Well, as we all know Reading have now taken our rightful place at the top of Division 2. It might not last that much longer, because if Wigan win their next two games they'll overtake us and there's nothing we can do about it. Similarly if Millwall win theeir next two games, the only way we could stay ahead of them is by beating Walsall by enough goals to stay ahead of the Londoners on goal difference. Fortunately, the second game for each of these two clubs is against each other, so being in second place certainly is in our own hands.
The trip to Walsall sees the return of Martin Butler and Adi Viveash to their old club. Butler did not impress in his spell there which is why they sold him to Cambridge. It is really difficult to imagine Butler failing to make the grade at Walsall - perhaps his work ethic came later in life, or perhaps Walsall just don't know a genius when they see one. Viveash is a different matter - he was there for some years, took a couple of Player of the Season awards, and only left on a Bosman. He said that he wasn't sure what sort of reception he would get from the home fans (he should have added that he didn't care, but I'll let him off!).
I bring this up because players often play a different game when they face one of their old clubs. The most obvious case of this last season was when Reading played at home to Cardiff and Andy Legg and Jason Bowen both played out of their skins. They felt that they had a point to prove to us, even if the real point was aimed at Tommy Burns who fortunately was not there to see it. The fact is that if either of those two players had ever played FOR Reading in the same manner that they played AGAINST us, then we might not have been so quick to let them go.
There's been a long history of ex-Reading players coming up against us, and producing the match of their careers, but we never seem to have got the benefit in the other direction. Of course, when your team consists of a lot of players who have only played in Scotland, you don't come up against their old clubs that often, but those days are well behind us. However, there has been the start of a change recently.
On the first day of this season, we played away to Millwall - due to our injury crisis, Ricky Newman was forced to play at right-back in that game. Now I had been less than impressed with Newman last season, and I thought it was a mistake to sign him on permanently (his goal at Notts County notwithstanding), but in that Millwall game he showed a new spirit. He was our best player on that day, despite getting enormous stick from the thugs that frequent the New Den (and I mean the ones on as well as off the pitch), despite playing out of position and despite facing an in-form left winger who was the then darling of the home crowd. He obviously wanted to show Millwall that they should not have let him go, and played his best because of it.
The odd thing is that ever since that game, Newman has remained at the new higher level. He has been extremely solid at right-back, and his distribution as improved as well. He has even filled in at centre-back for parts of matches and not looked out of place. Hopefully he can keep this going until we face the London losers at home, a game which will surely give him another huge shot of adrenalin.
When we played at Bury the other week, Phil Parkinson was fit to play. It's the first time I can remember seeing him playing against Bury at Gigg Lane, as he always seemed to be injured when we went there. Although Parky always throws himself around and gives everything, it really did look as though he was putting in an even higher level of effort in that return trip.
Another example from not too long ago was in the home game against Bristol Rovers two years ago. Unfortunately Elroy Kromheer was not a former Rovers player, although judging by the way he "defended" against Cureton and Roberts perhaps he thought that he was playing for them. However, Andy Gurney had a cracking game, one of his best for the club, and of course against the team he used to support.
It doesn't always work, even now. Jim McIntyre had a pretty quiet game at Bristol City, whilst Phil Whitehead gifted Oxford their first goal in the recent derby match. But later this season, we can look forward to Tony Rougier playing against Port Vale (international commitments and opposition midfield cloggers permitting), Butler taking on Cambridge and desperately trying to score against them, Jamie Cureton against Bristol Rovers, Whitehead making amends at the Manor Ground and Barry Hunter at Wrexham.
And we can also watch Martin Williams fall over his own feet at the County Ground in December.
Home . Columns Index . The Cube's Corner Index
News . First Team . Opposition . Reserves . Academy . Where Are They Now? . Kingsley . MadStad . Interactive . Links . Site Map