On Tuesday, Reading scored the quickest goal in their 149-year history – nine seconds – in a 4-2 win over Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. But forget 1871. In this corner of Berkshire, it’s like 1985 all over again.
“There are a lot of similarities,” says Roger Titford, of the club’s Supporters’ Trust. “We won our first 13 games that season but, as a response to the Bradford fire, the stadium capacity at Elm Park was curtailed – a lot of people couldn’t get into the ground to watch games that season either.”
On New Year’s Day 1986, Reading were 19 points clear of their nearest rivals in Division Three. Unsurprisingly, they would go up as champions. If they continue at their current rate, there’s every chance a similar scenario could play out in front of the empty stands of the Madejski Stadium.
Reading meet Coventry at St Andrew’s on Friday and could be nine points clear of second-placed Bournemouth if they win for an eighth time in a start few saw coming. At the same point last season, the Royals had won just two matches and were 20th in the Championship. They eventually finished 14th.
Despite lifting them from the relegation zone after the brief and inglorious reign of Jose Gomes ended in October last year, Mark Bowen was relieved of his duties and replaced by Veljko Paunovic. It was an appointment that had most fans scratching their heads and scouring the internet for information on the new occupant of a regularly revolving hotseat.
Given Paunovic was in quarantine, it scarcely hinted at the lightning-fast start that would follow. “We lost our manager, appointed someone that none of us had ever heard of and who was actually in quarantine pretty much until the start of the season,” says Titford. “It didn’t have a lot going for it, on paper. It turns out he has done very well. The only shame is that we can’t be in the ground to watch it at first hand.”
Ask most Reading fans for the difference between this season and last and they will point to the form and fitness of Lucas Joao, who arrived from Sheffield Wednesday in August 2019. He started this season with a hat-trick against Colchester in the EFL Cup and the 27-year-old former Nacional striker has not looked back. His tally of eight goals is already one more than he managed in an injury-hit 2019-20 campaign.
The emergence of academy products Omar Richards, Michael Olise and Andy Rinomhota has played a vital role in Reading ambushing their Championship rivals from the off. It also shows the willingness of Paunovic to give youth a chance, which is exactly the way Royals’ regulars like it.
“It’s similar to when we’ve been promoted before – you have this little clutch of young players who are clearly going to go on to great things,” says Titford.
Paunovic, a former Atletico Madrid midfielder, described Tuesday night’s performance as “the most complete” of his brief tenure. Thirty-five years after Ian Branfoot worked miracles at Elm Park, the locals are starting to believe again.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2G9uwqi
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