Shorey...

[Woodcote Royal]

Whilst not to get caught up with the NONCE SENSE on this thread. What has Shorey done this season to warrant a call up? Why should he play instead of Everton's captain and a very underrated player at that. Neville has 60 caps or so but of course he's hopeless. Each and every single one of you know if he was at Reading a) he would walk into our side and probably be captain and b) you'd all be screaming for him to play for England. The sheer biased, blinkered views on here are laughable at times.

Shorey has been part of a quite frankly awful defence for the most part and his performances have been well down on last years efforts. He has done absolutely nothing to deserve being in the squad.

As others have said, Spot on.........................it's about time the East Stand stopped blaming Gunnarsson for everything and took a closer look at some of their heroes in our cr@p defence.

[Coppelled Streets]

Whilst not to get caught up with the NONCE SENSE on this thread. What has Shorey done this season to warrant a call up? Why should he play instead of Everton's captain and a very underrated player at that. Neville has 60 caps or so but of course he's hopeless. Each and every single one of you know if he was at Reading a) he would walk into our side and probably be captain and b) you'd all be screaming for him to play for England. The sheer biased, blinkered views on here are laughable at times.

Shorey has been part of a quite frankly awful defence for the most part and his performances have been well down on last years efforts. He has done absolutely nothing to deserve being in the squad.

As others have said, Spot on.........................it's about time the East Stand stopped blaming Gunnarsson for everything and took a closer look at some of their heroes in our cr@p defence.

As well as themselves who could be doing a lot more to support the team!

[Wycombe Royal]

Whilst not to get caught up with the NONCE SENSE on this thread. What has Shorey done this season to warrant a call up? Why should he play instead of Everton's captain and a very underrated player at that. Neville has 60 caps or so but of course he's hopeless. Each and every single one of you know if he was at Reading a) he would walk into our side and probably be captain and b) you'd all be screaming for him to play for England. The sheer biased, blinkered views on here are laughable at times.

Shorey has been part of a quite frankly awful defence for the most part and his performances have been well down on last years efforts. He has done absolutely nothing to deserve being in the squad.

As others have said, Spot on.........................it's about time the East Stand stopped blaming Gunnarsson for everything and took a closer look at some of their heroes in our cr@p defence.

Gunnarsson is not blamed for everything but he puts a lot more pressure on the defence by giving the ball away so frequently.

I made a point of watching him more closely against Derby after he got blamed for a few of the goals Portsmouth scored and I was surprised at how often he misplaced passed, under hit them, got caught in possession, etc. And that was against Derby.

One of the main positives of last season was how well we defended from the front. Unfortunately this season the one half of the central midfield just isn't doing an effective job.

[Stranded]

I will be very surprised if any one other than Phil Neville starts at LB on Weds. He has the experience, is a very decent player - despite people's preconceptions, and can play there comfortably (shared LB duties with Lescott for Everton at times last year, playing very well there against us at the Mad).

He is also playing well this season, albeit not in that position, which Shorey just hasn't done yet this year though we know he is capable.

[Woodcote Royal]

Whilst not to get caught up with the NONCE SENSE on this thread. What has Shorey done this season to warrant a call up? Why should he play instead of Everton's captain and a very underrated player at that. Neville has 60 caps or so but of course he's hopeless. Each and every single one of you know if he was at Reading a) he would walk into our side and probably be captain and b) you'd all be screaming for him to play for England. The sheer biased, blinkered views on here are laughable at times.

Shorey has been part of a quite frankly awful defence for the most part and his performances have been well down on last years efforts. He has done absolutely nothing to deserve being in the squad.

As others have said, Spot on.........................it's about time the East Stand stopped blaming Gunnarsson for everything and took a closer look at some of their heroes in our cr@p defence.

Gunnarsson is not blamed for everything but he puts a lot more pressure on the defence by giving the ball away so frequently.

I made a point of watching him more closely against Derby after he got blamed for a few of the goals Portsmouth scored and I was surprised at how often he misplaced passed, under hit them, got caught in possession, etc. And that was against Derby.

One of the main positives of last season was how well we defended from the front. Unfortunately this season the one half of the central midfield just isn't doing an effective job.

If there's one thing I wish we had done better in the last 2 seasons it would have been cutting down on the number of times that possession was needlessly given away.

However, what makes Gunnarsson any worse than many of his team mates in this respect?

I would agree that Sidwell covered more ground but he was just as guilty of getting caught in possession or misplacing passes whilst Murty and Shorey have been dreadful for much of the time in regard to the latter.

I can think of four occasions recently when possession has been lost in the centre circle with the ball ending up in the back of our net within seconds. They were all, not surprisingly, down to Harper or Gunnarson (but one of Harps was thanks to a cr@p pass from Rosenior)

If anyone is suggesting that last seasons central midfielders didn't lose possession in the same manner, they are guilty of re-writing history. We lost possession all over the pitch last season but we knew also how to defend and had at least one defender who wouldn't be left for dead by the pace of a top striker.

I agree that we are not defending as unit to the same standard but the defence has been woeful for the most part and, IMHO, will not improve significantly against top class opposition until Coppell finally accepts that he has to have some pace somewhere in his back line, even if it's at the expense of greater experience.

In other words, Bikey, the man who did a great job on Andy Johnson, has to play until Sonko returns.

[Oi Oi Saveloy]

I will be very surprised if any one other than Phil Neville starts at LB on Weds. He has the experience, is a very decent player - despite people's preconceptions, and can play there comfortably (shared LB duties with Lescott for Everton at times last year, playing very well there against us at the Mad).

