Reading Between The Lines

The best trio since Mark Bowen played three LBs at Charlton once.

Recent posts

  • Coaching Insights

    I had already thought about writing something about Reading’s new coaching staff as part of my musings from afar but I was cautious about jumping to any conclusions from a few interview snippets from Leam Richardson right at the start of his tenure. However, over the last few days Reading have done a series of short interviews with all the first team coaches so I now feel we have some more clues to the makeup of of the coaching team.

    Looking back over my time following Reading, I seldom remember hearing much about who does what as part of a team of coaches. Some of it is more self explanatory, Goalkeeping coach, Fitness coach and the more modern Set Piece coach, but I wouldn’t really have been able to say what specifically Nigel Gibbs was responsible for when he and McDermott took us up to the Prem. Now that is in no way a critique. I imagine the role of a coach is a) far more broad than any label can do it justice and b) not always neatly defined.

    We did learn a little more under Ruben Selles. James Oliver-Pearce revealed that over time the dynamic established that Ruben focussed on the out of possession work, that certainly defined his brand of football, while JOP focussed on the in possession plan. With them was Tobias Loveland, technical coaching assistant, and while it’s probably unfair to guess, Tobias’ prior roles as a technical analyst perhaps point towards individual player development moreso than tactical input.

    With this series of interviews with Rob Shay, Rob Kelly, James Beattie, Mikele Leigertwood & Danny Schofield we have been given some glimpses into what these individuals bring to the table and also where their responsibilities may lie.

    Rob Kelly brings huge experience and I think it’s a glowing recommendation that several managers have sought him out to add to their coaching staff. The fact that he has had spells abroad again speaks highly to his coaching ability for it to be relied upon when not working with native english speakers. In terms of his remit and role, it has not been clearly defined to us but he himself has said it’s not his tactical insight. I imagine he is both a good technical coach as well as bringing his experience and I really liked his comment about match day where he explained that he likes to remove himself from the other staff when watching the game so he can deliver his insight unaffected by what the other coaches have been discussing.

    It’s easy to take tiny morsels of information and dream them up into a full meal but Danny Schofield seems to be more of a cerebral coach. Degrees in both Sport Science and (in the next 6months) Sport Physcology both have pretty obvious benefits to the group. Good credentials at youth and senior level working alongside Carlos Corberan, it’s easy to imagine him having a big input on both tatical direction and individual development. Crucially I think it’s really interesting that he has been brought into the group for this job having known a long time but never worked with Leam Richardson before. Smart managers build coaching teams that support them, challenge them and bring strengths to the group that it is lacking.

    Perhaps the coach with the clearest directive seems to be James Beattie. He and Richardson have more or less said that he is there to work with the attackers at the club. Which given this career makes a tonne of sense and in his interview he seemed to suggest he is there to pass on his experience as a player and his work as a coach to develop our STs.

    Of the coaches retained from Hunt’s spell I imagine Rob Shay’s is the least impacted. He of course has to work with a new manager and understand what is important to him but I suspect plenty of his work continues as before. Mikele Leigertwood is hard to say. We never really got any insight to his responsibilities under Hunt so impossible to say how they may have changed or not under Richardson. I think it’s great we have kept him, continutuity can helpful and I’m sure he has played an important role in what has been a pretty smooth transition from one manager to another. He is also a well respected coach that was here long before Hunt’s short time in charge and I’m sure has plenty offer and there were comments to that affect by some of the new staff. Him staying does mean the coaching staff is quite large at 6 but give our track record of staff cuts over the last few years it makes quite a nice change.

    Maybe behind the scenes it’s totally different but under Richardson it doesn’t appear as though coaches are responsible for phases of play in the way they were under Selles. Instead Richardson has assembled, and inherited, a group of coaches with broad experiences, insights, interests and strengths which hopefully sets us up well to tackle whatever challenges come our way. Beattie and his impact on the Strikers is particularly interesting, who wouldn’t be excited by that idea.

