

With manager Paul Rouch away on yet another drinking cruise (scouting mission he calls it) Cardiff took full advantage Ivana opened the scoring with only 1min on the clock and Palace's defence was caught sleeping, Wagner would score from the spot on 20mins to give Palace hope but Wilhelmsson soon ended that hope on 55mins with a cracking strike to put Cardiff on top 2-1 Kislyak would make it 3-1 on 58mins and Palace fans started to leave they'd seen enough Lenny was then brought down on 81mins but would blast the ball right at Palace's outstanding keeper Kiraly

Attendance 29971

MOM Fernando Belluschi 8

Bit of a up and down session for the bluebirds but stay tuned to see if they still singing at the end of the season TWEET TWEET!!!!!

[steff]

Wolves keep decent run of form going!

With most people expecting me to be relegated or out of job by now I think i've managed to keep a good run of form going with my merry band of misfits, here is a look at our last 10 matches :

Saturday 26th January 2008 : Wolves v Hartlepool: FA Cup 4th Round: 1-1 draw

We started brightly against our Championship opponents in this one and it was no surprise as we took an early lead through Ikechukwu Uche in the 10th minute, things appeared to swing in our favour even further in the 37th minute as Neil Mellor was red carded for the visitors, but try as we might we just could not add another goal to our lead and the enevitable happened in the 77th minute when Ben Wright pulled Hartlepool back into the game, his goal was enough to secure the game went to a replay.

Tuesday 29th January 2008: Wolves v Nottm Forest: Coca-Cola Championship: 2-2 draw

It's not all that often your team only has two shots on goal, they both go in, and you somehow managed to escape with a point, but thats exactly what happened here as we found ourselves outplayed from start to finish and still managed to rob a draw!

Marlon Harewood fired the Tricky Tree's into the lead in the 19th minute, we pulled ourselves level in the 27th minute through a Paul Wotton spot kick, shortly after the restart (49mins) Danny Szetela gave Forest a 2-1 lead. It looked like things were going to stay this way until full time but loan signing Nacho Casanova had other ideas on his debut has he scored a 90th minute leveller with only our second on target shot of the game \o/

Saturday 2nd February 2008: Wolves v Brighton: Coca-Cola Championship: 1-0 loss

Bah!

We got mugged here and probably deserved at least a draw but now at least know how Hepburn felt after his mugging at our hands the previous week.

Pretty crap first half with the only note of excitment being Damien Delaney being sent off in the 39th minute for being exceptionally rubbish.

More second half rubbish followed until James McPake scored for Brighton and that was about it really.....poor.

Saturday 9th February 2008: Hartlepool v Wolves: FA Cup 4th Round Replay: 2-2 draw, Wolves win on pens

Even at the the second attempt boths sides could not be seperated in this FA cup encounter and a penalty shootout was required to seperate the sides, Gianluca Galasso gave Hartlepool the lead right on the stroke of half time, Mads Torry pulled Wolves back into the game in 66mins and that was it until the full time. Extra time followed and it looks like Hartlepool had done enough to secure their passage to the next round after Dawid Janzayk struk in the 104th minute, but their joy was short lived as Nolberto Solano struck less than 60 seconds later to again level the match.

Neither team could make a break through in the following 15minutes of extra time and the match went to the dreaded shootout.

The penalty shootout went as follows :

Tuesday 12th February 2008: Fulham v Wolves: Coca-Cola Championship: 2-1 loss

Perhaps a hangover of playing 120mins against Hartlepool a few nights previous but we seemed to run out steam in this one, call ourselfs professionals?! not us!

After a goaless first half Paul Gallagher gave Fulham the lead their play deserved in the 59th minute, Sean Thronton doubled the home side's advantage in the 66th minute things looked grim for my lot, Niclas Jensen seen red in the 81st minute and Nacho Casanova pulled a goal back in the 83rd minute, but in all truth Fulham deserved their win.

Saturday 16th February 2008 : Wolves v Liverpool: FA Cup 5th Round : 0-0 draw

Without a shadow of a doubt my hardest task in charge of Wolves to date, I wasn't worried about winning this one, by goal was to make sure we didn't lose 8-0!

Liverpool battered us pretty much from start to finish in this one, but thanks to some great defending they were unable to make the breakthrough, we did have a few chances ourselves but seriously....it would have been an utter injustice if we had stolen this one, a replay at Anfield will do me fine

Wednesday 20th February 2008: Wolves v Sunderland: Coca-Cola Championship: 4-0 win

I full expected this game to be very hard and a match we could have easily lost, instead it turned out I had nothing to worry about as we murdered Sunderland \o/

This was simply a tale of one man, Southampton's Totti who is on loan at Molineux until the end of the season, Totti scored all the goals for Wolves

He opened the scored in the 26th minute, quickly followed up by another in the 35th minute and right on the stroke of half time he grabbed his hattrick, but even though the second half fizzled to practically nothing Totti was always looking for the ball and determined to get another he was granted his 4th in the 75th minute to round off an outstanding performance.

Sunday 24th February 2008: Leeds v Wolves: Coca-Cola Championship: 3-0 win

We settled any early nerves we might have had going into this one as Romeo Castelen opened the scoring inside the first minute \o/

The bold Totti (still my new hero after his 4 goals against Sunderland in the previous game) gave us a two goal cushion in the 7th minute and the game was pretty much over as a contest from there on in. Damien Delaney added the 3rd in 37mins to kill Leeds off.

The only thing of note that happened in the second 45 was Simon Walton being red carded for Leeds in the 46th minute.

Wednesday 27th February 2008: Liverpool v Wolves: FA Cup 5th Round Replay: 2-2 draw, Liverpool win 5-4 on pens

So after going to their place and giving them a bit of a shock Liverpool must have been confident of sending us backing as we visited Anfield for the replay, sadly for them we gave them another shock!

After a mere two minutes of this game we took the lead! Damien Delaney slotting home from the penalty spot. By some miracle of modern football we managed to hold on until half time with our lead intact! However it didn't take long for Liverpool to level after the second half got underway as Florent Sinama-Pongolle pulled them level in the 48th minute, that should have been the signal for the floodgates to open but the expected onslaught never came and after the referee blew for full time the score still remained 1-1. As we faced extra time for the second time in as many rounds I actually fancied our chances for a minute, Pongolle gave Liverpool a 2-1 in the 105th minute only to see John Arne Risse score an own goal at the other end 30 seconds later.

Neither team could make a further breakthrough in the second half of extra time and the match went to penalties, the result of which is below :

Saturday 1st March 2008: Wolves v Coventry: Coca-Cola Championship: 0-0 draw

Pretty rubbish poor excuse for a match this one, with really the only highlight of any note was Michael Tonge's red card in the 30th minute........no really it was

So we games running out in the season it was becoming increasingly obvious that we aren't going to worry the promotion contenders this season (although we still have an outside mathimatical chance of it), I have certainly seen enough from this side that we can do something in the Championship next season.

[Andy H]

The Forest Frenzy - We're still in with a shout!!!

We enter the year 2008 and Forest are hoping it is a memorable one for them as they are still in with a great chance of winning the league and are still in the FA Cup. Hepburn is still not entirely happy with his team's performance as they are still too inconsistent for his liking. Lets hope that improves as the league kicks into another gear and the charge for promotion really is on from here on in. Here is the latest from the City Ground..........................

Championship

Nottingham Forest v Millwall - (H) Tues 1st January 2008

Forest suffered from somehwat of a new year hangover as they stumbled to a 0-0 draw at home to Millwall. Forest were unable to break down a stubborn Millwall defence and when they did they found keeper Jamie Langfield to be just too good on the day.

Final Score - Nottingham Forest 0 v 0 Millwall

Att - 27702

MOTM - Jamie Langfield (Millwall)

FA Cup 3rd Round

Nottingham Forest v Torquay - (H) Sat 5th January 2008

Next up for Forest was the FA Cup, where they took on Torquay at the City Ground. A few players were rested for this one but it was another professional performance from Forest. Kris Commons opened the scoring after only seven minutes and then magic Marlon added a second in the closing stages of the second half. In between Forest had a lot of chances but were unable to take them and Torquay never really threatened throughout the whole game. Forest were safely into round four of the FA Cup.

Final Score - Nottingham Forest 2 v 0 Torquay

Goals - Forest - Commons (7), Harewood (82)

Att - 20492

MOTM - Marlon Harewood (Nottingham Forest)

Championship

Leicester v Nottingham Forest - (A) Sat 12th January 2008

A fantasic game of football here with both sides playing open, attacking football and what a great advert for Championship football this was. Forest started the better of the two teams and were ahead twice in the match but Leicester fought back admirably to get back on level terms. Once Leicester got level for the second time, Forest really upped their game and started to lay seige to the Leicester goal. The tactic change paid off as two goals in the last ten minutes from Harewood and Szetela were enough to give Forest a 4-2 win.

Final Score - Leicester 2 v 4 Nottingham Forest

Goals - Leicester - Fryatt (pen,40), Hammond (64)

Goals - Forest - Harewood (5,81), Johnson (55), Szetela (87)

Att - 32465

MOTM - Marlon Harewood (Nottingham Forest)

Championship

Nottingham Forest v Watford - (H) Sat 19th January 2008

Yet another a fantastic game of football here at the City Ground as Hepburn's team seems to have forgot about defending and are just playing all out attack at the moment. It is working a treat as the fans are certainly getting their monies worth. The Forest defence is not the greatest at the best of times but Hepburn knows his team are gonna make chances and dominate games due to their attacking prowess. This game was no different as Forest dominated the early exchanges and were 2-0 up at half time courtesy of a double from Harewood. King pulled one back for Watford and then it was panic stations in the Forest defence when Watford equalised with ten minutes to go! Another late late show from Forest saw them score twice in the final three minutes through Harewood and Szetela and it was another three points in the back. What is it about Forest and throwing away 2-0 leads this season!!!!!!

Final Score - Nottingham Forest 4 v 2 Watford

Goals - Forest - Harewood (11,39,87), Szetela (90)

Goals - Watford - King (53), Henderson (80)

Att - 29927

MOTM - Marlon Harewood (Nottingham Forest)

Championship

Wolves v Nottingham Forest - (A) Tues 29th January 2008

A game of true injutice in every sense of the word as Wolves claimed an undeserved draw and Hepburn was livid. A game they dominated for large parts and laid seige to the Wolves goal. Harewood opened the scoring early in the first half but Hudson gave away a silly penalty and Wolves were level completely against the run of play. Forest bombarded the Wolves goal to no avail for the rest of the half. It was more of the same in the second half and Hepburn was growing increasingly frustrating with his team's failure to convert their chances into goals. Danny Szetela got number two for Forest eventually and Hepburn was able to breathe easily again. They continued to dominate but could not add to their lead. This came back to haunt them as Wolves grabbed an equaliser in inury time to give them a very undeserved point. Hepburn was livid while Steff Browning was ecstatic!!!

Final Score - Wolves 2 v 2 Nottingham Forest

Goals - Wolves - Wotton (pen,27), Casanova (90)

Goals - Forest - Harewood (19), Szetela (49)

Att - 29357

MOTM - Sergio Peter (Nottingham Forest)

So it has been a good month for Forest as they still are chasing Preston for Championship glory. Lets hope they can keep this up and avoid injustices like the one they suffered at the hands of Steff Browning's jammy Wolves team!!!!

[Andy H]

The Forest Frenzy - Can they do it???

Yes folks, that is the question on every Forest fans lips at the moment as they see their team sitting in second place in the league only a few points behind leaders Preston. Hot on Forest's heels however are the likes of Sunderland and West Brom who have a lot more experience in situations such as this one.

February saw Forest only lose once and progress nicely in the FA Cup. Hepburn's side are building some momentum as the season is heading towards the business end and Forest are very much alive. Here is the latest from the City Ground......................

Championship

QPR v Nottingham Forest - (A) Sat 2nd February 2008

Coming off the back of an injustice, Hepburn's men were wanting to get back to winning ways and get the strikers scoring goals aplenty. They faced a QPR side bang in form and succumbed to a 2-1 defeat. QPR showed what potential they have as at times they played Forest off the park. It had all started so well for Forest as an early Kazubowski penalty had Forest in the driving seat. QPR hit back in the second half with two goals that they deserved and Forest could have no complaints as they were just outplayed. So not a good start to the month for Forest.

