Man of Steel - 12A - 5 out of 10

Superhero films in the 2000s are a bit like what I imagine grunge music was like in Seattle in 1990; a boom inspired by some stand out examples of the genre followed by a whole heap of underwhelming nothingness.

Every comic book hero seems to have been rebooted this decade. Hell, there is even a Hercules film pencilled in for next year with Dwayne Johnson starring. I'll leave you to make pre-judgements on that one yourselves.

However, Man of Steel is the reboot of the big guy. The man. Superman to be exact.

As such, there automatically comes with a hope it will deliver a standout alternative from the general dredge and with Christopher Nolan on production, the expectation rises.

The film explores the formative years of Kal-El/ Clark Kent/ Superman, all-American hero, played by Jersey's own Henry Cavill, who kind of resembles George Osborne's beefed up cousin, only with less laughs.

We see how he grew up from a boy blasted to Earth from his doomed home planet Krypton by parents ultra-British Russell Crowe and Ayelet Zurer where he grows from a shy, retiring child afraid of his powers to a bit of a boring man with arms the size of foundry chimneys.

Dubbing him boring is of course unfair on Cavill as the role demands that despite wearing a Zorro-style cape and a suit that totally isn't spandex but might as well be spandex, some base form of dull decorum is required, a bit like a hench Spock.

Its not that he plays the character badly, on the contrary, just the character itself is so boring.

This isn't the only character issue.

Amy Adams' Lois Lane veers from intrepid, gritty reporter for the Daily Planet in the opening half hour of the film to screaming damsel in distress in quicker time than you can say “comic book style cliché".

Superman's nemesis General Zod is, however, a perfect imagining of the villain by Michael Shannon; cold, calculating, but not necessarily evil, more a victim of his own circumstances.

Man of Steel suffers from the same problem every big budget action film now has in trying to outdo the previous big budget action film by adding more carnage and explosions until it resembles a clashing of a scrapheap and a fireworks factory inside a tumble dryer.

In a similar vein, the climatic fight scene between Superman and Zod resembles the long-running joke in Family Guy of Peter Griffin fighting the Giant Chicken in the sense it is scripted, extended and essentially a oneupmanship contest for who could throw their opponent through the most amount of skyscrapers.

Its not only the climatic scene which is like this, its every scene in which Superman fights a fellow Kryptonian just this was the final scene, the highlight of the movie. Mix it up a little bit!

In that sense I suppose it was a suitable ending for the film given what had gone before, but rather aptly given the content, its only suitable crashing right through the other side of pointless and gratuitous.

Another similar recurring course it follows is looking into the backstory of the hero to find out what makes him fight for justice and all that malarkey (turns out its Earth-dad Kevin Costner and a love for the glorious cornfields and other assorted attractions of Kansas).

Every superhero film now makes their champion into a broody, sullen, world-weary individual – as well they should be what with all the pressure they're presumably under for being the world's go-to-guy– but Superman is historically the cheesiest of all the comic book heroes so it basically feels like painting him with an emotion brush for the pure sake of it.

And then he's still dull and a bit of a drone. Some work.

All in all, Man of Steel isn't a bad film. Its an interesting if not riveting reboot of a classic story and so given the current state of superhero films which it essentially apes, it is something of a monotone retelling of a story in a format audiences are now tired and cynical of unless it is truly remarkable. Which it isn't.

In a way, its something of a triumph as it leaves the audience wanting it to be longer to add some more emotional meat to the bones of the plot, but also desperate for it to be shorter as to have less interminable fight scenes where characters are basically used as wrecking balls in an amateur attempt at city planning.

Oh, and don't fork out for 3D. You shouldn't anyway for any film, but Man of Steel has about as much use for it as one would wearing the ridiculous glasses out in the real world.

Countless unforgettable moments from the London Games

In the build up to the London 2012 Olympic Games, the Guardian put together a superb series of articles entitled '50 Stunning Olympic Moments' which took in well known and lesser known achievements from the Summer Games over the last 29 Olympiads.

The past 16 days have seen plenty of new stunning moments that can be added to that particular list as London welcomed the biggest party in the world to their doorstep.

Every single medal awarded at these Games (every single competitor in the Games come to that) has had a story behind it that was told brilliantly by the UK media and their colleagues from across the globe.

In no particular order, here are some of my personal stand out moments from the Games.

The way in which Jessica Ennis won her heptathlon gold medal. The personal bests she set and the way in which she pushed past the rest of the field at the end of the 800 metres as if to say “Here I am, out of my way, I am Jessica Ennis, this is my gold medal, this is my time, this is my moment. Get out of my way.” To see a Britain that was favourite for a gold medal in track and field so ruthlessly and confidently see off her challengers was an inspiring change.

Sir Chris Hoy sealing his place in Olympic history by notching his fifth and sixth gold medals in the Velodrome. There is no such thing as a banker in sport, but Hoy is as close as you can get. Widely reported as one of the most honest and humblest sportsmen you can get, all but the most granite-hearted of souls could not be moved by his tears at both of his award presentation ceremonies.

Sticking with cycling, the achievements of Laura Trott; born prematurely with a collapsed lung and spending the first weeks of her life in intensive care. Fast forward 20 years or so and the petite Essex girl left all in her wake in the omnium and was a key component of the all-conquering, record breaking women's team pursuit team. If Hoy has set the bar for cycling at the Olympics, Trott could be the to set it higher in years to come.

