Just read it's the first time Leicester have won two games in a row since April 2007. That's a season and a bit...

Car Expert

See what we have to go through!!

As a Charlton fan, well used to abject misery and failure, I know exactly what you have to go through Nicki...

Hehe, there are and thanks (yes it's a bit late...but I didn't even know this thread existed!! )
Shame we didn't win this weekend, although Man U are never going to be an easy side to beat and we did hold them to 0-0 for 90mins, and we were playing horrendously too!
All the best for the new season everyone

Carling Cup 2nd round draw
Ipswich v Colchester
Coventry v Newcastle
Hartlepool v West Brom
West Ham v Macclesfield
Huddersfield v Sheff Utd
Cardiff v MK Dons
Swansea v Hull
Rotherham v Wolverhampton
Brighton v Man City
Reading v Luton
Blackburn v Grimsby
Wigan v Notts County
Leeds v Crystal Palace
Crewe v Bristol City
Middlesbrough v Yeovil
Fulham v Leicester
QPR v Carlisle
Nottm Forest v Sunderland
Burnley v Oldham
Southampton v Birmingham
Bolton v Northampton
Watford v Darlington
Preston v Derby
Cheltenham v Stoke

Luton is a dangerous tie for us after their win over Plymouth. But at least we have avoided the latter

Car Expert

Why do we have to get Fulham?!

Because it's an easy journey for MisterJay, of course.


Arsenal won 2-0.

I have a question which will probably be of interest to Car Expert (or any other Reading Fans on the Forums!)
I listened to a programme this evening on Radio Scotland in which the footballer Andy McLaren was interviewed; he talked about how his drug and alchohol misuse in his earlier years had most likely prevented him from becoming the footballer he was capable of becoming. I remember him playing for Dundee United when they defeated Rangers in the 1994 cup final - he certainly looked a player full of potential at that time.
He talked of his decision to go to Reading, hoping to escape his past troubles in Dundee. Does anyone remember anything about Andy's time at Reading and/or have any opinions on him as a footballer?
Would be most interested to hear any views which anyone might have.

Charlton and Reading were both in what was then called Division 1 in the mid-nineties.

Reading were a better side than Charlton at that time, and I seem to remember his name mentioned when Reading were playing us (they nearly made the Premiership in the mid nineties), but more than that, I don't know I'm afraid.

I'm probably too young to remember anything about Andy McLaren when he was at Reading. Alan Pardew was manager of Reading at the time, and now of course he's the manager of Charlton.

Car Expert

Bring it on! Our first season in the premiership!


Ps. Are there any other Tigers fans on here?

Leicester have just been described as "dreadful"

That's a coincidence, so have Charlton...

Maybe we should play each other! We could have the worst match in history.

*goes to see whether a) it was a 0-0 draw (likely) or b) Leicester lost 1-0 in the 89th minute (likely)*

Edit - 0-0 draw, how did I guess?

Reading beat Plymouth 2-0

Car Expert

Hull beat Fulham 2-1!!!! WOW!

Charlton were beaten 1-0 by Watford, and had a player sent off.

I really don't see this Charlton side doing very well, sadly, despite the first day win. They look very ordinary, and I don't really think Reading (our next visitors) will be quaking in their boots on Saturday...

A good strat from Bolton....for a change!!!

Dundee United 1 - Celtic 1 - a great match played at a blistering pace, but once again the main talking point is the tendency for major decisions to go in favour of the 'Old Firm' team. In this case, a blatant penalty which United were denied.
Some refereeing decisions are making refereeing of matches north of the border a bit of a joke - provoking growing unrest among the footballing community here at the apparent bias towards the two 'big' teams.
Is this a problem which forumites south of the border are experiencing? Do English referees bottle out of giving decisions against the 'big teams'?
It would be interesting to find out if this is a nationwide tendency, or whether it is restricted largely to the SFA.

It has certainly long been a feature of games at Old Trafford.

Reading lost 4-2 to Charlton

Car Expert

*wonders whether Leics are playing today*

Oooh, they are AND they're winning. *shock*

Lewes have conceded a goal to go 1-0 down to Weymouth at half-time...

Looks like their game kicked off late for some reason...

Car Expert

Reading thrashed Luton 5-1

The shocks in the 2nd round of the Carling Cup are:

• Bolton losing 2-1 at home to Northampton
• Swansea beating Hull 2-1 after extra time
• West Brom losing 3-1 to Hartlepool after extra time
• Bristol City losing 2-1 to Crewe
• Leeds thrashing Crystal Palace 4-0

And Rotherham are through to the third round after winning yet another penalty shoot-out against Championship opposition (this time Wolves).

And bad luck to Queen of the South who undeservedly went out of the UEFA Cup.

Car Expert

Typical Leicester, as Nicki would most certainly agree - they lead 2-1 at one point against Fulham, draw level with seven minutes to go, and then concede in stoppage time...

