Football woes

Chris Beetles and I drove down to Reading last night to have dinner with John Madejski. He was naturally in a fairly introspective mood - his team is currently in the Premiership drop zone on 33 points with Fulham one above them on the same points. Fulham go to Portsmouth while Reading travel to Derby. If both sides win, Fulham will survive and Reading will return to the Championship. On the other hand, if Fulham lose or draw, and Reading beat the bottom team in the table they will survive. I don't think poor John will have any fingernails left by the time both games kick off at 3 o'clock this Sunday. Nevertheless, we shared an excellent dinner at the Leatherne Bottel. The view over the Thames must be one of the finest of any restaurant in England, and if that were not enough, the food is wonderful. If you're in the area, it's worth a detour.