BFTG-Bournemouth

[HoneyRoastHoax]

We do have a good squad with players who have played at the highest level, some who are internationals, including others who have experience and winners medals at this level as well. An injury crisis doesn't mean that we have a poor squad it just means that we have a lot of injuries.

Half of the good players are crocked.

You are also forgetting other teams have good players.

People seem to think we should be walking this league.

If Bridge, Karacan, Sharpe, Morro, Baird had of kept playing it could have been another story but we have what we have and we're in play offs.

[andrew1957]

Think some of you need to calm down a little. Last night was always going to be tough against a very in form side. However, I do think that the team selection was shambolic and personally would have packed the midfield and tried to hold out for a draw - which would have been a very good result.

But it is not our away form that has cost us this season - which has been very good, but our awful home form.You are bound to be outclassed away sometimes. The worry is we have not outclassed many (except Bolton/Blackpool) at home.

ALF is woefully off form and should not start IMO. The best we can hope from him is 30 minutes at the end against a tiring defence and so I think we are forced to play 4-5-1 or 4-4-1-1 at the moment - with the likes of Drenthe of HRK behind Pog. I also would have given Jake Taylor a go. If he did ok then it could be a solution and if not then he will be off at the end of the season in any case.

I think we should give Adkins the benefit of the doubt until the end of the season - but failure to reach the play offs and he must be sacked because of all the billy bullshit he spoke at the start of the season - 100 points/goals or whatever. I still think we can reach the play offs and then who knows. He could turn from zero to hero very quickly and so he has my full support until the fat lady sings.

However, failure to at least reach the play offs and I want him gone and the job given to Dolan on a long term basis building from youth up - even if it means a visit to League 1. Certainly a lot of the current players are not really fit to wear the shirt and I saw far more passion in the Under 18 game on Monday night.

BUT I still think we can reach the play offs. 3 wins will most likely be enough and we could not really have it easier. We are playing the two teams who will be prompted by the time we play them (and look how easily out of form Brighton won at Leicester last night). Wigan who are clearly distracted by the FA Cup, Middlesbrough with nothing to play for and Doncaster who are poor (and we are good against the poor sides away). All 5 are very winnable and failure is simply not an option. Failure to at least reach the play offs and I will be very disappointed if the manager and most of this squad are here next season.

[Eaststandman]

Personally don't completely buy the 'so many injuries' argument because it is the same for every team. Injuries, like poor form, ref mistakes, good/bad luck etc, should matter less than, fitness, strategy, tactics, skill, passion, guile and so on. A professional team, in a professional sport, should be prepared at every level and have contingencies available with training, development, morale, succession planning and good management, like any healthy business. Do we honestly have all of these things in place??? I don't think so!

[PistolPete]

I'm not saying I'm right, but If you have ZERO central midfielders available, why would you try to pack the central midfield with square pegs for round holes and rob the team of a specialist elsewhere? Imagine if he did it and we lost, he'd be denounced as a lunatic!

My only gripe is that full backs usually make better central midfielders than wingers - I'd have thought Kelly would have been a better bet than Jobi who almost never does well as a MC.

Ultimately though, how can anyone criticise Adkins when he is without:

Karacan/Baird, Guthrie, Williams, Akpan, Hector and has never really been given the opportunity to sign his own players...

As a side note, it's been questioned already, are we getting our physical conditioning right? Maybe it's bad luck, but maybe there's more to it??

[Mr Angry]

Win on Saturday - "we are going up!!" and the Adkins out brigade stay off the board.

Lose on Tuesday - "we are in crisis!!" and the Adkins out brigade come out to play.

Pathetic.

As for last night being "the worst away performance ever"; er......Peterborough in the Carling Cup this season? or (for balance) how about Sunderland away last season?

5 games left, all to play for.

We might do it, we might not.

If Bournemouth get into the play offs, they have a very real chance of going up, and good luck to them, as Eddie Howe has done a fantastic job there and deserves a chance in the Premier League.

QPR look shot, so whoever plays them in the semi's will get to Wembley.

[Royal Lady]

first game home or away in quite some time, and people wonder why I don't bother to go.

Watching them warm up - they did a bit of can can, a bit of running about and some sort of man-marking - Guthrie injured himself in the can can I think.

