STAR Fans Forum Notes August 2005

STAR FANS FORUM - AUGUST 05

Last Thursday evening, the Supporters Trust at Reading (STAR) held it's first fans forum of the season, which was attended by Royals boss Steve Coppell. Thanks to STAR who have supplied 1871Royals with the notes from last week's forum.

STAR Fans Forum

Thursday 18^th August 2005

Ian Maynard opened the forum by thanking Steve Coppell and the players for the Open Day the previous afternoon which was well attended and considered a great success by all.

Q: After the Preston result, how did you go about ensuring that the players don’t get carried away and are in the right frame of mind for the games against Millwall and Swansea?

SC: After the Plymouth result was dreading coming along to the fans forum!  Will have some kind of idea of the mentality of the players after the Millwall game.  The press seem to think that the Millwall match is a game that Reading should win, and SC and the players have been asked many ‘framed’ questions to this end.  We have done ok with this kind of game in the past.  The mentality has been good during the week in training and there were no complaints from the playing staff at having to attend the Open Day.

Q: What is your approach to motivating the team, and do you think that this is an area of your management which could be improved upon? 

SC: Has been asked this question time and time again.  There is a vision of managerial motivation being limited to ‘jumping up and down’ on the touchline.  Looks at the likes of Wenger and Eriksson, cannot imagine either of those two throwing tea cups around the dressing room.  It is down to individual style.  Feels that if players need a pre-match speech to motivate them then there is something wrong with them as a group.

Q: Overall you have done a terrific job as manager of RFC.  Would it not be better for the team and for the supporters if you committed your future to the club now rather than wait until next summer?

SC: Signed a 20 months contract when first arrived and has been given a further year.  Content with this.  Wants to work somewhere where he feels wanted, where he is happy and with the best chance of achieving success.  Feels that he works to the best of his ability at RFC and gives 110% to the job and to the club.

Q: 4-3-3 has been tinkered with a lot in pre-season.  Is this your preferred formation or will you be matching ‘horses for courses’ over the season?

SC: Feels we have struggled against 4-5-1, Burnley & Wolves from last season for example.  4-3-3 was played in pre-season in Sweden and the conclusion from the tour was that this worked provided we were stronger than the opposition.  4-4-2 deemed more effective against more closely matched opposition.  The arrival of Gunarsson and Doyle means that as a squad we could be well made for 4-3-3 in the near future.

Q: Convey seems to have benefited well from a settled pre-season, is he likely to have a consistent run in the team or will his sojourns back to the US affect his game?

SC: Convey could have stayed with the US national team all summer, which may have been a better decision from a career point of view.  Instead he made a bold decision to stay in England, considering it could have affected his world cup chances.  Convey is one of the top three fittest players at RFC.  His set piece delivery is exceptional and he can compete with Shorey in that department.  The jury is out over Convey – he still has much to prove to SC and the supporters.

Q: Harper seems to play mainly as a defensive midfielder and doesn’t get into the final third as much as he should – is this a deliberate ploy?  Could Gunnarsson compete for Harper’s place?

SC: Harper is a defensive player.  He is the fittest player at the club and he plays the ‘holding midfielder’ role to release the full backs, wide players and Sidwell.  Harper is ‘the oil in the machine’; if he is effective, the team is effective.  He is one of the most important pieces of our ‘jigsaw’ and likens him to our version of Makelele!  Expects Harper to deliver a few goals this season.  Gunnarsson can be the third midfielder if we decide to play three.  Has been criticised for having a small squad but there is no pot full of money available.  Wanted better players for the new season with the money available, therefore fewer players overall.  Wants value for money and fit players.  Another defender is still sought to protect against the inevitable run of injuries.

Q: What do you find to be the most frustrating thing about football in this day and age?

SC: The media.  Has basically done the same interview 4 times this week.  Answering the same old questions begins to grind you down.  To counter balance that, enjoys the ‘majestic’ training ground and working with a happy set of players this week!

