BFI Follow Blackburn

[Sutekh]

Just a footnote......Sam Gallagher again worked his nuts off for Blackburn and made a nuisance of himself, just as he did when he was motm for me after our home meeting. He is 23 and that was his 41st game today.
Compare that to our big signing star player Lucas João who looks to be absolutely critical to us and the way we play and still it looks like he won't be fit for some time and clearly wasn't fit when we signed him and I doubt we will see him again for the start of next season. That hamstring "twinge" we were told about clearly was a load of crap.
I then see his record of injuries at Wednesday......the guy will never complete a season....he will never be fit.....
Just saying, but we desperately need a target man......give me a Sam Gallagher over a Lucas João anyday. That's all.

Joao is apparently fit again but the manager doesn’t want to risk him in these nothing games at the end of the season in case.... says it all really.

If Joao gets injured again within the first few games of next season then I hope MB will have a plan B available at last.

[Westwood52]

We are achieving nothing with Bowen and co and going nowhere with him and his mates.We were clueless ,spineless and disorganised today.Swansea should be his last game;then out of the door.Otherwise we will be relegation fodder from mid September out..Get the new man in;tell him the budget and let him decide who he wants to ditch and who he wants to keep and then let him develop what sort of structure he wants pre season,Bold decisions are required,we cannot carry on serving up this load of tosh.We got caught cold within five minutes;as a fluke we got back to a draw:then Obita screwed up to give them a win.Why I took the credit on my season ticket after this;I have no idea and a lot of other people are feeling the same way.
Tim wasn’t great today,and please no more Jem.Reasonable footballer,but I would rather listen to the weather forecast on the radio.

[Lower West]

Baldock's interview on BBCRB was an eye-opener - especially about "Mr Nice Guy" Gomes...

In summary:

Had no idea why he (and the others were frozen out of the team)
Gomes said how good he was on leaving, although having frozen him out for months
Hopes to be here next season
Club has a lot of issues. Seems to be very "different" behind the scenes compared to other clubs.
Manager is not under pressure to pick team

Doesn't sound a happy ship within the squad either. As a senior pro Baldock will be usefull to retain.

One wonders how much influence is excerted by Mr Yongge on affairs from afar. Nigel will just be a puppet pulling the strings he's directed too. A soul less place to work.

[Zip]

We had a good twenty minute spell in the second half otherwise it was dreadful. Blackburn had so much time and space on the ball. We were exposed through the middle and down the flanks repeatedly. We conceded another late goal. That’s a concern. Bad habits and all that. Blackburn should have scored a load more. The work-rate was poor throughout the team.

Bowen has a huge task this summer. There is so much dross to clear out but also the need to bring in players particularly at CDM and wingers where we are very light. We needed to finish the season with momentum. That hasn’t happened.

[Lower West]

We are achieving nothing with Bowen and co and going nowhere with him and his mates.

Endless management changes with a complete waste of money on "star" players has resulted in the club being in the position it is. Time to stop buying promotion.

[Zip]

We are achieving nothing with Bowen and co and going nowhere with him and his mates.We were clueless ,spineless and disorganised today.Swansea should be his last game;then out of the door.Otherwise we will be relegation fodder from mid September out..Get the new man in;tell him the budget and let him decide who he wants to ditch and who he wants to keep and then let him develop what sort of structure he wants pre season,Bold decisions are required,we cannot carry on serving up this load of tosh.We got caught cold within five minutes;as a fluke we got back to a draw:then Obita screwed up to give them a win.Why I took the credit on my season ticket after this;I have no idea and a lot of other people are feeling the same way.
Tim wasn’t great today,and please no more Jem.Reasonable footballer,but I would rather listen to the weather forecast on the radio.

The trouble is we can bring in another manager but have the same recurring problems. What do you do then? Keep sacking the managers? It’s one of the reasons why we are in such a mess because no manager is given time to stamp their authority on the squad so we lack identity.

I’m far from convinced by Bowen but at least he is in a position to see what the problems are and try and do something about them this summer. So I think we should stick with him but we are going backwards and I think next season will be another struggle.