    It’s very early days but I do find myself buying into his impact with recent performances from Kelvin E. When you look his physical profile, his technical ability and his youth scoring record it’s hard not to see him as a player worth making a project of if you were Beattie. I have flip-flopped countless times as to whether I feel Kelvin E can be an effective ST at this level or not and until very recently was firmly in the NO camp. It wasn’t his lack of channel running or his inablilty to hold off burly CBs, which is much maligned on twitter when he plays, that had me thinking he wasn’t really cut out for ST. It was his work in and around the box that concerned me. To be a ST that scores 12-15 goals a season you are going to need to score some easy/scruffy goals following in on other’s shots and finding a yard free in the box and he just never really seemed to have that in in him. Matt and I always used to laugh at his tendancy to pull out to the edge of the box for a pull back as if he was a CAM, it’s not where you get those steady goals. It’s far too soon to say that has all changed under Richardson but I’ve seen more ST behavior from Kelvin over the last 3/4 games than for a long time which is interesting. He’s still not scoring but he’s gone from a player that often didn’t look like a ST to now looking like a ST that’s on a bad scoring run. That doesn’t sound overwhelmingly positive but I’m more confident than ever that a goal is coming because of his repeatable actions in game

  • Musings from afar pt2

    Musings from afar pt2

    Following on from the last post I wanted to take a little look at the squad and early tactical signs from the new gaffer.


    Despite my assertion the squad is a good one, there are of course gaps and weak spots in there that I’m sure the new manager will be keen to address. He has already added two in Randell Williams and the return of Andy Rinomhota that both seem very shrewd pickups. Richardson highlighted the importance of the next few transfer windows when appointed which could be standard manager speak but with Couhig also highlighting Richardson’s squad building as key perhaps it points to some behind the scene convos that have been had. What is done with the current crop of loanees in January for example will be interesting with Jacob, O’Mahony and to a lesser extent Burns all finding themselves unfancied and out of the team.

    We are just a single league game into Richardson’s spell in charge so too early for in depth analysis or conclusions but…

    Richardson has kept with the, on paper, 4231 shape that Hunt also used. Leam himself said in his early interviews that he is a 4231 man, with the occasional switch to back 3. What he has done is lean further into the asymmetry that Hunt also dabbled with. One FB holds, switching between a wide CB in a back 3 and traditional FB in build up while the winger ahead of them holds their width. On the other side, the FB bombs on providing all the width with their winger tucking in central to act as a 2nd CAM. Out of possession it forms up more like a 442 with the CAM and ST pressing as a pair.

    On Paper
    In Possession
    Out of Possession


    So again, refinement rather than reinvention because there are elements of this Hunt dabbled with also. In some of Ritchie’s last few appearances for Hunt he would often tuck in with Abrefa or Ahmed giving the width down the right. Maybe this is harsh but perhaps it exemplifies the difference between Hunt and Richardson that the latter is approaching this idea with more conviction. Abrefa has been very aggressive in his position as has Lane drifting central, no half measures.

    So who are likely to be the winners & losers?

    Dorsett is an obvious candidate, a hybrid LB/LCB role could work very nicely for him. At his best he is an aggressive defender who has good recovery speed, good height for set pieces and his distribution has come a long way to now have some bright moments. He does need his weaknesses covering though and despite his game attitude he doesn’t impact in the final 3rd and bombing for overlaps does mean he gets caught out defensively. So a role where he can focus on his defensive work and distribute out from deep is a win.

    Randell Williams seems an ideal candidate for the ‘width’ winger role. He has experience playing WB roles so his used to playing a role where he has to supply the width and threat down a whole flank. Putting him down his strong foot left side with the pace to stretch defences should hopefully lead to a good supply line for the other attackers. While Dan K has had lots of bright (almost) moments I wouldn’t be that surprised to see Williams force his way into a first choice spot.

