To Change Or Not To Change? That Is The Question…

Since the season drew to a close Reading have already dipped into the transfer market three times, bringing in Gareth McCleary, Danny Guthrie and subject to any late shenanigans, Pavel Pogrebnyak. Both Pogrebnyak and Guthrie have Premier League experience while McCleary is the reigning Player of the Season at Nottingham Forest, so all three will bring something positive to the mix at the Madejski next year and give Brian McDermott even more options to choose from.

We’re also highly likely to dip back into the market, with rumours of approaches for players such as Jordan Rhodes, Adrian Mariappa and even Gylfi Sigurdsson all floating about amongst numerous others. For fans of a newly promoted club this is arguably the most fun period of the season as we see household names all linked with a move to the Mad Stad, players we can all freely debate in the pub as opposed to relatively unknown quantities such as Brett Williams, or Karl Sheppard. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with unproven players (ahem Doyle, Long, Hislop etc) but it’s a bit more fun to chat about the merits of Pogrebnyak vs Hunt compared to Sheppard vs Church….

However there’s always a bit of concern whether a successful squad should be tinkered with too much, and especially when the players coming in are likely in a new wage bracket, could too many signings disrupt the team?

It’s a question that’s only going to be definitively answered come the season’s end but what can we learn from the investment of other newly promoted sides and can there be such a thing as too much or too little change?

Fixtures, Fixtures & More Fixtures – 2012/13 Edition

Hard to beleive how different the outlook was the last time I wrote this fixtures piece. Back then we were pondering trips to The AMEX, London Road and The Den, now it’s Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge and White Hart Lane.

By now we’ve all had time to digest the basics of the fixtures for the new season which will see us open at home to Stoke and finish with a trip to Upton Park to face West Ham. The official club site has done a great little key points article outlining some of the essential dates and what to look out for but I thought we’d take a look at some of the other impacts of the fixture list, including how far we’ll have to travel and how much away match tickets are likely to cost.

Jem Karacan’s Season Over – Who Steps Up?

Pic Courtesy Reading OS

The fantastic win over Leeds on Friday was soured somewhat by the news that Royals midfielder Jem Karacan will miss the rest of the season after breaking his ankle during a challenge with Michael Brown. It’s a sad end on what has been a great season for the Turkish midfielder but the good news is that he should be fit to take part in pre-season and we wish him all of the best in his road back to fitnes.

So with five games to go Reading now face the prospect of replacing their influential midfielder but who is best placed to take the mantle on.

Reading Sign Karl Sheppard – A Profile On The Newest Royal

Reading have signed striker Karl Sheppard on a 2 1/2 year deal as confirmed by the club after the player himself confirmed the news on Twitter. The Republic of Ireland U21 international was out of contract with Shamrock Rovers and so moves to the Madejski on a free transfer.

Below the jump we’ll be taking a quick look about what we know about Sheppard and what we can expect from him going forward.

The Best Defence in the League?

It may come as a surprise, but Boxing Day’s 3-0 victory over Brighton marked the first time the Royals had kept three consecutive clean sheets since the 27th April 2009, when a Shane Long brace sealed a 2-0 win over Norwich, in a game which Marcus Hahnemann, Liam Rosenior, Andre Bikey, Michael Duberry and Dan Harding kept the Canaries at bay.

The fact that it’s been such a long period between those defensive achievements is a testament to the strength of this current Royal’s defence. Led by the imperious figure of centre-back Kaspars Gorkss, the back four have found a mix of experience and exciting youth. Gorkss partnered by a player in Alex Pearce that, having only just turned 23, is seven years his junior, but from the balance that the left-footed/right-footed partnership has bought in recent months looks almost equal to the Latvian international in terms of experience and ability.

The Kebe Conundrum

Jimmy Kebe. Sometimes brilliant, sometimes frustrating, sometimes our best player, sometimes our worst, always inconsistent. The ‘Malian Magician’ has reportedly refused to sign a new contract at Reading as Nicky Hammond told the Reading Post:

“With Jimmy we have made him an extremely good offer for this football club. However, the feedback I have had is that he won’t sign it.”

