Opposition fans back from the game - 24/25 page 225 onwards

[tidus_mi2]

Yeah I'll give the Forest fan that comment, horrible run of fixtures for them which makes the recent home defeat to Luton all the more damaging.

Thankfully it looks like we are hitting a bit of form just as their own upturn of results is tailing off.

[Jagermesiter1871]

Didn't Forest go up last year? Thought they did in January?

[paultheroyal]

t halftime, I thought, sod it, I'm going to the allotment and I'll listen on audio there. The first half was all them being boringly slick and us being calamitously casual. I expected it to be similar in the 2nd half.

By the time I'd got there and set mesen up, we'd scored. And as we pressed for a second I could feel it slipping away.

A draw, in the end, probably flatters us.

But I'll take it, it's another point pushing us towards mediocrity.

Going on bbc stats are what website u’ve used is pretty one dimensional n blinked. No denying reading played well n looked threatening going forward. Murray chance which was on target in first half, saved my keeper, was inside box, lolly’s lovely dribble first half and shot went just wide, although probably just outside area was great chance. Stats aren’t everything

Thought Reading look a decent team with some really good young strong dynamic players (pretty much the opposite of Forest) which is pretty impressive given what we’ve spent on the squad in recent years.

From what I got, I couldn't split the two sides first half, Reading took over second half & we've done well to hold on for a point.

Just think. Only 12 months ago we would have been considering this as a bad result.

s for Reading being there for the taking, i thought there were times when their defence was creaking and leaking.
They have a very good goalkeeper who makes up for those creaks and leaks.
I still believe they were there for the taking.

Got to take into consideration Reading being a decent team this season, once Meite and Aluko came on (and Semedo went off) they changed the game. Joao and Meite are a handful up front, we could do with a striker like that in the Summer. Some pace and power out wide and upfront would be nice next season.

Reading threatened but other than a couple of chances they blasted wide or over, and the one they hit straight through our ghostkeeper, they didn't actually trouble Samba.

Let's be honest, a 1-1 against 12 men isn't too bad at all

I thought we played alright against a decent Reading side.

Top 6 team, we went toe to toe with them, should/could have won

[RoyalBlue]

s for Reading being there for the taking, i thought there were times when their defence was creaking and leaking.
They have a very good goalkeeper who makes up for those creaks and leaks.
I still believe they were there for the taking.

Yet there are a reasonable number amongst our support who don't appear to recognise that and seemingly want to blame him (and yes, like all, even great, keepers he occasionally makes mistakes) virtually every time our defence does leak and we concede!

[From Despair To Where?]

Swings and roundabouts with keepers though isn't it. Last season the Forest fans were proclaiming Samba the second coming of Lev Yashin. He's looked decidedly ropey this season.

Raphael has had a couple of wtf games this season and his form dropped off a cliff in the dodgy period in October but he's a pretty reliable keeper and there aren't many better in this league. Even the best keepers have spells where they look clueless.

[Nameless]

Reading comments it’s easy to dismiss them as one eyed, 7ntil you realise the stuff we come out with is at least as bad most of the time !
Not sure how they were playing against 12 men, presumably that poster got suckered in by the ifollow vendetta against Yiadom.

[NewCorkSeth]

Swings and roundabouts with keepers though isn't it. Last season the Forest fans were proclaiming Samba the second coming of Lev Yashin. He's looked decidedly ropey this season.

Raphael has had a couple of wtf games this season and his form dropped off a cliff in the dodgy period in October but he's a pretty reliable keeper and there aren't many better in this league. Even the best keepers have spells where they look clueless.

To be fair I heard he's had trouble adjusting to life outside of the sewer.

[Snowflake Royal]

Some of them need to focus on their schooling, not football.

[tidus_mi2]

Reading comments it’s easy to dismiss them as one eyed, 7ntil you realise the stuff we come out with is at least as bad most of the time !
Not sure how they were playing against 12 men, presumably that poster got suckered in by the ifollow vendetta against Yiadom.

Yiadom was getting away with a lot of fouls to be fair but it would be a bit of a stretch to say they were playing against 12 men. Their commentators were incredibly biased, made Tim look neutral. One moment that stood out to me was Joao was getting manhandled on the halfway line but he was able to use his strength to knock the ball on and the Forest commentators were shocked it wasn't a Forest free kick.

[RoyalBlue]

Reading comments it’s easy to dismiss them as one eyed, 7ntil you realise the stuff we come out with is at least as bad most of the time !
Not sure how they were playing against 12 men, presumably that poster got suckered in by the ifollow vendetta against Yiadom.

Yiadom was getting away with a lot of fouls to be fair but it would be a bit of a stretch to say they were playing against 12 men. Their commentators were incredibly biased, made Tim look neutral. One moment that stood out to me was Joao was getting manhandled on the halfway line but he was able to use his strength to knock the ball on and the Forest commentators were shocked it wasn't a Forest free kick.

I didn't think they were that bad to be honest and nowhere near as blinkered as TD can be (and usually is). On a couple of occasions when they saw replays they acknowledged that their initial impression/comment was wrong and I think that may have included the Joao incident. There was another occasion when Puscas won a free kick by pushing right backwards into their defender and they didn't even complain!

Incidentally, I get the impression that when TD and MG are commentating at the Mad Stad, they don't utilise iFollow/Sky for the benefit of the replays. I don't think I've ever heard them referring to 'looking at that incident again'.

[Nameless]

Reading comments it’s easy to dismiss them as one eyed, 7ntil you realise the stuff we come out with is at least as bad most of the time !
Not sure how they were playing against 12 men, presumably that poster got suckered in by the ifollow vendetta against Yiadom.

