Back From The Game - Bolton

[Royal Ginger]

Bolton running at the barrier.

Were they actually kicking off or just the same typical away fans trying to act tough?

I thought the Bolton fans showed a lot of class today actually. There was only 3 or 4 of them who ran at the barrier, and the rest joined in, cheered our last couple of goals and had a good bash at replicating the goal music when they scored. At 7-0 down they were still behind their team and there wasn't any booing (other than our lot every time Mills touched the ball.)

I thought the ref was leaning our way a bit (about time).

[RG7Fan]

Best match experience at the Mad Stad ever for me (in my limited 18 month experience...). Twitter has gone bonkers as well!

[floyd__streete]

Fair play, plenty of h8rs like me have perhaps gone overboard during a dismal first half of the season so all you Adkinsistas can crow tonight and go a bit OTT yourselves. Good performance, but boy weren't Bolton nice to play against? Some shocking goals conceded by a dispirited- looking team.

Playing the same team twice running helps somewhat. Well who knew Pleasantly surprised by Obita at left back, I thought that seemed a shocking call last week but two good performances later he has put Cummings and Kelly to shame. The joy of seeing a left-footer at left back Makes a mockery of Adkins infamous boast that a full back should be capable of playing either side

Only negative today was Pearce, had a poor game and was bailed out by McCarthy at 1-0. Turning point of the game. And boy, how we've missed Danny Guthrie

Anyway, enough bitchin' from me. First time I've ever seen Reading score 7 and I believe first time we've managed that many in 90 minutes of league football since 1979. Very well done to all the players and staff today, that kind of pressing football is the level we want to see.

Additional: LOL at the dozen or so balding middle-aged Bolton fans who attempted to come over and 'take' the East Stand at 1-0 . Absolutely pathetic and hilarious to see their little group dwindle as the goals flew in to their left

[Gunny Fishcake]

Hope Akpan !! You beauty

[grey_squirrel]

Obita at left back is a predictable, if belated, masterstroke by Adkins. Obvious he would and could do the job. the new Micheal Gilkes. The shirt is his now.

Plaudits to every player on the pitch today.

Energy
Commitment
Tenacity
Aggression

We won every second ball.

We were like a team possessed.

Brilliant.

Just do that every week now lads please!

[Alfie10]

Finishing the game with 5 players that have come through the academy is always worth a mention

[SPARTA]

<------ Av check.

Mental game. We harassed and bullied Bolton all game, and they continually gave up their lunch money time and time again.

McCleary now has 11 assists this season, and Alfie's tally shot up too. What is he at now? 12/13? That must be a shit trip back home for Bolton. I'd feel sorry for them if it wasn't for their Wembley piss-take up until 3-0, then they quieted down...

McCarthy - 7
Gunter - 8
Pearce - 7
Gorkss - 8
Obita - 8
Williams - 9
Akpan - 7
McAnuff - 7
McCleary - 9
Pogrebnyak - 8
Le Fondre - 9

Taylor - 6
Blackman - 7
Hector - 6

MOTM - Le Fondre.

Not just for the hat-trick, but his all-round play was superb. He ran the channels and got in behind Bolton's defence time and time again. He was a proper little pest today. He could and should have had four.

[SHORT AND CURLY]

Excellent performance today Well done Reading.
Every single player put in a shift including Mcarthy (who had very little to do) who made an excellent one on one save early on.

Well done Adkins, albeit that it has taken the best part of a year to realise that Tippy Tappy football does not work with the players at his disposal.

[Westwood52]

Wow didn't see that coming-I have never seen RFC score 7-shame about the 1-but that's being picky.
I have no doubt it was just our day-however the tactics have changed and while Williams & Akpan aren't the best midfielders at the club; their drive from midfield makes all the difference.

For what it's worth:

Macca 7: His save in 1st half was key -one very bad kick.

Gunter 7: Tremendous going forward but almost caught out defensively a couple of times.
Obita 8:Outstanding going forward-but a little slow to react to danger as a defender-keep him LB-he will get better and better.
Pierce 6:Nice footwork for one of the goals-but defensively again nearly caught out a couple of times.
Gorks 7: Bad start when he completely misjudged a situation in 1st half-then got better and better.
Williams 7:Not an out and out midfielder , but gives the team a lot of drive in the middle of the park.
Akpan 7: Caught in possession a couple of times-but lots of drive and a really good athlete.
McAnuff 8: Worked his socks off again-real team performance.
McCleary 6 : Struggling for form at the moment-but a clear head to set up Alfie for the third.
Alfie 8: 2nd goal was worth the entrance money took it really well-but missed a golden chance in 2nd half.
Pog 9: MOM bossed their CBs and was hugely instrumental in the win.

