BFTG - West Ham

[floyd__streete]

Lovely stuff. 4-5-1 worked a treat again. 100% effort from all and that was enough to get us by (by the skin of our teeth) against a limited West Ham side. As usual West ham rolled up with their usual misplaced arrogance and swagger and once again they have been beaten by own sheer desire. Cole should have been sent off for an off the ball kick at one of our players, referee Oliver was out of his depth in what was quite honestly a horrible game of football. West Ham's long-ball football is desperate and as poor a side as we comparatively are in this league our excuse is that at least we haven't blown the millions West Ham have in adopting such a limited style of play. I think I am right in saying that Allardyce has still never recorded a single win against any Reading team?

[SCIAG]

I rarely agree with you, floyd, but I can't find a word to disagree with there.

Ratings (all marks boosted because I'm so glad we hung on):
Feds 8.5- kept them out, claimed some tricky shots. Lucky that Vaz Te missed though.
Gunter 7- good enough, got forward well, made a few good tackles
Pearce 9- if he'd been playing all season then we would not be in this mess.
Mariappa 8- I don't remember him doing much, which means he made few or no mistakes
Harte 7- again, good enough. Not threatened. Missed a few headers.
Kebe 10- does what he wants, and he wanted to beat West Ham.
Legs 7- gave the ball away a few times and didn't win it back very many, but helped us survive the siege.
Karacan 9- energy, broke up play, tackled well, hit the bar
Guthrie 8- keeps us ticking over, good movement.
McAnuff 7.5- did well on the ball. Didn't create much today.
Pog 9- goal, hassled well, held the ball up, good headers.

Hunt 8- ran down the clock. Great call by McDermott. IN BRIAN WE TRUST*.
HRK 7- good job supporting Hunt.

[SLAMMED]

KUMB is always a good read after we beat them

http://www.kumb.com/forum/viewtopic.php ... &start=340

[urz13]

I'm not a fan but Gunter was much improved today. Only one mistake but put in some superb tackles and blocks. However his crossing was still awful. McAnuff was much better and Kebe was just fantastic, took a battering but got on with it and put in some terrific tackles.

Feds - 7 had little to do but did it well.
Gunter - 7 much better but still looks nervous and crossing was poor
Pearce - 9 awesome, sign him up
Mariappa - superb, somehow kept out jumping Cole who was a good bit taller than him.
Harte - 6 missed a few headers but did ok
Kebe - 8 on fire at the moment. Superb but should've scored.
Karacan - 8 great performance, so unlucky not to score. Should've passed to McAnuff at one point though.
Leigertwood - 7 very solid defensively today but passing was woeful at times.
Guthrie - 7 didn't really notice him but when he was involved he did well
McAnuff - 8 fantastic defensively, held it up well, got forward quickly. Gutsy captains performance.
Pog - 8 worked so hard, deserved his goal, and when he had it at his feet he was brilliant

Hunt - 7 good work
HRK - 7 the man can do no wrong.

[Albert Spangler]

KUMB is always a good read after we beat them

http://www.kumb.com/forum/viewtopic.php ... &start=340

Quite a few sensible contributions, tbf. We are shit, Kebe did have them rattLOLed and they were indeed fortunate to have eleven on the pitch at the end. However, Nolan had us ratlled and Pog could have easily seen two yellows on another day. It's just that the roundabouts swung our way today, that's all.

[USA_Loyal_Royal]

feds-8 fantastic keeper, saved us the 3 points!
gunter- 7 better but still not good enough at this level
pearce-8.5 awesome performance really the general of our back line. great partnership with mariappa
mariappa-7.5 played well
harte- 7 free kicks were played in pretty well
kebe- 8 played well, our best attacking threat
ledge- 7.5 played better, stopped a lot of west hams threats, still shitty passing
guthrie-7.5 passed well, created chances
karacan-8 ran a lot, passed well, unlucky not to score. the only thing he did bad all day was 2 chances on break he played the wrong pass.
mcanuff-7.5 great defensive performance, did very little going forward though. held up the ball well at the end.
pog-8 great taken goal, played hard, ran well, brilliant.

