QPR, Reading relegated after draw

Going down ... Harry Redknapp is already looking ahead to next season. Source: Glyn Kirk / AAP

Reading and Queens Park Rangers became the first teams to be relegated from the Barclays Premier League this season after they drew 0-0 at the Madejski Stadium.

Both teams needed a win to keep a slim hope alive of overtaking 17th-place Aston Villa, but neither side managed to create many clear-cut chances in a game that featured little creativity or entertainment value.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Man United	35	27	4	4	43	85
2	Man City	34	21	8	5	30	71
3	Chelsea	34	19	8	7	33	65
4	Arsenal	35	18	10	7	30	64
5	Tottenham	34	18	8	8	17	62
6	Everton	35	15	14	6	14	59
7	Liverpool	35	14	12	9	25	54
8	West Brom	34	14	6	14	2	48
9	Swansea	34	10	12	12	-1	42
10	West Ham	35	11	9	15	-8	42
11	Fulham	35	10	10	15	-9	40
12	Stoke	35	9	13	13	-10	40
13	Southampton	35	9	12	14	-10	39
14	Norwich	35	8	14	13	-21	38
15	Sunderland	34	9	10	15	-7	37
16	Newcastle	35	10	7	18	-23	37
17	Aston Villa	34	8	10	16	-27	34
18	Wigan	34	8	8	18	-23	32
19	QPR	35	4	13	18	-27	25
20	Reading	35	5	10	20	-28	25

QPR is leaving the topflight after two years, having stayed up on the last day of last season.

"Next year it will be very difficult to get promoted, there are some good teams," QPR manager Harry Redknapp said.

"For us to get promoted we have to come back in preseason and get super fit. The Championship is Saturday, midweek.

"It you are not fit enough you won't survive, you won't get out of that league. The players that are here have to work so hard and want to get super fit to compete next year."

QPR have spent heavily since owner Tony Fernandes's takeover in 2011, and Redknapp is hopeful the Malaysian's investment will still be rewarded.

"I will get to see him this week and we will have some meetings and talk about things going forward, with the team with the players," Redknapp told Sky Sports TV. "I have said many times they are good people, so I would love to see them get back in the Premier league and build a team that will stay there next time.''

Reading is making an instant return to the second tier.

"I have told the players to bottle up the feeling as it is never nice to get relegated, and make sure they never feel that way again," Nigel Adkins, who was hired as Reading manager last month, told the BBC.

"We must now build for the future and learn the lessons well from this season. We have to regroup and put ourselves in a position to challenge to get back into the Premier League.

"For any new promoted team, it is a challenge to stay up. The Premier League is a ruthless division."

Wigan currently occupy the third spot in the relegation zone, and are two points from safety.

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Reds hit Reading wall

Shot-stopper ... Alex McCarthy denies Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho. Source: Mike Egerton / AAP

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers says he had no complaints after his side could only draw at Reading and holds Royals goalkeeper Alex McCarthy responsible for the stalemate.

The shot-stopper was the hero of the afternoon for the Royals as he pulled off a string of fine saves to keep the Reds at bay at the Madejski Stadium.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Man United	31	25	2	4	38	77
2	Man City	31	19	8	4	30	65
3	Chelsea	31	17	7	7	28	58
4	Tottenham	32	17	7	8	15	58
5	Arsenal	31	16	8	7	27	56
6	Everton	31	13	13	5	12	52
7	Liverpool	32	13	10	9	19	49
8	West Brom	32	13	5	14	-1	44
9	Swansea	32	10	11	11	1	41
10	Fulham	31	10	9	12	-4	39
11	Southampton	32	9	10	13	-7	37
12	West Ham	31	10	7	14	-9	37
13	Newcastle	32	10	6	16	-14	36
14	Norwich	32	7	14	11	-19	35
15	Stoke	32	7	13	12	-11	34
16	Aston Villa	32	8	9	15	-24	33
17	Sunderland	32	7	10	15	-11	31
18	Wigan	31	8	7	16	-20	31
19	QPR	32	4	12	16	-23	24
20	Reading	32	5	8	19	-27	23

Rodgers' men saw chance after chance go begging, with Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho all coming close on more than one occasion.

"When the keeper has a day like that, sometimes there's not a great deal you can do."
Brendan Rodgers

But the Northern Irish manager feels his team could not have done any more and believes McCarthy was the only thing standing between them and a win.

"That's arguably the best goalkeeping performance I've ever seen, watching many games and being involved in many games," Rodgers told Sky Sports.

"Not just tipping it around the corner but actually holding onto the ball.

"I've no complaints other than we're disappointed that we didn't win. We couldn't have done any more. We created enough opportunities and clear opportunities but we couldn't find our way past the young man. They've given everything today.

"But the game will probably be summed up by the great goalkeeping performance of young Alex and when a keeper has a day like that sometimes there's not a great deal you can do. He's got all the attributes to be a top, top keeper."

Rodgers also paid tribute to his own goalkeeper, Pepe Reina, who did not have the busiest of afternoons but did well to deny Noel Hunt with a fingertip save in the second half.

He added: "We mustn't forget Pepe Reina, he made one crucial save for us. They broke away and he made an outstanding save."

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Adkins takes over at Reading

Nigel Adkins ... former Saints boss is back in the EPL with Reading. Source: Steve Parsons / AAP

Former Southampton boss Nigel Adkins is to take over as manager at struggling Barclays Premier League club Reading.

