From the South West Corner: Six questions with Reading FC
Ahead of Saturday’s game, we sat down with Reading fan Simeon Pickup to look ahead to an important game for both teams.
Leeds United face Reading on Saturday, and with both teams losing two on the bounce before the international break, they will both be looking to get back on track as soon as possible.
Ahead of the game, we sat down with a Reading fan, Simeon Pickup from dedicated Reading FC fan blog The Tilehurst End, to see how they’re feeling going into the game.
From the South West Corner: Reading FC
Hey Simeon, after a great first season under Jaap Stam in 2016/17, this season Reading seem to have struggled. What do you think has been the main difference?
Reading’s start to this season has been haphazard in various ways. Despite keeping most of the team that got to Wembley last season, the departures of key players Ali Al-Habsi and Danny Williams (to Al-Hilal and Huddersfield, respectively) have hit us hard, and we miss their dependability and experience.
Otherwise, Jaap Stam has been trying to carry on his project of building a mini version of Ajax amidst some major difficulties. Reading relied on Yann Kermorgant’s 19 league goals last season, and were (almost embarrassingly) unable to replace the injured 35 year old with a proven goalscorer in the transfer market.
The signings that did come in haven’t properly gelled yet – to give one example, record signing Sone Aluko has three assists in his last three games, but is still struggling for form.
Also, Stam hasn’t helped himself with some stubborn tactical decisions. The football we play at the moment is so slow, so vague and so lacking in purpose that fans have been half bored to death, and yet he seems to see little need to let his players attack more directly.
Also, whilst Reading have been struggling to score, he’s preferred to play no striker at all – despite having Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and academy graduate Sam Smith fit and raring to go. I’m a keen advocate of the ‘false nine’ system that some possession-based sides play, but it’s become more and more obvious that now isn’t the time to stick with it.
Because of all those problems, morale in the Reading team is low – this is a far cry from the XI that won every other week last season, whilst not giving a damn how few plaudits they won.
After the difficult start, have your aspirations changed for the season?
Yes, certainly. Before the season started, I felt that the significant investment the club put in in the summer would have helped Jaap Stam to build on a fantastic first season at the helm. However, progress on 2016/17’s Play Off campaign appears to be minimal, and in some ways (morale for example) we’ve gone backwards.
Unless we see a marked improvement after the international break, I’ll have to revise my expectations down from a playoff finish to a mid-table one, which I’m still pretty confident about. Should that improvement not come, we’ll be looking nervously at the bottom third of the table, but I can’t see even the worst case scenario ending in relegation, to be honest.
Last season, Leeds and Reading formed a of a rivalry as both teams chased promotion, what is your personal thoughts on Leeds?
Not to generalise about Leeds too much, but personally I’ve felt that there’s a certain set of Leeds fans who haven’t been realistic about where the club’s been for the last 10–15 years. Sure, Leeds are a big club – very probably the biggest outside the top flight, but there does seem to be a few Whites who think the team has a divine right to be in the Premier League. Of course, the same can be said of fans of Newcastle United, Aston Villa, West Ham and others.
All of that amuses me like it does many other Reading fans – after all, we support a much smaller club which has had little history at the top level of the game. The battles on the pitch between Leeds United and Reading in recent years have been influenced by that to a degree – Reading the plucky David, Leeds the relative Goliath.
Because of that, I always look forward to our games against Leeds United: They have that extra bit of spice that most league games sorely lack. Despite all of that however, I’m perfectly happy to admit that yours is a club with a long, proud heritage, and the Premier League will be better and richer when Leeds eventually make their return.
Why do you support Reading?
I didn’t grow up in Reading, and didn’t have much of a personal link to the town before I started going to games. My love of the club actually comes through my mum – which I think is fairly uncommon as I’d imagine most fans tend to pick up their club through their dad. She hadn’t originally been a Royal herself, but eventually started going to Elm Park with my uncle and grandad each Saturday – the alternative was a family get-together which I gather she didn’t much enjoy.
As a kid I’d always loved watching and playing football, but had never been to a match. However, about the age of nine, mum started taking me to games – my first match being a 2–0 home defeat to Mick McCarthy’s Sunderland. From then on, my love for all things blue and white slowly but surely took hold.
Give us a reason you’ll win?
Jaap Stam is a proud man, and he’ll be desperate to come up with a gameplan to beat a team that he’s not exactly fond of. The international break should have given him a chance to reassess the team and his tactics, so I’ve got to hope he’s taken that chance.
Give us a reason you’ll lose?
Wow, where do I start? Reading are seriously struggling for goals, and can’t help leaking them at the other end. Confidence is low, Jaap Stam’s tactics look ineffective, and we’re going up against a side that will likely be desperate to avenge our 1–0 win at the Madejski Stadium last season.
Take your pick!
What’s your match prediction then?
Ugh, I’m really not confident about this match, and am dreading a fairly comfortable Leeds United win to be honest. Reading are on a bad run at the moment, but will make a deceptively positive start by scoring first. However, you’ll run out 3–1 winners.
We would like to thank Simeon for taking the time to answer our questions s thoroughly, and we wish him luck for the rest of the season.
Check back here at Nowt For Second for the full preview of Leeds United’s match against Reading FC at Elland Road. And be sure to follow us on Facebook or Twitter for more Leeds United coverage. MOT.