More cycling, Bradley Wiggins redefining what a sportsman can be to a nation bored to death with grey, neutral presences. Wiggins is cool, unique, witty, eloquent, humble, modest and a man with the common touch. Added to that, he is the best road cyclist this country has produced and, despite the incredible competition, must be favourite to win Sports Personality of the Year come December, largely because of the second word in the title of that gong.

To the judo arena and possibly the moment that brought more tears and lumps in the throat to a nation in the whole Games. Gemma Gibbons lost her mother, the woman who introduced her to the sport, to cancer eight years ago. After making her way past all comers to the semi final, she won that round too and mouthed the simple words “I love you Mum” to the heavens. Touchingly beautiful.

More heartstrings touched over at the aquatics centre where Tom Daley secured a bronze medal in the 10m platform diving. Daley's trials are well documented and need no repeating but for a young man with the weight of the world on his shoulders to emerge with a medal is a tribute to his country, himself and his father who will be looking down proudly upon him.

More gold medals but this time over at Eton Dorney where so much heartache was erased when Katherine Grainger crossed the line with Anna Watkins to secure her first gold medal at the Olympics in her fourth attempt at trying and instantly putting aside the heartache of so silver medals at the last three Games.

And how have I gotten this far without mentioning the undoubted British star of these Games, Mohamed Farah. His broad, large toothed-smile, his slight Cockney accent, his self-deprecation, his silent determination and wit; a; true British traits. But this from a man born in Somalia who came to Britain aged eight years. His is a story of a modern British hero; multi-cultural, world-aware but still tied to home. The sight of his daughter skipping along the track to give her Dad a kiss as her heavily pregnant Mum aimed to keep up at the end of the 10,000metres was touching, only to be equalled by his madcap 'head-slapping' celebration to win the 5,000metres. A true hero.

Back to the Velodrome and a contest a decade in the making between arch-rivals Victoria Pendleton and Anna Meares ended in controversy, tears but sportsmanship as Pendleton congratulated her rival on the lap after the end of the race. A fine career ended in style if not the result dearly wanted but the message given to her fiancee at the end of the keirin provided an image of the Games.

Down to Weymouth and the king of the seas, Ben Ainslie. Beaten, bruised and battered after six rounds of the contest, he looked down and out but he was made angry and the rest is history. Four gold medals and a silver in five Olympics in the sailing for Ainslie; one of the best British Olympians ever secures his place in the pantheon.

What about in the boxing ring where Britain had it's best performance in more than 50 years and the record books were written with Nicola Adams taking home a gold medal. The part-time extra in various TV soap operas who couldn't find sponsorship to fund her dream for love nor money will probably have no hassle in finding some willing backers now.

So far, this is something of a Britsh-tinted affair (understandably so, I hope you feel too dear readers) but have some foreign flavour. 15 year-olds dominating in the pool, Usain Bolt securing his place in the annals of history in his own unmistakable way, Michael Phelps joining him, Meares fulfilling her destiny, Kirani James, Feliz Sanchez, Sandra Richards-Ross, Ryan Lochtee, Charles De Cos (and his Dad), Brazil walking away with silver in the football, David Rudisha blowing away the field in the 800 metres, the outrageous nature of the USA's victory in the 4x400m women's relay and so many more.

Well over a thousand words and no mention of the likes of Ed Clancy, Jason Kenny and all of the all-conquering cycling team, Robbie Grabarz, Nick Dempsey, the dressage team, so many rowers, Alastair and Johnathan Brownlee, Alan Campbell, Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter, the kings of the canoes both sprinting and slalom, the hockey teams, more sailors, Peter Wilson, Jade Jones and so so many more.

All of these moments and more made this a Games to remember that, I am probably not alone in saying, wish could go on forever and ever.

Alas, they cannot, but memories last forever and one imagines that the BBC Sport archive of the London 2012 Games will get an awful lot of mileage in them over the next weeks, months and years to recreate the fortnight-long period when Team GB delivered but not only that, Britain did too.

What is your stand-out Olympic moment? Drop your thoughts below the line.

Problems for Euro 2020

Forever in football the view on the horizon has as much attention paid to it as the event currently occurring; “sure Manchester City won the Premier League this season, but what are they doing to consolidate their position at the top of the tree?”  commentators ask.

It’s one of the ways to maintain the crucial interest of the masses in the sport, by keeping the narrative going and thus keeping the revenue flowing to clubs, the media, governing bodies and all the key players in the industry.

Thus, we have the situation whereby UEFA’s biggest party of them all, Euro 2012, is fast approaching but the planning for the finals of the competition in 2020 has already had its first deadline come and go.

Midnight this morning was the point at which expressions of interest to host the competition had to be submitted to UEFA and so it came to pass that UEFA has three bids on their metaphorical table (or huge literal table) to ponder over these bids being from Turkey, a ‘Celtic’ option consisting of Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland and Georgia, the latter two bids submitted right on the deadline.

So, there are three options for the right to host the 16^th European Championships for UEFA to explore, scrutinise and eventually make a decision on in late 2013 or early 2014. All good news then?

Well, no.

Each bid has a huge, gaping problem with it that makes the worries over the state of the stadiums in Poland and Ukraine for this year’s tournament seem rather small-fry by comparison.

On paper, the Turkish bid is the strongest as it has the infrastructure (in terms of stadiums already built), a passionate fan base for the sport and it also missed out on hosting Euro 2016 to France by a single vote which shows its capabilities to host a tournament of this magnitude are acknowledged and respected in UEFA HQ .