    This one might end up a bit of a stretch but could this setup finally be the way we see Ben Elliott shine alongside Kamari Doyle. Our two most talented and creative attacking midfielders have been competing for minutes all season. Of late Doyle won out as the first choice CAM in Hunts 4231 even before Elliott picked up a knock. Now with this asymmetrical shape could we have a way to play both without disrupting the settled Savage/Wing double pivot (Rino may have something to say there anyway). It gets both players into areas they thrive while maintaining width on both sides. I have been a little disappointed with Doyle of late, maybe just high expectations, and actually don’t know how suited he is to the role of chief creator. He’s super talented and when he carries the ball so hard to stop but I also think he is possibly better suited to being able to crash the box, pick up interesting positions or run in behind with another intricate passer trying to find him. With Elliott out for an undetermined amount of time we may have to wait to see and if the team is playing well maybe longer still.

    Possibly lineup with Elliott & Doyle



    With no game due to the international break, Richardson has had more time to bed in his ideas and build relationships since a good start vs Stevenage. We’ll see if he can deliver sparkle on the pitch to match the fireworks off it this weekend.

  • Musings from afar pt1

    Musings from afar pt1

    I am mid way through 6 weeks travelling around South East Asia so safe to say Reading FC has not been top of mind recently. However, long bus journeys leave a lot of time to kill so here are some thoughts.

    Old news now but Noel Hunt was relieved as manager a few days into my trip. Noel Hunt was a favourite player of mine and that admiration only grew when he returned to the club and helped develop the pathway from academy to first team. While sacking him is certainly the right choice, I’m glad his reputation has not been too greatly dented by this stint in charge.

    Ultimately, I think Hunt had a pretty clear picture of how he wanted his Reading side to look but simply was unable to execute it. Whether you put that down to inexperience, lack of support from on high or a natural consequence of a summer of upheaval is up for debate. For me, the worst parts of Reading under Hunt (aimless long balls, disjoined press) have seemed his inability to get the team playing the way he wants them to rather than his approach being completely wrong. That is not absolving him of blame and dumping it on the players, this coaching team has not been able to grow the good parts and diminish the weak parts over his tenure. Mediocracy rather outright terrible seems the right description for the team so there was always the glimmer that it might click. At the beginning it was when transfer comes in, when everyone has gelled or maybe when he changes formation. Excuses for the lack of improvement did ultimately run out though. I don’t think Hunt was a million miles off making a success of this but I also don’t feel confident he would have in a timeframe that was acceptable. Football is a shortsighted business but managers don’t get the long term if they can’t show signs of progress in the medium term.

    One element I have found interesting with Hunt is the idea of how a young manager builds a coaching team. It is standard fair that when a manager joins a club they bring along a raft of coaches with them. Over time some of those coaches get left behind while others move from club to club. Sometimes, as we saw with JOP, coaches already in place when a manager joins make such a good impression they get taken along to the next club when a manager leaves. Coaching teams tend to be well established as relationships are built over time together. So if you are a young manager thrust into your first role, where do you begin in building one? Now, Hunt is experienced in the game and I’m sure has a good network but he’s also spent most of the last 4 years working at the club he has taken over. His working relationships are in place. If Hunt had taken over Tranmere and brought Ledge, Rob Shay and Scott Marshall with him no one would have blinked an eye but because two were already in the building and one used to be, they were viewed as cheap, below par options. Would things have been materially different if Gibbs had stayed or if Hunt’s first choice assistant manager, Richard Beale, had joined instead of Scott Marshall? My gut says no. I think Gibbs’ positive impact and Marshall’s lack of impact have both been massively over exaggerated by fans. Reality is we have no idea what either of them are responsible for or what impact they have had and just pointing to results is ridiculous.

    Football, on and off the pitch, is full of fine margins. Whether a team is successful or not. Whether a young player ‘makes it’. Whether a manager turns the ship around. All these things have so many contributing factors and so many are out of the individual’s control. That isn’t a rally cry to keep backing an underperforming manager, just as small margins can mean bad performances and falling short of expectations the inverse is true. Reading will be banking on a new manager turning the tide and seeing some of those small margins fall our way.