So, it’s at this point we consider our options. After the jump I’ll reveal my thoughts on the situation.

What Can The First 10 Games Of A Season Tell Us About The Next 36…

So ten games down and it’s fair to say we’ve already been on a bit of a roller coaster, certainly life is never dull as a Reading fan. From the last minute comebacks against Millwall and Bristol City, to losing to a fluke goal at Hull, beating Mills and mighty Leicester at the Walkers and delivering the killer blow to Sean O’Driscoll’s reign as Doncaster manager…. just another typical season then!

After all of that we’re in 15th place in the Championship with 12 points from a possible 30, 10 behind leaders Southampton and 6 clear of bottom side Bristol City.

Every game has an impact and every game is important but how much do our points and league placing today impact where we finish after a full 46 games? Below the jump I’ll look back on our recent starts to the season and see if we have anything to worry about, or be optimistic about.

There’s still a missing midfield cog

September 5, 2011

The transfer window has shut, Reading have completed their (season-long at minimum) deals for now; we’ve seen two International captains and two young Englishmen with very high potential join us.

Khumalo, Gorkss, Joseph Mills and Le Fondre have joined the Royals to make us look like a team that could yet again challenge the play-off places. Sure enough, losing Khizanishvili, Ingimarsson, Mills and Long are big losses but we’ve replaced them with sensible signings who will keep us battling at the right end of the table (despite our poor start).

Below I will suggest one area of the team that I feel McDermott & co. have failed to address or improve in the past few seasons.

How McDermott could cope with Long’s departure

August 11, 2011

Shane Long’s departure to West Brom for an estimated £6-7.5m has been finalised, and as a result Reading fans have let panic kick in. It’s happened every summer for the past few years, and will probably continue to happen for the foreseeable future. We will continue selling our best players for amazing profits and will continue replacing them with young, hungry, ambitious players.

How can McDermott and Reading fans cope with the loss of star striker Long and continue challenging for promotion from the Championship? After the jump, I’ll run through a few choices McDermott will have on his mind.

So Long Shane & What Happens Next

So that’s it, he’s gone.

I’m sure every Reading fan wishes we didn’t have to sell Shane Long but his move is understandable and we at The Tilehurst End certainly wish him well.

We’ll have a few articles on Shane over the coming days, but below the jump Nick Houlton looks at where we go from here in the striking department.

The Mikkel Andersen Problem

Here’s a tricky question you can ask your Reading supporting friends when you next see them: Who is currently the longest-serving player who’s yet to make their first-team debut at Reading? Of the 43 professionals in the First Team squad at the moment, 20 players are yet to feature in the League or Cup for the Royals. Of those, Danish goalkeeper Mikkel Andersen has been at the Madejski the longest.

Since signing professional terms with the club in January 2007, Mikkel has played 70 games in England and has featured on the bench many a time for the Royals. However, all of his 70 games have come out on loan in lower leagues, while Reading have had 4 other ‘keepers feature on the pitch for them since Andersen joined back in the 2006/07 season. It’s not like the management don’t believe the he’s good enough, regular contract extensions and kind words about the Dane from the coaching staff show he’s highly rated despite the lack of game time, but with so many good goalkeepers in recent years, Mikkel has simply been unable to break into the team since he joined nearly 5 years ago. So after so many years without an appearance, it surely won’t be long until Andersen decides he needs to be a permanent first choice at a club. But with Adam Federici and Alex McCarthy ahead of him in the pecking order, it seems there isn’t much chance he will be this at Reading. This is the problem for the club, how do you keep a player as good as Mikkel at a club, if you’re not going to play him?

Reading FC 2011/12 Position Previews – The Midfield

August 4, 2011 

In the second part of our positional previews, Tommy takes a look at the midfield and what we can expect from the season ahead.

