Head to Head: Reading vs Swansea

Alongside BCC Football, head to head blogs will be a regular feature of the Football Water Cooler, looking ahead to the key matches coming up. The tactical previews can be left to the pundits; these posts will provide a genuine fan’s eye view from a supporter of each of the teams involved in the big clash. In the run up to Monday’s playoff final, Reading fan Mike and Swansea supporter Andy discuss the suggestion that “It’s a season too early for both clubs and whoever goes up will come straight back down”. This is genuine chat between two intelligent fans, hence not too much antipathy, at least until the passion of Reading’s support is called into question…

Mike: The tiresome argument about promotion coming ‘a season too early’ is one of those lines I sit by and shake my head at. You can never be fully prepared for the Premier League. The step up is such that it is always going to be an unexpected beast and recent years have shown us that the least-prepared teams can just about survive with the big boys.

Just look at this season. Newcastle finish 12^th with arguably a weaker side than that relegated two years ago. West Brom, hardly world-beaters in the Championship last year, finish a quite remarkable 11^th, though admittedly thanks in large part to the late hand of Woy. And Blackpool – the side that scraped into the playoffs last year and who any football fan with half a brain would have dubbed ‘fodder’ – were just one point and three goals adrift of safety. None of those teams were prepared for the top flight, but all have done remarkably well.

This year is no different. Neither side is in this year’s finale is ready. We have a better squad, you have a better 11, but both sides are capable of beating anyone on their day. There’s no doubt that Reading would have a long season towards the lower end of the table next year if we were to go up – we wouldn’t spend much cash but would need to strengthen significantly, as this team is a far cry from that which won the league with a record 106 points last time. I think Swansea would be in a similar position, relatively tight on the money-front but in need of some quality to have a chance of staying up. Two very similar sides, two very similar clubs.

Just a shame one of them is from Wales.

Andy: Swansea (and possibly Reading too) are prepared for the Premier League. And the fact that we haven’t had years and years of planning is the very reason for that. All too regularly clubs get promoted with a tried-and-tested Championship squad, then simply buy ‘run-of-the-mill’ Premier League battleaxes in the hope that they can secure them the coveted 17^th spot. You know who I’m thinking of. James Beattie. Or Gary O’Neil. And maybe even Nigel Quashie, although you’d hope not. Of course it’s prudent to have some sort of top line plans in place, mainly behind-the-scenes and with a financial hat on. But, until promotion (and therefore income) is confirmed, a responsibly-run club cannot move these plans forward. And not having the time to sign those Championship and Premier League warhorses doesn’t matter. It’s a good thing.

Should we make it into the Premiership, Swansea’s biggest asset would be our unfamiliarity – the much-vaunted ‘season too early’ line is bollocks. A ground that few top flight players have graced, a squad of little-known names, and a manager with unfamiliar tactics are our key strengths. Look at the likes of Hull City and Blackpool in recent years; they’ve both got off to flyers as unknown forces.

The bigger challenge is coping with January; adding to our squad to keep it fresh and ensuring that the others don’t start to ‘work you out’. We’d need a plan B to avoid getting turned over 6-0 at Old Trafford or the Emirates, that is different to the plan A that worked so well at the Liberty early on in the season.  Both Swansea and Reading operate on restricted budgets. But the Swans are a team that is significantly better than the sum of its parts. And should the Jack Army reach the promised land, it is our inexperience and, indeed, the perceived lack of preparation that would give us half a chance of staying there.

And when we beat the Royals at Wem-ber-lee on Monday, you’ll see that for yourself.

Mike: Not much I can disagree with there. The bottom line is that it’s a complete punt for both these sides – could easily finish mid-table, a la Reading 2007 when we finished 8^th, or conversely could ‘do a Derby’. Thinking about the latter, the thought of Ian Harte facing up against the likes of Nani and Nasri for the first time since 2004 (his failed stay at Sunderland notwithstanding) is quite sobering. In my view the side going up from the Championship that will struggle most is quite comfortably Norwich. In my living memory I can’t remember a worse footballing side to get promoted automatically. Don’t get me wrong, fair play to Paul Lambert for an unbelievable job with a supremely mediocre set of players, but I can’t see them finishing off bottom. Two words – Grant Holt. A monster, not a professional sportsman.

Back to the game on Monday and I have total belief that we can go out there and do the business. We’ve only lost once in the league since the start of February and go into the game on the back of dominating Cardiff, who really should have Norwich’s place in the top two, on paper at least. Not a bad springboard for a trip to Wembley. That said, come Monday this is a pure cup tie where anything can happen. Luckily for us we love cup ties, as top flight victims Everton, West Brom, Burnley and Liverpool will testify.

If we can beat that rabble, Swansea should be no bother.

Andy: Haven’t seen enough of Grant Holt to make a proper judgement but I do agree Norwich will really struggle next year. That said, I would definitely swap places with them right now given the chance.

Back to Monday, and I agree it’s our Champions League final, and a complete one-off. Both teams are fairly evenly matched and, on their day, could beat any other team in the Championship, including runaway winners QPR. But Swansea for one don’t always play as well as we can, particularly away from home.  That said, the Wembley surface is (belatedly) in superb condition and should suit our passing game. We struggled at the likes of Scunthorpe and Preston, where they played a physical game on a pitch that resembled an allotment.  

And one thing I can promise is that our support, for sure, will be louder than Reading’s. That much is certain. You can sometimes hear a pin drop at the Madjeski Stadium, and the 40,000-strong Swansea fans could well play a big part. The team that wins it will be the one who lets the sense of the occasion get to them the least. And I hope to Hell that will be Swansea.

Mike: Pathetic. ‘Our fans are louder than yours’, is that the best you can do? It’s nice to know that the entire country will be behind Reading on Monday – keeping the Welsh out of the Premier League is arguably the most uniting force in football in recent memory. A close run thing between that and Sepp Blatter. I can see Monday being a seriously tight affair and wouldn’t rule out penalties. Quite fancy a 1-1 draw, no score in extra time and the Royals to win it on pens.

Andy: The whole of the country could well be behind Reading except, er, their own fans. My supporters point occurred to me when I was trying to think of any areas the Swans might have the upper hand.

Wingers perhaps? Our passing game, surely? Then I remembered watching the home leg of Reading v Cardiff and seeing swathes of empty blue seats in the corners of each stand.

A Play-Off semi-final with empty seats? The whole of England may well be behind Reading, but it would appear that your own fans aren’t particularly bothered. 2-1 Swans in normal play after an early goal.

 

Quite a lot of agreement there then, but both sides bullish about the prospects for their club on Monday. Let us know what you think, or challenge Swansea Andy and Reading Mike on Twitter, at @Betfair_ALulham and @mikerobb.

 

Jess – Head of Content – Gooner – @jessicaenoch