Building A Squad Ethos/The Academy

[Snowball]

Surprisingly, it's not Roberts' GOALS that are making the difference, but his all-round play, assists etc.

Why the roll? Not doubting his class, but when he started off scoring for fun
would anyone have poo-poohed a comment like, "He was brought in for his goals"?

[pea]

The eye-roll was at the 'surprisingly'. Anyone who has watched us play for more than two minutes since we signed him would realise that he adds more than goals, why bother stating the bloody obvious just for the chance to duplicate the same tedious stats you've caked this forum with all season. Stick to your own thread so the rest of us can avoid having to read your comments please, thank you

[SCIAG]

Fairy Enuff Vish, but, altho' the squad is important
IMO if you have a core of 11 that starts almost
every game, that's the key

That's what happened in 2005-06 and that's what's happened this season post Game 6

Apart from Jason Roberts, first choice striker and the catalyst to our success?

So Jason Roberts has to be present in order to reduce the energy required for us to succeed, but has not actually taken part in the success himself?

[facaldaqui]

One aspect of the Reading way is never thinking too far ahead, so the team will not be as complacent about promotion as many on the board have suddenly become.

1. Part of the Reading way is the style of play: the wingplay, the pressing from the front--this has been a legacy of Coppell--it helps that both he and Brian were wingers.

2. Brian has added a certain boldness--Steve became timid and conservative at the end; he did not like risks, whereas Brian will go for three points till the last second and commit to every game, including in the cups.

3. The Reading way involves signing "good people"--increasingly so. Roberts has an MBE, for goodness sake. Not for us the Bullards, Chopras, Dioufs, and Beckfords--team (and squad) spirit is all, and "good people" are likely to contribute positively to that.

4. I believe we also consciously sign intelligent people these days. Listen to the likes of Joby, Jem, Leigertwood talking and you don't get cockney sparrers. We have a lot of smart people in the team. This makes the team able to follow instructions systematically and avoid the rashness or selfishness that would lead to mistakes, sendings off, etc.

5. The whole squad is valued. This philosophy shows its worth when players are injured and the subs and reserves step in and perform close to the standard of those they replace. The squad buys into this principle and therefore no one worries when injuries strike. You don't hear Brian complain about injuries as other managers do.

6. I agree with whoever mentioned Bounce, by Matthew Syed. I read it after I heard Brian refer to it, and it gave me an insight into our approach. The surprising theory behind the book is that winning in sport is not primarily about talent. It's about constantly practising and working to improve, to the point where you might start to achieve unlikely things--such things as our homely team winning away at Anfield and Goodison, or reaching playoffs (hopefully even getting promoted) in competition with players of more renown and supposed skill than ours. This is why we didn't give up with Long and why we don't give up with Church; why we buy the Baseyas, Sheppards, and Mansets of this world; why we take the academy so seriously.

7. The Reading way is also about the financing of the club. We take relatively few financial risks and try to cut our cloth. Fans might moan, but it means that when a good manager and team come along we are ready to take our chance, rather than being hamstrung, like so many other teams in the league--Pompey, Coventry, Forest, Palace, and others--from really being able able produce. By being prudent we have possibly made ourselves one of only ten or so genuinely stable clubs in the league.

8. Brian and the players often talk of taking things "out of the equation", whether it be referees, violent tactics, crowds, media, reputations, expectations, whatever. The idea is to concentrate just on the game and the job of winning, without being distracted by the things you cannot control. It's a simple notion, but very few teams adhere to it.

9. This team enjoys training, enjoys games, enjoys playing for Reading--the Reading way, in fact. They have fun together, they look forward to coming to work. Brian consciously encourages this. He treats players as human beings, even when, like maybe Brian Howard, they have no future at the club; we show responsibility to those we employ.

I call all this The Tao of Slough.

[Turns8]

One aspect of the Reading way is never thinking too far ahead, so the team will not be as complacent about promotion as many on the board have suddenly become.

1. Part of the Reading way is the style of play: the wingplay, the pressing from the front--this has been a legacy of Coppell--it helps that both he and Brian were wingers.

2. Brian has added a certain boldness--Steve became timid and conservative at the end; he did not like risks, whereas Brian will go for three points till the last second and commit to every game, including in the cups.

