Guthrie told to stay away...

[melonhead]

thought his passing was pretty innefecual when sat deep though.imo
apart from keeping possession, which is good, he only really kicked into life when moved forward a bit buy ruiz' introduction
personally im happy to have someone making sideways /backwards passes where he isnt going to hurt us all day long

[Ian Royal]

Berbatov had 63/71 completed passes. Our best was Ledge with 38/51... Fulham's best was Diarra with 83/95 pass completion

I`m so looking forward to the city/united games

But what was the main stat, a certain how many times did the ball hit the back of the net? We did it 3 times, they did it 3 times. So for all the greater number of passes their midfielders or whatever made, the main stat, and the only stat that actually matters, we were level.

We don't need a major change in the style of our play. What we need to sort out is basic defensive mistakes that are costing us in terms of conceding goals.

Although keeping the ball and using it better will result in more and better chances for us, and fewer chances for them, meaning our defence is under less pressure and less likely to make mistakes and get punished.

[Simon's Church]

personally im happy to have someone making sideways /backwards passes where he isnt going to hurt us all day long

It means more chasing work for our midfield though and that'll mean they're more tired and less able to track players like Ruiz and Berbatov in the last 15 minutes.

[melonhead]

personally im happy to have someone making sideways /backwards passes where he isnt going to hurt us all day long

It means more chasing work for our midfield though and that'll mean they're more tired and less able to track players like Ruiz and Berbatov in the last 15 minutes.

agreed- but isnt that why we tend to stand off and let them do it in their 1st two thirds of the pitch

[Woodcote Royal]

McAnuff should probably start in central midfield anyway. He is our best player at the moment and should get the ball more often.

Disagree, we need our best players in their best positions where they are most effective.

And, given the chance, a player who can play anywhere in midfield could yet show that just because we play on him on the wing week in week out, this might not be his best position these days. He has everything in his locker to be the best central midfielder at the club whilst Saturday showed beyond doubt that we have good options out wide................................fcuk the decidely average Guthrie, we won't miss him.

[Ian Royal]

personally im happy to have someone making sideways /backwards passes where he isnt going to hurt us all day long

It means more chasing work for our midfield though and that'll mean they're more tired and less able to track players like Ruiz and Berbatov in the last 15 minutes.

agreed- but isnt that why we tend to stand off and let them do it in their 1st two thirds of the pitch

We've looked best when we've pushed up and hassled in their half forcing loose passes. When we stand off we invite pressure and start sitting deeper and deeper. Against PL opposition it's not good enough because they can create moments of magic that will still break through. Not only that but we have no one to left to receive the ball and release pressure.

All IMO of course.

[seahawk10]

There is no 'I' in team, but apparently there is an 'I' in Guthrie.

[Simon's Church]

personally im happy to have someone making sideways /backwards passes where he isnt going to hurt us all day long

It means more chasing work for our midfield though and that'll mean they're more tired and less able to track players like Ruiz and Berbatov in the last 15 minutes.

agreed- but isnt that why we tend to stand off and let them do it in their 1st two thirds of the pitch

We stand off to a point but each sideways pass means they're still having to reorganise to close down the angles and keep 100% focused, you can switch off a bit more if your team's in possession.

[melonhead]

ian royal/simons church
i agree, and inviting that pressure is why we xcant hold on to leads

i just thought berbatov wasnt really causing us many problems with his passing in that hole
it was when they changed it,that he became an issue, imo

[Man Friday]

In Brian I trust.

That's all I feel I need to say.

[The Rouge]

I don't think the Fulham passing stats should be ignored. What's important about Berbatov's 60-odd successful passes? Two things, a) Fulham kept possession, and b) movement with and off the ball.

we will not stay up without improving our off the ball movement. it is part of the reason I would rather play hunt and le fondre upfront and part of the reason why HRK would be in my team.

[SPARTA]

In Brian I trust.

That's all I feel I need to say.

That's a bold statement considering we're 1/4 of the season gone and have only 4 points. 45 probably needed to keep us up. I don't think Alex Ferguson could keep this club up now.

[AthleticoSpizz]

dont be so bloody stupid

[Ian Royal]

In Brian I trust.

That's all I feel I need to say.

That's a bold statement considering we're 1/4 of the season gone and have only 4 points. 45 probably needed to keep us up. I don't think Alex Ferguson could keep this club up now.

No chance. 18th's points last few years: 36, 39, 30, 34, 36, 38, 34, 33, 33, 42.

So in TEN years it's not required 45 points to stay up. 45 points would have finished 13, 15, 13, 11 in the last four years. We're not in the Championship anymore. There aren't 24 teams.

[bassavage]

But what was the main stat, a certain how many times did the ball hit the back of the net? We did it 3 times, they did it 3 times. So for all the greater number of passes their midfielders or whatever made, the main stat, and the only stat that actually matters, we were level.

We don't need a major change in the style of our play. What we need to sort out is basic defensive mistakes that are costing us in terms of conceding goals.

Although keeping the ball and using it better will result in more and better chances for us, and fewer chances for them, meaning our defence is under less pressure and less likely to make mistakes and get punished.

I understand that but from what I've seen of Guthrie he plays in a more advanced role naturally than we usually use and defensively isn't perhaps solid enough for out system. We play with 2 holding midfield players and while I agree we need to keep the ball better, it is more important for our system to have someone who can protect the centre backs than it is for someone who can pass the ball. Ideally it would be brilliant to have someone who could do both, whether that be to train Guthire into being more defensively minded or bringing in someone new in Januaray.

Personally I think Danny Murphy would have been perfect in the summer.

[Hoop Blah]

Are you judging that on what you've seen of him at Reading only? We've played him in a more advanced role but previously he's been much more your typical midfielder (a bit more like how McDermott used Tabb and Howard behind Sigurdsson post Rodgers).

[Hoop Blah]

I am astounded that anyone here would support Guthrie over Brian in this spat.

In pre season Guthrie looked superb but he has been very hot and cold so far in PL games that he has played. Bluntly Tabb offers more than him at the moment (and I astounded to find myself saying that) so it is no surprise that Tabb was in ahead of Guthrie on Saturday. I am sure Guthrie would have been on the bench if he had not thrown his toys out of the pram.

So yes we do have a big problem as we are very short in numbers at CM but hopefully this will be a wake up call to Guthrie and he will come back to prove he is worthy of a starting place. If not I would not be surprised if his contract is cancelled "by mutual agreement" in January and we look elsewhere. Depends if he really believes he is good enough to get more playing time elsewhere at another PL club.

Dellor hit the nail on the head for me in his comments before the match on Saturday when he said that the problem was Guthrie did not look like a Reading type player and would probably fit better into Chelsea’s style of play (not that he is good enough) rather than Reading’s style of play.

The issue is can he adapt and does he want to. If not he has no future at RFC.

Not sure anyone is really siding with Guthrie over McDermott, just saying they can understand his issues if he's been brought into the club off the back of his career to date and then told he's got to play in a significantly different way to get a game.

I've never met a player who enjoys playing to his weaknesses instead of his strengths.

If results were better McDermott would probably have a better case for freezing him out.

As for cancelling his contract, I don't think there's a chance in hell the club would write off a £2m asset just like that.

[Stuboo]

Be interesting to see if Guthrie is in the squad on Tuesday - given that he reportedly hasn't trained with the boys today, probably not. Also be interesting to see if he is there at all. If not, It could suggest the rift is serious.

[Stuboo]

A Guthrie update from Fordham:

http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/football/readingfc/s/2123144_guthrie_vows_to_fight_for_reading_fc_place

[Theroyalbox]

Fordham story BULlSH*T