Back from the match / Pub / Lounge (Villa)

[jumpers for goalposts]

Having had a night's sleep to calm down a bit and gather my thoughts, I seem to be turning more and more on the manager. I can accept that the players are not good enough- there isn't a great deal he can do about that.

What I can't abide is continuing to play the same team and formation week in week out. He did well to change the back 4. Gorkks and Gunter had to go. However, how on earth can he continue to play Tabb and Legs in the middle. It's embarassing how little ability we have in there. Why not change it up? Play McAnuff through the middle and start McLeary. Go 5 in midfield with McAnuff playing behind Roberts or Hunt etc. I could stomach defeat much easier then, as at least you could say that the manager is trying new things. The personel and the formation clearly aren't working. I think the Everton game was a bad thing in many ways, as it encouraged him to stick to his guns, when we all know we could and should have lost that match by 3 or 4.

Last night was an attrocious match. 2 teams whose only goal threat came from set pieces. Both teams default method of attacking was either hoof it down the channels of aim a hopeful ball into the box, that more often than not, ended up in the stands. Still, they took a point of Arsenal and then beat us, so they've not had a bad week. Unfortuantely for us the writing seems to be on the wall.

[Mr.T10]

Having had a night's sleep to calm down a bit and gather my thoughts, I seem to be turning more and more on the manager. I can accept that the players are not good enough- there isn't a great deal he can do about that.

What I can't abide is continuing to play the same team and formation week in week out. He did well to change the back 4. Gorkks and Gunter had to go. However, how on earth can he continue to play Tabb and Legs in the middle. It's embarassing how little ability we have in there. Why not change it up? Play McAnuff through the middle and start McLeary. Go 5 in midfield with McAnuff playing behind Roberts or Hunt etc. I could stomach defeat much easier then, as at least you could say that the manager is trying new things. The personel and the formation clearly aren't working. I think the Everton game was a bad thing in many ways, as it encouraged him to stick to his guns, when we all know we could and should have lost that match by 3 or 4.

Last night was an attrocious match. 2 teams whose only goal threat came from set pieces. Both teams default method of attacking was either hoof it down the channels of aim a hopeful ball into the box, that more often than not, ended up in the stands. Still, they took a point of Arsenal and then beat us, so they've not had a bad week. Unfortuantely for us the writing seems to be on the wall.

My thoughts exactly. I said the exact thing after the Everton game, we won but at a price of losing to Wigan because Gorkss and Gunter were in a "winning" side so they are still in. McDermott is facing his actions at the start of the season and that is not playing Guthrie CM, he has got many many decisions wrong. Oh well lets enjoy it while it lasts. The championship still a good place to be

[The Beardy Man]

IMO we looked good for pretty much the whole game, it felt like we had most of the possession in the Villa half but we couldn't create any good chances whatsoever. Compare that to Villa who had at least 3 golden opportunities in the first half, the goal, and a few good chances in the second half. The only meaningful shot we had came (surprise) from a corner, which ALF should have got on target.

Leigertwood was dire, lost the ball far too many times and any time he tries to make a pass I wince. Roberts may win free-kicks and try to take a man on but his final touch is atrocious. McAnuff had a decent game and was really unfairly treated by the officials. Defence looked solid aside from the times we got utterly carved open twice in the first half.

Just feel a bit empty after that. A draw was well within our grasp if we had the final ball quality, or the killer finisher. We lack a cutting edge, and players who are difference-makers at this level. We're battlers, yes, but quality will always show in this league.

Very fair summary

[paddy20]

I thnk we are doing ok with what we have. How, however can we not learn from our mistakes of not realising we need to strengthen when we go up? Bm and NH and JM were all there when we went up and back down again. Businesses rarely get a second chance when they cock up. We did. I think its time for us to stop saying we are a well run club and admit major changes are needed if we really want to be a premiership club. Of course there are risks but how many succesful companies are there that are run by accountants?

[Royalclapper]

What a soul destroying match. Back 4 looked better but the rest was shitness of the highest order. Mcanuff- lazy cnut.
You can't expect free flowing total football from this side but Jesus H Christ that was a passion killer!
It just looked like 2 sides who begrudgingly had to fulfill the fixture with no regard to anyone unfortunate enough to have paid to watch it.
It would be a surprise if us or villa stayed up tbh.

[jumpers for goalposts]

Of course there are risks but how many succesful companies are there that are run by accountants?

That excuse is wearing pretty thin though isn't it? We had a forward on the bench who earns somewhere between £35-£60k a week. Guthrie will be on £25-30k as well. I bet Wigan/ Norwich/ Swansea etc don't have players on more than £25k a week

The relaity is most of the team needs replacing to play and compete, but that would realistically take £150m +

[The Beardy Man]

t how many succesful companies are there that are run by accountants?

At a guess I would have said the vast majority? Or am I missing the point?

