Jason Roberts - we salute you!

[Tails]

Further dimension to the Roberts signing; it gives Reading another edge on the commercial front.

How many more cameos will our sponsors benefit from thanks to Roberts....

[JC]

On MOTD2 as well.

Hope he gave Lawro a slap.

What on earth was the senile old goat blathering on about?

How did he end up at Reading?
How did they sell him for £7m?

Patronising twat.

If you were listening carefully you would know they were talking about Gylfi

[Ark Royal]

Always rated JR. He was a real beast at Bristol Rovers and formed a deadly partnership with Curo. He was the best player on the pitch during THAT 0-6 defeat. He led the line superbly yesterday and had an epic battle with Faye. Genuinely seems to enjoy his football. Top man.

[sheshnu]

He was on MOTD2 this evening and his own words seemed to back up your opinion. A great character to have in the team and that's clearly why Brian signed him - quite apart from the goal threat he brings!

[PieEater]

Lol at the replay of his penalty.

[Z175]

Hes totally replaced Long, which makes me a bit (shocked!) as I would never have considered them similar players.

Its a big tribute to Long, who despite his pace and slenderness is world class at harrying defences and causing a mess, which is Roberts forte and he was magnificent at it. His experience shows through though, as he rarely needs to win the ball in the air. Should get an assist for Hunt's goal and yet he was never in control of it.

But whats more impressive for me is that a 35 year old with a hamstring injury can chase through balls all day long. Hunt and Roberts were hurtling in behind whenever they could in the 2nd half and gave the hammers the run around. Perhaps not playing a full season since he left Wigan over 5 years ago has prolonged his career, but its incredible.

[melonhead]

great to see reading goals being played on MOTD last night

hopefully, therell be a few more next year

[SouthDownsRoyal]

Roberts >>> Long

[Snowball]

Roberts >>> Long

Roberts >>>>different<<<< Long

Jason is brill, so's Shane


(They would be "interesting" together, but they just ent comparable.

Had we had Shane all season and all else the same, no Roberts, we would be 4 points clear at the top now.

[floyd__streete]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOgQcyklEBc

[bracknell loyal royal!]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17603631

Good BBC interview with Roberts.

[Who Moved The Goalposts?]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17603631

Good BBC interview with Roberts.

Articulate, considered, modest and yet still hungry for success.

A model pro, and a great credit to Reading FC that he chose to come to us. Says a lot about the way we go about things.

[winchester_royal]

My new hero, and you can tell that he'll be very successful once he hangs up his boots, whichever career path he decides to take.

[Gordons Cumming]

Always rated JR. He was a real beast at Bristol Rovers and formed a deadly partnership with Curo. He was the best player on the pitch during THAT 0-6 defeat. He led the line superbly yesterday and had an epic battle with Faye. Genuinely seems to enjoy his football. Top man.

Not in the first half he wasn't. IMHO

[RobRoyal]

It has been quite a season for Jason Roberts. On the field, the striker has swapped a relegation struggle with Blackburn Rovers for a promotion push with Reading while off the pitch the 34-year-old has gone from being a sounding board for irate supporters, in his role as a presenter on a radio phone-in show, to a guest at 10 Downing Street at a summit with the prime minister.

Roberts looks a little embarrassed when it is put to him that he is regarded as one of the most respected and articulate footballers of his generation. He has the same bashful expression when it is suggested that it must be more than a coincidence that Reading's remarkable run, in which they have won 13 of their last 15 Championship matches, started with his first appearance for the club when he scored the only goal against Bristol City in January.

With another four goals and five assists since, it is not surprising that his team-mates have talked about him being the catalyst for their surge up the table. "Our main strength has come from defending and keeping clean sheets," says Roberts, "so I can't really take too much credit for that [run]. But I'd like to think that I've added something to it; my experience of being there before and trying to give something not only on the pitch but around the place. When you've won promotion before [with Wigan and West Bromwich Albion], I guess it's easier to remain calm and composed when you're [trying to get] there again. And from my point of view, in my career, these are the moments I live for."

Friday night's visit to St Mary's feels hugely significant. Southampton and Reading are joint top, with only goal difference separating them and four games remaining. West Ham are six points behind in third place but Roberts insists he is looking in only one direction. "We've got here by chasing the people ahead of us and there's someone ahead of us at the moment – we need to catch them," he says. "We've been consistent with that thought and I don't think we should change it now."

Reading's form has been nothing short of relentless. "I can't remember a run like it," says Roberts, whose playing career spans 17 years, dating back to the days when he was turning out for non-league Hayes. "This squad and this team and the way we're going about it really reminds me of my time at Wigan. It was very simple, it was 4-4-2, it was a very British brand of football and it's something that we brought on with great success in the Premier League and had a fantastic first season [in 2006], coming 10th and getting to the League Cup final."

Roberts joined Blackburn at the end of that campaign and spent the next five and a half years playing Premier League football at Ewood Park, until a contractual dispute led to his departure in January. It looks like he got out at the right time, with Reading and Blackburn increasingly likely to swap places next season. "It would be a huge shame and I hope that's not the case," Roberts says. "I hope next season I'll be playing in the Premier League against Blackburn and Wigan, two clubs that are really close to my heart. Things are tough at Blackburn. But they can still do it."

Blackburn's travails at the start of the season when Steve Kean, the manager, came under constant attack from his own supporters, meant that Roberts was an easy target for fans that rang up BBC Radio 5 Live hoping to get the newly appointed member of the 606 phone-in show to condemn what was going on at Ewood Park. "It's been an education," says Roberts. "I've really enjoyed it, although there were a couple of times that I went on there as low as I've ever felt with some of the results we were getting at Blackburn. But in a way it became therapeutic."

The big talking point for Roberts this season, however, has been racism in football. He says that he welcomed the chance to "articulate the views of a lot of the players I know who are concerned with the issue" at the meeting with David Cameron in February, when he joined other leading figures in the game to discuss discrimination in football. "This season has been a reality check because when things have happened and it's polarised opinions, you're seeing that the same old underlying attitudes are still there with a lot of people. And it's something that we need to stand up to," he says.

Listening to Roberts talk about a range of subjects with such passion for more than an hour, it is easy to imagine a career opening up for him in football governance in the future as well as the media, although Reading fans will be relieved to learn that they can look forward to a few more seasons of decent service before that happens. "It's a little bit like I said about chasing Southampton, the team ahead of us, because I'm still chasing the next challenge," Roberts adds. "There's a lot of football left in me yet. And some more really good times ahead."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog ... -promotion

Top man.

[TBM]

Guest on soccer am tomo

[leicsRoyal]

Guest on soccer am tomo

By the sounds of all the players on twitter, he is going to spill the beans into the recent training ground antics.

[Stuka]

Pound for pound, the best new signing I've ever seen.

[Friday's Legacy]

He pulled his groin yesterday. Hopefully he'll be fine for Tuesday.

[Archie's penalty]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x046zB5D9K0

Big Jase on the Soccer am.