[Old Man Andrews]

We are achieving nothing with Bowen and co and going nowhere with him and his mates.We were clueless ,spineless and disorganised today.Swansea should be his last game;then out of the door.Otherwise we will be relegation fodder from mid September out..Get the new man in;tell him the budget and let him decide who he wants to ditch and who he wants to keep and then let him develop what sort of structure he wants pre season,Bold decisions are required,we cannot carry on serving up this load of tosh.We got caught cold within five minutes;as a fluke we got back to a draw:then Obita screwed up to give them a win.Why I took the credit on my season ticket after this;I have no idea and a lot of other people are feeling the same way.
Tim wasn’t great today,and please no more Jem.Reasonable footballer,but I would rather listen to the weather forecast on the radio.

The trouble is we can bring in another manager but have the same recurring problems. What do you do then? Keep sacking the managers? It’s one of the reasons why we are in such a mess because no manager is given time to stamp their authority on the squad so we lack identity.

I’m far from convinced by Bowen but at least he is in a position to see what the problems are and try and do something about them this summer. So I think we should stick with him but we are going backwards and I think next season will be another struggle.

If a more distinguished Championship manager with a great Championship record becomes available/shows an interest in managing us we would be silly to not consider it. Bowen comes across as a very cheap, "yes man" option who the board/Kia Joorabchian can tell what to do. We need a proper manager imo who can do it in our league, someone of Gary Rowett's ilk just as an example.

[Ascotexgunner]

We are achieving nothing with Bowen and co and going nowhere with him and his mates.We were clueless ,spineless and disorganised today.Swansea should be his last game;then out of the door.Otherwise we will be relegation fodder from mid September out..Get the new man in;tell him the budget and let him decide who he wants to ditch and who he wants to keep and then let him develop what sort of structure he wants pre season,Bold decisions are required,we cannot carry on serving up this load of tosh.We got caught cold within five minutes;as a fluke we got back to a draw:then Obita screwed up to give them a win.Why I took the credit on my season ticket after this;I have no idea and a lot of other people are feeling the same way.
Tim wasn’t great today,and please no more Jem.Reasonable footballer,but I would rather listen to the weather forecast on the radio.

The trouble is we can bring in another manager but have the same recurring problems. What do you do then? Keep sacking the managers? It’s one of the reasons why we are in such a mess because no manager is given time to stamp their authority on the squad so we lack identity.

I’m far from convinced by Bowen but at least he is in a position to see what the problems are and try and do something about them this summer. So I think we should stick with him but we are going backwards and I think next season will be another struggle.

If a more distinguished Championship record becomes available/shows an interest in managing us we would be silly to not consider it. Bowen comes across as a very cheap, "yes man" option who the board/Kia Joorabchian can tell what to do. We need a proper manager imo who can do it in our league, someone of Gary Rowett's ilk just as an example.

Fingers crossed Mr G Potter gets the boot....or Mr Farke becomes available or Ainsworth gets his head turned......
I just think nothings gonna change and we will no doubt be looking for a new manager next December....maybe wrong mind.

[karbota]

Thats the last we will see of Pusscas and good riddance too., and I dont think Joao will be around next season.

[Zip]

We are achieving nothing with Bowen and co and going nowhere with him and his mates.We were clueless ,spineless and disorganised today.Swansea should be his last game;then out of the door.Otherwise we will be relegation fodder from mid September out..Get the new man in;tell him the budget and let him decide who he wants to ditch and who he wants to keep and then let him develop what sort of structure he wants pre season,Bold decisions are required,we cannot carry on serving up this load of tosh.We got caught cold within five minutes;as a fluke we got back to a draw:then Obita screwed up to give them a win.Why I took the credit on my season ticket after this;I have no idea and a lot of other people are feeling the same way.
Tim wasn’t great today,and please no more Jem.Reasonable footballer,but I would rather listen to the weather forecast on the radio.

The trouble is we can bring in another manager but have the same recurring problems. What do you do then? Keep sacking the managers? It’s one of the reasons why we are in such a mess because no manager is given time to stamp their authority on the squad so we lack identity.

I’m far from convinced by Bowen but at least he is in a position to see what the problems are and try and do something about them this summer. So I think we should stick with him but we are going backwards and I think next season will be another struggle.

If a more distinguished Championship manager with a great Championship record becomes available/shows an interest in managing us we would be silly to not consider it. Bowen comes across as a very cheap, "yes man" option who the board/Kia Joorabchian can tell what to do. We need a proper manager imo who can do it in our league, someone of Gary Rowett's ilk just as an example.

