How can a team playing so poorly have such good current form

[Snowball]

I didn't find the Pompey game "mind-numbingly boring"

With a tiny bit of luck we'd've scored 2-3 and I enjoyed the control we had..

AND

WE

WON











AGAIN

[Wimb]

I didn't find the Pompey game "mind-numbingly boring"

With a tiny bit of luck we'd've scored 2-3 and I enjoyed the control we had..

AND

WE

WON











AGAIN

Winning was great and fair enough if you enjoyed the fact we controlled the game but for me there was a distinct lack of on your feet moments in that game. There were a couple of darts down the wing and obviously the goal but in 90 minutes we had 2 shots on target and Alfie's 2 pokes just wide, otherwise fairly snooze worthy.

Another great demonstration of how to get a result and control a game in the Championship but personally I wasn't that 'entertained'.

[Snowball]

Winning was great and fair enough if you enjoyed the fact we controlled the game but for me there was a distinct lack of on your feet moments in that game. There were a couple of darts down the wing and obviously the goal but in 90 minutes we had 2 shots on target and Alfie's 2 pokes just wide, otherwise fairly snooze worthy.

Another great demonstration of how to get a result and control a game in the Championship but personally I wasn't that 'entertained'.

Not overly EXCITED but not bored is my point, and definitetly not mind-numbingly bored

[Wimb]

Winning was great and fair enough if you enjoyed the fact we controlled the game but for me there was a distinct lack of on your feet moments in that game. There were a couple of darts down the wing and obviously the goal but in 90 minutes we had 2 shots on target and Alfie's 2 pokes just wide, otherwise fairly snooze worthy.

Another great demonstration of how to get a result and control a game in the Championship but personally I wasn't that 'entertained'.

Not overly EXCITED but not bored is my point, and definitetly not mind-numbingly bored

I'm happy to nail my colours to the mast and say that I honestly can't remember a more boring 45 minutes at the Madejski in the last 5 or 6 years.

Massive credit to you if you found it to be otherwise. Personally I enjoyed the win and the banter between the fans, the game on the pitch just wasn't that exciting.

[melonhead]

lol i can remember about 10 45 minutes just as boring from the last 15 home games

[Wimb]

lol i can remember about 10 45 minutes just as boring from the last 15 home games

Fair, but this one in particular stands out.. can't think of a particular 45 minutes where neither side forced ANY sort of save from the goalkeepers.

Happy to accept other nominations

[melonhead]

i disagree that shots on target/saves are the only barometer of an exciting game

[Wimb]

i disagree that shots on target/saves are the only barometer of an exciting game

Nope, they form a part of it though.

During the second half on Tuesday there was also a distinct lack of big tackles, barely a goalmouth scramble, no really tricky crosses for the opposition to deal with and more miss-controlled passes then you can shake a stick at.

[Forbury Lion]

Form > Class, as long as Form continues.

[Ian Royal]

the title of the OP is wrong, we aren't playing poorly, we're just not playing 'attractive' football. How anyone can describe a team with 10 clean sheets in 14 games as playing poorly is beyond me As others have said, the point is to win games and we've been doing exactly that.

Now if you want to talk about how attractive we are in getting those results then that's a totally different argument. If you look at the stats & scorelines then this season is looking more and more like 1994/95 when we finished 2nd despite scoring just 58 goals. It's generally accepted that that era was some of the best football we've ever played but given the fact that I was just 8 at the time I can't sit here and say I remember if we were actually that stunning to watch... so if an older head can comment that would be grand

Back to the present and the Pompy game was mind numbingly boring to watch for 90 minutes but then the result is something you can enjoy and savour all week long, so hey enjoy it while it lasts

I only saw the PO Final and was about 13, but it was a lot better in terms of attractiveness and quality than now. I think you can say we are playing poorly at the moment, in terms of the quality of our football. But it is damn effective, our defence means we don't have to do a whole lot to win games and our wingers + Roberts means that we'll likely get one or two good opportunities a game to score. And that's all we need.

We could play a hell of a lot better football. But I don't think we could play more effective football.

[Snowball]

It isn't "poorly" though. It's a chosen way of playing.

McD is playing it tight, not allowing the CMs to go forward much, playing safe.

So safety-first and we seem to have enough to get the crucial goal.

I would take turgid winning over brilliant losing forever. No contest.

But I don't find it "turgid" (but then I like Test Match Cricket)

[Ian Royal]

It is poor football, because we often struggle to retain possession or string many passes together. That's not to say that all tippy-tappy football is of a high quality. The trick is accurate passing to players, or into space (where it's not just a percentage chase down) for them to run onto the ball. A change of pace to your play is also pretty crucial. Be it tippy-tappy Arsenal style, or fast and hard down the wings Coppell style.

It's inferior in quality to the football we've previously played under McDermott and certainly Coppell. However it is more effective and it's doing the job of getting us results, which is the ultimate goal. It'd be nice to be achieving that with some style, but I'll happily settle for effective for now.

[Terminal Boardom]

Hence my drunken rant after the Burnley game. 7 wins on the spin is impressive but the comparison to Birmingham in 2008/09 is very relevant and appropriate. It all smacks of Italian style football with the bulk of the attention being not to concede. What BMcD has done this season is nothing short of miraculous considering the talent that has left in recent years.

Would it be a disaster if Reading missed out on promotion this season? I don't think so. What it will do is allow BMcD to bring in players to improve the squad during the close season. Would I anticipate a more expansive style of play? All depends on who comes in!