Car Expert

Waheyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UEFA Champions League Draw - Group Stage

• Group A: Chelsea, AS Roma, Bordeaux, CFR Cluj
• Group B: Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, Panathinaikos, Anorthosis Famagusta
• Group C: Barcelona, Sporting Lisbon, FC Basel, Shakhtar Donetsk
• Group D: Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven, Marseille, Atletico Madrid
• Group E: Man Utd, Villarreal, Celtic, Aab Aalborg
• Group F: Lyon, Bayern Munich, Steaua Bucharest, Fiorentina
• Group G: Arsenal, FC Porto, Fenerbahce, Dynamo Kiev
• Group H: Real Madrid, Juventus, Zenit St Petersburg, Bate Borisov

Interesting to see Celtic and Man Utd in the same group again...

Car Expert

Yup, there's another Tiger fan here. Good first two results - better than expected!

Hannah

After narrowingly being defeated by Liverpool, Standard Liege face another trip to Merseyside in the UEFA Cup

UEFA Cup First Round Draw - Selected Ties

• Everton v Standard Liege (Belgium)
• St Patrick's Athletic (Ireland) v Hertha Berlin (Germany)
• Portsmouth v Vitoria SC (Portugal)
• Tottenham v Wisla Krakow (Poland)
• Manchester City v AC Omonia (Cyprus)
• Nancy (France) v Motherwell
• Litex Lovech (Bulgaria) v Aston Villa

And one of the favourites AC Milan (who could've drawn St Patrick's), face FC Zurich.

Car Expert

The Carling Cup draw is very soon. Hope Reading don't get Rotherham as I don't want the possibility of us being the next Championship side to lose a penalty shoot-out against them

Car Expert

Carling Cup 3rd Round Draw
Stoke v Reading
Swansea v Cardiff
Newcastle v Tottenham
Liverpool v Crewe
Portsmouth v Chelsea
Arsenal v Sheff Utd
Man Utd v Middlesbrough
Aston Villa v QPR
Blackburn v Everton
Rotherham v Southampton
Sunderland v Northampton
Brighton or Man City v Derby
Watford v West Ham
Ipswich v Wigan
Burnley v Fulham
Leeds v Hartlepool

Nice Welsh derby in the mix there . Looks like Kitson and Sonko may be facing their former club...

Car Expert

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

4-0 to Leicester, think they might be top tonight!

How very un-Leicester-like!

Charlton look set to lose at the moment...

Yes, well maybe we're turning over a new leaf!

Reading won 4-2 against Crystal Palace - we're now up to 6th

In the FA Cup preliminary round, Chasetown are through, but Harrogate Railway are already out after reaching the 2nd round last season.

Car Expert

Not good for Hull today - we lost 0-5 at home to Wigan. Bit of a slide down the table after that.

3-0 to Pompey
finally, after a hard hard start to the season we are on our way back
though how did we manage to be drawn against Chelsea for the Carling Cup! Really annoys me that they get away with so much bad bad bad football - out right cheating (i.e. shirt pulling, tripping up/fouls)/amateur dramatics (i.e diving, time wasting)...the refs just hand decisions their way even when they're wrong and then as soon as the opposing team does one little thing it's a huuuuuuge deal and the ref wakes up...is it just me that's noticed that, in like, every single Chelsea match against anyone ever?? If you're gonna win and b the best team etcetc, at least play fair!

Just been thinking... after watching yesterday's Premier League action on MOTD, it has made me realise that this goal-line technology really needs to be installed sooner rather than later.

There were three incidents where the ball crossed or looked to have crossed the line after hitting the underside of the bar. The goal at Hull was given, which was the correct decision. The clever shot by Defoe for Pompey did cross the line and was originally awarded to Crouch when he headed it in to make sure but Defoe has now claimed it; and the incident at Bolton where the 30-yard shot by WBA's Kim shot hit the underside of the bar. From one angle, it looked as though the ball bounced on the line, but from another angle, it looked as though it might've just crept over the line. If it did, WBA have been hard done by.

Any thoughts?

Car Expert

Kevin Keegan was sacked as Newcastle manager...

...but now, Newcastle claim he hasn't been sacked

Car Expert

Leicester were playing in some trophy I had never heard of tonight

The Johnstone's Paints trophy Nicki. Only League 1 and 2 clubs play in it.

Leicester beat Hartlepool by 3 goals to nil last night.

Yes , my nearest team Tranmere beat Accrington Stanley 1-0 in that competition. My colleagues in Headingley are Leeds supporters, they beat nearby Bradford 2-1.
I have an ongoing battle with my colleagues here. At the moment Tranmere have more points than Leeds in Div 1, but I dont expect them to finish higher than Leeds by the seasons end.

Well, Alan Curbishley hasn't lasted as long at West Ham as he did at Charlton...

Keegan has now resigned.

Car Expert

So the soap opera that is Newcastle United continues.

Keeping on swapping managers is not good for a football club. The season before last, Charlton had three different managers. The end result was relegation.

And the teams are split into northern and southern sections until the final.

Leicester have now been drawn at home to Lincoln. Leyton Orient travel to Brighton, which will be interesting...

Car Expert

I see England have won their first qualifier for the World Cup...

But I somehow can't see them beating Croatia on Wednesday...

Car Expert

And I was wrong... England won 4-1

In other qualifiers, Scotland beat Iceland 2-1, Wales lost 2-1 at Russia, NI drew 0-0 against the Czech Republic, Bosnia thrashed Estonia 7-0 and Switzerland lost 2-1 at home to Luxembourg.

Car Expert