Reading at home match thread

[Davefevs]

2 minutes ago, marcofisher said:

I agree, but I thought Dasilva was far worse in this regard which doesn't help the situation as it reduces Mehmeti's options. Everytime Anis put JD in down the left he either hit the first man with a cross or failed to do anything substantial with it.

I really used to like Jay, but he is doing my head in at the mo’.  As you say it’s not helping Anis.  We need Pring back to LB asap.

[Robbored]

11 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

I thought Mehmeti was wasteful and his decision making poor, and with the predictability of him cutting inside it'll make him quite easy to mark when playing decent teams. I'd give him a few games centrally now, behind a front two. 

I think he needs to be more direct. He’s obviously got quick feet and going into the opposition box with some trickery could well result in him getting brought down.

At least twice in the second half he headed towards the penalty box but stopped and laid the ball off. …….……a few more steps and the defenders are afraid to touch him.

[BCFCGav]

We were good for 90% of each attacking move, very good at times. But wasteful as all hell in the last 10%. Deserved to win. I’m gonna think positive and say if we’re capable of playing that well with a thin, injury hit squad, things are looking very promising. 

[marcofisher]

7 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I really used to like Jay, but he is doing my head in at the mo’.  As you say it’s not helping Anis.  We need Pring back to LB asap.

I don't think he fits the way Pearson wants to play and I don't think we will even see him offered a deal on reduced terms. Considering his rumoured salary there must be better players in L1/L2 who will better fit the bill, such as the Wimbledon lad we were bidding for in Jan. 

[Northern Red]

2 minutes ago, marcofisher said:

I don't think he fits the way Pearson wants to play and I don't think we will even see him offered a deal on reduced terms. Considering his rumoured salary there must be better players in L1/L2 who will better fit the bill, such as the Wimbledon lad we were bidding for in Jan. 

Plus you'd think he'd be able to get a deal in the Championship. Coventry were linked in January and I suspect he'd have gone if we'd got the lad from Wimbledon in.

[SouthS22]

Very very poor Reading side, and we still couldn’t beat them. The pitch didn’t help, and neither did the injuries, but his has been a pretty terrible run since the Man City game. A solitary win against Blackpool aside, we look back to the same clueless bunch of numpties we did before Christmas.   Reading even gave us the ball a number of times today, including in their own penalty area and we didn’t have a clue how to put it the net.  Not many positives to take from today, but good to get TC back and welcome return for James. 

[Sleepy1968]

7 minutes ago, SouthS22 said:

Very very poor Reading side, and we still couldn’t beat them. The pitch didn’t help, and neither did the injuries, but his has been a pretty terrible run since the Man City game. A solitary win against Blackpool aside, we look back to the same clueless bunch of numpties we did before Christmas.   Reading even gave us the ball a number of times today, including in their own penalty area and we didn’t have a clue how to put it the net.  Not many positives to take from today, but good to get TC back and welcome return for James. 

Crikey, we're all frustrated, but I think that's completely over the top.

[spudski]

Today was the type of game that as a manager you would be really pissed off. 

Both teams with injuries. The opposition in recent games playing as relegation fodder. 

Regardless of injuries...we should have won that game easily. 

Its the type of game that shows our weaknesses.

Nothing to play for...yet everything to play for if you want to be here next year. 

How many games have we created yet not finished. 

How many games have we conceded weak goals. 

Don't get me wrong...I want NP to keep this club progressing...but if I were him I'd be spitting feathers. 

If we were in a relegation battle this forum wouldn't be so forgiving. 

I hope NP isn't with the players. 

It's very obvious that certain players aren't up to levels expected every week. 

DaSilva and Weimann...regardless of what they've done at the top of their game, they don't perform to expectations needed every week imo. 

I'm pro NP...but imo that was telling today. 

[Shuffle]

52 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Thought he had a good game today, at the heart of most of our good stuff.  Conway v.good, as was Pring…next was Weimann for me.

