BFTG - Clinging on to 6th place

[Terminal Boardom]

I enjoyed watching the first half. There was always a threat down the wings and the two youngsters in midfield covered a lot of ground. From my lofty view in front of my pc, I thought that Hector looks quality.

The key difference between the two teams out there was that Leicester were much quicker, sharper and more decisive when they had the ball whereas Reading tended to be a little too cautious. My only complaint was that Pog screwed up the header in the second half. That would have made things very interesting.

[LWJ]

HRK - 4 - Don't see what he adds to the team at all. Get rid in the summer.

[BraisingsteakRoyal]

I think the left hand side of Bridge and McAnuff looked every bit of it's combined 127 years of age last night. I think if Obita had played in either left back or left midfield it would have looked a lot more mobile. Also, if the Pog had stayed on his feet a bit more in the first half he could have easily fashioned another half chance or two. He's obviously too used to winning and converting penalties recently.

I have started to get the unsavory feeling that a few of the players may know that if (by some miracle) we do manage to go up then due to a combination of them showing last year that they weren't quite good enough for the Prem, and perhaps Nige being potentially more ruthless/less loyal to this bunch of players - that they''d be on their way.

Stay in this division, and by and large it'll be a case of carry on as normal for them all next season.

[Extended-Phenotype]

Enjoyed that.

Not many games this season have we sustained drive throughout and I thought there was some really good football being played.

Hector was very tidy and effective considering his inexperience and being played out of position. Obita was a decent shout in the middle this time around, now he had some effective CM's around him. This was the formation I was looking for against Bournemouth and I can't help but think we'd have faired so much better in that game having seen what we were capable of last night.

Pog was involved in everything, so frustrating that he couldn't add a goal to his game, perhaps in fault to him passing shooting opportunities up for trying to win penalties - says it all about his shooting confidence, really.

McAnuff was everywhere. Anybody looking to auto-bash Jobi needs to compare 5 minutes of Jobi's game with 5 minutes of Drenthe's to see the workrate and contribution - it remains a shame that he is often remembered for a bad cross or a misplaced pass when he does it no more often than any other - it's just the dangerous position he gets himself into that makes a lost pass all the more disappointing - but hey, he got himself into that position which is more than can be said for our other options.

Anyway, good game of footer that. Maybe this run-in of harder games will see us lift ours and give the fans something worth watching; better yet, should we get the points needed to claim a play-off spot, that would be some killer form we'd be in for the head-to-heads.

[biff]

If i hear another "Maknuff you useless ar-ikle" in nasally tadley drawl one more time im moving my season ticket. b16 seems to have a high concentration of people that have literally no understanding of tactics, formations, refereeing, substitutions or football. (inb4 neither does Adkins)

[billybraggsbeard]

Thought Leicester looked a quality team, but we competed well played the game at a much higher tempo and got the Bournemouth shambles out of our system. Next season would like to see Hector with either Pearce or Morrison alongside him, and get a proper centre forward not the joke we have at present, was he constantly looking for Ukranian snipers or what, people say play the ball into his feet, so we do and it just pings off him and all this garbage about him working like a Trojan , that would be a Trojan who doesn't run, rarely closes down and for his size is shocking in the air

you're an idiot. Does your dad bring a pillow so you can see over the nice man in front?

Well that's not very polite, what did you not like, saying we played at a higher tempo, suggesting Hector should be the main centre half, or criticising the god like Pog

[Maguire]

Enjoyed the game - shame it petered out in the last 15 really.

I'm a big fan of McAnuff and what he's done for the club, but last night was a bit of a stinker i'm afraid. Just one of those games where nothing really worked for him.

Bridge looked like a man who hadn't played football for a year. A fit Bridge is a class full-back, but he was very average.

Gunter was outstanding. Ever since I said I didn't get all the fuss about him he seems to have been on a mission to prove me wrong. Fair play, excellent game.

Leicester - you can see why they're going up. Very tidy team.

Reading - injuries and fitness seem a real issue. I expect us to finihs 8th.

[Royalclapper]

Not a bad effort really, it wasn't a lot more than a glorified knockabout for Leicester though in all honesty.

Pog's constant diving is just laughable at times, Hector did well I thought and Mahrez looked a very useful player for them.

[EarleyRoyal16]

I must be in the small minority who want to see Hector stay in his midfield role. Brilliant last night, comfortable on the ball and can pick a pass.

Much improved performance on the shit we've seen recently, play at that level for the last 4 games and I definitely wouldn't rule out finishing 6th, our run is a lot more difficult than teams around us though.

Hector, Gunter, Pearce and Williams the highlight performers in the game. Shame Williams had to come off, we missed him after.

Pog was poor, goes to ground far too easily and is appalling in the air for a big man, although he was feeding off scraps at times.

[TBM]

Leicester - you can see why they're going up. Very tidy team.

I dont think they'll stay up though, with that squad. They're a bit like Cardiff last season

[Royal Biscuitman]

Pogrebnyak - 4

Harsh, I'd give him a 5 or 6. He was playing up front on his own winning long balls he was not entitled to win and finding little in the way of support, He also ended up winning the ball on the wing despite the extra man (pre- Leigerwood red card) in midfield and so many wingers on the pitch.

Leigerwood - As soon as he was red carded I looked at the manager, He walked to the far side of his technical area and didn't make eye contact with the player, I assume he was unimpressed - no handshake/pat on the back there.... which presumably means we're not going to chance our luck and go for a 3rd red card overturn.... When everyone is fit, Liegerwood must be behind Karacan, Williams, Akpan, Guthrie, Hector and even McAnnuff in midfield, possibly even behind some of the youth players who rarely feature, so that's him done at the club IMHO.

