Rampant Reading on the rise
At the Madejski Stadium
The same teams had been in the Championship's top six since January until - and the newcomers look like they intend to stick around.
as the Championship moves into the home straight and they must be considered as serious contenders to end a three-season wait to return to the Premier League.
was the Royals' fifth win a row. It was a doughty and forgettable match but produced the sort of victory that is crucial in any promotion campaign.
Reading are now undefeated in nine league fixtures and their run of form has come at a time when other, arguably more credible, promotion contenders have started to falter.
The Royals took the place of Nottingham Forest in the play-off zone and in which they have collected only four points from eight games. The two teams meet on Saturday in what is sure to be a thunderous encounter.
Burnley have lost three of their last four, Leicester have one win in seven and, just when Watford had climbed to eighth, the Hornets have fallen away after back-to-back defeats.
Encouragingly for Reading, their excellent sequence of results has come despite a series of injury problems. Key players such as Noel Hunt, Mikele Leigertwood, Matt Mills, Andy Griffin and Shaun Cummings have been sidelined, but with no apparent impact on results.
Substitute Hal Robson-Kanu scored the winner against Preston a minute after his introduction and midfielder Jay Tabb told 91Èȱ¬ Sport afterwards: "The manager told us after the game that he will use the entire squad between now and the end of the season. The quality of the squad at Reading is excellent and there is not much difference between the starting side and the second XI."
A big factor in Reading's success appears to be the togetherness that McDermott has engendered in his players. Royals skipper Mills summed up the mood in the squad when he said in Tuesday's matchday programme: "The results are more important than any single player. I know everyone would say we are in it together."
Long and McDermott have a very close relationship. Photo: AP
Tabb, who , added: "Credit must go to the sort of characters that the manager has got in his squad. At other clubs you hear players slagging each other off in training and even during matches I have heard players from other teams tearing into each other. That doesn't happen at Reading, we are 100% behind each other."
McDermott, who turns 50 on Friday, and chairman Sir John Madejski acknowledged that his manager's star is on the rise. McDermott has been at Reading for a decade, working first as chief scout and then as coach of various youth teams and the club's reserve side before taking over the first team following . He is a friendly and affable manager who makes time to speak to his players on an individual basis.
"He can definitely mix it up and dish out harsh words if they are required," added Tabb. "But he seems to know how to handle every different situation."
McDermott seems to understand how to make his players feel wanted, even if they are not playing regularly. A good example is Brynjar Gunnarsson, who is out of contract at the end of the season and could have switched off months ago. However, he has remained committed and slipped in admirably at right-back after a series of injuries to the club's established players in that position. Likewise, Brian Howard could have gone out on loan but opted to stay and has started the last three games.
Reading have the division's in-form striker in Republic of Ireland international Shane Long. Until the end of October he had found the net just twice for Reading, both of them penalties. He now has nine goals in his last 10 league games and .
, and after defeating Preston his side are now seven points adrift of Norwich in seventh. Automatic promotion may be an unrealistic target but the fact Long is even talking about it speaks volumes about the confidence in the squad.
"There are seven games left and we want 21 points," said Long after Tuesday's victory. "Why not? We are capable of it?"
Long arrived at Reading from Cork as an 18-year-old in June 2005, initially living at McDermott's house as he adjusted to life in England. The two men apparently share a love of playing the guitar, although the manager readily accepts that he is second best in that department. Until this season Long had but McDermott has shown a lot of faith in him and the striker has flourished over recent months.
"Things have changed around for me," added Long. "Now I am disappointed when I do not score but I do not take too much notice of what people might be saying because they tend to jump on the bandwagon."
He is fast and skilful, confident and direct. He plays on the shoulder of opposition defenders and likes to shoot early. Reading started with a 4-2-3-1 formation against Preston, and Long often pulled wide to create space for his team-mates. He was arguably more effective when the introduction of Mathieu Manset meant a switch to 4-4-2, although Long disappointed with a late effort when he only had Iain Turner to beat, shooting tamely at the Preston keeper.
Several Reading players stressed that they are trying to deal with each match as it comes as they attempt to climb to out of the division. In stark contrast, Preston are simply desperate to stay in the Championship. It took but they travelled to Reading on the back of three straight victories.
