Issue 9 - March 1999

The Royals' roller-coaster season goes on! Just when it looks as though we're settling down into mid-table mediocrity, a few good results are strung together and the magical phrase "play-offs" suddenly emerges once more. As this was written just after the amazing win at the Britannia Stadium, it could well be that the Cherries have since punctured that talk, but even so, the season's not dead just yet!

A few weeks back, it seemed as though Reading could still be drawn into the relegation battle. The thrashing from the Gas-heads and a pathetic display against Walsall seemed to indicate that we had neither the ability nor the desire to compete in the this division. Whilst the management remained upbeat, privately they must have more than a little worried.

Indeed, Packie Bonner admitted as much. Whilst at a function in Dublin, an Irish friend of mine saw Bonner, introduced himself and they spoke for a while about football and Reading. Bonner, probably off his guard being in Dublin and talking to an Irishman, admitted that they knew we were not going up this season as we're nowhere near good enough. Not something they'd admit to the local press and so it was rather unfortunate for Bonner that he happened to be speaking to a good friend of someone who writes for the The Whiff!

But is the recent up turn in results a sign that Reading have finally turned the corner? Unfortunately not, given that only the win at Stoke can be regarded as a comprehensive performance (and even then, we were lucky to be level at half-time). Preston can count themselves very unlucky to lose to a last minute non-penalty, given because Caskey fell over and the win over Macclesfield was hardly likely to inspire fear in the rest of the division.

With three-quarters of the season now gone, the team should be beginning to look like a well-drilled unit. Burns will no doubt argue that injuries have prevented him from fielding the consistent eleven that would play like a team but surely, at least, a coherent pattern would begin to emerge.

This may well have happened but, if it has, this is even more worrying as the only pattern discernible at the moment is that the Royals play at a much slower tempo than the other teams in the division. When we get the ball in space, we slow the whole game down. It's rather like watching an Eastern European team, who play very slowly and then look to use precision passing and superb technique to open up opposition defences. All very well if you have those skills - if not, you look like Reading against Walsall when we wouldn't have scored if we played for three days!

Under McGhee, Reading played passing football but scored a huge amount of goals on the break. The ball was moved quickly out of defence, players flooded forward and we used pace and the pass to create the opportunities. At the moment, we simply try to retain possession by slowing the game down and then going backwards and the frequency with which this happens, makes it look planned rather than due to lack of confidence.

Obviously this is idle speculation and it seems rather unlikely that Burns would want to play in such a way. But until Reading can pick up the pace and sustain it through ninety minutes, they will struggle to break down opposition defences.

Since the last issue, long-term injury victims, Murty and Hunter have returned to action, the latter on loan at Southend. An odd aspect of Burns' recent selections has been the choice of Murty as a right back. Again, Tommy must have been reading Up the Rs since he switched to a flat back four but why pick Murty on the right and then play Gurney (signed as a full back, apparently) in front of him? Murty has pace and looks capable of causing problems for the opposition and what's more, he's not a very good defender!

Whatever, Burns seems keen to address the side's lack of goals by creating a decent supply of chances rather than buying a new striker. He'll get few arguments on that score from this quarter since the lack of decent crosses from the by-line has been a problem since the Bullivant days.

The latest attempt to resolve this problem is Mark McKeever, on loan for a month from Sheffield Wednesday. Given that he played for Bristol Rovers in their recent cake-walk at the Madejski Stadium, McKeever could have suspected a less than warm welcome. After a spectacular debut against Stoke, however, he can be assured of his popularity at Reading. A goal and three assists is a dream debut if ever there was one! As a left-footed attacking player, he gives us an option we have not had for some time and the attack is considerably more balanced with his presence. The prospect of him down the left and Murty down the right, would surely give us the attacking dimension we've been missing ever since Gilkes left.

Whether McKeever would sign or not is another matter and Bristol Rovers are still trailing him. Burns has tried a number of options in this position but they've all struggled: Glasgow - too right footed; Gray - too slow; Wright - not good enough; Clement - too defensive. This will need to be resolved before the team has real balance.

It may also solve the striking problem since any idiot can play up front given the quality of the crosses that McKeever put over at Stoke. After months of being starved of supply, McIntyre et al must be clamouring to play. Maybe even Brayson can get himself on the scoresheet!

It seems as though Burns may now revert to his original formation of 4-5-1, with Parky and Caskey as the holding players in midfield, McKeever and Murty (or Gurney) out wide and Brebner encouraged to hit the box in support of the lone striker. At the back, you can perm any four from ten, depending on the current injury situation!

Although the injury excuse is becoming a tad worn out at this stage of the season, the extraordinary run of knocks and strains just continues. Polsten can't stay fit for more than one game and the loss of Casper is a big blow. It must be incredibly frustrating for the manager to look at his squad and yet never - not once this season - be able to field his strongest eleven. In the final analysis, it is always results that count, not excuses.

With the final quarter of the season upon us, a top ten finish is a distinct possibility and a play-off place within reach. Given the turmoil of both last season and this one so far, this should be seen as about the best we could hope for.