Stoke v Reading match thread, sponsored by fat lady in white

[dean horrix legend]

Oh well, didn't expect to get anything up there

[P!ssed Off]

Was not a pen. Perhaps if ALF, Pog, Hunt and the rest actually tried to stand up in the box they might get more shots off, weakly collapsing to the floor every time we are touched is really a bit pathetic.

[Royal91]

Stoke away was always a difficult fixture.

The Wigan match is the important one now!

[Cripple Creek]

Seen the replay twice and there is no way on earth that it was a penalty. What an unmemorable game.

[Ouroboros]

Why was Le Fondre not BOOKED FOR DIVING THEN???

Because it's possible to go down without diving or being fouled, Mr Sub-normal.

[jumpers for goalposts]

In summary:

Fair score
Not a penalty
We defended well in the main
We were atrocious with the ball- particularly Ledg, Akpan and Kebe. Simple passes miss placed time after time. That breakaway at 1-0 down when Kebe tried to slide in Pog, who then fell over, summed us up going forward today

We move on

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

Pulis would have had something to say if the penalty had been given!!

[dean horrix legend]

Not the end of the world,will still have a good night tonight

[Big Ern]

Better team won and we did well to make the scoreline respectable. The curse of "Manager of the Month" strikes again. Wigan next week is so crucial. We have to play much better than today to get points next week.

[BenSmith91]

Forgettable game in general, really. Wigan cannot come sooner.

[RoyalBlue]

Last time we went down on goal differene. This time we are doing well in that respect so maybe (hopefully) it's a case of these things evening themselves out. Let's hope that when we do lose it is only by the odd goal whilst our relegation rivals keep losing by 2 or more.

[Mike Hunt]

I am really angry for some reason. Shit, turgid, pcunts are words that come to mind.

I am going to have to eat some popcorn.

[rhroyal]

Once again we up our game when 2-0 down with 10 minutes left. We're not going to keep on pulling off these ridiculous comebacks, and if we offer more going forward early on in matches, we may not find ourselves in these positions so often.

[Royal91]

Could have been worse could have been slapped 4-1!

Goal difference is going to be essential!

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Better team won and we did well to make the scoreline respectable. The curse of "Manager of the Month" strikes again. Wigan next week is so crucial. We have to play much better than today to get points next week.

No MOTM curse - we beat Sunderland in the 1st game of Feb.

Perhaps the curse of the international break is back though?! Always used to hurt us under Coppell.

[Ian Royal]

Pretty poor display from Reading. Too many hopeful long searching balls or hoofs clear straight to Stoke when we needed to play it short. No movement in midfield because Legs stands and watches too much. Still, fairly solid defensively apart from totally ignoring Huth from a corner. Great finish from Jerome with little room to do so. Harte's set piece delivery was dire apart from the corner we scored from.

Don't think Blackman showed any more quality than against Sunderland. Still early days, but not impressed with him at over £1m. So far looks maybe good enough for the Championship. ALF continues to ooze quality. Pog needs to stop collapsing under close guard just because he's lost the challenge. Akpan looks great when we pass the ball well. An absolute steal from Crawley. Legs really needs to move towards the ball more rather than waiting for it, pass short more and when he plays a through ball weight it properly, rather than belt it. But he's still our best physical defensive midfielder by some way.

Good display by Fed apart from the spilled stop that Pearce had to save him with. Mariappa brilliant.

[Mr.T10]

Didn't expect anything, Didn't deserve anything, could have got something and didn't get anything.

Oh well. We move on. Man U away next in the cup! Looking forward to it.

[rhroyal]

Better team won and we did well to make the scoreline respectable. The curse of "Manager of the Month" strikes again. Wigan next week is so crucial. We have to play much better than today to get points next week.

No MOTM curse - we beat Sunderland in the 1st game of Feb.

Perhaps the curse of the international break is back though?! Always used to hurt us under Coppell.

Possibly, although Mariappa had an excellent game (1 certain error aside) so clearly a midweek game in Mexico hadn't taken it's toll on him.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Big question is why McDermott went with Blackman over Le Fondre?

Blackman was shite.

[Ian Royal]

Big question is why McDermott went with Blackman over Le Fondre?

Blackman was shite.

because Blackman has played on the wing before and ALF is a striker. Why he choose Blackman over McCleary is the correct question.