At one point earlier in the year North End looked dead and buried, a gargantuan 13 points from safety. Last Saturday their win over Swansea . Tuesday halted their progress and they remain eight points adrift of 21st place with seven games remaining.
However, Brown, who at one time was talking about in terms of an open-top bus parade if his side stayed up, is now sounding distinctly bullish about avoiding the drop. Optimism has returned and with it some badly needed belief.
"There are plenty of rays of sunshine as far as I'm concerned," said Brown after the Reading match. "We have just given a very good account of ourselves against a team that is looking likely to get promotion."
Even so I suspect that North End's revival may have come too late and the second tier's longest-serving side is heading towards League One.
Whether Reading will also be waving farewell to the Championship is an altogether different question, but they are undoubtedly the team with the greatest momentum at the most important time of the season.
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Hello, I'm Paul Fletcher and I mainly write about life in the Football League. I have a great enthusiasm for a whole range of sports and love to spread the word about the great game of rugby league. You can also follow me on .
Comment number 1.
At 6th Apr 2011, cs-royal wrote:I'm a life long royal and since BMD came along theres been some clear positives to see. The fact that he takes the FA cup so seriously has been a huge bonus with wins over liverpool everton etc has been the catalyst for good league form. For example last season we were in relegation when we knocked out liverpool and that got us to mid-table on the back of that win and the same this year the good form really kicked in after beating everton.
Automatic isnt realistically going to happen but 3rd place is well in our sight. The game on saturday is MASSIVE! if we win that we'll be 6 points ahead of 7th with games to go with a favourable run in of fixtures.
Beat leeds in the semi's then swansea in the final just to rub it in to rodgers!
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Comment number 2.
At 6th Apr 2011, Chip it like Vela wrote:I must confess i was very apprehensive when Sir JM appointed Brian McDermott as manager but he's acquitted himself brilliantly... He's built a great squad, rotated them superby and seems to have just the right knack of making match-winning team selections and substitutions (which Copell got badly wrong in his last season)
Reading are the form team and finishing 2nd is not beyond us but the Championship is incredibly competitive so I'd be thrilled with even a play-off spot. I lived in Reading 3 yrs and attended many a game but I'm now back in India - However if we are in the play-offs, I'm seriously thinking of taking a holiday in the UK around that time and cheering the boys hopefully at Wembley...
Cmon you Royals !!!!!
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Comment number 3.
At 6th Apr 2011, PetShopBoys_Forever wrote:Shades of Blackpool here from last season - great run of form and sneaked into the play-offs at the end and went up.
Is history going to repeat itself here
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Comment number 4.
At 6th Apr 2011, daib0 wrote:It's not actually that fanciful to think of 2nd place IMO - it's generally accepted that Reading have the easiest run-in of all the top teams. Norwich have some tough games, starting this Saturday A to Swansea. 7 pts to make up isn't that much if Norwich fail to get something Saturday, and then fail to get all 3 pts in games v Waford, Forest, Portsmouth etc. ...
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Comment number 5.
At 6th Apr 2011, rfc_66 wrote:i dont think you can label any game in this league as "easy". for example preston looked twice the team last night than leeds did when they visited. The next 3 games are crucial. I think we should ignore automatic promotion until the point where a win will pout us second. the key is consolidating playoff spot, hopefully that starts with a win agaisnt mr fletchers mob on saturday
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Comment number 6.
At 6th Apr 2011, Paul Fletcher wrote:Now then,
Thanks for your thoughts so far. There is a definite belief around the Reading squad at the moment that I'm sure fans of a few other teams would love to see at their club.
The remainder of the season is sure to be packed with a lot of twists and turns (hope so anyway). Who do people think will end up winning promotion?
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Comment number 7.
At 6th Apr 2011, Breadman wrote:Forest fan here - yep, Saturday is our biggest game of the season. If we fail to win, then we can wave goodbye to promotion for another season. Even a draw won't really do for us, as you'd be 3 points ahead (make that 4 with the vastly better GD) with 6 games to go, and we have to play Norwich, Leicester and Burnley....not to mention that at the moment we'll be missing 7 first-teamers this weekend, and for most of the remaning games.
It seems that McDermott is one of the division's best managers - I wonder if he gets paid HALF of Billy Davies' £750k p.a. !?
Reading do look like doing a Blackpool to me. Good luck if you do - so long as it's at the expense of Cardiff or Leeds !!