[Avon Royal]

The difference between us and Villa is that Villa are building for the future. They may have looked shit, but the average age of that team was 23.

If we were building for the future I'd have no problem with the performances, but we're not.

[RoyalBlue]

t how many succesful companies are there that are run by accountants?

At a guess I would have said the vast majority? Or am I missing the point?

You are right. I think the issue is that despite JM's claims, football isn't a business in the normal sense of the word. It is, and continues to be a completely different business model, and RFC need to realise they can't buck that trend on their own.

So maybe the question better asked is how many successful football clubs are run by accountants on the same lines as other 'normal' businesses?

[HoneyRoastHoax]

I had a lot more faith in our back line last night. Mapps did his job, nothing scary, Morro was IMO fouled for their goal but played well the rest of the game. Cummings stood up well and did a great job at getting forward to provide support. McAnuff just seemed to stop running when he met defenders and gave 1 yard passes to SC who I thought whipped some nice balls in. HRK didnt shine for me, why we didn't let McCleary have a run earlier I have no idea. If we are so in to lofting balls in the box why didn't we bring on our big oxf*rd off Russian? Hunt had a free header which I think Pog would have scored. I hate to say it Brian but your changes were late and showed no imagination. It doens't look like you are teaching them any attacking moves other than hoof it to Roberts, hope for a free kick or throw in, get it to shorey HOOF a ball in the box and hope it bounces kindly.

I don't like to think of Brian getting the sack, that sounds harsh, can we just retire him?

[Top Flight]

I thought we were generally alright, but I think it should be pretty obvious to see where we are weak. Right now it is in Central Midfield. Leigertwood is just not up to this level and neither is Tabb. Both work hard but both lack quality at this high level.

I think we are decent in the wide areas. We have good marksmen up front. Mariappa and Morrisson could be a good central defensive partnership, both mobile and athletic with good enough quality. Shorey is a very good little footballer. The keepers are getting better. Feds was very solid last night. The Right back probably needs improving but Gunter and Cummings are not that bad. The main area where we are weak at the moment is clearly in the centre of midfield. The game seemed to pass the two CMs by and whenever they did get on the ball they seemed to just give it away. Guthrie partnering Karacan might be the answer to that problem or we need to try and bolster in January.

If we can bolster that area, that will give us more solidity and might enable us to rack up a few wins in the second half of the season which might be enough to keep us up. But I would expect all the strugglers to improve in the second half of the season so it could be one mother of a dogfight. But if we don't strengthen in January in the right areas then I think we will be the first to start to get marooned at the bottom and cut adrift by February/March.

But for me, McDermott is definitely the man for the job. He put together a title winning team last year and was right to give the team a chance in the Prem this year. There is nothing he can do to rectify things until January and so has just got to get on with the job with what he's got. No one else can get more from this group of players. McDermott is a fantastic manager for me and even if we were to go down, I think McDermott is building something for the long-term. I would love to stick with the man for a decade. I think we will achieve more in 10 years with him as boss than we would if we kept chopping and changing.

[Mr.T10]

Federici- 6, was okay did a few good saves but a few bad kicks. Story of feds season "could do better and should". McCarthy should come back in when fit.
Cummings- 7, better than Gunter, did some mistakes but a lot more sensible.
Mariappa- 7 Much improved on Gorkss; well he couldn't do any worse. Fast, strong. Only bad thing was he lost a few headers...
Morrison - 8, carrying on his fine form and hopefully he can build a good partnership now Gorkss is out. Unlucky about the goal if a Reading player did what Benteke did it would have been a foul.
Shorey- 7, Carrying on his fine form. A few bad passes but what you expect when there is nothing in Midfield.
McAnuff- 5, Good some bits and shit most of it. Needs to pass... You can tell McAnuff is a lot better on the left side.
Leigertwood- 1, Worst player in the prem, can't pass, can't keep the ball and offers nothing. We need Guthrie back quick!
Tabb- 4, Remind me what he did? Shit passing, loses the ball easily and just there to make up the team. He is just a slightly better, shorter Leigerwood. Karacan come back quick!
HRK- 6, some good crosses, needs to attack his player more. Just needs to improve on what he is doing.
Roberts- 7, a very generous 7. Some good runs, good link up play when he wanted to and was a threat. Should pass more, shouldn't think he is "Messi" and should have scored that shot.
Alf- 7, Good link up play, just a shame no midfield to offer him a good enough chance and if Roberts passed he may have got himself on the score sheet.

Brian- 4, only because he dropped Gorkss and Gunter. Subs were too late and wrong way round or do it at the same time. I will always support Brian but I am starting to get very frustrating with constant mistakes in team selection etc.

Like the defence, hate the midfield and the attack is missing any service. I am scared what Man U will do if we still have Tabb and Leigertwood in the middle of the park.

