Back from the game - Barnsley (h)

[SteveRoyal]

Can I quickly ask why neither Rodgers' nor McDermott has tried to play Tabb in the middle?
he seems perfectly suited to playing in the middle alongside Karacan - both hustle & bustle players, but Tabb has a shot on him too.

[Franchise FC]

Can I quickly ask why neither Rodgers' nor McDermott has tried to play Tabb in the middle?
he seems perfectly suited to playing in the middle alongside Karacan - both hustle & bustle players, but Tabb has a shot on him too.

Have you seen the way the ball was bobbling about on Saturday - those imperfections (??!!) in the pitcher would have been bloody great mountains for him to climb.

[facaldaqui]

Can I quickly ask why neither Rodgers' nor McDermott has tried to play Tabb in the middle?
he seems perfectly suited to playing in the middle alongside Karacan - both hustle & bustle players, but Tabb has a shot on him too.

McDermott played him there against Forest, didn't he?

[Woodcote Royal]

The difference between Harper and Sidwell and any current pairing we have is that both Harper and Sidwell had athleticism, passing, attacking and defensive attributes.
Sidwell obviously better at tackling and shooting, Harper at the creative passing and distribution.

Now we have midfielders that have at best three of those attributes, in some cases two. I think the closest we get to Harper & Sidwell is a pairing of Karacan / Tabb & Sigurdsson / Howard.

I don't like the pairings McD is picking and against a competent and effective midfield they will be outplayed relatively easily in most games.

We played badly in midfield, I'd also say our defensive strength was partly a case of Barnsley being so poor. But we got away with it and created an unmissable chance thanks to their keeper. We don't manage many of those, so there is no evidence for me our scoring problems are being fixed. And against a better team our midfield not being able to hold the ball combined with the occasional defensive lapses will be punished, unlike on Saturday.

No, our central midfield did well just as when Coppell used the same players last season.That's why Barnsley couldn't get one shot on target and if Coppell had stuck with these two rather than resorting to "106" Harper as soon as he returned to fitness, we wouldn't be where we are now.

And, if your hero had made a serious attempt at replacing the average but effective Sidwell (no more than 2.5 million required) we would never have been relegated in the first place.

Just as we couldn't find room for Caskey in the centre we will never find room for Marek there either.

This is the most effective midfield we've had since Sidwell and Harper who only coped because they covered so much ground............................were you there on Saturday or are all these opinions based on Radio Berks output?

[Arch]

a serious attempt at replacing the average but effective Sidwell (no more than 2.5 million required)

Ironically, the asking price of Emerse Fae.

[Woodcote Royal]

When what we needed was someone like Savage or Butt.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

When what we needed was someone like Savage or Butt.

Would they have sold Butt for £2.5m in 2006, highly unlikely. No ta to a savage like Savage.

everyone was valuing Sidwell at £5m, which he went for from Chelsea, so surely it might have cost us that kind of money to get a similar quality player.

[rabidbee]

The next two games against Doncaster (A) and Plymouth (H) are crucial with all six points required if we are to have any chance of avoiding the drop.

it would be nice, but we only reallyu need to win half our games or less to stay up[/quote]

Points scored against clubs around or just above us will make much more difference than points scored against the top teams. We need to focus on bottom-12 matches, and view anything against top-12 teams as a bonus.

[Stranded]

The next two games against Doncaster (A) and Plymouth (H) are crucial with all six points required if we are to have any chance of avoiding the drop.

it would be nice, but we only reallyu need to win half our games or less to stay up

Points scored against clubs around or just above us will make much more difference than points scored against the top teams. We need to focus on bottom-12 matches, and view anything against top-12 teams as a bonus.[/quote]

I can't agree with that, we need to focus on the next game and figure out the best plan to win it regardless of where the opposition are currently placed, who knows we could pull in teams currently in the top half. For example, Bristol City are 10th and slipping a bit - we should view that as a very winnable game and a potential dent to their confidence.

[Platypuss]

Barnsley can't be totally hopeless as they're currently 2-1 up at Preston.

[Pseud O'Nym]

Barnsley can't be totally hopeless as they're currently 2-1 up at Preston.

3-1 up

[andrew1957]

3-1 up and 7 shots on target tonight against the Manager that many on here wanted.

Perhaps we played quite well on Saturday after all to restrict them to 0 on target!!!

[Pseud O'Nym]

Finished Preston 1-4 Barnsley. Maybe they're not so crap.

[andrew1957]

Finished Preston 1-4 Barnsley. Maybe they're not so crap.

They were also 4-1 up away to Plymouth when the match was abandoned. They may well be a top half side this year.

[Alan Partridge]

5 points off the playoffs which highlights the incredible job Mark Robins has done there.

Sounds as though last saturday was their worst performance since he was appointed. That's the championship in a nutshell.

[andrew1957]

5 points off the playoffs which highlights the incredible job Mark Robins has done there.

Sounds as though last saturday was their worst performance since he was appointed. That's the championship in a nutshell.

Or we could just give credit to Reading in how well we played to stifle them. I thought it was a very good performance.

[Archie's penalty]

Indeed. We will be in the playoffs before too long

[rabidbee]

Or we could just give credit to Reading...

Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt?????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[West_Reading]

5 points off the playoffs which highlights the incredible job Mark Robins has done there.

Sounds as though last saturday was their worst performance since he was appointed. That's the championship in a nutshell.

Exactly, which it makes it all the more frustrating when you look at how little advantage we've taken of the mediocrity of this league. It shows what happens when you dominate so many games but take nothing or very little from them.

[Archie's penalty]

Or we could just give credit to Reading...

Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt?????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!