Back from the Bristol City Game

[papereyes]

Marek looked way better than any of our other midfielders, he even got SHunt playing in the last 20

Armstrong was excellent

Lita stays on 1 goal per season. I thought he'd have a good one today.

Watching him, he seems to be a one-man-band, just looking for HIS shot

Doyle-Hunt was a very productive pairing and I think Noel is better all round anyway
but it's clear that the main issue is midfield.

Am I right in thinking Tabb can play just behind the striker in a 4-5-1?

Do you really want to see Reading playing 4-5-1 at home though?

Meh. Strikes me as better than losing 2-0 without so much as a whimper.

[North Somerset Royal]

Having just read the match report in the Bristol Evening Post I wonder whether everyone (including me) has over reacted.

MATCH FACTS
SHOTS ON TARGET READING 8 CITY 3
SHOTS OFF TARGET READING 9 CITY 3
CORNERS READING 8 CITY 3
FOULS CONCEDED READING 13 CITY 12
OFFSIDES READING 2 CITY 2

Player Ratings
Fed 6
Rosy 8
Doobs 7
Pearce 6
Arms 6
Kebe 6
Harps 6
Cisse 5
Hunt S 5
Lita 6
Doyle 6

Maybe not quite such a bad performance as seemed at first sight.

[Dr Hfuhruhurr]

Having just read the match report in the Bristol Evening Post I wonder whether everyone (including me) has over reacted.

MATCH FACTS
SHOTS ON TARGET READING 8 CITY 3
SHOTS OFF TARGET READING 9 CITY 3
CORNERS READING 8 CITY 3
FOULS CONCEDED READING 13 CITY 12
OFFSIDES READING 2 CITY 2

Player Ratings
Fed 6
Rosy 8
Doobs 7
Pearce 6
Arms 6
Kebe 6
Harps 6
Cisse 5
Hunt S 5
Lita 6
Doyle 6

Maybe not quite such a bad performance as seemed at first sight.

That has to be another match against a team with City in their name. Or it was written by Rosenior's Dad.

[firstdivision]

Watching Bristol City play was just like watching Reading play a couple of years ago. (Even down to the pre match huddle). They played with tempo, passed well, looked dangerous down the wings, and scored from some set pieces. Face it we were OutReading'd.

[Bill Oddie's Beard]

Face it we were OutReading'd.

I think that's the term Mick Gooding used as well.

[Ian Royal]

Having just read the match report in the Bristol Evening Post I wonder whether everyone (including me) has over reacted.

MATCH FACTS
SHOTS ON TARGET READING 8 CITY 3
SHOTS OFF TARGET READING 9 CITY 3
CORNERS READING 8 CITY 3
FOULS CONCEDED READING 13 CITY 12
OFFSIDES READING 2 CITY 2

Player Ratings
Fed 6
Rosy 8
Doobs 7
Pearce 6
Arms 6
Kebe 6
Harps 6
Cisse 5
Hunt S 5
Lita 6
Doyle 6

Maybe not quite such a bad performance as seemed at first sight.

On reflection, City had a lot of posession but looked pretty toothless until they scored. I wouldn't say they scored against the run of play, but it did look like there was only one team likely to score at that point and it wasn't them. A quick goal after half time and it was game over. But we had a lot of the possession second half.

I'm surprised we had so many shots on target. I just remember Lita and Armstrong blasting over or wide quite a lot.

[CMRoyal]

SHOTS ON TARGET READING 8 CITY 3

I'm surprised we had so many shots on target. I just remember Lita and Armstrong blasting over or wide quite a lot.

Shots include headers, right? S Hunt had a couple of powder puff efforts that the keeper threw his hat on, and I think Doyle had one similar try. So that's three of the eight. I think that stat flatters the boys somewhat.

[Sun Tzu]

SHOTS ON TARGET READING 8 CITY 3

I'm surprised we had so many shots on target. I just remember Lita and Armstrong blasting over or wide quite a lot.

Shots include headers, right? S Hunt had a couple of powder puff efforts that the keeper threw his hat on, and I think Doyle had one similar try. So that's three of the eight. I think that stat flatters the boys somewhat.

Mind you the City stats flatter them too as Fed didn't make a save and they only scored one goal....

[Ian Royal]

Can someone clear up what happened with the second goal? I was just coming back from my HT beer and was at the wrong end to see clearly....

Do shots blocked by defenders count as on target? If so we can probably get the rest from a goal mouth scramble or two.

[Huntley & Palmer]

I was sat right in front of it. Adebola got a flick onto the ball, in a strange slow motion type way everyone just watched it heading to the by-line thinking it was going to drift out of play. One of the Bristol players (Skuse?) took a punt on the flick and got there before it went out. Fed found himself in a bit of a no-mans land near the edge of the six yard box in front of said player. He probably should have closed him down to narrow the angle off but was unsure by which time the player put a cross into the middle along the floor. Alex Pearce and Doobs were in close proximity trying to block the other Bristol player from toe poking it in. Rosy gets in the way of the attempted clearance which sends the ball back over the line and Pearce and Doobs end up on the floor in the goal with the ball sat on their arm/chest area. Bit of a calamity to be honest.