[paultheroyal]

the title of the OP is wrong, we aren't playing poorly, we're just not playing 'attractive' football. How anyone can describe a team with 10 clean sheets in 14 games as playing poorly is beyond me As others have said, the point is to win games and we've been doing exactly that.

Now if you want to talk about how attractive we are in getting those results then that's a totally different argument. If you look at the stats & scorelines then this season is looking more and more like 1994/95 when we finished 2nd despite scoring just 58 goals. It's generally accepted that that era was some of the best football we've ever played but given the fact that I was just 8 at the time I can't sit here and say I remember if we were actually that stunning to watch... so if an older head can comment that would be grand

Back to the present and the Pompy game was mind numbingly boring to watch for 90 minutes but then the result is something you can enjoy and savour all week long, so hey enjoy it while it lasts

Yep - spot on - thread closed

[melonhead]

i disagree that shots on target/saves are the only barometer of an exciting game

Nope, they form a part of it though.

During the second half on Tuesday there was also a distinct lack of big tackles, barely a goalmouth scramble, no really tricky crosses for the opposition to deal with and more miss-controlled passes then you can shake a stick at.

i was excited by our shutting down of the game, and total control, even when they tried to apply pressure

but then i am a bit weird


agreed, we were a bit poo 2nd half


but i thought we were great in the first half, and since when have you been guaranteed good football for a whole match(or at all) at a reading game?

[facaldaqui]

We became dull second half, but I still enjoyed our impermeability. Then again, I'm someone who can enjoy watching a series of maiden overs in cricket. Scoring is one part of the game; preventing scoring is the other--either satisfies me, but one, obviously, is headier than the other. There's something ultimately unenjoyable, for me, in playing attractively and losing---total mug's game (our play-off finals spring to mind).

On the last point, if we don't make the top two, I'd back us to be more resilient in the play-offs this year. If there's an advantage in playing some of the top sides towards the end of the season, it's that it will mean we're in practice for crucial, hard games.

[mr_number]

To all those moaning about the Pompey game, I have to say I really enjoyed it. But then I was watching the Arsenal game and listening to the durge on the radio, whilst you were all out in the cold...

[rob the royal]

Call me a weirdo, but this is the sort of play I enjoy.
We don't give them any chances, and when we have the ball we don't f^ck around, take no risk, and score the winner when we get the chance.

If this was Italy, the supporters would be spunking themselves with joy!!!!!!!!!!

FFS, we are a T E A M!!!!

You'd probably get on well with my mate. When he plays FIFA, if he gets a goal up after 5 minutes he'll happily sit on it and just keep possession as much as possible!

[Franchise FC]

Hence my drunken rant after the Burnley game. 7 wins on the spin is impressive but the comparison to Birmingham in 2008/09 is very relevant and appropriate. It all smacks of Italian style football with the bulk of the attention being not to concede. What BMcD has done this season is nothing short of miraculous considering the talent that has left in recent years.

Would it be a disaster if Reading missed out on promotion this season? I don't think so. What it will do is allow BMcD to bring in players to improve the squad during the close season. Would I anticipate a more expansive style of play? All depends on who comes in!

I'd prefer to go up, allow McD to make whatever changes from a position of strength and take our chances in the Prem.
There's absolutely no guarantee that we'll be in the same or better position next season if we don't go up

[Victor Meldrew]

Hence my drunken rant after the Burnley game. 7 wins on the spin is impressive but the comparison to Birmingham in 2008/09 is very relevant and appropriate. It all smacks of Italian style football with the bulk of the attention being not to concede. What BMcD has done this season is nothing short of miraculous considering the talent that has left in recent years.

Would it be a disaster if Reading missed out on promotion this season? I don't think so. What it will do is allow BMcD to bring in players to improve the squad during the close season. Would I anticipate a more expansive style of play? All depends on who comes in!

I said to my brother after the game "Do you remember Birmingham playing like we now do,the fans being unhappy with what they were watching and yet they got promoted (only to get relegated because this doesn't work in the Premier League)?"
I have always felt that you build a side for the Premier League and a system to go with it.
I don't think this method would work for us because we would be punished so much more for giving the ball away much as we did in the relegation season (e.g. 6 conceded at Spurs.7 conceded at Pompey).

The big question is "If we get there will we invest in better players and will Brian get the best out of those players?"
So far he has done brilliantly with no stars in the side and even Roberts was probably grateful for a move back down south compared to being just a reserve player at relegation threatened Blackburn and close to the scrap heap at his age.

With the new owner (has it happened yet?)there might be a decent wedge avaialable for Brian to spend and he has shown that given the money he can buy better players (Gorkss and Ledge)whereas he doesn't do so well with the cheaper buys (Manset,Morrison,Mills,Le Fondre etc where the jury is still out).
If we went up and did the infamous "we'll go with what we have got" I think we would come straight back down so as I see it to stay up we will need to spend quite a lot and (with hopefully better players) make changes to how we play and treat ball retention as a key method of our play.
So if we are not going to spend I would sooner see us stay down and build a side again so that as with the 106 lot we would be ready for the Premier League rather than scrape up with 1-0s to the fore.

BTW going back to the Pompey game the stats showed that we had just 2 shots on target and Pompey had 0 shots on target-I think those stats speak for themselves and people might be interested in how a very successful ex-manager of ours described tthe game to his son "A bit like watching 2 Sumo wrestlers".
I'm not quite sure what that means but it doesn't sound as though he was highly entertained.