BFTG Millwall

[Wycombe Royal]

Mackie offers nothing..

As I said before, I think he was carrying an injury, hence why he had an ice pack on his leg after he was subbed.

Forest fans said that the one thing you get from Mackie is his constant running, well last night he was just walking around or standing still for large parts of the game which is out of character for him.

[Snowball]

I really don't get how Millwall were "unlucky"

Did they have goals disallowed, get a player sent off harshly, have good penalty appeals turned down, hit the woodwork four times?

They equalised because Feds blundered. That's luck, isn't it?

And they lost because

(a) Our strikers were more lethal

(b) Our defence mostly held firm, and when it was breached, Federici excelled as a shot-stopper. That's his job.

[loyalroyal4life]

Bit worrying we do not have anyone to come in for Gunter, who again in my opinion looked poor throughout.

Cox MOTM by a mile, not just his 2 goals but moreso his work rate throughout.

[tidus_mi2]

Bit worrying we do not have anyone to come in for Gunter, who again in my opinion looked poor throughout.

Cox MOTM by a mile, not just his 2 goals but moreso his work rate throughout.

Cummings and Kelly being injured doesn't help, next closest is probably Sean Long, I think it would take a few more dodgy performances for Gunter to be dropped though.

[Maguire]

They equalised because Feds blundered. That's luck, isn't it?

That's is not "luck", that's a direct result of the ability of the opposition players.

[TBM]

I really don't get how Millwall were "unlucky"

Did they have goals disallowed, get a player sent off harshly, have good penalty appeals turned down, hit the woodwork four times?

They equalised because Feds blundered. That's luck, isn't it?

And they lost because

(a) Our strikers were more lethal

(b) Our defence mostly held firm, and when it was breached, Federici excelled as a shot-stopper. That's his job.

They were unlucky in the sense of the stats....for an away side thats dominating the game

[Maguire]

Good game overall I thought - Reading looked excellent at times, moving the ball from flank to flank in a manner reminiscent of McGhee's side. Millwall really came into it though and that save from Federici when McDonald looked nailed on to score was exceptional.

Reading didn't offer much second half but the winner was well worked. Last two games have been two of the most enjoyable for some time.

[wingnut]

Entertaining game but we didn't really deserve to win it. Even at 2-0 up we didn't look comfortable. Milwall controlled the midfield for large parts of the game and before we got the winner it looked like they would be the more likely side to get all three points. But their defending for our third goal was worse than ours for their second so I guess we should be grateful.
The new signings didn't have as much of an impact as they did on Saturday but none were poor. Although Mackie wasn't great, he does at least give us more width than Taylor who just doesn't look comfortable on the wing.
Shame those sl8ing Feds for their second make no mention of his contribution for Cox's first goal.

[Westwood52]

We got away with that one-as apart from first 20 mins they were the better team-although not surprisingly they might have tired in the last ten minutes.
To be honest they bullied us out of our passing game and there were some pretty average performances-too many players were just not up for a battle.
Adkins needed to change it some 20 mins into the 2nd half-but to be fair, he probably felt he could not trust his very inexperienced bench (Pog must be carrying an injury). Can't wait for three or four of the main players to come back-the squad will then look very strong.

Feds: 6 : Three or four top notch saves-then a howler.

Gunter: 6: Started very badly and under a lot of pressure-came into the game once his winger came off.
Obita : 6 : Worst I have seen him play-struggled physically and rarely managed anything going forward.
Hector: 6: As usual immaculate in possession but struggled with Fuller & poor in the air.
Pierce 6 : Probably the pick of the defence, but some very difficult moments.
Norwood 7: Just about our best player, but overrun by Millwall's high pressure game plan.
Akpan 6: One awful moment in 2nd half but did at least battle away.
Blackman 6: Good pen-but disappeared pretty early on.
Mackie 6: Not Match fit , but kept going.
Cox 7 : Took his first goal well.
Murray 4: Had an absolute mare-two games in four days was beyond him-Pog should have come on-but probably is not fit.

Taylor: Don't know what it is-but there is something about him which suggests promise.
Edwards: Looks a bit light weight to me.

Adkins: TBF didn't have the resources to counter Holloway's (at this level a very good Manager) tactical changes.

Ref: OMG-this guy was really bad-why do we have to put up with these clowns ?

[Schards#2]

I thought Reading looked great with the ball but vulnerable without it. The injuries are still hurting us though, having to bring on three players with about 10 appearences between them to see a game out is far from ideal. When (if) we have the likes of Williams, Guthrie and McLeary back we will look pretty strong.

Our passing was as good as I've seen in years with no one looking uncomfortable receiving the ball to feet.