Q: Did you get the players you wanted during the summer?  Are we stronger?

SC: A ‘post-mortem’ board meeting was held at the end of the season.  This was a long and ‘harsh’ meeting.  Identified with Nick Hammond 3 or 4 players/positions in which we needed to strengthen.  Missed out on some targets, competing against clubs in our division perceived as ‘bigger’ clubs with a recent Premiership pedigree. Signings of Oster and Makin happened pretty much out of the blue.  Didn’t really want to lose Hughes and the spirit and commitment he gives.  Feels that we will be more prolific in front of goal this season and that the back 4 or 5 has been resolute.

Q: James Harper seems to be paying the price for the centre-halves not being comfortable on the ball in that he has to come back deep to play passes. 

SC: This is not a conscious thing.  Sometimes in football you have to create space for yourself by dropping back deeper.  Our centre-halves aren’t able to play pin-point 40 yard passes.  Harper and Sidwell have both dropped deep at times to allow Kitson to fall into space himself.  

Q: The opposition seem to be able to get to the referee in home games to influence decisions and win the ‘mind games’.

SC: Harper and Sidwell are constantly talking to referees during games.  Feels that you have to have a conversation with a referee rather than simply abuse him.  Applaud correct decisions, question incorrect ones – not a question of ‘bullying’ the referee.  Feels that referees are not put under pressure by the ‘too nice’ Madejski Stadium crowd, unlike at certain away venues!    [an unspoken over to you was apparent Ed]

Q: Has there been a conscious decision to get the ball into the box earlier this season?  Crosses already seem of better quality than last season.

SC: Mirrors the start to last season.  We started well before the dip around and after Christmas time.  We are competitive early on in the season because we have players who are comfortable on the ball on good pitches.  There is a question mark over us when the weather and the pitches worsen.  A degree of desperation in some of the long ball style towards the end of last season, we became primitive in wanting to score goals.  Hard to be confident after going 11 games without a win.

Q: As a former winger himself, what has SC observed about Convey’s delivery and Little’s new found scoring form?  How much was Leroy Lita watched before we signed him?

SC: Convey is being positive in what he does, it was an exceptional pass to Lita for the 2^nd goal at Preston.  He needs to reach that standard every week.  We have missed out in goal scoring from set pieces last season, with neither winger managing to score for the entire season.  Expects a goal scoring return from wide players, they are not just accessories.  Little had boasted ‘2 goals in 3 games’ after the Preston match; SC retorted that it was ‘2 goals in 50 games’ after last season!  Lita was not watched as regularly as he could have been, considering the outlay.  A dozen clubs had been watching him and if he started the season in good form at Bristol City, RFC would have had no chance of signing him.

Q: What do you think about the transfer window?

SC: ‘Emergency’ loans will be available.  Feels the transfer window will suit ‘purchasing clubs’ and RFC should fall into this bracket.

Q: Sidwell does not appear to make so many runs into the box of late.

SC: Sidwell needs to make well timed runs into uncongested areas; Murty’s passes inside from the right flank are a good weapon for us.  Sidwell is good at timing his runs and making them at pace.  Quick attacks are the best attacks.

Q: We appear to be in no rush to take goal kicks.  Ipswich and Norwich, for example, take these quickly to get the ball forward.

SC: Hahnemann’s distribution is vital to us.  Looks for 2/3 players to be running forward when Hahnemann catches a cross, to utilise his throw or fly-kick.  The management do specify a ‘strong side’ for Hahnemann to favour at goal kicks.

Q: You said last season that we needed to become ‘more aggressive’ in the transfer market.  What did you mean by this?

SC: We need to spend more!  Chairman will have the biggest say in whether we are successful.  If RFC was self-financing it would be bottom of the Championship.  There is a budget for the squad but no transfer budget as such; a case for signing a particular player will be put to the board.

Q: What are the plans for Oster and Doyle?  Doyle looks sharp and was unlucky to be dropped.

