back from the shambles Stevenage (H)

[Chaney]

Dire doesn`t do it justice, clueless, aimless rubbish.
Feds 4 on the backs of 2 good saves, distribution appalling
Cummings 2
Pearce 3
Gorks 5
Harte 2
Tabb 2
Ledge 1
mcanuff 1
HRK 0
lefondre 3 no service i seriously feel sorry for this guy
Church can i give a minus? 0

subs 2

[floyd__streete]

LOL @ losing 0-1 at home to a team from the division below having made only 2 changes and our goalkeeper being man of the match.

LOL @ those two changes frankly proving why they don't play every week.

LOL @ how easy ALF and Church are to play against.

LOL @ Brendy who thinks we're playing the ball on the deck a lot more this season

[bcubed]

LOL @ losing 0-1 at home to a team from the division below having made only 2 changes and our goalkeeper being man of the match.

LOL @ those two changes frankly proving why they don't play every week.

LOL @ how easy ALF and Church are to play against.

LOL @ Brendy who thinks we're playing the ball on the deck a lot more this season

To be honest I think that's a bit negative
There were some good things about today's game, like .......
The Bovril at half time was hot, though I had to wait 20 minutes to get it so maybe you are right

[Chaney]

i posted my thread 5 minutes before you but here it is

Dire doesn`t do it justice, clueless, aimless rubbish.
Feds 4 on the backs of 2 good saves, distribution appalling
Cummings 2
Pearce 3
Gorks 5
Harte 2
Tabb 2
Ledge 1
mcanuff 1
HRK 0
lefondre 3 no service i seriously feel sorry for this guy
Church can i give a minus? 0

subs 2

[The Cube]

Some very generous marking there.

[floyd__streete]

Tbh, the markings today should in all honesty read like binary

[The Cube]

Tbh, the markings today should in all honesty read like binary :evil:

And you don't mean 10....

Based on his tackling, distribution and particularly the late shot that went into row Z I believe Leigertwood was under instructions to make sure we did not progress. Concentrating on the League, I suspect.

[Rex]

LOL @ losing 0-1 at home to a team from the division below having made only 2 changes and our goalkeeper being man of the match.

LOL @ those two changes frankly proving why they don't play every week.

LOL @ how easy ALF and Church are to play against.

LOL @ Brendy who thinks we're playing the ball on the deck a lot more this season

To be honest I think that's a bit negative
There were some good things about today's game, like .......
The Bovril at half time was hot, though I had to wait 20 minutes to get it so maybe you are right

Considerate of the team not to score and you spaff your bovril.

[Thou Voice]

i posted my thread 5 minutes before you but here it is

Dire doesn`t do it justice, clueless, aimless rubbish.
Feds 4 on the backs of 2 good saves, distribution appalling

Did you mean to put a 4 there ?

Let us not forget the goal that he let in...

...it's not as if the goal keeper is asked to much and they're not excatly running around knackered like the rest of the team.

Do You See?

[Fezza]

Horrid hoof ball all game. Lwood was shocking, no interest at all, the ball never went out to the wings. Church was clueless. From kick off we had no shape - this is Big Mac's responsibility and at no point did the players look like challenging for 2nd balls.

Why was Manset playing on the wing at the end of the game?

Frankly I'm disgusted and want my £8 parking and £15 ticket money back!

The only plus for me was D'Ath at the end, he at least looked commited and played the ball on the floor!

Sell: Church, Tabb, Howard, Antonio and get in someone who can be bothered.

Cr@p

[andrew1957]

I will start by saying well done to Stevenage. They were well drilled, competitive and fought for every ball - one of the best sides we have seen at the Madstad this season - even if obviously lacking a little in quality.

As for Reading we were DIRE.

No one comes out with much credit apart from Federici - who kept us in the game.

The awful were Tabb, Leigertwood and Church

The poor were HRK and ALF

The average were Harte, Pearce, Gorkks, Cummings, McAnuff, Manset and Antonio

The only one ranking as good was Federici

At least we can now concentrate on the League!!

[winchester_royal]

Horrid hoof ball all game. Lwood was shocking, no interest at all, the ball never went out to the wings. Church was clueless. From kick off we had no shape - this is Big Mac's responsibility and at no point did the players look like challenging for 2nd balls.

Why was Manset playing on the wing at the end of the game?

Frankly I'm disgusted and want my £8 parking and £15 ticket money back!

The only plus for me was D'Ath at the end, he at least looked commited and played the ball on the floor!

Sell: Church, Tabb, Howard, Antonio and get in someone who can be bothered.

Cr@p

Pretty much this. TBH I want to know why D'Ath was only brought on at the very end, given that he showed more energy and ability in 2 minutes than the rest of the midfield managed for the entire game.

We should have given a few more of the younger guys a go. At least they'd have put some passion into that performance.

I understand that bad performances happen, but it was the lack of any sort of drive from our senior 'pros' that got me really angry today.