However, two rather large problems severely cripple the Turkish bid. Firstly, there is the ongoing situation regarding corruption in their FA and match-fixing in Turkish football, a situation so severe that UEFA supremo Michel Platini has waded into the situation threatening to ban the country from European competition.

Secondly, Istanbul has also submitted a bid to host the 2020 Olympics. The rules of the International Olympic Committee prevent a country hosting a major sporting tournament in the same year as an Olympics if a city in that country is hosting the Games. The Turkish government is thought to favour the Olympics should a choice have to be made due to the subsequent commercial boost and reasons of realpolitik. The announcement of the Olympics host city is expected in September 2013 with UEFA’s decision following three or four months later.

The ‘Celtic’ bid is a strong one with the countries having a large number of appropriately-sized stadiums built and in use already, not too much geographical distance between the host countries for visiting teams and fans and a strong infrastructure of airports, railway stations and hotels in cities such as Cardiff, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dublin for example. However, a three-country bid is particularly unprecedented (and a successful one completely unprecedented) and would cause difficulty when it comes to automatic qualification for host countries.

Lastly, the Georgia bid is the most underwhelming of the lot. UEFA criteria dictates that host nations must have two stadiums of 50,000+ capacity, three of 40,000+ and four of 30,000+. Georgia currently has one stadium with more than 30,000+ (Dinamo Tbilisi’s 57,000-seater) with a 30,000 seater expected to be completed by 30,000. Even in a country dealing moderately well with global economic downturn (more on which later), the ability to construct at least eight new stadiums must be doubted and, after the problems in Ukraine over stadium construction, UEFA may be unwilling to commit to East Europe again, despite its desire to branch the game out.

Clearly, UEFA are in possession of three bids that have as many problems as they do advantages. For some context, Euro 2016 had four bids at this stage, Euro 2012 had five initial bids submitted and Euro 2008 had six. Some of these bids had equally acute flaws as the current crop but that’s not the point; variety produces strength.

The problem, as this article by Keir Radnedge of World Soccer magazine eloquently explains, is very much of UEFA’s own making. To get more finals matches (and therefore more income), UEFA upped the numbers of teams in the finals from 16 to 24 as of Euro 2016 which subsequently requires more host cities and stadia to be provided.

All well and good when global and national economies are booming and states can afford the expenditure but that is far from the case in the current climate. Indeed, doubts have already been expressed over France’s ability juggle an adequate amount of host cities which, combined with the absurdly early deadline for interest in hosting to be announced by UEFA, has produced three severely flawed candidates. The large list of countries who ultimately decided not to bid really does tell its own story.

Clearly, it is still very early in the process which would allow UEFA to re-open the bid submission procedure and hope for an economic upturn to rustle up some more interest and a concrete bid or two but, not for the first time, European football’s governing body has shot itself in the foot.

This post appeared over at www.footballfriendsonline.com/blogs/

American Reunion (American Pie Reunion)- 15- 8 out of 10

It’s back! Unless you count the three spin-offs that were made to earn some dollar off of the trademark name (which we really shouldn’t count and, if you do, feel free to leave now).

Yes, nine years after Jim and Michelle’s wedding, the American Pie gang are back in an attempt to try to wrestle back the teen gross-out comedy style of film and steer the stale, overworked genre in a fresh, different direction.

Basically, what American Reunion (or American Pie Reunion depending on where you’re reading this from) is trying to do is what the original American Pie did 13 years ago and reboot the coming of age film which the original did which, judging by the lookalike films that it spawned, was good news for a few years and then very, very bad news after that.

The original American Pie was a coming of age film about teenagers leaving high school and trying to lose their V-plates, American Reunion Pie remains a coming of age story but at a different time in life; the time in life when all those high school dreams about one’s future have been replaced by the monotony and problems of adult life but the joy and happiness that remains.

From tackling growing up and all that entails, the film showcases the issues of the next stage of a person’s life; children, partners, work monotony, sexual monotony, the nagging annoyance that it could have been better and trying to keep things “the way they were”; problems everyone will face in life.

The chemistry between the five male leads in the original film made it a charming success and this element remains in place, thankfully, to keep the film ticking along when sometimes it feels a little flat. The outrageousness of Stifler, the cringey Jim, the understated wit of Finch, Kevin the everyman and Oz’s earnestness works as well now as it did then and their relaxed, easy bonhomie makes up for a lack of real, stand-out belly laugh moments. In a way, that’s how it should be as the boys (and girls) mature and their style of humour would change as in real life.

Which is not to say that the trademark gross-out scenes have departed what with a gratuitous knob on show here and some pooping going on there as well as some leather bedroom attire that goes badly wrong, as you might expect.

But what makes the focus on this different style of coming of age film is thecontrast with the original problems of the main characters which the film provides vividly by also featuring a group of 18-year-olds (centred around Jim’s neighbour) and their growing up problems.

I’m a sucker for films with some personal connection to myself, hence why the Harry Potter films are always a must watch. American Pie Reunion has this element as, for my generation, it was probably the first 15-rated film you had seen that you didn’t want your parents knowing you had seen. Much like Reunion itself, it brings back memories of a nostalgic time where things were better (read different) to what your life is like now, releasing some nostalgia-heavy emotions to temper one’s view.

All in all, whilst the film itself lacks a wealth of laugh-out-loud moments, the original elements that made the series a success remain which is good as, after nine years, it could easily have lost these elements. It’s sweet and silly, a bit of gross-out action and leaves with you a feel good smile on your face with a very tight and humorous ending as well as a desire to see the original three films once again and regressing. If it wasn’t from the American Pie lineage of films, it wouldn’t receive as high a mark out of ten but this film reviewing lark is all subjective so there.

