Back from the game - Norwich

[Top Flight]

Given we've lost 4-1 twice and 5-0 once already, it's not that freaky.

If it's not freaky then it's extremely worrying. Should we be worried? Our goal difference resembles a team struggling in the bottom half of the table. It's not the goal difference of a team in the play offs. Maybe we should be worried.

[tidus_mi2]

Given we've lost 4-1 twice and 5-0 once already, it's not that freaky.

If it's not freaky then it's extremely worrying. Should we be worried? Our goal difference resembles a team struggling in the bottom half of the table. It's not the goal difference of a team in the play offs. Maybe we should be worried.

-1 isn't the goal difference of a struggling team, it's of a mid-table team.

While I was seething earlier, upon reflection I'm not too bothered, this isn't a reflection of our season as we're still 4th despite all these away thrashings, it shows our consistency and to people who think we might be the first team to finish in the play-offs on a minus goal difference, not gonna happen, for one we're going to dick Rotherham and Wigan, after that I can't see the combined effort of Villa, Forest and Burton putting us back into the negative.

It's a bizarre season but still a mostly enjoyable one.

[CountryRoyal]

Given we've lost 4-1 twice and 5-0 once already, it's not that freaky.

If it's not freaky then it's extremely worrying. Should we be worried? Our goal difference resembles a team struggling in the bottom half of the table. It's not the goal difference of a team in the play offs. Maybe we should be worried.

-1 isn't the goal difference of a struggling team, it's of a mid-table team.

While I was seething earlier, upon reflection I'm not too bothered, this isn't a reflection of our season as we're still 4th despite all these away thrashings, it shows our consistency and to people who think we might be the first team to finish in the play-offs on a minus goal difference, not gonna happen, for one we're going to dick Rotherham and Wigan, after that I can't see the combined effort of Villa, Forest and Burton putting us back into the negative.

It's a bizarre season but still a mostly enjoyable one.

+1

Apart from dicking Rotherham and co, think they will be hard fought wins, but not comfortable.


The occasional thrashing is fine because it's outweighed by a lot of good results. This is a fantastic season and we're on course for our 3rd ever highest points tally in the championship - that's a great achievement.

How can you lose 7-1, 5-0, 4-1 twice...etc and still be in the playoffs?? I actually think it's great. Never boring being a Reading fan.

[AthleticoSpizz]

The Villa game will be the telling one....and just how we react to todays result and allowing 31 shots to get away

Grim tho it was (and I bet Narge will wish that the season could start now), it is less embarressing than losing 6-0 to Walsall whilst being runaway top of the leaguers early 1986

[Lower West]

Given we've lost 4-1 twice and 5-0 once already, it's not that freaky.

If it's not freaky then it's extremely worrying. Should we be worried? Our goal difference resembles a team struggling in the bottom half of the table. It's not the goal difference of a team in the play offs. Maybe we should be worried.

Goal difference may yet decide the final play off spot.

[AthleticoSpizz]

It won't matter too much to us.

We are miles apart from our play-off rivals regarding GD.....'dderfield are close but are nailed-on to qualify anyway

and for those outside of the play-offs

Only Derby are anywhere near our -1, and they are 11 points behind.

[CountryRoyal]

We're going to finish in the playoffs. It's not tempting fate it's just logical. I'd also be very surprised if we have another one of these shockers for the rest of the season.

Even in the playoffs I don't think we will actually get turned over in the away leg.

[leon]

Genuinely embarrassing result. That a team of professionals should get beaten like that is unacceptable.

The entire team should be disgusted with themselves.

And I don't want to see Grabban or Mutch again this season. They have offered nothing. I've seen them. Utter shit.

We've got a squad use them instead.

[Whore Jackie]

Wouldn't disagree too much with CountryRoyals report. Just about the weirdest match I've ever seen. We looked at it in the warm-up and started the game pretty well. The penalty came from nowhere, no one in our stand had a clue why it was given. LOL at the Carrow Road revolving big screen that's still only visible to half the ground, and then once the second went in it was an utter capitulation. Actually thought we were worse in the second half, how Norwich only scored one more is a mystery, we couldn't keep the ball longer than 2 passes. Won't bother with ratings, but Mutch, who was decent against Leeds and Blackburn, was atrocious. As was Grabban. Feel for him in a small way that he's been constantly played out of position, but he's the epitome of a money-grabbing loanee with zero interest in his new team. He's just done fcuk all for us. We haven't had a loan player put it in a string of decent performances for a long, long time. Saying all that, Blackett, Swift, McCleary, Kelly and AAH were really poor too. Take out McShane and there's no leadership in that team, an awful lot of finger-pointing yesterday, but no action. Stam has to sort that out. Really poor substitutions too, don't understand the merit of bringing on an academy player with that score line or giving Akinfenwa #2 a runout and leaving a seasoned pro in Williams on the bench.

