I didn’t initially had particularly strong feelings either way about the managerial appointment of Leam Richardson. Not when it was reported over the weekend, nor on Tuesday when it was confirmed.
On the
face of it he seemed to be a solid enough, logical appointment, and that’s absolutely fine. Not every new arrival, whether in the dugout or on the pitch, needs to immediately completely bowl us over.
And to be fair to him, he’s made a good start. His first official club interview (on Wednesday) seems to have gone down very well with fans, and I was similarly impressed by how he dealt with the opening rounds of external media he faced on Thursday.
So the early indications are good, as Bobbins also suggested in his ‘first impressions’ piece. That’s all they are at the moment though: indications. Time will tell as to how good a fit Richardson really is, but of course, we’re all behind him as he embarks on that journey.
Where I do have stronger feelings is with regards to a specific task facing him. Not on the obvious points such as improving performances and getting results, but in something less tangible, albeit still vital: the need to rejuvenate a fanbase that seems to have been growing increasingly apathetic in recent months.
The task facing Richardson
Incoming managers always need to get fans onside and enthused, of course, but Richardson’s task is different to those of his predecessors.
Noel Hunt and Paul Ince (the last two to be appointed mid-season) had overtly dramatic, precarious situations to contend with when they took charge: ownership chaos and a relegation dogfight respectively. Such stark, worrying challenges are fairly straightforward to use when seeking to rally everyone around you.
Richardson’s inheritance is much more settled (Reading are 19th, in October, and far calmer behind the scenes), but there does seem to have been an increasing level of detachment setting into the fanbase over recent months which shouldn’t be ignored.
Some of that relates to off-field matters. I think it’s fair to say there’s a broader sense right now the club hasn’t kicked on in recent months as much as it should have – felt most keenly in a summer transfer window that went frustratingly slowly. These irritations can be felt on matchday, but they’re not primarily the manager’s concern, so I’ll park them here.
As for on-field matters, it’s not just that results and performances haven’t been up to scratch. Rather, we’re yet to see a proper identity for this team that fans can buy into. Reading had that in abundance in the last two years, forging a defiant, young and energetic side that clearly enjoyed its football. There was something clear and tangible for fans to buy into. This season? Not really.
There’s no way to precisely quantify the extent to which fans buy into a team – the best you can do is judge the atmosphere in person each week. And going by that metric, home crowds are most certainly distinctly flatter and less enthused than they were in what I’ll dub the ‘Sell Before We Dai era’ of 2023/24 and 2024/25.
What he should do
Naturally, a lot of that will improve by virtue of a change in management and the resulting inevitable honeymoon period. Obviously, good performances and positives go a long way too – there’s no getting away from that – but there are two specific things Richardson can and must do.
First and foremost, fans love watching a clear tactical approach that they can buy into. Let’s see identity, character and definition to Reading Football Club on the pitch.
That’s vitally important because supporters can, to some extent at least, excuse problems with results and performances if they see evidence that something of substance is building. That there’s a longer-term plan to stick with, get behind and be part of from the stands.
I’m not expecting Richardson to be an overly devoted adherent of one single philosophy, obsessed purely with possession, pressing, route-one football or anything else. After all, pragmatism, nuance and adaptability are virtues which no manager (certainly in League One) should eschew.
But knowing what Richardson values tactically – whether they’re general principles across the season or what he wants in specific matches – is important.
That’s somewhere his predecessor fell down, but he’s already made a good start by highlighting his fondness for “front-foot, aggressive, high-press” football in his first official interview.
Convincing pre- and post-match media helps too, and is somewhere else Hunt didn’t do so well. Even in his stronger periods in the dugout, he seemed to lack the gravitas and authority of a first-team manager. Plus, given his apparent over-reluctance to be publicly critical of bad performances, it was hard to determine what exactly his standards were.
I’m not saying Richardson should be, for example, publicly harsh on performances for the sake of being harsh. After all, the frankest feedback will be reserved for when the cameras aren’t rolling. But a willingness to be publicly critical (when appropriate) demonstrates to fans that a manager sees what they do and everyone’s broadly on the same page.
The manner of Richardson’s appointment has already helped tackle potential apathy, so credit where it’s due – to Rob Couhig and co in this case. Reading acted quickly to get their man – who Couhig claimed on the Hard Truth podcast was the first choice of him and everyone else at the club he asked – and coaches with pretty impressive CVs immediately joined the team.
Yes, those are all fairly low bars, but any perception from fans that the appointment was dragging, that the ultimately successful candidate wasn’t the club’s first choice, or that they weren’t being backed with sufficiently good coaches, would have only added to any apathy and cynicism in the fanbase. Contrast this to the summer of 2023, for example, when Reading took until mid-July to appoint Selles, following weeks of speculation over Chris Wilder being the favoured option.
Now though, starting with Saturday’s FA Cup tie against Carlisle United – when a paltry home crowd is expected (not least because of £17 tickets) – it’s over to Richardson to do his part in the dugout.
