Back from the game - Swansea (A)

[Vision]

And most of the others had played just 2 games before last night so are they at 100%?.
The idea that a young bloke like him needs loads of games to be match fit is IMHO greatly exaggerated or in most people's language on here b******s.
He is a centre-back not a bloody marathon runner or somebody crossing the Antartic in just a pair of football boots and if he is not mentally right for a game get our sports psychiatrist,psychologist or Ms Drury (do we still have one of those and a dietician or were they part of the great cull?)to get him right.
This was the lower end of the second division not a World Cup final last night ffs.

Completely discarding the importance of a pre-season there.

He's in pretty much the same boat as Hunt,Harper and Marek. They could start but aren't going to be anywhere near their sharpest so you either take the risk or you give the players who have had a pre-season and are at 100% fitness levels or as near as damn it the opportunity. Perhaps his performance last night might suggest Rodgers took the wrong option with Mills.

[Royal Lady]

So how the hell does he get match fit then, if we only play him in supposedly easier games?

[ZacNaloen]

So how the hell does he get match fit then, if we only play him in supposedly easier games?

By building up the challenge with each game.

[Hoop Blah]

So how the hell does he get match fit then, if we only play him in supposedly easier games?

It also depends on the rest of the players Rodgers had available. It's not just a black and white decision on Mills or no Mills.

At Newcastle he played Cisse at centre back. That didn't work out great and he moved him into the midfield, maybe because one of the midfielders was struggling too. That meant Mills had to come in for the Swansea game.

You get closer to match fitness by a bit more training, but at some point you have to throw them in and test them. It's more difficult for a centre half because it's not a position you like to make a change foe 20 minutes like you would a winger needing to build up their 'match fitness.'

[Gordons Cumming]

Against Burton Mills played like he thought he was Bobby Moore.

Very casual, almost pedestrian hitting long passes out to the wings.

He was just a little too casual for my liking...............early days though.

[CMRoyal]

So how the hell does he get match fit then, if we only play him in supposedly easier games?

It also depends on the rest of the players Rodgers had available. It's not just a black and white decision on Mills or no Mills.

At Newcastle he played Cisse at centre back. That didn't work out great and he moved him into the midfield, maybe because one of the midfielders was struggling too. That meant Mills had to come in for the Swansea game.

You get closer to match fitness by a bit more training, but at some point you have to throw them in and test them. It's more difficult for a centre half because it's not a position you like to make a change foe 20 minutes like you would a winger needing to build up their 'match fitness.'

It's also more difficult when you are a handful of friendlies and a couple of full-blooded games behind everybody else.

[Victor Meldrew]

And most of the others had played just 2 games before last night so are they at 100%?.
The idea that a young bloke like him needs loads of games to be match fit is IMHO greatly exaggerated or in most people's language on here b******s.
He is a centre-back not a bloody marathon runner or somebody crossing the Antartic in just a pair of football boots and if he is not mentally right for a game get our sports psychiatrist,psychologist or Ms Drury (do we still have one of those and a dietician or were they part of the great cull?)to get him right.
This was the lower end of the second division not a World Cup final last night ffs.

Completely discarding the importance of a pre-season there.

He's in pretty much the same boat as Hunt,Harper and Marek. They could start but aren't going to be anywhere near their sharpest so you either take the risk or you give the players who have had a pre-season and are at 100% fitness levels or as near as damn it the opportunity. Perhaps his performance last night might suggest Rodgers took the wrong option with Mills.

So Rodgers discarded the importance of pre-season then?
Surely Mills has done some work,probably as much as the lads on the Swedish jolly which showed that we can score goals against rubbish,just as we showed we can score goals against Burton?
I question our pre-season in that we had no competitive games-I don't know about the Chelsea game but from what I have heard it was a kickabout for Chelsea.
My overall point is that I think that missing part of a pre-season is not as key as some people make out.
My other rather obvious point is that I hope Mills becomes a big player for us as we are definitely going to need him.

[brendywendy]

i thought chelsea looked well up for the game, n terms of commitment, and in terms of full strength side

[Royal Lady]

And most of the others had played just 2 games before last night so are they at 100%?.
The idea that a young bloke like him needs loads of games to be match fit is IMHO greatly exaggerated or in most people's language on here b******s.
He is a centre-back not a bloody marathon runner or somebody crossing the Antartic in just a pair of football boots and if he is not mentally right for a game get our sports psychiatrist,psychologist or Ms Drury (do we still have one of those and a dietician or were they part of the great cull?)to get him right.
This was the lower end of the second division not a World Cup final last night ffs.

Completely discarding the importance of a pre-season there.

He's in pretty much the same boat as Hunt,Harper and Marek. They could start but aren't going to be anywhere near their sharpest so you either take the risk or you give the players who have had a pre-season and are at 100% fitness levels or as near as damn it the opportunity. Perhaps his performance last night might suggest Rodgers took the wrong option with Mills.

