Glen Little > Kebe > Jobi

[Brogue]

Do you agree?

Discuss

[WestYorksRoyal]

Anyone who doesn't put Little top should be banned. Not even close.

There's not much between Kebe and McAnuff being honest, but I'll give Kebe the edge as he got you off your seat with his pace and tricks. Won't forget the day he terrorised Leicester.

Convey had one great season but does not make it. McCleary is probably the other worthy of being in the conversation; I felt like he was comfortably our best player for a few years after relegation, but it's probably held against him that it was the start of the mediocre years.

[Fox Talbot]

Jobi? Thought he quite unexciting as a winger, liable to cross into the crowd. Gimme Gilkes any day.

[Snowflake Royal]

criticises Jobi for crossing into the crowd, replaces him with Gilkes who was known for running the ball off the end of the pitch or crossed into the crowd

Not a lot to choose from between all three of them for me. Different strengths and skills, but all three great wingers for us. Gilkes was pretty good too.

We've had some absolutely cracking wingers. There's Olise too. Salako had his days. SHunt. Convey. McCleary.

[JedMaxwell]

One of the great performances on the right wing was of course Shaun Cummings at Cardiff in the play-offs.

[ayjaydee]

criticises Jobi for crossing into the crowd, replaces him with Gilkes who was known for running the ball off the end of the pitch or crossed into the crowd

Not a lot to choose from between all three of them for me. Different strengths and skills, but all three great wingers for us. Gilkes was pretty good too.

We've had some absolutely cracking wingers. There's Olise too. Salako had his days. SHunt. Convey. McCleary.

Going back in time I would add Tommy Jenkins to this list.

[wolsey]

Paul Canoville was head and shoulders above any winger I've seen in a Reading shirt (since 1970)

[SpaghettiHoop]

Tommy Jenkins wasn't that bad either.

[Jagermesiter1871]

Where does Andy Hughes feature in this? Surely above Jobi?

[Jackson Corner]

David crown was a steady winger. But little was unplayable on his day.

[Snowflake Royal]

Where does Andy Hughes feature in this? Surely above Jobi?

[Zammo]

Paul Canoville was head and shoulders above any winger I've seen in a Reading shirt (since 1970)

^ this

Kebe & Ejaria - very talented, but ultimately frustrating characters.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

Little > Kébé > Convey > McCleary

Jobi was a great team player and captain, but those four are amongst my all time favourite Reading players.

All four of them, when they got the ball at their feet, you just knew it was more than likely you'd see something amazing happen.

[Hiram K Hackenbacker]

Little > Kébé > Convey > McCleary
All four of them, when they got the ball at their feet, you just knew it was more than likely you'd see something amazing happen.

I agree

[SCIAG]

Little was supremely talented, the great genius of our best-ever side.

However, quite a lot of what that side did was set up around covering for his weaknesses. He got substituted off after an hour almost every week - a bit less unusual in those days when the bench was only five players and managers didn't have as much flexibility, but still. Doyle and Sidwell also did a lot of work covering for him on the right. Having Convey on the other side meant that teams couldn't double up on him without leaving themselves vulnerable. He lacked pace and had to rely on pure close control. He also generally lacked any sort of goal threat. In 123 games for us, he scored 6 goals - five of them in the 2005-06 season.

Kebe didn't usually have such beautiful crosses, and was less of a threat from 20 yards, but he was a much more complete player - more industrious, more strings in his bow when taking on a defender, much more goal threat. He scored as many goals in a relegation campaign as Little scored in a promotion one, and while some of that is the changing role of wingers... actually, in Kebe's time at the club we still mostly played 4-4-2, and Kebe was much better defensively than Little.

Think comparing Kebe to Ejaria is disgraceful tbh, and I say that as an Ejaria defender. Kebe never entirely shook off the reputation he had under Coppell as a bit of a "Bambi on ice" player, but under McDermott he was consistently one of our best players, a proper rounded winger who could do it all, gave us 10 goals and 10 assists for two successive seasons. Kebe is closer to Swift than Ejaria.

Building the team around Little worked extremely well, but in most teams, Kebe would be the better choice.

McAnuff mostly played on the left for us. I guess in a sense he was a blend of the two - not as fast as Kebe, but faster than Little; couldn't "cross onto a sixpence" the way Little could, but generally a better crosser than Kebe. Did a job in central midfield sometimes. Fairly consistently overshadowed by Kebe, to a greater extent than Convey was by Little, but still a top-drawer Championship winger. I softly prefer him to McCleary