Before getting my reel, I used those long 12" hollow pipe hooks from a hardware store, I would simply get in the pool, roll the cover up, heave it over the edge onto the hooks, then to get it back on, I would heave it back in from inside the pool - all doable, but I certainly like my reel much better!
The reels that sit across the center of the pool will roll up a round cover nicely because you strat rolling it ou on the wide portion and it rolls smooth and flat, once done, you pick up one side and swing it out of the way off the pool, or in some cases, you have to get a person on each end and pick the whole thing up and walk it off teh end of the pool - voila - entire pool is usable.

I have mine hard mounted off the end of my round pool - mainly because it's a 30 foot pool and no one made a roller that would span that width, therefore, I had it custom made. Rolling up the blanket isn't hard at all, a couple of trips side to side to tug it flat is all it takes to keep it neat looking, however, that isn't even necessary if you don't care how it looks on the reel.