Burns victim ready to give Walsall the third degree; From Reading's

Sunday Herald, The, May 27, 2001 by Natasha Woods

He has a good feeling about today, as if history is about to repeat itself. Four years ago, on the same day he celebrated his birthday, he lifted the Scottish Cup with Kilmarnock. Today, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Jim McIntyre hopes to help Reading clinch promotion to the First Division.

There have been plenty of celebrations in the McIntyre household in recent days. His 29th birthday for a start, the birth of Kelly, his second child, and Reading's progression to the play-off finals.

Yet he still doesn't know what the future holds for him, win or lose against Walsall this afternoon.

He is out of contract in under three weeks. And Alan Pardew, the manager who once transfer-listed him, will not discuss his future until Reading know what division they will be playing in next season.

McIntyre doesn't sound concerned. For the first season in years he is enjoying his football. The fans who once booed him mercilessly recently voted him the most improved player in the team.

Life is good. And it could get a whole lot better if Reading can record a victory this afternoon. McIntyre started in both legs of the semi-final against Wigan, and he is hopeful of another starting role today.

This season, free from injury and the pressures of the striking role, he has found his feet at the Madejski Stadium. It has been a long time coming.

"It has been great, because I have been able to put a consistent run of form together. It is so different from the first year-and-a- half, because they were blighted by injuries," he explained.

They were blighted by something else too. Expectations - unrealised and unrealistic. When he arrived in March 1998, it was amid an influx of Scots recruited in a flurry of transfer activity by Tommy Burns.

McIntyre, who cost #440,000 from Kilmarnock, was touted as the striker to fire Reading back up the table.

"They expected me to be a 25 goals a season striker, and that has never been my game. Then my hamstring went, then my knee ligament, then my thigh. It was horrendous," he recalled.

As the reign of Burns turned sour, his signings suffered the backlash: "I got major stick. It got to the stage they booed every touch I made.

"It was hard to take, but how you handle it can make you a stronger person. It does mean you appreciate the good times a bit more when they come around."

The good times have been worth waiting for this season. Pardew may have transfer-listed the Scot soon after taking over from the sacked Burns, but McIntyre's name was taken off the transfer list as he began to make his influence tell in a different position.

"I was determined to give it one more shot in the last year of my contract. I wanted to force my way back into the manager's plans, and I have done that."

For the majority of the 33 league games he has played this season, he has been deployed on the left of midfield, providing support to the impressive strike force of Jamie Cureton and Martin Butler.

It is not a totally unfamiliar position, since he played as a winger when he was at Airdrie, but he reckons he has added a lot to his game since then.

"I have learned about the position, because I've much more responsibility to help out the defence the way the manager has us set out. But it suits my game," he claimed.

He has contributed five goals from his wide position, including one against Walsall, today's opponents. He hopes the manager remembers that when he picks the team. He expects a hard game against the team which finished five points below them in the Second Division table, but Reading are confident.

"We should have really clinched automatic promotion, but we threw it away in the last few games," he conceded.

McIntyre thinks they have the players to do it, especially in the shape of Martin Butler, who he senses has the ability to go all the way and play in the Premiership.

There could be a few familiar faces in the squad that travels to Cardiff, with goalkeeper Scott Howie and Tony Rougier among those who will be known to a Scottish audience. But McIntyre is one of the few survivors of the Burns era. He hopes to prolong his stay, since his family are settled.

"I'm sure there will be an offer on the table after the final, but you cannot rule anything out. Effectively, I'm a Bosman and open to offers.

"But that can all come later. It has been a blinding few weeks. And a win in the final would cap it all off."

o Reading v Walsall, Nationwide League Division Two play-off final, kick-off 3pm today, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. Live on Sky Sports.