UCA Artists in Residence: Video Segment

Can We Blame Long Travelling Times On Reading's Poor Away Results This Season?

Playing in the second tier of English football, it is inevitable that Reading have to travel hundreds of miles for away games each season. Travelling up and down the country can be very tiring for football players who are expected to perform regularly from August to May each year in the Sky Bet Championship.

Reading are based in the county of Berkshire, south of the capital city and at the opposite end of the country to a lot of northern teams in the division such as Middlesbrough and Preston North End.

As you can see on the map below, the league is now very northern based. The question that a lot of people are asking is: does the length of travel have an effect on results and performances?

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

This northern-heavy league is a result of London side Fulham being promoted as well as Cardiff City, the capital of Wales. Another factor that has contributed to the northern divide is that Stoke City, from Staffordshire, were relegated from the Premier League. 

Rotherham United, Wigan Athletic and Blackburn Rovers were promoted from League One, being promoted to this season's second divison. All of those teams are incredibly far away from the Madejski Stadium, being reflected in very low away attendances from the Royals fans this season. 

Trips to Lancashire to play against Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End is the last thing that a lot of Reading fans will want, especially those supporters who live in Reading or even further south. 

So far, Reading have picked up 17 points this season, with 7 of these points coming away. This shows that travelling to away games has probably had little effect on performances and results when they are not playing at the Madejski Stadium.

This is a similar pattern to last season, where Reading only picked up only two more points at home (23) than away (21). Only one of these away points came from the four London sides that we played last season, the sides that we are nearest to in the Championship in terms of location. The Royals lost at QPR, Millwall and Fulham last season, whilst picking up a point at Brentford.

Bristol City are another club which are close to us. We lost 2-0 at Ashton Gate last season, meaning that the Berkshire side have accumulated just one point away from our closest five clubs in the division. During these five games, the Royals managed to only score two goals, conceding eight in the process.

Our only away win so far this season came at Deepdale, against Preston North End. This side is located in Lancashire. This is one of the furthest away trips for the Royals in the league.

Reading also picked up a few away wins at other northern clubs last season. Then-struggling side Sunderland and Yorkshire side Leeds United were beaten at home by Reading.

Other wins came at East Midlands sides Derby County and Burton Albion, as well as at the St Andrew's Trillion Trophy Stadium against Birmingham City. We only conceded four goals in those five away victories last season. This means we averaged conceding less than a goal per game in those five wins.

I have to conclude this article by saying that there are a lot of factors which contribute to a match performance/result. Football is as much a mental game as it is a physical nowadays with greatly advanced tactics, stadium atmosphere and players who thrive on confidence. 

Although the league is now very northern based, the length of travelling that Reading have to go through can not be used to paper over the cracks, this club is in a state at this moment in time.

Travelling for long periods can be tiring. However, the players should have the physical capability to put in strong performances. This is combined with the fact that the players most probably travel in luxury to all away games.

The Drifter's Guide to Childhood Podcast

Being caught up in the present with university, it is always nice to look back on what our childhoods were like. This is an incredibly engaging listen, as all three of the podcasters come from different parts of the UK.

I am joined in this podcast by 20 year-old Will Murray and London-born Aaingel Nathan as we cover several nostalgia themed topics. GTA V and trampolines is a bit of a mix, however we managed to fit both in to this podcast!

Please Note: This show contains infrequent strong language.

Listen to "The Drifter's Guide to Childhood" on Spreaker.
Image Credit: Pixabay

OPINION: It Was Right For Ron Gourlay To Leave The Club

There was increasing scrutiny over the performance of Reading Football Club Chief Executive Ron Gourlay by supporters after a torrid 2017/18 season on the pitch and mass departures off it. After a downturn in fortunes since his appointment by current owners Dai Yongge and Dai Xiu Li, he has departed the club. This is the right decision.

Coming off the back of a very successful 2016/17 season at the Madejski Stadium, there was a fresh sense of optimism injected in to the club. This was with the Royals finishing third in the league and reaching the Play-off Final. They were only denied a place to the Premier League on penalties to Huddersfield Town.

Former Chelsea Chief Executive Ron Gourlay was appointed as the new CEO of Reading Football Club in the summer of 2017. The appointment came after the adjustment of Nigel Howe's position from Chief Executive to Vice-Chairman.

In his first transfer window as the CEO, the Chinese owners pumped a lot of capital in to the club. This money was invested most notably in to the squad, where numerous signings were made by former manager Jaap Stam. This was in an attempt to bolster the squad for another promotion push.

Instead, the 2017/18 season was dreadful, where the Royals side slumped to finish in a lowly twentieth, in the same league that they finished third in the previous season. Inevitably, Stam departed the club due to poor performances and awful results. Paul Clement was appointed shortly after and is also struggling to lift this club from the bottom half of the Sky Bet Championship.