Final Score - QPR 2 v 1 Nottingham Forest

Goals - QPR - Rowlands (59), Platt (87)

Goals - Forest - Kazubowski (pen,8)

Att - 18380

MOTM - James Harper (Nottingham Forest)

Championship

Nottingham Forest v Sheffield Wednesday - (H) Sat 9th February 2008

Forest bounced back brilliantly from the defeat at the hands of QPR by putting three past an awful Sheffield Wednesday team. It could have been a cricket score as Forest just produced attack after attack but could not convert more of their chances. Magic Marlon got a double after Kazubowski opened the scoring midway through the first half. The Owls offered nothing and Forest sauntered to victory in the end.

Final Score - Nottingham Forest 3 v 0 Sheffield Wednesday

Goals - Forest - Kazubowski (22), Harewood (45,81)

Att - 30585

MOTM - Marlon Harewood (Nottingham Forest)

Championship

Derby v Nottingham Forest - (A) Tues 12th February 2008

Another emphatic demolition job here as Derby were next to be thrashed by a rampant Forest side. Hepburn was delighted with this performance. James Harper grabbed a superb double and that man Harewood was on the score sheet yet again. Apart from the goals Forest were a joy to behold with some silky passing and attacking play throughout.

Final Score - Derby 0 v 3 Nottingham Forest

Goals - Forest - Harper (5,42), Harewood (29)

Att - 33576

MOTM - Wes Morgan (Nottingham Forest)

FA Cup 5th Round

Nottingham Forest v West Ham - (H) Sat 16th February 2008

When Forest saw who they were drawn against in the FA Cup many thought that was the end of their cup run for another year as the Hammers had beaten Forest twice already this season. Not this time though as it was a case of third time lucky for Forest as they produced a magnificent performance and well and truly the myth that the Hammers were Forest's bogey team to rest. The man Forest have to thank is Roland Kazubowski who was lethal in front of goal as he grabbed a glorious hat trick. But not one player had a bad game in a Forest shirt as they were superb in every department. A magnificent performance that sent them through to round six.

Final Score - Nottingham Forest 3 v 0 West Ham

Goals - Forest - Kazubowski (pen 13,25,71)

Att - 28292

MOTM - Roland Kazubowski (Nottingham Forest)

Championship

Brighton v Nottingham Forest - (A) Sat 23rd February 2008

After the brilliant win in the FA Cup, Forest had a trip to Brighton to contend with. It was a match where Forest barely got out of second gear for the mostpart. Kazubowski scored an early penalty to get Forest off to a great start but Forest just seemed to be so confident that they just kept the ball and lacked a cutting edge for the rest of the half. Brighton could not get the ball off them at times and Hepburn was happy with what he was seeing. It was more of the same throughout the second half but Forest had more cutting egde and tempo to their game and started creating alot more chances. Marlon Harewood scored twenty minutes from time to make the game safe. Forest took their foot off the gas and began to get sloppy int he clsoing minutes and Brighton took advantage to pull a goal back, tne minutes from time but it was not enough to trouble Forest that much. Another good win for Forest.

Final Score - Brighton 1 v 2 Nottingham Forest

Goals - Brighton - Bryson (80)

Goals - Forest - Kazubowski (pen,10), Harewood (70)

Att - 8970

MOTM - Danny Szetela (Nottingham Forest)

So a fantastic month for Hepburn's Forest with plenty of goals and yet more wins to help them in their chase of Preston who still top the league.

[RedStar101]

Session Dates: 27th, 29th June & 6th July 2006

Players Released: 1

Chris Makin D RL

Johnny Mullins D RC

Jamie Young GK

Players Sold: 1

Ivar Ingimarsson D C/DM Watford £60K

Players Signed:

Dietmar Hamann DM Liverpool (Arrives 01-07-08)

Mikael Forssell ST Birmingham (Arrives 01-07-08)

Results

3rd Round

Hull 0 vs 2 Reading

Reading Scorers: Leroy Lita (32) & Stephen Hunt (Pen 71)

Attendance: 16,680

MOM: Dave Kitson

Reading Injuries: Chris Riggott (14)

Fully in control of this match as Reading try to stake a claim on a playoff position. A goal from Leroy Lita and a Penalty from Stephen Hunt were enough to get the three points.

Reading 0 vs 1 Sunderland

Sunderland Scorer: Jonathan Douglas (11)

Attendance: 22,119

MOM: David James (Sunderland)

Reading Injuries: Steve Sidwell (53) & Johnny Mullins (87)

A dour match for Reading with very few chances to score a equaliser and a winning goal. Sidwell and Mullin’s having to go off injured didn’t help matters either.

Leeds 0 vs 1 Reading

Reading Scorers: John Oster (Pen 24)

Attendance: 27,727

MOM: Cesar Arzo (Reading)

Red Cards: Stephen McManus (Leeds) (71)

Not a brilliant match but a Penalty from John Oster and a man of the match performance from Cesar Arzo was enough to prize the 3 points out of Leeds hands.

4th Round

Sheff Weds 0 vs 1 Reading

Reading Scorer: Stephen Hunt (52)

Attendance: 22,426

MOM: Ibrahima Sonko (Reading)

Sheff Weds didn’t really give Reading anything to worry about after Stephen Hunt scored. Reading go through to the 5th round for the first time under my management.

Reading 1 vs 2 Coventry

Reading Scorer: Leroy Lita (52)

Coventry Scorers: James Scowcroft (14) & Matt Heath (80)

Attendance: 21,571

MOM: Alan Combe (Coventry)

Reading’s defence starts to show cracks as it gave away two silly goals to allow Coventry the 3 points. Leroy Lita was the only player in the Reading squad who seemed to want to win the match.

Reading 1 vs 1 West Brom

Reading Scorer: Leroy Lita (25)

West Brom Scorer: Nigel Quashie (88)

Attendance: 23,510

MOM: Cesar Arzo (Reading)

Almost claimed the 3 points had it not been another lapse in my defence to allow West Brom to equalise with only 2 minutes left of the 90 to go. Leroy Lita scores another goal to show me he can still be a match winner.

Luton 2 vs 1 Reading

Luton Scorers: Izet Zahirovic (48), Matthew Patterson (64)

Reading Scorer: Leroy Lita (84)

Attendance: 6,982

MOM: Steve Howard (Luton)

The poor form of the defence continues and the goal of a playoff place is slipping away from me fast. Reading were expected to beat Luton but they weren’t able to convert their chances and West Brom punished them by slipping through the defence and scoring their goals.

Sheff Utd 4 vs 3 Reading

Sheff Utd Scorers: Clinton Morrison (33, 45 & 78) & Sindre Loe Bing (81)

Reading Scorers: Pedro Vega (7), Dave Kitson (55) & Javi Garcia (57)

Attendance: 22,394

MOM: Clinton Morrison (Sheff Utd)

This was a good match to watch from the stands but as a manager I am bloody annoyed as my defence leaked 4 silly goals, had they not it would have been a 3-0 victory. Pedro Vega scored with a brilliant free kick outside the box, from now on he is the specifically assigned player to take free kicks as most of his goals have copme from free kicks, he is the David Beckham of Reading.

5th Round

Middlesbrough 3 vs 1 Reading

Middlesbrough Scorers: Emanuel Pogatetz (33), Yakubu (Pen 52) & Stewart Downing (60)

Reading Scorer: Emile Heskey (1)

Attendance: 12,199

MOM: Erlend Hanstveit (Middlesbrough)

For the second time Middlesbrough have knocked Reading out of a cup and again I have no complaints because I wasn’t expecting to win this match. I am satisfied with getting to the 5th round.

Reading 3 vs 1 Brentford

Reading Scorers: Pedro Vega (Pen 3 & 65) & Shane Long (48)

Brentford Scorer: Arturo Lupoli (43)

Attendance: 22,331

MOM: Pedro Vega (Reading

Reading Injuries: Antti Okkonen (16) & Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (70)

Red Cards: Uwe Hunemeier (Brentford) (64)

Back to winning ways with this match and the Reading defence only lapsed once to let Lupoli in for Brentford’s only goal. However a Penalty and another goal scored via a free kick for Pedro Vega and a goal from young striker Shane Long were enough to claim all 3 points.

Hartlepool 2 vs 1 Reading

Hartlepool Scorers: Ben Wright (6) & Stephen Ireland (44)

Reading Scorers: Emile Heskey (1)

Attendance: 10,870

MOM: Ben Wright (Hartlepool)

I just don’t get my side, they must have 2 personalities, one personalty showing their brilliance and the other personalty showing their utter stupidity and in this match the latter ran out on the pitch and scored in the 1st minute via a returning Emile Heskey from injury only to let Hartlepool equalise 5 minutes later and then score their winner a minute from half time. Reading show little imagination in the second half which meant Stephen Gold’s Hartlepool took all 3 points.

Reading 1 vs 1 Yeovil

Reading Scorer: Pedro Vega (Pen 16)

Yeovil Scorer: Brett Hinks (55)

Attendance: 15,345

MOM: Anthony Barry (Yeovil)

Even more frustrated with this side as they failed to beat a side that had been confirmed relegated after the game had finished 1-1. The strikers seem to have lost their spark and the defenders were useless.

Ipswich 2 vs 3 Reading

Ipswich Scorer: Dean Bowditch (16 & 57)

Reading Scorers: Dave Kitson (25 & 52) & Pedro Vega (Pen76)

Attendance: 29,885

MOM: Brynjar Gunnarsson (Reading)

Very closely fought match but glad to finally get 3 points to keep Reading in the hunt for a playoff place. A double Salvo from Dave Kitson and a Penalty for Pedro Vega were enough for Reading to claim victory over a strong Ipswich.

Reading 1 vs 1 Derby

Reading Scorer: Dave Kitson (48)

Derby Scorer: Andrew Keogh (45)

Attendance: 22,178

MOM: Dave Kitson (Reading)

Lucky to get a draw in this game as Derby came on strong and were a constant threat to the Reading goal but Dave Kitson did enough to help secure a point for Reading at least.

Reading 1 vs 0 Stoke

Reading Scorer: Emile Heskey (16)

Attendance: 21,927

MOM: Carl Hoefkens (Stoke)

Reading did enough to secure the points with a Emile Heskey goal in the 16th minute. The defence seems to have improved its form at least.

Leicester 2 vs 0 Reading

Leicester Scorers: Alan Sheehan (32), Elvis Hammond (83)

Attendance: 28.891

MOM: Nils-Eric Johansson (Leicester)

Absolutely crap, that’s the only two words I can describe my sides performance against Leicester who were just too strong for Reading.

West Ham 3 vs 1 Reading

West Ham Scorers: Greg Halford (28 & 33) & Agirretxe (37)

Reading Scorer: Leroy Lita (51)

Attendance: 35,546

MOM: Moriera (West Ham)

Things go from bad to worse and with this lose goes the chance for playoffs. The hammers first half performance was enough to secure the 3 points for them as they continue to fight for promotion back to the premiership.

Kelly Dalgliesh: “Breaking news in and it has been announced that Reading Manager Tony Hall has turned down a new contract with Reading. Tony Hall has only a couple of months left on his contract and this will mean the Reading vs Sheffield Wednesday match at the end of the season will be Tony Hall’s last game in charge. The Reading chairman was disappointed that Tony Hall turned down his offer of a new contract but he respected Tony Hall’s decision however he didn’t rule out offering Tony Hall an improved offer.â€[/i]

Reading 3 vs 0 Millwall

Reading Scorers: Stephen Hunt (20), Emile Heskey (36) & Dave Kitson (Pen 56)

Attendance: 24,108

MOM: Emile Heskey (Reading)

So me rejecting a new contract spurs my side to start performing like they should be with a emphatic 3-0 victory over Millwall, if that’s so I should reject new contracts more often. Goals from Stephen Hunt, Emile Heskey and a Penalty from Dave Kitson bagged the 3 points for Reading.

