Back from the game/the PC - Fulham (H)

[melonhead]

We'll win a few yes, but I don't think we'll win enough.

At the end of the day it's going to come down to whether we get the majority of breaks in the crucial matches or not. Last season we were lucky in that a lot of 50/50 matches went our way; hopefully the same will happen this season.

I'm not upset with how we played today. I thought we competed as well as our ability allows, and that for me is the problem. There's just a real lack of genuine quality in the squad and I think that's transmitting into a lack of excitement within the club and it's supporter base.

excitement wise newcastle and fulham were two of the best games ive seen at the madejski in recent years
win a game, and the fans excitement will come flooding back

I agree, the matches themselves have been exciting, which is why it's worrying that fans have been coming out of them so negative.

some people arent happy unless their unhappy
gotta admit its fuc king annoying to keep conceding goals, and throwing away winning positions
itll come though

[melonhead]

Btw, has anyone lol'd at the plastics who left with seven minutes to go. Quite evident on MOTD that there were plenty of empty seats in the north when our equaliser went in.

Also, think I'm right in saying this, when we went 2-1 down they said on R5L that people were leaving. I've never understood that mentality, and never will.

me neither

but apparently we arent allowed to say so, cos it makes people think that we think we are better fans than them, and that theyve paid their money so theyre allowed to leave when they want


i wouldnt mind if it meant anything other than getting to your car earlier so you can sit in the carpark waiting to get out.
if you were that bothered with the speed thing youd just get the busses in from the sticks, cos theyre quicker, and cheaper than driving yourself.

[Winnershroyal]

Btw, has anyone lol'd at the plastics who left with seven minutes to go. Quite evident on MOTD that there were plenty of empty seats in the north when our equaliser went in.

Also, think I'm right in saying this, when we went 2-1 down they said on R5L that people were leaving. I've never understood that mentality, and never will.

I left at 2-3, my loss, plastic though?

[sandman]

So did I for about the third time in almost 20 years so I must be a pLOLastic.

The game should never have got to 2-3 so even with the draw I don't feel overly bad about it.

[SCIAG]

McCarthy 6- couldn't be faulted for any of the goals, but otherwise only had simple saves to make. Good distribution choices, particularly as he can't kick.
Cummings 5- good going forward, but deary me, his marking seems to cost us every week. Bring Gunter back in.
Mariappa 7- our best defender
Gorkss 6- his first decent game of the season, as far as I can tell.
Shorey 7- overlapped well, kept a lid on Duff.
Kebe 7.5- started off really well, taking players on, running at their defence and causing real panic. In the second half he stopped doing that and started playing "keep possession" passes, which are all well and good when you are playing in a passing team, but not when your midfielders are Mikele Leigertwood and Jay Tabb. If McDermott is going to tell him to do that, he needs to play Guthrie.
Leigertwood 8- dominated the midfield, kept nicking the ball away, and scored a great goal.
Tabb 5- he's alright on the ball, but he doesn't have the physical presence to take the ball off the likes of Berbatov and Diarra, so he resembles Scrappy Doo when defending. People say Guthrie doesn't contribute enough defensively, but I don't think he contributes any less than Tabb, and he's better on the ball.
McAnuff 7.5- standard game for him really, good passing, good balls into the box, and he took on his full back really well.
Pog 6.5- could be doing better. Hangeland had the measure of him though, so it was a tricky day.
Roberts 7.5- excellent, looked really good on the ball, always running at his man.

Subs: HRK 7, goal and an assist, great cameo
McClearly 6.5- goal but little else
ALF n/a

[royal67]

Love the criticism of McAnuff - Surefire way to spot someone who's utterly clueless about football. Last season's top assister. 5 assists from 8 league games this season. Apparently he's crap. He's about the only Reading player anyone sane would even consider for their fantasy team.

Well said Ian...... And he made MOTD team of the week. He must be really crap on that basis mustn't he......?? Some people on here are bloody clueless......

[AthleticoSpizz]

NOTW team of the week too

[Ian Royal]

Love the criticism of McAnuff - Surefire way to spot someone who's utterly clueless about football. Last season's top assister. 5 assists from 8 league games this season. Apparently he's crap. He's about the only Reading player anyone sane would even consider for their fantasy team.

Well said Ian...... And he made MOTD team of the week. He must be really crap on that basis mustn't he......?? Some people on here are bloody clueless......

Worst player we've had for a decade according to some. I mention this frequently. But only because it is so mindbogglingly baffling a view to hold.

[grey_squirrel]

Cummings poor (again) and responsible for 2 of their goals (yet again) as he was against Swansea.

Kebe might look like he is tracking back (and helping Cummings) a bit more but is ineffectual and hasn't a clue how to beat a Prem defender going forward.

Sidwell and Riuz - like Mata and Hazard earlier in the season - had no one within 10 yards of marking them in and around our 'D'. This despite us having 2 deep lieing CM's.

Did McCarthy look suspect for 2 of their goals?

Some say reverting to ALF and Roberts next game. So apart from Shorey this reverts us to our Championship team that flooked it last year. Enough said.

The day that Tabb (correctly) gets MOTM for us in the Prem, is the day the light switches are just about to be switched off. Tabb was lucky to get on the bench last year.

Positives. Unbelivably there are 2 teams below us.

[Royal Rother]

Flooked it? Oh dear.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Wretched defending will relegate us this season if we are not careful. The Fulham goals were piss poor. The amount of passes they were allowed on the edge of the box allowed them to line up at will. No surprise when the ball crashed into the net on three occasions.

Shaun Cummings was at fault for at least two of the goals, mainly the Berbatov one were his positioning sense is dreadful, randomly cutting inside to leave Berbatov in acres of space.

Kebe was completely out of the game, McCleary totally in the game when he replaced him.

