Tim Dellor column: Why a late season surge is still possible for Reading
- Published
Reading FC have been very hot-and-cold so far this Championship season but remain in the mix inside the league's top 10
Reading have yet to find any real stability so far this Championship season, but BBC Radio Berkshire's Tim Dellor explains why he thinks they could still be in the mix come May.
Fans have been pleasantly surprised by Reading's first 22 games - or to be more precise their first 11 games.
After winning seven of their first 11, they have only won three of their last 11.
Reading's performances have reflected the weather - a bountiful red-hot summer turning to a barren, cold winter.
Fans will be hoping after the World Cup break the team proves to be less fair-weather.
On Friday, 7 October, for two minutes and 46 seconds Reading were top of the Championship table - it was nice while it lasted.
Since then they have steadily slipped down towards mid-table. There is not much dividing the top six and lower mid-table, so no panic just yet, but if the slide continues for too long into 2023 then things may get tricky.
Manager Paul Ince is still adamant it is all about survival for his club.
"Our aim is to get to 50 points as fast as possible and then see where we go", he told me. "We need to stay in this league."
It's an unusual line for a manager - who is a win away from entering the play-off places - to trot out in December.
Lacking 'desperation and graft' on the pitch
Ince has been a master at managing expectations and keeping everyone's feet very firmly on the ground these past few months.
The team plays at its best when they are up against it.
Earlier in the season the squad was decimated by injuries and they put together their best performances when they were down to the bare bones.
Since Andy Carroll joined, Shane Long and Lucas Joao have been fit, and there have been more options off the bench - but performances have lacked that desperation and graft.
Equally, the team has had a habit of losing big and then the very next game winning unexpectedly.
They conceded four in the first half at Rotherham, and then beat Blackburn with the best performance of the season. They conceded another four in their next trip to Yorkshire, at Bramall Lane against Sheffield United, and then beat Stoke. They conceded three at Swansea and then beat Bristol City.
The lack of consistency no doubt infuriates the manager, but at least he and his team have character and "bouncebackability".
Questions over Liam Moore's return
Apart from the team's form on the pitch, there are some interesting side-shows off the pitch to be resolved in the next month.
Carroll's contract runs out in January. Does he stay this season? Last season, in a spell that mirrored this time around too closely to be coincidental, he left for West Brom in January.
"I'm talking to his agent. AC [Andy Carroll] loves it here. I'm hopeful he'll stay," said Ince.
Liam Moore has gone from being one of Reading's most respected and prized assets and club captain to one of the most divisive amongst supporters.
He was stripped of the captaincy at the start of the year after telling then manager Veljko Paunovic that he wanted to leave before going on loan to Stoke.
Moore has been out for most of this year with a knee injury, sustained while with the Potters, and is now out with a calf problem.
He has been nowhere near the team under Ince, but if he returns to fitness in January and there remains a central defensive shortage in the squad, there will need to be quite a bit of humble pie munching.
Fortunately, Ince can take a dispassionate stance and act as peacemaker, as he was not at the club when the issues occurred.
If the likes of Yakou Meite, Tom Ince, Andy Yiadom, Tom Holmes and Joe Lumley continue to excel, as they have done so far this season, anything is possible come May.
Boss Ince may even be changing his tune, saying they want to get out of this league with promotion.
If the injuries persist and the slide continues staying in this league will become even more of a priority.
