Back from the Arsenal game/TV

[Avon Royal]

Don Goodman has always hated Reading, he's even been quite open about it in the past.

[loyalroyal4life]

Would love to see that game again to see just how one sided that second half was. Could be argued the same in our favour first half given we nearly had 60% possession and scored 4 goals.

We looked weak in centre midfield, need to replace Tabb i feel. At the back i can't believe Gorkss even gets into the first team, he was awful!!

Worrying that arsenal B team did that to us without most of their first team!

[Norfolk Royal]

In the short term BM needs to sort out the Guthrie and Pearce situations. Ludicrous that those two should be on the sidelines when all this mayhem is going on.

[Lacoste]

I wanted to sleep on it before posting, and mainly because I felt a bit

To not have a CM to bring on when we clearly needed fresh legs can only be MCD's fault
To not buy players that fit into the 'style' of play can only be MCD's fault
To buy poor quality players and then say he got the players he wanted can only be MCD's fault
The fact that we didn't have the tactical ability to close the game out at 4-0 can only be MCD's fault
To still be playing the likes of KG, HRK, Church, and Tabb can only be MCD's fault
To allow rifts to open up in the team this season, mainly because of poor man management and tactics can only be MCD's fault
To not be able to string two passes together from the second half onwards, the basics of football, can only be MCD's fault.

Said at the start of the seaso that he has been naive with his signings and the way he is going about playing and so far this is proving true.

QPR or bust maybe?

[creative_username_1]

All a bit early to be turning on Brian..........on the '7/8th day Brian made God but after 8 games God was already starting
with the motivational booing like the ungrateful pcunt he is....etc

[Simon's Church]

Well this game still seems to be a bit of a talking point amongst journalists. Can't help but feel it was all just yet another ploy by Roberts to raise his media profile.

[melonhead]

Positives(trying desperately to find something to cling to):
ledge
shorey
HRK
morrison
roberts
nhunt
scoring 5 Vs any arsenal side, with players whos cost equals the ammount of money weve spent in about ten years
playing some incredible football in the first half
spirit to come back to 5 all in extra time
would have won if the ref didnt just let them play until they scored

Negatives

Gorkss
federici
inability to shut the game down 2nd half
having to take off roberts and nhunt due to them being shattered, and leaving us with church on the pitch for extra time
not having guthrie on the bench to replace tabb who had ran himself into the ground
leaving pearce on the bench
throwing away a 4 goal lead in the most humiliating fashion possible


way too early to turn on brian. said he had till the end of the month to turn it round,and imo he still has, but it will be so hard to get the lads heads up for sundays game after that, theyll be shell shocked.like i am.

[melonhead]

Imho the best we've looked defensively this season was against Stoke, when Guthrie was playing his own game, taking the ball off the centre-backs. It's remarkable what having a midfielder to pass to does for our 'direct' game.

stoke were awful though, and let guthrie play that way
ever since when he has played hes been closed down properly, and has looked below par

[Vision]

way too early to turn on brian. said he had till the end of the month to turn it round,and imo he still has, but it will be so hard to get the lads heads up for sundays game after that, theyll be shell shocked.like i am.

It is the end of the month mate

[muddyfeet]

thought Ledge was pretty awesome last night tbh

however him and few others could hardly run by the end, hope they'll be ok for Sunday

[mr_number]

In more loslworthy times, I'll reflect on how around 80 mins I thought Feds had had an excellent game.

[winchester_royal]

In more loslworthy times, I'll reflect on how around 80 mins I thought Feds had had an excellent game.

Not as bad as me telling everyone around me after 40 minutes that I thought the same defence should start on Sunday

[melonhead]

Feel like crying, it was just one of those nights.

We looked so open at the end though it was just embarrassing. Why the f*ck did we have 3 strikers on the bench and no midfielder to bring on to close the game out...

Brian got those last 20 minutes dreadfully wrong.

.

if the ref had blown when he was supposed to, the time wasting sub of church would have been exactly the right move

[winchester_royal]

Feel like crying, it was just one of those nights.

We looked so open at the end though it was just embarrassing. Why the f*ck did we have 3 strikers on the bench and no midfielder to bring on to close the game out...

Brian got those last 20 minutes dreadfully wrong.

.

if the ref had blown when he was supposed to, the time wasting sub of church would have been exactly the right move

But he didn't, so it wasn't.

If McD was insistent on bringing on a sub at that point then it should have at least been Alfie so that if it did go to extra time we wouldn't have been burdened by Church for 30 minutes.

[cmonurz]

I do have a positive actually - I basically creamed my pants at the gorgeous bit of skill from McCleary that put Gunter through for the og.

[melonhead]

We were lucky to be 4-0 up and didnt know how to handle it, thats it sadly.

i certainly didnt- didnt even celebrate the 4th, it was like a strange dream.
which then turned into a horrific nightmare.

think that was the main problem for the team, they just didnt believe they would hold on to it from the moment it went to 4-1

[TBM]

thought Ledge was pretty awesome last night tbh

Really?

First half yes but 2nd half and extra time he was shocking and he was at fault for one of their goals, giving the ball away on the edge of their box. He can't pass the ball, he panics when in possession and looks lost when players start running at him.

[RoyalBlue]

Well, that was utter madness.
Where mistakes were made was not having another centre mid who could come on for the knackered Tabb or Ledge -

Exactly this. Arsenal drove through the centre of our midfield like they were driving down the M4 on Christmas day! We did not do enough to strengthen our central midfield during the transfer window. If this was McDermott's fault, then he only has himself to blame when he is sacked. If it was down to Madejski and Anton, then they need their arrogant rich arses well and truly kicked.

thought Ledge was pretty awesome last night tbh

Really?

First half yes but 2nd half and extra time he was shocking and he was at fault for one of their goals, giving the ball away on the edge of their box. He can't pass the ball, he panics when in possession and looks lost when players start running at him.

Think he must have meant to have typed 'pretty awful'. He was indeed one of the biggest culprits when it came to gifting the game back to Arsenal. Someone mentioned in a thread earlier this week that the Championship was played at a pace which suited his style but the PL is just too fast for him. Absolutely spot on. He needs just a split second too long on the ball and then either gets shut down, at which point he tries to use his strength and turning in circles to get out of trouble (more often than not failing) or rushes into a mishit pass.

[melonhead]

Feel like crying, it was just one of those nights.

We looked so open at the end though it was just embarrassing. Why the f*ck did we have 3 strikers on the bench and no midfielder to bring on to close the game out...

Brian got those last 20 minutes dreadfully wrong.

.

if the ref had blown when he was supposed to, the time wasting sub of church would have been exactly the right move

But he didn't, so it wasn't.

If McD was insistent on bringing on a sub at that point then it should have at least been Alfie so that if it did go to extra time we wouldn't have been burdened by Church for 30 minutes.

agreed
agreed

[Extended-Phenotype]

Never thought I'd say this, but I've lost faith in Brian now. His decision making has more than likely fatally wounded the team for the future. We will never be able to take the lead again and hold it with any confidence, regardless of how many goals we score.

Sick of his woeful subs, stubborn grudges with players, bias towards his mates and shit tactics.

Garbage.