I do not know what Adkins says to these players about tactics - but they're either ignoring him and playing their own game, in which case he should be having a "quiet word" or they are following his tactics and they are absolutely shite. I actually reckon I could gee those players up more than he could. I'd bloody well remind them that they're being paid astronomical wages, whilst the fans are paying hard earned money to watch this dross. I'd have them in for 2 hours this afternoon, doing man-marking and how to win a ball and pass it to your fellow player, rather than give it straight away or hoof and hope. I'd tell Drenthe (much as I love him) to concentrate on passing the ball, not making a name for himself. I'd teach Pog how to jump. I'd instill some confidence in Gunter. And I wouldn't play Gorkss ever again. Why he didn't play Morro (even though he was only just back from injury) I'll never know - a half fit Morro is better than a Gorkss any day of the week.

All in all, the worrying problem is that we won't be able to offload a lot of these players next season. Who's going to take on Pog for £60k a week? He won't move for a drastic wage cut. They are all just taking the money and don't give a jot about the "team". Time was when you felt connected to the players and the club, not now and I don't know what it is.

I'd like to hear Adkins apologise for what happened last night - I don't expect us to win every game, I'm not daft - but I do expect us to TRY and win, to have some fight, passion and bottle. All of that was missing last night and has been previously. We have tough games coming up and unless Adkins changes tactics and the players show some fight, then we can all forget about the play-offs, which would have put some of these players in the shop window. Imagine if you were one of our academy players, like the ones that lost to Fulham the other night, you must be thinking, what the hell do I have to do to get a game! Adding one or two youngsters into the team, might actually show the other players how to react when playing for this club. And they'd be proud to put on a first team shirt. No doubt about that.

Rant over. Soz.

[Upper West Ginger]

Win on Saturday - "we are going up!!" and the Adkins out brigade stay off the board.
As for last night being "the worst away performance ever"; er......Peterborough in the Carling Cup this season? or (for balance) how about Sunderland away last season?

Having been to both Bournemouth and Peterborough matches, I have to agree that Peterborough was a much worse performance and result. Perhaps it is the level of expectation that differed. A Carling Cup match early in the season against lower league opposition and you can be sure that Reading will trip up; an end-of-season play-off chasing battle, and you would hope Reading would be "up for it".

The one thing in common between both matches was Gorkss's performance (lack of). I said after the Peterborough match that I wouldn't be troubled if I never saw him pull on the Reading shirt ever again. Having watched him last night, I don't think my original opinion was wrong.

[tee peg]

If Gorkss was a dog you would put him down.

[Extended-Phenotype]

Injuries are not an excuse. Why is everyone getting injured? Why don't we have replacements?

Under-investment is not an excuse either. Why isn't our 'wonderful academy' providing us with appropriate cover?

And in the light of injuries, as everyone has said: why not protect the midfield with an extra man and go 4-5-1?

This one is on Adkins, I'm afraid. Poor management, poor selection, poor tactics.

[Wycombe Royal]

Injuries are not an excuse. Why is everyone getting injured? Why don't we have replacements?

Under-investment is not an excuse either. Why isn't our 'wonderful academy' providing us with appropriate cover?

And in the light of injuries, as everyone has said: why not protect the midfield with an extra man and go 4-5-1?

This one is on Adkins, I'm afraid. Poor management, poor selection, poor tactics.

They aren't excuses, they are explanations for the variance to the performance that was expected. I'm an accountant and I haven't to explain variances to our Plan. They aren't excuses for why the performance was poor, they explain WHY it was poor.

[Eaststandman]

Injuries are not an excuse. Why is everyone getting injured? Why don't we have replacements?

Under-investment is not an excuse either. Why isn't our 'wonderful academy' providing us with appropriate cover?

And in the light of injuries, as everyone has said: why not protect the midfield with an extra man and go 4-5-1?

This one is on Adkins, I'm afraid. Poor management, poor selection, poor tactics.

They aren't excuses, they are explanations for the variance to the performance that was expected. I'm an accountant and I haven't to explain variances to our Plan. They aren't excuses for why the performance was poor, they explain WHY it was poor.

Humble brag!

[Extended-Phenotype]

Injuries are not an excuse. Why is everyone getting injured? Why don't we have replacements?

Under-investment is not an excuse either. Why isn't our 'wonderful academy' providing us with appropriate cover?

And in the light of injuries, as everyone has said: why not protect the midfield with an extra man and go 4-5-1?

This one is on Adkins, I'm afraid. Poor management, poor selection, poor tactics.

They aren't excuses, they are explanations for the variance to the performance that was expected. I'm an accountant and I haven't to explain variances to our Plan. They aren't excuses for why the performance was poor, they explain WHY it was poor.

What does that even mean? Alright, they aren't valid explanations either.

Because of injuries
- why are so many players getting injured?
- why don't we have adequate replacements?

Because of lack of investment
- why aren't we investing?
- why not use the academy as cover?
- why not adopt a formation that would assist those out of position?

