We’re almost there folks. Four away games from five in the bag with only this weekend’s fixture against Stockport County to go. After that we only have three away games until the end of the year. Madness, huh?
Anyway, after the gallimaufry of the performance to our near-neighbours, we moved on with another one of those “you can only win against what is put in front of you” walks in the park against Robbie Savage’s Peterborough United.
It’s not often a match perfectly runs the way it is expected to,
and with the added frisson of Charlie Savage doing what sons should do when their dad is the manager. Score.
Even though we were still licking our wounds from the Oxford United result, there was more than enough of a response to deal with a dreadfully poor Posh side. The first goal won it and there were no fireworks from the home side, only a wet sparkler of a defence.
Not only did we score five (again) but we had some different scorers on the sheet too. Jamie Reid opened his account for the Royals with a very tidy brace and Daniel Kyerewashi Kyerewaa to open his account for the season also.
But while the performance, sans Lewis Wing, was comfortable and easy on the eye, for me at least, the result was met with an ambivalent shrug. We knew Robbie Savage’s teams tend to be rather open – and they were in bad form – so we were left with only the occasion of the cup to overcome. It really was that simple.
No matter how bad our collective state of mind must have been after the Oxford comments, it was still more than enough. I guess that, even after one of our darker moments, we can still shine brightly enough to dispatch a club that’s having its own share of internal dilemmas.
Nice to have the boot on the other foot, for a change!
An almost dead-rubber
Then came the almost dead-rubber of Bristol Rovers in the Jersey Pizza Vase Cup Thing that we could all rather do without, but it did give a chance to those that either have not played for the Royals in a competitive fixture or have had just a few appearances under their belt.
For the most part, our very young squad acquitted themselves very well. Jerae Jones will take the plaudits for a rather fine finish in the second half, but there were some very decent performances throughout.
I kept a special eye on Kevin Mfuamba, who I rate very, very highly, and he didn’t disappoint. He’s got a different profile to any other central midfielder that we have, so I’m curious as to how he develops and what his role would or could be.
That said, his contract is only until the end of the season, so I hope he – and others in the under-21 squad – will have done enough to impress to obtain new deals.
Having seen a lot of the academy over the last few years, we need to tie down several to new deals sooner rather than later. Mfuamba is one of them, but there are many who deserve to be pushing towards being on the bench, in theory at least.
But that’s the dilemma a club like ours will always have. The immediacy is always for the first team to be pushing for promotion, so when do you risk a novice from the academy? When do you allow a position or two to be rewarded for maintaining or even exceeding professional attitudes and performances?
The fear I have is that players can’t see a pathway and will leave if they don’t feel that they are being rewarded. Our history has always heralded our academy products, and rightly so, but currently it’s difficult to see how some of the current crop can sneak themselves into contention.
It’s a thorny subject that will cause much debate, I’m sure. But we have some great kids who’ll need some persuading that their future is still with us – or we could lose them.
One outing in a minor cup competition is something to be proud of, for sure, but it’s not putting them higher up in the order than before this week.
None are likely to feature against Stockport County. That’s our bread and butter, and we don’t let the kids near the butter. They will be spread thinly for now.
