Back from the Blackpool game...

[Thou Voice]

...well that was another poor quality Reading display with a good result.

Two main observations, we never took a hold of the game when they went down to 10 men - we should have and have the quality to do so, but something was lacking.

As soon as Mr USA went off, the team looked very very fragile. That man is a ROCK for our team and I wish him fitness ASAP.

The offside goal could have totally changed the entire match (obviously) but Adam seemed out of his depth. I have ZERO faith in him as a goal keeper, he seemed far too nervous.

[winchester_royal]

Energy was lacking. Though Blackpool took the pace out of the game when they went down to 10 men.

[londinium]

...well that was another poor quality Reading display with a good result.

Two main observations, we never took a hold of the game when they went down to 10 men - we should have and have the quality to do so, but something was lacking.

As soon as Mr USA went off, the team looked very very fragile. That man is a ROCK for our team and I wish him fitness ASAP.

The offside goal could have totally changed the entire match (obviously) but Adam seemed out of his depth. I have ZERO faith in him as a goal keeper, he seemed far too nervous.

When was the last 'poor quality Reading display waith a good result'????


If you wanna see a poor dislay and still get 3 points go watch Brum

[bishbosh92]

Well whoever said 1-0 And a boring match on the the prediction thread.

SPOT ON!!

we were once again below par with are perfomance, and i thought both strikers were very quiet.

Marek had a poor game, but i will admit nice to see coppel make some changes with harper on the bench.

Dunno why cisse was though, all in all i thought Inga was MOTM as he not only scored a good goal but was also solid at the back.

[winchester_royal]

Well whoever said 1-0 And a boring match on the the prediction thread.

SPOT ON!!

we were once again below par with are perfomance, and i thought both strikers were very quiet.

Marek had a poor game, but i will admit nice to see coppel make some changes with harper on the bench.

Dunno why cisse was though, all in all i thought Inga was MOTM as he not only scored a good goal but was also solid at the back.

Dunno what game you were watching. Marek was the best player on the pitch, which admittedly isn't saying much.

[bishbosh92]

Well whoever said 1-0 And a boring match on the the prediction thread.

SPOT ON!!

we were once again below par with are perfomance, and i thought both strikers were very quiet.

Marek had a poor game, but i will admit nice to see coppel make some changes with harper on the bench.

Dunno why cisse was though, all in all i thought Inga was MOTM as he not only scored a good goal but was also solid at the back.

Dunno what game you were watching. Marek was the best player on the pitch, which admittedly isn't saying much.

I disagree he was the best player on the pitch, tho i will say that allthough i thouhgt he was poor that was his first start since forest.

So i wont complain the 3 points is what matters

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Marek had a poor game.

I thought he had a very good game myself. Some fantastic through balls and it was really good to see a properly balanced midfield with Bryn holding but also not being scaredto go forward and Marek attacking and looking for the though balls to the strikers. In fact some of his balls were so good our strikers didnt read them!!

He did i'll admit also lose the ball a fair bit in the first half

Bryn was very steady and I also thought Armstrong had a good game too

SHunt was once again utter, utter garbage and topped off a rubbish performance with a rubbish pen. Twatter

Rest of team were just very flat, and didnt look up for it

[Arthur Pint]

Jeez that was dull, I waited and waited for a football match to break out but it never really did.

Reading weren't fluent at all, and missed the spark that Jimmy Kebe gives on the right hand side. James Henry did ok but never looked like getting to the byline in the way that Kebe has done recently. Shame about Marcus getting injured, I'm sure some people boo'd when he kicked the ball out to be subbed thinking it was a bad pass, we have some real clever fans.
I didn't have the greatest view of the sending off or SHunts first half penalty appeal but my general feeling was the ref got them both wrong. Looked like a harsh sending off although I'm happy to be corrected, and after Kebe and Bikey sendings off we were owed one. Overall a very disjointed performance and by far the worst performance at home I've seen this season, even the defeat at Southampton was a more entertaining game, but we got the 3 points and the cliche goes it's all about winning and not playing your best.

Player rating.