3. The Reading way involves signing "good people"--increasingly so. Roberts has an MBE, for goodness sake. Not for us the Bullards, Chopras, Dioufs, and Beckfords--team (and squad) spirit is all, and "good people" are likely to contribute positively to that.

4. I believe we also consciously sign intelligent people these days. Listen to the likes of Joby, Jem, Leigertwood talking and you don't get cockney sparrers. We have a lot of smart people in the team. This makes the team able to follow instructions systematically and avoid the rashness or selfishness that would lead to mistakes, sendings off, etc.

5. The whole squad is valued. This philosophy shows its worth when players are injured and the subs and reserves step in and perform close to the standard of those they replace. The squad buys into this principle and therefore no one worries when injuries strike. You don't hear Brian complain about injuries as other managers do.

6. I agree with whoever mentioned Bounce, by Matthew Syed. I read it after I heard Brian refer to it, and it gave me an insight into our approach. The surprising theory behind the book is that winning in sport is not primarily about talent. It's about constantly practising and working to improve, to the point where you might start to achieve unlikely things--such things as our homely team winning away at Anfield and Goodison, or reaching playoffs (hopefully even getting promoted) in competition with players of more renown and supposed skill than ours. This is why we didn't give up with Long and why we don't give up with Church; why we buy the Baseyas, Sheppards, and Mansets of this world; why we take the academy so seriously.

7. The Reading way is also about the financing of the club. We take relatively few financial risks and try to cut our cloth. Fans might moan, but it means that when a good manager and team come along we are ready to take our chance, rather than being hamstrung, like so many other teams in the league--Pompey, Coventry, Forest, Palace, and others--from really being able able produce. By being prudent we have possibly made ourselves one of only ten or so genuinely stable clubs in the league.

8. Brian and the players often talk of taking things "out of the equation", whether it be referees, violent tactics, crowds, media, reputations, expectations, whatever. The idea is to concentrate just on the game and the job of winning, without being distracted by the things you cannot control. It's a simple notion, but very few teams adhere to it.

9. This team enjoys training, enjoys games, enjoys playing for Reading--the Reading way, in fact. They have fun together, they look forward to coming to work. Brian consciously encourages this. He treats players as human beings, even when, like maybe Brian Howard, they have no future at the club; we show responsibility to those we employ.

I call all this The Tao of Slough.

^ 100% agreed...spot on

[beatnik]

Fairy Enuff Vish, but, altho' the squad is important
IMO if you have a core of 11 that starts almost
every game, that's the key

That's what happened in 2005-06 and that's what's happened this season post Game 6

Apart from Jason Roberts, first choice striker and the catalyst to our success?

So Jason Roberts has to be present in order to reduce the energy required for us to succeed, but has not actually taken part in the success himself?

I think you'll find Jason has taken part in the success but will immerge from the experience the same footballer he was when he arrived at the club

[Snowball]

The eye-roll was at the 'surprisingly'. Anyone who has watched us play for more than two minutes since we signed him would realise that he adds more than goals, why bother stating the bloody obvious just for the chance to duplicate the same tedious stats you've caked this forum with all season. Stick to your own thread so the rest of us can avoid having to read your comments please, thank you

Oh sure, GENIUS, it's easy to say that NOW, after the fact,
but were you saying that when he was scoring for fun?

[Snowball]

6. I agree with whoever mentioned Bounce, by Matthew Syed. I read it after I heard Brian refer to it, and it gave me an insight into our approach. The surprising theory behind the book is that winning in sport is not primarily about talent. It's about constantly practising and working to improve, to the point where you might start to achieve unlikely things--such things as our homely team winning away at Anfield and Goodison, or reaching playoffs (hopefully even getting promoted) in competition with players of more renown and supposed skill than ours. This is why we didn't give up with Long and why we don't give up with Church; why we buy the Baseyas, Sheppards, and Mansets of this world; why we take the academy so seriously.

My first Mrs was from Carlisle and way back we brought in Bob Stokoe as manager (a genius)

One of the things he said was that he'd take a player for his strengths and play to accommodate those strengths,
and play to lessen the effects of his weaknesses. Carlilse became masters of the sneaky 1-0 win.


