Sonko - A lot of positives to take from Arsenal game!

[Scarface]

"Sonko feels there were lots of positives to take from the Emirates performance.He said, "Arsenal away was always going to be a hard game. They had nothing to lose and they could play for pleasure. When they do that they are at their best. "There were positives for us though. We matched them for the first half hour, but unfortunately we conceded. That happens when you run around a lot without really getting on the ball! In the second half we reacted better and we have to take it positively. We worked hard and were like a team again"

What a load of thick headed bollox, if the management and players seriously think that, then we are as good as down. We conceded firstly down to his embarressing air kick, but also allowing wave after wave of Arsenal attack, it was always going to happen.

[Man Friday]

Agreed. The same sort of pyscho-football-twaddle also came from Dills I believe.

[Wycombe Royal]

I suppose he could have come out and said we were crap, we don't like each other, we didn't even try and we are going to get relegated.

Would he have got praise from you for saying that?

[zummerset]

What a load of thick headed bollox,

Agreed. There is one of these good news stories on the OS everyday. Everyone must take part in the great propaganda machine - todays just Sonko's turn. It would be of more interest if he could identify why his form has dropped off so far and why our defense doesn't have a clue. Arsenal could have won that game 5 or 6 nil!

[Stranded]

Here's an idea, if everything coming out of the club riles you so much, stop reading it.....

Of course they are going to look for positives from a game, you have to, otherwise the situation actually becomes worse.

They will also spend time looking at what went wrong but the overall thing is that they will put a line under and move on, dwelling on it really is unhelpful as they look to prepare for Wigan.

[Man Friday]

I suppose he could have come out and said we were crap, we don't like each other, we didn't even try and we are going to get relegated.

Would he have got praise from you for saying that?

To be frank, I'd be happier if he just kept quiet and got on with being a decent footballer instead of the liability he's become this season.

[sheshnu]

Arsenal away was always going to be a hard game. They had nothing to lose and they could play for pleasure. When they do that they are at their best. There were positives for us though. We matched them for the first half hour, but unfortunately we conceded. That happens when you run around a lot without really getting on the ball! In the second half we reacted better and we have to take it positively. We worked hard and were like a team again

Agree with most of that actually, although rather than 'matching' Arsenal for the first half hour I thought the team were 'holding on'. There were some encouraging signs in the second half, but by then it was all over.

[Wycombe Royal]

I suppose he could have come out and said we were crap, we don't like each other, we didn't even try and we are going to get relegated.

Would he have got praise from you for saying that?

To be frank, I'd be happier if he just kept quiet and got on with being a decent footballer instead of the liability he's become this season.

Except that we live in a media fuelled world where interviews and news articles are expected daily. So basically he is asked for comments and he is duty bound to say something. I suppose he could come out with some negative comments like those found on here or he could just say what is expected of him so that he can get on with his life and go shopping.

[starbug]

we only done better in the second half as Arsenal had the game wrapped up and cruised it with the occasional cat nap...

[Man Friday]

we only done better in the second half as Arsenal had the game wrapped up and cruised it with the occasional cat nap...

agreed, plus I'm not sure we did better anyway - Crossbar came on as sub again and saved a couple of goals. Had they gone in, would Sonko have said the same thing?

[Southbank Old Boy]

I suppose he could have come out and said we were crap, we don't like each other, we didn't even try and we are going to get relegated.

Would he have got praise from you for saying that?

To be frank, I'd be happier if he just kept quiet and got on with being a decent footballer instead of the liability he's become this season.

Except that we live in a media fuelled world where interviews and news articles are expected daily. So basically he is asked for comments and he is duty bound to say something. I suppose he could come out with some negative comments like those found on here or he could just say what is expected of him so that he can get on with his life and go shopping.

Rubbish like this is just rubbing our noses in it a bit though isn't it? Maybe not for all but for a decent number of fans.

Yes come out and try and be positive about things but don't just try and trawl out some media soundbites for the sake of it because as a result it totally devalues everything that comes out of the club.

I've stopped listening and reading pretty much anything that comes out of footballers/managers mouths these days because it's become even more cliched and unreliable than ever. Even the supposedly honest Coppell just spouts off shallow rubbish these days which you know in reality doesn't actually mean anything.

[firstdivision]

To be honest it is the typical media spin doctor type of article that I personally despise. To me it says "I recognise I played badly, but am trying to put a brave face on it, so will reinforce that brave face by repeating it in print".