    Enter Leam Richardson.
    While hardly the sexiest name on the market, if, as I believe, it was Hunt’s inability to execute his plan that was our biggest hurdle then bringing in a manager with a similar approach but more acumen could be a shrewd move. I fully expect refinement rather than reinvention under Richardson and I am moderately confident we will see the marginal gains needed to catapult us up the league. Emotional connection can be so important between staff and fans but I do think at this critical juncture for the club maybe a bit of emotional distance (not a lack of passion mind) may give the clarity and clear thinking we need to define what the next few years look like for this club.

    What gives me some confidence that Richardson will be successful, at least short term, is I do believe this is a good squad and just needs the platform to succeed. A lot is often said about managers squeezing more than the sum of its parts out of a squad. Our squad is good enough that it doesn’t have to be better than the sum of its parts. Great if it is but performing to the level of the squad should see us performing like a playoff team.

    In part 2 I look a little more at the Richardson’s early tactics and what it means for the players

  • Carabao Conclusions

    Carabao Conclusions

    Reading are up and running for the season with a morale boosting 2-1 win over Championship Portsmouth this week. Heavy rotation for both sides gave us a chance to check out a few different players but most importantly winning breeds confidence, regardless of competition, and spirits should be lifted ahead of Wimbledon on Saturday. Here are few thoughts following the match:

    Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan (re-)stating his ST credentionals

    We’ve mostly seen Kelvin E play LW since breaking into the team a few years ago, especially after moving away from Selles’ 4222 to the variety of 433 shapes we’ve played since. The debate among fans even had seemed to have shifted away from whether LW or ST is his best position to instead, whether he was even a viable option at ST at L1 level. One night in the cup doesn’t change that but it was heartening to see Kelvin play up top and score.

    I’ve maintained for a while that I do think he could be a valuable option up top but what was so encouraging from last night was how unfussy a ST display it was. We know Kelvin has wonderful feet, can drive at defences 1v1 and score spectacular goals out of nothing. We didn’t see any of that but it’s no bad thing. What we got from Kelvin on Tuesday night was efficient channel running, no frills attacking and really excellent work rate. All 3 of which have been questioned in the past.

    Honestly my favourite part of his performance was decision making to take the early, low shot that ultimately led to our opening goal. Seeing him run in behind with a defender scrambling back to stop him I just assumed we would see Kelvin chop inside to sit his defender down and try and curl left footed into the far corner. It would have been a very Kelvin E goal had he scored it, and entirely within his capabilities, but would also have added a fair bit more difficulty to the chance and relied on him nailing all the elements. Kelvin has moments of absolute brilliance that separate him not just from his colleagues but from this league but what he he hasn’t got, yet, is the efficiency (of movement, running and decisions) that could see him become a top ST. Seeing glimpses of some ‘traditional’ ST actions from him was good to see.

    There’s more than one way to skin a cat (get the ball into the final 3rd)

    A few weeks ago I postured HERE that our overreliance on Wing in possession was as much about what he was doing as what others players we’re not doing. In short, the goal should be How do we get the ball into dangerous areas rather than how do we get the ball to Wing to get the ball into dangerous areas. On Tuesday we got a chance to watch a Reading team without Wing at the base of midfield with young Shay Spencer playing in his place. Spencer is someone that I have really enjoyed watching in the past and it would not have been a surprise to see him playing the role similar to Wing. He fits the mould of a deep lying midfielder tasked with getting the ball into the final 3rd. However, that was not what we saw vs Portsmouth.

    Against Pompey, Spencer was efficient and always showing good movement to provide passing options for players but Reading did not put particular focus on passing through him. Instead, distribution from the back was a little more varied with Burns and Stickland taking more responsibility for starting attacks passing long and short. The fullbacks also played a bigger role in bringing the ball through the 3rds than we have seen in the league so far, particularly Ahmed who played a role in both goals. In some ways it was shame not to see Spencer flex is game running muscles but he contributed well to good overall display which is more important.