McAnnuff - His attitude when he messes up is to be frustrated, drop his shoulders and appear to give up, A stark contrast to many of the other players whose immediate reaction to messing up/losing the ball is to chase it down and try to do something about it..... Not a great example from a Captain as it sets the tone.... He's the complete opposite of Chris Gunter and that's why Gunter should be captain from the next game on.

[melonhead]

firstly- really good game
much better performance than recently, and looked the equal of leicester (albeit a leicester who are mostly on the beach now) and dominated the first half.
good pressing, commitment, etc some lovely football-they went out of their way to show they werent scared to play, or to try risky things.

second half leicester came back into it, and had a couple of periods of total dominance where we struggled to clear our lines or hold on to the ball, but the defence stood firm, (and leicesters goal was a bit of a freak coming through a crowd leaving mcarthy totally unsighted and with no chance.)
in the end a draw was fair, though i was praying for a last minute winner as i had 2.50 on pearce to score first in a 2-1 win at 115-1 which would have netted loads of cash.

mcarthy - 7 - some gr8 saves
gunter- 8 -really up for it, agressive pressing, getting forward really well, defending brilliantly. gr8 stuff from him
pearce 8 - su[perb again imo
morro 6 - dealt with leicester well for the most part-still not quite fit
bridge- 6 still getting back up to speed, but looked like he was getting there- slowly
williams - 7 - great first half- faded badly second half, but hes not played for a while so...
big hec - 8 - superb stuff. for a young kid, a week or so after his debut, out of position its pretty incredible. like him alot
mcanuff- 3 for effort only.im a big fan- but literally everything he touched turned to shit.
obita - 8 - quality. we will struggle to keep him next year imo
mcleary- 6 - played ok, still not quite fit
POG- 6 - did ok, won a few headers, held it up well, won the free kick we scored from, hit the post.

atmosphere was pretty decent tbh, although the negativity from some is laughable and hugely annoying.
we are 1-1 at home Vs the champions, giving it a real go, and could have won, and theyre berating the players, and manager at every opportunity.

bloke near me was demanding they take pog off and put hector up front at half time.
i counted the number of headers POG won, and the number of times he held the ball up and laid it off. these guys totally ignore that, and keep going on about how he's done nothing all game.
mcanuff tried hard all game, but achieved nothing, and yeah i think he should have been taken off. but getting on his back is counter productive.
they had huge eppifits at the subs totally ignorng that mcleary/williams on way back from injuries and their legs had gone, and that obita took a big knock and was limping.
yet they all had a go at adkins about it.
morons.all of you.
if i move my season ticket will it be different elsewhere?

[P!ssed Off]

if i move my season ticket will it be different elsewhere?

I think the brain damage is permanent tbh.

[Dave the rave]

If that was an improvement on what regular attendees have been seeing this season then I pity them.

How can a team still be this disjointed at this stage of the season? We've had injuries etc but still.

A lot of first touches were poor. Some of the wayward passes beggared belief for this level and the lack of fight from a team really needing a win to help a play off push seemed severely lacking.

It doesn't bode well for the run in.

[Pepe the Horseman]

If that was an improvement on what regular attendees have been seeing this season then I pity them.

How can a team still be this disjointed at this stage of the season? We've had injuries etc but still.

A lot of first touches were poor. Some of the wayward passes beggared belief for this level and the lack of fight from a team really needing a win to help a play off push seemed severely lacking.

It doesn't bode well for the run in.

Alright, Mr T.

[Dave the rave]

I do. I pity the fool....

[melonhead]

How can a team still be this disjointed at this stage of the season? We've had injuries etc but still.

.

we've head injuries

[BraisingsteakRoyal]

I'm of the same opinion of Gunter as Mags above. I took a long time to warm to him, I think partly as he looks a bit lightweight and used to get caught out a fair bit (possibly due to him having been deployed at CB for his country and Forest at times?), but he's been outstanding recently.

Look at the way he wins the ball back if he does make a mistake, or kept going to keep that ball in with a slide tackle last night. Then compare him to ex England International Wayne Bridge (who i know has been injured but looked distinctly average last night)...

I can see one of the newly promoted Prem teams (or perhaps higher) coming in for Gunter over the summer. Home grown, young full back with pace and can attack...

[melonhead]

Ponegbrynak should be taking a long hard look at himself, because he was an embarrassment tonight. Player of his size and build should not be going down because a player breathed near him.


^ Thing is, at his peak this season, he wasn't going down at all - not sure why he's reverted to it now...

i think its cos if he doesnt go down he never gets the free kick, even when its deserved. cos hes a big man.
its like the crouch effect

[loyalroyal4life]

Another team that comes to mad stad and passes the ball with ease, some of our players looked like headless chickens out there.

Unless Williams came off as a precaution, NA bottled it by bringing him off, could of got rid of the useless bridge and moved obita to his favourable LB position. We look a better unit with him playing there.

Never seen so much effort from Gunter, he had a cracking game, probably best i have seen from him this season. Hopefully he can continue and not fall back into his usual average performances.

Hector looks promising, would certainly give him a go there against Wigan and see how he goes (not that we have much choice with ledge's clown performance)

Still think Wigan will batter us but least it was an improved home performance with Mcanuff's chance proving costly as expected