Proud to be a Reading fan tonight

[PistolPete]

Yes we lost. Yes we lost after being 4-0 up. But we had the character to come back from 4-5 (and got beaten by a team with £40m worth of striking talent on the pitch.)

We showed that we can put on one of the greatest games of football this country has ever seen.

Why blame Anton for not spending? We're not down yet and there's no certainty that any big money signings would have paid off. Why blame the manager for trying a 'togetherness' theory? Maybe it's not too late to change his mind. Why blame Roberts for talking on the radio as if he should be playing football better? He seemed alright to me tonight. Why blame McDermott for making a sub in injury time? The net gain in time for Arsenal was zero.

You lot are a moaning and fickle lot - Shorey was not wanted and not good enough but McDermott proved us wrong. He proved us wrong on Shane Long, he proved us wrong on Leigerwood, he proves us wrong time after time so let's just accept he'll make the odd mistake and is as good a man as any to move us forward...

We were 5 seconds from a fantastic win, let's not forget that...

[leon]

[Libertine]

It was Arsenal's "B" team ffs...

[MmmMonsterMunch]

I think people are proud of the club generally - not sure what the point of this thread is really. You can't squander a 4-0 lead away like that & be 'proud'

Defensively we are a mess. Serious questions need asking. What is Gibbs doing with them in training and why isn't Pearce playing? Why are they all asleep at set plays?

[Toon Toon Blue army]

We were 5 seconds from a fantastic win, let's not forget that...

We were 4-0 up, lets not forget that.

It's a catastrophe to throw away a 2-0 lead let alone fu*king 4-0.

I'm not trying to be overly negative but I have absolutely no idea how anyone can be proud of what happened tonight.

[PistolPete]

It was Arsenal's "B" team ffs...

And much of our team was a 'B' team. Oh, and their 'B' team had at least £40m worth of strikers on the pitch.

[Libertine]

Headline from The Guardian;

Arsenal's spare parts power past Reading and into the quarter-finals

[PistolPete]

We were 5 seconds from a fantastic win, let's not forget that...

We were 4-0 up, lets not forget that.

It's a catastrophe to throw away a 2-0 lead let alone fu*king 4-0.

I'm not trying to be overly negative but I have absolutely no idea how anyone can be proud of what happened tonight.

I'm not proud of squandering a 4-0 lead, but I am proud of the club and tonight didn't change that, weirdly it enhanced it. Wigan played out a nil-nil draw tonight at home to Bradford, I know which team I'd prefer to support!

[PistolPete]

Headline from The Guardian;

Arsenal's spare parts power past Reading and into the quarter-finals

What an appalling headline! Power past suggests 4-0, not a last gasp winner!

[PistolPete]

I think people are proud of the club generally - not sure what the point of this thread is really. You can't squander a 4-0 lead away like that & be 'proud'

Defensively we are a mess. Serious questions need asking. What is Gibbs doing with them in training and why isn't Pearce playing? Why are they all asleep at set plays?

Agree, important questions! Ones which I think Steve Bould will be pondering when he wonders how our team of free transfers and bargain basement players scored 5!

Seriously though, I do wish Pearce had played

[E. Andrew]

But we had the character to come back from 4-5...

Not sure on that one. I have the 'character' to decline water when I'm vomiting up last night's poor decisions. Still a gruesome scene.

[yappy]

Definitely no way you can be 'proud' of throwing away a 4 goal lead. For me I wasn't happy with the second half even before the two late goals. At 4-2 I was saying to the person I was with that I wasn't at all happy with us just sitting behind the ball and making no attempt to try and keep hold of the ball. It's almost as if we were just encouraging them to score at times, and sadly it's a regular theme so far this season. First half we looked great, McCleary and HRK causing all sorts of problems down the wings, Tabb and Leigertwood winning the midfield battles, Hunt and Roberts linking well up front, and then second half we didn't see any of those positives & then there was only going to be one winner in extra time.

