Dark Savante
12 Feb 2007, 01:06 PM
I meant to make this thread a few weeks ago, shame on me.
Reading are my team of the decade. I tipped them to go down at the start of the season. Egg on my face? I'm bathing in gooey yolk, and it's quite comfortable, as it goes.
Reading were a revelation last season in the Colaship amassing a record number of points (highest points total ever in any of the professional English football leagues – they were also promoted in March that season :eek: ) and destroying everything in sight. Their football was amazing. They committed to attack, they played the right way and they were the team for the neutral to follow if entertainment was paramount.
My reasoning for them going down this season was that they would come unstuck trying to play in this fashion in the PL. They'd come up against superior teams who would relish playing against this naive bravado. Apparently Stevie didn't get the memo, for he's gone to the top of The Premiership Tower, dropped his pants, and taken a large dump on the division. Not only are his troops riding higher than anyone could have dreamed, they deserve to be there. Galloping into town on the back of football that’s of such quality it should make the majority of clubs in The Premiership ashamed of themselves.
How is it that these rookies, in the purest sense of the word (this is Reading’s first time in the top division in their history,) can find themselves in 6th position in England’s best division whilst spending a fraction of a fraction of the budget the clubs they nestle shoulder to shoulder with have? That Reading’s performances guarantee the largest dollop of élan this division has seen since Kevin ‘luv it’ Keegan took kamikaze camaraderie to within a hairs breadth of the title? The reasons are many and varied, but amongst them one must ask just how poor are the clubs in this league to be so systematically debunked by a squad that cost less than the transfer fee of Andy Johnson [Everton] to assemble. If you were a Reading fan, you’d be within your rights to ask: ‘what all the fuss is about The Premiership’
It’s certainly isn’t to the detriment of Reading that these questions should be asked. They have renewed some of my faith in modern day football. A manager that can not only manage, but also play devastating, attacking football on a shoestring budget? Has Stevie Coppell been imbued with the spirit of Old Big ‘Ead (Brian Clough) himself? Having one, two or even three players perform to their optimum in a post-promotion season is not uncommon. Wigan were the last exponents of this technique and their have been many promoted clubs who have done so in the past, but to have a whole side perform to their optimum is not coincidence, it is amazing management. Whether Coppell had the money to go out and replace the charges who got him promoted or not, I don’t know, but at this point let’s take a look at the players he has used to get Reading to where they are.
We have Kevin Doyle and Shane Long from Cork City. Leroy Lita, a million pound signing from Bristol City. Marcus Hahnemannn signed from Rochdale. Stalwart, Graeme Murty. Nicky Shorey signed from Leyton Orient. Steve Sidwell, a former Arsenal apprentice, signed from Brighton & Hove Albion. Ibrahima Sonko, signed from Brentford. Stephen Hunt, also signed from Brentford. Dave Kitson, signed from Colchester United. Bobby Convey, who arrived at Reading by way of D.C United. Seol Ki-Hyeon, who was signed from Wolverhampton Wonderers.
The list goes on, but the one consistency is that this is a almost exclusively a bunch of players with no prior experience of top flight football, signed for a pittance, and performing to a standard that is almost unthinkable in this day and age with a squad of players from the lower divisions. Where should this leave the gaggle of chairmen in this league who are being short-changed by their clinquant teams and managers who aren’t delivering despite costing millions to assemble? There are very few managers and clubs who should be excluded from such a question; Manchester United, Bolton, Portsmouth, Blackburn and Sheffield United are the clubs who it could be fairly said are delivering performances and results in keeping with their status and budget. Outside of that bunch, questions can easily be raised about the disparity in cost of assembly vis-à-vis performance and results across the board in The Premiership. These clubs wear the bling (fancied players,) but on closer inspection, are we seeing that these diamonds are in fact cubic zirconias? The arrival of Steve Coppell’s Reading and the results therein, should send shockwaves through the entire division. Put simply, Coppell’s Reading must lead to an amelioration of this, the top division of English football. There are simply no excuses left for the perennial underachieving ‘big clubs’ in this league. Reading have delivered to the point where most clubs in this division have been served.
Am I premature in my appraisal of Reading? Team of the decade, what? We’re only in February, who’s to say they won’t plummet from their position once the bigger and ‘better’ squads pick up steam?
