Reading Season Preview: Dutch courage

For a long time, Reading favoured safe but uninspiring British managers who led them to, well, safe but uninspiring positions. That changed last summer when they made a bolder choice in appointing Jaap Stam, a legend of the game but one with limited experience in senior management. After last season’s impressive third place finish, did fortune favour the brave? Dan Wimbush from excellent Royals blog The Tilehurst End discusses all.

I think it showed what power a good manager still has in football. I’m sure his massive reputation helped but regardless of what it ultimately was, the players just bought into his methodology hook, line and sinker. It was an audacious move to replace Brian McDermott just six months after his return and I’m still sad at the way things ended for him, yet as you said, we were certainly rewarded! Whether his style of play has been accepted by the fans is still up for debate. A post-season poll we conducted over on The Tilehurst End showed that a greater proportion of voters actually found the season more boring than exciting, despite being a penalty or two from the Premier League.

You were a threat from set pieces last year, scoring 29 goals from dead ball scenarios including penalties. Was Yann Kermorgant important in that regard?

Most of our penalties tended to be rebounds! We had a ridiculous rate of rebound conversion that you’ll struggle to ever see again. Yann was decent from dead-balls but not quite as Ian Harte or Gylfi Sigurdsson levels.

Shot data might suggest that fortune favoured you on occasions last season. How do you think Ali Al-Habsi’s exit for Al-Hilal might affect you?

Ali was a very solid keeper, both in shot stopping and in open play, yet I don’t see him as someone that’s overly hard to replace on the field. Vito Mannone looks to be just fine in terms of quality, yet the biggest blow will come off the pitch where Ali was so well respected and loved. He was such a friendly, enthusiastic and infectious personality that he’s going to be really hard to replace in the dressing room.

Liam Moore had a good season last year. Was his long-range passing as impressive as his defensive skills?

It wasn’t bad, but Jaap’s philosophy is very much built on ball retention, so Liam wasn’t asked to ping it long that often. In the few games we did go more direct he was fine, but overall he had an excellent season and for me is easily Jaap’s best signing both in the short and long-term. He’s exactly the type of player we should be signing, those hungry and overlooked by top clubs, desperate to prove a point.

Joey Van Den Berg looks better as a holding midfielder, rather than as an auxiliary centre-back. Who do you see partnering Moore this year?

January signing Tiago Ilori had an injury hit first six months at the club but returned to show glimpses of why he cost a reported club record fee of around £3.5m from Liverpool. He’s in the box seat to play, Tyler Blackett enjoyed a good end to the campaign, while captain Paul McShane will have work to do as he misses the first couple of games due to suspension. Joey’s a decent stop gap in a three man defence but in a flat back four, he’s just not quite good enough.

Young midfielders John Swift and Liam Kelly had their best seasons to date at this level. Have they benefited from playing in a team that keeps the ball on the deck?

In Kelly’s case absolutely. He’s been revitalised under Stam, having seemingly been on his way to a League Two club before the Dutchman arrived. Swift came through the ranks at Chelsea where they try to play good football and settled in well, even if he faded towards the end of a long season. I don’t think his extended campaign in the play-offs, plus England’s run in the European U21 Championship will do him any favours though.

New signing Pelle Clement has played in four or five different positions and has a universal skillset. Was it important to sign a potential midfielder with Danny Williams leaving?

It’s never easy to replace someone like Danny Williams but the financial realities we’re facing mean that going out and signing a direct like-for-like replacement was always going to be tricky. Pelle will certainly be used to the style Stam wants, so that’s an advantage, yet there’s obvious question marks why he’s been allowed to come to Reading in the first place. Fingers crossed it’s a rough diamond that we’ll be able to polish but right now he’s looking a utility signing rather than a sure fire first teamer.

Your other signing so far has been Jon Dadi Bodvarsson from Wolves. Could more have been done in the transfer market?

Well there’s still six weeks to go! I think you have to appreciate your position in the food chain and Reading are very much towards the bottom half in terms of financial firepower in the Championship. We lack the power to go out and just sign who we want, instead we’re seemingly looking for value as best we can and trying to tap into potential rather than signing slam dunk quality players. It’s frustrating as a fan to see other teams go out and get big name exciting players but Director of Football Brian Tevreden and Jaap Stam have earned our trust and we’ll just hope they’ll be able to sneak a couple of good buys in before the window.

Chris Gunter started all 46 games last year. Would you like to see a quick right-back come in to take some of the burden off him?

Young Tennai Watson certainly fits that bill, having impressed when called upon at senior level and regularly at U23 level. Gunter is just a machine, possibly the most gifted athlete we’ve had at the club in my time watching the team. It’s perhaps why he’s stayed so long at the club, even if sometimes his attacking output has been underwhelming, you know what you’ll get from him.

Jordan Obita only has a year left on his contract. Do his performances merit a new deal?

Obita’s had a really up and down time since breaking into the team four years ago. He grew up as an attacking midfielder but was forced into left-back duty out of necessity by Nigel Adkins and did so well he just stuck there. I think deep down he wants to be more attacking, so when Stam went to a back five, with Obita as the wing-back he really stepped up his performances. He’s certainly worth a new deal but this is a big season for him.

What are your thoughts ahead of the Championship season as a whole? Any potential dark horses for you?

It’s always hard to look past the bigger clubs, with those relegated plus the likes of Villa, Derby, Wednesday and Norwich all banging on the door. In terms of dark horses, I think of Brentford hold on to Canos they might well surprise a few this season, while never rule out Neil Warnock turning Cardiff into a play-off contender. Yet who are we kidding, nobody really seems to be able to figure out this league!

Where will you finish?

Heart says we’ll be back in the top six, head says 8th.

The Football Lab’s Verdict

With Williams and Al-Habsi leaving, Reading’s squad has been weakened a little thus far. Bodvarsson arrives to reduce dependence on Kermorgant up top while Kelly and Moore should impress again. The Royals need to inject a touch more pace into their possession play though to remain competitive. 8th