Royal flush drives Trapp to despair
Relegation would cause consternation in Berkshire but, from his office in Abbotstown, Giovanni Trappatoni will also be fretting over whether the Royals can pull off an increasingly unlikely escape act.
The new Republic of Ireland manager will surely see Stephen Hunt, Kevin Doyle and Shane Long as key members of his squad for the 2010 World Cup qualifying matches later this year, but all three could be playing in the second tier next season.
To rub salt into the wound for Trappatoni, it was another Irishman, Robbie Keane, who pushed Reading to the brink of the drop by scoring the only goal at Madejski stadium on Saturday.
Tottenham’s victory — only their third away from home this season — means that Reading are no longer in control of their own destiny, and victory at Pride Park on Sunday might not be enough to save them.
The Royals’ manager, Steve Coppell, conceded that his club’s failure to gamble in the transfer market during their two seasons in the top flight could return to haunt them.
Their record signing, Emerse Fae, cost only £2.5million (€3.2m), and their total expenditure since reaching the Premier League is around the £15m (€19.2m) mark.
“We stood still last summer, while everybody else moved,” Coppell said. “If you look at the champions Manchester United, they spent £50m last summer. ”
Other teams were spending £20m, £30m, and we certainly didn’t have that much.
So vibrant and energetic last season, Reading looked like a team who believe they will spend next season in the Championship.
Coppell’s team have failed to score in any of their last six matches, and they would have lost by more had Spurs been more ruthless.
Keane saw a 25-yard free-kick pushed away by Marcus Hahnemann, while Steed Malbranque shot wide of an open goal and Darren Bent fired against the inside of the post 20 minutes from full time.
Tottenham goalkeeper Radek Cerny made good saves from Liam Rosenior and Dave Kitson, but his opposite number Hahnemann had a much busier afternoon.
Rosenior said: “It is amazing how similar this season has been to last season, when I was with Fulham.
“Everyone said last season, when I was at Fulham, that we were safe, and that we were too good to go down, but then you find yourselves on a spiral which you find hard to reverse.”
Hahnemann 8, Rosenior 6 (Oster 88, 6), Ingimarsson 6, Duberry 5, Shorey 7, Doyle 6 (Long 80, 6), Harper 6, Bikey 6 (Matejovsky 65, 7), Hunt 6, Lita 6, Kitson 6.
Federici, Cisse.
Cerny 7, Hutton 6, Dawson 6, Woodgate 6, Gilberto 6, Jenas 7, Zokora 6, Huddlestone 6 (O’Hara 61, 6), Malbranque 7, Keane 8 (Boateng 77, 6), Bent 7.
Robinson, Chimbonda, Taarabt.
Howard Webb (South Yorkshire) 7: Played a superb advantage when Keane was tripped in the build-up to his goal, which paid off when the Irishman netted seconds later.
*** Tottenham outclassed Reading and should have won by more goals, while the home side offered little.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