[urz13]

We were spent after the first 60 minutes of relentless closing down, and so we fell apart. A great spectacle. Get the defence sorted (serious issues there) and we might just be ok.

[Libertine]

Headline from The Guardian;

Arsenal's spare parts power past Reading and into the quarter-finals

What an appalling headline! Power past suggests 4-0, not a last gasp winner!

We shipped 7 oxf*rd goals to their "B" team. They made 11 changes from their last league game for the cup game last night. That being so how many would their "A" team have scored?

No, no...the headline is correct. After being up 4-0 we were outscored 7-1 by Arsenal's reserves. That is definitely "powering past".

[Para Handy]

We shipped 7 oxf*rd goals to their "B" team. They made 11 changes from their last league game for the cup game last night. That being so how many would their "A" team have scored?

No, no...the headline is correct. After being up 4-0 we were outscored 7-1 by Arsenal's reserves. That is definitely "powering past".

Shipping 7 against Doncaster could be construed as embarrassing. Shipping 7 over 120 minutes against Arsenal really shouldn't be.

[Libertine]

We shipped 7 oxf*rd goals to their "B" team. They made 11 changes from their last league game for the cup game last night. That being so how many would their "A" team have scored?

No, no...the headline is correct. After being up 4-0 we were outscored 7-1 by Arsenal's reserves. That is definitely "powering past".

Shipping 7 against Doncaster could be construed as embarrassing. Shipping 7 over 120 minutes against Arsenal really shouldn't be.

In reality we shipped 7 in a little more than 75 minutes. They didn't score their first until 1st half injury time. Shipping 7 is shipping 7. When was the last time that happened to us at any level? Never mind when was the last time we coughed up a 4 goal lead...

[Royal91]

Lets be honest it was 'freak' game. Being 4-0 up was just bizarre. Remember when we went 3 down in 6 mins to utd, we should have won the bloody match. Momentum in games where teams go 3/4/ up in the first half are always different in the second.

Tell that to Arsenal when they cocked up a 4 goal lead to Newcastle.

Reading have always been involved in outrageous score lines and that's why we love them. We are the streakiest team in England. We can lose 10 and then win 10. I remember 6 or so years ago we hadn't won in 11 league games yet and still achieved a play off spot I think.

We hold the record for the most wins in a row at the start of a season with 13 and we also hold the record amount of points in a season.

It was like the Villa match in the FA cup. Smashed them for the first half going into the break 2 up. Everyone knew if we kept it tight for the first 10mins we would probably win. Then they scored and everything went wrong, losing 4-2.

I can see us getting another ridiculous scoreline on Sunday losing 4-3 and then taking on Everton and winning!

In all seriousness though we need to learn to slow the game at critical times

[Para Handy]

Portsmouth, I guess. 5 years ago.

Can't remember us giving up a 4 goal lead before but then I'm not hung up on stats. I like to go to football, have a few (several) beers with my mates and enjoy the game. I can't be arsed to over analyse formations or worry about what Brian is thinking/doing.

It's supposed to be entertainment and tonight was just that. Don't get me wrong, I would have preferred to see the team I've been watching for 42 years win, but ultimately I'm not going to lose sleep over it. Yes, it's not a fantastic result, more to do with the effect on morale, than anything, but, frankly that's life and that's football.

[Arch]

I had a rough day at work and had managed to forget there was a game tonight. My first reminder was reading the first post of this thread. Hilarious way to find out! Glad I didn't put myself through that.

The answer to Libertine's first question is September 29th 2007. No idea about the second.

[Big Ern]

I don't know how anyone can feel anything other than embarrassed, let alone proud.

We let a 4 goal lead against Arsenal's second team and shipped 7 goals at home. Quite frankly pathetic again this season.

We can point the finger at certain members of staff, yet the simple truth is, it is between us and Southampton for last place. We are simply not good enough for this division and I doubt we will be able to do anything about it in January.