[Royal Rother]

All these ratings - I can't figure out what scale is in use.

Ok to celebrate 3 points but I think each and every rating needs at least 2 points taken off to give a realistic assessment of the performances!

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Wow - massively proud of that performance. 10000000% effort & desire from all. Kebe was just inspired - MOTM by quite some distance. Pog was great feeding off the limited scraps he had too. Legs gave the ball away far too often for my liking today but don't want to overly criticise.

Keep on like that & the fans will be right behind you. I had lost pretty much all faith in BM but he is showing he is learning. That dressing room is behind him I'm sure.

Onwards & upwards. Hoping we can nick an unlikely point v Spurs & keep this wagon rolling for a bit.

[PremAddict]

I really enjoyed the pressing they did. The formation also seems to be working. So did Robbie Fowler's comments take root?

[Divvy]

Agree with grumpy draws, and a special mention to Mariappa who was outstanding - his best game for us by far, and Gunter too who also had his best game for us and I think I'm right when I say that's three clean sheets with Gunter in the side..?

Confidence is key and these players will express themselves better as we get results, but we really do need 3-4 new faces next month if we want any chance of staying up.

I felt for the kid getting all the stick in the first half. Reading fans were stuck for any decent comeback, and the poor lad didn't come back for the second half. Our fans are utter gash sometimes!

[windermere_royal]

Bit frustrated we were playing it into the corners and wasting good positions with still 8 minutes to go, thats taking caution to whole new levels.
more realistic marks

Feds 8
Gunter 7
Pearce 9
Mariappa 7
Harte 6
Jobie 6
Legs 7
Jem 7
Gutthrie 6
Kebe 7
Pog 8

[urz13]

KUMB is always a good read after we beat them

http://www.kumb.com/forum/viewtopic.php ... &start=340

Quite a few sensible contributions, tbf. We are shit, Kebe did have them rattLOLed and they were indeed fortunate to have eleven on the pitch at the end. However, Nolan had us ratlled and Pog could have easily seen two yellows on another day. It's just that the roundabouts swung our way today, that's all.

Re: Reading FC v West Ham United: Match Thread
by jacko on Sat Dec 29, 2012 5:34 pm
i hate Reading so much i'm considering not shopping in Waitrose again

[Royalclapper]

Crap game, great result.

Seen some of the West Ham reaction, full of their own utter sh*t as usual. Who was it that set the tone by committing the first dirty foul after only a minute? - one of their dogs IIRC. The crossbar saved them from conceding a second, and who's fault was it that Vaz Te missed a sitter? Collins is a complete donkey, and Jarvis looks like one of the few with a touch of class.

We look much more solid with Jem and Guthrie, Legs is still one of the worst players in the league though. Also wish we just had that extra bit of composure when on the counter attack, a couple of times today there were men over yet it went frustratingly to waste. Pleasing to get 3 points no matter what.

[Albert Spangler]

KUMB is always a good read after we beat them

http://www.kumb.com/forum/viewtopic.php ... &start=340

Quite a few sensible contributions, tbf. We are shit, Kebe did have them rattLOLed and they were indeed fortunate to have eleven on the pitch at the end. However, Nolan had us ratlled and Pog could have easily seen two yellows on another day. It's just that the roundabouts swung our way today, that's all.

Re: Reading FC v West Ham United: Match Thread
by jacko on Sat Dec 29, 2012 5:34 pm
i hate Reading so much i'm considering not shopping in Waitrose again

They're not all sensible!

[Divvy]

We've got a big fcuking Russian...

[Readingfanman]

Extremely pleased to get one over on WHU and Kevin Nolan. Pleased to see Karacan seems to have been given slightly more of a free role in the 1st half at least today and was told to play behind Pogrebnyak, I think he chases the ball much more than Guthrie (It's expected in all honesty), and allows for a lot more potential mistakes. Playing Guthrie with L'wood in the centre of midfield with Karacan playing ahead of them may be a move we should take more often. Only major disappointment for me was the amount of times (At least 3 I think), that we broke with the ball and would have been 2 on 1, or 3 on 2, and the pass never came (Karacan,and Kebe are two suspects I remember doing this).