SC: Doyle was more effective than Lita Vs Plymouth, but Lita had looked more ‘dangerous’ in pre-season.  Felt Kitson was needed at Brighton.  Doyle has been ‘low maintenance’ so far and has settled in well.  In this league you need 3 or 4 good forwards in your squad.  Oster will be a big contributor; looks a bright player and any mistakes he makes are at least ‘positive’ attacking ones.

Q: Many of the new arrivals came late in July. Was this sudden impulse or down to extended negotiation?

SC: Interest in Lita since May.  Had failed on a couple of targets.  Our season will be determined by finding a goal scorer.  Like any signing, Lita is a gamble.  Negotiation and enquiries as to his background took time.

Q: Oster has performed very well against us in the past.  Which of the players who have left do you most fear coming back to haunt us?

SC: Forster.  Forster said to SC that “you never saw the best of me”; hopes he never does!  Also wishes him good luck at Ipswich and a full recovery from recent injury.  Likes him as a man and as a player.

Q: Upson loan kick-started our season in 2002/03.  Would a similar calibre of loan be an option?

SC:  More difficult now.  Great competition for Premiership loans with our Championship rivals.  Premiership clubs unwilling to loan these days, other than 18-19 year olds.  RFC staff out every night scouting, having conversations with other clubs and waiting for a break.  We have good a good relationship with Chelsea as we have had staff leave us to go there.

Q: Would a new centre-half supplement what we already have or challenge for first team place?

SC: We have had a terrific defensive record.  We have been lucky with injury and suspension.  Much work done by Wally Downes with the defence, always working hard to improve.  Cover is needed.  Curtis Osano may be a year away from challenging for a place, maybe closer.  As always, we are in competition for new players.

Q: A couple of years ago the Madejski Stadium pitch was narrowed.  Are we concerned about losing out down the flanks?

SC: Alan Pardew narrowed it following promotion.  SC did the same thing following promotion at Palace!  Always looking for any psychological advantage.  Arsenal seem to find plenty of room at Highbury, the smallest pitch in the Premiership.

Q: Curtis Osano has impressed.  Who else can challenge for a first team place from the academy?

SC: The recent Millwall reserve game was a disappointment in that respect.  Osano, Hayes, Cox, Mullins and Cox will all have a good chance to contribute.  Young player development is all about peaks and troughs and not a straight line graph.  This is the first time since being at the club in which he feels what is coming through the academy can finally start to supplement the first team.  The youth set-up at Palace aimed to produce at least two players each season to challenge for the first team and that should be the case here.

Q: Who will replace Andy Hughes as the ‘in your face, life and soul of the party’?

SC: Hahnemann is very opinionated!  Murty is vocal, Sonko becoming ever more so.  Ingimarsson is a quiet character.  Shorey never heard to speak!  Little certainly makes up for it though, as does Harper and Sidwell is becoming more of a leader.  Shane Long has already made an impact with his guitar playing which put Brian McDermott very much in the shade!

Q: Is there anyone who SC could have signed in his career and decided against it that went on to do very well elsewhere?

SC: Most recent example was Adam Virgo, who was a rarely played centre-half during SC’s time at Brighton.  Converted to centre-forward he proved a handful and Celtic signed him for £1.5 million this summer!

Q: Is promotion a realistic target this season or is this simply a squad building season?

SC: More transfer dealings had happened in the summer than SC had anticipated.  Indications in pre-season of a unity and tightness in the squad.  There is now a real goal scoring capability in the team.  Groundswell of opinion that we have a real chance this year, although last season looked an easier division especially with the relegated sides misfiring badly. 

The forum was wrapped up by Ian Maynard shortly before 10pm.  SC thanked the audience for their continued support and warm welcome.  SC spoke of the loss of RFC President Frank Orton, who passed away during the summer.  Frank had always said he wouldn’t die until he saw RFC in the top flight.  The logo on the warm-up  t-shirts – last season carried the message “whatever it takes” – may be changed to “For Frank’s Sake!”.      

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