    This is not to say we would be better off without Lewis Wing, that would be crazy, but this team can and must be more varied in how it gets the ball into attacking areas. We showed we can get the ball into dangerous areas and score goals (albeit against a much changed side) without funnelling the ball through our DM so no reason that can’t continue once the excellent Wing is back in that position.

    JC

  • Stockport vs Bolton a.k.a How come they look dangerous and we don’t?

    Stockport vs Bolton a.k.a How come they look dangerous and we don’t?

    Safe to say Reading looked lacklustre in attack away at Lincoln on opening day. In some ways that wasn’t a huge surprise. It’s been clear over the last few weeks that the attack is clearly where reinforcements are needed. While personnel improvements can, and I am sure, will make a big difference there were some real issues getting the ball to our attackers which needs solved on the training ground.

    So, with that buzzing around in my head as I turned on Stockport vs Bolton on TV on Sunday I wondered what would they do that we didn’t. Here were two teams that had ambitions for promotion, that played relatively similar setups to us, so how would they attack. Here’s what I took away from it

    How they got the ball to the wide players was key

    Personnel obviously makes a big difference out wide and it would be naïve to ignore that in Mothersille & Diamond for Stockport and Mendes-Gomez & Cozier-Duberry for Bolton you’ve got 4 players that would very likely play ahead of Kelvin E & Camara. How the two teams got them into the game was what stood out to me however.

    The game plan for both teams was to get their wide players on the ball as often as possible (same can be said for us) but prioritised going wide only when the wingers were deep into the opposition half. That doesn’t necessarily just mean lots of intricate build up play working into the final 3rd before going wide. There were plenty of long balls too, but always with the aim of getting the winger (or overlapping FB) on the ball deep. That means that wingers were pretty much only getting on the ball in areas they could hurt the opposition and the ask was clear – go attack the defence and make something happen. Reading often find themselves with the ball at the feet of the wingers in the middle 3rd. In that case, players can either try to retain the ball and keep it circulating or drive with it. With a big distance to goal and lots of defenders in the way most of the time that just leads to turn overs or best case we win throw ins to progress up the pitch. Finding a way to get our attackers on the ball in areas they can be dangerous is something that needs work and was also an issue last year.

    Both teams also got far more joy out their FBs by committing them higher, earlier. Reading’s fullbacks felt a bit caught in between attacking and defending yesterday. We played plenty of direct balls forward but without the FB up in support didn’t get much joy picking the second balls. We didn’t get them involved much in deep build up either so they were often bypassed and didn’t add much to our attacks.

    A focal point up top makes a difference

    Bolton and Stockport got a lot more out of their STs than we got out of O’Mahony on Saturday. Wooten and Burstow are taller, stronger and not up against Sonny Bradley so dealt much better with longer high balls up to them but they also got much better service into them. They both had balls fired into their feet as they quickly dropped off into to link play. Those are balls we absolutely could have supplied to O’Mahony but didn’t. O’Mahony was another that looked a little unsure of what he was supposed to be doing or at the very least was just not on the same wavelength as some of his teamates yet, not a huge surprise if so. Sometimes he was spinning in behind when we looked for him short, others he would pin his man or come short with Wing left frustrated with the lack of runners. Nothing really came off for him and with him yesterday.

    Wing need to be our conductor can be a self-fulfilling prophecy

    In Oliver Norwood you’ve got one of very few players in League 1 that I would confidently say is a better deep lying playmaker than Lewis Wing. Watching him versus Bolton you could easily spot so many of the same hallmarks that we see from our captain. He will often drop between CBs or into RB/LB spots to form a back 3 in build up, he will play triangle passes with his CBs to get around opposition press and he will always have an eye on a long pass to quickly switch into attack. All the same things Wing does for us. The biggest difference for me, is that none of that stopped Stockport’s players (especially their CBs) from making their own decisions and playing plenty of balls forward themselves. In fact Norwood often just got involved to buy the CBs more space to play their passes. A lot of Wing’s movement, positional play and combination play seems to be geared around getting him on the ball with a bit of space. How much if that is driven by Hunt or Wing is hard to say. Whereas with Norwood, everything he did seemed simply focused on ‘how do we progress the ball forward’ and the difference was stark. So much more variety in how Stockport got the ball forward and much harder to defend against. If Wing is plan A and everything else is plan B then we’re already predictable.