The sooner we can get Pring to LB to support Mehmeti, the better. Dasilva not offering enough, especially in a game where we have lots of possession.

Funny how we watch the same game & come away with such different views but guess it’s all about opinions.  Personally, though Weimann was terrible and wasted so many good opportunities to deliver one final quality ball.  Not quite as bad as Memehti who despite having so much of the ball failed to deliver any end product. Add in Wells who I thought was poor then your top 3 offered next to nothing and that’s why I believe we didn’t win.  All about opinions though.

[Shuffle]

39 minutes ago, BCFCGav said:

We were good for 90% of each attacking move, very good at times. But wasteful as all hell in the last 10%. Deserved to win. I’m gonna think positive and say if we’re capable of playing that well with a thin, injury hit squad, things are looking very promising. 

In fairness it was a weakened Reading side who were the worst I’ve seen this season 

[Spoonbed]

6 minutes ago, Shuffle said:

Funny how we watch the same game & come away with such different views but guess it’s all about opinions.  Personally, though Weimann was terrible and wasted so many good opportunities to deliver one final quality ball.  Not quite as bad as Memehti who despite having so much of the ball failed to deliver any end product. Add in Wells who I thought was poor then your top 3 offered next to nothing and that’s why I believe we didn’t win.  All about opinions though.

It’ll be interest to see if Fev’s ( whose opinions I massively respect) changes his opinion when watching back again. I watched it on Robins tv , and thought Weimar and Wells were exceptionally poor( and I’m a fan of both players). Though Nakhi was very heavy legged with poor movement, and nothing seemed to come off for Weiman. 
Definately a position we need to strengthen

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

Thought he had a good game today, at the heart of most of our good stuff.  Conway v.good, as was Pring…next was Weimann for me.

The sooner we can get Pring to LB to support Mehmeti, the better. Dasilva not offering enough, especially in a game where we have lots of possession.

Conway, Pring agree.

Weimann, good at what, kicking the corner flag, kicking the ball into touch?

As someone else has said he is a shadow of last season’s Weimann, even his legendary work rate was missing today.

[GrahamC]

3 minutes ago, Shuffle said:

In fairness it was a weakened Reading side who were the worst I’ve seen this season 

Certainly amongst the worst, though Blackpool were awful against us.

Strangely I thought the pitch helped them, they didn’t come to play football & hoofed it all game.

Think it is obvious we are struggling for numbers, the bench was a lot of kids again today. Could do with Kalas & Naismith back.

[Offside]

Definitely a game we should have one, so very frustrating. We were sloppy in the attacking third and at 1-0 always looked susceptible to their strength in the air. But with a makeshift line-up we were never going to be at our best  

I didn’t see what was wrong with Wells’ goal, but I haven’t seen the highlights yet. 

[spudski]

10 minutes ago, Percy Pig said:

The one thing I can't understand is how we can be shit and wasteful. If you're wasteful you must be creating ample opportunities and dominating a game, and therefore not shit. 

If you're shit you don't create enough to be deemed wasteful. 

Was good to see TC back and how that front three could work going into next season. Worth persisting with for a bit after our recent drought in chances/goals. 

Copy and pasted...sums up today. 

 

Football Language: (to) Flatter to Deceive

 

To flatter someone is to tell them they are doing well when in fact they are not doing that well. You give too much praise. To deceive is to lie to someone or to trick them. These words put together into this phrase, to flatter to deceive, mean to make people think something good will happen but in the end the result is bad. So, in football if a team flatters to deceive it means that it looks like they are playing well and it looks like they will win – they flatter the fans – but in the end they do poorly or the good result doesn’t happen – the fans are deceived.

[Shuffle]

Just now, GrahamC said:

Certainly amongst the worst, though Blackpool were awful against us.

Strangely I thought the pitch helped them, they didn’t come to play football & hoofed it all game.

Think it is obvious we are struggling for numbers, the bench was a lot of kids again today. Could do with Kalas & Naismith back.

