Back from the sofa - Brentford (H)

[Royal Ginger]

I am not sure i get the negativity about Liburd. He came on for a few minutes and did not look out of place. He did not do anything particularly good or bad but then nor has Sa most games I have seen. I rather doubt Sa would have done any better.

I'm afraid i must disagree. I felt his first touch was atrocious and he was often running the wrong way for a pass (not fully his fault). He also inexplicably pulled out of a point blank shot at the near post from a McCleary touchline cross. He was under pressure, and he may well have missed it/had it smothered if he'd gone for it, but he actually appeared to pull away from it.

[Royal Ginger]

Unlike some of the earlier posts I was actually at the game and have just got back.

Before all the moronic HRK haters get going I will just say that I thought he had an excellent first half. He and John were our best two players first half. Brian McD confirmed in his interview on BBCRB just now that he asked HRK to give his all first half so he could bring on Vydra fresh second half. HRK did everything asked of him and did have one good chance to open the scoring.

Overall I thought Brentford were actually a good "team". They played as a unit and came for a win. In fact they are the first team this season to really go for it (Derby and QPR were both a tad lucky). I thought it was a very good game to be honest and both sides played well.

We just seem to lack cohesion and a certain amount of luck right now. But Brian’s track record for building a “team” is good and given time I am sure we will start to win games - but most likely it will not be promotion this season as we will now do very well to even reach the play offs.

I could not fault the effort today from all 14 who played, although Piazon still looks too lightweight to me. I thought Williams and Norwood were excellent and the rest tried hard. Liburd looks like he might have something about him.

We move on to the next game.

Fixed it for you

Actually Brian hasn't said that yet....

Take a look at his post match pitch side interview at Wolves. He goes to say it in so far as he even starts pursing his lips and making the sound of the w before he catches himself and uses a different phrase.

[SCIAG]

I am not sure i get the negativity about Liburd. He came on for a few minutes and did not look out of place. He did not do anything particularly good or bad but then nor has Sa most games I have seen. I rather doubt Sa would have done any better.

I'm afraid i must disagree. I felt his first touch was atrocious and he was often running the wrong way for a pass (not fully his fault). He also inexplicably pulled out of a point blank shot at the near post from a McCleary touchline cross. He was under pressure, and he may well have missed it/had it smothered if he'd gone for it, but he actually appeared to pull away from it.

We might be thinking of different moments, but I thought that one needed to be attacked by Blackman (who was busy blocking off a defender on the edge of the area) or Vydra. It wasn't for Liburd.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

The only way I could explain sending Liburd instead of Sa on would be:
a - Brain is bedding him in with some first team experience in preparation for next season
b - Sa has shagged his missus

[AthleticoSpizz]

or Sa ain't sticking around

[Gunny Fishcake]

Good game three cracking goals.

Brentford deserve credit, unlike us their team was exactly that , a team , who died for their shirt and played well and wherever well organised.

We continue to frustrate , there is clearly something missing , I think there is a deep rooted problem with this set of players who think they are far better than they actually are, and Brentford exploited that perfectly.

God knows what's happened to Blackman he's gone from world beater to his old self sulking and rarely in the game I think he's being played out of position far better in the middle.

Hector very poor, and maybe the suspension will give Cooper a chance

To think we've lost two games over Christmas and those tossers Wolves have won two shows how poor we are at present.

Bristol City a must win for the teams confidence as well as the fans who deserve a medal for the last three months

[Royal_jimmy]

I wrote this on the match day thread by error so thought I would copy my view onto this one!

Apart from about 20 minutes of play, I thought that was a pretty poor performance. Definitely not as good at the one at Wolves but to be fair Brentford are a better side than Wolves and didn't time waste like many teams have on us. Fair play for the 2 strikes as well is all I can say, sometimes not much can be done. I still think we should be doing better to stop their player get a shot on for the first one. Their bloke Woods looked a cracking talent.

Taylor must play at left back next game (whether he is ill or not). These players are paid thousands of pounds a week and should be able to cope with it.

