Lack of quality could be the undoing of Reading

In the business world (I know, not the most interesting way to start a piece but please give it a shot) the Peter Principle is whereby a good employee is promoted and promoted and promoted based on his performance before he inevitably fails as he is promoted one too many times to a level above his natural talents.

Currently, in football, this principle appears to be on show en masse at Reading whereby a number of players have been promoted up a level, but their natural talents cannot cope with this new level.

From a Reading fan’s point of view, thus far this season has shown that hard work and commitment can only take you so far and the key lacking factor, certainly at the moment, is the quality that allows you to see teams off.

Countless times this season, Reading have been more than in games and have either failed to close the second half down to secure a win or score that vital goal when they’re on top to at least be in the position to win or defend a draw.

Too many times this season, Reading have let good situations pass them by, a point boss Brian McDermott has conceded by saying they need to be more “ruthless”.

The key point appears to be a lack of quality; the hard work and commitment cannot be questioned but the ‘ruthless’ edge is not a state of mind the current squad lacks, rather an inability to capitalise on chances.

As a point of comparison, the Reading team that won promotion in 2005/06 (smashing records everywhere they went) had been together, the core of the side anyway, for three or four years, had always been challenging for promotion and had a number of players who had enough quality about them to have been touted for Premier League success for a number of years leading up to promotion.

Crucially, none of the players in that squad had Premier League experience before but all of them, the Shoreys, the Sidwells, the Doyles, the Kitsons, were still on the upward curve of their careers and so could only improve.

This time around, many of the players who have been there or thereabouts for a number of years in terms of plying their trade in the upper levels of the Championship- Jobi McAnuff, Mikele Leigertwood, Kaspars Gorkss- are not in that stage of their careers.

It is still relatively early in the season yet, but it already feels like a key point in the season for Reading.

Manchester United today is pretty much a write-off but with Sunderland and Southampton away coming up in the next seven days, Reading could be cut off at the foot of the table before Christmas and then the January transfer window will be the last hope.