Football Season Guide

After the despair of losing to Swansea in the play-off final in May, it has been a very quiet summer for Brian McDermott. He has replaced key defender Matt Mills, who has joined Leicester, with Bongani Khumalo on loan from Tottenham. But that is about the extent of the summer activity with McDermott seemingly happy with what he has. Jimmy Kebe and Jobi McAnuff are standout wingers who created plenty of goals last season while McDermott has done well to hang on to £8 million rated Irish striker Shane Long – so far at least. The Royals are a side with an excellent team spirit and decent up-and-coming manager. They may be one or two players short of a decent play-off campaign but there is no reason at all that they cannot repeat last season’s exploits – and enjoy another decent cup run to ensure the money keeps coming in.