[HoneyRoastHoax]

Someone else could teach them another way of attacking other than HOOF ffs someone else could come in and give them all a oxf*rd bollocking, throw a plate of waitrose finest at them, slap the bowl of oxf*rd CEREAL out of morrisons hand, tell feds to grow some balls and bitch slap his misses if she ever thinks about critiscing the club again.

[glenroyal]

I still see it as planned (from the start) to be spending in January - until then it's about getting the best out of the squad we have.

Sure there are things Brian could do / could have done different - earlier subs reacting to Villa's early subs for example - but I actually though we played as well as I've seen this squad play. I enjoyed the game. Legs made a few passing errors, but he was mostly pretty strong / solid. Tabb worked hard and didn't do much wrong. Even Roberts - someone I'm not a fan of - showed some strong turns and shifts of pace to lose his markers. Morisson and Mariappa seemed pretty solid, and Morisson was unlucky to be at fault for the goal - he should have reacted sooner to Benteke draping his arm over his shoulder, and made more effort to jump with him before it was too late and he found himself held down - plenty of other defence including Feds between him and the goal too. Chances at both ends, could have gone either way. (Good to see Pearce selected on the bench too.)

Generally I'd support sticking with selections / formation / tactics for stability, but if Southampton win tonight - we are already adrift - and Brian should now be maximising changes to see how much individual squad members want it until January. Then (try to) start building a prem side.

[The Beardy Man]

For my own part, I actually felt better about that game than say, after the Swansea game.

Getting monstered and ripped to shreds by a mid table premier side is far worse in some ways than a fairly even tussle with a relegation rival.

Thought the defence did pretty well. The first time this season we haven't been repeatedly torn asunder. McAnuff got pretty much nothing out of the officials which made his life difficult, but thought he linked well with Cummings.

HRK did ok with limited useful supply whilst Alf looked bright again. Roberts had, I felt, a very goods game given the scraps he was feeding off.

Our problems really are in Centre mid. Legs makes you panic every time he gets near the ball and Tabb, for all his admirable workrate, is never going to boss a midfield.

All that being said, we are more or less where I expected us to be pre season. We have largely been 'in' games (barring the Spurs one), on that basis you never know what a few janky results might do.

If all else fails, we are likely to be there or there abouts next year in the championship with this squad. Which for a regular top 30 side (well over the last decade in any case) is not such a bad thing.

[Avon Royal]

I think McDermott is building something for the long-term.

Only if the long term is in League One.

[royalZILLAAA]

Humph. I love this club, and last year was a whirlwind of ecstasy (ugly football or not). McDermott seems like a really excellent bloke and I can't bring myself to say a bad word against any of the team that got us up. I knew this season was going to be much more of a struggle than any of our previous Premier League campaigns, but had an outside hope that smart investment from TSI would give us a real boost.

All that being said, I have an overpowering feeling that something has really got to change. I don't really want to spend the whole of the rest of this season thinking about Championship rebuilding/consolidation plans - look at how well that has worked out for Derby, for example. Parachute payments are great, but the TV money for staying up is far superior, and I really feel that the next few months will spell out a great deal about the future of Reading Football Club. Ideally, if TSI can take Mourinho's footballing brain and stick it in McDermott, retaining his gentlemanhood etc., that would be great.

Either way, I'll be an RFC fan this time next year - and in years and years to come, and I'm not sure it would be the same if I couldn't have the odd whinge to fans of other teams about how we're a two-bit team from a rubbish town anyway.

[Top Flight]

Someone else could teach them another way of attacking other than HOOF ffs someone else could come in and give them all a oxf*rd bollocking, throw a plate of waitrose finest at them, slap the bowl of oxf*rd CEREAL out of morrisons hand, tell feds to grow some balls and bitch slap his misses if she ever thinks about critiscing the club again.

Yeah, I have to say, I do agree with the point you are making.

They do need to grow up a bit and take things more seriously. The players do need to toughen up a bit, you're right.

The reason we are having to hoof the ball a bit up to Roberts right now is because the two CMs offer nothing in an attacking sense. Tabb just chases down space and closes down opponents and gets tackles in and Legs, is just all over the place at the moment. The full backs and wide players have to by pass them if we are to create anything, meaning direct balls towards Roberts and hoping he will lay off to the wings and then Robbo and Le Fondre get into the box and await the cross.

We need a Sidwell and Harper type partnership in the middle again, then we would play more football. This is basically the Coppell team without Sidwell and Harper in the middle so can't quite play the same way.

Sids and Harps were quality footballers, very tidy and creative and defensively Sids was box to box and a great tackler, great at winning back possession and although Harps didn't get the tackles in he harried and closed down space and was always breathing down the neck of the opposition and making it impossible for them to play. Sids and Harps were fit and athletic and could do all of that. Tabbs and Legs are not all rounders, the game just passes them by.

[glenroyal]

So how many must win games is that we played now against or relegation rivas and did not win?

all of them

2 down 2 to go in this current end of year run.

[Royal Ginger]

Saints will dick on us.