Marcus - 7 - Didn't really have anything to do, came well for most crosses and can't remember him kicking it out of touch either!
Rosie - 6 - Did ok, certainly not up to the high standard we can get from him.
Doobs - 5 - As a defender did well and would have scored better had his distribution not been so bad.
Ingi - 8 - MoM - defended pretty well and was an awesome finish for the goal, thought a striker had taken the shot.
Armstrong - 7 - Solid performance, again not up to his highest standard, good dribble to get fouled for the penalty.
Henry - 6 - Never got beyond his man, was tidy and did what was asked of him, a couple of good runs that ended up going nowhere, looked like he needed a little more belief in himself.
Marek - 6 - Some clever passes and was reasonably neat and tidy but with Kebe missing we needed more creativeness from him, and it didn't really come.
Bryn 6 - I think coming on as an impact Sub is probably best for Bryn, he always looks really tired near the end when he plays 90 mins.
Shunt 6 - Ran his socks off as normal, but does some really infuriating stuff like little back heels when he shouldn't, missed a penalty.
Nunt 6 - Can't really think of much to say about Noel's performance, can't really remember him doing anything of note, anyone?
Doyle 6 - Again I guess because the service was poor I can't think of a lot to say about Doyle's game, played alright and got a lot of balls into feet.

SUbs

A.Fed 6 - Didn't have an awful lot to do, the ball did get past him but luckily the linesman came to the rescue.
Convey - Didn't do enough to be given any marks.
Long - 5 - Arguing with Hunty over the penalty may well have put him off, so I'm going to mark him down for lack of proffesionalism.

Entertainment value - 3

[andrew1957]

Terrible performance but a good result. The game was ok til the Blackpool player was sent off but after that Blackpool largely settled for 1-0 and we failed to string more than 3 passes together most of the evening.

Player ratings.

USA - 6 - not really called on at all. Hope he is ok.
Armstrong 6 - solid all night and another clean sheet
Ingi - 7 again solid all night an a good goal
Duberry 5 - poor at times tonight - several dodgy moments
Rosenior - 6 - not one of his better nights really but another clean sheet
Hunt - 6 - ran a lot as usual with variable results
Gunnar 6 - steady
Matejovsky 7 - probably just MOTM as he looked a class apart when he had the ball but was casual at times and little end product in all truth
Henry -6 tried hard and some good crosses but some poor ones
N Hunt - 5 - did not seem to get much joy tonight
Doyle - 6 - not much joy either

Fed 5 - not much to do
Long - 2 - I normally stick up for him but why was he wrestling Hunt for the penalty - cost us a goal probably
Convey 3 - I think he touched the ball once or twice

[parky]

I wan't to be the first to say Henry was poor tonight we need Kebe back

[SteveRoyal]

Marek had a poor game.

Better risky and giving the ball away than safe and sideways.
Marek's passing pushes us forwards, whereas Harpers passing seems to keep us where we are half the time.
I think Cisse is better than Gun on current form, despite Gun scoring crucial goals in the past 2 games (before this).
Cisse is a better all-round midfielder who is strong and not afraid of anyone (so it seems).

As soon as Mr USA went off, the team looked very very fragile. That man is a ROCK for our team and I wish him fitness ASAP.

I'll contradict TV there. Apparently, (because I was doing coursework - i had to listen to the match) we seemed to up the tempo once USA went off. 'Course, tempo doesn't mean performance. It's just a start to a good performance. I think if Karacan was introduced it would have livened our midfield up a bit, especially as Gun ain't our fastest player...

I wan't to be the first to say Henry was poor tonight we need Kebe back

Blimey, I'm really against you lot tonight.
I personally think - for a league debut - Henry played a miracle game. He got past his man a few times and his crosses were decent (although occasionally deep). He did seem to die down a bit in the second half, which is probably why Coppell subbed him off. Still, a decent debut for the young man.

[RG30]

Questions to be answered by the jury;

1) Why did Marcus go off, is he ok?
2) How did James Henry play?
3) How did Marek do?

[Top Flight]

I thought Henry was poor tonight.

I know it sounds harsh to say, especially as he is a young kid but I don't think the lad has a future with Reading.

I'm not sure what it is that Henry offers?

He has no pace.........

He hasn't got any skill.......

It looks like he might have a decent cross on him. It looks like he has a good shot on him.

But how many times did Rosenior go down the flank and then look for a run from Henry which didn't come. If Henry stays static he will be marked out of the game. Henry needs to be far livelier and as soon as Rosenior has the ball, Henry needs to come alive, be alert and start charging into space and make himself available. He didn't make any runs so that rosie could pick him up.

He needs to add this to his game rapidly otherwise he will soon be struggling to get a game at League 2 level. He can forget the Championship.

[Big Foot]

Marek had a poor game.