    Now, this is not meant as a takedown of Wing or even me making the case to play him further forward. He absolutely can unlock defences from deep and I would obviously rather he play a ball forward from deep than an CB. I just think, maybe even more so this year as captain, he has some responsibility to empower the players around him to problem solve themselves. I got tired at times last year watching CBs, FBs and even other midfielders seemingly scanning around to see where was Wing to pass to rather than look play forward themselves. How do we get the ball into dangerous areas rather than how do we get the ball to Wing to get the ball into dangerous areas has to be the focus and ultimately that responsibility falls to Hunt to correct.

    JC

  • Season Predictions – 25/26

    Season Predictions – 25/26

    Here is a write up (with some paraphrasing as we love to ramble) of the predictions we made for Reading’s upcoming 25/26 League 1 campaign on on our recent podcast which you can check out here – https://t.co/Vhp8EE6LCs or on other podcast apps

    League Finish

    • Matt – 12th “I don’t think there is a clear position where Reading will finish. I think the doom & gloom prediction of 17th would need a lot to go wrong for us to drop that far down”
    • Jordan – 14th “I still feel like, despite lots of false starts with recruitment, by the time we finish the window the squad will be quite good”
    • Cal – 14th “There are still a few good, top end league one players here Pereira ,Wing etc”

    Top Scorer

    • Matt – Lewis Wing “In lieu of a proper striker, just on the freekicks and goals he will score this season. He always comes up big in a few games and I’m not convinced our top scorer will get that many goals this season anyway”
    • Jordan – Not at the club yet (Devante Cole) “I don’t know if this is a cop-out or my faith in the recruitment. I don’t think our top scorer is in the squad yet. It could be Devante Cole… looking back on this next year is going to look stupid when 2 days after the pod goes out Cole signs for someone else”
    • Cal – Mark O’Mahony – “he’s at the club now and he is a striker (glowing praise)”

    Top Assists

    • Jordan – Charlie Savage “those 5yrd layoffs for Wing wondergoals”
    • Matt – Ben Elliott “One of those two 8’s that push forward, make things happen in and around the box and if Savage is out wide then Elliott will be more central and a bit better with those killer passes through”
    • Cal – Ben Elliott “Could be a special connection on the right side with Kyerewaa”

    Player of the Season

    • Jordan – Paudie O’Connor “The type of candidate a lot of Reading fans like. He’s going to win loads of headers, block lots of shots and the other thing that will count in his favour is he’s going to score some goals”
    • Matt – Daniel Kyerewaa “Those 5mins vs Portsmouth were incredible. I’m on the hype train baby”
    • Cal – Joel Pereira “I think he’s going to have a lot of work to do. If we are good, he could with POTS and if we are bad, he definitely will win POTS”

    Young Player of the Season

    • Cal – Andre Garcia “If he get’s a lot of right wing minutes, I would be very moved. I am excited”
    • Matt – Finley Burns “I think he looks a natural successor to Bindon, there’s nothing like overhyping people“
    • Jordan – Michael Stickland “The type of player that if he gets into the team and does well, I don’t think he will drop back out. He’s got a manager that really rates him, academy player. I could see a world where Stickland get’s into the team and stays”

    Reading Between the Lines Sponsorship Award

    *Depending on who you ask this award has one of two meanings. Wise, learned folk know it represents who we would want the podcast the matchday sponsor for a season if we had the budget to. A purely vibes based decision. Others reduce it to an investment opportunity in a player who’s metaphorical stock could rise. Is football not already so consumed with greed….