Thoughts from yesterday's Max Clifford talk

Yesterday afternoon, I made the trip down to my old university to attend a talk given by Max Clifford to the current crop of journalism students. Thankfully, alumni were also invited otherwise this blog post would never have happened and what a crying shame that would have been.

The talk consisted of an opening speech of around 45 minutes in which Clifford gave the spiel about how he got into PR, where he started, a large amount of amusing anecdotes about people he’s worked for and with and so on. I think his favoured line about Colonel Sanders, chickens and trust issues got an airing at this point. This was followed by a Q&A session that lasted around 45 minutes that consisted largely of either questions about his clients or slightly harder questions about the nature of his work and influence on the press.

First things first, I cannot praise the man enough to taking time out of what I imagine is a very busy schedule to speak to a group of students (the evidence that he has a very busy schedule was clear by the fact he was on his mobile straight after leaving the room). Furthermore, as well as speech and Q&A, he stuck around to answer individual questions afterwards for an extended period of time. Give that man some more praise.

Secondly, like all self-made men (women to but “self-made people” doesn’t have the same slight alliteration to it that I so thoroughly get a kick off of), I have nothing but an inordinate amount of respect for him; he recognised himself that there was an element of ‘right place, right time’ about parts of his career but you have to be there and ready to take advantage of those times and, if you can do that, you have every right to do whatever you like when you’ve made it.

Thirdly, parts of his speech, his anecdotes and his answers to questions from the floor were interesting, intriguing, appalling (with regard to taste) and entertaining. The way he runs his business was revealing, his stories about some of his clients (kept anonymous largely) were very amusing and his views on the Leveson inquiry, phone-hacking and the effect of a famous footballer’s retirement and the stories about his sexuality that may come out then and how that will effect homophobia in the sport were all very libellous but all very interesting.

However, despite all this, throughout the 90-minutes or so, one could not help but think it was something of a performance designed to dazzle and leave you a bit star-struck. Naturally, as a PR man, he has the instinct, skills and experience to suppress information that he wants to suppress leaving you wanting a little bit more.

When questions from the floor came about the nature of the celebrity/media nexus and how the press can be free and fair given the influence of people like himself, he had a habit of side-stepping the issue, throwing in an anecdote and moving on. His skill at this has been honed on more difficult opponents than student journalists, as can be seen in the Louis Theroux documentary on him. He always seemed one step ahead of the game and able to give you a glimpse of some genuinely shocking information but yanking it away from your grasp. As you’d expect from someone in his ‘racket’ of course.

In a Q&A session it’s a lot easier to do this as there is the lurking sense not to dwell on a point as a questioner and engage in a debate as other audience members would also like to participate and time is limited.

As a journalist, he would be an absolute dream to interview as he has some very forthright views on issues (such as News International, phone hacking and Leveson) and the benefit of a one-on-one session would be advantageous to get more telling answers than he seemed to give yesterday by placing more pressure .

However, the likelihood of myself ever getting into that kind of situation is probably rather slim so yesterday was a much appreciated insight.

All in all, I did not know what to expect of Clifford before the talk. On reflection, I found him engaging, funny, interesting, a little pervy old man-ish, generous with his time, a master of the PR art and equally adept at leaving you wanting that little bit more. Oh to be able to open up his head and have a root around inside.

The genesis of this season's success

I’ve just finished reading Graham Hunter’s insightful and interesting book “Barca; The Making of the Greatest Team in the World” where he takes a magnifying glass to everything at the Catalan club from the La Masia academy and the background politics to the lives and histories of key personnel like Pep Guardiola, Xavi Hernandez and Lionel Messi.

One of the key themes in the book is the huge impact that Johan Cruyff had on the club, particularly in his stint as manager in the late 1980s/early 1990s. The theory goes that the current success of the club under Guardiola’s management has its genesis in the almost complete overhaul of the Catalan club that Cruyff instigated.

The two key facets of Cruyff’s policy were the implementation of an offensive 4-3-3/3-4-3 formation on the first team with Guardiola in the pivote role and then ensuring that this formation was used at every level of the club youth development system (obligatory use of the phrase La Masia) to ensure that the best young players would be schooled to know how to play in their respective position and so slot seamlessly when they made the jump to the first team. Cruyff would go on to win a record 11 trophies at the club, including their first European Cup in 1992.

The influence on the current ‘Pep team’ is blindingly obvious as the formation and attacking intent is very similar (with Sergio Busquets performing the Guardiola role) and the number of cantera graduates coming through the system who, upon graduation to the first team, slot into their respective positions with no fuss. From Xavi and Iniesta through Messi and Busquets to the current crop of Cuenca and Tello, the fruits of Cruyff’s labours are plain to see. Guardiola has since surpassed Cruyff’s trophy record.

In between these two epochs was the success of Frank Rijkaard’s teams which took the influences of the Cruyff formation in addition to the young generation coming through (particularly Iniesta, Valdes and Messi) from La Masia. However, the Rijkaard team failed as it’s generally seen that the team lost its hunger for success; a lesson Guardiola is keen to avoid and has to a certain extent, though time will tell.

In the same way that Rijkaard and Guardiola’s success can be traced back to the seeds sown twenty years beforehand(thus creating the ‘Barcelona way’), the successful season that Reading have had can very conceivably be seen in seeds sown by Brian McDermott’s predecessors starting over a decade ago. And this isn’t just promotion giddiness talking, going and comparing Reading to Barcelona.