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Comment number 8.
At 6th Apr 2011, blogcritic wrote:I think QPR are more or less home & dry, and I think Paul Lambert has built a steel & resilience in his Norwich side that will see them safely to the finishing line in 2nd.
The play-offs are a lottery, which is what makes them so interesting, and regularly the winners are those going into them with a run of form at the end of the season (i.e. Crystal Palace, Blackpool, perhaps Reading this time). Teams that come into the play-offs disappointed they missed out on automatic promotion (Cardiff, Wolves, perhaps Nottm Forest this time) regularly suffer a hangover & go out in the semi-finals.
I think Cardiff will bottle it in the play-offs this year & I think Swansea's small squad might be feeling the long, hard season by then, so I think the 3rd promotion slot will be between Leeds & Reading. Can't wait!!
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Comment number 9.
At 6th Apr 2011, Stripes Over Hoops wrote:Part time Reading fan here (I get dragged to games by the Mrs whenever they come up North). I think the Royals have an excellent chance of reaching the Premier with the great run of form they're on at the minute.
I was more than dubious when McD took over, true the club were struggling following Rodgers brief stint but I didn't see anything in his early (caretaker) games to suggest he had enough about him to make a successful Championship Manager. I figured that the Liverpool victory was a flash in the pan as the players motivated themselves rather than taking motivation from McDermott (League results were still poor at that point).
Reading have always had a very talented squad of players whilstever I've been watching them - the team that was struggling pre-Xmas last year were still great on paper - but Brian has bolstered that with some very shrewd signings such as Griffin and Harte (who I don't particularly rate but who are both solid and experienced). That the club has managed to cope without Gylfi Sigurdsson following his sale to Hoffenheim is fantastic and I think several players have really stepped up to fill the void he left.
I've rated Jem Karacan whenever I've seen him, he's one of the more underrated players in the Championship as he always seems to be there to nip the ball off the opposition and play the simple pass to the 'flair' players like Kebe and McAnuff.
Obviously the big difference this year has been Long who appears to have channeled his energies in the right directions having flattered to deceive previously. Not bad for a 'freebie' added into the Kevin Doyle deal!
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Comment number 10.
At 6th Apr 2011, El Moustachio - Saudis Finest Gooner wrote:i live in reading and would LOVE to be back in the prem (reading are my second team after arsenal; dont criticise me, i was brought up in north london and moved to reading aged about 9ish, so was already arsenal thu and thru, but watch reading games cos i live there, and obv support them) anyways back to what i was saying, i would LOVEE if reading were to get back in the prem, however I feel it would be a bit too soon. The squad we have is good, but I just dont feel we would be able to maintain it in the prem. Something which is certain is madjeski is very unlikely to spend, and our squad may not be able to cope, a few loans from arsenal (they got some very good kids) and free transfers of key players would be needed. if we do get promotion it would be great though! :)
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Comment number 11.
At 6th Apr 2011, potcfc wrote:I would hardly say they are 'doing a Blackpool'.
Blackpool's charge came a lot later and did it in the dying embers of the season.
I like Reading, I thought they were a good addition to the Premiership a few years back and wouldn't mind seeing them come back up.
Anyone but Cardiff.
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Comment number 12.
At 6th Apr 2011, RoyaltyinTheChampionship wrote:I honestly thought some of the football we played last year particularly in the FA Cup was some of the best I've ever seen us play including the record breaking promotion season and the following year in the Premier League so I had high hopes at the beginning of this season. I love the width we play when we play with Kebe and Jobi and we were really unlucky not to pick up more points against the teams above us recently.
Hopefully we make the premier league and the plans to expand the MadStad to 38,000 capacity get passed to get us into the next bracket of clubs.
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Comment number 13.
At 6th Apr 2011, Paul Fletcher wrote:Looking at their form right now it would be easy to write off Forest - and a couple of their fans that I know have done just that. However, I thought they played well against Leeds (the red card changed the game so I would not read too much into the 4-1 scoreline) and Billy Davies knows all about getting into the play-offs. It will be a very big test for Reading.
I think Burnley might have an injury too many up front, while Watford have been too inconsistent (going on the sort of losing streaks that you get with a young side).
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Comment number 14.
At 6th Apr 2011, normanbitesyerlegs wrote:Breadman...