I thought he had a very good game myself. Some fantastic through balls and it was really good to see a properly balanced midfield with Bryn holding but also not being scaredto go forward and Marek attacking and looking for the though balls to the strikers. In fact some of his balls were so good our strikers didnt read them!!

He did i'll admit also lose the ball a fair bit in the first half

Bryn was very steady and I also thought Armstrong had a good game too

SHunt was once again utter, utter garbage and topped off a rubbish performance with a rubbish pen. Twatter

Rest of team were just very flat, and didnt look up for it

I'd agree with most of that. Considering that Matejovsky's been out for 4 months it was a great performance from him tonight and if he'd have had a run of 5/6 games in the team then I believe they'd have been on his wavelength tonight.

However, I think Henry gave a poor balance to our midfield. He rarely attacked the line with any aggressiveness or desire to get to the line, was poor in supporting Rosenior and didn't look for the ball enough times. A very nervy performance.

[andrew1957]

I wan't to be the first to say Henry was poor tonight we need Kebe back

Very harsh. For a first ever league start at the age of 19 Henry did ok. Not brilliant but ok. He put one or two great crosses in but it will take him time to gain the confidence just like it took Kebe many matches. A lot on here wrote him off too. Any player needs 10 or so games to adapt.

[SLAMMED]

U had to laugh at the blackpool fans who all ran across the seats towards the Reading fans, some ripping off their shirts in celebration of the goal that was offside. some didnt even realise it was offside even when the Reading fans were cheering lol. Possibly the highlight of the game.

Matejovski wasnt to bad concidering his lack of first team football. Glad to see coppell didnt play harper. Maybe that is what he needs
to realise he cant just run around with his arms like an aeroplane and still get picked.

As soon as Hahnemann went off, the back four seemed to lose their shape. He commands the back four, something a sub or even a new keeper wont be able to do quickly and easily. He's earned the respect of everyone at Reading, and replacing him wont suddenly mean clean sheet after clean sheet. I hope the marcus-doubters realised that today (probably not ).

Poor performance BUT 3 points. Id take that any day. On to Norwich

[Toadie]

Poor performance. Good result. Blackpool chances ruined by a very, VERY harsh red card. (I was right in front of it)

Nuff said.

[Tommy Youlden's Ears]

Interesting game, I thought. Good to see SC change the team around, with chances for JH and MM. Henry looked nervous, seemed to lack sharpness which (I hope) might have been down to just being strung too tight on his big night. Thought Marek looked a tad rusty, and clearly needs to develop mutual understanding with team mates, but some delicious touches and a couple of really smart balls to Doyle. Thought MM and Gunnar looked like it could work very well together. BUT, blimey Marek is soooo sloooowwww "I'll just knock it past him and...oh".

Doyle looks fantastic at the moment, chasing everything, terrifying defenders; changed man from goalless ghost of last season. Long looks desperate. Completely out of touch; the handbags over the penalty was pathetic and embarrassing. You just knew that SHunt would bollix it after that. Talking penalties, I thought Shunt deliberately blocked that shot with his hands - had that been at the other end I'd have been pretty grumpy to see it turned down.

As for Fed, hard to tell on such little evidence, but hardly inspiring was it? Hope Marcus is back soon, and that the Spurs rumours ain't true.

Am I the only one who thought Blackpool were a BIG side? Seemed to me that, Doobs apart, we were shorter in every position on the park. All the more frustrating that we seemed unable to keep the ball down and use the extra man.

So whilst the game fizzled out into a mess after the sending off, I thought there was plenty to ponder.

Tonight was an experiment for me - first time ever in West Stand. It was terribly polite. Quiet as a grave. Cold as a witches' tit. And started to empty just after the game started. Time to head back east where it's noisy, sweary and a whole lot more fun.

[rob the royal]

ok i left the game pretty down hearted. as has been said we should have had the quality to get a better margin of victory. BUT the same was said of manchester united against sunderland... my point being at least we got the three points - even the best of teams will play crap against a rubbish team, what matters is the result. but i hope we do better at the weekend. we need to play better if we want to continue to pick up points and stay on the tails of wolves an birmingham.

[floyd__streete]

Hahnemann 6
Rosenior 6
Armstrong 6
Duberry 6
Ingimarsson 6
Henry 6
SHunt 6
Gunnarsson 6
Matejovsky 6
Doyle 6
NHunt 6


Subs:
Federici 6
Convey 6
Long 6

Birmingham 6
Joy of 6