[JIM]

7 points from 5 games forget norwich,

[Sutekh]

So what happened to the lad we signed from Liverpool? fit enough to come on for 10 minutes on Tuesday but not fit enough to sit on the bench today.

Probably injured again.

[Pepe the Horseman]

Can anyone be arsed to dig out the results following our other drubbings this season? Got a feeling we've responded pretty well each time. Echo the thoughts of everyone else who wants Mutch and Grabban dead.

[Pepe the Horseman]

One positive - Yann's now scored in 4 consecutive games <3 #flames

[JR]

In one way I'm happy with that result - not only is it a wake up call and should leave to some of the loan signings being set aside but it keeps alive the dream of going up with negative goal difference.

To be the club with the most ever FA Cup defeats, highest championship points total and only British team ever to be promoted with negative goal difference would be quite a set of achievements!

[Pandoras Box]

Aaah football.
Can anything be more enjoyable than sitting at the side of a pitch, 6-1 down, being tormented and laughed at by opposition fans 20 yards away from your face, the ball has hardly come over the half way line at all in 45 minutes and all the action you are watching is from the other team 80 yards away but completely obliterated by a blinding sun which has burnt the skin off your face.
Oh ...and the knowledge that you have a 2-3 hour drive home to look forward to.

What's not to like?

[windermereROYAL]

Aaah football.
Can anything be more enjoyable than sitting at the side of a pitch, 6-1 down, being tormented and laughed at by opposition fans 20 yards away from your face, the ball has hardly come over the half way line at all in 45 minutes and all the action you are watching is from the other team 80 yards away but completely obliterated by a blinding sun which has burnt the skin off your face.
Oh ...and the knowledge that you have a 2-3 hour drive home to look forward to.

What's not to like?

Same again next week then?. didn`t go yeserday but going to Villa. dreading it already.

[Pandoras Box]

Yep

[WAZZOCK]

I suppose a way of looking at it is that all we have missed out on in principle is 3 points. Whether we'd lost that game 1-0 or 15-0, we were always going to stay in 4th. What will be telling is how the manner of the defeat will affect the team psychologically. Fulham away last year is the go to example of how a heavy defeat can batter the confidence of a weak minded team.

What we have seen this year however is that when things don't go our way we tend react really quite well.

Newcastle 4-1 - next game 2-2 draw against a good Brighton team
Brentford 4-1 - next game 1-1 draw with Derby
Fulham 5-0 - next game 2-1 win against Sheff Wed
Brighton 3-0 - next game 2-1 win again Wolves and subsequently a draw against the Geordies
Preston 3-0 - next game 2-0 win at Sheff Wed before home wins against Leeds and Blackburn

Let's just hope the trend of getting a positive result in the following match continues!

[CountryRoyal]

I suppose a way of looking at it is that all we have missed out on in principle is 3 points. Whether we'd lost that game 1-0 or 15-0, we were always going to stay in 4th. What will be telling is how the manner of the defeat will affect the team psychologically. Fulham away last year is the go to example of how a heavy defeat can batter the confidence of a weak minded team.

What we have seen this year however is that when things don't go our way we tend react really quite well.

Newcastle 4-1 - next game 2-2 draw against a good Brighton team
Brentford 4-1 - next game 1-1 draw with Derby
Fulham 5-0 - next game 2-1 win against Sheff Wed
Brighton 3-0 - next game 2-1 win again Wolves and subsequently a draw against the Geordies
Preston 3-0 - next game 2-0 win at Sheff Wed before home wins against Leeds and Blackburn

Let's just hope the trend of getting a positive result in the following match continues!

The only thing you could say though is that following a heavy defeat our next game is normally at home where we are obviously stronger.

It could be another defeat next Saturday, but tbh I have confidence that even that won't demoralise us too much. We've bounced back from two defeats in a row this season before.

[genome]

You'd hope that these kinds of results are formative for such a "young" team (young in the sense, it's a new squad, not the average player age).

It's been a weird season. I can't recall us being so heavily drubbed away from home quite so many times in a season. And we're 4th! We have reacted well to results like this in the past, though. A point from Villa and the spirit will be back up and our run-in should see us get the points to get us over the line.