Player ratings

[KC Royal]

This was a must win game and maybe as a result it was a bit scrappy but the defence was immense. I usually watch the game with a Spurs fan so for the 1st half I decided to watch the fans commentary on Sky. Not bad but the chants of "Come On City" and "this is classic City" from the Man City fan got on my nerves a bit. Here are the player ratings.

Hahnemann 7 Didnt have a lot to do despite City having plenty of shots, but when he was called into action looked comfortable and assured.
Murty 8 Part of an immense defensive performance but his passing in the 1st half was also effective and put Doyle and Lita into good postions. Key moment was his shot rebounding to Inga who almost scored.
Sonks 9 Immense hardly put a foot wrong though sometimes I worry about the hesitation between him and Hahnemann.
Inga 9 Scored with a bullet header, and would have scored a 2nd with a fantastic left footed strike but for a fine save by Weaver. Also immense defensively.
Shorey 7 Slightly overshadowed by the efforts of the rest of the defence, but did a solid job.
Seol 7 Caused problems with his running, and his crosses did look dangerous at times but should do more defensively.
Sidwell 7
Harper - Him and Sids got overrun in the 1st half but tightened up in the 2nd half.
Convey 8 Probably his best performance of the season, his freekick led to the goal and he continually caused City problems with the ball. Also looked more keen to help out defensively than in previous games.
Lita 7 Did a good job holding up the ball, and linking up play but never really thought he'd score.
Doyle 8 Always a threat with his workrate and willingness to run at City when given the chance. Unlucky with 2 efforts cleared at the near post from Weaver and a defender 2nd half.

Subs (for last 15 mins)
Long (on for Lita) 6 Didnt do a great deal but looked eager
Gunnarsson (on for Seol) 7 His introduction tightened up the midfield when he he came on on the right, almost scored with a great strike to clinch it near the end.

On another note not sure what the red card for Dabo was all about, it wasnt any worse than Sinclairs poor challenge on Convey which got a yellow.

[silas]

Lita 7 Did a good job holding up the ball, and linking up play but never really thought he'd score.

Lita was absolute toilet last night

[Alan Partridge]

Lita 7 Did a good job holding up the ball, and linking up play but never really thought he'd score.

Lita was absolute toilet last night

What game were you watching siLOLas??????

He was terrific last night, much improved.

[SpaceCruiser]

Lita 7 Did a good job holding up the ball, and linking up play but never really thought he'd score.

Lita was absolute toilet last night

Twaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat

[KC Royal]

Didnt think he was at his best, but he impressed me when shielding the ball. Must admit tho I was thinking during the game that we miss Kitsons goal scoring. Doyle has consistently played well but has only got 1 goal to his name, and Lita didnt look like adding to his goal against Boro last night. Aside from that it was a good performance from the strikers, given they didnt get a lot of service.

[silas]

Lita 7 Did a good job holding up the ball, and linking up play but never really thought he'd score.

Lita was absolute toilet last night

What game were you watching siLOLas??????

He was terrific last night, much improved.

Pushed off the ball far to easily and didn't hold the ball up at all well. Maybe 'absolute toilet' was bit harsh-just toilet will do

[KC Royal]

Lita 7 Did a good job holding up the ball, and linking up play but never really thought he'd score.

Lita was absolute toilet last night

What game were you watching siLOLas??????

He was terrific last night, much improved.

Pushed off the ball far to easily and didn't hold the ball up at all well. Maybe 'absolute toilet' was bit harsh-just toilet will do

So thats why after holding up the ball, City resorted to fouling him on at least 2 occasions then

[Alan Partridge]

Lita 7 Did a good job holding up the ball, and linking up play but never really thought he'd score.

Lita was absolute toilet last night

What game were you watching siLOLas??????

He was terrific last night, much improved.

Pushed off the ball far to easily and didn't hold the ball up at all well. Maybe 'absolute toilet' was bit harsh-just toilet will do

So who won the free kick for the goal? Having chased a lost cause hoofball and was up against Distin?