Whilst there has been no large scale restructuring of the club ala Cruyff, key themes and elements of this successful Reading side can be seen in the last two times we were successful in this division, with refinements and evolution over the years.

The play-off defeat of 2002/03 team of Alan Pardew, the 2005/06 Championship-winning squad of Steve Coppell and this season’s incarnation under McDermott all share distinctive similarities in their respective on-field and off-field demeanours and styles.

The playing style of each team is very similar; reliant for creativity on wingers (from John Salako and Luke Chadwick through Glen Little and Bobby Convey to Jobi McAnuff and Jimmy Kebe), hard-working almost to the point of self-sufficient strikers (Nicky Forster, Kevin Doyle, Noel Hunt, Jason Roberts) and a solid, uncompromising, ever-present base of central defence and centre midfield to launch attacks from. If there is a ‘Reading style’ of football, this is it and it has been it for the last ten years since Pardew was manager.

The teams of Coppell that failed to get promoted in 2003/04, 2004/05 and 2008/09 as well as being relegated n 2007/08 all played in this manner and, despite McDermott being absolutely right in saying that he has created three different teams in his time as Reading manager, each of them broadly played in the same manner. Each time the system was found out, it has been refined but the same basic premise remains.

The other key reason for the successes of Pardew, Coppell and McDermott, and for the interspersed failures indeed, has been the utilisation of team spirit to create a ‘greater than the sum of our parts’ playing staff. Pardew’s style was to create something of a siege mentality, Coppell’s may well have been something of an accident created by some players that really got on well mixed with success (as in evidence by the capitulation of 2007/08 and the subsequent clear loss of team spirit) whilst this season’s team looks genuinely like they get on well and are a supremely united unit as in evidence by their celebrations together but, more importantly, their socialising together all through the season. We did say that about the 2005/06 vintage mind, when finding factors to attribute their initial Premier League success to.

Lessons from the 2005/06 team to the current generation, both in terms of positives built upon and negatives learned from, can also be seen in a similar fashion to how Guardiola has learnt from Rijkaard.

The way McDermott handled the media this season by playing things down and the fallback line of “we’re just concentrating on the next game” is a carbon copy of how Coppell spoke to the press and TV throughout the 106 points season. Meanwhile, the decline of that team and the way the team spirit fell apart is something McDermott will seek to avoid when recruiting players this summer.

The fact that McDermott has been around the club for so long and picked up the best bits of each of his predecessors can be seen as instrumental to this year’s success, in addition to Nicky Hammond’s years of service to maintain stability and preserve an identity on the playing side of the club.

Sir John Madejski in his role as Chairman has a very powerful say in the direction that the club will follow and his role in this evolution should not be underplayed either. His choices of manager and his desire to run the club on a budget have had a large impact on how the three teams analysed were made and developed. But additionally, his desire to not be an overbearing Chairman has allowed the distinctive Reading manner outlined earlier to flower by giving managers the time and space to refine the system that had become stale under their predecessors. *It should be hoped that Anton Zingarevich will continue this and quotes like these give a good indication that he will.

Overall, this post isn’t about comparing Reading to Barcelona as every club enjoying success for an extended period of time (which Reading have relatively over the last ten years) can trace that success back through its ‘family tree’ to see where its roots lay and the evolution that the club has been on in that time by building on past successes and learning from failures in a stable environment.

The success of this season can be traced back through Coppell and Pardew’s team building, their style of play and their own personalities’, combined with the understated role of Hammond as a pillar of the club, all under the influence of Madejski’s stable ownership regime.

To say that this season has been the culmination of a decade-long project is wrong but the DNA this team possess has traces of Coppell, Pardew, Hammond and Madejski in it and whilst the success is hugely attributable to McDermott, his coaching staff and the playing staff, how they all got there and the way in which their success has been achieved has its roots a lot further back than the start of the season.

*Incidentally, the one manager who wasn’t given the time, Brendan Rodgers, was the one manager who seemed to attempt to branch out from the successful model of the last decade in his style of football and Madejski appeared to notice the mistake swiftly and rectify it.

"Wettest drought I've ever seen" lolz

‘Begin self-aware rant’

You may have noticed that it’s been a little bit wet these last few days. You may also have noticed that there is currently a hosepipe ban and we are in the middle of a drought that has been declared in most parts of the England.

Cue many insightful people putting the highly amusing Tweet or Facebook status along the lines of “wettest drought I’ve ever seen” implying all droughts should be accompanied by ‘mad-dogs and Englishmen’ levels of heat. Ho ho. How we all chuckled at such a pithy jest at the situation we currently find ourselves in; there is lots of rain but no water for us to use. Oh the paradox and so on.

But no, just no.

A drought is defined as an extended period of dry weather (unless it’s used in a football context when it’s just another cliché in the lexicon) and that’s exactly what we are in, despite the rather wet April we have experienced so far. A drought doesn’t have to be synonymous with heat.

The reason we are in a drought is due to “two consecutive winters of below average rainfall which has led to exceptionally low river flows and groundwater levels across much of England”, to quote this website. A higher than average amount of rainfall in one month isn’t going to sort out this problem for reasons explained below. But first, a metaphor break.

It’s a bit like pouring out a near full glass of vodka, adding a smidgeon of coke and remarking “well blow me down, this is a bit strong, I thought this was a vodka and coke” when actually what you have is just vodka really with that tiny bit of coke that isn’t going to alleviate the rather large initial problem that you have way too much vodka/not enough groundwater.

