On paper the fixture against Stockport County could have been viewed as a potential close encounter. If you viewed the game as a boxing bout, the referee could have stopped this at half-time. But this is football and you have to play 90-plus minutes actually on the grass.
And this is where we have the problem: actually playing football. Simply put, and it’s not anything new away from home, this was just not good enough.
Aside from Jack Marriott’s customary surefire hit, the rest was, frankly, appalling.
Credit to the opposition who preyed on every weakness that we had and exploited them with impunity.
It’s no exaggeration that, on another day, we could have been beaten by four or five. Stockport had two goals chalked off, so it’s not beyond the realms of fantasy to suggest so. To say we weren’t at the races is an understatement. From minute one we looked underprepared and overwhelmed.
The excuse given could be that we had an emergency replacement centre-back pairing, which is absolutely true, but the problems were further ahead than at the back.
We invited pressure from midfield as we couldn’t control the ball. We lost it as soon as we had it at our feet and never got a foothold. Then we were constantly on the back foot and chasing shadows.
We were beaten from the very first goal, which is a very common occurrence. I’ve said it before and I’ll no doubt be saying it again: the mental fragility of this squad is plain to see.
There are no leaders, there is no accountability, there is no tension, there is no obvious team spirit. It’s all very flat and emotionless. Where is the anger? Where is the passion?
It feels we’re a fun-time, holiday summer camp club. Borderline brilliant when the sun is shining and the temperatures are good, but as soon as the nights draw in and winter is coming, we can’t hack it, everyone is a stranger and they can’t wait to get home.
Disconnected
The argument is valid that we have a lot of injuries and suspensions are starting to kick in. Sure, I get it. But this is a squad game. You train as units. Everyone knows each other well enough by now. The lack of cohesion and trust in each other was glaringly obvious.
It’s been a common theme but, under Leam Richardson, we don’t see partnerships developing.
They’re required all over the pitch and can – should – intertwine like a lovely Venn diagram, but we don’t have any in defence beyond Paudie O’Connor and Benn Ward, and neither of them were available. Udoka Godwin-Malife and Kyreece Lisbie are the only others and that was rarely on show against Stockport.
Everywhere else has just been a roll of the dice and see what happens. That lack of connection between the players is highlighted in midfield. It’s been my nemesis for years and this was no exception.
Lewis Wing, Liam Fraser and Charlie Savage should be a good enough midfield for most League One sides. Not a great one, but passable enough. When we had everyone fit it felt right to play a settled XI, but the lack of minutes the likes of Fraser and Savage had is now showing its detriment.
As a result there was no chemistry, no dynamism, no substance to them at all. All they seemed to do was to firefight, attempting to stamp out flashpoints everywhere they went. When they got the ball, it would promptly be lost again.
It does beg the question of the entire squad: is this it? Is this the sum of your parts? Is this the result of all the training they do?
Because, compared to County, we looked under-coached and unreactive. There’s no joined-up thinking or much of a tactical plan other than hoofing it up to Marriott or Lisbie and seeing what might crop up from that. Is that it? Is that all we have?
It showed against Oxford United and here against Stockport County: Reading are miles and miles away from what the club thinks they are. By their thinking, we should be able to go toe-to-toe with any club in this division and give it a good shot. But in both games, we were bystanders for entire halves or more.
That lack of connection between the players does make them look like worse players than they actually are. With the right coaching and the right messages being given to them, I’m sure they could be better than this.
Maybe we could turn into the playoff team that we dream of being, but after yesterday’s nightmare, any dreams will remain pure fantasy.
Richardson needs to take responsibility here, obviously. His teams are dimensional and lack creativity. There’s a Plan A and sod all else. There are no reactions or adaptations in real time or even at half-time. We’re so easy to play through that it’s almost laughable.
Who knows where we go from here. We could beat Bromley handsomely or scruffily or not win at all. It’s so hard to tell which version of Reading will turn up.
It’s been a season of taking ‘long, hard looks’ after so many away games. It’s time that we had some ‘cold, harsh truths’ to go with it.
