FORMER Reading FC star Nicky Forster has taken a pop at the club's wide players for the poor quality of their crossing.

Forster suggests the likes of Royals wingers Roy Beerens and Garath McCleary have left striker Yann Kermorgant 'isolated' up front.

Kermorgant has scored just four goals in 18 Reading appearances this season, though Forster insists his teammates must shoulder some of the blame for the lack of decent service.

“When you’re isolated up front, what you need is wide players with pace and a good delivery,” said the former striker, who scored 67 times in 214 games for the Royals between 1999 and 2005.

“If you know a cross is going to come into the box then you can focus on your own game and adjust to what’s happening.

“No matter how good a striker is, if there is no service coming into the box then the goals aren’t going to come, and I don’t think he [Kermorgant] has been given the right service.

“He needs to be given balls in good areas and the chances will come. When I look at Reading I just see them lacking quality out wide.

“Brighton, on the other hand, have four very good wide players and they are doing so well at the moment. They have players with pace and quality and are creating chances out wide.”

Forster's comments are likely to ruffle a few feathers in the Reading camp, though the 43-year-old former Birmingham City, Brighton and Brentford forward has also heaped praise on Jaap Stam and the job he is doing at Madejski Stadium.

“I’ve come across managers who are expertly qualified, very intelligent people whose knowledge of the game is very good,” he explained. “But it is so important that they are able to impart that knowledge to the players in the most straightforward manner.

“The ones that can do that the best I find are the ones that are most successful.

“Gus Poyet was brilliant at getting his message across to his players. He showed them discipline and how to conduct themselves as professional footballers.

“Steve Coppell was also excellent at doing this and I hope Jaap Stam is able to replicate this style of management with the current squad.”

Forster also singled out ex-Reading boss Alan Pardew for special praise, claiming the current Crystal Palace chief should become England's next permanent manager.

“I would back Alan for the England job,” declared Forster, who won promotion to the Championship with Reading under Pardew in 2002. “I did the last time round and I probably did the time before that.

“From my point of view, we sometimes miss the point when we are appointing managers – it’s a totally different job to club football.

“With club football it’s about man management, tactics, systems but also a lot about business, budgets, getting players in and out. Essentially, there’s far more to it in that respect.

“When it comes to international management, that doesn’t play as big a part. It’s all about getting the most out of the players available to you.

“Terry Venables was one of the best at doing it because players like playing for him. I see similar traits in the likes of Jurgen Klopp when he’s high-fiving players and helping players enjoy their football.

“Jose Mourinho is the opposite at the moment. It absolutely essential that there’s togetherness in a squad of players and no fractions – this is as important as the tactics and the quality of players.

“At international level it’s so important to have a manager that you want to play for, who you look up to and like as a person and in some ways that’s more important than tactics.

“I know Pardew can divide opinion, and I’ve heard really mixed opinions of him, but I really liked playing for him.

“He was absolutely top drawer and I learned a lot from him as a player. He got the whole squad playing for each other and to the best of their ability; everyone was riding a wave of enthusiasm.”

Finally, Forster revealed his fondest memory as a Reading player was the role he played as a substitute when he inspired a late victory against Wigan in the 2001 Championship play-off semi final at Madejski Stadium.

“Looking back there are probably around ten memories that really stand out as being really special,” he recalled. “Sure, I had goals here and there, debut goals.

“They are nice but not really stand-out, special moments. However, the game against Wigan really stands out, having come back from injury and getting a goal.

“It was magical. Emotion got the better of me that night and that was the special moment in my career. It was incredibly special and for someone who doesn’t really look back on their career, it always brings a smile to my face.”

For more from Nicky Forster go to bwin