Reading 4 vs 0 Watford

Reading Scorers: Antti Okkonen (21), Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (34), Emile Heskey (36) & Shane Long (61)

Attendance: 16,357

MOM: Ibrahima Sonko (Reading)

Yep I am definitely going to rejecting new Contracts more often if it means getting emphatic wins from my sides. Watford were simply no match for Reading who just ran circles around their defence and scored goals for fun. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer returned from injury to score a spectacular individual effort.

Wolves 1 vs 1 Reading

Wolves Scorer: David Karanka (34)

Reading Scorer: Emile Heskey (80)

Attendance: 26,119

MOM: Steve Finnan (Wolves)

Red Cards: Chris Riggott (Reading) (85)

Lucky to get a point here as Steff’s Wolves were in control of the match. Chris Riggott getting himself a red card 5 minutes from full time didn’t help Reading’s charge for a winning goal.

Reading 4 vs 0 Sheff Wed

Reading Scorers: Dave Kitson (3 & 36), Antti Okkonen (47) & Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (58)

Attendance: 17,557

MOM: Peter Enckelman (Reading)

Red Cards: Patrick Collins (Sheff Wed) (62)

Reading Injuries: Brynjar Gunnarsson (90)

Reading’s supremacy over Sheff Weds continues with another 4-0 emphatic victory with goals from January signing Antti Okkonen, Dave Kitson and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer were enough to secure Reading a victory but it was not enough to secure a Play off place this season and my Career ends here with Reading with a Manager of the Month award thrown in with good measure.

Championship Position at end of season: 9th

Well unless the Chairman offers me a new and improved offer of a contract I shall be leaving Reading for Pastures new, I will not retire this profile as I would like to gain a few clubs under my belt under this profile so my job hunting will start tomorrow after my contract with Reading runs out.

[Andy H]

Bit of a monster update there Tony, good all the same though.

What you going to do once your contract with Reading is up? You gonna go up to Scotland or take another club?

Will be interesting to see what you do, you never know Reading might come back with an improved offer for you.

[RedStar101]

Wll as I have said I aren't gonna retire and recreate myself with a number 2 beside my name, I'm gonna apply for the next available job that comes up be it a job in the English league or Scottish League.

It would take a much improved contract offer for me to stay at Reading, that last offer wasn't enough to convince me to take another years worth of frustration.

[ChefRobGaming]

Vs

Bolton 3 Cardiff City 2

Kislyak gave the visitors the lead after only 4mins from the penalty spot, Bolton pulled

Cardiff defence from coming back again

Attendance 25102

MOM Erick Delgado 8

Vs

Cardiff City 0 Wigan Athletic 2

Cardiff on a bad run of form as of late lose another, 2 goals from Will John on 37 and 46mins respectively seal the 3 points for Wigan in this one

Attendance 24667

MOM Will John 9

Vs

Chelsea 2 Cardiff City 1

Cardiff who at the start where relegation favourites have put in a fantastic performance all season but it seems they are heading down the table quickly and the european dream seems to have faded, Kaka gave Chelsea the lead with 11mins gone then John Terry would see red for a bad tackle from behind on Joo Young he would then step up and make it 1-1 from the spot on 67mins but Chelsea didnt let that last long Robben scored from 40yards on 69mins to give Chelsea the 3points and send Cardiff to 9th

Attendance 42508

MOM Arjen Robben 8

Vs

Cardiff City 0 Southampton 1

yet another poor performance by Cardiff and the fans are concerned, they began chanting Perry Out!!! Cavallo scored the only goal after 32mins and then Craine would see red on 47mins but Cardiff still couldnt make the extra man count and missed many chances after the game was over Perry told reporters he was looking for a new job but if Cardiff wanted him to stay and the fans got behind him he would think about his future at the end of the season

Attendance 25371

MOM Elliott Ward 8

Vs

Newcastle 2 Cardiff City 1

Wilhelmsson opened the scoring on 8mins but Owen would pull one back right on half time, 5mins after the restart Michael Owen was sent off for a bad challenge on Michael Carrick but it was Newcastle who would have the last laugh Ameobi sealed the win on 82mins

Attendance 50978

MOM Michael Carrick 9

Vs

Cardiff City 3 Blackburn 2

5 losses in a row has got chairman Sam Hammam concerned he has asked Perry for a meeting after this game Belluschi opened the scoring on 20mins Babic would pull one back on 52mins for Blackburn Joo Park made it 2-1 to Cardiff and then Wilhelmsson sent the crowd nuts with a cracking 35yard strike leaving Friedal stranded on his line after 87mins and it looked over but up popped welsh wizard Craig Bellamy on 89mins to make it 3-2, finally a win for Cardiff and the fans are cheering for the right reasons

Attendance 29856

MOM Craig Bellamy 8

Vs

Norwich City 1 Cardiff City 3

Cardiff have had a great spell vs Norwich in the last couple of seasons winning everytime they played each other so fans expected nothing less in this one and Perry's Bluebirds didnt dissappoint Jenas put Norwich into the lead on 6mins Belluschi pulled on back on 66mins Wilhelmsson would once again spoil Norwichs evening on 75mins and Belluschi sealed the victory late into injury time with a stunning strike on 93mins

Attendance 30731

MOM Joe Keenan 8

Vs

Cardiff City 3 Portsmouth 1

Young Star Theo Walcott scored first in this one after 36mins but then Pamarot would make it 1-1 on the hour Walcott would then make it 2-1 on 82mins but up stepped Wilhelmsson once again in injury time to seal the win for Cardiff on 93mins, Portsmouth now looking relegation favourites and Harry Redknapp said after the game if we go down I think Ill retire I havent got it left in me to do this over again

Attendance 25607

MOM Christian Wilhelmsson 9

Vs

Middlesbrough 1 Cardiff City 2

Young Brazilian Lenny opened the scoring in this one 1min after the restart on 46mins Dagoberto would make it 1-1 on 62mins and then Lenny would seal the win after 70mins it was a brazilian day at boro haha thats for sure

Attendance 34626

MOM Jolean Lescott 9

Vs

Birmingham 1 Cardiff City 3

Birmingham fighting for Premiership survival and Cardiff looking for the last Intertoto spot so this one has a lot at stake Vidarsson gave Birmingham the lead after only 3mins Freddy Eastwood making a rare start equalised after 25mins Lenny would then make it 2-1 on 40mins and he would score again late on to seal the 3-1 win and earn Cardiff a rare visit to European football

Attendance 24911

MOM Lenny 9

***TOP SCORERS***

Milan Ivana 20

Theo Walcott,Christian Wilhelmsson 9

Michael Carrick 8

Park Joo Young 7

Theo Walcott was named Young English Player of The Year and Christian Wilhelmsson English Footballer of The Year, Michael Carrick was 2nd in the English Football Player of The Year Awards so a fantastic season for all associated with the Bluebirds stay tuned to see what happens next at St Davids Stadium............. TWEET TWEET

[Andy H]

PERRY OUT PERRY OUT PERRY OUT!!!!

And thats jsut for your silly tweet tweet at the end of every update!!!

Then there is your management skills that just don't come up to scratch as you will find out next season when Forest fly by you on their way to Premiership glory.

[Andy H]

It's coming home, it's coming home, EFB is coming home. (well for a week at least )

Now Rob wake up, get on MSN and send me or beautfiul game.

[Andy H]

It's not my computer that was the problem it was FM. Since I reinstalled everything it has been working fine ever since (touch wood).

Plus it's my clan.

[Andy H]

Well Rob has not sent me the game file so it looks like EFB is off for a week or so as a result.

Sorry lads.

[RedStar101]

Ok boys and girls I've had a chat with Andy and we agreed that while we wait for Rob to return from his holiday we can have some fun on my one player game. Meet up in mIRC at the usual times where I'll let you know the IP addy.

ps you can be any premiership side in my game.

[rouchie]

Well the games came thick and fast for the mighty Palace after the new year, and with Rouch taking some well deserved R & R for much of the remainder of the campaign the assistant manager took control of the squad, with that in mind I will give a summary update of the second half of the season

January

A poor start to the year with a 2-0 defeat at Newcastle but the memory of that loss is soon cleared thanks to a home cup tie against non leaguers Banbury which Palace won with an incredible 17 goals!! A new record for club and country. Nikola ZIgic broke the individual scoring record in this game netting 7 goals!! A 2-0 win against Norwich followed in the league then back to back meetings with Middlesbrough in the League and Carling cup, the league encounter was lost 4-2 and the second leg of the cup drawn 1-1 which saw Palace progress to the League Cup Final At this point Paul Rouch handed the reins over to the assistant Manager while he went off on a sunny break The next match was another cup game, this time the FA Cup, but Blackburn Rovers won the day and Palace went out after a 3-1 defeat

February

This month started better with a 3-0 win against Aston Villa but another defeat swiftly followed at Anfield when Liverpool edged a close game 1-0 Tottenham bore the brunt of the Palace frustrations in the next game when the Eagles ran out convincing 2-1 winners keeping them in contention in the top 6 . The UEFA cup was next up and an uninterrupted home and away leg against Benfica which Palace won 1-0 in both legs to propel themselves to the next round in a confident frame of mind. The League cup final was next against Aston Villa and Palace were unfortunate to miss out on the silverware eventually losing 2-0

March

Cardiff manager, fellow EFB player Rob Perry took full advantage of Paul Rouch’s overseas scouting trip to record a 3-1 victory over the Eagles. The UEFA cup beckoned again and this time it was a battle of Britain against the Scottish Giants Rangers at Selhurst Park, Palace took a first leg advantage winning 5-0 which surely see them through to the Quarter Finals Palace seemed to be hitting their stride now as they overcame Wigan 3-0 in their next premiership fixture then completed the job against Rangers winning 1-0 away Back in the premiership Southampton then Blackburn both fell apart against a swiftly improving Palace, both losing 3-0. Portsmouth were the next victims falling the wrong side of a 4-1 drubbing! The Quarter finals of the UEFA cup was a different matter though with European top dogs AC Milan hosting the Palace and grinding out a 1-0 win to leave the Eagles needing a home win by two clear goals to stay in the competition! So many games of such a high level had to take its toll and a lack lustre 1-1 draw with struggling Birmingham was proof of the pudding.

April

The season rolls ever nearer to its conclusion and Crystal Palace fans are still enjoying the ride, still in the top 6 in the league, still fighting in Europe and already having enjoyed a cup final appearance at Wembley. The Uefa cup return leg against AC Milan was first up and The South Londoners were nothing short of heroic pulling off the result of the season against the Italian Aristocrats winning 2-0 to reach the semis of the UEFA cup Surprisingly this magnificent performance was followed by a very poor performance in the league when Everton took full advantage to stroll to a 3-0 victory The performance 3 days later was much improved and a deserved 2-1 win against Man City seemed to put the Palace back on track…….. not! as just three days after that Palace crashed out to 4-2 to Arsenal which realistically put paid to any title aspiration s the Eagles might have been secretly harbouring The UEFA cup semi against Athletic Bilbao followed and a credible 1-1 draw away raised the Palace fans hopes and expectation. This followed with a 2-1 win over Man Utd which cemented the Champions League place that the club coveted raised all the spirits in the club only for them to be doused with 2-1 loss to Athletic Bilbao sending Palace cruelly crashing out of the UEFA cup on the away goals rule A 5-0 win against local rivals Charlton helped restore some of the feel good factor as it now meant that a final day victory would secure a runners up spot in the premiership title race!!

May

The squad travelled to the Reebok and outplayed the Bolton Wanderers squad to record a stylish 3-0 victory and the party began as Crystal Palace celebrated their highest ever league placing!

Player Stats

January signing Fabio Santos proved his worth recording an average rating of 7.64 in 24 appearances. Andy Johnson was the clubs top scorer again netting 31 goals in 48 appearances. Jorge Wagner was the player with the most assists, helping out a remarkable 18 times! Leighton Baines made an incredible 54 appearances for the side in this campaign. The highest attendance was for the Arsenal match in April which saw a club record of 32789 fill the revamped Selhurst Park. Un surprisingly the UEFA cup tie home leg against AC Milan drew the largest gate receipts of just over 1.2 million

Final Position & Cup Progress

League – 2nd 76 points

FA Cup – 4th Round

League Cup – Runners Up

UEFA Cup – Semi Finalists

[Andy H]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by fmgreat:

What happened to that Norwich bloke. Jambo4Eva, I felt he wrote the best reports. Anyways lads I think you have overdone the reports because i fall asleep after reading one. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Any chance you can stop posting in our thread?

