View From The Dolan: Good To Be Back

Ben's take on Reading's return to the SCL, with Spurs running out 2-0 winners in this preseason friendly.

It makes me laugh because someone said to me in the lead-up to the game: “Ben, are you excited?”

Excited? Imagine this: you’ve lived somewhere for 25 years. You know, consistently lived there. Even when that house was closed you snuck into it to sit in there. Now imagine, for just one month, you forgot to pay the mortgage and you were instantly kicked out. No chance to rectify it. Nothing.

Well that’s how I bloody feel with this game. I missed the boat in buying my normal seats and, by the time I’d realised it, I was sent off to the Upper West. The Upper West. Three words to make any Reading fan shudder in terror. My head was on Mars, it honestly was.

It’s incredible how muscle memory kicks in for a matchday in terms of the timings, routines, constantly reminding my son that we had to leave in “x” minutes, answering at least 10 times the question “will Son play?”, sitting in the car on the driveway at 1.30 and waiting for him to come out… you know, routines that I’ve deeply missed since late April.

With him finally ready to go, it was off to the races/SCL. Of course, I’d forgotten that Reading Borough Council’s annual “let’s dig up another part of the A33” was in full swing and so the traffic was as disgusting as a trifle at a garden party in a heatwave. Yes, I know they basically can’t stop fiddling with the road, but every bloody summer it’s the same. As a result, the journey time was doubled and my patience was thinned.

Car parked and Spurs fans dodged (you can honestly smell a cockney from 100 metres away), it was into the mega shop to check out this new away shirt. It was a massive master stroke releasing that for purchase before a “sell out” crowd, by the way.

My first thought was “yuk”, but seeing it in the fabric was a different experience altogether. There’s a nice tint to it that the photos online don’t show fully. TLDR: it’s worth a second look.

As mentioned, I had to sit in the Upper West, so it was off to Gate 3 (I didn’t even know there was a Gate 3) and up at least, without exaggeration, 16 flights of stairs.

We found a little window on the concourse to look out at the throngs of humans making their way to the stadium across the car parks. It made me think of what the view would probably look like out of those portholes in submarines or a window on the Titanic, except without the water, pressured ears or death.

A note on the beer: good. Cold, same price (I think) but much more drinkable than the previous continental lagers we had. It was nice to get my lips round a hot dog again and it was off to the seats.

Look, it was a good view up there, but my first thought was to spy who was in my seats. As I glanced leftwards, I could see them clearly, just resting there on my shiny plastic furniture like sea otters in the kelp forests of the North Pacific Ocean. It was a bitter piece of cheddar to swallow, it really was.

The game was nowhere near a sell-out, let’s be clear. There were plenty of people drinking beer in the stands (lol) but it wasn’t full at all. Whether it was the new “improvements” or I was just nearing the wifi box, I was able to use my phone during the game for the first time in a very long time.

Or, rather, my son was able to use my phone to look up cars on Select Car Leasing’s website as I’d stupidly told him my lease was up for renewal NEXT YEAR. The phrase “I’m not driving a Tesla, Mercedes, BMW or Citroen” was used at least five times in the space of the first 18 minutes of his search. Thank someone important then that the game actually kicked off and he stopped looking at cars, meaning I didn’t have to think about driving a Tesla.

Fin Burns looked good until he went off injured. Structurally we looked OK, but the problems persist with the team overall (eg up top). We’ve known this since January and, with Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan yet to sign an actual deal despite playing in recent games, we are struggling a bit.

I’d say we need a full rethink of the front three and, if we are persisting with three up there, it needs to be coherent. To be blunt, this was probably a priority all summer. I like Andre Garcia up there, but can’t say the other two did anything of merit really.

This did change slightly on 65 when wholesale changes were made, but the game was done by then, results-wise anyway, Spurs having already scored twice in the second half.

Emmanuel Osho was a lot more mobile on the right wing, while Jeremiah Okine-Peters and even Mamadi Camara offered a bit more. Ben Elliott looked bright too and,.with a young side to end the game, we looked OK.

I can’t really remember us having too many chances and, even in a friendly, that’s a concern. Yes, Spurs are Spurs, but these games are designed to iron out some kinks and we’ll need attacking threats through the door pretty quickly.

All in all, it was good to be back, but there is still lots of work to be done on and off the pitch. Whether we’re on track with the club’s proper timelines for this work, only they know, but there’s no doubt the squad needs to look different come August 3 at Lincoln City. A big few weeks are ahead and, at this stage, I’m choosing to believe it will come good.

Until next time.