janesdaddy In the away kit launch video (on August 4th: https://youtu.be/8orLFM3krXA?t=5m55s) , Garath McCleary and Michael Hector both highlighted Nick Blackman as the strongest and most skillful Reading player, which struck me as odd at the time since I've never rated Blackman (or Akpan, who has left now). They obviously know him a lot better than any of us, I'm sure, and it is good to see that his hard work in training is paying off. I hope his scoring streak continues like it has started.
Royston used to be quite complimentary of Blackman too. I do think Blackman gets a little unfairly categorised with Akpan as they were bought at the same time, and neither were what we needed at that time. Blackman in the past has shown glimpses, whereas Akpan, for me, did not.
I believe that Blackman looks better as a striker than a winger. On the wing he seems to get stuck down a dead alley too often, but in the middle he seems to get past players and cause all sorts of problems. Still needs to improve his decision making, but certainly impressed with his improvement.
