Farnborough FC v Reading FC - Sat 10th July

[URZZZZZZZZ]

The phantom goal

Blatter's going to get a strong worded letter!

[Plymouth_Royal]

Interesting to see we played 4-4-2 both halves.
Possibility we'll be playing that formation more often this season. Espescially if Hunt can keep injury free.

[shaka's shorts]

I think we played 442 as we have 4 strikers that needed a game rather than part of the plan for next season. These are just fitness warm ups at this stage. If we have played 451 we would not have had enough midfielders and only 2 out of Ras, Long, Church and Hunt would have played.

[Upper West Ginger]

I was impressed by Kelly, who played LB in the first half. He made some very swift runs down the wings, overlapping and working well with HRK.

HRK also impressed, with some mazy runs putting the fear of God into the opponents' defence.

Cummings also played well as RB - although whether that is reflective of the level of opposition rather than his level of skill I'm not sure.

James Henry looked like he could hold down a place with Farnborough, but not with Reading. I hope / expect we will move him on during the course of the year. He has no future with us.

Williams played LB during the 2nd half. He didn't make any glaring errors, but neither did he show any signs of especial brilliance. Too soon to judge ...

As others have said, it was good to see Noel Hunt back in action. He looked pretty sharp.

Church got caught offside on a few occasions - no change there. I hope he improves his positioning as he gains experience.

A good atmosphere at the match, with the overflow of Reading players sitting amongst the fans in the main stand. This gave plenty of opportunity for photos and autographs, which was much appreciated. Surprisingly Nicky Hammond attended too.

An enjoyable afternoon out - but not to be taken too seriously.

[readingfc13]

James Henry looked like he could hold down a place with Farnborough, but not with Reading. I hope / expect we will move him on during the course of the year. He has no future with us.

I agree, can't say I have seen much to back up the hype that has followed him.

What did the kit look like?

Several million times better than the Farnborough strip, which was purple with gold numbers and pink flashes.

That wasn't the actual Farnborough kit which was being worn yesterday. They had the new shirt on but the shorts and socks were from last seasons kit as the new kit hasn't been delivered yet. Their actual away kit will look something like this.

[sandman]

Robson-Kanu "goal" definitley crossed the line in the first half!!

Tbf the officials were probably just shocked at Robson-Kanu shooting.

[Plymouth_Royal]

James Henry looked like he could hold down a place with Farnborough, but not with Reading. I hope / expect we will move him on during the course of the year. He has no future with us.

I agree, can't say I have seen much to back up the hype that has followed him.

He looked good when he came on against peterborough towards the end of last season. Im not going to write him off after 45mins on his first game back against farnborough. And tbh, the manager see's these guys train every bloody day so if they can see he's got potential and has a chance of playing in the first team I'd rather take their opinion than yours.

[winchester_royal]

Henry was poor yesterday, looked slow and overweight, Antonio looked much brighter when he came on.

Williams seems to be very handy, seems to be quite similar to Bertrand but with a bit more strength....promising.

Church was the pick of the strikers IMO, Hunt looked rusty, Long and Rasiak were just a bit shit.

[Winvey]

Henry was poor yesterday, looked slow and overweight, Antonio looked much brighter when he came on.

Williams seems to be very handy, seems to be quite similar to Bertrand but with a bit more strength....promising.

Church was the pick of the strikers IMO, Hunt looked rusty, Long and Rasiak were just a bit shit.

Agree with all of this ^

[Thomas L'Heureux]

Agree with the general thoughts on Henry, and to be honest I personally hold Scott Davies, Robson-Kanu, and Antonio with more regard. I, for one, can't understand why Davies' opportunities with the first team have been so limited because the boy is class. Watching him ping a ball back and forth with Noel Hunt during half-time yesterday, you could see that his technique with both feet is unreal. He didn't put a foot wrong whilst playing at right-back either. I hope he gets some sort of a chance to get some minutes this season, even if only in the cups, because I really rate him.

[Winvey]

I personally hold Scott Davies, Robson-Kanu, and Antonio with more regard. I, for one, can't understand why Davies' opportunities with the first team have been so limited because the boy is class

Agree with this too. I really do hold Robson-Kanu in high regard, has got pace, skill and strength. Think Davies is a great prospect too. Hopefully now that Matejovsky and Cisse have gone, Davies will get more of a chance in the first team. Was impressed with him in the first few games of last season and was disappointed that he suddenly disappeared.

[Barry the bird boggler]

McDermott out

[Terminal Boardom]

FFS, it was the first pre-season friendly. Get a grip people

[rg6royal]

I too rate Davies very highly. However, apparently he's missing out on Tour squad as well as Mooney, Cummings and Bignall.

[shaka's shorts]

Interesting - that is obviously the 4 we are looking to move on then - can't see I am surprised, but like many others would like to keep Davies, but I suspect he wants a regular fisrt team place and he won't get that at the ding

[Hoop Blah]

I quite like Davies, although I expect he's not quite good enough for his level, but he's probably in a similar position to the likes of Henderson, Tyson and Cox where he needs to leave in order to fulfil his potential and/or find his level.

[Row Z Royal]

Good workout. Thought Kelly and Robson-Kanu were pretty good in the first half. We looked more of an attacking threat in the second half. Williams looked good has pace, Antonio did well when he came on and Locke made a couple of decent saves in goal.

Robson-Kanu "goal" definitley crossed the line in the first half!!
Since when did Simon Jordan join our coaching staff!?!

No it didn't.

[Ian Royal]

Like Davies a lot, but weren't there alleged problems with attitude? He's obviously got talent, and bags of pace. I think he's good enough for us, the question seems to be is he prepared to bide his time as a squad player, and work hard in training until he can force his way into the team.

He's got a lot of competition with Sigurdsson as the other central attacking midfielder. And McAnuff & Kebe when it comes to playing wide right.

[winchester_royal]

The problem Davies has is that although he has a fantastic right foot on him.....he doesn't really have the brain to use it properly.

[Winvey]

Good workout. Thought Kelly and Robson-Kanu were pretty good in the first half. We looked more of an attacking threat in the second half. Williams looked good has pace, Antonio did well when he came on and Locke made a couple of decent saves in goal.

Robson-Kanu "goal" definitley crossed the line in the first half!!
Since when did Simon Jordan join our coaching staff!?!

No it didn't.

It definitely did. Was in a very good position to see it. Was having a laugh with some Farnborough fans around me who said that was payback for our phantom goal against Watford!