Papering over the cracks....

[Hoop Blah]

I'm in agreement with WR here.

Late goals obviously count and are almost more valuable (if a winner of equaliser) because there isn't as much time left in the game for the opposition to try and regain their advantage. However, you can't rely on scoring your goals so late and getting you out of trouble week-in week-out, which is pretty much what we're doing right now as it's a policy that's not going to be reliable.

I'm not sure if it's just because we've not got quite enough attacking quality in the squad or just that we've not got the balls to attack teams until we have to, but something isn't quite right in the way we're approaching games from the off.

I'm a big beliver that performances will usually, over time, start to be reflected in results. As brendy has said, our performances have been alright and we've not been outclassed as such by any of the teams we've played. However, my concern here i that although we've not been outclassed we've not really looked like scoring in most of those games where we've played reasonably well.

We're ok at containing the opposition but, unless we really push ourselves (ie when we're losing or running out of time), we're not great at carving them open and looking like we're going to beat teams. That's why we're not the most entertaining team to watch.

[Alan Partridge]

Didn't Norwich do that A LOT last season, losing or drawing going into 90minutes then would find a winner/equaliser? What turned them from about an 8th placed side to a promoted side.

Where I do agree, again it's only on the limited amount of Reading I've seen this season, there are obvious cracks in that team. They don't look a particularly good side but what they are generally is difficult to beat and they don't give up. 2 very good traits to have.

You can't play Griffin AND Harte but you can certainly get away with 1 of them in this league and for me Harte is a must. The amount of free kicks and corners completely wasted that Reading have had recently, the bloke plays 1 game and they score 2 from his set pieces. For a side like Reading that doesn't have much creative flair in it, dead ball situations are an absolute must to get right so Harte has to play.

I find it amazing Le Fondre didnt' start at Ipswich, how anyone could rate Church as a better option honestly frightens me especially when the side is struggling for goals, the same mentality I suppose to being 2-1 down at home with 5 mins to go then taking off the only striker that might get you a goal Lunacy. Hunt might be a better foil for ALF because he does put that shift in and will draw defenders out of position, definite question marks over his actual quality but that is a question you can throw at all of Reading's strikers. There is a lack of spark in the midfield area to create things and the wingers have both been massively below par this season which means the forwards live off scraps in fairness to them but again this constant tinkering of the side still tells me McDermott still isn't 100% sure on what his best XI is.

I've thought from Day 1 Reading have enough about them to finish mid table, 12th/13th something like that, nothing has altered my view. I can't see anyone doing what Shane Long did and going on a stunning goalscoring run carrying the side to the playoffs almost single handedly but I can't also see them ever being that bad to be involved in a relegation battle. There really are so many weak sides in the division where Reading are miles better than them.

[LUX]

There really are so many weak sides in the division where Reading are miles better than them.

Coventry and Donny perhaps, but who are the other side who look likely to drop? On form, it's probably Derby, who were top two in September (or something). I don't think we are better than, say, Watford or Forest (both of whom have beaten us already). But we made Saints and Brum look average.

This division, to st8 the obvious, is very open. ATM I am looking nervously over our shoulder. When we were 2-1 down on Saturday with 5 mins to go, the table looked very frightening, especially with a tough run coming up.

I'm a realistic RTG

[Alan Partridge]

There really are so many weak sides in the division where Reading are miles better than them.

Coventry and Donny perhaps, but who are the other side who look likely to drop? On form, it's probably Derby, who were top two in September (or something). I don't think we are better than, say, Watford or Forest (both of whom have beaten us already). But we made Saints and Brum look average.

This division, to st8 the obvious, is very open. ATM I am looking nervously over our shoulder. When we were 2-1 down on Saturday with 5 mins to go, the table looked very frightening, especially with a tough run coming up.

I'm a realistic RTG

Both of them, I still don't think tomorrow's opponenets are particularly good, Ipswich, Watford, Millwall I'd also consider Reading to be a better side than Barnsley, Portsmouth and Burnley. But I do agree it's an extremely close and open division. Reading somewhere in that middle tier of sides.

[mr_number]

Ipswich looked really poor I thought... two goals that owed more to luck/ poor defending that anything they did. Just didn't show that much quality anywhere.

[westongeezer]

DEJA VU