Source: Reading FC YouTube Channel

With a CV boasting experience at Manchester United and Chelsea, Gourlay arriving at the club provided a lot of excitement for the Berkshire side's fanbase. However, a lot of the signings that were made under Gourlay's watch were questioned by the Reading fans, with the former CEO being under the microscope. A report from Charles Watts as well as many rumours swirling around social media suggest he was an incredibly negative influence on the club.

Charles Watts is a very reliable journalist, who acquired sources within the club when he worked for GetReading. Watts' report was truly worrying for the club's fanbase, as we built our club identity with hardworking players all over the pitch.

It was a clear theme in our two promotion-winning seasons to the Premier League, where the 2005/06 squad broke the record for the amount of points for a Championship season. This crowned the club as Champions as they were promoted to the Premier League for the very first time in their history.

There is now a huge gulf between the quality of that record-breaking team from over a decade ago and this current side who are struggling in the Championship. The only direction we have gone in is backwards ever since Gourlay arrived back in 2017.

The pressure only increased on Ron Gourlay since more poor signings arrived in this season's summer transfer window. This is combined with the departure of the Technical Director, Brian Tevreden. The Dutchman reportedly did not have the best working relationship with the former Chief Executive. That only helped to ramp up the already building pressure on Gourlay.

Attendances down, commercial director gone and not replaced, marketing department about to disappear, long-serving academy manager gone, youth coaches leaving, scouting and recruitment team all but non-existent now. #ReadingFC chief executive doing a sterling job........

— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) September 12, 2018

Mass departures are worrying in any organisation, let alone a highly media-magnified professional football club. It was strange of Gourlay to not address this issue with the fans or resolve it immediately. The lack of communication from the owners has left other officials at the club to attend to media duties such as interviews.

Only making himself available for a couple of interviews per year was  anger-inducing, considering he was taking home a large salary worth thousands per month whilst there was chaos on and off the pitch.

Will the #GourlayOUT chants be loud and clear for once at home next week, or will we once again just sit their tutting and sighing? ... #ReadingFC

— Jamie Gorman 🇮🇪 (@OfficialJGorman) October 27, 2018

A lot of people who have left the club were long-serving, these figures including the commercial director and several members of the marketing department. The fact that Gourlay did not address this, with several resignations and redundancies, was irresponsible. Gourlay didn't address the fact that several departments of the club were weakened by resignations and redundancies, and it's just another demonstration of his irresponsibility.

Former Reading striker Simon Cox had a say on the running of the club under Gourlay in September, when he was still the CEO. He stated that a lot of hardworking people have left the club.

Worrying times ahead if the owners of the football club who say they care about the club and the supporters don’t get it right. The club could find itself in a worse situation then it finds itself in already. They need to bring back the hard working people back to the club.

— Simon Cox (@SCoxy31Real) September 12, 2018

In the summer of 2016, then-new appointed Technical Director Brian Tevreden set out a three-year plan to get promoted to the Premier League with the structure he initially put in place. The former Technical Director's three-year plan was not notably mentioned after Gourlay took over the CEO role.

That indicates that Brian Tevreden's once-important role was diluted by the current Chief Executive. It is hugely disappointing to think this has almost certainly happened after Tevreden had a very successful 2016/17 season without Ron Gourlay at the club.

The identity of the football club has been lost, with attendances down, supporters disillusioned by their own club and visible dissent in the stands against the players. Ron Gourlay must take a large portion of the blame for this as he departs the Madejski Stadium.

The morale around the club has dampened since staff turnover has increased. High key figures such as Sir John Madejski and Nigel Howe being relegated to lower status roles. The high spirits that have been around the club for over a decade are now diminishing, and Ron Gourlay did not manage to turn this around, through lack of effort and/or ability.

He could have promoted promoted an academy-focused strategy to provide a clear pathway for youngsters looking to make it to the first team. This will enable a club identity to be re-established in order for supporters to enthusiastically get behind the team. Instead, he leaves the club in a terrible state. Charles Watts is clearly pleased with this departure after having inside knowledge of the club.

It’s all caught up with him in the end. Can’t keep treating people the way he did and continue to get away with it. Owners finally saw sense after the amount of good people quit because of him. Truly dreadful appointment.

— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) 19 November 2018

With Gourlay leaving this club seemingly in a mess, I am incredibly glad he has departed. The work  that needs to be done to re-build the club starts now, and this needs to happen quickly before Reading decline even further...

The State of Reading FC Under the Chinese Owners

The demise of Reading Football Club since the summer of 2017 has been clear to see, ever since the play off final against Huddersfield Town in the same year.

