Years ago, this time of the year was dominated by which players were going to be on the retained list announced at the end of the season (or at least in the overwhelming majority of seasons when Reading had neither promotion nor relegation to worry about). Since the introduction of the Bosman rule, things have changed a bit, but the basic details remain the same.
Certain players at this time of year play much better than expected, in the hope that they will win a new contract. Looking at this season's form, you have to say that both Barry Hunter and Peter Grant have improved immensely in the last few months as they reach the end of their contract.
Over the next two weeks, I'll give my views on who should stay and who should go. This week it's the defence.
Tommy Burns managed to accumulate four decent keepers in Howie, van der Kwaak, Mautone and Hammond, but none were spectacular. Exactly the worst of both worlds. In many ways, we're in a similar position now. Howie and Whitehead both look reasonable keepers, probably at about Division 2 play-off standard. Howie's shot-stopping ability is excellent but he is weak on crosses and distribution. He has obviously been working on the last of these as this has improved enormously in recent months. Whitehead is a more solid keeper - he lets in goals that Howie would have saved, but doesn't seem to be the sole cause of too many defensive difficulties.
I would keep both of them and make it very clear that the better one will get in the side, hoping that competition will bring the best out of them. As a fallback, we have Jamie Ashdown who will be fine as cover.
Centre-back is of course the big problem. At the moment we have Williams, Hunter, Primus, Polston, Casper, Bernal, Mackie plus youngsters. Of those, Hunter, Primus and Bernal are out of contract, and of course Williams is only on loan (some people say that Polston is out of contract but I think he has another year).
After a shaky start, Adrian Williams' performances have been in a different class from other defenders in this division. Apart from his defensive ability, he adds attacking and leadership strengths to the team. If there is any chance of us signing him, we must go for it. I have to say however that I think it most likely he will look for a Division 1 team first.
I would like to see Williams partner Polston next season - he hasn't played that many games but when he has been on the pitch he has nearly always looked good. If his contract really is up, then I don't think we should risk re-signing him because of the injuries, but if we have to pay him anyway then we might as well make use of him.
As backup to these two, we can have Hunter and Casper. Hunter was of course signed as a replacement for Williams in the first place, and generally has played well when fit. I would offer him another one-year deal, although I am sure he will be looking for more. Casper has had dodgy spells but was playing reasonably well before his broken leg. He is also still relatively young and may well improve considerably. We will have Mackie as a further backup, assuming that he returns to fitness.
I think that the time has come for Bernal to move on. His fitness problems have come to a head this year and I can't see that we should risk another year of him managing single-figure appearances. Having said that, he is versatile enough to cover all the back four positions plus midfield and if others know more than I about his fitness levels I think he could have a role to play.
That of course leaves Primus. He's not a bad player but I think he is grossly over-rated. His only real attribute is pace, and I think that that is only when you compare him to our other defenders. If we come up against really quick forwards, someone with Williams' experience will be of more use than Primus. I think we should have got rid of him earlier this season when we could have had a small transfer fee, but for now let him leave. I guess if we are unable to sign Williams or Hunter, then we should try to keep him, but that would be the only reason. Ideally I'd like to see him go to another Division 2 club so Forster could skin him alive next season whilst Butler outjumps him.
At left-back we currently have Matthew Robinson who has the place for the next decade if he stays fit. His attacking runs have been a major factor in our end of season revival, and he is perfectly sound defensively. What I really like about him is that every time he gets the ball he is looking to go forward and make something happen. At the moment Stuart Gray is his backup. Pardew has already decided to try to give Gray away and that seems sensible. We still have Neville Stamp in emergencies, or could play Hodges or Polston.
Right-back currently means Murty or Gurney depending on whether we are looking to attack or defend more (and of course on whether Murty is fit on any particular day). Gurney is a solid player, but I think Murty has the potential to take us to a different level if he ever remains fit. We can of course play them both with one or other as a forward player. Both can also play at wing-back and to be quite frank I still don't really know how we should best use these two players.
Anyway, next season the defensive part of my team line-up would be:
Howie, Murty, Polston, Williams, Robinson
Subs: Whitehead, Hunter
Backup: Gurney, Casper, Mackie, plus youth players
This would mean bringing in one new signing (Williams) and losing Primus, Bernal and Gray. That's dependent on someone wanting Gray, of course. There would be no transfer fees involved, but Williams would presumably want a signing-on fee.
Next week - midfield and attack (but I'll tell you for free that there's no place for Neil Smith in my squad!).
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