Pedantry is great fun but it didn't really answer any of the questions or add anything at all to the discussion, imo.

[tee peg]

After watching a great performance from the youngsters the other night ,it was down to
earth with a mighty bump last night.Maybe some of the senior squad could take a lesson
from the under 21s on how to play with passion and desire.

[West Stand Flash]

first game home or away in quite some time, and people wonder why I don't bother to go.

Watching them warm up - they did a bit of can can, a bit of running about and some sort of man-marking - Guthrie injured himself in the can can I think.

I do not know what Adkins says to these players about tactics - but they're either ignoring him and playing their own game, in which case he should be having a "quiet word" or they are following his tactics and they are absolutely shite. I actually reckon I could gee those players up more than he could. I'd bloody well remind them that they're being paid astronomical wages, whilst the fans are paying hard earned money to watch this dross. I'd have them in for 2 hours this afternoon, doing man-marking and how to win a ball and pass it to your fellow player, rather than give it straight away or hoof and hope. I'd tell Drenthe (much as I love him) to concentrate on passing the ball, not making a name for himself. I'd teach Pog how to jump. I'd instill some confidence in Gunter. And I wouldn't play Gorkss ever again. Why he didn't play Morro (even though he was only just back from injury) I'll never know - a half fit Morro is better than a Gorkss any day of the week.

All in all, the worrying problem is that we won't be able to offload a lot of these players next season. Who's going to take on Pog for £60k a week? He won't move for a drastic wage cut. They are all just taking the money and don't give a jot about the "team". Time was when you felt connected to the players and the club, not now and I don't know what it is.

I'd like to hear Adkins apologise for what happened last night - I don't expect us to win every game, I'm not daft - but I do expect us to TRY and win, to have some fight, passion and bottle. All of that was missing last night and has been previously. We have tough games coming up and unless Adkins changes tactics and the players show some fight, then we can all forget about the play-offs, which would have put some of these players in the shop window. Imagine if you were one of our academy players, like the ones that lost to Fulham the other night, you must be thinking, what the hell do I have to do to get a game! Adding one or two youngsters into the team, might actually show the other players how to react when playing for this club. And they'd be proud to put on a first team shirt. No doubt about that.

Rant over. Soz.

Seriously, idiots don't still harp on about Pog being on 60k a week? How thick can you be to believe that????

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Win on Saturday - "we are going up!!" and the Adkins out brigade stay off the board.
As for last night being "the worst away performance ever"; er......Peterborough in the Carling Cup this season? or (for balance) how about Sunderland away last season?

Having been to both Bournemouth and Peterborough matches, I have to agree that Peterborough was a much worse performance and result. Perhaps it is the level of expectation that differed. A Carling Cup match early in the season against lower league opposition and you can be sure that Reading will trip up; an end-of-season play-off chasing battle, and you would hope Reading would be "up for it".

The one thing in common between both matches was Gorkss's performance (lack of). I said after the Peterborough match that I wouldn't be troubled if I never saw him pull on the Reading shirt ever again. Having watched him last night, I don't think my original opinion was wrong.

Woefully inaccurate from Mr Angry there - much like our passing. I do not consider myself part of either camp & have supported Adkins ALL season. He got it badly wrong last night, the players are not playing for him & look clueless. There’s no fight, desire, skill, awareness – just nothing.

We are getting worse. Of that there can be no doubt.

[Royal Lady]

first game home or away in quite some time, and people wonder why I don't bother to go.

Watching them warm up - they did a bit of can can, a bit of running about and some sort of man-marking - Guthrie injured himself in the can can I think.

I do not know what Adkins says to these players about tactics - but they're either ignoring him and playing their own game, in which case he should be having a "quiet word" or they are following his tactics and they are absolutely shite. I actually reckon I could gee those players up more than he could. I'd bloody well remind them that they're being paid astronomical wages, whilst the fans are paying hard earned money to watch this dross. I'd have them in for 2 hours this afternoon, doing man-marking and how to win a ball and pass it to your fellow player, rather than give it straight away or hoof and hope. I'd tell Drenthe (much as I love him) to concentrate on passing the ball, not making a name for himself. I'd teach Pog how to jump. I'd instill some confidence in Gunter. And I wouldn't play Gorkss ever again. Why he didn't play Morro (even though he was only just back from injury) I'll never know - a half fit Morro is better than a Gorkss any day of the week.

All in all, the worrying problem is that we won't be able to offload a lot of these players next season. Who's going to take on Pog for £60k a week? He won't move for a drastic wage cut. They are all just taking the money and don't give a jot about the "team". Time was when you felt connected to the players and the club, not now and I don't know what it is.