Feds - 6 Made one or two good saves, and looked comfortable in the air.
Gunter - 6 Definitely identified in the second half as the weaker wing back but did his job well enough.
Pearce - 7 Got rid of everything thrown at him today. He has to be given a new contract ASAP.
Mariappa - 7 Did as well as Pearce today, and I think is rightfully claiming his place in the XI, would be upset to see him dropped upon fitness of Morrison.
Harte - 6 Did well enough, I feel he actually brings a lot to the side defensively purely because he knows he can't go forwards, leaves us a lot more solid than Shorey does.
Kebe - 7 Wound West Ham up no end, wish he would have shot in the first half though, and should have scored in the second.
Karacan - 8 MOM for me, rushes every pass, and is clearly a premier league quality player.
Leigertwood - 6 Ok, he can tackle, but I get the feeling unless he suddenly is taught how to pass and keep the ball, he won't be in the side if we sign any CM.
Guthrie - 6 Didn't play as well as he did vs Swansea, but made an impression, I think he keeps the game ticking over nicely for us in midfield, and set up a few breakaways.
McAnuff - 7 Much better performance from him, really solid going back, don't think he was quite as creative as hoped, but not a shabby performance.
Pog - 8 Is really picking up, I feel he is enjoying this new system much more with Guthrie in the side, he suddenly has players to knock the ball back to, and looks much more involved.

[Barney]

The club West Ham, and their utter arrogant supporters, need to realise that they are NOT a "top 6" club or a "top 10" club. They are, by a small margin, not that much different from us. Ok....they have the FA cup etc etc, but as of right now in 2012-2013 they ain't that much different from us.

Top draw displays from most of our players today. Tough game, and the referee was painfully out of his depth.

Loved it today. WHU fans simply can't accept defeat by 'little' Reading. It just makes it THAT much better that we seem to beat them time after time.

For those that didn't go, let's be honest, it was a bit backs to the wall at the end. But that just makes the result that much sweeter. Can we stay up ? It's possible. We are odds on to go down, and I can understand that. But the belief we showed today just makes me think that POSSIBLY we could just make the Great Escape.

Good day today. Great Bill Oddie chants. Great result. The Great Escape ?...maybe.

[West Stand Man]

KUMB is always a good read after we beat them

http://www.kumb.com/forum/viewtopic.php ... &start=340

Quite a few sensible contributions, tbf. We are shit, Kebe did have them rattLOLed and they were indeed fortunate to have eleven on the pitch at the end. However, Nolan had us ratlled and Pog could have easily seen two yellows on another day. It's just that the roundabouts swung our way today, that's all.

Re: Reading FC v West Ham United: Match Thread
by jacko on Sat Dec 29, 2012 5:34 pm
i hate Reading so much i'm considering not shopping in Waitrose again

I don't recall the East End having a Waitrose anyway!

[Hoop Blah]

Not the prettiest obviously but that is still a massive result and one that was earned with guts and hard work, with a slice of good fortune thrown in for good measure.

Pearce and Mariappa were outstanding today, even if they were 2 v 1 for most of the game the way West Ham play means the centre halfs are put under a lot of pressure and they handled it with ease most of the time. For a short fella Mariappa won an amazing amount of headers.

Karacan, probably just beating the above as my man of the match, was every where and supported Pogrebnyak really well without exposing the back four.

Remaining special mentions go to Pogregnyak and Guthrie who both showed a glimpse of what we should've been seeing from them for most of the season.

Lets hope this team has 'found it's identity' again and we carry on this mini revival and at least look like a team that is trying to stay in this league and not treating every game as a jolly boys day out and chance for little old Reading to cause an upset.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Had a ticket in Y26 for this.

Very fiesty, great noise from the Reading faithful, had great fun in winding up the West Ham lot. Few ejections from the ground was the only downside.

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