Agree that lack of numbers are a huge problem. Looks like Easter games too soon for kalas & Naismith & god help us if James is injured. Being realistic any points over Easter are going to be a bonus. Injuries have killed us. 

[RedM]

20 minutes ago, spudski said:

Today was the type of game that as a manager you would be really pissed off. 

Both teams with injuries. The opposition in recent games playing as relegation fodder. 

Regardless of injuries...we should have won that game easily. 

Its the type of game that shows our weaknesses.

Nothing to play for...yet everything to play for if you want to be here next year. 

How many games have we created yet not finished. 

How many games have we conceded weak goals. 

Don't get me wrong...I want NP to keep this club progressing...but if I were him I'd be spitting feathers. 

If we were in a relegation battle this forum wouldn't be so forgiving. 

I hope NP isn't with the players. 

It's very obvious that certain players aren't up to levels expected every week. 

DaSilva and Weimann...regardless of what they've done at the top of their game, they don't perform to expectations needed every week imo. 

I'm pro NP...but imo that was telling today. 

I agree. I came away thinking that it was a good thing that the result didn't matter today, but of course it should have. 

We are on the right tracks, mostly, but don't look like being able to push on to the next level (and I don't mean the Premiership). We are not ruthless/clinical or consistant enough. Its hard to explain but I don't think we have that extra 'something' I see in some teams. 

[Jeez]

Andy Carrol after 30 minutes

[Dr Balls]

If I was NP, I would make all of the players watch that game back and critique themselves honestly. There was a good performance (Conway), some solid 6s, but a lot of players who played well below what they are capable of.

We actually got what we deserved from this game, because we were so wasteful. The attack is so poor at the moment - the final ball either just doesn’t happen or it’s too far ahead of or behind the intended player, or the wrong option is taken. That happened so often, it was like bashing your head against a brick wall just watching it.

Clearly we are not clinical enough in front of goal, and we can’t cope with having the majority of possession. Given the form that Stoke are in, and the hex that Alex Neil teams seem to have over us, I expect us to lose up there on Friday, especially as our away form is currently non-existent anyway. 

Edited April 1, 2023 by Dr Balls

[redkev]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

Thought he had a good game today, at the heart of most of our good stuff.  Conway v.good, as was Pring…next was Weimann for me.

The sooner we can get Pring to LB to support Mehmeti, the better. Dasilva not offering enough, especially in a game where we have lots of possession.

Totally agree Dave , pring is so pivotal to how we play , which is good & bad as it does make us a little one dimensional/ predictable 

[Red-Robbo]

13 minutes ago, Jeez said:

Andy Carrol after 30 minutes

 

I spotted him after the match, soaking up the Harbourside atmosphere...

[HOZDA]

Was at the game today. Will likely be my last visit of the season, so I was hopeful to see a win! We really should have. Dominated possession and got into multiple dangerous positions, particularly down the flanks, but dear me, the end product was poor. Crosses were not beating the first man, shots delayed or straight at the keeper.

Reading's goal was so frustrating as it was blatant what they were going to do - chip it to Carroll for him to head/flick it on. Very one dimensional but looked inevitable as we had conceded a lot of height vs them. 

Thought James was pretty good - commanded the middle, missed Scott though. Great to have Conway back and for him to score. Mehmeti had a lot of the ball but rather wasteful and often delays his outlet - still think he will come good. Pring was solid but we do miss him at LB. Tanner also good and had some decent runs, same for Weimann.

Must say, when Joao was through at the end I thought we'd concede, then he completely lost control of it and Cornick could have won it - would have done him a world of good! Ah well. 

Overall, it was a decent game and I had a good day out with my dad. Hoping we can find a way to win these games where we are the more dominant. Exciting summer to come. 

COYR

 

[downendcity]

2 hours ago, Kodjias Wrist said:

Need to get this second goal

 

2 hours ago, Malago said:

This referee’s a cock BTW

 

2 hours ago, mozo said:

Wow. Got to beat these surely?!