Presumably he would also work to improve a player's weak spot

[pea]

The eye-roll was at the 'surprisingly'. Anyone who has watched us play for more than two minutes since we signed him would realise that he adds more than goals, why bother stating the bloody obvious just for the chance to duplicate the same tedious stats you've caked this forum with all season. Stick to your own thread so the rest of us can avoid having to read your comments please, thank you

Oh sure, GENIUS, it's easy to say that NOW, after the fact,
but were you saying that when he was scoring for fun?

err obviously, someone scoring goals once a game generally doesn't hide the fact that they're bloody good the rest of the match too...

[Snowball]

our ppg was 1.9 ppg before the Hull game, 1.81 afterwards

What?

12 games up to Hull = 2.00ppg
12 games after Hull (ie. when we signed Roberts) = 2.58 ppg

Or close enough

The 12-12 comparison is:

1 Reading 12 08-0-4 5 Clean Sheets 19-12 +07 24 2.00 ppg (Lost to Cardiff twice, Blackpool 1-0 and Forest 1-0)
1 Reading 12 10-1-1 7 Clean Sheets 22-07 +15 31 2.58 ppg (Lost at Peterboro 3-1, drew at Doncaster)

The most noticeable difference is not up front, it's in defence.

The PRE-Roberts 12 we played clubs with an average position of 9.5
The Post-Roberts 12 we played clubs with an average position of 15.75

03 West Ham, 04 Birmingham, 05 Cardiff, 05 Cardiff, 06 Blackpool, 07 Brighton, 10 Hull
13 Watford, 14 Leeds, 15 Ipswich, 15 Ipswich, 17 Peterborough = Average Position 9.5

Roberts' First 12... By comparison we played a lot of crap sides

05 Blackpool, 08 Middlesbrough, 09 Leicester
11 Derby, 12 Burnley , 17 Peterboro, 18 Millwall, 19 Barnsley, 21 Bristol, 22 Coventry, 23 Portsmouth, 24 Doncaster Average Position 15.75


I am NOT saying Jason Roberts isn't a star at our level, but our upsurge in ppg was partly due to the DEFENCE,
and partly due to playing much weaker sides (7 of the bottom 8!!!)

[Platypuss]

RIP in peace, sweet thread.

[Rex]

It seems a discussion point needs emphasis with stats every time.

[PistolPete]

One aspect of the Reading way is never thinking too far ahead, so the team will not be as complacent about promotion as many on the board have suddenly become.

1. Part of the Reading way is the style of play: the wingplay, the pressing from the front--this has been a legacy of Coppell--it helps that both he and Brian were wingers.

2. Brian has added a certain boldness--Steve became timid and conservative at the end; he did not like risks, whereas Brian will go for three points till the last second and commit to every game, including in the cups.

3. The Reading way involves signing "good people"--increasingly so. Roberts has an MBE, for goodness sake. Not for us the Bullards, Chopras, Dioufs, and Beckfords--team (and squad) spirit is all, and "good people" are likely to contribute positively to that.

4. I believe we also consciously sign intelligent people these days. Listen to the likes of Joby, Jem, Leigertwood talking and you don't get cockney sparrers. We have a lot of smart people in the team. This makes the team able to follow instructions systematically and avoid the rashness or selfishness that would lead to mistakes, sendings off, etc.

5. The whole squad is valued. This philosophy shows its worth when players are injured and the subs and reserves step in and perform close to the standard of those they replace. The squad buys into this principle and therefore no one worries when injuries strike. You don't hear Brian complain about injuries as other managers do.

6. I agree with whoever mentioned Bounce, by Matthew Syed. I read it after I heard Brian refer to it, and it gave me an insight into our approach. The surprising theory behind the book is that winning in sport is not primarily about talent. It's about constantly practising and working to improve, to the point where you might start to achieve unlikely things--such things as our homely team winning away at Anfield and Goodison, or reaching playoffs (hopefully even getting promoted) in competition with players of more renown and supposed skill than ours. This is why we didn't give up with Long and why we don't give up with Church; why we buy the Baseyas, Sheppards, and Mansets of this world; why we take the academy so seriously.

7. The Reading way is also about the financing of the club. We take relatively few financial risks and try to cut our cloth. Fans might moan, but it means that when a good manager and team come along we are ready to take our chance, rather than being hamstrung, like so many other teams in the league--Pompey, Coventry, Forest, Palace, and others--from really being able able produce. By being prudent we have possibly made ourselves one of only ten or so genuinely stable clubs in the league.

