Back from the Preston game

[From Despair To Where?]

Tonight's theme is frustration.

Hit the woodwork twice, their keeper pulls off 2 excellent saves, a certain goal cleared off the line and a stonewall penalty turned down in the last minute. Unlucky to lose? Not really.

A chronic lack of focus and concentration with our defence most cuplable. Marcus pulled of two world class saves but was at fault for both goals. The first, a hopeful cross, a routine catch at chest height without a Preston player in sight and it's in the back of the net. I think Ivar was in the mix there somewhere as well. All told, a complete lack of communication. Ivar was dreadful. When a high ball is heading towards you, you attack it, you don't retreat and let it bounce a couple of times. Only the timely intervention of Karacan got him out of that particular hole with two forwards bearing down on goal. Bikey handled the fat lump Parkin pretty well. Great in the air, strong in the tackle but kept on going AWOL and leaving huge gaps. Don;t know if Armstrong was affected by the early clash of heads but he really wasn;t on his game today.

The forwards were poor. Noel was the pick but whilst good with the spectacular attempts, just couldn't get the run of the ball in the box. Doyle left his legs on the Croke Park pitch, Long left his first touch in the womb.

Shunt was his usual bustling self but with little end product. Can't decide whether Preston dealt with our set pices well or the delivery was just crap. Kebe didn't take on the full back enough. When he did, he usually beat him but the final ball was poor. He did link up quite well with Rosenior though and they certainly offered more options than the left. Bryn was safe and steady and didn't really make any mistakes. What the game needed was a bit of fight, determination and aggression and Karacan was the only one to show it. Our best player by an absolute mile. At the heart of everything good that we did, read the game well, closed down and got the centre backs out of the shit with calmness and assurance on more than one occasion.

The most frustrating thing though is that, although the result was, in all honesty a fair one, Preston were shit. If they are the benchmark for a serious playoff contender then we really should be wiping our arses with this league. We let ourselves down badly by failing to get the simple things like concentration and organisation (oh, and catching the oxf*rd ball) right.

[papereyes]

The best player on the pitch was, imo, Parkin. Held the ball up well against Bikey and gave the ball to his team more than the opposition.

Of our players, it wasn't Karacan - him and Bryn played as if they were two thirds there. Possibly Kebe, possibly HuntN, possibly HuntS.

First goal seemed to me that Hahneman came, Ingi tried to avoid it and it hit him with Hahnemann stranded. Stupid, stupid goal. Second goal saw Hahnemann claim and miss so their seemingly unmarked striker tapped in.

What happened at the end with the big bald blue coated steward?

[From Despair To Where?]

Dunno, was sending a text, heard a commotion, looked up and saw Noel Hunt having a go at him.

[bassavage]

Just before the end we won a corner and I couldn't see properly but I think one of the ballboys was keeping hold of the ball, Stephen Hunt wasn't best pleased and at the end started having a go at the boy, the stewards came accross, one of them has said something and Noel Hunt then started pushing the steward.

[Dick Habbin's hairdo]

Great report, FDTW?....

[Wizard]

First time I have ever been to a Reading match and we lost.

Preston weren't anything special, but today, neither were we. I don't know how that guy cleared off the line at the end, didn't even see him arriving, looked to be a certain goal, but alas.
Hahnemann looked good today, made a few quality saves, and kept us in it, but also made two mistakes that eventually cost us the match.
Bikey looked tough again, but lost the ball needlessly a couple of times. However, whenever Preston were attacking, I felt there was a real threat when Bikey wasn't there (running back from a corner etc.)
Ingimarsson looked meh. He made a few important headers, but didn't appear to be fully with it today, not his usual self. Same goes for Armstrong, although I did think he made a good few important challenges.

Rosenior and Kebe impressed me. Constantly overlapping, trying to make space for each other, and with some decent skill, but with no end product. Need to work on crossing. Kebe reminds me of Paulo Wanchope - capable of producing something out of nothing, but equally capable of producing nothing.

S. Hunt looked quick, and never gave up, as usual. I did like the swapping sides he did with Kebe in the first half, to keep Preston on their toes, but nothing really ever came of it unfortunately.
Doyle and N. Hunt didn't look their normal selves today. They were trying, but didn't seem to ever be in the right place at the right time. And Long, what did he do? All I noticed was him losing the ball a few times. I've never said anything derogotary about a man in a Reading shirt, and I never will, but he didn't look like he was at te races at all today.

