Middlesbrough v Reading Match Thread

[higher]

Just back. First half pretty mediocre with Boro definately the brighter.Their first goal from what looked to me a suspect free kick was floated to the far post pretty much unmarked the free header back in which caused mayhem and a soddin goal by Viduka wearing gloves on a mild yet damp day.Grrr.
We came out for the second half at last playing joined up football.Lita had been pretty ineffectual in the first half started causing problems for boro.
The second half mainly proceeded rather well by all accounts and we had a number of chances to pull level before Boros 2nd sucker punch goal.
The injection of Kitson for Long saw some real menace and the best news for me is that Kits is looking really sharp.
All in all not a great day but we battled to the end and with the rub of the green could have snatched a point.Boro looked quite a tidy outfit to be fair.
Halsey was a bit of a Homer and one particular Lino was beyond a joke.
There was the obligatory fat bloke to our left ribbing the Reading fans .He was silenced by Osters late goal leaving Boro with a nail biting finish.
Bring on the Manure hopefully with Kits leading the front line.

[Pele_Kitson]

From watching the game on TV in the pub, i thought 1st half was fairly poor. 2nd half thought we played well enough to have got a draw.
Long, up until a few minutes before he went off had a poor game & Duberry did well after a shaky 1st 15-20mins.
Good to see Oster come on for Hunt rather than Blakey for once.

[From Despair To Where?]

A few observations from today.

Very poor in the first half, too many misplaced passes and nothing up front. Vast improvement in the second half and Kitson was excellent in place of the anonymous Long. Harps was chasing shadows all day.

Duberry obviously hasn't got the understanding as yet, that will come but in the first half he always seemed 2yds behind the rest of the defence and was wary of a physical battle with Yakubu, who is up with the best, or should that be worst of them when it comes to falling over and trying to con the ref. How many times today was he stricken with a life threatening injury only to be up and running full pelt 20 seconds later? And as for the dive in the box in the first half, I was almost embarrassed on his behalf.

Linesmen were diabolical, for both sides to be fair and Halsey gave the textbook demonstration of a homer ref. How could every 50/50 challenge be given in Boro's favour?

Boro fans that I met in the pub and outside the ground were, to a person, some of the friendliest people I've ever met on my footballing travels. I was also amazed to be able to park in a proper, marked out car park, 200yds from the ground, not pay a penny and be back on the road and on my way out of Boro inside 5 minutes of getting back to my car.

However, is there a more plastic footballing experience than a match at the Riverside? Soul-less, passionless, there's more atmosphere in a vacuum. If you think the Madejski's bad, it's got nothing on the Riverside. Added to that, the beer was piss and the stewards were oxf*rd

[Archie's penalty]

I think Long instead of Kitson is a mistake.

Certainly looks that way so far. Let's hope Shane can turn this round.

I was surprised also. Looks like the gently gently approach regarding Kitson's fitness.

Not that gently,gently playing on his own up front away at Man Utd.
Why on earth he would play Long ahead of our best striker I can't fathom,unless suddenly the FA Cup has become our main target.

I may be biased but I think that Kitson is almost the complete striker,other than perhaps pace and if he had that he would be playing for one of the top 4.
Having played up front on his own away at Man utd a week ago I thought he was nailed on to start today especially with a commanding Woodgate in their defence and with a chance of some revenge against a side that has almost ruined his season.

In the game at Man City he won a fantastic tackle to help set up one of Lita's goals and in the Villa game played a beautiful wall-pass to set up Sidwell's second-two examples of his varied abilities.
When he plays we have a real balance up front and his defensive qualities at set-pieces are considerable-way ahead of any of the other strikers.
As you can gather I am quite a fan and he would be my first name on the teamsheet whereas Long or Lita would only be my 3rd or 4th choice strikers.
Hopefully Kitson and Doyle will start on Tuesday and again on Saturday and in the remaining games of the season,after which they can have 3 months or so rest-in the Summer months,not in February.
Rant over and if Coppell took some notice we might be a bit better placed than only 6th. and in the later stages of the FA Cup.

As I said before - I can't wait to see Doyle and Kitson up front against Manure! They are clearly the best strike partnership and to think apart from the opening day they haven't played together in a competitive match. Lita is also great but the aforementioned pair are amazing. Have missed seeing them together...

[Jimbo]

Perhaps this was a good result for us......

With all the media talk of getting in Europe, Coppell as Manager of the season, undefeated this year etc, maybe this will be a little reminder that there is still lots of hard work to be done.

I know that Coppell always has his feet firmly on the ground but it must be difficult for the players not to get swept up in it all like the fans have.

I will admit to dreaming of UEFA cup football next season.....

[Jimbo]

And I forgot, West Ham and Sheff Utd got spanked today.

And we've got a big Cup game on Tuesday.

I feel better already

[International Royal]

Saw the game in Lagos. Poor first half but good stuff in the second. At times you would have thought that RFC were the home team, On another day we could have got something.

Hard to find fault with SC and his methods which have got us to where we are today. We know that he sticks with a winning team. If you're part of that team even if you have a poor game you stay in. That's why Long starts and DLC is on the bench. Kitson, I believe should now start and DLC should not be on the bench, perhaps Halford.

That said the spirit was excellent and they kept going right to the end. The winning run had to come to an end at some point.

[nivek elyod]

Let's forget about today and look forward to Tuesday...


URZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

[Arch]

I'd definitely managed to forget how assured Kits can be with the ball at his feet. He turned challengers with almost Blakey-like moves a couple of times. His one real chance at goal was a decent clean strike that just needed to be kept down. Certainly the one shot we had that looked like a top goal-scorer's strike of the ball.

[higher]

I'd definitely managed to forget how assured Kits can be with the ball at his feet. He turned challengers with almost Blakey-like moves a couple of times. His one real chance at goal was a decent clean strike that just needed to be kept down. Certainly the one shot we had that looked like a top goal-scorer's strike of the ball.

I know the bit your refering to.Sheer instinctive quality you cant really teach.One of the better goals of the season if that had been a little lower and hit the back of the net.
Boro fan referred to that strike as I was leaving the ground saying that ginger lad you put on looks a bit special. I didnt dsagree!

[smiler62]

Where abouts in Lagos were you International....?

I remember watching Reading in an Irish camp just outside Abuja a few years ago.

[International Royal]

Where abouts in Lagos were you International....?

I remember watching Reading in an Irish camp just outside Abuja a few years ago.

Ikoyi. Probably the best district in Lagos. Most ex-pats are here or V.I. - good atmosphere for sport particularly the rugby yesterday. However my focus was on the Reading game. Not much interest from the inetrnational community but there will be for the Man U game which is also on here. I will see that in the number one watering hole - Pat's Bar.