To check out our defensive preview please click here

 

Reading FC 2011/12 Position Previews – The Defence

August 2, 2011

In the first of our position by position previews, Chris Hartley looks at our defensive options and what we can expect going forward this season.

The Ian Harte Conundrum

If ever there’s been a player who defies convention, it has to be Ian Harte. Last season’s second top goalscorer was something of a surprise signing last August when he arrived for £70k from League One side Carlisle United but one that proved to be very intelligent and well thought out. In some ways you could say he was the archetypal Reading signing; professional but cheap and perhaps with something to prove. That was last season though and I think it now begs the question, where do we go from here and is Harte a viable option for the coming season?

Thoughts from Eastleigh

My friends and I have a saying when going to watch Reading play away, “don’t let the football ruin the day” and it’s a maxim that we try our best to stick to whatever happens. Sometimes this can be bloomin’ hard but Saturday at the Silverlake Stadium was a rare exception. Instead it was the football that saved a day that was almost ruined by an ill-advised trip into Southampton after the game.

Anyway, rather than focusing on how horrible a city can be after a six week strike by the binmen and being stuck in Winchester for over an hour after the M3 was closed, I will instead focus on what was an unusually good friendly.

For a full match report I strongly recommend SamRFC’s excellent summary of the game but I can’t resist the opportunity to share my own thoughts on what was my first glance of most of these youngsters.

The Tilehurst End – End Of Season Round Table 2010/11 – Part 2

Thursday June 30th

It’s the last day of June today, with tomorrow the day when contracts end and those attatched to the 2010/11 season can get their release and the 2011/12 season gets underway. On that note, here’s a final few thoughts from our writers on the 2010/11 season focussing on the team as a whole.

You can check out Part 1 here

The Goalkeeping Situation at Reading FC For 2011/12

June 23, 2011

As we head toward the pre-season preparations for the 2011/12 season Reading have a goalkeeping conundrum the likes of which is not seen too often at any club.

With Adam Federici, Alex McCarthy and Mikkel Andersen all keen to secure the number one spot at the Madejski Stadium some tough decisions lie ahead for Brian McDermott.

Below we’ll take a quick look a how the situation might play out.

Fixtures, Fixtures & More Fixtures

June 21, 2011

Last Friday saw the unofficial start of the 2011/12 season with the publication of the fixtures for the new season. We now know where we’ll be spending our Christmas and New Year, where we’ll be wearing short sleeves in August and April, the games we might miss for that family wedding or music festival and our bosses will no doubt be puzzled at why we’re taking that random day in February off….

But how much does the fixture list impact on our actual performance? is there any aspect of this year’s schedule that could have a positive or negative impact on our prospects?

Below the jump I’ll break down next seasons dates and see what could play into our hands, or cost us dearly in the 9 months to come.

Defensive Shake-up

Ivar Ingimarsson, out. Zurab Khizanishvili, out. Matt Mills rumoured to be out. Ian Harte and Andy Griffin getting on a bit. Marcus Williams chucked out on loan. Shaun Cummings, Alex Pearce and Sean Morisson unproven at this level. It could be quite a summer for the Royals’ defence.

Next season could be pivotal to this current Reading era; will we manage to improve on last seasons dramatic and heartbreaking play-off final, or will we find ourselves drop down to mid-table mediocrity?

Read on to see how a defensive refreshening could help our cause.

The Tilehurst End – End Of Season Round Table 2010/11 – Part 1

Monday June 11th

Well it’s officially time to close the book on the 2010/11 season, arguably the 5th best season in the club’s 140 year history. From the highs of Everton away, to the lows of Wembley it’s been a memorable season and a few of us here at the Tilehurst End got together to give our thoughts on the season and hand out a few awards.

Today I’ll by putting up a mostly player focussed set of awards, with the overall team ones to come either later this week or at the start of the next. If you’ve got any comments or thoughts please feel free to comment below!