The answer is no. Reading have performed to a level that was inconceivable up to this point in the season. Who amongst us doubts they can go to any stadium in this league and get a result? Only those with congealed adipose between their ears would entertain such folly. Reading’s football has brought a certain amount of sobriety to proceedings. They are a dangerous side achieving on a weekly basis. That austere veneer of Coppell’s, belies the joyous football he has delivered this term. Lest we forget this is a side who were a whisker away from a result at home to Chelsea, were paid the compliment of Manchester United switching formation away from home to accommodate them - and still only coming away with a draw from the Madejski. Drew with Chelsea away, hammered West Ham 6-0 and also beat them away. They have comfortably beaten Bolton and Spurs – two teams expectant of top six finishes and with ambitions of a Champion’s League spot. They are in the fifth round of the FA Cup where they are expected to field a reserve side this weekend. When you consider the squad they are doing all of this with, the fact this is their debut season in the top flight, and that they are, in fact, getting better and better as the season reaches its zenith, you have to start wondering where they will end up in the final table. European competition is not out of the question.
The Reading fans themselves seem like an affable bunch, rather self-effacing and without a hint of arrogance you get from the usual ‘big club’ supporters. Of all the supporters in the top flight they could be acting like Billy Big Bollocks, but no. It seems like their great brand of attacking football and avoiding relegation will satiate them. Survival is still the order of the day. A rational and reasoned standpoint, which is fair enough, perhaps in a debut season one should just be happy to remain in the division. Let everyone else rave about you whilst you’re quietly going about your business. Which brings me to: ‘The Brain,’ the man making all of this possible, step forward Manchester United legend, Steve Coppell.
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g71/Apex_Zwei/PinkyandtheBrain.jpg
Coppell attempts to explain
the intricacies of his system
to Stuart Pearce.
The reason why I decided to write this piece in the first place was Steve Coppell. In him I believe we are witnessing a possible successor to Sir Alex Ferguson. Of course right now such talk is ridiculous, but if Coppell proves that this isn’t an anomaly, and he can keep Reading upper-end of mid table next season whilst playing the same glorious brand of football as has been bestowed upon the league this term, it will be safe to say that this is a very special manager. One who is already a Manchester United legend and knows better than most what Manchester United supporters value as much as winning – great, attacking football.
Coppell was a legendary winger from the 1970’s, his story is easily accessible to anyone who wishes to read up on him. He has taken the principles of his own game and the game that Manchester United have always played and made a fantastic team around it. What sets him apart from the flash-in-the-pan managers that have appeared in the past is his tactical nous. Where it could be easily identifiable that the Wigan charge of last term was reliant on Pascal Chimbonda, Jimmy Bullard and Jason Roberts, or that when Sunderland were flying high a few years ago Kevin Phillips was key, in Coppell’s side you get the feeling that it is he that makes them what they are. His signings are rapier like to the point of acuity, they perform as a unit whilst all being individually competent, they are tireless and tactically aware, his sides carry out precise plans like drilled soldiers and within implementation results accrue incessantly. It just doesn’t strike me as a fluke, any of it. The man himself remains modest, reserved and humble. After all, he hasn’t achieved anything yet except a shower of praise. At the end of the season we’ll have facts to go with the lustre. Perhaps he’ll allow himself a wry smile then.
What often tends to happen to teams and players that have had one great season is that they get ‘found out’ managers and players hack away at the mainframe of what makes said player or team tick and apply the necessary force to first crack and then destroy the dam of resistance. This is how we learn who the great players are. In terms of a team, it’s a little different, as they are subject to changes in personnel that can upset what was a fine balance. But in Coppell’s side I don’t see single components that make them tick. Indeed, I marvelled at Seol Ki-Hyeon earlier in the season, he was my favourite non-United player to watch, and then, he lost his place in the Reading side, and not only that, he is struggling to get it back! This despite being, for my money, one of the best performers of the first third of the season. Kitson and Doyle were the men upfront for the most part at the start of the campaign, if I recall correctly. Doyle got injured and Lita has slotted in and performed exceptionally well. The same thing has happened to Convey, he was a starter at the apex of this season, and now? He’s not been in the team for a while, whether through injury or not, I don’t know. The point, though, is that this side is more than a few components playing out of their skin. It’s a full squad of brilliant performers. Coppell has to get all the credit for this. It’s an amazing achievement in this, the era of foreign purchases over what is now an incongruous practice of lower league purchasing en masse, which was the status quo; about 20 years ago.
I suppose right now it is impossible to tell how Coppell copes under the pressure of expectation. At Reading he rides the crest of a rather fabulous wave, one which he deserves to wear like a cloak, but here, things are different. SAF is the most successful manager of this era, when it comes to results and success with an English side his wrap-sheet is longer than the rest of the league’s managers, combined. Those aren’t so much the feet of mere man to fill, rather a T-Rex that likes his grog neat. It’s impossible to tell whether Coppell can make big purchases or handle huge egos, nor do we have any idea whether he’d crumble on stages such as the Champion’s League. But really though, give him a few more years at Reading and we may just find out. ;)
I’ll urge all of you to catch some Reading games this season wherever possible, they may just remind you of a team a bit closer to home..
