Royals six points from safety after Sunderland defeat
Sportsdesk • Published 11 Dec 2012 21:43
2 Comments
READING'S relegation woes deepened after a 3-0 defeat at fellow strugglers Sunderland.
Royals took just three minutes to go behind to a James McClean opener before Steve Fletcher's smart finish doubled Sunderland's lead in Tuesday night's rearranged match.
The visitors did put up a fight in the second period but Stephane Sessegnon struck a third in injury time to earn Martin O'Neill's side their first home Premier League win of the season which lifted them out of the drop zone.
Reading, meanwhile, are left with a mountain to climb with Brian McDermott's men entrenched in the bottom three and six points from safety entering the festive period.
However, it doesn't get any easier for the Royals who entertain Arsenal next Monday then go to champions Manchester City the following weekend.
Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on McDermott to turn the team's fortunes around, though the manager this week received the full backing of Reading chairman Sir John Madejski.
However, unconfirmed reports were circulating after the game linking Royals with former assistant manager Wally Downes.
Downes, 51, left his post as Sam Allardyce's first-team coach at West Ham by mutual consent on Tuesday night.
The former Crazy Gang member was Steve Coppell's assistant when Reading were last in the Premier League and left the Madejski Stadium along with Coppell in 2009.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Leave a comment below.
This article appeared in Bracknell News 11 Dec 12
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Miriam
Unregistered User
Dec 12, 05:10
Report commentI like Brian and am not one to jump on the blame the manager band wagon but something has to be done. We are down but we can at least still fight.
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OldNed
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Dec 12, 15:19
Report commentWe need to shore up and organise a defence with more holes than Compo's vest, so perhaps Wally Downs is the man to help Brian get things organised at the back. Surely the priority for the January transfer window must be more Premiership experience in the squad and more creativity from midfield. Can't get my head round the Guthrie situation; there seems to have been a problem from the start of the season. His contribution seems to be zilch and his commitment questionable.
Lucky we have two easy ganes coming up on Monday and the following Saturday
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