    • Matt – Michael Stickland “The vibes are towards Michael Stickland”
    • Jordan – Mamadi Camara “My player will not help in the stocks side. I’m all aboard the Camara-coming-good-train. We are so ready for the Camara redemption arc.”
    • Cal – Finley Burns “He’s big, he can pass and for those 20mins vs Dom Solanke he looked unbeatable”

    Outlandish Prediction

    • Cal – I think Hunt will be sacked before Christmas “I hope it doesn’t get toxic. He did great last season but I worry a lot of the underlying stats weren’t very good and we did drop off in performances. Even if he is quite good, he’s so new to the role and Couhig has loudly stated ambitions” Bonus prediction: Andre Garcia will score the goal of the season
    • Jordan – The season will end up being quite fun “Season’s are not defined by the first month. Once this team has players in and they gel, we will have a fun second half of the season. Maybe even fun enough to see a playoff run. Hopefully with Hunt”
    • Matt – Tyler Sackey will appear in 10 league games this season “He’s played a lot in pre-season but he’s playing where Ben Elliott so he’s not going to start many games. It’s not as nailed on as it looked a few weeks ago. He quietly went about it in preseason” Bonus prediction: Lewis Wing plays every minute again this season

  • Build the squad, but don’t ignore lessons from the past

    Build the squad, but don’t ignore lessons from the past

    Reading need more signings. Groundbreaking assessment I know. Last season we had to work with an extremely thin squad but despite that still recorded a hugely impressive 7th place finish. The spine

    Currently we are still working to replace players we have lost over the last 12 months more than growing what was a very thin squad last season. After some good early recruitment, the priority is clearly at the top end of the pitch with the squad looking particularly thin out wide and up top. Out wide in we especially could do with a range of options. Wide players are often the decisive difference makers in a game but at our level naturally have weaknesses and/or inconsistencies. Last’s seasons overreliance on Camara, Campbell & Kelvin highlighted that an inability to ‘shake things up’ out wide can mean an inability to find that badly needed spark in some games. That’s an area where depth next year would be very welcome.

    Given the thin squad last year, there was a need for young players to step up and play more than would otherwise be expected. In general, I think we can look back on their contributions very proudly. A credit to this and our former manager has been the way a seemingly endless conveyor belt of young talent has been called upon to play when needed and largely looked solid. Stickland received plenty of praise for his handful of games at the tail of the season and now looks to be firmly in the 1st team picture. Akande didn’t play as much as he or some fans wanted but was a bright presence when called upon. Rushesha looked a perfectly competent L1 player whenever drafted into the team and Wareham did an admirable job trying to fill Sam Smiths boots from Jan onwards.

    Last season we were over reliant on youth, something we should actively recruit to avoid next year, that is clear. However, it did confirm for me a long-held belief that this team can absolutely rely on academy prospects as 3rd choice in most positions without it derailing a season. I think that idea is especially true when we are talking about players playing a few games due to injury and fading back again. There is of course room for nuance, and we need to assess the options in 1st and 2nd spot ahead of them. 3rd choice in most positions shouldn’t expect to play much so if the two ahead are covering multiple positions or have ropey injury records then further depth is needed. Equally it would be remiss not to the assess the quality of who we have waiting in wings from the academy. For example, the academy looks thin out wide with Osho/Ahmed playing there of late so by all means bring in several external options there. What isn’t needed, or even possible, is covering for every eventual injury and especially when they there are multiple in a position. Losing Elliot, Knibbs and Savage at the same time would be massively detrimental to our starting XI but that shouldn’t mean we bloat the squad in case that ever happened. Even if we could cover that with senior players, we would never be able to get close to their quality while keeping those players happy on the sidelines waiting for their shot.

    I do not want to go back to the days earlier in Dai’s ownership when we had to have an injury crisis before we even started to see some academy players on the bench. It’s a waste of money and it renders having a Cat 1 academy pointless if there is no pathway. Over the course of a whole season, our success next year is not going to hinge on Academy Player A being drafted in to play 3 games in somebodies’ absence. Our squad building needs to continue. It should focus on filling the gaps in our starting XI and on providing quality squad options that we will need to rely on. What it shouldn’t try to solve is “what happens if O’Connor, Burns and Dorsett all pick up an injury at the same time. Let’s not fall into traps of old with squads bloated by mediocre players on high wages. Let’s also take what we learned from last year, these boys can play a role when needed.