I really don't and nor do the rest of us give a flying fcuk that you think we overdo the reports. If you don't like them then don't read them you absolute completely ignorant ******.

And again will you stop posting in our thread.

[steff]

Yeah lad I'll post my (overdone) report before the game starts again on Tuesday, I kinda got distracted with the game not being up and all

[ChefRobGaming]

alright lads Im back off holiday ready to take EFB forward once more.

fmgreat I got no clue who you are but kindly dont post your drivel in our clan thread thanks

[Andy H]

Welcome back Rob, hope you enjoyed your holiday.

[rouchie]

Hurrah! Back to what we do best on Tuesday, and a new season too!

[RedStar101]

Heres my predictions for this season :~

Nottingham Forest (Andy) - Bottom Half of premiership finish narrowly avoiding relegation. Will have a good cup run in at least one of the cups.

Cardiff (Rob) - Will have a difficult season this time round. Might end up relegated but with a few good signings he may avoid it.

Crystal Palace (Rouchie) - Had a brilliant season last season, almost getting Crystal Palace to their first European final. Finished 2nd in the Premiership meaning they are automatically in the Champions League. I predict they will find it difficult in Europe with the big boys but they will have more success in teh Premiership and might even go one step further and win the Premiership this time around.

Heres my predictions :~

Nottingham Forest (Andy) - Bottom Half of premiership finish narrowly avoiding relegation. Will have a good cup run in at least one of the cups.

Cardiff (Rob) - Will have a difficult season this time round. Might end up relegated but with a few good signings he may avoid it.

Crystal Palace (Rouchie) - Had a brilliant season last season, almost getting Crystal Palace to their first European final. Finished 2nd in the Premiership meaning they are automatically in the Champions League. I predict they will find it difficult in Europe with the big boys but they will have more success in teh Premiership and might even go one step further and win the Premiership this time around.

Wolves (Steff) - Wasn't able to gain promotion to the Premiership last season but I can predict Steff will be able to drag the team into the Premiership via the playoffs at least if not Automatic Promotion. I don't think Wolves will get past round 5 of the domestic cups.

Hartlepool (Stephen) - Didn't really impress me last season. Not many signings during the preseason may cost them. I think they might get a top half finish in the Championship if not a playoff place.

Reading (Me) - I've made a couple or so good signings but I have had to sell and release a few players to cut down the high wage bill which is eating away my transfer budgets. I've also lost 3 of my coaches. Will be a very difficult season for me and I'm not all that hopeful. I predict a close race to the Playoffs if not a top half finish.

[ChefRobGaming]

Just to let you all know Steve has retired from the clan and he couldnt commit time to play with his busy work schedule, as a member of the very first efb he will be missed and hope he comes back when he gets more time

EFB starts up again tonight after a week off LETS GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!!!!!!!!

[steff]

Wolves manager sums up end of season form (eventually)

Yes it has been an up and down (half) season for Wolves since I took over at the club, here's a look at our final run of ten games :

Saturday 8th March 2008: Luton v Wovles: Coca-Cola Championship: 2-0 win

A tricky tie on paper this one as we visted Kenilworth road to take on a Luton side that was in some decent form (previous statement may be a lie) but we needed have worried as we easily (if unspectacularly) burshed Luton aside.

Totti opened the scoring for in the 16th minute, and that pretty much killed off Luton as threat as they offered up nothing in the way of resistance after that point, Paul Wotton secured the points with his 67th minute strike.

Wednesday 12th March 2008: Preston v Wolves: Coca-Cola Championship: 1-1 draw

A very hard task this one as we came up against league leaders (Im sure they were on top at this point) Preston at Deepdale. Preston need very long to get going in this one as Dave Nugent fired them into an early in the 6th minute We battled away and created our fair of chances and finally pulled level in the 62nd minute through David Karanka. Both teams had chances to win the match before the end but in the end the draw was probably the fairest result.

Saturday 15th March 2008: Wolves v West Brom: Coca-Cola Championship: 2-1 loss

A really good performance here from West Brom (yeah I take nothing away from them) saw them completely overwhelm us here and they throughly desereved all three points.

Darren Carter sent WBA on their way with a 13th minute penalty. Zoltan Gera doubled the advantage two minutes before the break.

Paul Wotton pulled one back for us with probably the most undeserving penalty of the entire season in the 66th minute, but there was no way we were pulling another back with West Brom in this kind of form.

Saturday 22nd March 2008: Sheff Utd v Wolves: Coca-Cola Championship : 1-0 loss

Up against my evil rivals here and looking for revenge on the bastards for sacking me!

Sadly it wasn't to be as we lost this match 1-0.

Sindre Loe Bing scored the only goal of the game right on the stroke of half time, Little scum sucking norwegian whore, this is how he repays me for bringing to the English game!

Sadly despite the many chances we created we found ourselves unable to capitalize on them and the blades robbed all three points.

Gutted

Monday 24th March 2008: Wolves v Yeovil: Coca-Cola Championship: 4-0 win

Breezed past newly promtoed Yeovil here and they didn't exactly help their cause when David Poole was red carded in the 31st minute.

This one was a tale of two doubles the first comming from David Karanka as he found the net in the 10th minute and the 22nd minute, after Yeovil's red card in the 31st minute Damien Delaney grabbed a quick four minute double in the 32nd and 36th minute to put the result beyond all doubt.

Saturday 29th March 2008: Wovles v Brentford: Coca-Cola Championship: 2-0 win

We performed way below our best in this one but still managed a win over Brentford without too much of a struggle, Rohan Ricketts opened the scoring with an early goal (4mins) and Seyi Olofinjana doubled the advantage right on the stroke of half time.

The second half was a pretty dull affair with neither side really creating much in the way of chance, but who cares it's another 3 points \o/

Saturday 5th April 2008: Hartlepool v Wolves: Coca-Cola Championship: 1-1 draw

We can never seem to be Hartlepool even whey they are reduced to ten men, and it is for this reason that I hate Hartlepool.

Shefki Kuqi opened the scoring for the home side in the sixth minute, soon afterwards came the obligitory sendingo ff as Michael Nelson saw red for something or other.

Still!

We couldn't take advantage of Hartlepool's indiscipline for like the third or forth time this season

It took until the 74th minute before we could make the breakthrough and draw level through Damien Delaney. Couldnt build on this though in the final 16 minutes........ because we suck

Saturday 12th April 2008: Ipswich v Wolves: Coca-Cola Championship: 3-1 loss

Crushed by Ipswich in this one. No complaints really, we were rubbish and Ipswich deserved their win. Emmanuel Olisadebe sent Ipswich on their way in the 16th minute, Romeo Castelen looked like we might make a game of this as he pulled us level in the 35th minute.

But Ipswich simply stepped up a gear in the second half, Dean Bowditch done the damage with his double (46mins and 61mins) and that was the game out of reach.

Saturday 19th April 2008: Coca-Cola Championship: Wovles v Reading: 1-1 draw

Tony Hall's Reading still struggling for form as the season draws to a close, on paper they should have been able to knock us off quite easily, sadly for them the reality was a little different.

David Karanka got us on our way in the 34th minute, for a a long time this looked like it would be the goal that settled this one but that great big donkey Emile Heskey had other ideas and levelled for Reading the 80th minute.

Chris Riggott was ordered off for Reading in the 85th minute but we were unable to make our numercial advantage count for the little time that remained.

Sunday 27th April 2008: Stoke v Wolves : Coca-Cola Championship: 1-1 draw

Final game of the season this one and it was crap..innit

Nick Proschwitz livened up a dull match with his goal in the 42nd minute.

Ikechukwu lived up a dull second half with his goal in the 70th minute as he pulled Wolves level.

That was it!.........no really, it was

So thats it, season over, and the grand finish of 13th place in the Coca-Cola Championship, some good results, some not so good but this side definelty has the ability to make some sort of challenge next season.......the question is, do I have the ability to get it out of them?

[Andy H]

The Forest Frenzy - Forest's title hopes starting to stutter???

That is the question on everyone's lips as the first half of March was sublime from Forest while the second half of March was forgettable. Hepburn's men came into the month flying and scoring goals for fun but in the second half of the month Forest could not buy a win. Here is the latest from the City Ground............

Championship

Nottingham Forest v Fulham - (H) Sat 1st March 2008

A fantastic game here in which Forest just about came out on top in. It was end to end stuff with Forest being hit on the counter time and time again much to the dismay of Hepburn. Magic Marlon helped himself to a hat trick and two goals in the last two minutes sealed the win for Forest with goals from Hutton and Kazubowski so deadly from the penalty spot as usual. Bit suspect in defence but with Harewood in this kind of form no defence will stop this lad!!!

Final Score - Nottingham Forest 5 v 3 Fulham

Goals - Forest - Harewood (1,8,51), Kazubowski (pen,88), Hutton (90)

Goals - Fulham - Gallas (34), Bowyer (90)

Att - 30589

MOTM - Marlon Harewood (Nottingham Forest)

Championship

Nottingham Forest v Preston - (H) Wed 5th March 2008

A terrible game where nerves seemed to get the better of both teams as they seemed to cancel each other out as the stakes were pretty high with both teams going for the title. The game did come to life for the last fifteeen minutes when Whelan struck a magnificent shot from thirty yards. Forest then showed real determination and grit to hit back immediately with a goal from Roland Kazubowski. Forest pressed for a winner but were unable to break down the ten man Preston defence on this occasion.

Final Score - Nottingham Forest 1 v 1 Preston

Goals - Forest - Kazubowski (78)

Goals - Preston - Whelan (74)

Att - 30058

MOTM - Glenn Whelan (Preston)

Championship

Sunderland v Nottingham Forest - (A) Sat 8th March 2008

Another tough game for Forest as they travelled to Sunderland for another promotion chasing clash. Forest produced a simply brilliant performance althought he defending in the last twenty minutes from both teams was schoolboy at times. An early goal from Sergio Peter had Forest ahead. In the second half Szetela put Forest two ahead and seemingly cruising towards victory. Sunderland then pulled a goal back and Forest were wobbling until that man magic Marlon scored to make the points safe for Forest. Sunderland did pull another goal back in injury time but it was not enough to prevent another Forest win.

Final Score - Sunderland 2 v 3 Nottingham Forest

Goals - Sunderland - Chitiva (80), Rajczi (90)

Goals - Forest - Peter (17), Harper (74), Harewood (82)

Att - 32999

MOTM - Danny Szetela (Nottingham Forest)

Championship

Nottingham Forest v Leeds - (H) Sat 15th March 2008

Forest's unbeaten run came to an end against a very lucky Leeds side who were under constant pressure for most of the match and yet still managed a win. Hepburn was left scratching his head, wondering how on earth his team managed to lose this game. Leeds even had Ray Parlour sent off but still could not find a way past the Leeds goalkeeper. A surprising loss but Hepburn did not seem that bothered as he left the City Ground.

Final Score - Nottingham Forest 0 v 1 Leeds

Goals - Leeds - Timlin (23)

Sent Off - Ray Parlour (Leeds)

Att - 30596

MOTM - John Miles (Leeds)

FA Cup 6th Round

Middlesboro v Nottingham Forest - (A) Wed 19th March 2008

A poor performance from Forest here as they did not look their usual selves throughout this game. No excuses though as Boro played well to close down the Forest key players and could have won by more than one goal. In the end it was a Dagoberto goal that won it for Middlesboro and send them through to the next round. Least now Forest can concentrate fully on the league.

Final Score - Middlesboro 1 v 0 Nottingham Forest

Goals - Boro - Dagoberto (58)

Att - 20354

MOTM - Wes Morgan (Nottingham Forest)

Championship

Coventry v Nottingham Forest - Sat 22nd March 2008

Forest's poor form continued into this game against Coventry. It was another lacklustre performance as Forest were unable to hit the target. They had their chances and a few of them but were just unable to take them. The Forest defence were caught napping just on half time and paid the price as McSheffrey scored a goal that turned out to be the matchwinner.

