Reading Showing Us How!

Brain McDermott? Who the hell is he? Has he ever played for Chelsea? Has he played for Italy? Has he ever back heeled the ball into the net with a stunning flick? What right has he got to be a successful manager? Just because he has had 10 years of management experience - at places like Oxford, Slough, Woking, Cardiff and Exeter - before getting the Reading manager's job, what does that prove?

Tell me, why are Reading players playing with passion and fire in their bellies, whilst ours don't look as if they give a toss? Villa may yet come back in the second half and save the day, but that's not the point. McDermott has got 11 ordinary players playing out of their skins; whereas Zola has a team that, man for man, is far superior to not only Reading's side, but all the teams in the bottom half of the Prem, and yet we cannot string three passes together or win a single ball in the air.

Say what you like about Zola being a nice guy, he clearly hasn't got what it takes to make it as a Premiership manager. Like McDermott, he needs to learn his trade first. He needs to understand how to organise and motivate a team. He needs to understand that you determine tactics based on the limitations of the players at your disposal not on idealistic principles. He needs to understand that games are won when in play, not on the training field. He needs to understand that tactics and formations should be based also on the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition. He needs to understand that often, keeping it simple is preferable to over complicating matters. But Zola will not change - he keeps saying he will not compromise his values. So what choice do Sullivan and Gold have?

(And yes, I recognise the irony of Villa, with Collins at the heart of their defence, conceeding from a corner!)