Ian Herring
Coach the team defensively. Coach their thinking, match-day minds. Make them quicker of mind. Coach Federici, train the faults out of his game if you are going to keep him. It's possible. It's done in other sports. These are technical matters that if addressed, would bring a lot of our good players on to the next level.
As the great Maurice Evans once said "there are some things you can coach into a player and some things you can't."
I think speed of thought tends towards the scond category, but I agree wholeheartedly with the need for better defensive coaching.
Is Wally Downes available? His was the best drilled Reading defense I have ever seen.