Where was Guthrie again?!

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Completely outplayed in midfield today, no quality on the ball whatsoever.

Where was the 4-5-1?

Where was Guthrie to add some technical ability to our midfield?

Poor from McDermott.

[windermere_royal]

Poor from McDermott.

Where you been all season?

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Watching, mostly, a load of shite all season.

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Who f*cking cares where he was.

Yes, he's had little opportunity, but he adds nothing to this team, and his extra powder puffness (even compared to our powderpuff midfield) just leaves us more exposed

He hasn't done a single thing when he has played that has even made me raise my eyebrows. Not a pass, not a cross, not a run, not a shot, not a tackle.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Yes, he's had little opportunity, but he adds nothing to this team.

So.... if he has barely played, how can we make a proper assessment on him?

[RoyalBlue]

Adi Williams doing his best at present to line McDermott up with an excuse - keeps on about his wife/partner being pregnant.

TBF does also say if that's not the reason then it's absurd he isn't being played.

[Born 'n Bred Royal]

He probably criticised McDermott in training and as a result has been dropped again until further notice. It's a shame as technically he is our best midfield player, probably the only one who can be considered Premier League standard.

[Divvy]

Come on, the pregnancy is a convenient excuse for not playing a player Brian can't forgive for speaking out and challenging how he does things. He's done here and will be first out the door in the summer! But I do agree we miss someone of his passing ability. We have by far the worst bunch of central midfielders in the league, and that just makes Guthrie's omission and still the omission of a now fit Carrico even more baffling.

[John Madejski's Wallet]

He probably criticised McDermott in training and as a result has been dropped again until further notice. It's a shame as technically he is our best midfield player, probably the only one who can be considered Premier League standard.

HOW?

Because he can take the ball from the defence and pass it sideways about 10 yds.

Whoop-dee-f*cking-do

He's like James Harper but without the running and the comical arm-waving

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Yes, he's had little opportunity, but he adds nothing to this team.

So.... if he has barely played, how can we make a proper assessment on him?

Intentionally being dim are we?

[Born 'n Bred Royal]

He probably criticised McDermott in training and as a result has been dropped again until further notice. It's a shame as technically he is our best midfield player, probably the only one who can be considered Premier League standard.

HOW?

Because he can take the ball from the defence and pass it sideways about 10 yds.

Whoop-dee-f*cking-do

He's like James Harper but without the running and the comical arm-waving

Well yes...

He is the only midfield player in our team that can take the ball from the defence and pass it sideways about 10 yards. All of our other players hoof it or give the ball away.

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Well yes...

He is the only midfield player in our team that can take the ball from the defence and pass it sideways about 10 yards. All of our other players hoof it or give the ball away.

A 10 yards sidways pass to someone who will hoof it anyway and give the ball away, is not exactly the answer to our prayers is it ?

[Born 'n Bred Royal]

Well yes...

He is the only midfield player in our team that can take the ball from the defence and pass it sideways about 10 yards. All of our other players hoof it or give the ball away.

A 10 yards sidways pass to someone who will hoof it anyway and give the ball away, is not exactly the answer to our prayers is it ?

No, nor was I saying he is the answer to our prayers. He should be playing though, his heart must not be in it.

Why McDermott continues to stick by Leigertwood I will never know. Why can't he do us a favour and drop him like he did with Gorkss? Leigertwood has now shown with three different Premier League clubs that he can not hack it at this level.

[Sanguine]

Sorry JMW but you're being particularly one-eyed on this thread, especially your post that you have seen him do nothing of note at all.

The point re Guthrie and having him involved is that he is another option for the midfield. He is the only passing/control/possession type midfielder at the club, and our midfield is continually over-run. So having him in the midfield, or on the bench as an option gives Brian a choice to say right, we need to keep the ball more, I want an extra body in there who will do more than tackle, and so on.

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Sorry JMW but you're being particularly one-eyed on this thread, especially your post that you have seen him do nothing of note at all.

The point re Guthrie and having him involved is that he is another option for the midfield. He is the only passing/control/possession type midfielder at the club, and our midfield is continually over-run. So having him in the midfield, or on the bench as an option gives Brian a choice to say right, we need to keep the ball more, I want an extra body in there who will do more than tackle, and so on.

Ever really seen him do it when he has been playing?

[Sanguine]

Sorry JMW but you're being particularly one-eyed on this thread, especially your post that you have seen him do nothing of note at all.

The point re Guthrie and having him involved is that he is another option for the midfield. He is the only passing/control/possession type midfielder at the club, and our midfield is continually over-run. So having him in the midfield, or on the bench as an option gives Brian a choice to say right, we need to keep the ball more, I want an extra body in there who will do more than tackle, and so on.

Ever really seen him do it when he has been playing?

Yes, he was good against Stoke, Chelsea and West Brom, off the top of my head.

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Sorry JMW but you're being particularly one-eyed on this thread, especially your post that you have seen him do nothing of note at all.

The point re Guthrie and having him involved is that he is another option for the midfield. He is the only passing/control/possession type midfielder at the club, and our midfield is continually over-run. So having him in the midfield, or on the bench as an option gives Brian a choice to say right, we need to keep the ball more, I want an extra body in there who will do more than tackle, and so on.

Ever really seen him do it when he has been playing?

Yes, he was good against Stoke, Chelsea and West Brom, off the top of my head.

Huh, well there you go

[John Madejski's Wallet]

I'm just having a grump because i'm sick of people bitching that *average player* should be starting instead of *average player*. And Guthrie really is just an average player

We are sh*t, I just wish people would stop thinking that we'll suddenly be good if e.g. Shorey & Karacan (ala Adie Williams' rant) are in the team.


We have no single player who can make any sort of difference to the team

[Sanguine]

No idea what you mean by that. You said he had done nothing of note.

And you ignored my point that the frustration re no Guthrie is that it reduces our options. Not good enough to start ahead of anyone? Fine. At least have him on the bench if/when the midfield needs a change.

[John Madejski's Wallet]

No idea what you mean by that. You said he had done nothing of note.

I don't think he has. Even when he's been in a team thats played well that game, i've still thought he was nothing more than "ok"

And you ignored my point that the frustration re no Guthrie is that it reduces our options. Not good enough to start ahead of anyone? Fine. At least have him on the bench if/when the midfield needs a change.

Being 2-0 up and wanting to maybe keep hold of the ball a little bit (which still needs the rest of the team to do the same), fine. But I can't see anyway in which him coming off the bench could improve us when we're chasing a game (as we always are).

He can ONLY be played in a 5 man middle imo, but even whe4n he was played as the attacking one a few weeks back, he still ended up dropping deeper than the two defensive DMs. He is not naturally an attacking player, though when he has been encouraged forward he's actually been at his best