Reading FC told 'be bold and get your mojo back'

By Russell Kempson

Reading FC have a “free hit” at Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night, which is probably just as well given their current sorry state.

Win or draw the FA Cup fourth-round tie at Hillsborough and Royals will still be in the competition, with the chance of drawing a plum tie in round five.

Lose in South Yorkshire and it won’t have cost them any points, leaving them to focus solely on survival in the Championship.

And so, theoretically, Royals should take on the Owls with a freedom and belief rarely seen during their winless, structureless and joyless run of eight matches in the second tier.

It really doesn’t matter what the outcome is against Wednesday.

Thus, Reading manager Jaap Stam and his players should share the same mindset – let’s give it a go and to hell with the consequences.

Look what that did for Bristol City in their superb Carabao Cup campaign, which ended on Tuesday evening against Manchester City – the Premier League champions elect.

Bristol gave everything over the two legs of the semi-final against their elite opponents, losing 3-2 at Ashton Gate to succumb 5-3 on aggregate.

That can only give them confidence, surely, as they attempt to get their promotion push back on track.

Reading's George Evans in the defeat by Brentford

Amid their cup heroics, they haven’t won in the Championship in four outings since beating, er, Reading 2-0 on Boxing Day.

Royals need a sharp shot of whatever vibrant Bristol head coach Lee Johnson has injected into his side this season – and quickly.

I do, though, fear that Stam is growing increasingly careworn as the rot has become a crisis.

After the 1-0 defeat to Brentford at Madejski Stadium last Saturday, the Dutchman seemed as downbeat as I’ve ever seen him.

He usually treats success and failure, those twin imposters, with the same measured responses - neither too up nor too down.

Yet Stam’s post-match comments – on the game, the dismal run, possible transfers and the views of the club’s Chinese owners – were mostly vague and uninformative.

Body language often says a lot – like that, at the moment, of his mentally shot-to-pieces players – and Stam didn’t really want to address any subject with any substantial insight or substance.

It was not a pretty sight.

So facing Wednesday on Friday offers whatever Royals want it to. There’s no great pressure to weigh them down, no valuable points at stake, no huge expectations.

Forget about the recent past, do something different, be bold. Who cares about the result? Just go out there and get your mojo back…