Colin Cheeselog
You’re right, perhaps we can arrange a 90 minute boo-athon, after all, booing and abuse is right up there as one of the greatest motivation techniques known to man. Move aside Herzberg, Adams and Locke, the Reading mongs are here with their motivational booing technique.
McDermot is doing his best, as are the players. Unfortunately their best isn’t going to be good enough to keep us in the league, but we all knew that was likely to be the case 10 months ago, nothing has changed. This isn’t a new phenomenon, the majority of promoted teams over the years also haven’t been good enough to stay in the league.
Why are people surprised when our 31 year old winger, who has spent his entire career until now in the Championship, is unable to regularly beat two Aston Villa defenders? If he was capable he certainly wouldn’t be playing for Reading.
The least the fans can do when supporting a small, financial restricted, unattractive club is to actually support the team, have a bit of respect for the people that have been overachieving and given us some good times and keep your dignity. Unfortunately a high proportion of Reading fans are unable to gain perspective, and so they shout abuse instead because thing aren’t going exactly how they’d want them too, which only serves to annoy and demotivate the players, annoy the management, and make the decent fans around them realise what thick mongs they really are.
I'd agree if everyone was doing their best and we were still doing badly. But I don't think Mcdermott is doing as well as he could be, because he's basically a nice guy, and as a result is being too loyal to longstanding players. AFAIR he is on record as saying that signing and playing new players following promotion is an insult to the promotion squad. Nice principles, but when it means you keep starting Leigertwood every game it's putting your principles and mates/adopted sons before the good of the club.
Was discussing the game with my brother at the Mothers Day lunch*, and pretty much in agreement that Mdermott's loyalty and team selection was the focus of the anger and frustration at the game yesterday and the players aren't at fault for that but will inevitably be the focus of the booing.
Don't agree with the individual jeering of players going off yesterday, but the half time full time booing I won't criticise. Supporters pay substantial amounts to attend, and the crowd has been quite supportive for some time considering the dire season we're having. Other clubs/fans would have been far more critical of the squad and management before now. On the continent there'd be more criticism from the stands, protests outside the stadium/threats at the training ground, our players will/should get over a bit of booing.
The problem is there seems to be absolutely no plan, or what plan existed seems to have been abandoned following a short string of good results. What angered me most was the dire defending for the first goal and conceding so soon after scoring- schoolboy, embarassing stuff (and this is when the atmosphere turned, had they conceeded the two goals at other points in the game the crowd reaction wouldn't have been so negative). We still can't defend a lead so late in the season.
It's not the players' fault, but if the board, owner, management don't want booing fans they need to:
1) Invest more to avoid playing an out of depth team.
2) Sort out the defending so that it resembles something capable of stopping attacks/clearing a ball. This second one should not be that expensive or hard to sort out.
*For the AE gastros: Dew Drop Inn, smoked salmon and creme cheese, roast beef, dark chocolate torte 7/10
