Brian McDermott pulled off a Reading FC transfer masterstroke after scouting mission | OneFootball

Brian McDermott unearthed a future Reading cult hero in the form of Jimmy Kebe whilst working as the club's chief scout.

A 2007/08 scouting trip saw Brian McDermott uncover a hidden gem who would soon become a Royals cult hero.

Having endured a rough start to his football management career with non-league sides Slough Town and Woking respectively, McDermott joined Alan Pardew's Reading staff in September 2000 as the club's new chief scout.

He'd also take charge of the Under-19's and reserve side too, and he oversaw the arrivals of Reading favourites such as Nicky Shorey, Steve Sidwell, Dave Kitson, Ívar Ingimarsson and many more during his time in charge of the scouting team.

One of the last players to catch his eye whilst working in this role was Lens winger Jimmy Kebe, who was on loan at French side Boulogne at the time. Little did he know it then, but McDermott had just stumbled across a future Madejski Stadium legend.

Jimmy Kebe gets off to slow start during his Reading career

Signed on a two-and-a-half year contract in the 2008 January transfer window after being scouted by McDermott, Kebe arrived in Berkshire as a complete unknown to Royals fans.

They wouldn't get much of a chance to get to know their new man that season either, as he made just five Premier League appearances before Reading were relegated to the Championship for the 2008/09 season.

Doubts were starting to creep in over his signing at the conclusion of that following campaign, as despite making 43 Championship appearances in a Steve Coppell side that finished fourth in the second tier that year, Kebe only managed to provide two goals, with no assists to his name.

Something needed to change for Kebe. 'If only McDermott could become the manager', he must've thought to himself. After all, it was he who saw his star potential, and thus he would surely know how to get the best out of him.

But with Brendan Rogers appointed to replace Coppell in the summer of 2009, Reading pushed on into the new campaign. However, with the team sitting in the Championship relegation zone come December, Rodgers was sacked, and McDermott was placed in caretaker charge.

Looking back, this was Kebe's watershed moment as a Reading player. Up to the point of Rodgers' dismissal, he'd scored just once and registered two assists in the league that season, but as if by a slice of McDermott magic, a star would be well and truly born.

McDermott would be handed the Reading job on a permanent basis in late January 2010, and Kebe would go on to finish that 2009/10 season having scored 12 goals and provided five assists in 47 total appearances, in what would be his best goalscoring season in his entire Reading career.

Another highly impressive 2010/11 season would follow, with nine goals and seven assists in 37 league outings as the Royals recorded a fifth-placed finish in the Championship, before losing to Swansea City in the play-off final.

The 2011/12 season would be Kebe's, McDermott's, and indeed Reading's crowning season. The Royals' 89 points was enough for them to win the Championship that year, and their Malian magician played a critical role in the club's triumph.

Three goals and 10 assists in 33 appearances saw him provide so many vital goals and wonderful moments in the blue and white stripes that term, and if he wasn't already a Reading hero by this point, he'd certainly cemented his place in the hearts of Royals fans everywhere with his and the club's exploits that season.

He would also put an end to his well publicised contract saga around that time by penning a new deal until 2014. A groin injury would curtail the final few months of his 2012/13 season, however, with his five goals and one assist in 18 Premier League appearances being his final contributions in a Reading shirt.

Kebe would sign for Crystal Palace in the summer of 2013, bringing to an end a truly superb career as a Royals player.

He was an exquisite dribbler of a football, and was capable of scoring all kinds of goals. Whether it was his ability to run the length of the pitch with the ball glued to his feet, a predatory finish with his head or his foot from inside the box, or a dipping and swerving effort from range, Kebe had a tool bag full of tricks to hurt you with.

He thrived both in the tactical freedom he had to get forward and move around the pitch during the early days of his career under McDermott, as well as being asked to do more defensive duties during the 2011/12 title-winning season in his defend from the front system. His work rate, intelligence and battery allowed him to be a constant presence in the game for as long as he was on the field.

A wonderful player, an expert sock puller upper, a brilliant character on and off the pitch, with his goals, assists and Reading recruitment story all making him undoubtedly one of the most popular and well-loved players in recent Royals history.