Reading are my team of the decade. I tipped them to go down at the start of the season. Egg on my face? I'm bathing in gooey yolk, and it's quite comfortable, as it goes.
Reading were a revelation last season in the Colaship amassing a record number of points (highest points total ever in any of the professional English football leagues – they were also promoted in March that season :eek: ) and destroying everything in sight. Their football was amazing. They committed to attack, they played the right way and they were the team for the neutral to follow if entertainment was paramount.
My reasoning for them going down this season was that they would come unstuck trying to play in this fashion in the PL. They'd come up against superior teams who would relish playing against this naive bravado. Apparently Stevie didn't get the memo, for he's gone to the top of The Premiership Tower, dropped his pants, and taken a large dump on the division. Not only are his troops riding higher than anyone could have dreamed, they deserve to be there. Galloping into town on the back of football that’s of such quality it should make the majority of clubs in The Premiership ashamed of themselves.
How is it that these rookies, in the purest sense of the word (this is Reading’s first time in the top division in their history,) can find themselves in 6th position in England’s best division whilst spending a fraction of a fraction of the budget the clubs they nestle shoulder to shoulder with have? That Reading’s performances guarantee the largest dollop of élan this division has seen since Kevin ‘luv it’ Keegan took kamikaze camaraderie to within a hairs breadth of the title? The reasons are many and varied, but amongst them one must ask just how poor are the clubs in this league to be so systematically debunked by a squad that cost less than the transfer fee of Andy Johnson [Everton] to assemble. If you were a Reading fan, you’d be within your rights to ask: ‘what all the fuss is about The Premiership’
It’s certainly isn’t to the detriment of Reading that these questions should be asked. They have renewed some of my faith in modern day football. A manager that can not only manage, but also play devastating, attacking football on a shoestring budget? Has Stevie Coppell been imbued with the spirit of Old Big ‘Ead (Brian Clough) himself? Having one, two or even three players perform to their optimum in a post-promotion season is not uncommon. Wigan were the last exponents of this technique and their have been many promoted clubs who have done so in the past, but to have a whole side perform to their optimum is not coincidence, it is amazing management. Whether Coppell had the money to go out and replace the charges who got him promoted or not, I don’t know, but at this point let’s take a look at the players he has used to get Reading to where they are.
We have Kevin Doyle and Shane Long from Cork City. Leroy Lita, a million pound signing from Bristol City. Marcus Hahnemannn signed from Rochdale. Stalwart, Graeme Murty. Nicky Shorey signed from Leyton Orient. Steve Sidwell, a former Arsenal apprentice, signed from Brighton & Hove Albion. Ibrahima Sonko, signed from Brentford. Stephen Hunt, also signed from Brentford. Dave Kitson, signed from Colchester United. Bobby Convey, who arrived at Reading by way of D.C United. Seol Ki-Hyeon, who was signed from Wolverhampton Wonderers.
The list goes on, but the one consistency is that this is a almost exclusively a bunch of players with no prior experience of top flight football, signed for a pittance, and performing to a standard that is almost unthinkable in this day and age with a squad of players from the lower divisions. Where should this leave the gaggle of chairmen in this league who are being short-changed by their clinquant teams and managers who aren’t delivering despite costing millions to assemble? There are very few managers and clubs who should be excluded from such a question; Manchester United, Bolton, Portsmouth, Blackburn and Sheffield United are the clubs who it could be fairly said are delivering performances and results in keeping with their status and budget. Outside of that bunch, questions can easily be raised about the disparity in cost of assembly vis-à-vis performance and results across the board in The Premiership. These clubs wear the bling (fancied players,) but on closer inspection, are we seeing that these diamonds are in fact cubic zirconias? The arrival of Steve Coppell’s Reading and the results therein, should send shockwaves through the entire division. Put simply, Coppell’s Reading must lead to an amelioration of this, the top division of English football. There are simply no excuses left for the perennial underachieving ‘big clubs’ in this league. Reading have delivered to the point where most clubs in this division have been served.
Am I premature in my appraisal of Reading? Team of the decade, what? We’re only in February, who’s to say they won’t plummet from their position once the bigger and ‘better’ squads pick up steam?
