by royalp-we »
01 Dec 2020 00:44
It’s occurred to me that it’s been quite a few years since we’ve found ourselves nearing the Xmas period without any controversy or questionable appointments in the coaching set up. From Bowen being announced under a grey cloud, to that crazy Mendonca chap, Steve Clarke being a snake or the questionable decisions under the ill-fated Dutch revolution. Some may say it’s far too early to call but to me, the owners have invested in sourcing a unique first team backroom which is finally getting toward the best ability out of a good group of players.
We have a relatively young and exciting coaching set up here at Reading and it will be great to see if the squad can continue resonating with them. There’s no dinosaurs of the game and when things are going well; the players appear to express their skill set with smiles on their faces again. When Meite ran to the bench after putting us ahead at the weekend the entire bench ran to him and celebrated, it was really great to see and got me thinking... on paper, do we have the most promising set up outside the top flight?
First Team Management
First Team Manager - Veljko Paunović
First Team Assistant Manager - Marko Mitrović
Analyst and Assistant Coach - Nuno Gomes
First Team Coach - John O'Shea
First Team Coach - Quinton Fortune
Goalkeeping Coach - James Bittner
Head Physiotherapist - Matt Hirons
First Team Physiotherapist - Ramon Holland
First Team Sports Therapist - Danny Flitter
Football Operations Manager - Michael Gilkes
Kit Manager - Stewart Bannister
Head Scout - Steve Shorey
Academy Management
Academy Manager - Michael Gilkes
U23s Manager - Mehmet Ali
U23s Assistant Coach - Peter Scott
U18s Manager - David Dodds
Academy Development Phase Manager - Mikele Leigertwood
Academy Lead Scout - Nicky Shorey
To me, it’s a really unique blend of characters. Some of the staff have come through playing careers with Partizan and cutting their teeth in the tough Serbian football system. Others have Champions League winners medals and have starred for their countries at World Cup Finals. Looking through other teams current non-playing staff ours is really quite compelling when you consider the playing experience in there. There’s none in the champ that I would swap for ours that’s for sure.
I felt this was worthy of a new thread - so feel free to update the list over time. Some will no doubt disagree and still harbour dreams of Hughton or Hoddle joining RFC lol! I personally hope it won’t be changing any time soon. URZZ!