(not yet) BFTG: Watford (H)

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Jem should have come off way before he did, as he was dead on his feet and clearly injured for 20mins. Why the hell Nigel decided to leave him on when he was clearly struggling I have no idea......but that and the Watford tactical switch in the middle killed us. We completely lost the midfield from then on.

Sh*t subs at the wrong time.

Shame as we were freaking awesome in the first half, but fair play to Watford.
We'd have all taken a point before kick-off, so to walk away gutted like it was a defeat is kinda galling

[sandman]

Not the result we wanted, we must learn from this

We move on...

"A good Workout"

[Royal Ginger]

Why do people want Kelly in? He wasn't good enough for fulham, makes sloppy errors at the back and never gets forward, unlike gunter who gets forward and tackles. He was continuously with his man, the left winger didn't do much in the game and he was always forward. His passing though is a bit suspect but that's something he can work on.

A right back needs to be a defender before a winger. No-one is denying that Gunter is better at getting forward, but we're supposed to be title contenders and we've conceded 5 in 3 games. Kelly was a huge boost to the defense last season. He deserves a chance.

[P!ssed Off]

Subs had to be made.
Royston's not at full fitness yet, Karacan took at least two knocks in the game and would have been subbed off much earlier if not for being MOTM.
Possibly McAnuff should have been subbed off a bit later than he was.

Unfortunately Watford reached their best when we began to tire. Injuries to Bridge and Blackman in the last 10 mins weakened our ability to hold on to the lead as well as pretty much destroyed any opportunity of us getting a winner at the end.

[Gunny Fishcake]

You have to say a great game, but impossible not to feel deflated after throwing away a two goal lead twice. I thought Watford were very very good and who ever finishes above them come the end of the season will be promoted , if that's what we want.

Some wonderful football from Reading but I'm afraid Blackman does look a weak link and I have doubts about Pearce and Morrisson when being run at with pace, though they both had good games.Also apart from Alfies wonder goal I think he's not the answer up front alas , perhaps he is the perfect impact sub ?

Plenty to be positive about, great start and a joy to be in a competitive league competition again.

[URZZZZ]

How was Kelly a boost, I think he started off well but got worse. How many goals have directly come from Gunter's fault

[Ian Royal]

Lol at critising alf. He's no good as a starter. 2 goals in two starts. He should score more.

[Royal Ginger]

How was Kelly a boost, I think he started off well but got worse. How many goals have directly come from Gunter's fault

When Kelly came into the team Gunter was at his very worst. Everyone was happy with his early contributions. He got worse once Adkins started playing him on the left. He's a RB

[Cureton's Volley]

Everyone is saying we were outstanding in the first half. I agree. Fair play to Nigel for making the right decision to switch to a 4-4-2 diamond. He said in his interview they took the decision this week, and had little time to work on it... I imagine more so with the internationals. Alf and Blackman looked a real handful as a pair with Drenthe bursting through the middle into space. Driving their defence so deep created lots of space behind for Guthrie and Karacan to control the play and bring the full-backs into the attacks.

It went tits up towards the end when, as Nigel said: "We changed to string 5 out across the middle". Unfortunately the players who were in 3 of those midfield positions are not our strongest defensively, or mentally, and I think the momentum of the events and the atmosphere got them them a bit. This resulted in us playing nervously, backing off, and rushing in possession. We were unlucky to concede in the ways we did, but that is football.

On today's performance we need an additional striker, and could do with the likes of Akpan or Ledge on the bench to bolster the midfield if we revert to 4-5-1 later on... but very encouraging performance

[Readallaboutit]

Why do people want Kelly in? He wasn't good enough for fulham, makes sloppy errors at the back and never gets forward, unlike gunter who gets forward and tackles. He was continuously with his man, the left winger didn't do much in the game and he was always forward. His passing though is a bit suspect but that's something he can work on.

Are you serious? Kelly had signed a new contract at Fulham before signing for Reading. He played an instrumental role at Fulham for them to reach the Europa League final in his first season, playing more games in that league than any other defender at the club. He also played a huge part in their 2011/2012 prem season with Fulham finishing higher than they had in years.
Honestly There's no comparison between Kelly and Gunter.
Kelly is a quality player who has played his entire career in the premiership. Gunter on the other hand has consistently showed he is not up to scratch. Adkins has given a chance and he has cost us goals.
Could you tell me when did Gunter get forward and cross the ball today?? I must have blinked!
Gunter was turned by his player, on the back foot and pushed their player in the box, and was extremely lucky not to be sent off.
Kelly is quicker, stronger, offers much more going forward, he overlaps for fun in comparison! And defensively Kelly is a much better reader of the game and tackler.
Don't forget as well that Kelly played out of position at left back towards e end of last season, we were conceding goals for fun on that side before he was asked to play there.
He definitely deserves much more credit than you have given him.

[Will95]

We looked great for most of today, McAnuff really impressed, McCarthy made one superb stop, Jem was excellent, we looked the best we have in ages. Watford were also very, very good though and always threatened, a draw against them really should be taken as a great result but not in that way, we can't be letting two goal leads slip. The Watford players were thuggish off the ball and dived a lot when they had the ball. Not a fun team to be against. Alfie, great goal aside, was very poor today, Drenthe also looked his worst yet, but he was getting constantly knocked about.

