Back from the Game - 'Boro

[MmmMonsterMunch]

I doubt we'll see a better cross this season with regards to Long's first. Absolutely top class from Harte.

[sandman]

Lita leaned into Mills to hold him off, realised the angle had narrowed and went over. Basically, he did what any striker (including Long) would do in that situation.

It was funny to see Leroy do what only he can, take a load of goodwill towards him at the start of the match and completely lose that goodwill in the space of 90 minutes. I doubt it bothers him too much though, which says quite a lot about him and his attitude.

[LoyalRoyal22]

Was a nice drive back to the midlands last night for a change, superb peformance. My highlight was Robson-Kanu, best game i seen him play for the club. I think we can get a good run together, dont know if it be enough to get a play-off place though, oh well top 10 and FA CUP quarter final, cant complain.

[Millsy]

LOL @ we're going to Wembley chants. Brilliant.

did they at some point (at 1-1) sing "premiership, you're having a laugh"?

and if so was our retort at 2-1 up "championship, you're having a laugh"?

If so - brilliant. If not, should've been.

We totally twatted Boro to be honest. Their first goal was NEVER a free kick. Kish got the ball fair and square and the total d*ck of a linesman flagged. I wasn't close enough to the penalty decision but by all accounts it was questionable.

No bad players for us. I have to say Church looked quite lively and much quicker than I remember him being. On his way to being good I see.

I was a *little* disappointed with Antonio but he wasn't awful, it's just that he didn't shine *that* much compared to everyone else.

[Wimb]

First game at the Madejski I'd made since Leeds back in November and what a great way to come back.

Pre-match I can't pretend I wasn't a little nervous knowing Bryn was being expected to play another 90 minutes at right back, and Harte and HRK would be paired together on the left... shows how much I know

Great performance all round really, Mills looked as solid as I've seen him and a couple of early moments aside, so did Khizi.

Gunnar played well enough, he did give the ball away after being caught napping after a corner, and the sliced clearence that led to the goal but can't complain otherwise.

Harte dealt with the Boro winger well and enough has been said about his offensive contribution already. I'm still not sold on him as a top level Championship defender but he brings another weapon to our attack and you can see why Brian sticks with him.

Legs and Tabb both did their jobs well, personal highlight for me was seeing Tabb win a header against two 'Boro midfielders

HRK had his best game in a Reading shirt by far for me. He had the confidence to go at players, put crosses in and had it not been for trying to line up shots on his favoured foot, could have scored a hat-trick.

Kebe was Kebe though it's worrying he's missed 2 or 3 one-on-ones in a row now.

Long was brilliant, especially as the Boro defence tired/gave up. If he'd stayed on he would have had 4. Hunt partnered him well and was only denied by a fantastic save by the (first) 'Boro keeper.

Generally a good day out, home fans were in good voice though I'll add my support to HH's point about the 'you're support is f**king shit' chants when they've taken nearly double to our place then we did to theirs

[handbags_harris]

Generally a good day out, home fans were in good voice though I'll add my support to HH's point about the 'you're support is f**king shit' chants when they've taken nearly double to our place then we did to theirs

Nearly double? More like 3 times the amount we took there. We didn't even take 300!!

Anyway, in my opinion it wasn't a particularly high quality game all round, but against a defence of Middlesbrough's quality it wasn't difficult to cut through them. I think that saying every player deserves a 10 is massive Daily Mail like overreaction. McCarthy had little to do except pick the ball out of the net twice and belt the ball to Lita for his first, Gunnarsson was solid as ever (who the hell said he was past it?), Harte's left foot specialism was there for all to see and I still fail to see what is wrong with his set pieces, Khizanishvili was ok, Mills was typical Mills having appeared to revert to type after his quite superb performance at Goodison - all those slagging Lita off for his apparent dive (it wasn't by the way), look no further than one Matt Mills for his quite awful clearance and then getting on the wrong side of Lita in the first place - horrific defending. HRK was decent at best, still runs down blind alleys a hell of a lot though. Kebe was ok, decent cross for HRK, but how did he miss that open goal? Legs was typical Legs, solid in the tackle but wastefull at times in possession, and Tabb was our little battler again. Hunt was ok, good link up play with Long and was unlucky not to score. Standout player? Shane Long - superb up front and it showed just how impotent we are at the moment without him when he went off. Church was poor although his movement for his clear chance was impressive - but then again he makes that run time and again and gets it wrong so I suppose you'll fluke it once in 20, and once again he wastes a clear chance. Antonio didn't see enough of the ball IMO to be able to show what he could do, and finally Manset came on and showed some nice touches without doing anything of note.