8. Brian and the players often talk of taking things "out of the equation", whether it be referees, violent tactics, crowds, media, reputations, expectations, whatever. The idea is to concentrate just on the game and the job of winning, without being distracted by the things you cannot control. It's a simple notion, but very few teams adhere to it.

9. This team enjoys training, enjoys games, enjoys playing for Reading--the Reading way, in fact. They have fun together, they look forward to coming to work. Brian consciously encourages this. He treats players as human beings, even when, like maybe Brian Howard, they have no future at the club; we show responsibility to those we employ.

I call all this The Tao of Slough.

^ 100% agreed...spot on

Great post - The Tao of Slough!

[Snowball]

Different people have ways of expressing themselves.

It's still a fact that RFC were playing at League winning level before the arrival of Roberts
and that the last twelve games before Roberts they played a much higher calibre of team
than they did in the twelve games following his arrival.

It's also a fact that they are a very settled side, or at least were until the game versus Thug FC


And the Roberts thing only started because Maguire tossed out his bomb about the striker
as if to prove that we WEREN'T fundamentally a settled side.

RFC, via the current management staff believe in high tempo, hard work, lots of tackling back
and, in fact, Roberts (who I think is great) is probably the one outfield player who does this THE LEAST

The ethos, IMO, is shown best with the way McAnuff has developed at the club and the way Kebe
has become more rounded, working much much better defensively

But the biggest thing about this season, I repeat, is building a play-most-matches core
just like 2005-06

[Maguire]

And the Roberts thing only started because Maguire tossed out his bomb about the striker
as if to prove that we WEREN'T fundamentally a settled side

Nope, I mentioned it in response to:

IMO if you have a core of 11 that starts almost
every game, that's the key

That's what happened in 2005-06 and that's what's happened this season post Game 6

because we've clearly changed our first choice XI since January and results have improved since we did so.

As it happens, I actually agree with the general point being made.

[Maguire]

Fairy Enuff Vish, but, altho' the squad is important
IMO if you have a core of 11 that starts almost
every game, that's the key

That's what happened in 2005-06 and that's what's happened this season post Game 6

Apart from Jason Roberts, first choice striker and the catalyst to our success?

So Jason Roberts has to be present in order to reduce the energy required for us to succeed, but has not actually taken part in the success himself?

Very good

[Maguire]

our ppg was 1.9 ppg before the Hull game, 1.81 afterwards

What?

12 games up to Hull = 2.00ppg
12 games after Hull (ie. when we signed Roberts) = 2.58 ppg

Or close enough

The 12-12 comparison is:

1 Reading 12 08-0-4 5 Clean Sheets 19-12 +07 24 2.00 ppg (Lost to Cardiff twice, Blackpool 1-0 and Forest 1-0)
1 Reading 12 10-1-1 7 Clean Sheets 22-07 +15 31 2.58 ppg (Lost at Peterboro 3-1, drew at Doncaster)

Yes that's exactly what i said. So, just out of curiosity, what was this all about:

our ppg was 1.9 ppg before the Hull game, 1.81 afterwards

and how does it relate to Roberts' impact?

[Snowball]

I was talking about the fact that RFC were on the up (and the Hull game dropped the average)


BTW in the Snowbie stats thread I posted this this morning

Season breaks down into 3 x 15 games plus Brum away

18 Points First third
33 Points Second third
31 Points This third (3 games to play, so max of 40)

So in the third of a season up to Roberts joining (he played in the 15th game of 15, we were playing like a 99-Point Season team

Kudos then to McD for wanting to improve on THAT!

[Bucks Dave]

Surprised noone's mentioned our sticking with 4-4-2, now becoming obsolete elsewhere.

I remember the past manager of Luton (Mike Newell) saying of our 2005 side that we play the same way each time but we're so good at it it's hard to beat. Poyet said before the Brighton game that there are no surprises about how we play the game but we are expert at it and Jason Roberts, when he came in, said we play football the old fashioned way and he loves it.

Ethos is certainly one big factor but as others have mentioned there are others too and they seem to be creating a perfect storm.

Of course if we lose tonight it's all about to go wrong.

[Snowball]

Personally I think we should go back to the W-W formation