So Rodgers discarded the importance of pre-season then?
Surely Mills has done some work,probably as much as the lads on the Swedish jolly which showed that we can score goals against rubbish,just as we showed we can score goals against Burton?
I question our pre-season in that we had no competitive games-I don't know about the Chelsea game but from what I have heard it was a kickabout for Chelsea.
My overall point is that I think that missing part of a pre-season is not as key as some people make out.
My other rather obvious point is that I hope Mills becomes a big player for us as we are definitely going to need him.

I think you and I are on the same wavelength Victor. But you can say what I mean more clearly!

[Hoop Blah]

So Rodgers discarded the importance of pre-season then?
Surely Mills has done some work,probably as much as the lads on the Swedish jolly which showed that we can score goals against rubbish,just as we showed we can score goals against Burton?
I question our pre-season in that we had no competitive games-I don't know about the Chelsea game but from what I have heard it was a kickabout for Chelsea.
My overall point is that I think that missing part of a pre-season is not as key as some people make out.
My other rather obvious point is that I hope Mills becomes a big player for us as we are definitely going to need him.

I don't think Rodgers disregarded pre-season, but after giving Mills a run out against Burton, and then a few more days training, he possibly felt it was a gamble worth taking to throw him in and thus allow him to put Cisse in the midfield.

That doesn't mean that Mills isn't still searching for his true match fitness and sharpness, it just means that Rodgers felt the time to throw him in had come.

By the sounds of things he's still a bit short, well hopefully anyway, otherwise if that's his standard performance we might be in a spot of bother!

[dobcheck]

[quote="ZacNaloen"]Match Fitness != Physical Fitness.


He'd played something like 45 minutes in pre-season, his brain won't be quite up to match speed, regardless of his physical fitness.[/quote]

This has to be the funniest quote i have read in all the years i have used this site, "His brain won't be quite up to match speed" .

'The mind is willing but the body is not' is the phrase that springs to mind. Maybe Mills is putting his brain through the bleep test as we speak.

[Royal Rother]

[I don't know about the Chelsea game but from what I have heard it was a kickabout for Chelsea.

Definitely not.

[Victor Meldrew]

[I don't know about the Chelsea game but from what I have heard it was a kickabout for Chelsea.

Definitely not.

Hmmm
So we score 2 against the potential Premiership Champions playing their full side and yet can't score against the side relegated from that division nor against two others.
Doesn't stack up does it?

[Royal Rother]

[I don't know about the Chelsea game but from what I have heard it was a kickabout for Chelsea.

Definitely not.

Hmmm
So we score 2 against the potential Premiership Champions playing their full side and yet can't score against the side relegated from that division nor against two others.
Doesn't stack up does it?

After 50+ years you should know by now that football isn't entirely predictable.

The Chelsea game showed that there is a decent team within the Reading squad. It'll just take time and some patience. Sadly many supporters are not prepared to extend that courtesy to the team and management which is pretty sickening. But there you go, it takes all sorts.

[leon]

Definitely notAfter 50+ years you should know by now that football isn't entirely predictable.

The Chelsea game showed that there is a decent team within the Reading squad. It'll just take time and some patience. Sadly many supporters are not prepared to extend that courtesy to the team and management which is pretty sickening. But there you go, it takes all sorts.

sorry but thats bollocks - as soon as they had to Chelsea stepped up and scored 2 goals. a mirage - we cant score because we dont have the right team setup or the right players

[Snowball]

sorry but thats bollocks - as soon as they had to Chelsea stepped up and scored 2 goals. a mirage - we cant score because we dont have the right team setup or the right players

So, against Chelsea the score wasn't 2-2 it was 0-2?

[Royal Rother]

Definitely notAfter 50+ years you should know by now that football isn't entirely predictable.

The Chelsea game showed that there is a decent team within the Reading squad. It'll just take time and some patience. Sadly many supporters are not prepared to extend that courtesy to the team and management which is pretty sickening. But there you go, it takes all sorts.

sorry but thats bollocks - as soon as they had to Chelsea stepped up and scored 2 goals. a mirage - we cant score because we dont have the right team setup or the right players

Although we were largely outgunned we played some nice football and went 2-0 up against one of the best club sides in the world yet you refuse to see any positive in that?

Frankly, that's weird.

leon, I like your infrequent posts and tend to remember the gist of what you say; a few days ago you used the term "fickle c*nts" to describe Reading fans.

After the Forest game you said:

I think we could potentially pass to death some teams in the league, and with the right front 3 (ie not Kebe who couldnt hit a cows arse with a banjo) we could do some damage this season, we looked a different proposition when Long came on and church went to right side. Also this team really will get better in the next few months,

Changed your mind after 2 away games?

[Thaumagurist*]

Hmmmm, that definitely was not a good game. Reading were not very good. Swansea should have won that one as they had more chances, but they were rubbish in front of goal, so we can be thankful for that. What worries me is that we don't seem to have any attacking threat. I was asking why was Church starting, compared to Long and/or Noel Hunt. And 4-5-1 is a hateful system. We only had two attempts on target and they were very very late in the game, when Noel Hunt came on.

A swansea fan (who was so kind to offer to drive me back to the campsite) said that was the poorest Reading side he has seen for a while. Says something, doesn't it.

[madstadblues]

Last time I walk there!

[Maguire]

Last time I walk there!