[sandman]

Federici - Only one that can say he did well. 7

Cummings - Actually overlapped although it was only once. 5
Harte - Awful passing let the ball bounce to a Stevenage player when it was in front of him. 4
Pearce - Bit of an off day. First half especially. 5
Gorkss - Same as Pearce. 5

HRK - Good sub. Terrible starter. 2
McAnuff - What was he doing for the goal. Pass it you div. 4
Tabb - Bullied. 3
Leigertwood - His worst game for the club. All over the place and not in a good Jem Karacan way. 3

Church - 4. Bad but not as bad as...
Alf - Was he even there and When was the last time he scored? 3

Manset - 2. Had a chance to impress and blew it. Controlled it once and that was one more time than....
Antonio managed to do. I said he'd found his level after his loan spells in league 1. Well he might need to go several more levels down to find it after that. 1

[LoyalRoyal22]

LOL @ losing 0-1 at home to a team from the division below having made only 2 changes and our goalkeeper being man of the match.

LOL @ those two changes frankly proving why they don't play every week.

LOL @ how easy ALF and Church are to play against.

LOL @ Brendy who thinks we're playing the ball on the deck a lot more this season

We generally do play on the deck more this season, how many games have you been to?

[RoyalJames101]

LOL @ losing 0-1 at home to a team from the division below having made only 2 changes and our goalkeeper being man of the match.

LOL @ those two changes frankly proving why they don't play every week.

LOL @ how easy ALF and Church are to play against.

LOL @ Brendy who thinks we're playing the ball on the deck a lot more this season

We generally do play on the deck more this season, how many games have you been to?

Are you serious?

Feds the only player to play well for me. Cummings is slowly going back to the player he used to be, always gives the ball away by playing it long. Antonio, once again, looked raw. Very lively but no end product. Kanu had a good start to the season but seriously what was today about?

We need a creative midfielder (would play Howard tbh), a striker who can create a chance for themselves and a more cultured winger who can put in some decent crosses, if Jimmy is to leave.

Hopefully Mcdermott gives them a kick up the backside. Unbeaten from now until the end of February.

[FiNeRaIn]

LOL @ losing 0-1 at home to a team from the division below having made only 2 changes and our goalkeeper being man of the match.

LOL @ those two changes frankly proving why they don't play every week.

LOL @ how easy ALF and Church are to play against.

LOL @ Brendy who thinks we're playing the ball on the deck a lot more this season

We generally do play on the deck more this season, how many games have you been to?

Err no we don't. So i'll re-ask your question back to you...

[LJ]

i posted my thread 5 minutes before you but here it is

Dire doesn`t do it justice, clueless, aimless rubbish.
Feds 4 on the backs of 2 good saves, distribution appalling
Cummings 2
Pearce 3
Gorks 5
Harte 2
Tabb 2
Ledge 1
mcanuff 1
HRK 0
lefondre 3 no service i seriously feel sorry for this guy
Church can i give a minus? 0

subs 2

So by your judgement Gorkss was our man of the match? Cannot understand how he always manages to avoid all of the blame. Last few games, he's been awful. Looks slow, awkward and unable to kick to ball properly. Today was a prime example, he was dreadful. Always seemed to get himself into awkward positions where he couldn't make a tackle on Charles. He is beaten for pace too often, and always either seems to be wandering around groggy after banging his head, or falling over his bloody shorts, why can't he just pull them up? Just hope he manages to re-find the solidness we have seen from him in the past.

[Avon Royal]

LOL @ losing 0-1 at home to a team from the division below having made only 2 changes and our goalkeeper being man of the match.

LOL @ those two changes frankly proving why they don't play every week.

LOL @ how easy ALF and Church are to play against.

LOL @ Brendy who thinks we're playing the ball on the deck a lot more this season

We generally do play on the deck more this season, how many games have you been to?

Clearly more than you...........

[FiNeRaIn]

Agreed, absolutely astounding the comments some fans make. I have been watching reading since 97 and I have never seen the ball off the deck as much since then.

[SCIAG]

Cummings is slowly going back to the player he used to be, always gives the ball away by playing it long.

Wtf? Cummings used to be a player who was scared to advance or play the ball forward.

I think the result (awful) is clouding people's view of the performance (boring and toothless, but not a disaster).

Ratings:

Feds 7.5- several good saves, first time he's had to do anything at home for a long time. Will have to see the goal again, if he could have done better I'll drop this.
Cummings 6.5- 7 defensively, Freeman didn't trouble him at all. Not so good going forward.
Pearce 6.5- a little nervy, outpaced once or twice.
Gorkss 5.5- what's happened to him lately? Still good on the ball, but not himself in defence and his heading was poor
Harte 5- not sure what the point of him being on the pitch was. Bring back Mills.

Tabb 7- would probably have been an 8 if he'd played the whole match. Won a lot of loose balls, broke up play, and looked comfortable in possession. Got kicked and shoved, didn't get protection from the referee.
Legs 5.5- not his best game, though he was bound to have a poor one at some point. He hasn't really had a bad game since we signed him.
HRK 5- offered nothing much. Little use when he isn't an impact sub.
McAnuff 4.5- the goal was his fault. No better than HRK aside from that.

Church, ALF- no point playing long ball and little point putting in crosses with these two in the side. Not going to give them ratings, it seems pointless when they barely have a chance.

Subs:
Antonio 4- long throws were good, and he was lively enough to get a chance, but his control is piss poor and he put the chance well wide. Should be behind Obita and maybe other players.
Manset 4.5- at least he can win a header, but he hasn't lived up to his early promise. Needs to improve, should probably be sent on loan.
D'Ath- I know he was barely on, but boy can he run, and his passing was crisp. Could potentially be a good impact sub if given 15 minutes because he was really getting into the box and is more creative than the other three midfielders.