He is also playing well this season, albeit not in that position, which Shorey just hasn't done yet this year though we know he is capable.

Prepared to be battered by the subjective idiots on the team forum

Nick Shorey>Roberto Carlos

[Behindu]

The worrying thing for McLaren is that none of the contenders for LB look ideal.
He's either going to have to go with someone inexperienced, out of form or out of position.

[Royal With Cheese]

I will be very surprised if any one other than Phil Neville starts at LB on Weds. He has the experience, is a very decent player - despite people's preconceptions, and can play there comfortably (shared LB duties with Lescott for Everton at times last year, playing very well there against us at the Mad).

He is also playing well this season, albeit not in that position, which Shorey just hasn't done yet this year though we know he is capable.

Prepared to be battered by the subjective idiots on the team forum

Chin up

[Oi Oi Saveloy]

The worrying thing for McLaren is that none of the contenders for LB look ideal.
He's either going to have to go with someone inexperienced, out of form or out of position.

I would hardly call Gareth Barry or Phil Neville inexpereinced.

[Behindu]

The worrying thing for McLaren is that none of the contenders for LB look ideal.
He's either going to have to go with someone inexperienced, out of form or out of position.

I would hardly call Gareth Barry or Phil Neville inexpereinced.

Nor would (or did) I.

[Oi Oi Saveloy]

The worrying thing for McLaren is that none of the contenders for LB look ideal.
He's either going to have to go with someone inexperienced, out of form or out of position.

I would hardly call Gareth Barry or Phil Neville inexpereinced.

Nor would (or did) I.

In which case, bith have played Left back on many occasions so they won't be playing out of position.

[Behindu]

The worrying thing for McLaren is that none of the contenders for LB look ideal.
He's either going to have to go with someone inexperienced, out of form or out of position.

I would hardly call Gareth Barry or Phil Neville inexpereinced.

Nor would (or did) I.

In which case, bith have played Left back on many occasions so they won't be playing out of position.

Neither are playing left back at the moment, I think it's fair to suggest that having to move players to positions they aren;t actually playing in is not a good thing. Especially if it leads people to suggest dismantling the first reasonable midfield pairing we've had in a while would be a good idea !!

[Franchise FC]

The worrying thing for McLaren is that none of the contenders for LB look ideal.
He's either going to have to go with someone inexperienced, out of form or out of position.

I would hardly call Gareth Barry or Phil Neville inexpereinced.

Nor would (or did) I.

In which case, bith have played Left back on many occasions so they won't be playing out of position.

The biggest concern is that McLaren seems to be actively thinking of playing Gareth Barry anywhere but central midfield. I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but we have that bit sorted. Given that this part of the field is somewhat more important than left back in isolation, why would he be even contemplating a change to solve a different problem.

[Hoop Blah]

Neither are playing left back at the moment, I think it's fair to suggest that having to move players to positions they aren;t actually playing in is not a good thing. Especially if it leads people to suggest dismantling the first reasonable midfield pairing we've had in a while would be a good idea !!

Didn't you say in another thread that Rosenior isn't playing out of position at right midfield for Reading because he's played there a bit in the past?

It seems to me you're now saying that Barry or Neville would be playing out of position because it's not the position they're playing in right now.

I'm confused.

[Behindu]

Didn't you say in another thread that Rosenior isn't playing out of position at right midfield for Reading because he's played there a bit in the past?

It seems to me you're now saying that Barry or Neville would be playing out of position because it's not the position they're playing in right now.

I'm confused.

You are only confused becasue you haven't been reading the discussions !

Playing Neville or Barry at left back in a specific game would be selecting someone for England out of their best / current position which seems a bit daft when there are other alternatives and Barry is needed in his best position. Doesn;t mean neither can play there.

Rosenior has played right midfield in his career and is filling in due to lack of options. Doesn;t make it his best position, but it's a position he's played.

Big difference between a one off selection at international level and a generic 'what sort of player is he' discussion.

Rosenior is currently playing right midfield for us, and has done before.

[Oi Oi Saveloy]

Neither are playing left back at the moment, I think it's fair to suggest that having to move players to positions they aren;t actually playing in is not a good thing. Especially if it leads people to suggest dismantling the first reasonable midfield pairing we've had in a while would be a good idea !!

Didn't you say in another thread that Rosenior isn't playing out of position at right midfield for Reading because he's played there a bit in the past?

It seems to me you're now saying that Barry or Neville would be playing out of position because it's not the position they're playing in right now.

I'm confused.

He't saying that as it suits his argument.

[Behindu]

He't saying that as it suits his argument.

Odd that, I guess you are advocting shredding our midfield because it suits your arguement !!

[Oi Oi Saveloy]

He't saying that as it suits his argument.

Odd that, I guess you are advocting shredding our midfield because it suits your arguement !!

If Phil Neville plays, it's wouldn't exactly shred our midfield. I was only stating the option that may be preferable to MaClaren.

[Behindu]

He't saying that as it suits his argument.

Odd that, I guess you are advocting shredding our midfield because it suits your arguement !!

If Phil Neville plays, it's wouldn't exactly shred our midfield. I was only stating the option that may be preferable to MaClaren.

What's happened to Barry all of a sudden ?

[SpaceCruiser]

He't saying that as it suits his argument.

Odd that, I guess you are advocting shredding our midfield because it suits your arguement !!

If Phil Neville plays, it's wouldn't exactly shred our midfield. I was only stating the option that may be preferable to MaClaren.

What's happened to Barry all of a sudden ?

We need him in midfield, surely?