Which available managers fit the bill and would be interested in coming to Reading? I always hear names mentioned but in reality they never end up becoming manager. Sometimes you have to stick with what you have and give the existing manager time.

[linkenholtroyal]

Does anybody think that maybe uncertainty on contracts maybe having an effect on players.
2 out of the starting line up and 5 who featured only have weeks left at the club as things stand.
With nothing to play for aswell this was better than I expected today.

There is no cohesion because there is no consistency and nothing to play for.

Roll on next season. A new set of players and a new belief.

You can’t blame Bowen either those doing so he has turned our season around and made us safe. With Gomes still in charge we would be in league 1. Look past today’s game and the future.

[karbota]

We are achieving nothing with Bowen and co and going nowhere with him and his mates.We were clueless ,spineless and disorganised today.Swansea should be his last game;then out of the door.Otherwise we will be relegation fodder from mid September out..Get the new man in;tell him the budget and let him decide who he wants to ditch and who he wants to keep and then let him develop what sort of structure he wants pre season,Bold decisions are required,we cannot carry on serving up this load of tosh.We got caught cold within five minutes;as a fluke we got back to a draw:then Obita screwed up to give them a win.Why I took the credit on my season ticket after this;I have no idea and a lot of other people are feeling the same way.
Tim wasn’t great today,and please no more Jem.Reasonable footballer,but I would rather listen to the weather forecast on the radio.

The trouble is we can bring in another manager but have the same recurring problems. What do you do then? Keep sacking the managers? It’s one of the reasons why we are in such a mess because no manager is given time to stamp their authority on the squad so we lack identity.

I’m far from convinced by Bowen but at least he is in a position to see what the problems are and try and do something about them this summer. So I think we should stick with him but we are going backwards and I think next season will be another struggle.

If a more distinguished Championship manager with a great Championship record becomes available/shows an interest in managing us we would be silly to not consider it. Bowen comes across as a very cheap, "yes man" option who the board/Kia Joorabchian can tell what to do. We need a proper manager imo who can do it in our league, someone of Gary Rowett's ilk just as an example.

You plonker we need someone with a bit of passion for the club, not another one of your ubiquitous deadbeat journeymen.
Parkys the man with mad dog to assist.

[Millsy]

That was shit.

Definite penalty, drinks break took the wind out of our sails etc etc but we only really played football when the changes were made and Blackburn clearly deserved to win that.

We cannot give service to the strikers until we put people in who can cross with Obita and Baldock great assists.

Swift and Rino we’re giving balls away like it was Sunday League footy. Perhaps they’re just shattered?

Left back is as much of liability position as it has been for YEARS. Liability Blackett will always be liability Blackett. Obita will always be predominantly a left winger which is what he naturally is. Richards is ok sometimes but for whatever reason they were destroying us down that flank over and over again. Very obvious game plan and yet again Bowen had to change it to prevent it somehow.

It’s all very well starting to make changes and play football when two goals down but we should have to rely on fightback heroics.

[Royal_jimmy]

We are achieving nothing with Bowen and co and going nowhere with him and his mates.We were clueless ,spineless and disorganised today.Swansea should be his last game;then out of the door.Otherwise we will be relegation fodder from mid September out..Get the new man in;tell him the budget and let him decide who he wants to ditch and who he wants to keep and then let him develop what sort of structure he wants pre season,Bold decisions are required,we cannot carry on serving up this load of tosh.We got caught cold within five minutes;as a fluke we got back to a draw:then Obita screwed up to give them a win.Why I took the credit on my season ticket after this;I have no idea and a lot of other people are feeling the same way.
Tim wasn’t great today,and please no more Jem.Reasonable footballer,but I would rather listen to the weather forecast on the radio.

The trouble is we can bring in another manager but have the same recurring problems. What do you do then? Keep sacking the managers? It’s one of the reasons why we are in such a mess because no manager is given time to stamp their authority on the squad so we lack identity.

I’m far from convinced by Bowen but at least he is in a position to see what the problems are and try and do something about them this summer. So I think we should stick with him but we are going backwards and I think next season will be another struggle.

I'm with Westwood actually. I wouldn't be too upset if Bowen was relieved of his duties.

