Bongani Khumalo on his Reading debut, life and South Africa's chances in the Africa Cup of Nations

Bongani Khumalo will make his debut for Reading at in a glamour-free pre-season friendly at neighbours Swindon Town tomorrow (Saturday), just a week after appearing for Tottenham Hotspur in their 3-0 Vodacom Challenge win over South African champions Orlando Pirates at Ellis Park.

The 24-year-old Bafana Bafana centreback is on loan at the Championship club and he insists: “Right now I am a Reading player and the only thing I am thinking of is playing well for Reading.”

Khumalo, born in Swaziland and raised in Pretoria, joined Spurs in January for £1.5m after winning three successive South African Premier League titles with SuperSports United.

He has yet to play for Harry Redknapp’s first team apart from his appearances this month in South Africa and was linked to Scottish champions Rangers last month, with the prospect of Champions League football.

But Khumalo, who played six games on loan for relegated Championship club Preston North End last season, yesterday revealed it was Redknapp who persuaded him to stay in England. He told the Reading Post: “Harry talked about how Reading would be a great club to go to. He said I needed more experience.

“I remember seeing Reading when they were in the Premier League and seeing the stadium on TV in South Africa.

“I guess there will be a bit of interest in Reading back home in South Africa now as well.

“My family have been looking into the club and the history at Reading and they are getting themselves up to date with everything.

“Other clubs were mentioned, but as soon as I spoke to Reading there was only one place where I wanted to go. The manager Brian McDermott told me how hungry he was for success. That was a big selling point for me."

Khumalo played against Reading for Preston in a 2-1 defeat at Madejski Stadium last season. Reading went on to reach the play-off final and only missed out on a return to the Premier League after losing 4-2 to Swansea at Wembley.

Khumalo said: “I was impressed with the style of football Reading played and how they passed the ball around.

“The team seemed to have a very positive approach and that’s why they managed to get to the play-offs.

“I only met the rest of the guys yesterday for the first time on the way to Bristol Rovers and they were all very nice. At this moment I’m not even thinking about a permanent deal at Reading. It’s very early days.”

Khumalo, under the terms of his loan agreement, could be recalled by Spurs in January. With the veteran William Gallas and injury-prone Ledley King among their centre-backs, he may be needed to supplement a defence which also includes Younes Kaboul and England regular Michael Dawson.

But with South Africa currently topping their qualification group, Khumalo’s season is likely to be interrupted by the Africa Cup of Nations which will he held from January 21 to February 12 in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

Khumalo added: “South Africa haven’t done too well in the Africa Cup of Nations for some time, so it would be fantastic to win it.

“Off the back of the World Cup I think we have improved and playing for South Africa feels like playing for a club nowadays.

“We have a lot of promising young players coming through and being part of that is something that I take great pride in.”

Tottenham's loan ranger Khumalo will be Reading between the lines

Bongani Khumalo’s topsy-turvy football career as Tottenham’s “loan ranger” has become a case of Reading between the lines. Careful, that’s Reading, not reading.

It was the Royals coach Brian McDermott, questioned by the local Reading Post newspaper, who gave us a nudge and a wink towards the former SuperSports United captain’s future destination this weekend.

While Khumalo was helping Tottenham Hotspur win the Vodacom Challenge Final with an emphatic 3-0 over Orlando Pirates at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, his future Championship team-mates were winning by an identical score-line at Northampton Town’s less impressive Sixfields.

After the game former Arsenal midfielder McDermott, the 50-year-old Reading boss renowned for unearthing young talent at the Madejski Stadium, was asked about South Africa’s 24-year-old centre-back Khumalo and grinned: “He’s a player I know well.”

Thousands of miles south in Johannesburg, Spurs boss Harry Redknapp confirmed Khumalo would be headed 40 miles west to Reading, despite offering the Bafana Bafana defender to Scottish champions Rangers on loan three weeks ago.

Redknapp, who hates being described as a wheeler-dealer, said: “Look, Bongani lacks experience, this is only his first year in England. I have experienced central defenders like Ledley King, William Gallas, Michael Dawson, Younes Kaboul and Sebastien Bassong.

“So it looks like this loan move to Reading will happen. We have the option of a recall in January, but it will be a good move for him. He’s a good lad.

“It will be difficult for him to get into the team here. He will be much better off going out on loan to gain experience and adapt to the lifestyle in England.

“I’m sure in a year he will come back a better player. Then it will be up to him to prove whether he is good enough to start for Spurs.”

Khumalo was subjected to a similar set of quotes last season, when he was farmed out to doomed Championship club Preston North End after failing to break in to the first team after his £1.5m move from Pretoria in January. He managed six games before suffering a metatarsal injury. Preston were relegated but their former Hull City boss Phil Brown did laud some of his performances as “outstanding”.

The word from Reading is there are a few loose ends to be tied up. They will have to pay Khumalo's salary, as is the tradition with loan moves. Khumalo’s agent Glyn Binkin appeared keen on the move to Glasgow and possible Champions League football under new Rangers boss Ally McCoist. But the switch to Reading will mean significantly less unheaval – and a gentler path to regular English football for Khumalo, often hailed as “the new Lucas Radebe”.