He skinned Dunne and could possibly have had a pen, his little flicks and hold up play was much improved. He had a better game than Doyle for me yestersday although they were both starved of service.

Not having that silas at all mate

[floyd__streete]

Lita was absolute toilet last night

Oh dear.

Hob Nob wouldn't be Hob Nob I suppose without a totally inaccurate/unjustified slagging of at least one player after a fine team performance and win . For me, Lita led the defensive work from the front by chasing his litle legs off in a style I have enver seen before from him.

[Pridders]

This was a must win game and maybe as a result it was a bit scrappy but the defence was immense. I usually watch the game with a Spurs fan so for the 1st half I decided to watch the fans commentary on Sky. Not bad but the chants of "Come On City" and "this is classic City" from the Man City fan got on my nerves a bit. Here are the player ratings.

Hahnemann 7 Didnt have a lot to do despite City having plenty of shots, but when he was called into action looked comfortable and assured.
Murty 8 Part of an immense defensive performance but his passing in the 1st half was also effective and put Doyle and Lita into good postions. Key moment was his shot rebounding to Inga who almost scored.
Sonks 9 Immense hardly put a foot wrong though sometimes I worry about the hesitation between him and Hahnemann.
Inga 9 Scored with a bullet header, and would have scored a 2nd with a fantastic left footed strike but for a fine save by Weaver. Also immense defensively.
Shorey 7 Slightly overshadowed by the efforts of the rest of the defence, but did a solid job.
Seol 7 Caused problems with his running, and his crosses did look dangerous at times but should do more defensively.
Sidwell 7
Harper - Him and Sids got overrun in the 1st half but tightened up in the 2nd half.
Convey 8 Probably his best performance of the season, his freekick led to the goal and he continually caused City problems with the ball. Also looked more keen to help out defensively than in previous games.
Lita 7 Did a good job holding up the ball, and linking up play but never really thought he'd score.
Doyle 8 Always a threat with his workrate and willingness to run at City when given the chance. Unlucky with 2 efforts cleared at the near post from Weaver and a defender 2nd half.

Subs (for last 15 mins)
Long (on for Lita) 6 Didnt do a great deal but looked eager
Gunnarsson (on for Seol) 7 His introduction tightened up the midfield when he he came on on the right, almost scored with a great strike to clinch it near the end.

On another note not sure what the red card for Dabo was all about, it wasnt any worse than Sinclairs poor challenge on Convey which got a yellow.

How can you put the likes of Seol on the same rating as Lita, Sidwell and Hahnemann ??
Seol was at most a 5 last night. He played 1 dangerous cross and didnt even attempt to run.

[silas]

Lita 7 Did a good job holding up the ball, and linking up play but never really thought he'd score.

Lita was absolute toilet last night

What game were you watching siLOLas??????

He was terrific last night, much improved.

Pushed off the ball far to easily and didn't hold the ball up at all well. Maybe 'absolute toilet' was bit harsh-just toilet will do

So thats why after holding up the ball, City resorted to fouling him on at least 2 occasions then

How many times though did he attempt to hold the ball up and easily give away possession because he was pushed off the ball too easily? Too many for my liking. When he got in behind the defence he caused a few problems but he hasn't done himself justice at this level yet IMO. I have no doubt that he will though once he has found his feet

[Spirit of Elm Park]

The only real, criticisms I can make of last night are the following:

Seol looked tired, 2 internationals on the other side of the world, could have been rested IMO

Convey on occasion looked a little "weak", hes a confidence player and needs a goal, like last year. 1st half especially seemed unable to put a tackle in.

I could list positives all day, litas improvement, doyles running, sonkos continued growth, Ivars bravery, Harpers running, sidwells tackling, conveys delivery, but I won't

All in all, feeling good to be a royal today. 8th FFS

[silas]

Lita was absolute toilet last night

Oh dear.

Hob Nob wouldn't be Hob Nob I suppose without a totally inaccurate/unjustified slagging of at least one player after a fine team performance and win . For me, Lita led the defensive work from the front by chasing his litle legs off in a style I have enver seen before from him.