Except the starting 11, everything else tactically was completely wrong. When players get booked early we don't target them. Tarkowski was on a yellow for almost the entire game yet we didn't try make him tackle us. Piazon was my MoM by a mile. I was shocked when he was subbed and even more shocked that Liburd replaced him. That decision probably cost us at least a draw.

We need to play a system that gets the best out of this squad because what we are doing isn't working. Hopefully the club will learn not to sign 5 players on loan including one for £2.5m. Vydra is a good player but that was wreckless and its no way to build a team especially one where 5 of our match day squad are very unlikely to be here next season.

Midtable finish for both clubs guaranteed.

[RoyalJack]

I wonder where Hector's mates are going New Years Eve? I'm sure he will be joining them, looked like he already knew. I watched him in the warm up, he was going through the motions. Burton and Reid were both watching on. When the players shook hands pre match, he was at the back of the queue and as the other all went to clap the crowd, he bent down, pulled his socks up, slowly, and then ambled into position without acknowledging the crowd.

I was really looking forward to the whistle to see if he interacted with the crowd, he didn't make it. He ran off the pitch quicker than he had moved since he 'moved' to Chelsea.

Let's hope Cooper slots in or Ferdinand gets back soon.

I never slag my players off and don't buy into pros not trying in matches. He actually performed better than I thought he would in the game, but his attitude is all wrong. It must either rub off on people that look up to him or rub players up the wrong way, like Williams who didn't stop running all day and probably ran home.

[NR_Royal]

Hector seemed to be first to every ball but gave it away every single time. I reckon we'll be better without him.

[Extended-Phenotype]

Tbh my only concern currently is this HRK up front business. I really hope this isn't Brian paying to much attention to what his 'mate' wants.

Yes HRK works hard but his finishing isnt much to shout about and certainly no better than Blackman's.

If anything you'd say HRK has a better cross on him and is more likely to pass. While Blackman isn't afraid to shoot and has a great finish on him.

I can't fathom why Brian perseveres with playing them the wrong way round - other than perhaps HRK being in his ear about it and Brian falling foul of favouritism again like his last time in charge.

I hope I'm wrong.

[RG7Fan]

I wonder where Hector's mates are going New Years Eve? I'm sure he will be joining them, looked like he already knew. I watched him in the warm up, he was going through the motions. Burton and Reid were both watching on. When the players shook hands pre match, he was at the back of the queue and as the other all went to clap the crowd, he bent down, pulled his socks up, slowly, and then ambled into position without acknowledging the crowd.

I was really looking forward to the whistle to see if he interacted with the crowd, he didn't make it. He ran off the pitch quicker than he had moved since he 'moved' to Chelsea.

Let's hope Cooper slots in or Ferdinand gets back soon.

I never slag my players off and don't buy into pros not trying in matches. He actually performed better than I thought he would in the game, but his attitude is all wrong. It must either rub off on people that look up to him or rub players up the wrong way, like Williams who didn't stop running all day and probably ran home.

If you're talking about the final whistle you are either mistaken / weren't there / bullshitting - Hector was sent off in the 86th minute ...

[bcubed]

Two stunning finishes but otherwise we dominated.
On most other days in the Championship those shots would not have been struck so sweetly or accurately
Unlucky again?!

A little but defensively loose again more like.

Do we need Steve Clarke back to sort out two banks of four with no gaps between?!

No thanks, I hope the answer lies in the return of Tish. We only look difficult to break down when he plays.

[SCIAG]

The only way I could explain sending Liburd instead of Sa on would be:
a - Brain is bedding him in with some first team experience in preparation for next season
b - Sa has shagged his missus

Liburd is much faster than Sa. I guess Brian thought he might be more useful on the counter attack.

[loyalroyal4life]

Norwood's fault for me, could've easily made a challenge on him. Great strike though.

Least someone actually went to the the game!

[loyalroyal4life]

[/quote]Actually, Gunter was our first choice right back when McD was last here.[/quote]
[/quote]McDermott signed Kelly to replace Gunts cos he ws shite in the prem.[/quote]

There is still hope then...(Gunter is replaced asap). Seriously overrated by many!