It takes a long while to refill the groundwater aquifer (go learning about the water cycle every year at school from Year 1 to Year 12), particularly when some areas of England have their lowest groundwater levels in 50 years as water does not go straight into the ground, particularly in cities where it runs off of concrete, into our drains and back into the rivers. This is even before you go into the issues of stupid privatised water companies/ the regulator Offwat losing up to 3,300,000,000 litres of water a day through leaky pipes.

The increase in rain has eased the problems but with summer coming up (where there is less rain in the other months, madly), the reason for pre-emptive decisions is pretty solid; after all, what’s a hosepipe ban now to prevent something like a flush ration (I’ve not idea if this is a real thing) later on?

So, there’s my sledgehammer taken to the walnut of an off-hand remark seen on social media sites. Move along.

‘Cease self-aware rant’

Thoughts and feelings the night after the night before

Nearly 24 hours on from the night before, promotion has just started to sink in and the memories from last night are still fresh in the mind.

What follows is a series of thoughts and emotions, some personal and some applicable to all Reading fans which are just as much to keep my memories and experiences alive for future reference as well as a typical ‘article’ on this blog.

So here goes…

The three ‘M’s

There are three people who deserved last night more than most and they all have surnames beginning with ‘M’.

Firstly, John Madejski who signed off his reign as owner of the club in fine style. He has his detractors but he has always had the best interests of the club at heart, to make us self-sufficient, to find the right investor and to keep us at a solid base level at the very least. Over the years he has grown to love this club, not as a businessman but as a fan and his joy from some pictures last night showed this.

Secondly, Jobi McAnuff was not everyone’s choice when he was appointed captain at the start of the season but he has showed just how inspirational he is. He isn’t a shouting captain but what he does is lead by example, covering every blade of grass, tracking back, providing jolts of quality here and there and being an eloquent speaker off of the field. The video going round of him and his reaction to being promoted is one of my favourites thus far. After a career spent in the Championship, he has served his time and on an individual level, has earned his promotion.

Thirdly, Brian McDermott who has built a third outstanding team at this level in two and half years at the club on a small-ish budget and having to sell his best players every summer. To bounce back from the play-off final defeat last year, to identify players like Kaspars Gorkss, Adam le Fondre, Jason Roberts and Hayden Mullins, to inspire his team, to make game-changing subs, to keep the pressure off them, he has done it all.

The whole club deserved last night but these three leaders each have their special reasons for last night.

Promotion to the top flight a second time

Nothing will ever beat getting promotion to the Premier League at Leicester back in 2006 as it was the first time we had done it but last night was damn close for a multitude of reasons.

Doing it at home and so the resultant pitch invasion is one, our game kicking off 15 minutes later the one at Ashton Gate thus giving us the knowledge of what we needed to do to make promotion a reality, the last five minutes of the game itself with the clearance off the line and Forest hitting the bar and the extraordinary run that led up to last night. Seriously, if you had said in November we would win promotion with two games to spare, you’d have been sectioned.

Atmosphere

More often than not, and rightly so, Reading fans and the Madejski Stadium gets a bad press for a lack of atmosphere and quiet home fans but last night, you could literally feel the floor shaking.

Admittedly, so it should be on a night when promotion is on the cards but the stadium really was rocking last night, particularly in the second half when the racket was unrelenting. The clap banner things were rightly neglected in the East Stand as you cannot make a solid noise with them (and the fact they’re a bit ghey) but elsewhere in the ground, they made a right din and looked good too when utilised.

It is very rare to come out of the Madejski with no voice but last night was one of those occasions.

Bus banter

Everyone has their own little stories from football that make the whole experience unique and special to them on a personal level. This is mine.

From 2004 to 2008, I had a season ticket sat next to my Dad and two of my uncles. By 2008, I had gone to university so took the decision to not renew my ticket and haven’t had the finances to do so since. Every game we went to then and every game I go to now, we get the bus from one of our local pubs.

However, I went to the game last night and I was sat close to them last night and we got onto the pitch together (and with other family members too, more on which later) before losing one of our number.

After half an hour or so on the pitch, we ambled out of the ground to find our bus back to the pub had departed without us. We marched on cheerfully to the buses back to the town centre, skipped onto one without paying (sssshhhhh) and took seats at the back of the top deck.

So ensued a superb journey to the bus station with non-stop singing of “West Ham United, it could have been you”, “we’re not going to Wembley”, “We’re the left side” and “We are going up” with a bunch of random fans I had never met before. Football has this effect of unifying people who do not know each other to make unforgettable and unique experiences for those people.

Purple Turtle

The unofficial Reading promotion party location for the third successive promotion now with Madejski and McDermott ending up there in the early hours of this morning, played the event well as the numbers built up which got the noise and singing back. One of the more unusual memories of a horde of football fans invading a decidedly alternative place is testament to the way football can cross societal boundaries, albeit as it is the one late night drinking establishment in Reading for celebrating.

Family and friends

As alluded to earlier, going to football has been a family experience for me for the vast majority of my footballing life with my companions to games usually being some combination of cousins or uncles.

Last night, sat within about a fifty metre radius of each other were myself, my cousin, my dad, three uncles, my cousin’s mate, another cousin and his daughters and when coming down the stairs to get on the pitch, I turned around to see another one of my uncles who was promptly bundled.

Sharing a massive group hug in Row BB Y26 followed by individually hugging everyone and jumping up and down and shouting was one of the best moments of the night, as was sharing the half hour or so on the pitch with them. After the whole family going through a great deal of loss and pain in the last 18 months, to have a lot of us together for a joyous moment was a wonderful moment and almost something of a closer.