The current Chinese owners took a majority share of the football club from Lady Sasima Srivikorn, Sumrith Thanakarnjanasuth, Narin Niruttinanon, with the latter retaining a smaller share of the club. The other two former owners have completely cut their ties with Reading, with Thanakarnjanasuth becoming the owner of Oxford United.

After becoming the new owners of Reading the same day as the club reached the Championship play off final in 2017, the club has taken a huge downward spiral to the point where they are struggling near the bottom of the second division table.

Their tenture thus far has been rocky, and this interactive timeline below emphasises that point. With few successful moments since the takeover, times have been very bleak at the Madejski Stadium:

The Chinese siblings' tenure at the Madejski Stadium has been nothing short of awful so far. The Royals had a very lucky escape from relegation last season after their very poor form which saw Jaap Stam leave the club. The fact that their Championship survival was only confirmed after the final fixture of the season was incredibly worrying for supporters of the Berkshire side.

Some sections of the Reading support have noticed the fact that the current shareholders have not been seen frequently at games. This is concerning fans who fear that they may be disinterested in the club, and may have bought the club for non-football reasons.

After starting their tenure so promisingly by investing in the pitch and the squad as a whole, the owners have been incredibly quiet and have spent little money on players over the past year.

Action might be taken against the brother and sister by the Reading fanbase unless they come out and state their ambitions for the club in the long term.

LIVE: Reading vs Millwall Preview

Live match buildup as Reading take on struggling Millwall at the Madejski Stadium, in a huge Sky Bet Championship tie.

Summary:

• Jaakkola and McCleary start for Reading
• Hutchinson returns to the bench for Millwall after an injury lay-off
• Millwall are one place ahead of Reading in 20th 
• The Royals have only kept one clean sheet this season
• International duty, injury news and Press Conference highlights

'Clueless' and 'Sackable Offence' - Fans Call For Paul Clement's Sacking After QPR Defeat

Reading slumped to another defeat in the Sky Bet Championship, against fellow strugglers Queens Park Rangers at the Madejski Stadium in a dull game with few shots on target.

With the Royals languishing dangerously close to the foot of the Championship table, picking up points against QPR would have propelled the home team further up the division and out of immediate relegation trouble.

Fans were already irate after this shoddy performance, and post match comments from the Reading manager Paul Clement only fuelled more anger from the supporters towards him. The manager himself admitted that he could have picked a better starting lineup as opposed to the starting eleven he choose to face QPR.

Did he really say that #clueless

— Dave McCormack (@davemc_exile) 2 October 2018

The Berkshire side looked to have turned a corner after picking up four points from a possible six in their last two league games, with a 3-0 win against Hull City at the Madejski and a 2-2 draw against high-flyers Brentford. This was before their meeting with another West London side, Queens Park Rangers. The two positive results against Hull City and Brentford relieved increasing pressure on the current boss. However after this poor result, there are already calls on Twitter for the manager to be relieved of his duties.

Sackable offence this, manager has just admitted he picked the wrong team #clementout #ReadingFC https://t.co/k900rQOT5X

— Jack (@thesimpsonRFC) October 2, 2018

5 losses in our last 6 home matches. Enough is enough now, time to go! #ClementOut

— Max Mortimer (@MaxMortimerRFC) October 2, 2018

Sorry but dropping Swift and putting Aluko back in the team has definitely made me #clementout, absolutely awful line up, I’ll say it again, we need a no nonsense type manager who will rip into these players when not performing. #readingfc

— George Blair (@GeorgeBlairr) October 3, 2018

After a very slow start to the season, Clement was given the benefit of the doubt by the vast majority of supporters due to the club's horrific form at the end of last season when Jaap Stam left the club. The fans' disconnection with the current players was covering up the fact that Reading's form under Paul Clement was, and still is, woeful.

Despite most of the anger caused by the QPR defeat being aimed at Clement, the players also took their fair share of criticism. There were a lot of damning comments towards a lot of the players on the hashtag timeline associated with Reading Football Club.

I’ve said it since the start of last season, any 11 with Aluko, Barrow and Bacuna in it is gonna struggle! All arrived at the same time, probably the same agent too. #readingfc

— Jordan Norris (@Jordannorr1s) October 3, 2018

Utterly woeful again from #readingfc. Barrow is a terrible footballer, Meite is useless, Nothing to say on Aluko, Kelly too weak, Gunter dreadful (but improved when Aluko went off), the management was inept at best. The club is in disarray #sadtimes #dontevencareanymore

— Mark Wratten (@MarkWratten) October 2, 2018

Criticism is now more noticeable than ever with the availability of social media. This barrage of negative comments from the Royals supporters on Twitter reflects the current unrest at the Madejski Stadium. Results will have to pick up again quickly to prevent fans turning against Paul Clement and his players even further.