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2001/02 Reports

Match facts:

Reading goals: None
Assists: None
Opposition goal: After 47 minutes (in first half injury time)
Half-time: Aston Villa 1 Reading 0
Gamebreaker: Final whistle
Attendance: 23,431
Referee: Matt Messias (York)

Reading line-up: Phil Whitehead; Adrian Whitbread (Matthew Robinson, 80 minutes), Adie Williams, Adi Viveash; Neil Smith, James Harper, Phil Parkinson (Darius Henderson, 70 minutes), Anthony Rougier (Jamie Cureton, 80 minutes); Martin Butler, Nicky Forster
Subs not used: Jamie Ashdown, Joe Gamble
Reading yellow cards: Phil Parkinson (foul, 39 minutes)
Reading red cards: None

Match report:

As hoped, and perhaps expected, a game with relatively little pressure allowed Reading to play some much better football than of late. Alan Pardew rang the changes in his team line-up, partly forced by a couple of injuries, and also tried varying the tactics. Aston Villa in turn seemed to be playing for parts of the game at about three-quarters pace, which allowed Reading to create some good opportunities.

Early in the game it looked as if we might profit from moves down both flanks. Both Anthony Rougier on the left and Nicky Forster on the right were capable of beating their full-backs plus whoever else came and provided cover. However, as is so often the case, Rougier only produced this for brief spells at the start of the game, and quickly faded out of the picture. Forster on the other hand gave the Villa left-back a 90 minutes roasting that probably matched anything he could expect in the whole season.

We did get chances from these right-wing runs, but (Forster being Forster!) most of those were him shooting. It doesn't matter if it's a tight angle, Nicky will still have a go. After a couple had flashed past the goal without really troubling the goalkeeper, his best chance came after about half an hour, with a low drive that only just went wide of the far post.

Rougier's significant contributions had amounted to a penalty appeal (difficult to tell from low down at the other end of the pitch, but he's known to fall over rather too easily so I suspect the referee was right to wave play on), and whatever accidental part he played in injuring the home team's right-back. This turned out to be a really bad move as Villa used the substitution to change things around and put a target man up front, who not only won everything in the air, but also as it turned out scored the only goal of the game. (And no doubt others will say that he only had time to do so in first half injury time because of the lengthy stoppage that resulted in the need for a substitution, but that really doesn't work if you think about it logically.) The goal itself came from a corner where Adrian Whitbread was beaten in the air and the substitute reacted first to stab the knocked down ball between Phil Whitehead and our defender on the post.

There were times in the second half, where it appeared that Reading were not really pressing forward for an equaliser. I think that this was a deliberate plan - had we thrown too many men forward early, we would have risked either conceding a second, or if we'd succeeded in scoring would have allowed Villa sufficient time to regroup and throw everything at us. Instead we played sensibly, hoping that the breakthrough would come, and then towards the end of the game started to change things around.

Ironically, with just about every attacking player at the club on the pitch at one time or another, it was Neil Smith who came closest. From a left-wing cross, I saw that we had a player running into the box to head the ball and assumed it would be a forward. Instead it was Smith, supporting the break, and making good contact with his header. The ball was away from the keeper and going just under the bar, but the goalkeeper still managed to get over and palm it away for a corner.

In another move soon afterwards, the ball came to Martin Butler at head height only a few yards out from goal, unmarked but facing the wrong way. He managed to flick the ball past the keeper, but there were no other Reading players around and a defender was able to hook it away. Other shots that we had during the second half tended to be tame or wide (although none were quite as wide as the long-range effort from a Villa international in the first half that only just crept inside the corner flag).

Despite our attacks, Villa seemed pretty comfortable in playing out time (something which of course we can never manage when the boot is on the other foot) and so the game ended in defeat. Nearly all the Reading team acquitted themselves well, with James Harper in the middle looking more like the player we hope he can become. I can't help thinking that too many of our players find it difficult to get motivated for League games, and that is something that needs sorting out quickly.

So of course, the real question is whether we will play the same quality of football on Saturday in the League. If we do, no team in our division could cope, and certainly not the shower visiting Madejski Stadium this weekend. But that doesn't mean it will happen.

Match notes:

There were a series of changes from the last game - Nicky Shorey replaced Matthew Robinson, Nicky Forster replaced Jamie Cureton, Anthony Rougier replaced Alex Smith, and Neil Smith replaced Keith Jones with James Harper moving into central midfield. Finally Adi Viveash came in for Graeme Murty with Adrian Whitbread moving out to right-back, although at times we looked to be playing the 3-4-3 formation trialled in pre-season with Shorey pushing forward as left wing-back. This made it the first start of the season for both Neil Smith and Viveash.

The public address system announced the injured Chris Casper as a substitute, although the diamond screen showed Joe Gamble. I could not see a fifth substitute at any stage, but apparently it was in fact Gamble.

Match preview:

The great thing about a League Cup tie against a side from a higher division is that the result doesn't matter too much (as long as you don't get on the end of a real hiding) because nobody would be that concerned if we were out of this competition. This might well be the ideal game for this point in our season, because just like against West Ham the Reading players can go out on to the field with relatively little pressure and just try to play their normal game. In the West Ham tie we also got far more space and time on the ball, which suited our style - hopefully Aston Villa will make the same mistake.

After another fruitless performance at Colchester, it is again impossible to know what sort of team we are going to put out on Wednesday. All of the potential first team outfield players were kept out of our reserve game on Monday, suggesting the possibility of changes. I still think the most likely switch is to bring in Adi Viveash at centre-back. Sammy Igoe might return in midfield, and there are also reports that Andy Hughes is fit again although I'm not sure I believe those. I think that Pardew will persevere with Jamie Cureton and Martin Butler up front, but with Darius Henderson and Nicky Forster on the bench. That way he has a chance to get any one of them firing properly for when we return to League action.

This is an important game for Aston Villa as they think that the Worthington Cup is their best chance of getting European football again next season. It is of course vitally important for them to be able to lose at a very early stage each year to some post-Communist team that nobody has ever heard of. For that reason, they are saying that they will field a full strength side.

Our last two trips to Villa Park, in the mid-eighties, were unsuccessful. In a League cup tie we were completely outplayed, whilst in the League the following season we did well to take the lead but eventually succumbed to a more experienced side. In our only previous League game we lost there in 1971 to secure relegation to Division 4 for the first time in our history (and observant readers will realise this means that the supposedly big club Aston Villa were in Division 3 at the time). However, we have won there once - it was 2-0 in 1952, but that was against Southport in an FA Cup second replay played on neutral ground! Whatever the result this Wednesday, Reading have sold a surprisingly large number of tickets and it promises to be a memorable match.

Ticket information:

Reading were initially allocated 3,500 tickets, which went on sale to season ticket holders from Thursday, 20th September at 9am, on a 2 per season ticket holder basis. Supporters' Club members could buy tickets from Thursday, 27th September at 9am, on the basis of one per Supporters' Club member. Remaining tickets went on general sale on Friday, 28th September. The initial allocation sold out and a further 500 tickets went on sale. They have also sold out, and a final set of 300 tickets went on sale on Thursday, 4th October.

Prices are:
Adults - £10
Seniors and Under-16s - £5

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