As the curtain falls on Stephen Hunt's Reading FC career it brings to a close one of the most protracted transfer stories in the club's recent history. One thing is for sure nobody has divided opinion and provoked the ire of fans quite like the tousle-haired Irish winger. Certainly he has made an impact far beyond anything we could have expected when he signed on a permanent basis from Brentford FC in 2005. It's easy to forget that he was really just cover for the in-form Bobby Convey, an understudy to one of the stars of Coppell's legendary team of '05/'06. On the field Hunt was a tenacious 'go forward' type of player, some might say 'terrier-like'. He certainly had pace but lacked the technical craft of Convey. The American loved to cut inside, and scored some memorable goals marauding forward with intent. It's fair to say Hunt was more of a conventional winger: get to the by-line quickly, get the cross in. It's no wonder he was so favoured by the archetypal touchline-hugging winger himself, Sir Steven Coppell.
Sadly for Convey injury disrupted his career and he was never to regain that sparkling form. Hunt was able to grab his chance with both hands and to his credit he became one of the stars of the hugely successful '06/'07 Premiership season. What surprised me more than anything was how far he had come in such a short time and how the rough edges had been smoothed away to leave a pretty decent footballer. I say that as one of the nay-sayers who accepted he was decent cover for Convey but seriously doubted his ability to compete at the highest level. However he, perhaps more than anyone, typified the attitude that propelled the team to 8th place that season. It was a stiff two-fingers to the doubters: "You think we ain't good enough? We'll show you!" Hunt seemed to have added an extra dimension to his game, a bit of patience and thought allied to a vastly-improved touch which enabled him to pull-off the flicks and back-heels to the delight of an appreciative home crowd. Sure, he was still a little fiery and impetuous - the infamous challenge on Petr Cech was not malicious, but probably careless - , but to some extent that's what we wanted to see, someone willing to get in the faces of the Big Boys and not be intimidated. We lapped it up. Look Ma we're in the Premier League! And guess what we're playing proper football!! Surely it couldn't last could it? Well no, it couldn't.
Ask many Reading fans to give a reason for relegation from the Premier League and you'll probably get a constant theme running through their answers: failure to sufficiently strengthen, and principally not being able to replace Steve Sidwell. 'Second season syndrome' doesn't simply happen - it's not a magical, mysterious phenomenon, there's always a reason why things don't work out. Coppell showed loyalty and relied heavily on those who had served him so well, but most simply didn't perform at the same levels of consistency. Stephen Hunt was in that category, but he certainly wasn't alone. How he was voted 'Player of the Season' at the end of that campaign was one of the great mysteries to me. Marcus saved more shots than any other keeper that season and probably kept our hopes alive until the bitter end, he should have run away with it. Though clearly not Hunt's fault, maybe that was the beginning of the end for him as a fan's favourite, polarising opinion as it did. He was either the passionate, throbbing heart of the team, or a swaggering chancer of average ability who had been found out. The truth is he was probably neither, but what did we know? We're just the paying punters.
The Hunt fan club itself was about to diminish significantly though. Emotions are raw after relegation, and for the supporters the last thing you want to hear are players going public about their desire to move on so soon after the pain of going down. It was ill-judged of Hunt to express so demonstratively his desire to leave. What was most galling though was his belief (perhaps not expressed in so many words) that he was too good for the Championship. Kevin Doyle was probably the only person who at that moment could have dared utter such a claim without ridicule. Before a ball had been kicked in August '08 he was talking up a transfer, with Everton seemingly the favourites. Not a way to endear yourself to the faithful, or indeed your team mates so soon after a season that can only be seen as a failure. Hunt's 'want away' announcements were interpreted as arrogance by large sections of fans. I doubt any player wanted to play in a lower tier that season, but perhaps a sense of duty and responsibility (as demonstrated by Coppell's commitment to the cause) was not so readily lost on other players. I'm not naive enough to think that had offers come in for other players they would have resisted the temptation, however sometimes it's better just to keep quiet and get on with it as others clearly did.
Despite lots of talk twelve months ago the cast-iron offers never materialised and Hunt was left to bemoan the opportunity he had been 'denied'. Ironically for a couple of months we saw glimpses of the old Hunty, perhaps helped by having his younger brother joining the squad. Sadly, as with the whole team, his form dipped dramatically once again. Coppell arguably stuck with his man for too long and reiterated his desire to keep him during the January transfer window. The endorsement went as far as ensuring Hunt a three-year contract in February 2009 - smart business when we can now bag a few million quid for him. Inexplicably Hunt then posted some of the worst performances of his Reading career: only Jimmy Kebe could have exhibited more lack of control of a football, and at least he occasionally beat his man for pace!
So after a season that promised so much but ended in disappointment the rumour mill ground back into action, however it would be Kevin Doyle's move to Wolves that grabbed all the headlines this summer. Doyle had the good grace to say very little last season but do his best to get Reading back in to the Premier League. Ultimately it was not to be, but most would be full of praise for his commitment the club that gave him his big break and wish him well. Unfortunately the same good grace is unlikely to be extended to Stephen Hunt. History will probably judge him kindly as an important member of the 106 Point Legends. It's unlikely he would have fit into Brendan Rodgers' plans anyway but right now as he prepares to move to East Yorkshire it's doubtful I'm alone in thinking that he won't be missed.
