WHEN Alan Pardew signed Shaun Goater at the beginning of last season, he described it as a "psychological blow to every club in the division".

Reading had a bargain.

For a mere ?500,000, the Royals had picked up a proven striker with a portfolio of goals at all levels of the English game and ? fans at City will always love him for this ? quite a few of them were against the then top club in England Manchester United.

And it was the perfect move for Goater. Here you had a player who had proved his ability at the pinnacle of domestic football and was still capable of pulling a goal out of nothing but who was being forced out of the top league by the new emphasis on foreign mercenaries and 'big names'.

Nicolas Anelka and Robbie Fowler, neither of whom have since proved to make the impact of Goater, forced him out leaving the Bermudian with a chance to be the top goalscorer and number one striker in the division below ? and a chance to continue a prolific career now entering its twilight without the ignominy of being on the bench and only playing cameo roles.

It was the right move for Goater and things were looking good until Pardew's departure and replacement by Steve Coppell.

Brilliant player though he was, it became apparent that Coppell's eccentric management style wasn't suiting Goater.

Although not immediately, the 6-foot 1-inch striker slowly slipped down the pecking order to the extent that even when on a hot-scoring streak of six goals in five games, he was 'rested'.

The gaffer ? as Goater calls him ? decided that the way to keep the Goat being regularly fed was to rest him to try and unnaturally sustain his purple patch.

But goalscoring doesn't work like that, as became abundantly clear, as not only was Goater frustrated, he failed to regain his scoring streak when he was re-inserted into the side.

The Goat was unhappy, although his consummate professionalism ensured that he didn't descend into the sort of histrionics and complaining that someone like Anelka might have been capable of.

He quietly continued ploughing away at the club and the odd goal here and there snatched when Coppell did give him opportunities left him completing the season as top-scorer, albeit with a mere 13 goals ? far less than the Goat, and the Reading fans, would have liked.

And Coppell's indifference with the Bermudian's ability seems to have spilled over into this season with Goater warming the bench for the first two games.

Although starting his pre-season a week late due to the calf injury that had so hampered Bermuda's chances against El Salvador, Goater was still not offered more than 45 minutes in any of the first four pre-season games.

Against Manchester City ? a match only organised due to a contractual agreement put in place by the popular striker ? he was allowed to start, although it was clear Coppell had no choice about that, but that is where his place in starting XIs ended.

Against Brighton for the season's home-opener, Goater was stuck on the bench.

He found himself in a similarly uncomfortable position for the trip to Upton Park to face West Ham on Tuesday. His introduction in the 84th minute, just three minutes after Teddy Sheringham had put the Hammers ahead, was as an emergency striker ? not really the role Goater is used to.

Being the professional that he is, Goater has said that it is "early in the season" and he is not prepared to start thinking about his new-found spare part role too seriously.

In a season as long as the English one, he knows he will get his chance in the future.

But for a player of his ability, with probably not much more than a single season left in those gangly legs, you have to wonder how much time he wants to spend simply dangling them off a bench at the Madejski Stadium.