Blackman 7: Goes from the sublime to the ridiculous almost in an instant.
Taylor 5: Found it hard going, but out of position.
Hector 6:Looked extremely raw-just shows how bad Scottish football is.But deserves a chance.

Ref: 7 Seen worse-did his best not to send a couple of Bolton players off, for treating him with complete contempt.
Reading Fans-at times quiet-was it me or was that b****y Band louder today ?

[Samrfc01]

Finishing the game with 5 players that have come through the academy is always worth a mention

This!
That is some achievement in my eyes. Especially since we are considered a "small" club. Our academy is doing brilliantly and deserves massive amounts of credit.


Seeing us score 7 is brilliant! Hopefully this can kickstart our season now. Confidence is high, we look like a team, and everyone is putting a shift in.

[SPARTA]

I missed this.

[Ouroboros]

Obita at left back is a predictable, if belated, masterstroke by Adkins. !

How could it be a masterstroke if it was supposedly so obvious?

[leon]

I missed this.

???

[RG7Fan]

Reading Fans-at times quiet-was it me or was that b****y Band louder today ?

Only because our voices had gone from cheering so much ...

[tlcs]

Did Mills get the finger today from the East stand ??

[AirRaidSiren]

Fair play, plenty of h8rs like me have perhaps gone overboard during a dismal first half of the season so all you Adkinsistas can crow tonight and go a bit OTT yourselves. Good performance, but boy weren't Bolton nice to play against? Some shocking goals conceded by a dispirited- looking team.

Playing the same team twice running helps somewhat. Well who knew Pleasantly surprised by Obita at left back, I thought that seemed a shocking call last week but two good performances later he has put Cummings and Kelly to shame.

[sandman]

The East stand seemed very confused. They hate Matt Mills because he made a rude hand gesture towards them years ago yet today they kept asking him the score which would have required him to make a hand gesture towards them.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Just got back after some celebratory bevvies.

All you Adkins haters...........suck my hairy balls

Although Bolton were fcuking awful

[Agent Balti]

McCarthy - 7 - Didn't have a great deal to do. Top one-on-one save when required. Distribution bugbear, still a bugbear...might be for a long time yet. Nitpicking though.
Gunter - 9 - Fabulous game. Possibly best ever performance for us.
Pearce - 7 - Still gives me kittens even at 4-0 up. (Would have preferred him to go off instead of Gorkss, tbf.)
Gorkss - 9 - Totally committed and always in the right place.
Obita - 9 - Never quite saw what the fuss was about at left-wing, but seems to be a natural left back. Very impressive indeed.
McCleary - 9 - A sweet, sweet performance.
Williams - 9 - He's here, he's there, he's every-f/cking-where...
Akpan - 8 - A huge, huge improvement from Akpan. Deserved his goal, looked elated with it.
McAnuff - 8 - Did a huge amount of closing down in the first half (as did the rest of the midfield) to lead by example.
Pogrebnyak - 8 - Yet another solid Pog performance, this time the rest of the team matched his effort.
Le Fondre - 10 - Best performance, all round performance too, in a Reading shirt. Put in a massive shift.

Stunning. Totally stunning. Just goes to show how much of the game is a mental affair. Once the shackles of trying to walk the ball around and baby-sit it were off, we could show we could play!! Centre midfield looked ever so solid with Williams and Akpan. Never thought I'd ever say that. Obita...bloody hell...utterly convincing as a left-back. If he can learn from Bridge and keep progressing, he's going to be such an asset in that position.

I don't think I've seen such a proper TEAM performance for a long, long while. I don't even have to mention Alfie's hat-trick, but aside from his goals he REALLY contributed all over. The amount of pressure we put on Bolton - and his hat-trick goal testifies this - enabled him to play...and his second goal was just a joy to watch.

We won't see that type of performance every week, but it's a hell of a platform to work from.

[SPARTA]

I missed this.

???

Cringy tweets from RFC yesterday, but today's response made me chuckle.