To top it all off, when leaving the ground in this group, I saw a friend of mine who has moved away from Reading this season so I do not get to see often enough. Immediately upon seeing him, I ran and jumped on him and the shouting and singing started again. Another golden moment.

The team

Anyway, enough personal memories, back to the football.

Last night was another one of those team performances that has epitomised our season where we gritted our teeth and got through it through sheer force of will as a strong unit, this time for the ultimate prize.

Two moments stand out in this regard; the three players on the line to block Forest’s goalbound effort with five minutes to go showing the commitment of every single player in that team (the fact that one of those players on the line was Jimmy Kebe only adds to it).

The second moment of showcasing the team spirit of this incarnation of Reading is Jem Karacan discharging himself from the Royal Berks, still visibly worse for wear, to join in the festivities like being pushed around in his wheelchair by Noel Hunt in his underpants. He got a hug off McDermott and McAnuff, naturally as his captain and skipper, but also from Benik Afobe; a player who has only been at the club a matter of weeks but is clearly a big part of the team judging by how much he wanted to see Karacan. A clear embodiment of the team’s attitude and unity.

The club

Lastly, as has been said elsewhere “I love this club”. There is a Reading way (explained here) and the connection between the fans, the players, the management and the owners of the club are clear to see and this factor enhanced the feelings of last night, topped off by Madejski’s speech at the Turtle in the early hours.

 I’m probably biased but the way we go about things as a club is quite unique and long may it continue to bring nights like yesterday.

We are going up. And that is all that matters.

All but there

The great, but also not so great, thing about football is that it can make your weekend or make going into work the next day that little bit easier. Having an emotional investment in somebody or something does that to you as putting a bit of yourself in is the gamble and whether it pays off or not, in euphoria or disappointment, is the outcome.

With football, putting your faith and emotional investment into a team has a pretty straight forward payoff; more often than not there will be a win or a defeat that affects your mood and subsequent desirability to be around the following day or so. There are three set outcomes unlike emotional investment in a fellow person which has at least 1,145,189 different outcomes.

However, as the season wears on and some wins become more equal than others, the impact on one’s mood becomes more profound. Suffice to say, after last night’s result, work today and tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that has been and will be a lot easier to bear.

The simple reason for that is, for all intents and purposes, we are there; we are promoted to the Premier League. It does not feel right at all saying those words as anyone who has read this blog before (here, here and here are three examples) knows this blogger is naturally ultra-pessimistic and uber-cautious when it comes to anything Reading FC-related.

This probably stems from experiences such as the 2008/09 capitulation to play-off defeat, missing out on the play-offs in 2003/04 and 2004/05 after promising starts and the horrendous ‘9 draws in ten games’ closing stages of the 2001/02 season where guaranteed promotion was almost blown. The one common factor in each of these years being the incredible start followed by the pressure getting to us/other teams working us out leading to a flattering to deceive season where so much was rightly expected, followed by crushing disappointment (almost, in the case of 01/02).

This year, on the other hand, it feels…it feels different as, in keeping with every season under Brian McDermott, we’ve hit our stride as the season as worn on, not tripped over our own shoelaces.  Thus, the level of expectation hasn’t been there all season and we’ve managed to sneak up pretty much under the radar to now top the league at a time of the season that is very much our time.

But it’s not just this change of pattern in how our season has panned out that’s got this blogger feeling unnaturally and unerringly confident.

The main reason for this is the manner in which Reading have gone about their business since the start of 2012. As written about before, tight wins built on a solid defence only look really convincing when looking back at them towards the end of an ultimately successful season.

It was quite conceivable to say that Reading were a lucky team back in February when winning by the odd goal and keeping it tight at the other end. However, two months on from then and it clearly isn’t luck anymore, no matter what managers such as Nigel Adkins and Sam Allardyce say about all the goals we score being lucky. No matter what anyone says, a 46-game season evens out the impact of random chance.

The run we’ve been on since November, but from January particularly, has been built on quality, resilience, confidence, team work, determination, spirit and a plan. A plan based on a refined version of “smash-and-grab” remains a plan as it entails a strong defence (as exemplified by the best defensive record in the league) and the ability to get goals when it matters, as shown by the spread of goals across our squad which is a strength and not a weakness in the manner in which we play.

Furthermore, these last two weeks has shown that this team can take the pressure at this stage of the season. 12 points from four games against West Ham, Leeds, Brighton and Southampton is beyond any fan’s expectations and the latter two superb away wins have come with huge injury problems in the squad.

There remains a tiny seed of doubt but common sense says that the form team in the league for two thirds of the season should not blow it from a position of six points clear with nine left to play for and I have no reason to doubt common sense, despite the inbuilt pessimism garnered over the years.

This team is the most effective at gathering points remorselessly whilst sticking to a plan at this level (and arguably in the country right now) and we will get promotion this season which sounds easy to say with three games left to play and such a lead that we hold but the past’s ghosts don’t shift easily.

How good is Brian McDermott's transfer acumen?

The Reading sixteen involved away at Brighton on Tuesday night consisted of four Steve Coppell signings, two from Brendan Rodgers regime, three products of the youth system and seven Brian McDermott signings.

Due to McDermott’s long association with the club at various levels, he would be well acquainted with all of those players but with less than half being his own signings*, just how good has McDermott been in the transfer market in his time as manager of the club?