Final Score - Coventry 1 v 0 Nottingham Forest

Goals - Coventry - McSheffrey (43)

Att - 33226

MOTM - Lloyd Sam (Coventry)

Championship

Nottingham Forest v Sheffield Utd - (H) Mon 24th March 2008

This not winning was starting to get to Hepburn after he saw his side draw yet again and lose more ground in the title race. It was that man Clinton Morrison who did the damage again to Forest as he equalised in injury time after David Johnson had put Forest ahead. Again Forest had their chances but were unable to take them and yet again they paid the price.

Final Score - Nottingham Forest 1 v 1 Sheffield Utd

Goals - Forest - Johnson (80)

Goals - Sheffield Utd - Morrison (90)

Att - 30591

MOTM - Clinton Morrison (Sheffield Utd)

Championship

Nottingham Forest v Luton - (H) Sat 29th March 2008

Another game and another draw along with another super human goalkeeping performance from the Luton keeper to keep Forest out. The fans were started to get restless as they knew with every dropped point the prospect of automatic promotion was slipping away from them. Forest dominated this game but they just did not have their shooting boots on and Hepburn was very animated with every chance being missed from his team. Were Forest really going to throw this away at the death????

Final Score - Nottingham Forest 0 v 0 Luton

Att - 29290

MOTM - Ryan Dickson (Luton)

So with the season going intot he last month it is anyone's guess as to who is going to win this league. Forest are in their along with WBA and Preston but it seems no one wants to win it. Let's hope Hepburn gets his team doing shooting practice before the next game or their hopes could go up in smoke!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Andy H]

The Forest Frenzy - We finished the season.......As CHAMPIONS!!!!!

In what was a do or die month for Forest, hanging onto automatic promotion by their fingertips, nevermind winning the league they have somehow managed to win the league on the last day of the season after a collapse by WBA allowed Forest to get back into the title race and Forest came out on top in a spectacular bit of last day of the season drama!!!! Here is how they won the league..................

Championship

West Brom v Nottingham Forest - (A) Sun 6th April 2008

A must win game for Forest if they had any hopes of catching West Brom in the title race and put themselves back in the driving seat for automatic promotion. Hepburn's Forest produced a brilliant display and won on a ground that hardly ever saw a West Brom loss this season. Sergio Peter got Forest off to the perfect start with a goal after only eight minutes of play. It was nervy stuff at times and Forest did ride their luck a little but it was about time. In the second half Forest went up a gear and dominated the second half but had to wait until the eighty first minute to seal the game and it was Danny Szetela with an absolute thunderbolt from twenty five yeards that gave them a 2-0 lead. Forest continued to press for another to slam home their superiority but could not find a third goal. West Brom did pull one goal back but it was never enough to stop Forest getting back intot he title race and this was a huge pyschological blow for West Brom. Could they recover from it??

Final Score - West Brom 1 v 2 Nottingham Forest

Goals - West Brom - Gera (90)

Goals - Forest - Peter (8), Szetela (81)

Sent Off - Pablo Mills (West Brom)

Att - 30490

MOTM - Heider Helguson (Nottingham Forest)

Championship

Brentford v Nottingham Forest - (A) Sat 12th April 2008

A one sided contest that was all over in the first half as Forest scored three times, with goals from Kazubowski, Helguson and then an own goal from Armstrong sealing the win for Forest. It was more like a bounce game in the second half for Forest as they happily toyed with Brentford. Hepburn just sat in the dugout laughing and joking with his staff and players in the second half as he knew the job had been done. Great performance and they were getting closer to the Championship title.

Final Score - Brentford 0 v 3 Nottingham Forest

Goals - Forest - Kazubowski (4), Helguson (7), Armstrong (og,38)

Att - 6920

MOTM - Adam Drury (Nottingham Forest)

Championship

Nottingham Forest v Hartlepool - (H) Sat 19th April 2008

It was simple - If Forest won they won the league and if they didn't the title race was going all the way to the wire. Hartlepool came calling and intent on ruining the party for Forest as they defended in numbers and Forest could not break them down. It was nery stuff from Forest and the fans were just as nervous as the players. There was so much at stake here!!!! In the second half it was more of the same and Hepburn was getting more animated, trying to get his team going and getting the goal that would win the title. In the end nerves got the better of them and the title race was going to the last day.

Final Score - Nottingham Forest 0 v 0 Hartlepool

Att - 29732

MOTM - Danny Szetela (Nottingham Forest)

Championship

Yeovil v Nottingham Forest - (A) Sun 27th April 2008

This was it. One of the biggest games in Forest's history and they were on they brink of getting back to the Premiership for the first time in years. Forest started a lot better than in the previous game and this seemed to fill them with confidence. They were creating chances and Sergio Peter put them one up minutes before half time. It got even better for Forest as Alan Hutton put them two ahead with a minute to go before half time and the travelling Forest fans were going crazy. In the second half it was more of the same with Yeovil really just there to make up the numbers. The full time whistle went and it was just chaos as the fans tried to get onto the pitch to celebrate the title win with their heroes!!! Danny Szetela went up after all the chaos to collect the trophy and sent the fans crazy once more. A fantastic day in the history of Nottingham Forest football club and a personal triumph for Hepburn who had just led them to back to back promotions. It was party time at the City Ground with the ground packed to the rafters with Forest fans wanting to celebrate theor team's title!!!!

Final Score - Yeovil 0 v 2 Nottingham Forest

Goals - Forest - Peter (37), Hutton (44)

Att - 4427

MOTM - Danny Szetela (Nottingham Forest)

A truly fantastic achievement for Forest and for Hepburn who has proved everyone wrong by winning the title. It is now time for Forest to enjoy this superb success before the real work begins for Hepburn and his team as they look forward to the Premiership next season. Heppburn knows his team will likely be relegation candidates but you never with Hepburn and his Forest team.

[ChefRobGaming]

With Uefa Cup football at St Davids Stadium this season Cardiff fans are excited at the prospect of seeing some of the european greats here, but first they must wait for the qualifying rounds and see if Perry has what it takes to go forward into the group stages.

1st Qualifying Round 1st Leg

Vs

Cardiff City 16 HB 0

HB travelled from the Faroe Islands to Cardiff to play in this tie and the long journey took its toll Cardiff ran then ragged 16 goals and surely a place booked into the next round already.

Cardiff Goals:-

Lenny 20secs,17,26,30,47,77,84

Colautti 8,23,32,

Govou 13pen,64,

Kislyak 49pen,79pen

Walcott 56,58

Attendance 29978

MOM Theo Walcott 10

IN

Roberto Colautti from Newcastle Free

Tom Huddlestone from Tottenham Free

Anthony Le Tallec from Liverpool Free

Fabio Grosso from Palermo Free

Kenny Thompson from AA Gent 250k

Christian Terlizzi from Palermo Free

Sidney Govou from Lyon Free

Jan Vertonghen from Ajax Free

Sergio from Real Madrid Free

OUT

Alexandre Licata to Sedan 1.5m

Jolean Lescott to Leicester 1.2m

Martin Galletti to Blackburn 2.5m

Shunsuke Nakamura to DC United 1.7m

1st Qualifying Round 2nd Leg

Vs

HB 0 Cardiff City 17

Cardiff's long journey proved to be a very good one 17 goals blitz and Cardiff are on fire at the moment, Perry told fans after the game he hoped the 900 or so fans that came to the game enjoyed it and would travel with them to Albania next for Dinamo Tirana

Cardiff Goals:-

Lenny 3,8

Walcott 5,27,30,46,58

Colautti 9,40,56

Govou 24,44,45,91pen

Le Tallec 70,86

Kislyak 85

Attendance 4955

MOM Sidney Govou 10

2nd Qualifying Round 1st Leg

Vs

Dinamo Tirana 0 Cardiff City 9

After the 2500 mile round trip Cardiff fans where given a treat 9 goals and surely that sends them into the next round

Cardiff Goals:-

Amaral 4

Kislyak 9,46

Walcott 12,23

Carrick 42,69

Park Joo Young 66

Love 81

Attendance 9544

MOM Sergey Kislyak 10

More transfers.....

IN

Sidnei from Internacional 85k

Mark Howard Free

Vagner Love Free

John O'Shea from Man Utd 1.8m

Amaral from Corinthians 150k

OUT

James McEverley to Wolves 1m

Kevin McNaughton to Wolves 875k

Kenny Thompson to Mouscon 1.1m

Vs

Chelsea showed why they are champions in this game Essien opened for the home side on 9mins but he couldve had a handful Kisliy then made it 2-0 on 33mins and this one looked like heading for a huge scoreline and if it wasnt for Arenas in the Cardiff goal it couldve been more Lampard would score a 40yard free kick to seal the win and open Chelseas title defence with ease

Attendance 42484

MOM Ricardo Carvahlo 8

Stay tuned for new kit releases by Cardiff as there Uefa Cup campaign kicks into full gear TWEET TWEET!!!

[ChefRobGaming]

New Home Kit

New Away Kit

Euro Away Kit

[Andy H]

Perry in cheating his fans shocker!!!

No wonder Cardiff City FC have so much money. No it's not because of Sam Hamman the chairman but it's the fact that Perry decides to change the Cardiff kits every year and now with the added edition of a new european away kit it seems he really is bleeding his fans dry!!!! Perry is showing no remorse in his actions and a supporter from the Cardiff supporters club is said to be leading a boycott till Perry acts and stops this blatant profit building exercise!!!!

What next at St Davids?? Perry out signs, protests the lot!!!!

[ChefRobGaming]

lol

no Ill leave that for the forest fans when they chant Hepburn Out!!!!

[Andy H]

I will not be sacked from Forest!!!

[rouchie]

The new season approaches and Paul Rouch is busy looking for some quality signings for his squad, looking to improve the team and take them on a step further toward a top flight trophy

Transfers Out

11 youth players were released after they failed to impress in their first season. A number of other players took advantage of the Bosman ruling, most significantly Danny Butterfield went to Wolves on a free. Aki Rihilati left for Austria Wien for a fee of £425K, Sandor Torghelle departed to link up with Portugese outfit Boavista for a token £1.5mill, Michael Gottwald was snapped up by Malmo FF for a measly £1mill. Veteran keeper Reber Rustu was allowed to transfer on a free to Galatasaray as Rouch sought to reduce the wage bill. Reading purchased Michael Choprafor a very reasonable £1mill and Peter Ramage was snapped up by Sheffield Utd while Lewis Grabban was signed by Wrexham for a very reasonable £875k to add a total of £5.25mill to the Palace managers transfer budget

Transfers In

Adriano a talented right sided wing back was snapped up on a bosman, while the asst Manager decided to wind the manager up with a joke signing while lining fellow EFB managers pockets with a cool million for a frankly debatable midfield talent from Cardiff in the name of Carlos Fernado Figueroa The quality leaped up however with Kim Kallstrom signing on a bossie from Rennes. Javier Chevanton was added to the already remarkable strike force also on a free from Monaco while Abdrey Arshavin was also signing on with the Eagles. Oskitz and Andy Reid were also snapped up to bolster the midfield for the Eagles biggest season. The manager had his eyes on another hih profile signing which will be communicated as soon as some definite agreements are signed

Friendlies

A good preseason performance saw the mighty Eagles maintaining a 100% record and gave some of the new signings valuable team experience with their new colleagues

[Goldy]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by US ARSENAL:

Just to let you all know Steve has retired from the clan and he couldnt commit time to play with his busy work schedule, as a member of the very first efb he will be missed and hope he comes back when he gets more time

EFB starts up again tonight after a week off LETS GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!!!!!!!! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah very sorry I didnt announce this to the whole clan as I normally would as I'm sure you all know.

Unfortunately, not had a lot of time at all to play the game I love and despite Rob trying to keep me in the game by just keeping me on holiday mode, I didn't think there was too much point to it as I wasnt sure when I would return and already missed 3/4 of the season too.

So good luck to everyone and I will definately be back for the next version as hopefully, both my time and net connection will be better by that time

You know where I am if you want to chat guys!