Decent solidish performance but teams will undo us if we continue to defend like that, and we can guarantee that teams won't be as generous in defence as Middlesbrough were today.

[Handsome Man]

We played really well and they played really badly: it should have been 6-0 really.

HRK was my man of the match: by about 15 minutes he had already had his best game for us.
Long is too good for the Championship.

[NR_Royal]

Before we get too excited, bear in mind they had a LOT of injuries and were playing far from their full strength side.

[SHORT AND CURLY]

With reference to the away support I can almost guarantee that 40-50% of the away support for northern teams at the Mad Stad is southern based.
There are more northerners living down South than Southerners ooop North!

Still with me.

As a result northern teams with a similar fan bases to ours have more away fans here than we are likely to take there.

I think there were only two supporters coaches from Boro which kinda proves my point.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Before we get too excited, bear in mind they had a LOT of injuries and were playing far from their full strength side.

as were we

[biscuitman]

I can almost guarantee that 40-50% of the away support for northern teams at the Mad Stad is southern based.

What an odd thing to write. And you know this how?

[roadrunner]

With reference to the away support I can almost guarantee that 40-50% of the away support for northern teams at the Mad Stad is southern based.

What a crock of sh*t.

[Kitson12]

Just to put this in perspective, Boro brought 1 coach down on Saturday. One.

[sandman]

We played really well and they played really badly: it should have been 6-0 really.

HRK was my man of the match: by about 15 minutes he had already had his best game for us.
Long is too good for the Championship.

He could've spent 90 minutes standing in the centre circle scratching his arse and it would still have been his best match for us.

[muddyfeet]

slightly late back from the game for me...

Thought it was an enjoyable match, yes the standard of football on show wasnt always top class but to see us win by a good margin without really looking that stretched is always nice.

Egg on my face, for moaning to my Dad about Robson Kanu before the match - its the best game he has had for Reading fc. Where were the Kanu fan club? I would have tolerated them on saturday!

Thought Ledge took a while to get into the match but once up to speed was his usual excellent self. Long is oozing confidence and as someone else saying is starting to look a bit above championship level. Didnt think Kebe was at his best - but I always think he isnt when he has a bit of a knock - tends to stand off a bit. He was much better in the second half. Everyone had a good game, and seemed pretty up for it.
I really REALLY hoped this was the time for Church to come on and score - Boro were the worst side Ive seen all season - but he just seems to think about it too much.

[Top Flight]

To be fair, Boro were an absolute pile of poo.

Comfortably the worst side that has played at the Madejski for years! It is no wonder they are hovering just above the drop zone. Really they should be cemented at the bottom of the table if that performance is anything to go by.

Therefore, I wouldn't read too much into that result. Yes we won with 5 goals, but considering the rubbish that we were up against it certainly doesn't mean that our play off push is back on track.

Special praise must go to Ian Harte. His set piece delivery was absolutely outstanding on the day. Every single ball into the box was dangerous. Well done Harte.

[Murts-is-Lej]

Almost everything worth saying about that very enjoyable game has been said, but I just felt like agreeing with 1 thing Ian/Snowball said:
Watching Church at the moment reminds me a bit of Long when he used to be the "impact sub" rather than the consistent starter. Church is more and more often getting in the right places to score but it's still not going in for him. And I'm not sure it will until one of the Irish duo gets injured (Heaven forbid)...
Manset on the other hand is a completely different sort of player and gives us a completely different (Kitson-esqe?) option...

[Tony Le Mesmer]

Comfortably the worst side that has played at the Madejski for years!

They werent very good, but nowhere near as bad as Peterboro or Sheff Wed (x2)

[handbags_harris]

Comfortably the worst side that has played at the Madejski for years!

They werent very good, but nowhere near as bad as Peterboro or Sheff Wed (x2)

Luton Town's last visit? Burton Albion?

[Tony Le Mesmer]

Comfortably the worst side that has played at the Madejski for years!

They werent very good, but nowhere near as bad as Peterboro or Sheff Wed (x2)

Luton Town's last visit? Burton Albion?

Pretty bad, but lower league. Peterboro though would have been 10 if it wasnt for their outstanding keeper. Dont think ive ever seen us dominate a game more than that.