The answer is no. Reading have performed to a level that was inconceivable up to this point in the season. Who amongst us doubts they can go to any stadium in this league and get a result? Only those with congealed adipose between their ears would entertain such folly. Reading’s football has brought a certain amount of sobriety to proceedings. They are a dangerous side achieving on a weekly basis. That austere veneer of Coppell’s, belies the joyous football he has delivered this term. Lest we forget this is a side who were a whisker away from a result at home to Chelsea, were paid the compliment of Manchester United switching formation away from home to accommodate them - and still only coming away with a draw from the Madejski. Drew with Chelsea away, hammered West Ham 6-0 and also beat them away. They have comfortably beaten Bolton and Spurs – two teams expectant of top six finishes and with ambitions of a Champion’s League spot. They are in the fifth round of the FA Cup where they are expected to field a reserve side this weekend. When you consider the squad they are doing all of this with, the fact this is their debut season in the top flight, and that they are, in fact, getting better and better as the season reaches its zenith, you have to start wondering where they will end up in the final table. European competition is not out of the question.
The Reading fans themselves seem like an affable bunch, rather self-effacing and without a hint of arrogance you get from the usual ‘big club’ supporters. Of all the supporters in the top flight they could be acting like Billy Big Bollocks, but no. It seems like their great brand of attacking football and avoiding relegation will satiate them. Survival is still the order of the day. A rational and reasoned standpoint, which is fair enough, perhaps in a debut season one should just be happy to remain in the division. Let everyone else rave about you whilst you’re quietly going about your business. Which brings me to: ‘The Brain,’ the man making all of this possible, step forward Manchester United legend, Steve Coppell.
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g71/Apex_Zwei/PinkyandtheBrain.jpg
Coppell attempts to explain
the intricacies of his system
to Stuart Pearce.
The reason why I decided to write this piece in the first place was Steve Coppell. In him I believe we are witnessing a possible successor to Sir Alex Ferguson. Of course right now such talk is ridiculous, but if Coppell proves that this isn’t an anomaly, and he can keep Reading upper-end of mid table next season whilst playing the same glorious brand of football as has been bestowed upon the league this term, it will be safe to say that this is a very special manager. One who is already a Manchester United legend and knows better than most what Manchester United supporters value as much as winning – great, attacking football.
Coppell was a legendary winger from the 1970’s, his story is easily accessible to anyone who wishes to read up on him. He has taken the principles of his own game and the game that Manchester United have always played and made a fantastic team around it. What sets him apart from the flash-in-the-pan managers that have appeared in the past is his tactical nous. Where it could be easily identifiable that the Wigan charge of last term was reliant on Pascal Chimbonda, Jimmy Bullard and Jason Roberts, or that when Sunderland were flying high a few years ago Kevin Phillips was key, in Coppell’s side you get the feeling that it is he that makes them what they are. His signings are rapier like to the point of acuity, they perform as a unit whilst all being individually competent, they are tireless and tactically aware, his sides carry out precise plans like drilled soldiers and within implementation results accrue incessantly. It just doesn’t strike me as a fluke, any of it. The man himself remains modest, reserved and humble. After all, he hasn’t achieved anything yet except a shower of praise. At the end of the season we’ll have facts to go with the lustre. Perhaps he’ll allow himself a wry smile then.
What often tends to happen to teams and players that have had one great season is that they get ‘found out’ managers and players hack away at the mainframe of what makes said player or team tick and apply the necessary force to first crack and then destroy the dam of resistance. This is how we learn who the great players are. In terms of a team, it’s a little different, as they are subject to changes in personnel that can upset what was a fine balance. But in Coppell’s side I don’t see single components that make them tick. Indeed, I marvelled at Seol Ki-Hyeon earlier in the season, he was my favourite non-United player to watch, and then, he lost his place in the Reading side, and not only that, he is struggling to get it back! This despite being, for my money, one of the best performers of the first third of the season. Kitson and Doyle were the men upfront for the most part at the start of the campaign, if I recall correctly. Doyle got injured and Lita has slotted in and performed exceptionally well. The same thing has happened to Convey, he was a starter at the apex of this season, and now? He’s not been in the team for a while, whether through injury or not, I don’t know. The point, though, is that this side is more than a few components playing out of their skin. It’s a full squad of brilliant performers. Coppell has to get all the credit for this. It’s an amazing achievement in this, the era of foreign purchases over what is now an incongruous practice of lower league purchasing en masse, which was the status quo; about 20 years ago.
I suppose right now it is impossible to tell how Coppell copes under the pressure of expectation. At Reading he rides the crest of a rather fabulous wave, one which he deserves to wear like a cloak, but here, things are different. SAF is the most successful manager of this era, when it comes to results and success with an English side his wrap-sheet is longer than the rest of the league’s managers, combined. Those aren’t so much the feet of mere man to fill, rather a T-Rex that likes his grog neat. It’s impossible to tell whether Coppell can make big purchases or handle huge egos, nor do we have any idea whether he’d crumble on stages such as the Champion’s League. But really though, give him a few more years at Reading and we may just find out. ;)
I’ll urge all of you to catch some Reading games this season wherever possible, they may just remind you of a team a bit closer to home..