The Royals, who have been searching for a new head coach since they sacked Brian McDermott two weeks ago, have offered Adkins a contract until 2016.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Man United	29	24	2	3	38	74
2	Man City	29	17	8	4	25	59
3	Chelsea	29	16	7	6	28	55
4	Tottenham	30	16	6	8	14	54
5	Arsenal	29	14	8	7	23	50
6	Everton	29	12	12	5	11	48
7	Liverpool	30	12	9	9	18	45
8	West Brom	30	13	5	12	2	44
9	Swansea	30	10	10	10	2	40
10	Fulham	29	9	9	11	-4	36
11	Stoke	30	7	13	10	-8	34
12	Norwich	30	7	13	10	-18	34
13	Newcastle	30	9	6	15	-11	33
14	West Ham	29	9	6	14	-11	33
15	Sunderland	30	7	10	13	-9	31
16	Southampton	30	7	10	13	-10	31
17	Aston Villa	30	7	9	14	-25	30
18	Wigan	29	7	6	16	-21	27
19	Reading	30	5	8	17	-22	23
20	QPR	30	4	11	15	-22	23

The 48-year-old had been out of work since surprisingly losing his job with the Saints in January, with his sacking coming after back-to-back promotions.

Long-time assistant Andy Crosby will join Adkins at Reading and the pair will be in charge for the first time at Arsenal this weekend before hosting Southampton.

Reading are currently second bottom of the Premier League, level on points with Queens Park Rangers and seven points adrift of safety from relegation.

Reading owner Anton Zingarevich said the deal with Adkins had been sealed early Tuesday (EDT).

"I am delighted to bring Nigel to our club because he is perfect for us,'' he said.

"He has great respect within the game, his CV speaks for itself and he has many attributes as a manager, he is progressive, he develops players, his teams play attacking, passing football but most of all he knows how to win games at all levels.

"This is an appointment we have made both with the short and long-term in mind and Nigel can take our club forward.

"I know our supporters have been keen to hear news over the past two weeks and I am certain they will join me in saying it was worth the wait.''

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Reading sack manager McDermott

Brian McDermott ... paid price for Reading's poor recent form. Source: Andrew Matthews / AAP

Reading have sacked manager Brian McDermott as the Barclays Premier League strugglers look to breathe new life into their bid to avoid relegation.

McDermott led Reading into the top-flight as nPower Championship winners last season, but he has paid the price for failing to lift the Royals away from the bottom three.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Man United	28	23	2	3	37	71
2	Man City	28	17	8	3	27	59
3	Tottenham	29	16	6	7	15	54
4	Chelsea	28	15	7	6	26	52
5	Arsenal	28	13	8	7	21	47
6	Liverpool	29	12	9	8	20	45
7	Everton	28	11	12	5	9	45
8	West Brom	29	13	4	12	2	43
9	Swansea	29	10	10	9	4	40
10	Fulham	28	8	9	11	-5	33
11	Stoke	29	7	12	10	-8	33
12	West Ham	28	9	6	13	-9	33
13	Newcastle	29	9	6	14	-10	33
14	Norwich	29	7	12	10	-18	33
15	Sunderland	29	7	9	13	-9	30
16	Southampton	29	6	10	13	-12	28
17	Aston Villa	29	6	9	14	-26	27
18	Wigan	28	6	6	16	-22	24
19	Reading	29	5	8	16	-21	23
20	QPR	29	4	11	14	-21	23

A 2-1 home defeat against fellow strugglers Aston Villa last weekend  proved the final straw for Reading owner Anton Zingarevich and just 48 hours later the club released a statement confirming McDermott had been dismissed.

"Reading Football Club has announced today the departure of manager Brian McDermott,'' a statement on the club's website read.

"Owner Anton Zingarevich wishes to place on record his thanks to Brian who had achieved great success with the club since taking over as manager in December 2009.

"Brian gained promotion to the Premier League last year for only the second time in the club's history thanks to a remarkable run at the end of last season. However, in our current situation, owner Anton Zingarevich felt that a change was necessary.

"The search for a successor will start immediately and it is hoped that a new manager will be in place as soon as possible to lead the fight against potential relegation.''

Whoever takes over at the Madejski Stadium will have to work quickly to save Reading, who are currently second bottom of the table with just five wins from their 29 league games this season.

With nine games remaining, they are four points from safety.

The Royals have lost their last five matches in all competitions and face Manchester United and Arsenal in their next two games.

Former Arsenal midfielder McDermott, 51, took over as Reading's caretaker manager in 2009 before being named full-time boss the following year.

It was his first significant managerial role and although he enjoyed success in the second tier, he was unable to make an impact among the English's game elite. 

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Video producer releases footage of Miss Teen Delaware reading her name, consenting to sex film

The former Miss Teen Delaware, embroiled in a porn scandal, faced further embarrassment as footage of her agreeing to appear in an adult video emerged on Sunday.

Melissa King resigned he crown after an X-rated movie appeared online.

Many speculated that the female star of the sex tape was the clean-cut 18-year-old, but the brunette Delaware Online that it was "absolutely not" her.

In the following days, she hedged her denial on her Twitter account, citing Kim Kardashian as an example of someone who took sex tape infamy and ran with it all the way to superstardom. 

But King came up short of actually admitting she was the young woman in the video.

However, makers of the video have now released footage which appears to show King reading out a consent form agreeing to take part in the movie.

In it she says: "I Melissa King am doing this scene of my own free will. I am of sound mind and body and not under the influence of drugs or any mind-altering substances."

She goes on to add that she knows she has no rights to the footage being filmed.

The makers of the film said King, who won the Delaware round of the Miss Teen USA pageant following the tape being shot, was paid $1,500 to appear in the short clip.

TMZ reported that was the amount that was needed to cover travel and expenses for the pageant.

Since its release, King has been offered $250,000 to be the spokesperson for an online porn site.

FOX411 made several calls to King's attorney for comment on the sex video and her resignation, but none were returned.

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