Seeing some positives, but they are being outweighed by so many negatives at the moment.

[Woodcote Royal]

Cummings poor (again) and responsible for 2 of their goals (yet again) as he was against Swansea.

Kebe might look like he is tracking back (and helping Cummings) a bit more but is ineffectual and hasn't a clue how to beat a Prem defender going forward.

Sidwell and Riuz - like Mata and Hazard earlier in the season - had no one within 10 yards of marking them in and around our 'D'. This despite us having 2 deep lieing CM's.

Did McCarthy look suspect for 2 of their goals?

Some say reverting to ALF and Roberts next game. So apart from Shorey this reverts us to our Championship team that flooked it last year. Enough said.

The day that Tabb (correctly) gets MOTM for us in the Prem, is the day the light switches are just about to be switched off. Tabb was lucky to get on the bench last year.

Positives. Unbelivably there are 2 teams below us.

Was it 16 wins out of 18 that saw us storm to the top of the table including 3pts at West Ham and Southampton? That would be some fluke.

Only in the deepest recesses of Federici's backside was McCarthy at fault for 2 of yesterday's goals.

[sandman]

No. It was probably Coppell's fault.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

No. It was probably Coppell's fault.

You sound like a boring old record, bet you can't wait for McCarthy to make a mistake so you can come in here dressed in Aussie attire.

[Dave the rave]

With the game ending as it did I was amused to see some early exits from both sets of supporters. I think the only time I would ever leave a game early is if we were 6 nil down and I had a plane to catch. Each to their own but it makes me question what they think their match day experience is all about.

Was sitting in the posh seats with a couple of Fulham fans dotted about so loved it when we equalised.
But that disguised what were poor performances from both teams. At times we made each other look good. Hence 3-3 and an entertaining game but no more than that.

It's still too early to write us off and there are some positives but they are too few and far between.

The sooner we get that win the sooner we'll get what could be the main thing that keeps us up. Belief.

I can't say I'm not worried though.

[melonhead]

Btw, has anyone lol'd at the plastics who left with seven minutes to go. Quite evident on MOTD that there were plenty of empty seats in the north when our equaliser went in.

Also, think I'm right in saying this, when we went 2-1 down they said on R5L that people were leaving. I've never understood that mentality, and never will.

I left at 2-3, my loss, plastic though?

not saying your a worse fan than anyone else, or made of plastic
i just question the validity of the decision, based on what you know about reading, how they play, and how they always battle till the very end
im often on th everge of getting up and leaving before the end if we are playing badly and getting thrashed, with no hope of getting it back, i just dont think that was the case on saturday
if it was just frustration and annoyance i can sympathise- if its cos you want to get to your traffic jam earlier i just dont see the point.

but i also acknowledge peoples right to do whatthe oxf*rd they like without beinjg questioned and whinged at by others, so carry on good sir.

[melonhead]

Cummings poor (again) and responsible for 2 of their goals (yet again) as he was against Swansea.

Kebe might look like he is tracking back (and helping Cummings) a bit more but is ineffectual and hasn't a clue how to beat a Prem defender going forward.

Sidwell and Riuz - like Mata and Hazard earlier in the season - had no one within 10 yards of marking them in and around our 'D'. This despite us having 2 deep lieing CM's.

Did McCarthy look suspect for 2 of their goals?

Some say reverting to ALF and Roberts next game. So apart from Shorey this reverts us to our Championship team that flooked it last year. Enough said.

The day that Tabb (correctly) gets MOTM for us in the Prem, is the day the light switches are just about to be switched off. Tabb was lucky to get on the bench last year.

Positives. Unbelivably there are 2 teams below us.

you dont/cannot fluke winning a 46 game championship

[Simon's Church]

No, but you can flook it.

[RoyalBlue]

Btw, has anyone lol'd at the plastics who left with seven minutes to go. Quite evident on MOTD that there were plenty of empty seats in the north when our equaliser went in.

Also, think I'm right in saying this, when we went 2-1 down they said on R5L that people were leaving. I've never understood that mentality, and never will.

me neither

but apparently we arent allowed to say so, cos it makes people think that we think we are better fans than them, and that theyve paid their money so theyre allowed to leave when they want


i wouldnt mind if it meant anything other than getting to your car earlier so you can sit in the carpark waiting to get out.
if you were that bothered with the speed thing youd just get the busses in from the sticks, cos theyre quicker, and cheaper than driving yourself.

But they don't run further afield and some supporters travel considerably further and maybe have other commitments that they need to meet.

My daughter's doing the reverse tomorrow. She's paid for her ticket but due to other commitments can't get there until the second half. Does that make her a good or bad supporter and is it any different from those who might make the effort to see the first part of a game but have to leave before the end?

Accept these type of people will be very much in the minority against the early leavers but they do exist.

[Vic_Flange]

Cummings poor (again) and responsible for 2 of their goals (yet again) as he was against Swansea.

Kebe might look like he is tracking back (and helping Cummings) a bit more but is ineffectual and hasn't a clue how to beat a Prem defender going forward.

Sidwell and Riuz - like Mata and Hazard earlier in the season - had no one within 10 yards of marking them in and around our 'D'. This despite us having 2 deep lieing CM's.

Did McCarthy look suspect for 2 of their goals?

Some say reverting to ALF and Roberts next game. So apart from Shorey this reverts us to our Championship team that flooked it last year. Enough said.

The day that Tabb (correctly) gets MOTM for us in the Prem, is the day the light switches are just about to be switched off. Tabb was lucky to get on the bench last year.

Positives. Unbelivably there are 2 teams below us.

you dont/cannot fluke winning a 46 game championship

We aint in the Championship now though. We are in big school and the big boys keep picking on us.