[ChefRobGaming]

Vs

Cardiff City 2 Blackburn Rovers 0

Vagner Love seems to have settled into life at Cardiff well he pounced on a loose ball on 27mins to give Cardiff the lead before another brazilian Amaral would seal the 3points on 88mins

Attendance 18486

MOM Amaral 8

Vs

Newcastle United 1 Cardiff City 0

Scott Parker grabbed the only goal in this one on 37mins Ze Roberto almost made it 1-0 on 16mins but for a fantastic save from Arenas but 3points well earned for the geordies

Attendance 51022

MOM Ze Roberto 8

Uefa Cup 2nd Qualifer Round 2nd Leg

Vs

Cardiff City 7 Dinamo Tirana 0

Again Cardiff ran there opponents ragged scoring 7 unanswered goals Amaral would net 4 of them 2,12,18 and 40th min, Walcott a double 24 and 83mins and Park Joo Young on 43mins sealed the easy victory and a 16-0 agg scoreline

Attendance 15079

MOM Amaral 10

Vs

Nottm Forest 2 Cardiff City 0

Newly promoted Forest would be without manager Andy Hepburn who was on a european scouting mission but that didnt seem to matter with Cardiff looking tired after the midweek uefa cup fixture, Forest took full advantage of it and went away with the 3points, Kuzubowski would score the opener on 38mins and Helguson sealed the win on 55mins

Attendance 30251

MOM Adam Drury 9

Bjarne K Ingebretsen has joined from Portsmouth 1m

Johan Iversen has left to join Schalke 1.8m

Dudu Cearense has joined from Cska Moscow 1.9m

in other news the undersoil heating at St Davids Stadium has now been installed and should help avoiding cancelled matches due to bad weather.

Vs

Cardiff City 0 Middlesbrough 2

Before this game started Perry was in the newspapers saying that if Boro sacked McClaren he wouldnt mind taking over at The Riverside well Cardiff fans didnt like the idea of that and called for Perry to resign, he didnt and was in the dugout for this one. He didnt help the cause with another loss to lower positioned team a Yakubu double salvo on 13 and 53mins earned Boro the 3points.

Attendance 24524

MOM Martin Stranzl 8

Sam Hammam has called a press confrence to discuss the situation with manager Perry being linked with Middlesbrough

Sky ReporterSo is Perry leaving Cardiff Mr Hammam ?

HammamIve talked to him about the situation and he has told me he wants to move onto a bigger club even though Cardiff are in the Uefa Cup, Ive asked him to reconsider his position at the club I know he loves the fans and the club but I will not stand in his way.

PerryFirstly Id like to thank the fans and the club for standing by me in the not so good times Ive had here I came here for 1 reason and that was to get Cardiff in the Premiership Ive done that but the Uefa Cup is proving to be a real nice treat we have has some very good games so far and for now Ive decided to stay here and move forward.

ReporterSo if Middlesbrough offered you a job you wouldnt go ?

PerryIve just told you Im manager of Cardiff and Im staying thank you I must now go take training before the Norwich game

HammamIm delighted with the news and I hope all the fans are too thank you all for coming.

Vs

Cardiff City 2 Norwich City 0

Cardiff seem to always do well against Norwich for some reason and they did it samba style this time both goals coming from brazilians Amaral on 15mins and Love on 63mins, Stuart Pearce was furious with his players after the match and kept them locked in the changing rooms for an hour afterwards

Attendance 20792

MOM Libis Andres Arenas 8

Uefa Cup 1st Round 1st Leg

Vs

M.Petach-Tikva 2 Cardiff City 3

Easily the hardest game of the Uefa Cup so far for Cardiff, Vagner Love gave Cardiff the lead after 21mins and Amaral made it 2-0 on 32mins, Cardiff seemed to be cruising but Shitrit made it 2-1 on 41mins to give the home side some hope Amaral would then score on 58mins to send the travelling Cardiff fans into rapture Amar added a 2nd for Tikva on 90mins to give them a great chance on the return leg in Cardiff, Kobi Danier was sent off on 74mins and will miss the return leg for Tikva

Attendance 10966

MOM Amaral 9

Vs

Arsenal 0 Cardiff City 2

Arsene Wenger praised Perry before the game saying how good his Cardiff team looks this season and it showed during this game they really took the battle to Arsenal, Lenny returning from Brazilian u21 duty scored first on 40mins before new boy Dudu sealed the win on 90mins

Attendance 53494

MOM Libis Andres Arenas 10

Vs

Cardiff City 4 Everton 1

Tim Cahill put the ball in his own net to give Cardiff the lead after 18mins, Voronin would make it 1-1 on 22mins before Love made it 2-1 right on half time Carrick would then convert from the spot on 55mins and Lenny sealed it on 65mins

Attendance 26611

MOM Libis Andres Arenas 9

Uefa Cup 1st Round 2st Leg

Vs

Cardiff City 8 M.Petach-Tikva 0

Cardiff came out firing on all cylinders for this one Amaral opened after 12mins before Lenny scored a quick hatrick 15,18 and 24mins, then it was Love who popped up to score on 31mins Carrick would then score a hatrick on 76,82 and 90mins to send the Cardiff faithful wild and for the first time in Cardiffs history since the new format came into the Uefa Cup they will be in the groups

Attendance 15118

MOM Michael Carrick 10

The draw for the group stages has been made and Cardiff face a hard task if they are to progress any further

UEFA Cup Group D

Besiktas (Turkey)

Leverkusen (Germany)

Sparta Prague (Czech Republic)

NK Inter (Z) (Croatia)

stay tuned to too if Cardiff have what it takes to get out of the group of death

[Andy H]

Damn my team are still too good for you Rob!!

[rouchie]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Andy H:

Damn my team are still too good for you Rob!! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

But not for me Andy

[rouchie]

Eagles Glad All Over Europe?

So the new season is finally upon, after finishing 2nd last season, with a runners up spot in the Premier League and in the League cup final and a semi-final in the UEFA cup, Palace are going to be hard pushed to improve on last season, unless of course they can finally actually win something in the top flight!!

The first game of the season see’s a long trip up north to face Wigan. Wigan are a well organised and disciplined team and Jimmy Bullard gives them a well deserved lead 5 minutes before the break. Rouch gives his team fresh instructions and made a few tactical changes and Palace were much brighter in the second half and when Andy Johnson converted the penalty just after the hour there only looked like one team that could go on and win it. Zigic had a goal ruled offside and Palace were unable to score again leaving them with a disappointing draw to kick the season off

Att : 16165

MOM : Billy Jones - 9 (Crystal Palace)

Referee – Uriah Rennie

Weather – Dry 22c

It all looked ominous when the Champions opened the scoring after just 4 minutes through Didier Drogba, but Palace settled well, after that, rode the storm and started to exert some control on the game, which was eventually rewarded with Kim Kallstroms first goal for the club right on the stroke of half time. Collins John made ir 2-1 just before the hour and Nikola Zigic sealed a memorable win right at the death

Att : 27214

MOM : Collins John - 9 (Crystal Palace)

Referee – Alan Wiley

Weather – Dry 24c

A poor and disappointing game after the highs of beating Chelsea, Palace were sucker punched by a dour Blackburn side who rode their luck to snatch this unlikely victory. Mladen Krstajic score with the Rovers first attack on 42 minutes to send the home side in 1-0 up at half time. Further injustice in the second half when Blackburn somehow conjured up the opportunity to go 2-0 upp and DeMarcus Beasley took full advantage. Palace were unable to break through the packed Blackburn defence and the game finished at 2-0.

Att : 17851

MOM : Mladen Krstajic - 8 (Blackburn)

Referee – Mark Clattenburg

Weather – Dry 17c

Still shocked by the smash and grab that Blackburn had performed on them, Palace had a very tough match against Newcastle to contend with next and the same referee for the second game in a row! Palace went ahead when Man of the Match hit a perfect volley 5 minutes before the break. Palace should have added to that strike and were made to regret their wastefulness when Albert Luque equalised midway through the second half. Neither team were able to press home their advantage and had to be content with a share of the points

Att : 27194

MOM : Nikola Zigic - 8 (Crystal Palace)

Referee – Mark Clattenburg

Weather – Dry 23c

Another game with an early scare for the travelling Palace fans when Yakubu put Boro ahead after just 3 minutes leaving Palace with a tough job to get back in to the game! Tom Soares had better ideas though and 20 minutes later had Palace back on level terms again. The team started playing like they believed they could win this one and the signs were good when Nikola Zigic put them ahead on 35 minutes and Collins John extended that lead just 2 minutes later leaving Boro going in to the dressing room in a shell-shocked state. Collins John added to the Riverside outfits woes when he grabbed his brace and sealed his own Man of the Match award and a 4-1 win for the Eagles

Att : 34902

MOM : Collins John – 9 (Crystal Palace)

Referee – Graham Poll

Weather – Dry 27c

So August departs and no one is any clearer as to who the likely challengers will be this season with most sides having a pretty inconsistent start. Palace will be hoping to be in the mix but will need to improve on the start they have made.

[Andy H]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by rouchie:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Andy H:

Damn my team are still too good for you Rob!! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

But not for me Andy </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Aww man your team are awful as well.

[rouchie]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Andy H:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by rouchie:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Andy H:

Damn my team are still too good for you Rob!! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

But not for me Andy </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Aww man your team are awful as well. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

well for an awfil team, we still managed to win 3-0

[Andy H]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by rouchie:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Andy H:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by rouchie:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Andy H:

Damn my team are still too good for you Rob!! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

But not for me Andy </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Aww man your team are awful as well. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

well for an awfil team, we still managed to win 3-0 </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Damn we didn't even put up a fight against your lot!!!!

I am give my assistant the boot he is costing me too much and then kick all my players asses!!!!!

[steff]

The new season gets underway at Wolves

With last season's disappointment firmly behind us it was time to try and make some good changes at Wolves and hopefully get off to a good start this season!

Here is a look at the players brought into the club during pre season :

Transfers In

And the scum kicked out:

Players Out

A rubbish pre season saw us win one of our four games

Pre Season Games

With the transfer dealings concluded and friendlies out of the way it was time to get onto the serious buisness as season 2008/2009 got under way in the Coca-Cola Championship.

Saturday 2nd August 2008: Doncaster v Wolves: Coca-Cola Championship: 5-1 win

A new season and a new look Wolves side here and it was two of the new signings that stole the show here.

Louis Saha sent us on our way in the 26th mintue with his debut goal, he followed that up with his second goal of the game a mere 4 minutes later, Doncaster managed to pull a goal back in the 34th minute through Paul Green, but five minutes later Ikechukwo Kalu grabbed his debut goal to give us a 3-1 lead.

Saha rounded of an excellent debut a minute before half time as he grabbed his hattrick. The second half was far less frantic than the first and only provided one goal comming from Kalu on the hour mark.

Great start to the new season

Saturday 9th August 2008: Wolves v Plymouth: Coca-Cola Championship: 2-0 win

Another three points in this one and it was Ikechukwo Kalu that keep this good

form going in this one as he grabbed a double to put Plymouth to the sword.

Kalu opened up the scoring in the 10th minute, Plymouth tried to press on after

that but pushed to far forward and were caught out by Kalu's pace in the 29th

minute as he raced clear of the last defender to smash to the ball home.

The rest of the match was actually a pretty even affair with both teams creating

chances but neither able to take advantage of them.

Saturday 9th August 2008: Portsmouth v Wolves: 4-2 loss

Well they say you can't win them all and this match proved that pretty up

Things had started so brightly as Ikechukwo Kalu fired us into the lead in the

35th minute.

Gary O' Neil pulled Portsmouth level a minute before the break, Wolves took the

lead again in the second half through that man Kalu (who else?) in the 58th

minute. This seemed to be the wake up call the Portsmouth needed as they jumped

to life and played a stunning 30minutes of football and buried us

Robert Earnshaw pulled them level in the 62nd minute, Andres D'Alessandro gave

them the lead in the 73rd minute and Vitaly Kutuzov made sure of all three pionts

with his goal in the 78th minute.

Sad but a well deserved win for Portsmouth.

Tuesday 12th August 2008: Wolves v Q.P.R: Coca-cola championship: 1-1 draw

This one was just rubbish!

From both sides

Paul Wotton gave Wolves the lead in the 49th minute from nothing, and the only

other highlight of any note was when Martin Rowlands pulled Q.P.R level in the

77th minute.

crap

Wednesday 20th August 2008: Wolves v Boston Utd : Carling Cup 1st Round : 4-0

win

A comfortable win here in our Carling cup match, Boston Utd found themselves

unable to cope our superiour ability and were already out of this match after

half an hour.