    JC

    Photo Credit – Matthew Williamson

  • Plenty to learn about Noel Hunt – Football Manager

    Plenty to learn about Noel Hunt – Football Manager

    We are 8 months in, and I think you can make the case that Noel Hunt ‘the manager’ is still somewhat of an unknown quantity. Drafted into the role in December, after Rueben Selles had reached his breaking point with the former ownership and left for the league above, he steered us to a 7th placed finish. While we’ve seen half a season of him take charge of this team, and some background as academy manager, anything we think we have learnt about Noel Hunt the football manager can potentially be explained away as not certainty due to the various circumstances that have led him here.  

    He’s widely regarded as having done an excellent job of keeping results and, importantly, morale up over the second half of the season. Taking over from the popular and successful Selles, the tactical approach was largely as you were with the shape and system remaining fairly consistent. Our creative threat tailed off under Hunt, the loss of James Oliver-Pearce being felt there I’m sure, and while there’s a case to be made for us being more resilient away from home, a far easier away schedule in the back half of the season certainly contributed.  

    The other elephant in the room is that there simply were not the resources or personnel to make particularly drastic changes to how we set up. The window saw Chem Campbell retained on loan and saw Bindon sold but return on loan so much like the Selles, the brief was clear, make it work with what you have. 

    Off the back of a system that was working, limited resources and a first XI which largely picks itself (barring injury), Hunt chose to stick rather than twist. That should in no way take away from what he did in his time last season, it is not a simple thing to even maintain a working setup. The opposition still needs analysis, the setup needs tweaked game by game to maximise our strengths and isolate opponent weakness. Like Selles, he was dealt difficult selection conundrums with injuries to plenty of players and had to rely on young squad players to fill gaps.  

    Another element that adds to the uncertainty is this is his first real crack at senior management. There are no other clubs to go back and watch highlights off to see what his approach was. Naturally his time as U23 boss can give us glimpses but so much of academy football is about preparing those players to progress to the first team and tailoring the team to how the first team plays. If his last 18months as U21 boss were all geared towards getting them playing in a manner suited to Selles’ first team, then it is not necessarily a reflection of how he himself wants his teams to play.  

    I have seen Hunt’s academy teams play in a variety of ways from high possession to low block and any number of back 5 and back 4 formations. That may speak to his tactical flexibility, and it’s certainly a compliment he got us winning in those various styles. It doesn’t, however, tell us a tonne about how his team is likely to play next year.  

    He’s answered aspects of this in the past. We know he wants his team to work hard, be competitive, and play for the badge on the front rather than the name on the back. That’s all great but, all due respect, fairly standard manager speak. I don’t expect him to come out and say “I love a 442 and I need a 6’3 lump up front to make it work” but again the point remains, there’s much we still have to learn about what this team will look like under Noel given a proper pre-season and some recruitment.  

    Recruitment might give us some clues but then again just because a player has played a certain way or in a certain setup in the past doesn’t mean we’re going to see that next season. It’s too early to glean much from the business so far, but possibly trends will appear as the squad building continues.  

    The truth for me is that we won’t know much about how Noel Hunt, the football manager, wants his team to play until the squad is complete and we’re 5-10 games into next season.  

    All this is to say, Hunt goes into this new season with a complete clean slate tactically as far as I am concerned. I’m going in with no preconceived notions of how we will setup because, for good and bad, I think there was very little to learn from last season about how we will play next season.  

    The truth for me is that we won’t know much about how Noel Hunt, the football manager, wants his team to play until the squad is complete and we’re 5-10 games into next season. To me, that’s fun. It’s the excitement of getting a new manager and learning about how they want to play but with the familiarity of a guy that’s been around the club for years.  

    JC