[RoyalJack]

I wonder where Hector's mates are going New Years Eve? I'm sure he will be joining them, looked like he already knew. I watched him in the warm up, he was going through the motions. Burton and Reid were both watching on. When the players shook hands pre match, he was at the back of the queue and as the other all went to clap the crowd, he bent down, pulled his socks up, slowly, and then ambled into position without acknowledging the crowd.

I was really looking forward to the whistle to see if he interacted with the crowd, he didn't make it. He ran off the pitch quicker than he had moved since he 'moved' to Chelsea.

Let's hope Cooper slots in or Ferdinand gets back soon.

I never slag my players off and don't buy into pros not trying in matches. He actually performed better than I thought he would in the game, but his attitude is all wrong. It must either rub off on people that look up to him or rub players up the wrong way, like Williams who didn't stop running all day and probably ran home.

If you're talking about the final whistle you are either mistaken / weren't there / bullshitting - Hector was sent off in the 86th minute ...

Read it again.... I was looking forward to the final whistle.... He didn't make it...

Do you see??...

[Vicky Pollard]

Fair play to Brentford, a couple of fantastic strikes and played some nice football. As Brian said on BBC Berks, they have an identity which we currently do not.

As has been the case regularly in recent weeks, we show glimpses of the football we are capable of, before proceeding to lose the plot.

Liburd was one of the worst substitutions I have seen in recent times. Awful first touch, poor reading of the game and ambling back from offside positions was very unhelpful when we were chasing the game. We need to get Sa back into the team who is one of few players who can finish their dinner.

Hector is petulant and has always had a sending off in him. It comes to something when your centre back is diving to win a penalty.

What's happened to Blackman? Didn't really look interested today but did attempt to use his right foot on one occasion.

There is promise there, but the formula isn't right at the moment.

[Doolittle]

Another frustrating same-old-story defeat, but it was a good game and in general play we weren't at all bad for much of the game, though we did get sloppy after the equaliser - I thought the current lack of confidence rather showed at that point.

We're low on confidence when it comes to the key moments though, and we need a bit of luck, and more leadership on the pitch, to turn it round.

Brentford scored with pretty much their only two serious efforts - both great goals, helped by exploiting the obvious weak spot in our defence, between makeshift left-back Quinn and out-of-sorts Hector. Getting two yellows for dissent and diving pretty much shows how scrambled his mind is right now, so it's probably good that he gets an enforced layoff.

Can we give Liburd a break ? Harsh to rush to judgement based on a couple of uncertain moments in 15 minutes of frenetic chasing-the-game football. He looked a bit raw, but also big, strong and quick, and could be a real penalty-box presence for us in time, which is something we sorely need.

I remember people thinking that Antonio was too clumsy to be any good, but that turned out to be rubbish. If you've got enough pace and strength to worry defenders, you can get plenty of goals in the Championship, whereas if you lack the physical presence you may not, no matter how skilful you might be.

[paultheroyal]

We can freshen this team up by recalling Fosu and Samuel for starters.

Genuinely don't think there is much wrong with this team... Our stats are quite incredible.

Get players in the positions they should be used to and let the rest take care of itself.

Goals will come.

[paultheroyal]

Chris Gunter is without doubt the most ineffective right back in the Championship.

Time and time again he is given the ball by Williams, advances 2 metres, turns back inside and gives it back to him. He brings nothing to the table.

I am starting to hate him.

Can't cross, can't head, can't tackle, never beats his man, ever.

Explain to me how you bring a kid on in front of an experienced centre forward? My friend's son calls McDermot a tactical retard, and I am beginning to see why.

Corners......... what is that about? The last time we scored from a corner was against Bradford in the cup.

Their fans, shocking!

Why don't our players shoot?

How did Vydra miss an open goal. ( I'm a Vydra fan by the way )

Apart from that all good.

Relegation battle coming up.

In sentence order.

Not true.
He don't, and he does.
Hating your own player, just
He does, he does, he does, he does.
Well done for reading Twitter.
They do.
Should of scored.
Ok.
Behave.

HTH.