Damien Delaney set us on our way after only 4 minutes, Ikewchukwo Kalu and made

it 2-0 on the hour mark and was back on turned again six minutes later has he

volloyed home from a corner kick to give Wolves a 3-0 advantage.

The second half was a much quieter affair with the game already won and Boston

Utd seemingly happy now to settle for not losing eight or nine goals it appeared

both teams would just play out the clock, the only highlight of a rather dull

second half was Paul Wotton's 63rd minute penalty to give Wolves a 4-0 lead.

Saturday 23rd August 2008: Wolves v Watford : Coca-Cola Championship: 5-2

win

Watford started this match very brightly indeed, infact they took an early lead

in the 5th minute through Krisztian Kenessi and things were looking very good for

them at this very early point in the match. Their lead and indeed their joy would

be shortlived though as Ikechukwo Kalu pulled Wolves level four minutes later.

Paul wotton them fired my lot into the lead in teh 29th minute \o/, Misfiring

Louis saha made it 3-1 on the 38th minute as the entire backroom staff fainted at

the sight of him actually scoring a goal. With Wolves sitting comfortably at half

time 3-1 up it was hard to see any way back for Watford in the second half.

Five minutes after the game got underway again we had added to our goal haul as

Romeo Castelen made it 4-1 with his well placed shot from 25 yards. Kalu grabbed

his second on the game in the 63rd minute to give us the 5-1 lead \o/

Foot taken off pedal at this point and Watford managed to grab a consolation

second goal right on the stroke of full time through James Beattie.

Monday 25th August 2008: Derby v Wolves: Coca-Cola Championship: 1-0 win

Sometimes you hammer your opponents (see last game against Watford) and win in

good style, other times you have to grind out a result and take what you can get,

well this was one of those times. Both teams created very little chances and was

obvious from the get go that it might only take one goal to settle this one.

That one goal game from Ikechukwo Kalu in the 25th minute.

Saturday 6th September 2008: Wolves v Bristol City : Coca-Cola Championship:

0-0 draw

Boring 0-0 draw, nothing else to add really.

Tuesday 9th September 2008: Leicester v Wolves: Coca-Cola Championship: 0-0

draw

Rubbish, boring, as above really

Saturday 13th September 2008 : Brighton v Wolves: Coca-Cola Championship : 2-1

loss

A loss

Things had started so well for us as well as Ikechukwu continued his amazing

scoring record for us by opening the scoring in the 22nd minute, sadly this was

the only slice of good fortune we had here and things took a turn for the worst

in the 44th minute when Damien Delaney put the ball past his own keeper to draw

Brighton level.

As the clock wound down in this game it looked like both sides were going to have

to settle for the draw until Jake Robinson appeared from nowhere in 89th minute

to rattle the ball past the helpless Richard Wright to give Brighton all three

points.

Wednesday 17th September 2008: Wovles v Bolton : Carling Cup 2nd Rnd : 2-2

draw Bolton win 3-2 on penalties

Up against premiership opposition in the shape of Bolton in this Carling cup tie,

this was always going to be a hard task for us but I couldn't have asked for more

from the lads as they took Bolton right down to the wire.

Kevin Nolan opened the scoring for Bolton in the 19th minute and that single goal

was enough to give them the lead going into the half time interval.

A minute after the restart Ikechukwu Uche grabbed his first goal of teh season

and drew us level, in the 55th minute Paul Wotton send us into the lead with his

spot kick, our lead only lasted seven minutes though as Jonathan Stead pulled

Bolton level.

Both sides had chances to finish the game off within the regulation 90mins but

were unable to take them.

The same could been said about the extra time peroids, so the match went to

penalites!

Saturday 20th September 2008: Wolves v Sheff Wed: Coca-Cola Championship: 1-1

draw

This was another dull game with chances very few and far between and an excitment

level of 0.00000000000001.

Romeo Castelen sent us on our way in the 29th minute. Both sides had a few half chances before the end of the half but nothing worth shouting about. Five minutes into the second half and David Graham was getting all ideas above his station and grabbed a goal! the cheek of it! sadly again this was the only highlight of a rather dull half and most the fans where just glad this crap was over when the final whistle eventually went.

Tuesday 23rd Septemeber 2008: Wolves V Charlton : Coca-Cola Championship: 8-1 win

With a free flowing Wolves side meeting one of the promotion favourites you'd think this match would be a pretty tight one with the sides seperated by the odd goal if that eh?

Well thats not what exactly happend as we smashed eight goals past Charlton with only one in reply.

Star of the show was of course Ikechukwo Kalu as he netted six of our goals!

The scoring was opened by Kalu in the 3rd minute, he quickly followed that up with his second in the 8th minute, Paul Wotton added number three from the penalty spot in the 20th minute. Scott Kavanagh pulled one back for Charlton in the 31st minute as they tried to mount some sort of comeback. The idea of any sort of comeback was put to pay by Kalu as he grabbed another double (36 mins and 43mins) to give us a 5-1 lead at half time

Kalu started the second half as he finished the first and grabbed his fifth goal of the game in the 48th minute,he completed his second hattrick of the game in the 61st minute. It looked like this would be all of the action for today but Paul Wotton converted his second penalty of the day to make it 8-1 in the 89th minute.

Just magic

[steff]

If someone friendly mod comes across this could you please fix the link to the two missing pictures, the "h" is missing from the "http" part of the link

[rouchie]

Or even an unfriendly one, he's not fussy

[Goldy]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by steff:

If someone friendly mod comes across this could you please fix the link to the two missing pictures, the "h" is missing from the "http" part of the link </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

All sorted Steff

[Andy H]

EFB Zeitung – Season 3

Well folks the EFB Zeitung has been dusted down and is good to go again as season three of EFB has been completed and what a season it has been for all of those involved in our beautiful game. Not only will we run through the trials and tribulations of those involved we will also take a look at the highlights from Europe and also from Scotland.

So lets get on with it and get the Zeitung underway……

English Review

Charity Shield

The annual curtain raiser for the English season saw two of the biggest teams in the world go head to head in Manchester Utd and Arsenal. It was a one sided final as the Gunners blew Utd off the pitch in an all conquering display and sent out a firm message to the rest of the Premiership that the Gunners will be a huge force to be reckoned with.

Gunners shoot the Red Devils down in flames!!!!

Manchester Utd 0 v 3 Arsenal

Carling Cup Final

Yet again we saw Paul Rouch’s Crystal Palace fight through to the latter stages of the Carling Cup but only to be beaten by an Aston Villa side who saw lady luck shine on them in the final. Rouchie’s side have came so close to winning and surely they will win one of these finals!!!

Villains strike lucky in the Carling final!!!!!

Aston Villa 2 v 0 Crystal Palace

FA Cup Final

In the FA Cup this year Chelsea reached the final again and they were up against Middlesboro, who had done brilliantly to get to the final. There was another surprise in store as Boro went on to win the cup and Chelsea were left shellshocked. An explosive last ten minutes saw Boro net twice and Chelsea captain John Terry got his marching orders.

Boro shock Chelsea to take the FA Cup back up north!!!

Middlesbrough 2 v 0 Chelsea

LDV Vans Trophy Final

A tightly contested affair this year between Doncaster and Notts County, both of League One. They could not be separated over 120 minutes of football and it was won by Doncaster after the dreaded penalty shoot out.

Doncaster hold nerve to win via a shoot out!!!!

Doncaster 1 v 1 Notts County aet (Doncaster won on pens)

FA Trophy Final

Another tightly contested final between MK Dons and Farnborough saw the MK dons come out on top. A game of few chances, the MK dons managed to snatch a goal just on half time and it was enough to win the trophy.

Dons win tight final!!!!

MK Dons 1 v 0 Farnborough

Premiership Review

Its the big one! England’s top league with many heavy weights battling it out to be number one in the country, but also, there are many other valuable places up for grabs with Champions League places, Uefa Cup spaces and of course, the dreaded relegation places! Who would be good enough to win the league this season and gain European football for next season. After a tough season it was Chelsea who came out on top, four points ahead of runners up, Paul Rouch’s Crystal Palace. Big hitters Liverpool finished level on points with Palace but had an inferior goal difference and last season’s champions Arsenal could only finish fourth which for them is really poor. One of the stories of the season was Man Utd’s shocking eighth position finish. Rob Perry’s Cardiff had a great season and finished in a superb seventh position and Intertoto cup football for them next season.

The relegation battle saw Portsmouth, Birmingham and Charlton all lose their Premiership status and next season will be battling it out in the Championship. They all had poor seasons with Charlton and Birmingham only winning five times all season.

Premiership Table

Premiership Champions............. Chelsea

Runners Up........................ Crystal Palace

Relegated to the Championship are Portsmouth, Birmingham and Charlton.

Palace flying high…almost above us all!!!!

They came so close but just did not have enough to overtake Chelsea to win the Premiership. Chelsea eventually won it by four points but what an effort from Rouch’s team. Pre season the critics said they could not repeat the success of last season and would be lucky to finish in the top ten. Palace not only matched last season’s success but they went on to better last season’s fourth place finish.

In addition to finishing as runners up in the Premiership he also managed to get palace to the final of the Carling Cup here they were beaten by Aston Villa but deserved more from the final on the day. In the FA cup they suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Blackburn in the fourth round but overall what a brilliant season for rouchie!!!! Who knows how he will do next season. Can he emulate this season’s exploits??

Perry takes the Bluebirds to a whole new level!!!!!

Rob Perry’s Cardiff came into the season expecting to go straight back to the Championship or so the critics said before the season got underway. Perry with his usual 10 million plus signings seem to gel quickly and ended up having an absolutely superb season that saw them finish in seventh place and grab an Intertoto Cup spot as a reward. It was Cardiff’s first ever season in the top flight and will long be remembered as his players showed the rest of the league they could be a match for anyone on their day.

With Perry concentrating on the league, Cardiff were put out of both cups early on including a 2-0 loss at the hands of the mighty Nottingham Forest, led by Andrew Hepburn.

Championship Review

This season’s Championship race was unbelievably tense and went right down to the last day of the season with no team really dominating the league as in previous years. No fewer than four teams had spells at the top of the league but could not sustain the position for very long. In the end Nottingham Forest came out on top ahead of huge teams such as West Brom, West Ham and Fulham who all had to settle for play off places. West Brom finished in the runners up spot but will kicking themselves as they really did throw the league title away in the closing stages of the season.

In the play offs West Ham and Fulham got to the final with the Hammers coming out on top and retuning to the Premiership.

In the relegation battle, Yeovil were truly awful, only winning once all season, which has to be some sort of record! Brentford and Luton joined them and will be playing League One football next season.

Championship Winners........... Nottingham Forest

Runners Up..................... West Brom

Play Off Winners............... West Ham

Relegated to League are Luton, Brentford & Yeovil.

Championship Table

Play Off Final - West Ham 1 v 0 Fulham

Hepburn leads Forest back to the big time!!!!!!!

After years of being away from the top of English football, Hepburn has led them back into England’s top league. His team did it the hard way but in the end Forest won the league much to delight of the fans and everyone connected to the club. At one point it looked as if they were not going to make it but then a great last month or so in the league saw them overtake West Brom and claim the league title.

In the cups Forest had good runs in both of them and all in all it was a superb season for Nottingham Forest. Next season will be tough for Forest but they just have to look at Cardiff City for inspiration to have a successful first season in the Premiership.

Hall struggles to get the Royals rolling!!!!!!

Tony Hall’s Reading, after coming so close on previous occasions to getting to the Premiership it was a surprise when they only finished in ninth place. Hall has struggled to get the Royals going and at one point was wanting to leave after rejecting a new contract. Lets hope Hall and his team can put their problems behind them and get them bak challenging amongst the play off spots next season.

Browning leaves the Blades and signs on at Molineux!!!!!

After not having much success at all at Sheffield Utd, Steff Browning was sacked and sent on his way. After a short exile from football he gathered his thoughts and seeing who he could ruin next. He applied for the job at Wolves and for some reason got it. So Browning was in charge at Wolves and managed a safe mid table position come the end of the season. It will be interesting to see how Wolves do next season with a whole lot of cash.