Unless there is a last-minute hitch, Khumalo will return to train not with Spurs but Reading this week but he had this parting message for his homeland: “I get a lot of love from the people of this wonderful country and I’m grateful for that.”

Battle Of Britain: Rangers Eager To Damage Rooney and Manchester United

LAST time Rangers fans travelled from Glasgow to Manchester in significant numbers was for the 2008 UEFA Cup final. They tore the city apart.

Then, there were 120,000 of them to see their side lose to Russia’s Zenit St Petersburg. They caused, according to one judge “the worst damage to this city since the blitz”.

Tonight there will be 3,500 “Blue Noses” at Old Trafford to witness an altogether less frightening “Battle of Britain”.

Every coach filled with Scottish supporters will be held at nearby Wigan before being escorted into the gritty suburb of Trafford by police. Assistant Chief Constable Ian Hopkins, of Greater Manchester Police tells us: "It's a measured plan worked out with both clubs. It is about reassuring people that we mean business and we've got confidence that this plan will work."

In 2008, two policemen were attacked after a big screen showing the game broke down. Nine Rangers fans ended up in jail as Manchester awoke to scenes of devastation. Remember, the Scottish divide between giants Rangers and Celtic is not just about football. It's religious. It's tribal. Much like Real Madrid v Barcelona. Losing face is unacceptable.

Though Rangers will lose face at Old Trafford, expect no such problems tonight, where 250 extra police have been drafted in and pubs have been told to close early. That savage May night will not be repeated – but one particular Englishman will be savaged (verbally) by the travelling Scots.

His name, lest we forget, is Wayne Rooney.

He’s 24, brought up in nearby Liverpool (where, incidentally, Mancunians are tribally reviled) and is considered England’s greatest current footballer. He is also currently our greatest villain.

Revealed just nine days ago as having paid a prostitute for sex five times (once with her pal in a grubby threesome) while his highly attractive wife Colleen was pregnant with their first child Kai, Rooney is struggling to lead a normal life. Colleen, now a successful business woman, is struggling to cope with marital infidelity, a 12-year-old sister in hospital and a young tot.

This morning we are told the pair will try to make their marriage work (Rooney has "one last chance" according to the Mirror), but Rangers fans will do all they can to ensure all are reminded of his misdeeds tonight.

Though he played (and scored) for England against Switzerland last Tuesday (yes, that really was only a week ago, but a week is a long, long time in football), Rooney found himself dropped when Manchester United were held 3-3 by his old club Everton on Saturday.

His Scottish manager Sir Alex Ferguson – who, ironically, used to play for Rangers and hails from the Strathclyde area of Glasgow – chose to leave him out of the side to protect him from the barracking of his former fans.

But we all know Rangers followers will be doing their level best to be even more abusive than bitter Evertonians tonight. The entire footballing world stopped what they were doing over the weekend to debate whether Fergie was being compassionate or judgemental in dropping Rooney.

Now we know. He was being nice. Rooney was back training happily with the squad yesterday. Fergie was asked if he had any regrets. He replied gruffly: “No – none at all. I said I would not subject him to that nonsense at Everton and it was a benefit to our team.

“No regrets. I did the right thing. I am expecting a good performance from him against Rangers. He is a terrific player and his performance as we saw against Switzerland [for England].

“He will be looking forward to this game, like all of our players. European games are fantastic occasions and we have had some wonderful nights at this club.”

A decade ago, Rangers v Leeds in the Champions League was considered a fairly even clash. Football has moved on since then, with the Premier League continuing to import international stars in an orgy of over-spending while the Scottish game has been hamstrung by grinding poverty north of Hadrians Wall. Celtic and Rangers are often linked with an English Premier League merger, but nothing ever comes of it. They continue to be large fish in a tiny pond.

Walter Smith, the near-legendary Ibrox boss, worked as Fergie’s assistant at United back in 2004. He even managed Rooney’s old club Everton for a while. Like all uncivil wars between British clubs, there are connections all over the place, connections made to be broken.

Smith says: “It’s nice to be back, no team in the world will come here filled with attacking intent” and will offer captain Davie Weir, Rooney’s former Everton team-mate, the chance to shackle United’s talisman, aged 40. Weir accepts: “You couldn’t ask for a harder match than this in Europe... or the world.”

With Turks Bursapor and Spain’s Valencia also in Group C, Rangers aren’t expected to qualify. But tonight, goaded by Rooney and all things English, Scotland’s champions will be doing everything in their power to prove they can do some damage on the field, just as their fans did off it a couple of years ago.

Forget the Blitz. This is the Battle of Britain. No prisoners. What’s that song they’re singing? “No woman, no Kai.”

Who the hell is Neal Collins? See www.nealcollins.co.uk.

Rooney Debate: You Call That Punishment? He Was Given a Day Off!

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