 

2 hours ago, Slippin cider said:

Bollocks 

Sequence of posts that could be cut and pasted so many times over recent seasons! 

[Red-Robbo]

2 minutes ago, HOZDA said:

 

Must say, when Joao was through at the end I thought we'd concede, then he completely lost control of it and Cornick could have won it - would have done him a world of good! Ah well. 

 

 

It was rather amazing the number of times they could've had a man through, but then the Reading player contrived to either fall over his own feet or otherwise totally fail to control the ball.

You could see why they are where they are. 

[Super]

I didn't think we were too bad yes wasteful but we've played a lot worse this season. Happy for a stress free end to the season and look forward to next season.

[downendcity]

4 minutes ago, Red-Robbo said:

 

The coach and horses that has been driven through our defence too often this season. 

[redysteadygo]

3 minutes ago, HOZDA said:

Was at the game today. Will likely be my last visit of the season, so I was hopeful to see a win! We really should have. Dominated possession and got into multiple dangerous positions, particularly down the flanks, but dear me, the end product was poor. Crosses were not beating the first man, shots delayed or straight at the keeper.

Reading's goal was so frustrating as it was blatant what they were going to do - chip it to Carroll for him to head/flick it on. Very one dimensional but looked inevitable as we had conceded a lot of height vs them. 

Thought James was pretty good - commanded the middle, missed Scott though. Great to have Conway back and for him to score. Mehmeti had a lot of the ball but rather wasteful and often delays his outlet - still think he will come good. Pring was solid but we do miss him at LB. Tanner also good and had some decent runs, same for Weimann.

Must say, when Joao was through at the end I thought we'd concede, then he completely lost control of it and Cornick could have won it - would have done him a world of good! Ah well. 

Overall, it was a decent game and I had a good day out with my dad. Hoping we can find a way to win these games where we are the more dominant. Exciting summer to come. 

COYR

 

From my view in the Dolman thought he should have played Wieman in on his right for a far easier finish.

[Red-Robbo]

Just now, Super said:

I didn't think we were too bad yes wasteful but we've played a lot worse this season. Happy for a stress free end to the season and look forward to next season.

 

Without Scott and Sykes and with Reading desperate to get points to guarantee safety, I feared the worst. But we were comfortably the better side and at times played some lovely stuff.  Shame about the result, but you can't have everything. 

[2015]

1 hour ago, SouthS22 said:

Very very poor Reading side, and we still couldn’t beat them. The pitch didn’t help, and neither did the injuries, but his has been a pretty terrible run since the Man City game. A solitary win against Blackpool aside, we look back to the same clueless bunch of numpties we did before Christmas.   Reading even gave us the ball a number of times today, including in their own penalty area and we didn’t have a clue how to put it the net.  Not many positives to take from today, but good to get TC back and welcome return for James. 

The irony of your last sentence. Maybe our bad run has come because we have lost Atkinson, Naismith, James, Conway, Kalas, Williams and now Sykes has a 4 game ban. 6 of those members are core members of our first team.

[italian dave]

The worry is that it’s the umpteenth game recently where we’ve dominated the first 45 minutes, looked full of intent going forward, but just never really threatened to score. Just no quality into or around the box.

The positive was TC back who did finally manage to get a goal. 

But what frustrated me more than anything was the manner of the goal we conceded: not so much the failure to win aerial challenges (that was always going to be a concern today) but what led up to it.

There has been lots of discussion on here about how we need to get smarter, more streetwise, a bit cannier. And probably a view that we’ve got better at that. But it’s not just about “professional” fouls for the sake of it. And today was a perfect example of how to get the professional foul wrong.

We managed to pick  up a booking, and all for the sake of breaking up open play, from which Reading had been next to useless all game. And to present them with a set piece, which had always looked like the only way they were going to threaten.