[Ian Royal]

I was sat right in front of it. Adebola got a flick onto the ball, in a strange slow motion type way everyone just watched it heading to the by-line thinking it was going to drift out of play. One of the Bristol players (Skuse?) took a punt on the flick and got there before it went out. Fed found himself in a bit of a no-mans land near the edge of the six yard box in front of said player. He probably should have closed him down to narrow the angle off but was unsure by which time the player put a cross into the middle along the floor. Alex Pearce and Doobs were in close proximity trying to block the other Bristol player from toe poking it in. Rosy gets in the way of the attempted clearance which sends the ball back over the line and Pearce and Doobs end up on the floor in the goal with the ball sat on their arm/chest area. Bit of a calamity to be honest.

Glad I didn't see it then.

So a moment of indecision from Feders combined with Doobs losing his man for the first time in the game and a moment of uncertainty from the defence in general followed by an appearance from the Keystone Cops cost us a game we should really have a got at least a point out of.

Damn Armstrong hitting the post and not squeezing it in. Totally different game and result if that had gone in IMO>

[Sun Tzu]

Damn Armstrong hitting the post and not squeezing it in. Totally different game and result if that had gone in IMO>

Pulling it back to the unmarked Lita for a tap in would have been the better option.....

Convert the two pens and we go in with a comfy 3-1 half time lead and the top of the table beckons.

Easy this football lark !!

[PremAddict]

I thought we saw the end of "they're trying too hard ... " last season.

Or maybe once they started passing it around they didn't look like they were playing in ankle deep puddles. After about 3 minutes today everyone knew we were fcuked, every time a team lines up with a 5 man midfield against our midfield (which has been the weak point for the last 2 years) they overrun us. Bristol weren't even that good but we have no footballing brains out there at all.

I haven't gone through the rest of the comments here but I have been thinking that the inability to handle an opposing 5-man midfield is the main issue here. In my very humble opinion, a key piece of match strategy is formation - I really don't understand the doggedness around going out with a 4-4-2 saying it's the "attacking formation" when opposition lines-up with a 4-5-1 or some other midfield-focused formation and does a number on us.

[Ian Royal]

ref certainly was shocking. I don't recall any penalty appeals (wrong end), but he got some quite blatant calls completely wrong in the second half, which I did see.

[Mr Angry]

We have become so predictable, that once our team was announced, the Bristol City back 4 practised clearing headers, because they KNEW we would launch it long and hope for a flick on...

....whats so annoying is that NOTHING seems to have been learnt by the management team since we were outplayed by Southampton here; since then EVERYBODY has played us the same way, 1 up front, 3 central midfielders, 2 wingers. As a result, as many of us have said many many times on this forum, we get over-run in central midfield, we are unable to create anything for our strikers or give quality passes for our wingers who always end up having 2 players on them.

The result is no surprise - our main goal threat (apart from set plays) dries up through lack of service.

Solution?

Enough is enough; NHunt up front on his own, Doyle wide right, Tabb wide left, Marek in the middle with Cisse and Gunnarsson who are there to win the ball to allow Marek to create chances. SHunt needs a kick up the bum, Harper needs a rest, Kebe needs to get better, and the Lita experiment simply hasn't worked out.

At the very least, it will stuff u our opponents who know how we are going to play and prepare themselves accordingly; by changing to a 451, it will be something opponents won't expect.

Thank Gawd both Wolves and Brum are playing as badly!

[Ian Royal]

Not quite what I'd go for personel wise Mr A, but it hits the right style notes as far as I'm concerned.

[Sun Tzu]

ref certainly was shocking. I don't recall any penalty appeals (wrong end), but he got some quite blatant calls completely wrong in the second half, which I did see.

So you missed the almighty shoving match after Doyle was taken out by their number three with the ball nowhere in site ? harper was booked for it (effectively although a few minutes later)

And then Doyle was through a few minutes later and as he tried to lob the keeper a City player (may have been the three again) pulled him back and the ball landed on the roof of the net.

First one was a clear pen, second was a pen and a red card.

We'd have needed to score the pens of course.....

[Snowball]

It was "one of those games"

I was a few feet from the non-foul that gave Bristol the opportunity to cross for the goal.

They did their job there and we didn't defend well.

The second goal was the type that happen when it just ain't your day.

But truth is they never looked like scoring (yes I KNOW they scored two)

I DO think, as a couple have said, that this is one we could have won. The second goal killed us I think
but we still cut out chances. In the last ten minutes there were quite a few shots charged down, so
if we had 8 on target plus those charge-downs, it can't have been that bad.

Don't get me wrong, I was depressed too, but chances are chances.

[floyd__streete]

But truth is they never looked like scoring (yes I KNOW they scored two)

"Now stat me til I fart"

[skipper]

I always got the impression Coppell never changed a winning side... So why has'nt he changed a losing one?!

Dispite the poor run of form, our two games in hand could send us top by a point, and joint with Cardiff if their games in hand are converted into wins.

But we really do need to freshen up, Henry (i know hes out on load, but...) Tabb, Marek, BK, NHunt could all come in and give us some much needed desire!