It is phsych warfare, but we can see right through it. Also note the over use of the word "hail" in this type of articles. LOB but comes with the territory now

[Alan Partridge]

'For me that 2nd half has made our season it was terrific'

Has Kevin Dillon joined the Arsenal staff at all?

All I saw in the 2nd half was them hit the bar twice and Doobs somehow clear one off the line in what could have been an absolute rout.

[rhroyal]

Hey, I'm new on here. I'm actually on another message board but that's more a mix of football fans and there's not enough Reading banter. Also I've got a loaf of uni exams coming up soon and they suspended me until the end of May on my request, so I can't go there at the moment. I was under the alias UUURRRRRRRRRZZZZZZZZZ on the good old BBC 606 if you remember it, and I wouldn't mind changing my name on here but I can't work out how yet.

Anyhow, if you think Sonko's interview is ridiculous read this from Kevin Dillon:

Dillon was buoyed by the team's display in the second half at Arsenal on Saturday, saying, "For me, that second half has made our season, it was terrific. We got close to them and rattled them."

Which game was he watching? Absolute madness. We weren't so much embarrassed in the second half and Convey had a moment, which is respectable when 2-0 down at Arsenal. But saying we rattled them is like calling a mole hill a mountain it's such an exaggeration. Still, I guess the players and staff have to try and remain positive as we do have winnable games now and mentality counts for a lot.

[Man Friday]

'For me that 2nd half has made our season it was terrific'

Has Kevin Dillon joined the Arsenal staff at all?

All I saw in the 2nd half was them hit the bar twice and Doobs somehow clear one off the line in what could have been an absolute rout.

That's all I saw. Dills must be wearing some RTGs that are available on this website. Absolutely incredible perspective that fools no one (with half a brain). If he believes it, God help us. No wonder we're struggling if we don't think anything's wrong. I dread to recall what was said after the Portsmouth, West Ham, Bolton, Spurs, etc, debacles.

[brendywendy]

'For me that 2nd half has made our season it was terrific'

Has Kevin Dillon joined the Arsenal staff at all?

All I saw in the 2nd half was them hit the bar twice and Doobs somehow clear one off the line in what could have been an absolute rout.

is that ever so slightly tongue in cheek from KD there?

[brendywendy]

i thought we looked a totally different prospect when we dropped the man marking and bikey went to support marek in the middle
it could be saidf that we did rattle them a little in the last twenty minutes
at the very least it was encouraging whether theyd switched off or not

[Ian Royal]

Arsenal away was always going to be a hard game. They had nothing to lose and they could play for pleasure. When they do that they are at their best. There were positives for us though. We matched them for the first half hour, but unfortunately we conceded. That happens when you run around a lot without really getting on the ball! In the second half we reacted better and we have to take it positively. We worked hard and were like a team again

Agree with most of that actually, although rather than 'matching' Arsenal for the first half hour I thought the team were 'holding on'. There were some encouraging signs in the second half, but by then it was all over.

Have to say I agree

[Bimace]

I Sonko gets slaughtered for saying something positive, what can he say without being criticised?

Maybe he shouldn't say anything but then the website of the club and the club would be just so boring and there would be news on there, i like to know what the players are thinking, i dunno about others but i wouldn't have it any other way, the only way i wouldn't like if he just lied about it just to keep the fans happy. If thats the case then he should keep his mouth shut or put it in another ways that it don't get some fans hopes up too much. I thought our second half performance against arsenal wasn't bad, we didn't concede at least

[Southbank Old Boy]

I Sonko gets slaughtered for saying something positive, what can he say without being criticised?

I wouldn't have a problem if he came out and said something like

"...we've let ourselves down recently, it hurts us to play so badly and we're trying out hardest to put it right. The least said about the Arsenal and Fulham performances the better because we just weren't at the races and we've given ourselves a tough task to stay in the division.

I'm not too happy with my form but I hope that, given the chance, I can do a job for the team keeping Heskey quiet on Saturday so that we can come away with at least a point because we know that we've got enough ability in this squad to go their and get a result which will be a springboard to safety."

I also wouldn't be too upset if he and the rest of the squad just shut up, got their heads down, and let their football do the talking for the net three weeks. Considerng that Coppel had apparently put a ban on talking to the press after the Arsenal game I wasnt expecting to hear much in the way of PR bullsh1t this week.