Football News: Hammond Is Holding Back Reading

Image from: persoo.co.uk

Reading FC are currently undergoing a transition with the, hoped for by the fans, influx of Thai money from their new owners giving the club a lift at a time when it was badly needed. Since getting into the Premiership they have been in a major slump.

Relegation from the Prem was followed by struggles in the Championship and so far head coach Steve Clarke has been able to do little other than steady the ship slightly. I fear that the main issue at Reading is not a lack of investment or the coaching, I think the problem is particularly one man, Nicky Hammond.

The players he has brought in to the club have not been of the best quality, it has been purely driven by spending as little as possible. Has he got the right eye for talent required, now that the club is shopping with a little bit more money.

So far, Hammond has been shopping at Primark, and just hoping to get something that manages to be wearable twice, now he has a bigger budget, will he just buy more items from Primark or will he look for better quality garments that do not fall apart when worn once? So far signs are mixed, with a chance being taken on Orlando Sa, who was once seen as having potential, but has fallen by the wayside in recent years.

Other than that, it has been a case of free transfers, but how much of that is down to FFP regulations and how much due to the new owners keeping the purse strings tight? Either way, it does not bode well for the club, who have not got the best of records in recent years with their transfers.

It is difficult to think of any transfer moves that could be seen as particularly successful, the club have a very poor record in the market since Hammond has been involved. Maybe it is now time to rethink his role? The right transfers can make or break a Championship side, especially in this FFP era, where it is difficult to spend your way to success.

Even the best manager needs to have a set of players to work with that are of a decent standard. While he can get more out of them than another manager, if they are League Two standard players, he is not going to be able to make them Premier League players, no matter how good he is.

Written by Tris Burke July 06 2015 09:38:04