Yiadom was getting away with a lot of fouls to be fair but it would be a bit of a stretch to say they were playing against 12 men. Their commentators were incredibly biased, made Tim look neutral. One moment that stood out to me was Joao was getting manhandled on the halfway line but he was able to use his strength to knock the ball on and the Forest commentators were shocked it wasn't a Forest free kick.

Steve hodge was consistently complimenting us on our play, on our retention of the ball etc.
Yiadom didn’t get away with fouls, apart from 1 that I can remember he was penalised by the ref awarding a free kick ! The commentators wanted him booked, and they were probably right.However there were Forest players who were equally guilty of committing one or two too many fouls (. Garner was a name I heard mentioned pretty often).

[Jagermesiter1871]

Yeh I think on the whole Rafael is a high quality champ keeper. They all have clangers, so do the very top ones.

[Jagermesiter1871]

Reading comments it’s easy to dismiss them as one eyed, 7ntil you realise the stuff we come out with is at least as bad most of the time !
Not sure how they were playing against 12 men, presumably that poster got suckered in by the ifollow vendetta against Yiadom.

Yiadom was getting away with a lot of fouls to be fair but it would be a bit of a stretch to say they were playing against 12 men. Their commentators were incredibly biased, made Tim look neutral. One moment that stood out to me was Joao was getting manhandled on the halfway line but he was able to use his strength to knock the ball on and the Forest commentators were shocked it wasn't a Forest free kick.

I didn't think they were that bad to be honest and nowhere near as blinkered as TD can be (and usually is). On a couple of occasions when they saw replays they acknowledged that their initial impression/comment was wrong and I think that may have included the Joao incident. There was another occasion when Puscas won a free kick by pushing right backwards into their defender and they didn't even complain!

Incidentally, I get the impression that when TD and MG are commentating at the Mad Stad, they don't utilise iFollow/Sky for the benefit of the replays. I don't think I've ever heard them referring to 'looking at that incident again'.

I'm not even entirely convinced TD & MG are watching the game. They could well be down on the pier at Brighton considering most the time they're talking about birds or Bovril.

[CountryRoyal]

Yeh I think on the whole Rafael is a high quality champ keeper. They all have clangers, so do the very top ones.

His distribution lets him down massively. When you look at how good Brentford’s keeper is with his feet etc.

[Snowflake Royal]

Yeh I think on the whole Rafael is a high quality champ keeper. They all have clangers, so do the very top ones.

His distribution lets him down massively. When you look at how good Brentford’s keeper is with his feet etc.

Still think he's weak on shots from outside the box, but definitely upped his game there,

Our distribution involves far too many passes that put someone under unnecessary pressure with limited to no outs when there's a far safer and better option. Rafael does it to the defence and midfield, who do it to him and each other.

[Lower West]

Yeh I think on the whole Rafael is a high quality champ keeper. They all have clangers, so do the very top ones.

His distribution lets him down massively. When you look at how good Brentford’s keeper is with his feet etc.

Still think he's weak on shots from outside the box, but definitely upped his game there,

In part down to the lack of defensive cover. With players ambling back.

[CountryRoyal]

Yeh I think on the whole Rafael is a high quality champ keeper. They all have clangers, so do the very top ones.

His distribution lets him down massively. When you look at how good Brentford’s keeper is with his feet etc.

Still think he's weak on shots from outside the box, but definitely upped his game there,

Our distribution involves far too many passes that put someone under unnecessary pressure with limited to no outs when there's a far safer and better option. Rafael does it to the defence and midfield, who do it to him and each other.

It’s really frustrating. I’ve commented before but I have no idea what percentage of his kicks actually lead to a possession turnover but it does seem to be very high. Every time we make the decision to pass back to him instead of a midfielder/defender clearing it almost always just surrenders possession and invites pressure. We’d be better off pumping hopeful balls down the channels.

This being said on the whole he’s still pretty good at this level imho, and his pros outweigh the cons, but i think he’s probably the most replaceable starting player we have.

[Nameless]

Yeh I think on the whole Rafael is a high quality champ keeper. They all have clangers, so do the very top ones.

His distribution lets him down massively. When you look at how good Brentford’s keeper is with his feet etc.

Indeed, Bradley Dack absolutely raves about how good the Brentford keeper is with his feet.

[RoyalBlue]

His distribution lets him down massively. When you look at how good Brentford’s keeper is with his feet etc.

Still think he's weak on shots from outside the box, but definitely upped his game there,

Our distribution involves far too many passes that put someone under unnecessary pressure with limited to no outs when there's a far safer and better option. Rafael does it to the defence and midfield, who do it to him and each other.

It’s really frustrating. I’ve commented before but I have no idea what percentage of his kicks actually lead to a possession turnover but it does seem to be very high. Every time we make the decision to pass back to him instead of a midfielder/defender clearing it almost always just surrenders possession and invites pressure. We’d be better off pumping hopeful balls down the channels.

This being said on the whole he’s still pretty good at this level imho, and his pros outweigh the cons, but i think he’s probably the most replaceable starting player we have.

Maybe you should look at what the percentage is. I suspect it's nowhere near as high as you suggest. And there is a big difference between him on occasions hitting it long from back passes (often the midfielder/defender doesn't have an easy option to hit long hence passing back) and constantly pumping hopeful balls down the channels.

Maybe I'm old fashioned but whilst I expect keepers to be reasonably good with the ball at their feet, I'll still go for shot-stopping ahead of kicking ability if that choice has to be made (Reading clean sheets 16, Brentford 11) and that becomes increasingly important if you don't have a free-scoring team in front of the keeper.

As for probably being the 'most replaceable' starting player we have - who from the Championship would you want to replace him with? His stats speak for themselves (one of the best keepers in the league), unless clean sheets are viewed as being down to the defence and goals conceded down to the keeper!

[Snowflake Royal]

Cabral has about a 33% pass success for long balls.