Young Royal Sam Keogh writes the first of his monthly blogs from a young Reading supporter's perspective - and he is pleased the transfer window uncertainty has finally come to an end...
The first month of the new npower Championship has already been a rollercoaster for the Royals, with a number of ups and downs since the season commenced on 7th August.
We got off to a disappointing start at home to Scunthorpe - being brought back down to earth with a bump after losing 2-1 to a very well organised Iron outfit - before Grzegorz Rasiak scored his last goal in a Reading shirt during a smash and grab victory over Torquay in the Carling Cup.
Two 1-1 draws on the bounce got us our first league points of the season - Jimmy Kebe with the late leveller against Portsmouth at Fratton Park, while Alex Pearce gave us the lead against Nottingham Forest, before being pegged back by a Robert Earnshaw equaliser.
The conveniently named Cobblers gave us 'the boot' in the League Cup Second Round, defeating the Royals 4-2 on penalties after a highly entertaining 3-3 draw at Madejski Stadium which saw captain Matt Mills score a brilliant brace.
But most importantly we finally got our first league win of the season last Saturday. Gylfi Sigurdsson and Matt Mills scored the goals in a 2-1 victory at the Walkers Stadium over Leicester.
However, the win would prove to be the calm before a deadline day storm.
Last season's player of the year Sigurdsson was transferred to persistent German club Hoffenheim in a deal set to see a record fee come back to Berkshire as the Bundesliga secured the 20 year-old's services.
Loyal Royals will all agree this is a fair price for the hugely talented Icelandic midfielder, who will be sorely missed at Madejski Stadium.
But the sale allowed Brian McDermott to bring in some fresh faces and in a hectic last few hours of the summer transfer market, we managed to secure the signings of two players.
Zurab Khizanishvili was a fans' favourite when he joined Reading on loan last season, and the Georgian defender was snapped up on a season long loan from Blackburn for a second stint with us.
Another player on his way in was experienced defender Ian Harte, whose glittering career has been well publicised. The former Leeds United, Levante, Sunderland and Blackpool man signed on his 33rd birthday from Carlisle United, where he was top scorer last season with 18 goals!
Ireland's answer to David Beckham has more than 60 caps for his home country and played at the 2002 World Cup.
Ex-Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie has also joined the ranks at Hogwood Park, although he is currently only on trial and will look to impress the manager and push for a permanent contract.
With the loan transfer window to open up shortly, there may still be more faces to arrive in Berkshire, but at last us fans can relax now knowing there won't be any more big departures for now, and the disappearance of all the transfer rumours can only be a good thing for the players too.
Now we can focus purely on the job in hand, starting with Crystal Palace next weekend.
Come on URZ!!!
Sam Keogh - Young Royal