Fans were good today, in parts, Watford fans were very poor considering their numbers.

Should have won, but drew against a very good team. Five points off of three (in my opinion) of the hardest teams we'll face in this division is not to be frowned at. I would have liked 6 or 7, but I won't complain. Let's go get three good results on the road now!

MOTM - Jem

[sandman]

Lol at critising alf. He's no good as a starter. 2 goals in two starts. He should score more.

Do you not think he should have scored more today given he was one on one with the keeper in the first half and shanked another chance well wide in the 2nd half when he should have at least hit the target?

[NewCorkSeth]

Last season stats
Gunter v Kelly
Games Played: ______________Gunter - 20______________Kelly - 16
Chances Created: ____________Gunter - 8_______________Kelly - 6
Average Pass Accuracy: _______Gunter - 70%_____________Kelly - 71%
Average Duels Won:__________Gunter - 62%_____________Kelly - 52%
Average Defensive Actions_____Gunter - 6_______________Kelly - 8
Total Defensive Errors_________Gunter - 3_______________Kelly - 1

So Kelly, who played less games, created more chances, had a better pass accuracy, made more defensive actions per game and made less errors.
The only thing Kelly wasnt as good as Gunter as was winning the duels which I found hard to believe but there you have it.
Oh and Kelly was played out of position as a left back.

[NewCorkSeth]

A right back needs to be a defender before a winger. No-one is denying that Gunter is better at getting forward, but we're supposed to be title contenders and we've conceded 5 in 3 games. Kelly was a huge boost to the defense last season. He deserves a chance.

+1

[Gunny Fishcake]

Lol at critising alf. He's no good as a starter. 2 goals in two starts. He should score more.

He also missed a sitter at Bolton last week and two chances today my granny would have put away, still think he's a great player mind just not quite top notch

[blueroyals]

Best I've seen us play since the Coppell era

McCarthy - 7 weak on crosses for once.
Gunter - 7 lozt the ball a bit and strugglsd against their winger at times.
Bridge - 8 pure class, didn't put a foot wrong all game. Why is he playing in the Championship?
Morrison - 8 commanding.
Pearce - 8 similar.
Guthrie - 9 domin8ed midfield. unlucky for the pen, clear dive.
Karacan - 9 MOTM
McAnuff-7 great defensively, question marks about his attacking threat. Would love to see him moved to CM more often.
Drenthe - 8 great in spells, then goes missing. A match winner for sure.
Blackman - 7 held the ball up well
Alf - 8 same as blackman but an extra +1 for his goal

Williams - 7 great cameo
McCleary - not much impact
Hal - same as McCleary.

[Readallaboutit]

How was Kelly a boost, I think he started off well but got worse. How many goals have directly come from Gunter's fault

In the last 3 games, 3 goals have been a result of Gunter.
Had the ref given the second shout for penalty than it could well have risen to 4.

How can you say Kelly didn't finish the season well, majority of people I speak to at the stadium thought he made a huge improvement to our back line, we would have gone down a lot earlier without him.
He's a versatile player too, can competently play right, left and centre back.

[Readallaboutit]

Last season stats
Gunter v Kelly
Games Played: ______________Gunter - 20______________Kelly - 16
Chances Created: ____________Gunter - 8_______________Kelly - 6
Average Pass Accuracy: _______Gunter - 70%_____________Kelly - 71%
Average Duels Won:__________Gunter - 62%_____________Kelly - 52%
Average Defensive Actions_____Gunter - 6_______________Kelly - 8
Total Defensive Errors_________Gunter - 3_______________Kelly - 1

So Kelly, who played less games, created more chances, had a better pass accuracy, made more defensive actions per game and made less errors.
The only thing Kelly wasnt as good as Gunter as was winning the duels which I found hard to believe but there you have it.
Oh and Kelly was played out of position as a left back.

Here, here! It's nice to see someone use stats and make an honest contribution to a topic. Nice one Newcorkseth

[Basingstoke Royal]

Two points dropped which is frustrating considering the way dominated the first half. Soft goals to give away but we will learn from this and we are still improving each game.

[floyd__streete]

Great game of football.....which we completely stacked

First half was absolutely superb, we completely dominated Watford. ALF scored a terrific goal then missed a clear 1-on-1 opportunity. Karacan's 1st goal was a tad lucky but we deserved a 2 goal lead from a half in which Drenthe entirely ran the show.

Second half Watford tore us a new @rsehole. Wonder-save from McCarthy kept it 2-0, good piece of off-the-line defending from Gunter (?) too. Does anyone still r8 Federici over McCarthy. Goal from a corner, a speciality from last season . Kind run of the ball for 3-1 and you'd expect us to have the nous to see the game out. Not a bit of it; looked a fair pen to me (would like to see it again tho) Guthrie was it sliding in after Watford pulled us open yet again, he and Karacan both had good games but threw in some wild challenges. After that the equaliser seemed entirely inevitable, fortunate enough when it came but you cannot argue that Watford didn't deserve a draw.

Enjoyed it as a spectacle, and I suppose that is the reason we go isn't it.