League One Review

Much like the Championship was, this year’s League One proved to be a highly competitive league. Plymouth won it by four points but only nine points seperated the top seven so that shows you just how close it was.

League One Winners....... Plymouth

Runners Up............... Bristol City

Play Off Winners......... Doncaster

Relegated to League Two are Crewe, Stockport, Colchester & Rochdale.

League One Table

Play Off Final - Doncaster 0 v 0 Gillingham aet (Doncaster won 5-4 on pens)

League Two Review

League Two was dominated by Tranmere as they won the league by fourteen points. The real highlight was the race for second place as three teams finished on seventy one points and only separated by goal difference. Northampton claimed second spot as they scored the most goals out of the three and Wrexham claimed the last automatic promotion spot by conceding one goal less than Chesterfield, who must have been the unluckiest team ever not have been promoted as they went on to lose the play off final on penalties to Exeter!!!!

League Two winners............. Tranmere

Runners Up..................... Northampton

Third Place.................... Wrexham

Play Off Winners............... Exeter

Relegated to the Conference are Port Vale & Accrington.

League Two Table

Play Off Final - Exeter 1 v 1 Chesterfield aet (exeter won 4-2 on pens)

National Conference Review

The MK Dons made it a double as they won the Conference by eleven points to add to their FA trophy victory earlier in the season. No one got close tot hem throughout the season and their quality shone through. In the battle of for one play off spot, Aldershot got it with a 1-0 victory in extra time over Grays.

Conference Champions....... MK Dons

Play Off Winners........... Aldershot

Relegated to the Conference North/south are Crawley, Bishop’s Stortford, Farnborough & Northwich.

Conference Table

Play Off Final - Grays 0 v 1 Aldershot aet

Scottish Review

Bank Of Scotland Premier League

A fantastic season in the SPL saw Rangers take home the title, winning it by three points from Celtic and Falkirk who had an amazing season and almost broke the old firm monopoly in Scotland. The other so called big clubs in Scotland also had poor seasons with Hearts finishing in sixth place and Hibs also having a poor season and finishing in ninth place. Motherwell found themselves relegated and will be playing first division football next season.

SPL Table

Scottish Cup

The Scottish Cup final threw up a surprise when neither of the old firm made it to the final. This years final was a one sided contest between Aberdeen and Dunfermline with Aberdeen winning comfortably. It’s good to see the old firm not dominating Scottish football and other teams challenging for honours.

The Dons hammer the Pars in one sided final!!!!!!

Aberdeen 3 v 0 Dunfermline

CIS Cup Final

Rangers made it a double by winning the CIS Cup with a narrow win over Aberdeen who made it to yet another cup final. Aberdeen had their chances to win this game but in the end Rangers held firm and it was a double winning season for them.

Gers just about overcome the Dons to win the double!!!

Aberdeen 0 v 1 Rangers

European Scene

Champions League

Another champions league final yet another English team were in it. Two time winners Chelsea were not there as it was Liverpool’s turn to have a great run through to the final where they faced Inter Milan of Italy. A tense, close game saw an Adriano goal win it for Inter in the first half. Liverpool were unable to break down a stubborn Inter defence and Inter went on to win the Champions League.

Brazilian genius wins the Champions League for Inter!!!!!!!

Liverpool 0 v 1 Inter

UEFA Cup

This season’s Uefa Cup final was between Athletic and Bayern Munich, who surprisingly did make it past the group stages of the Champions League. It did not matter to them as they went on in the UEFA and won it with a hard fought win against Athletic. Not much between the teams but Roy Makaay got the goal that won the UEFA cup for Bayern.

MaKaay wins the UEFA Cup for Bayern!!!!!

Athletic 0 v 1 Bayern Munich

European Super Cup

This year’s European Super Cup saw Chelsea take on Dutch side Feynoord before the huge Champions League Draw in Monte Carlo. It what was an entertaining game to get the European season underway it was Chelsea who came out on top.

Chelsea win European opener with some style!!!!

Chelsea 2 v 1 Feynoord

So it has been a superb season in the world football and for those in EFB there were some highs and lows for all our players. Now we move onto next season when battle recommences and lets see what it brings to all of us playing EFB.

[Andy H]

Ahh ffs I got everything in the Zeitung spot on apart from the damn EFB banner missing at the top!!!!

[ChefRobGaming]

brilliant Zeitung there andy well done mate

[Andy H]

Cheers

[Jambo4eva]

Well Done Andy , I would say that is as good as Steve's if not better !

[rouchie]

Good work!

[RedStar101]

Session Dates: 11th, 25th & 27th July 2006

Players Sold: 6

Leroy Lita ST Brighton - £630K

Brynjar Gunnarsson D C/DM Bristol City - £110K

Steve Sidwell M C Sheff Utd - £1.2m

Ben Hamer GK Stockport - £3K

Stephen Hunt AM L Portsmouth – Free

Ibrahima Sonko D C Sheff Utd - £350K

Players Released: 1

Simon Church ST

Players Arrived: 2

Dietmar Hamann DM Liverpool

Mikael Forssell ST Birmingham

Players Signed: 2

Luca Castellazzi GK Sampdoria Free

Michael Chopra ST Crystal Palace - £1m

Loans In: 3

Shane Paul AM R/ST Aston Villa – End of Season

Didier Digard D C/DM Norwich – End of Season

Sandro Bloudek AM C Aston Villa – End of Season

Preseason Results

Darlington 1 vs 0 Reading

Darlington Scorer: Simon Johnson (42)

Attendance: 7,161

MOM: Joey Hutchinson (Darlington)

Halifax 0 vs 2 Reading

Reading Scorers: Dave Kitson (5) & Mikael Forssell (35)

Attendance: 8,675

MOM: Michael Rose (Halifax)

Injuries: Marcus Hahnemann (48) & Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (65)

Crewe 1 vs 2 Reading

Crewe Scorer: Nicky Maynard (16)

Reading Scorers: Emile Heskey (13) & Dave Kitson (87)

Attendance: 8,058

MOM: Chris Riggott (Reading)

Hendon 0 vs 2 Reading

Reading Scorers: Emile Heskey (28) & Mikael Forssell (49)

Attendance: 3,020

MOM: Stephen Wright (Reading)

Red Cards: Robbie Threlfall (Hendon) (3)

Kettering 0 vs 2 Reading

Reading Scorers: Emile Heskey (1) & Pedro Vega (40)

Attendance: 5,996

MOM: Pedro Vega (Reading)

Season Begins

Championship

Sheff Wed 0 vs 2 Reading

Reading Scorer: Mikael Forssell (16 & 34)

Attendance: 19,784

MOM: Mikael Forssell (Reading)

Reading Injuries: Mikael Forssell (55) & Sandro Bloudek (86)

Good start to the season with an away win against Sheffield Wednesday and my new striker scores a double on his league debut. Only downside is that he got injured along with another new player.

Reading 3 vs 1 Coventry

Reading Scorers: Shane Long (31), Cesar Arzo (38) & Dietmar Hamann (Pen 43)

Coventry Scorer: Stephen Crainey (80)

Attendance: 18,496

MOM: Cesar Arzo (Reading)

Reading Injuries: Emile Heskey (21)

The encouraging start of the season continues with a confident performance from the players. Shane Long who was playing in the reseveres a season ago is continuing his rise in the senior ranks and scored the first goal and a 38th minute goal from Cesar Arzo capped a man of the match performance for him and a penalty from Hamann secured his first goal for Reading.

Leicester 0 vs 3 Reading

Reading Scorers: Paul Robertson (14) & Michael Chopra (32 & 58)

Attendance: 32,462

MOM: Chris Riggott (Reading)

Its beginning to fall into place as Reading notch up their third win in a row and now find themselves top of the table after another new Striker scores a double on his debut. Thanks goes to Rouchie for selling Chopra to me. Paul Robertson scored Readings First goal before Chopra added to the scoreline with his double.

Reading 0 vs 1 Millwall

Millwall Scorer: Anthony Gardner (6)

Attendance: 24,066

MOM: Anthony Gardner (Millwall)

Reading suffered their first defeat of the season and the defeat was dealt by a surprising opponent, Millwall, who I beat convincingly last season, but still it was only a 1-0 defeat.

Charlton 3 vs 2 Reading

Charlton Scorer: Darren Bent (12, 43 & 73)

Reading Scorer: Michael Chopra (15 & 25)

Attendance: 30,316

MOM: Darren Bent (Charlton)

So much for the good start, the bad form that blighted Reading’s season last season seems to be returning. Relegated Charlton seem to be aiming for a quick return to the premiership and Darren Bent certain wants to make that happen after scoring a hat trick. Chopra scored another double but couldn’t save Reading in time.

League Cup

CH Reading 2 vs 0 Northampton L1

Reading Scorers: Cesar Arzo (13) & Dave Kitson (90)

Attendance: 6,020

MOM: Stephen Wright (Reading)

Goals from Dave Kitson and Cesar Arzo were enough to seal Reading’s progress to the next round.

Championship

Reading 3 vs 0 Doncaster

Reading Scorers: Dave Kitson (35), Michael Chopra (53) & Paul Robertson (56)

Attendance:18,018

MOM: Cesar Arzo (Reading)

Back to winning ways and goals from Dave Kitson, Michael Chopra and Paul Robertson were enough to secure a commanding victory against Doncaster who never really threatened the Reading defence.

Fulham 0 vs 1 Reading

Reading Scorer: Emile Heskey (63)

Attendance: 28,374

MOM: Shane Paul (Reading)

Another good win even if it was by a small margin. Emile Heskey’s 63rd Minute was enough to secure the points in this closely fought match.

Reading 1 vs 1 Plymouth

Reading Scorer: Michael Chopra (9)

Plymouth Scorer: Sylvan Ebanka-Blake (6)

Attendance: 19,526

MOM: Michael Chopra (Reading)

Red Cards: Gary Doherty (Plymouth) (26)

Disappointing draw since my team should have beaten 10 men. Chopra scoring Reading’s only goal. Chopra seems to be winning the fans over.

Preston 1 vs 1 Reading

Preston Scorer: Patrick Agyemang (78)

Reading Scorer: Michael Chopra (43)

Attendance: 16,069

MOM: Didier Digard (Reading)

Another draw but I’m satisfied with that since Preston have not beaten me again. Michael Chopra again with Reading’s only goal.

Ipswich 1 vs 0 Reading

Ipswich Scorer: Neil Bilham (68)

Attendance: 28,469

MOM: Neil Bilham (Ipswich)

Poor match by Reading’s standards and I will always hate it when my former team beats me.

League Cup

L2 S****horpe 0 vs 4 Reading CH

Reading Scorers: Michael Chopra (3, 29 & 40) & Shane Paul (90)

Attendance: 6,304

MOM: Michael Chopra (Reading)

Even if it was just a League 2 side I think this was probably one of Readings best performances under me. Michael Chopra was just simply the best player on the pitch and did well to score his first Reading hat trick followed by Shane Paul’s first goal for Reading.

Championship

Reading 1 vs 2 Portsmouth

Reading Scorer: Mikael Forssell (48)

Portsmouth Scorers: Robert Earnshaw (5) & Lomana LuaLua (17)

Attendance: 24,093

MOM: Robert Earnshaw (Portsmouth)

Reading lost this match in the first half and didn’t really look like they wanted to beat Portsmouth. Returning Mikael Forssell seemed to want to win the match but his 48th minute goal wasn’t enough to wake the rest of the side up.

Reading 1 vs 3 Q.P.R

Reading Scorer: Mikael Forssell (38)

Q.P.R Scorers: Conal Platt (33), Dominic Shimmin (45) & Lee Dixon (75)

Attendance: 24,078

MOM: Justin Hoyte (Q.P.R)

Again Mikael Forssell seemed to be the only Reading player trying to win the match. Reading just couldn’t get past Q.P.R’s defence after Forssell’s 38th Minute goal.

Championship Position at end of session: 9th

[steff]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Goldy:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by steff:

If someone friendly mod comes across this could you please fix the link to the two missing pictures, the "h" is missing from the "http" part of the link </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

All sorted Steff </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

\o/ thanks Steve.

And well done with the Zeitung Andy.