Don't forget Bristol City away too - the form team of the Championship, and outside chance of play-offs still...definitely promotion candidates next season.
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Comment number 15.
At 7th Apr 2011, Bulls2u wrote:Paul here is an idea for your next blog, yesterday Torquay (with previous for the same offence) and Hereford were both up before the FA. The offence both playing a player in the same, deadline day, whose registration was incorrectly registered. Purdie who had been on loan at HUFC, then released on said deadline day and signed. Jake Robertson? at TUFC just signed on loan and he scored in the match!
HUFC - 3 point deduction TUFC 1 point deduction.
I appreciate HUFC won the game but as David Keyte (chairman HUFC) said you are pregnant or not pregnant not maybe.
Surely this is double standards.
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Comment number 16.
At 7th Apr 2011, TilehurstSouthbank-Mysterion Rises wrote:There's a really positive feel around the club at the moment. I've not been this optomistic about our chances of promotion since the team of 2005, but that was a given as we walked the league! It's a shame the attendence against Preston was so poor. Never mind. I'm sure the fickle fans in our town will be out in force when we cement a top 6 finish!
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Comment number 17.
At 7th Apr 2011, BrizzleBluebird_CCFCformenomatterwhat wrote:Lol! Gotta laugh at so many "anyone but Cardiff posts"... I'm not sure why there is such bias against us Bluebirds apart from a touch of xenophobia perhaps?
Surely most can see that we deserve a fair crack at the Prem now given our last 2 years efforts and also being named football league family club of the year shows we are a vastly different club to the one that most people conjur up images of!
I do just have a gut feeling that our big name players will finally get their act together and go on a run not too dissimilar to our October run (well I can hope anyhow :-))
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Comment number 18.
At 7th Apr 2011, Maffff wrote:If we were xenophobic then we'd all be anti-Swansea too. Haven't seen any of that sentiment here. Dislike Cardiff intentely though.
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Comment number 19.
At 7th Apr 2011, pnewill wrote:"Surely most can see that we deserve a fair crack at the Prem now given our last 2 years efforts" The biggest load of rubbish!! No one deserves a place in the prem except the teams that get promoted and in recent years that hasn't been you!! The only way you can say you truly "deserve" a place in the prem is by the automatic spots. The play offs, as us preston fans know, are just a case of who turns up on the day and luck eg Refereeing decisions and injuries. Cardiff deserve to be in league one more than the prem! for about the last three seasons they should've been deducted points...
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Comment number 20.
At 8th Apr 2011, BrizzleBluebird_CCFCformenomatterwhat wrote:Even bigger Lol......
Totally agree that whoever gets theer deserves it. I stayed to applaude Blackpool at the end of the Play-off final last year as they were the better team on the day.
PNEWill - On what basis should Cardiff have been deducted points??? What rules have we broken?
Maffff - You have obviously used an awful lot of logic there, I'd love to know on what grounds you dislike Cardiff, what exactly do you base this dislike on? Shirt colour perhaps? Location within the UK? Or are we perhaps above your team in the league??
Anyhow, what will be will be and whoever has the bottle and determination to go on/continue a good run of results will most likely take 2nd.
I'm not one to wish ill on anyone (unlike some obviously bitter individuals).... I'll not wish luck to Cardiff's rivals either but will wish them well in the Prem next year if they make it instead of us :-)
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Comment number 21.
At 8th Apr 2011, lennytwentytwo wrote:14 - Bristol city aren't the most inform championship team - Reading are (hence the blog).
The football we've been playing hasn't been as good as some of the stuff we played last year but the results are coming in.
We've looked a far better team since the singing of the season Mikele Leigertwood has been in the team and its abosultely imperative we keep him whether we get promoted or not. its also worth noting our sub keeper Alex McCarthy (England under 21s) has been fantastic since taking over from no. 1 Adam Federici.
It's also worth pointing out we went on a similar good run around the same stage of the season this time last year and dropped points at Scunthorpe (who, we have Tuesday night) which ended up causing us to lose out on the playoff's and haulted our good run of form.
Still, with any luck we've timed it right and if not - prefere to be in the championship anyway!
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Comment number 22.
At 9th Apr 2011, mass wrote:Well done reading,what a fantastic performance today. You can now smell the atmosphere of the premier league and hopefully we get promoted at the end of the season. I wish you all the best of luck for the remaining fixtures.
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