I'd like to hear Adkins apologise for what happened last night - I don't expect us to win every game, I'm not daft - but I do expect us to TRY and win, to have some fight, passion and bottle. All of that was missing last night and has been previously. We have tough games coming up and unless Adkins changes tactics and the players show some fight, then we can all forget about the play-offs, which would have put some of these players in the shop window. Imagine if you were one of our academy players, like the ones that lost to Fulham the other night, you must be thinking, what the hell do I have to do to get a game! Adding one or two youngsters into the team, might actually show the other players how to react when playing for this club. And they'd be proud to put on a first team shirt. No doubt about that.

Rant over. Soz.

Seriously, idiots don't still harp on about Pog being on 60k a week? How thick can you be to believe that????

Great input as always.

[bobby1413]

first game home or away in quite some time, and people wonder why I don't bother to go.

Watching them warm up - they did a bit of can can, a bit of running about and some sort of man-marking - Guthrie injured himself in the can can I think.

I do not know what Adkins says to these players about tactics - but they're either ignoring him and playing their own game, in which case he should be having a "quiet word" or they are following his tactics and they are absolutely shite. I actually reckon I could gee those players up more than he could. I'd bloody well remind them that they're being paid astronomical wages, whilst the fans are paying hard earned money to watch this dross. I'd have them in for 2 hours this afternoon, doing man-marking and how to win a ball and pass it to your fellow player, rather than give it straight away or hoof and hope. I'd tell Drenthe (much as I love him) to concentrate on passing the ball, not making a name for himself. I'd teach Pog how to jump. I'd instill some confidence in Gunter. And I wouldn't play Gorkss ever again. Why he didn't play Morro (even though he was only just back from injury) I'll never know - a half fit Morro is better than a Gorkss any day of the week.

All in all, the worrying problem is that we won't be able to offload a lot of these players next season. Who's going to take on Pog for £60k a week? He won't move for a drastic wage cut. They are all just taking the money and don't give a jot about the "team". Time was when you felt connected to the players and the club, not now and I don't know what it is.

I'd like to hear Adkins apologise for what happened last night - I don't expect us to win every game, I'm not daft - but I do expect us to TRY and win, to have some fight, passion and bottle. All of that was missing last night and has been previously. We have tough games coming up and unless Adkins changes tactics and the players show some fight, then we can all forget about the play-offs, which would have put some of these players in the shop window. Imagine if you were one of our academy players, like the ones that lost to Fulham the other night, you must be thinking, what the hell do I have to do to get a game! Adding one or two youngsters into the team, might actually show the other players how to react when playing for this club. And they'd be proud to put on a first team shirt. No doubt about that.

Rant over. Soz.

Good post.

I'd like to see a few fresh faces from the Academy too. I don't see how some of them could play worse, and I think their passion (which I saw on ITV4) would shine through and would actually make games enjoyable - win, lose or draw.

[genome]

I think injuries have played a part last night. we had 4 first team midfielders out, two of them last minute, one coming back but not fit enough. How do you prepare for that? I can't imagine many players would like to come here to be a 6th choice midfielder.

Having to put two wingers in the middle against an in form side, you're asking for trouble. Protecting the midfield with a 4-5-1 wouldn't help as then you'd have 3 players out of position.

The academy boys had played a match the night before by the way. The only thing I would've done is play Jake Taylor. He must be pretty pissed off that a winger gets into midfield before him.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Quite sad that the heart & soul that this club has built up for years has just completely evapourated within 18 months. Not the RFC I started watching. Real shame.

The only way the club can recreate that connection with the fans is to bring some younger players though next season as there is no affinity with any of these players anymore.

I do worry about the likes of Pearce, Jobi etc. Even on bad days, they usually give their all but each & every player looks lost at sea right now. Something is not right.

They all look like they cannot wait until the season is over with.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

I think injuries have played a part last night. we had 4 first team midfielders out, two of them last minute, one coming back but not fit enough. How do you prepare for that? I can't imagine many players would like to come here to be a 6th choice midfielder.

Having to put two wingers in the middle against an in form side, you're asking for trouble. Protecting the midfield with a 4-5-1 wouldn't help as then you'd have 3 players out of position.

The academy boys had played a match the night before by the way. The only thing I would've done is play Jake Taylor. He must be pretty pissed off that a winger gets into midfield before him.

Both HRK & Drenthe have played in central roles before & have more experience than Obita. This would have also meant Jobi & Blackman could have stayed in natural positions too. Seems pretty obvious to me!