Job swap does it again

What a difficult opening week it has been. Firstly Reading’s defensive master class at Old Trafford, which led to a hard fought draw in Manchester. Then a narrow home defeat at the hands of Chelsea, who are one of the favourites, for not just the Premier League, but the Champions League too. Finally, the third fixture of the week brought Everton to the Madejski Stadium. Everton finished in the top six at the end of last season and have started well with two wins out of two. Reading would have their work cut out if they were not going to come unstuck against the Toffeemen.

Thank goodness the rain wasn’t heavy this morning like it had been prior to the Chelsea game. The big fear on Wednesday night was not just that I might fall over the names of the teams, but that I might fall over on the sodden pitch. I hadn’t got the right studs in; by definition slip-on shoes don’t have studs! I would have loved an umbrella too, but that would have looked plainly ridiculous. I was fortunate enough to have Michael Duberry’s training top on, but that really didn’t stop me feeling like I had walked through a car wash, as I came off the pitch just before kick off!

Here I am eulogising about the lack of rain, but tempting fate with weather is always a dicey affair. Especially when you base the entire day’s weather forecast on how it looks outside at 8am. It proved true today. My midday arrival at the Madejski Stadium was shrouded in dark rain clouds, the like of which has blighted the last few months. Needless to say I looked at the clouds with real suspicion and then glanced at the training top and let out a sigh of resignation. I knew it would be coming into play again.

Reading’s record against Everton last season was a draw at Goodison and a home defeat. Andy Johnson; Everton’s England striker loves playing against Reading. He has scored in 8 out of 7 games against the Royals. Johnson, who seems to thrive on the abuse he receives from opposition supporters, was kept relatively quiet. It was another player who gets the brunt of the opposition crowd’s abuse that got the goal. Stephen Hunt's 44th minute strike was the only goal of the game, but I couldn't tell you anything about it because I didn’t see it.

The Madejski Stadium has had four goals this season and I haven’t seen any of them. The Producer has given out the details of all the goals, but I couldn’t comment on his goal announcements because I've not heard any of them either. Anyway, the conditions under foot were not as wet, so things seemed to be going a lot better. However, there were still no winners on 'Play Your Shirts Right'. Third time lucky must be the mantra for the next game when West Ham visit Madejski Stadium and the Voice alias Paul Allen returns.

However, job swap has not been as unsuccessful as I may lead you to believe. On five occasions, the voice, the producer, and myself have traded places. The actual statistics read four wins and a defeat. Sheffield United in 2005-6, Tottenham Hotspur and Wigan Athletic last season were the three previous victories. Only Chelsea, a side who have finished in the top two in the Premier League in the last four seasons, came away with the points on a job swap day. Perhaps the idea might be looked upon as a useful way of gaining more success for Reading. But on the other hand, who I am kidding?!?

By Stuart Croucher