They Played for Both Clubs: Reading v Bolton Wanderers

Daniel Sean Guthrie was born in Shrewsbury on 18th April 1987 (my birthday too, just four years later).

He spent his formative years at the Manchester United youth academy, before leaving the club in 2002 to sign for close rivals Liverpool on a scholarship deal.

Guthrie's first appearance in the Liverpool first team came in the summer 2006 pre-season friendly at Wrexham, where he played as a left midfielder.

He would go on to make his competitive first-team debut after being named on the bench in a Football League Cup tie against future employers and Bolton Wanderers' opposition this weekend, Reading, in October 2006.

Guthrie made his entrance in the 62nd minute, coming on as substitute for Malian donkey Mohamed Sissoko. A month later he made his Premier League debut, again as a substitute, against Portsmouth.

He started his first match for Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League against Galatasaray on 5 December, which ended in a 3-2 away defeat for Liverpool.

In March 2007, in an attempt to increase his exposure to first-team football, Guthrie joined Southampton on loan until the end of the season. He would make ten appearances without troubling the scorekeepers.

Former Liverpool assistant Sammy Lee had taken over from legendary manager Sam Allardyce in 2007, and made Guthrie one of his first signings, as the midfielder joined on the loan for the 2007/08 season.

Following a poor start to the season, Sammy Lee left the club by mutual consent in October, and there was speculation that Guthrie would not stay at Bolton for the rest of his loan spell.

However, Lee's replacement Gary Megson chose to keep Guthrie at the club.

The player scored on his Bolton debut against Fulham in the League Cup, which was also his first professional goal. He was also in the starting XI for the Bolton team that famously drew 2-2 with Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena during the UEFA Cup.

Megson further showed faith in Guthrie by starting him in the line up in Megson's second league match, a victory at home to Manchester United. Guthrie completed the season with 25 Premier League appearances before returning to Liverpool.

In July 2008 he left Liverpool again, this time on a permanent basis. He was signed for £2m by Newcastle United, by then-manager Kevin Keegan. Guthrie made his debut for Newcastle in a pre-season game against Hartlepool United, where he came on at half time and managed to score one goal and create another.

In the 2008-09 season, Guthrie featured regularly and formed a midfield partnership with Nicky Butt prolonged by an injury sustained by Joey Barton, the former Manchester City player having temporarily kept Guthrie out of the starting line-up following a return from suspension.

Guthrie became more of a regular in the 2009-10 season as Newcastle, relegated from the Premiership, began life in the Football League Championship, where he hit 5 goals from 43 games and having his team's highest number of assists (which are irrelevant).

After promotion to the Premier League, Guthrie missed the opening fixtures of the Premier League season against Manchester United, Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackpool with a knee injury.

He returned to play against Wigan Athletic in a 2-2 draw, playing on the right wing though was dropped for the next game after an unimpressive display.

The signing of Cheick Tioté coupled with the form of Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan also kept Guthrie on the bench throughout much of the season.

He was released by Newcastle United on 1 June 2012 at the expiry of his contract, and after much speculation joined Reading on a free transfer.

He scored his first goal for Reading in only his second game, away at Chelsea.

Controversy soon followed, when in October it was reported by local and national newspapers that Guthrie and Reading manager Brian McDermott had fallen out after he was dropped from the team for the 3-3 draw with Fulham.

The claims were denied by both the player and manager.

On 11 December McDermott revealed that Guthrie had refused to travel with the team for the away game against Sunderland as his "head was not in the right place".

He was fined two weeks wages and the following day issued a full apology stating that he had "loved his time at the club" and would do everything in his power to regain a first team spot.

McDermott later stated that he was happy to draw a line under the recent events and that Guthrie still had a future at the club.

He began the 2013-14 season in good form, scoring twice against Birmingham City and earning a Championship Player of the Month nomination, though he eventually lost out to Ipswich Town striker David McGoldrick.

He attributed his upturn in form to the new style of football implemented by McDermott's replacement Nigel Adkins.

Career Statistics