That leaves us with Gunnarsson and Karacan. The life of the team today, perfect combination of youth and experience in the middle of the park, and they looked like the only two who might actually do something effective throughout the match. Karacan looks to be developing into a very intelligent player, he reads the game very well, and always makes the simple pass to keep possession rather than trying a more ambitious ball and losing it. Gunnarsson was nearly always in the right place at the right time, was very impressed that he still has enough in the tank at his age to keep going all day.

Overall, not a bad performance, but certainly not a great one. Would have been happy with a 1-1 draw today, but I guess that's just the way it goes.

['Av Some Of That!]

First time I have ever been to a Reading match and we lost.

Preston weren't anything special, but today, neither were we. I don't know how that guy cleared off the line at the end, didn't even see him arriving, looked to be a certain goal, but alas.
Hahnemann looked good today, made a few quality saves, and kept us in it, but also made two mistakes that eventually cost us the match.
Bikey looked tough again, but lost the ball needlessly a couple of times. However, whenever Preston were attacking, I felt there was a real threat when Bikey wasn't there (running back from a corner etc.)
Ingimarsson looked meh. He made a few important headers, but didn't appear to be fully with it today, not his usual self. Same goes for Armstrong, although I did think he made a good few important challenges.

Rosenior and Kebe impressed me. Constantly overlapping, trying to make space for each other, and with some decent skill, but with no end product. Need to work on crossing. Kebe reminds me of Paulo Wanchope - capable of producing something out of nothing, but equally capable of producing nothing.

S. Hunt looked quick, and never gave up, as usual. I did like the swapping sides he did with Kebe in the first half, to keep Preston on their toes, but nothing really ever came of it unfortunately.
Doyle and N. Hunt didn't look their normal selves today. They were trying, but didn't seem to ever be in the right place at the right time. And Long, what did he do? All I noticed was him losing the ball a few times. I've never said anything derogotary about a man in a Reading shirt, and I never will, but he didn't look like he was at te races at all today.

That leaves us with Gunnarsson and Karacan. The life of the team today, perfect combination of youth and experience in the middle of the park, and they looked like the only two who might actually do something effective throughout the match. Karacan looks to be developing into a very intelligent player, he reads the game very well, and always makes the simple pass to keep possession rather than trying a more ambitious ball and losing it. Gunnarsson was nearly always in the right place at the right time, was very impressed that he still has enough in the tank at his age to keep going all day.

Overall, not a bad performance, but certainly not a great one. Would have been happy with a 1-1 draw today, but I guess that's just the way it goes.

It's all your fault we lost.

HTH.

[woodley_royal_124]

Got back about an hour ago. Well ! Its the second time I have been to Deepdale, last time was boxing day 2003 i think.......and we got stuffed 3 - 0. In the days when they had had Agyemang etc. who then were better players than what they are and have now - as the first half of the game showed. But fair credit to Preston, they came out the second half and looked more of a threat. we came out, no different but should have really taken the advantage in the first half and finished them off as they were dire. I thought Bikey was MOTM and I feel comfortable watching him. i worry about Kebe as although he has pace and links well with rosenior, he doesnt have much strength to hold the ball - almost looked a bit like Bas Savage today, as if he is about to trip over his own feet !!

we had two clear shouts for a penalty in the second half and how we didn't equalise in the end is a mystery but we tend to buckle a bit under pressure, especially when trying to get the equaliser. Also, the ref was ok but did miss the occassional handball imo and needs to occassionaly look at what the linesman is doing ! (like pointing to the corner flag !). Let's take it out on Doncaster, tuesday night - i expect us to be atleast 10 - 0 up at half time.

[PEARCEY]

The best player on the pitch was, imo, Parkin. Held the ball up well against Bikey and gave the ball to his team more than the opposition.

Of our players, it wasn't Karacan - him and Bryn played as if they were two thirds there. Possibly Kebe, possibly HuntN, possibly HuntS.

First goal seemed to me that Hahneman came, Ingi tried to avoid it and it hit him with Hahnemann stranded. Stupid, stupid goal. Second goal saw Hahnemann claim and miss so their seemingly unmarked striker tapped in.