I agree we can't keep sacking managers but our problem is we keep hiring the wrong ones to begin with which is why we are in this position. We need a manager with experience. If we can't get one then it makes sense to keep Bowen on. But if we get bring in an experienced head I'd be happy.

There were some idiots moaning that we sacked Gomes. We'd probably be relegated if he was still in charge. Im not sure Bowen is a long term fix. Unless we do well next season which given the circumstances feels unlikely then I can't see how contract being extended.

[Millsy]

Does anybody think that maybe uncertainty on contracts maybe having an effect on players.

Definitely. As is the number of games etc.

But it’s the same for every team.

[Uke]

We are achieving nothing with Bowen and co and going nowhere with him and his mates.We were clueless ,spineless and disorganised today.Swansea should be his last game;then out of the door.Otherwise we will be relegation fodder from mid September out..Get the new man in;tell him the budget and let him decide who he wants to ditch and who he wants to keep and then let him develop what sort of structure he wants pre season,Bold decisions are required,we cannot carry on serving up this load of tosh.We got caught cold within five minutes;as a fluke we got back to a draw:then Obita screwed up to give them a win.Why I took the credit on my season ticket after this;I have no idea and a lot of other people are feeling the same way.
Tim wasn’t great today,and please no more Jem.Reasonable footballer,but I would rather listen to the weather forecast on the radio.

The trouble is we can bring in another manager but have the same recurring problems. What do you do then? Keep sacking the managers? It’s one of the reasons why we are in such a mess because no manager is given time to stamp their authority on the squad so we lack identity.

I’m far from convinced by Bowen but at least he is in a position to see what the problems are and try and do something about them this summer. So I think we should stick with him but we are going backwards and I think next season will be another struggle.

I'm with Westwood actually. I wouldn't be too upset if Bowen was relieved of his duties.

I agree we can't keep sacking managers but our problem is we keep hiring the wrong ones to begin with which is why we are in this position. We need a manager with experience. If we can't get one then it makes sense to keep Bowen on. But if we get bring in an experienced head I'd be happy.

There were some idiots moaning that we sacked Gomes. We'd probably be relegated if he was still in charge. Im not sure Bowen is a long term fix. Unless we do well next season which given the circumstances feels unlikely then I can't see how contract being extended.

Colin will still be at Boro

No point in replacing Bowen yet

[SouthDownsRoyal]

The trouble is we can bring in another manager but have the same recurring problems. What do you do then? Keep sacking the managers? It’s one of the reasons why we are in such a mess because no manager is given time to stamp their authority on the squad so we lack identity.

I’m far from convinced by Bowen but at least he is in a position to see what the problems are and try and do something about them this summer. So I think we should stick with him but we are going backwards and I think next season will be another struggle.

If a more distinguished Championship manager with a great Championship record becomes available/shows an interest in managing us we would be silly to not consider it. Bowen comes across as a very cheap, "yes man" option who the board/Kia Joorabchian can tell what to do. We need a proper manager imo who can do it in our league, someone of Gary Rowett's ilk just as an example.

You plonker we need someone with a bit of passion for the club, not another one of your ubiquitous deadbeat journeymen.
Parkys the man with mad dog to assist.

LOL

[Lower West]

Swift and Rino we’re giving balls away like it was Sunday League footy. Perhaps they’re just shattered?

Opposition have Swift worked out. When he has possession deep harry him and he'll play a bad pass/concede possession. Too often no speed of thought. Rarely forward balls into the channels.

[linkenholtroyal]

Does anybody think that maybe uncertainty on contracts maybe having an effect on players.

Definitely. As is the number of games etc.

But it’s the same for every team.

We do have a lot on loan / end of contract though only other team I can think of with as many in that position is Hull and look where they are.

[Millsy]

Swift and Rino we’re giving balls away like it was Sunday League footy. Perhaps they’re just shattered?

Opposition have Swift worked out. When he has possession deep harry him and he'll play a bad pass/concede possession. Too often no speed of thought. Rarely forward balls into the channels.

You may be right there. And I don’t know if it’s related but,..

I say after every game I miss Ejaria. When he plays even if people don’t like what he does he scares the shit out of the opposition, who put three men on him and allow Swift et al to play.

I wonder if Swift has been spoiled by this and is now much more exposed as they only need to suffocate him now instead.