Plenty to like about the team at the moment, exciting football, decent passing, squad of what appear to be committed players, good team spirit, good work ethic and plenty of opportunity for youth. That Adkins has achieved all this whilst STILL not having an owner and having to offload about £11m of player whilst bringing in about £2.5m is pretty praiseworthy IMHO.

By no means the finished article but definately, rapidly heading in the right direction. I don't see what the Adkins h8ers and season ticket refuseniks still have to moan about.

[melonhead]

^^^^this

good post

[Mr.Swainey]

Federici up to his usual tricks again, no command of his area as per usual.

The quicker anyone comes back in midfield, the better. Then at least we don't have to witness Akpan and his backwards passing.

[ZacNaloen]

We started strong, they changed their shape, we don't have the personal due to injury to cope with being pressed so high in our half (it looked like they had 4 up front at times they'd pressed so far forward). This meant we went very long ball as we could no longer play it quite so well and struggled to show what we did in the first 20. Millwall appeared to tire, as you would do after playing a high press game, while our changes only upped our energy levels and we slowly got back in towards the end culminating in that corner. So sod it, lessons should be learned and in the end moments of individual quality ended up winning it for us e.g. corner routine carried out to perfection, Feds pass and Coxs control, and Blackmans run.

They should never have equalised as Feds should have just caught the bloody ball but hey ho.

[sputnik]

Except of course, a good team wins when playing badly AND when playing well

too true brendy, too true

[ZacNaloen]

Oh and Gunter needs to add something to his game other than pace. If he's beaten for that he offers oxf*rd all as a defender.

[Sanguine]

Federici up to his usual tricks again, no command of his area as per usual.
The quicker anyone comes back in midfield, the better. Then at least we don't have to witness Akpan and his backwards passing.

Tbf however, his distribution remains top notch, and he produced a couple of 'worldies' that contributed to our victory.

[Maguire]

I thought Reading looked great with the ball but vulnerable without it. The injuries are still hurting us though, having to bring on three players with about 10 appearences between them to see a game out is far from ideal. When (if) we have the likes of Williams, Guthrie and McLeary back we will look pretty strong.

Our passing was as good as I've seen in years with no one looking uncomfortable receiving the ball to feet.

Plenty to like about the team at the moment, exciting football, decent passing, squad of what appear to be committed players, good team spirit, good work ethic and plenty of opportunity for youth

All of this is spot on.

[winchester_royal]

I thought Reading looked great with the ball but vulnerable without it. The injuries are still hurting us though, having to bring on three players with about 10 appearences between them to see a game out is far from ideal. When (if) we have the likes of Williams, Guthrie and McLeary back we will look pretty strong.

Our passing was as good as I've seen in years with no one looking uncomfortable receiving the ball to feet.

Plenty to like about the team at the moment, exciting football, decent passing, squad of what appear to be committed players, good team spirit, good work ethic and plenty of opportunity for youth. That Adkins has achieved all this whilst STILL not having an owner and having to offload about £11m of player whilst bringing in about £2.5m is pretty praiseworthy IMHO.

By no means the finished article but definately, rapidly heading in the right direction. I don't see what the Adkins h8ers and season ticket refuseniks still have to moan about.

Completely agree, and arguably the most exciting part of all this is that our best performers are pretty much all still in the early stages of their career. The likes of Norwood, Obita, Hector, Blackman, Karacan, Kuhl, and even the likes of Akpan and Pearce are still learning and developing. If, and it's a big if, the Thais are genuine in their support and ambition and we can keep these players as part of a core group and then add to them from the increasingly productive academy supplemented by experienced players like Murray.... Well, it's hard not to be excited by what the next few years could bring.

When you consider how things were looking 3 months ago, it's quite remarkable that we're able to talk like this. I look forward to the inevitable ownership f*ck up/absence of form that'll come along to bring us back to reality.

[Mr.Swainey]

Federici up to his usual tricks again, no command of his area as per usual.
The quicker anyone comes back in midfield, the better. Then at least we don't have to witness Akpan and his backwards passing.

Tbf however, his distribution remains top notch, and he produced a couple of 'worldies' that contributed to our victory.

This does seem to be an age old problem of Federici's game.

[Brum Royal]

Difficult to add much to what has been said already. So at the risk of repeating much of what has gone before:

Feds - excellent all round game. Pleased his mistake didn't prove to be the defining and most memorable aspect of what was otherwise a pretty faultless performance
Norwood - very impressive array of passing, especially to the right flank. Looks like he'll be a helluva player with the right partner
Cox - good all round game

Holloway - out maneouvered Adkins with the tactical change on the half hour, and we never had the same level of dominance after the formation change

Topsy turvey game, first 30 minutes was a case of how many we would win by, then with the formation change Millwall had much the better of it.