What happened at the end with the big bald blue coated steward?

Papereyes. Your girlfriend is a curse to Reading FC.

[chilipepper91]

Karacan... reads the game very well, and always makes the simple pass to keep possession rather than trying a more ambitious ball and losing it.

Harper? BOOOOOOOOOOO

[Wizard]

It's all your fault we lost.

HTH.

I didn't mean it was the first Reading match I've been to. I've been to a few, but living in Manchester, and having only recently turned 18, it has been tricky for me to get to matches. But I meant it is the first time I have seen us lose.

[papereyes]

The best player on the pitch was, imo, Parkin. Held the ball up well against Bikey and gave the ball to his team more than the opposition.

Of our players, it wasn't Karacan - him and Bryn played as if they were two thirds there. Possibly Kebe, possibly HuntN, possibly HuntS.

First goal seemed to me that Hahneman came, Ingi tried to avoid it and it hit him with Hahnemann stranded. Stupid, stupid goal. Second goal saw Hahnemann claim and miss so their seemingly unmarked striker tapped in.

What happened at the end with the big bald blue coated steward?

Papereyes. Your girlfriend is a curse to Reading FC.

After that, she's quite happy never to watch Reading again.

[rg6royal]

I went yesterday and am very dissapointed from what I saw. We only started to play football for the last 5 minutes which always happens away from home.

[Compo's Hat]

Preston were terrible with some of their passing in the 1st half, should of pushed on and got a 2nd goal before the goal early in the 2nd half changed the play of the game. Still trying to work out how the ball was cleared off the line and i thought Kebe' effort at the end was goalbound from the view i had.

Think a draw would of been a fair result, the central midfield wasn't at their best yesterday though.

[papereyes]

Preston were terrible with some of their passing in the 1st half, should of pushed on and got a 2nd goal before the goal early in the 2nd half changed the play of the game. Still trying to work out how the ball was cleared off the line and i thought Kebe' effort at the end was goalbound from the view i had.
Think a draw would of been a fair result, the central midfield wasn't at their best yesterday though.

Yeah, likewise. Who had an acrobatic effort at the end? Thought that was in as well.

Their No. 7 was shite. Their No. 5 (70s Afro, 70s tight shorts) was pretty good.

[papereyes]

Conversation as I got off train

GF: "Your mate seemed nice. Well dressed"

Me: "His nickname is 'tramp'"

GF:

[Wizard]

Conversation as I got off train

GF: "Your mate seemed nice. Well dressed"

Me: "His nickname is 'tramp'"

GF:

Was your girlfriend blonde and wearing last season's away shirt? If so, you let me out at the end in front of you.

[papereyes]

No. 4 ft tall and very mediterranean looking.

[North Somerset Royal]

The best player on the pitch was, imo, Parkin. Held the ball up well against Bikey and gave the ball to his team more than the opposition.

Of our players, it wasn't Karacan - him and Bryn played as if they were two thirds there. Possibly Kebe, possibly HuntN, possibly HuntS.

First goal seemed to me that Hahneman came, Ingi tried to avoid it and it hit him with Hahnemann stranded. Stupid, stupid goal. Second goal saw Hahnemann claim and miss so their seemingly unmarked striker tapped in.

What happened at the end with the big bald blue coated steward?

Just got back having stayed over in Preston last night. I agree with what has been said about the game. We could and should have won it. Had to laugh at conversation of Preston supporters as I walked back to hotel after the game. Was on the lines of "if we can beat them we can beat anyone and are bound to go up" I was obliged to point out that their two goals came courtesy of two amazing pieces of David James type inept goalkeeping on the part of USA and that we hit the woodwork 3 times. Strangely they did not agree!

As far as the trouble with the Steward is concerned it resulted from Stephen Hunt jumping over the barrier to retrieve the ball from the crowd when it went out for a corner in injury time. As soon as the final whistle went the big bluecoat went up to Hunt and reprimanded him. Hunt pointed out that the ball boy was deliberately being slow in retrieving it or providing another ball. The steward then started jabbing his finger at SH who lost it and brother Noel joined in too. Eventually other Reading players separated the parties before any blows were struck and the steward was told by Preston officials to make himself scarce.

[rg6royal]

My train journey was more interesting than the game tbh!