The Wild Lower West: A Winning Return

In this week’s column, Dixey recaps a first game back in the Lower West this season: Reading’s 2-0 win over Wigan Athletic.

I was really hoping that my renewed optimism prior to the Wigan Athletic game would not come back to bite me, but the performance and 2-0 win only served to remind me that, with a few additions, this could be a proper football team.

From the first minute it was clear that there was an intention to play a high-tempo game, with Ben Elliott in particular demonstrating the art of finding space, playing through the lines and generally being a nuisance to the opposition. Elliott is a strange one for me as he has often shown glimpses of brilliance coupled with frustrating periods of non-existence, but his performances so far this season have been exceptional.

The first half against Wigan was one of the best 45s that I have seen for a long time, in which we completely dominated, and with a bit of luck and more composure in front of goal, we could have been 3-0 up and no one from Wigan would have complained.

Charlie Savage finished off a great move with a fox-in-the-box finish for Reading’s first, which should have been doubled shortly afterwards when just about every player other than Joel Pereira had a swing at a loose ball inside the Wigan area. Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan (who gets better every game) continued to cause havoc to the Wigan back line with his willingness to run at defenders and pull opposing players out of position, something that was evident on numerous occasions throughout the game.

So it was only fitting that Ehibhatiomhan scored Reading’s second, after a somewhat fortuitous deflection off the Wigan ‘keeper, but as they say you make your own luck in football.

The brilliant Ehibhatiomhan was later replaced by Femi Azeez who, if rumours are to be believed, could be off to Millwall before this article is published. If we receive a fee that is sizeable enough to ensure some financial stability, then it makes perfect sense, particularly with Azeez out of contract at the end of the season. While I wish Femi all the best (should the move happen), I can’t help but think a move to Millwall is a bit like receiving a Gameboy for Christmas rather than the Xbox you asked for: underwhelming!

[Editor’s note: the move was indeed confirmed on Wednesday evening. Read more here]

At half-time on Saturday I was lucky enough to meet our potential (still not announced yet) new owners, and I have to say they were easy to talk to and insightful in their views on everything RFC, although quite rightly they didn’t give too much away. So I thought I would take the opportunity to provide my view as a supporter of how I believe the new owners should approach their ownership, and where I believe they should be prioritising.

1. Run the club with passion and clear objectives that everyone signs up to, and not like a toy that you will quickly become bored with. Constant points deductions, fines, transfer embargoes and loss of revenue are a result of mismanagement and a neglect of the assets owned
2. Ensure that the right people are placed in the right roles and they do the right thing. Financially stability and the ongoing success of the club are a team effort, which shouldn’t be blighted by the appointment of executives who are unqualified, uninterested, unable to follow rules and unable to communicate with supporters
3. Communication is key. Absent owners are one thing, but absent owners who are unable to communicate is unacceptable. The supporters are the life blood of this club and without us you have nothing but expensive bricks and mortar. Even if the news to be communicated is negative, it is certainly easier to deal with than silence. Use the supporters to provide insight into what does/doesn’t work around the club and allow them an input into its future. Always be truthful with us: we are fed up with constantly being lied to by club officials who take us and our support for granted
4. Protect our academy and its Category 1 status. While we are all aware that Category 1 status comes with a financial burden, it has already proved to be one of the few positives to come out of the last few seasons. Year after year we see academy players making the breakthrough to first-team football, and academy player sales have generated significant income that surely offsets some, if not all, the running costs
5. Look at the matchday experience and understand why matchday revenue is down each season. We have a club shop that is very often empty on matchdays, mainly because 50% of the available space is taken up by overpriced novelty gifts that wouldn’t look out of place in Home Bargains. Our catering offering is also a cause of continued frustration. The selection of drinks available on the concourses is worse than many non-league grounds, and the food choices are right up there with the reduced aisle in Tesco. Having said that, if you are struggling to find a dentist and need a tooth removed, just eat the bottom of a Lower West concourse pie that’s been nuked for a few hours. All these things are revenue generating, and with the right products at the right price, would increase revenue across the board
6. The stadium is in desperate need of a tidy-up and deep clean. This doesn’t have to cost thousands of pounds as I’m sure that there would be more than enough willing volunteers who would spare time to assist. I have chewing gum under my seat (not mine by the way) that’s been there for so long it now requires its own season ticket
7. Remember that we are supporters and custodians of this club first and foremost, and customers second, not the other way around

Away from my plans for continued Reading FC success, it was interesting to meet some new faces to The Lower West on Saturday. One gentleman (who I shall call Andy because he looked like Andy Murray) decided that I would be the person who would listen to his pre-match rant about the state of football.

After 10 minutes of moaning about season-ticket prices, transfer fees, Sky TV deals and train travel to away games, Andy proceeded to tell me that he had suffered a fall while at work and cut his head open on a crate and badly twisted his ankle. When I enquired about his wellbeing and asked whether he was OK now, Andy replied: “I’m not sure yet, it only happened an hour ago.” Now that’s dedication for you.

Dixey’s Dilemma

This week I have been informed that the contract for my TV package with a well-known provider ends next month, and my renewal price would be £18 per month more than the current one, as TNT Sports is no longer included as part of the package and needs to be added as an extra. Therefore, do I:

• Renew anyway because changing is lots of hassle, and just accept that everything is going up and I can’t live without my sports channels
• Shop around and see whether I can get a better deal, even if it means changing everything including broadband (which is very good with this provider)
• Buy a funny little stick and pay £60 per year for a friend of a friend to load it with every channel available

Much love and c’mon URZZZZ

Dixey