Wasn't slagging him off at all, as I said maybe absolute toilet was harsh , just don't think he was anywhere near his best last night and wouldn't agree with the 7 rating given to him by KC Royal.

[soggy biscuit]

drummer 0/10
'back the boys and make some noise' man 2/10
Jester hats 3/10
foreign bar staff on the concourse 2/10
friendly girl offering 'coffee & chocolate' in the East stand concourse 7/10
bloke selling badges out the front 3/10
pointy pointy man 0/10 (didn't see him)
Golden Gamble girls -1/10
URZ/no 13/Reading fans everywhere 2/10
car park pointers 3/10

Would have been a complete let down had it not been for the friendly girl selling coffee on the concourse

[Peter Griffin]

Toilet is a bit harsh, but he wasn't great last night. He lost the ball too often and generally seemed to lack any anticipation. He may be a 'goalscorer', but will that alone be enough in the Premiership?

How anyone can say he had a better game than Doyle is beyond me.

Also, I don't know how you can give Lita a 7 and Long a 6. Long looked far more lively and had some nice touches when he came on (although I accept that their defence was stretched at the time).

[TFF]

Didnt think he was at his best, but he impressed me when shielding the ball. Must admit tho I was thinking during the game that we miss Kitsons goal scoring. Doyle has consistently played well but has only got 1 goal to his name, and Lita didnt look like adding to his goal against Boro last night. Aside from that it was a good performance from the strikers, given they didnt get a lot of service.

I've said it before and because I'm right it deserves another airing. We do miss Kitson because Doyle and Lita as a partnership is not as good as either of Kitson/Doyle or Kitson/Lita.

Doyle and Lita are both at their best when Kitson is the target man and can hold up, lay-off or flick on for them.

[Royalee]

Hahnemann: 7 - Good saves when needed, I'd like to see a slight improvement in distribution but can't complain.

Murty: 8 - Solid and got forward well. He's impressed me so far this season and even managed to up his game from last year thus far.

Sonko: 8 - Immense.

Ingimarsson: 8 - Great brave header for the goal and solid.

Shorey: 7 - Got done a few times but still did well.

Seol: 6 - I like him, but more effort required.

Sidwell: 8 - Immense.

Harper: 6 - Too weak for me last night, he needs to close the gaps more and there were lots of instances where players went past him too easily where Sidwell would have won the ball.

Convey : 8 - Excellent, a big f*ck off to those complaining about him.

Lita : 6 - Very impressed with him first half and I'dve given him a 7 or 8 during that. Second half he got exceptionally lazy and did bugger all.

Doyle: 8 - Always a threat, particularly second half.

Subs:

Gunnarsson: 7 - Battled well and was just what we needed.

Long: 7 - Same as above and looked excellent. Lita should take note of his effort and I'd start him at Bramall Lane in place of him.

[SWLR]

Just watch the highlights on OS and I'd mark Hanheman up from a 7. Several saves were well held, with City players bearing down on him (unlike Boro). Give him a 9 too.

[ScottishRoyal]

Didnt think he was at his best, but he impressed me when shielding the ball. Must admit tho I was thinking during the game that we miss Kitsons goal scoring. Doyle has consistently played well but has only got 1 goal to his name, and Lita didnt look like adding to his goal against Boro last night. Aside from that it was a good performance from the strikers, given they didnt get a lot of service.

I've said it before and because I'm right it deserves another airing. We do miss Kitson because Doyle and Lita as a partnership is not as good as either of Kitson/Doyle or Kitson/Lita.

Doyle and Lita are both at their best when Kitson is the target man and can hold up, lay-off or flick on for them.

Correct. Last night our play was a bit too direct and with Kits playing the ball would have stuck more when banged forward. My main criticism would be our inability to keep the ball. If we do that each week we will get punished. Simple passing would also help to bring the wingers into play more.

[Alan Partridge]

Convey was excellent....Eh????

Convey's set pieces were tremendous, which was a pleasant change but an excellent performance? To steal one 'someone's had too many sherry's'

Only the defense and Hahnemann were 'excellent' last night.