When will your pain stop?

[Archie's penalty]

Still feel like shit. Want this day to be over tbh.

My throat is oxf*rd as well.

[who are ya?]

My throat feels like I've been eating a few hedgehog sarnies!

[readingfc13]

The pain will stop when Karacan's shot hitting the post and Hunty's blocked rebound stops replaying over and over and over in my head.

[loyalroyal4life]

This helped, knowing from Madejski that had we gone up, there would be no new owner and thus lack of money spent which could well have equalled a miserable season in the Prem.

Interesting how Millsy is talking as if he may still be a royal come August!



Reading chairman Sir John Madejski was humble in defeat after watching Swansea triumph 4-2 in a thrilling Championship play-off final.

The Royals endured a nightmare opening 45 minutes having found themselves 3-0 down at half-time thanks to Scott Sinclair's brace - the first of which came from the penalty spot - and Stephen Dobbie's strike.

But the Berkshire outfit displayed plenty of spirit after the break and had Swans rocking courtesy of Joe Allen's headed own goal, under pressure from Noel Hunt, and Matthew Mills, before Jem Karacan's deflected shot also struck a post.

Yet Sinclair extinguished their promotion dreams as he completed his hat-trick 10 minutes from time with his second penalty of the afternoon.

It left Swansea celebrating a place in the Premier League next season and the estimated £90million windfall that comes with it.

Madejski said: "It was a great game. Sometimes decisions go against you that you don't expect. I'm not going to complain about referees because it's not my style.

"We've got a great team, a great squad and we were cruelly beaten. We came back in the second half; I thought we were really good.

"We could have done something but it wasn't to be, and the sad thing about the play-offs is it's always a lottery. We all go there and do our best, two teams want to win and sadly it wasn't our turn.

"But it was a great afternoon and a great carnival time for all the people. A lot of tears shed by the Reading fans but, at the end of the day, Swansea won.

"Best of luck to them, they've got a great manager and we'll have another go next year."

Defeat for Reading left the club reflecting on another campaign in the second tier following their relegation from the top flight in 2008.

Madejski added: "The Championship's not a bad place to be.

"You know who is going to win the Premier League, but you don't know who is going to win the Championship. The Championship is a much more exciting place to be in, to be fair.

"Had we gone up, unless I could find my benevolent billionaire, which is unlikely, we would have just been an also-ran, whereas in the Championship I believe with the core of the club, a great manager, great support - we will be there."

Reading captain Mills reduced the deficit to just one goal with his 57th-minute header, but ultimately he admitted the defeat will hurt for a long, long time to come.

Mills said: "I don't think it will ever go away. We've got winners in that dressing room and we're on the wrong side of that, it hurts.

"It is obviously a sad day but we live to fight another day and we'll be coming back next season."

Mills said his side showed "buckets full" of what they are about in the second half although it was not to be their day.

And he opted to look at the positives from Brian McDermott's 17 months in charge of the club.

"I'm proud of every single one of our players," he added.

"What we've achieved this season...the manager's taken over from fourth bottom (in December 2009) and guided us to the play-off final.

"He's been absolutely fantastic, so have all the players, the staff, the chairman, everybody.

"This is a club where the players really stick together and it's time to do that now."

[TFF]

Check out SSN - right now

[TBM]

I doubt any of the players want to leave but if the club accept a bid for them, then it shows the player they aren't exactly important enought to keep. Money talks

[Row Z Royal]

I doubt any of the players want to leave but if the club accept a bid for them, then it shows the player they aren't exactly important enought to keep. Money talks

Or the money is too good to turn down.

[Drew_3]

Check out SSN - right now

why what was on there?

[Mid Sussex Royal]

I thought I'd be Ok after last two finals and the manner they were lost (and we weren't top team of playoffs this time) but it's still a really bad feeling even 24 hours on..

I think the league looks much tougher as well next term.

[Pete10]

Never we gave it to them

[Tamworth_Royal]

For me, once i can go on the BBC website and not see videos/pictures/reports/quotes about the game i will then start to feel better and look forward to next season.

I was tempted to watch the football league show just to get it out of my system, but i cant bring myself to watch/read anything about the game.

When Madejski fecks off

[cmonurz]

Don't know if it has already been said, and doesn't really answer the OP, but I keep reliving Karacan's shot against the post. At 2-3 I believed, I actually said to my Dad, "we've got 'em", that 20 minutes was terrific stuff. For whatever reason we then stepped off the gas, and the rest is history.

Just 6 inches to the left. If only.

[Sir Rodger Doyle]

Never, i'm a Reading fan. My pain is my badge of rank.

[Winchester Royal]

Just watched the 'Highlights' and it made it so much worse. We could have prevented three of their goals by doing some basic defending properly (the last three), and Jem and Hunt's shots could oh so easily have ended up in the back of the net. Losing Long will no doubt plunge me into a pit of despair.

[PEARCEY]

Just watched the 'Highlights' and it made it so much worse. We could have prevented three of their goals by doing some basic defending properly (the last three), and Jem and Hunt's shots could oh so easily have ended up in the back of the net. Losing Long will no doubt plunge me into a pit of despair.

All four goals were down to very poor defending. We barely made Swansea work for their goals.

[Archie's penalty]

Just watched the five minutes I could stomach, from the beginning of the second half to the Karacan/Hunt nearly combination.

When does Wimbledon start again?

[Archie's penalty]

Just watched the five minutes I could stomach, from the beginning of the second half to the Karacan/Hunt nearly combination.

When does Wimbledon start again?

Wimbledon Starts Last week in June For 2 weeks

I actually lolled at that, fair play g.

[East Stand Ste]

I'm ok with it now......looking forward to a promotion push and the season cannot come quick enough tbh!

[brendywendy]

For me, once i can go on the BBC website and not see videos/pictures/reports/quotes about the game i will then start to feel better and look forward to next season.

I was tempted to watch the football league show just to get it out of my system, but i cant bring myself to watch/read anything about the game.

When Madejski fecks off

Madejski will never leave Reading

good.

[mr_number]

I watched the highlights last night. Pretty brutal.
I can actually watch the first half ok - we made a few basic errors and got punished.
Then when Jem hits the post, and you see the hope in everyone, that's the bit that kills me.