Reading FC: ‘A season of transition’: 5 games in, are we already tired of the excuse?

Article by Christian Frank

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After another week of waiting for the Thai takeover saga to be completed, one which has seen Reading lose two matches, the demoralising 4-0 away defeat to Forest has left Reading fans divided: are the Royals in a season of transition, or should we be frustrated with the early season performances?

Harking back to the reign of Brendan Rodgers at the Madjeski Stadium is a dangerous thing; Rodgers has proved in his life after Reading FC that he is an astute manager who can play dangerous possession football, but without the players in place he looked out of his depth as he took the helm in his ‘season of transition’ and was quite rightly dismissed by Sir John midway through the 2009/10 season. Right now I see a slightly different situation, with the more experienced Nigel Adkins at the helm in charge of a team which he is taking time to make his own. I know countless Reading fans who wonder what could have been if Rodgers had been given more time at the club, but with the Berkshire club in the bottom 3 when he was dismissed, relegation was a possibility. Adkins should be treated no differently as any manager in that position; if he continues to fail to win games he should not keep his job.

I think the thing that could save Adkins is the league performance of last season, as he led a team he apparently did not have complete control of to just outside the play-off places. Interestingly, because of the club’s final league position, apparently the 2013/14 season cannot be seen as a season of transition. Instead it was a season of bullish promises to take the league by storm, which Adkins was staunchly defended for not fulfilling as he suffered from the effects of the boardroom uncertainty.

But why wasn’t that the all-important ‘season of transition’? Admittedly the since-departed Russian Anton Zingarevich made promises which were not kept, and expected a return to the Premier League. But with Adkins’ mind clearly set on not retaining the likes of Jobi McAnuff, Mikele Leigertwood and Kaspars Gorkss the club had opportunities to take time to regroup and plan for the future. Having already released both natural left-backs at the club there was a gap there which we tried to fill solely with Wayne Bridge, and it was fortunate that Obita emerged in that position when we discovered Bridge was effectively crippled by injury. Further planning for the future saw Danny Williams, Royston Drenthe and Chris Baird signed. Williams is promising as a replacement for Leigertwood, but has proved injury prone, and midfield cover is still needed (hopefully finally provided by new boy Oliver Norwood). The less said about Drenthe the better, and Baird’s time at the club was a bizarre situation easily forgotten. Billy Sharp, Adkins’ go-to man, did little to impress while on loan at the club, scoring the winning goals in matches against Huddersfield and Charlton, but also missing a vital penalty in a 1-2 loss to Wigan.

That Adkins didn’t get to keep Sharp, who instead joined the Leeds circus in the summer, means he hasn’t had a chance to utilise the man he managed at both Scunthorpe and Southampton, and is an indicator that the Reading boss hasn’t been able to sign all the players he wants. Simply put: deal with it Nigel. Adkins should instead look to use the players he has in a way that will win games. Rodgers learned in his time at the club: results come before performance, and if you stick to your philosophy even when it fails, you might not keep your job. When Rodgers left, Brian McDermott stepped in, used his squad wisely (only adding some experience at the back in the form of Andy Griffin and Zurab Khizanishvili), and guided the team to 9th in the Championship. I think a few more changes could be needed to steady the ship in the 2014/15 season, but with Brian McDermott mark II waiting in the wings, in the shape of former Leeds managerial target Eamon Dolan, the potential for an inexpensive promotion from within (to offset the Adkins pay-off) isn’t unattractive. Not that a Sir John sacking is likely. The Rodgers sacking benefitted from a contract clause which meant little compensation had to be paid to the Northern Irishman due to the length of his reign at the club, and the McDermott sacking was more likely an Anton. That aforementioned pay-off to cancel Adkins’ contract, and unwillingness from the Thai consortium to swoop in and appear the bad guys by sacking the manager, could see the former physio stay for longer than the board would like him to.

When this season is over I would happily eat my words if Adkins has steadied the ship and created a slick passing outfit which looks ready to challenge for a play-off place next year, but we cannot hide behind the fact that the team is young, or claims that this is a necessary season of transition.

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