With a background in player scouting, McDermott should have a well trained eye when it comes to recognising the requisite skills he requires in a player to fill a problem position or to improve the starting XI but does the hard evidence support this theory?

Below are a list of all of the players McDermott has signed as manager or during his time as caretaker of Reading, grouped into three categories (success, failure, somewhere in between) and a sentence or two explaining why I feel they fall into that category.

Successes

Andy Griffin- signed January 2010 initially on loan but permanent deal made permanent that summer- added much needed experience to a shaky defence and provided a consistent, dependable presence

Zurab Khizanishvili- signed January 2010 initially on loan to end of the season which was made a year-long loan that summer- see above and also built a superb partnership built with Matt Mills last season that our post-January form was built on

Ian Harte- signed Summer 2010- probably initially seen as a one year solution to the left back hole vacated by Ryan Bertrand’s departure but has been just as important this season defensively and in terms of goals and assists

Mikele Leigertwood- signed on loan January 2011 until the end of the season, made permanent in Summer 2011- the turning point of our 2010/11 season and has been just as huge a presence in the centre of midfield this season

Kaspars Gorkss- signed August 2011- brought out the best in Alex Pearce to create arguably the best central defensive pairing in the division and chips in with some handy goals too

Adam le Fondre- signed August 2011- qualified success has he has yet to cement a permanent place in the starting XI but can think of three games this season off of the top of my head he has won us all three points (Watford and Milwall away, Leeds at home)

Jason Roberts- signed January 2012- in a similar fashion to Gorkss, has allowed someone else to shine (Noel Hunt in this case) and has been just as important for his experience and bringing a focal point to our attack, as well as being a focal point for a media coverage come to that

Matthew Connolly- signed January 2012- qualified success again due to his injury problems but brought in as cover for the last four months of the season and has been solid when called upon

Hayden Mullins- signed March 2012- same as above, brought in to add squad depth to see our thin squad through to the end of the year and has been capable at right back and centre midfield

Failures

Gunnar Thorvaldsson- signed January 2010 to end of the season- qualified failure as he was only on a short-term deal to provide cover and was never expected to make it long term at the club

Marcus Williams- signed Summer 2010- genuine mistake by McDermott but one that was quickly realised hence signing of Harte and offloading of Williams after one season

Matthieu Manset- signed January 2011- see above, potential seen but failure to get required fitness levels saw the striker replaced and quickly shown the door

Bongani Khumalo- signed on loan July 2011- see above again, genuine mistake that was alleviated by Gorkss signing and his hasty departure from the club

Somewhere in between/too early to tell

Ethan Gage- signed January 2011- young and on the cheap with time on his side

Erik Opashl- signed January 2011- see above

Cameron Edwards- signed May 2011- see above

Ryan Edwards- signed May 2011- see above

Joseph Mills- signed August 2011- potential is there and has a good tutor in Harte but injury problems hampered progress thus far

Cedric Basseya- signed September 2011- cheap punt that looks like being a failure but for next to no cost

Karl Sheppard- signed January 2012- young and promising striker for the future

Tomasz Cywka- signed January 2012- cheap cover signing that could still prove useful

Benik Afobe- signed March 2012- a short-term loan deal to diversify our attacking options a bit in the run in that hasn’t paid off 100% as of yet

Using crude numbers, that’s nine successes, four failures and nine somewhere in betweens which works out very favourably when the majority of the latter players are young professionals who were probably not expected to have an impact at this stage of their Reading FC careers.

There appear to be three very important points to take from this (admittedly subjective) analysis.

Firstly, McDermott’s ability to identify early on when he has made a mistake when signing a player and making moves to rectify it very quickly, as can be seen in the Williams, Manset and Khumalo signings where they were shipped off after less than a season with us and replaced with players who have paid off (Mills, to a certain extent, Roberts and Gorkss).

Secondly, McDermott’s nose for a potential short term problem developing, solving it and that problem then becoming a long term strength. As can be seen with the signings of Griffin, Harte and, in particular, Leigertwood, McDermott appears to take cheap punts on experienced players who still have something to prove to fill a gap but these players seem to become key components not only in the starting XI but around the club as a whole. It is very conceivable that given time, Gorkss and Roberts will perform a similar role as could Mullins and Connolly if they are given permanent deals. Whether the same will happen to the vast majority of players in the ‘in between’ list who were signed with a view to the future remains a key question regarding McDermott’s otherwise impeccable transfer market record.

Thirdly, the very small amount of money spent on the 22 players listed. With exact transfer fees hard to come by it is difficult to estimate how much the total cost of these signings has been but it is safe to say it is not a great deal, particularly compared to the outgoings seen at Reading the last few years.

McDermott clearly has the skill to pick out, on the cheap or loan, a player that not only has the footballing skills to improve the team but also the personal skills to contribute to the team spirit in evidence at the club during his tenure. Team spirit is the illusion glimpsed in the aftermath of victory, Steve Archibald famously observed and victory has been a common theme of McDermott’s reign. But the “greater than the sum of our parts” approach, to this season’s team particularly, is a key reason why we are where we are and the fact that McDermott appears to be able to identify factors in a prospective signing that would aid this spirit is crucial to his whole managerial ethos.

As mentioned earlier, it remains to be seen whether the young players McDermott has signed will prove to be as successful as their more senior pro counterparts but the fact that this doubt is the only real, conceivable blot on McDermott’s transfer record so far is testament to the skill of the man after only two and a half seasons in charge.

*this is something of a red herring due to the number of injuries we had going into the game