Disappointing

[floyd__streete]

As Alex Pearce got turned and brought down his man to effectively lose us the game within 8 minutes on Saturday, I got to thinking ‘has Adkins actually improved any of our players since he’s been here’? Last time we were in this division Pearce was voted our player of the season. This season he has been poor at best and a liability at worst. You could definitely say that Guthrie has looked a better player under Adkins, although whether he has been/will be fully effective in our side is another discussion. Pog? Definitely looks a better player this season, but to be fair he showed glimpses of quality last season as well. Obita has come into the side and done well. Otherwise I am struggling to think of improved performers, in fact some such as HRK seem to have gone backward if anything. Hope Akpan’s horror show on Saturday was two steps back after a step forward in recent weeks and Nick Blackman hasn’t done nearly enough to prove that he has really consistently improved.

In terms of style of play, Adkins – we were told – was brought in to bring about a possession-based culture and I am sure that no-one in theory would not welcome that. But the results have largely been mediocre, the performances drab and the short-lived goal-scoring revival of recent weeks seems to me to have been based on a more direct approach. We certainly didn’t miss the aforementioned Guthrie in those games, but it is worth mentioning that those 15 goals were scored against three sides who have been bottom of the form tables for some time. And again on Saturday, we find ourselves 0-2 down with 10 men.....no-one really expects us to get anything from the game but to spend the remainder of the match pinging diagonals at Pog.....is that the best we can do? Question marks must remain over Adkins ability to change a game in any case, given our poor record this season when conceding the first goal (for the sake of balance – our record when scoring first is excellent). And the least said about Adkins transfer dealings the better.....Drenthe, Bridge, Baird all crocks.....perhaps it is better that our owners don't give him any more funds to fill our treatment room!

We understand the ‘transitional’ nature of this season thanks to the position Madejski and Zingarevich have put us in, but frankly this team should be capable of top 6 at the very least anyway. If we hold on to the position we currently occupy then fair play, it has been a satisfactory season. It would be nice to think that the fans would rally around a manager who does appear to have had the thin end of the wedge in terms of promises made to him, but I haven’t spoken with a single Reading fan who has positive things to say for the man. I have always said that football managers are not entertainers, their post-match comments shouldn’t necessarily be filled with charm and one liners, but you can’t avoid the fact that PR is important these days and Adkins media snippets range from cringeworthy to insincere. And on Saturday we had excuse-making; the Pearce sending off was a stitched-on red card the moment he allowed his man to bully him and get the wrong side of him (remember, we enjoyed the benefit of many of those kind of decisions many times over the years when we had Shane Long playing for us). Yet rather than hold his hands up to the many individual mistakes his team made on Saturday to directly cost us goals, Adkins went on a patronising diatribe about refereeing decisions. You have no credibility if you start blaming the referee like that.

Personally, I think the most disappointing thing for me is that I wanted Adkins as manager over Poyet and was pleased when we appointed him. Yeah, that has worked out well hasn’t it.....Poyet has just led his new team to a major final and away from the relegation places in the Prem. It is perfectly valid to say that 11 months is not a long time to make an impact in a job.....but it took less time than that for Sean Dyche to take his side to the top of the Championship despite having lost his top goalscorer.

[BraisingsteakRoyal]

You can't polish a turd.

[Ouroboros]

You can't polish a turd.

A bit unfair considering it's definitely one of Floyd's better posts.

[Pepe the Horseman]

Gunter is much improved, although that's probably more to do with the shitter opposition.

[loyalroyal4life]

Totally agree this squad should be achieving top 6 as minimum, the standard in the league this year overall is poor imo

[ZacNaloen]

Ever year we hear that standard in the league this year is poor.

EVERY YEAR.

it's just the standard of the league. And we are a part of that.

[Extended-Phenotype]

Possession suits some players (more technically gifted: Guthrie, Pog, Obita, Williams etc) but is detrimental to others (Pearce, Morro, Akpan, HRK, Blackman etc). The more possession you give some folk the more opportunity you give them to trip over it.

As for Adkins tactics, he has been hit and miss. But for me, I’m still willing to give him a break as he tries to install something with a little more depth. It’s going to go wrong quite often to begin with – deserves at least a season to see how it pans out.

Was disappointed though, to see him overlook the obvious on Saturday and try and win back the midfield as our ten men started to tire – easy sub into the midfield, one up top, and maybe we could have got control of the game. A goal back to 1-2, oppo starts to panic, fans are awoken, players tails up – there is a point or more up for grabs. As it was, we changed nothing and faded out the game.

Signings; I can see what NA has tried to do but too much reliance on ‘experienced’ players has left us f/cked, though you could easily put that down to bad luck. I don’t think any of his signings have been bad players ability-wise – if they’d have stayed fit we could be hailing said signings as a master-stroke.

It’s also easy to get carried away with the ‘likeability’ factor, especially when our last chap was such an amiable dude. But how many managers are actually likeable? Poyet? Erm….Poyet….McDermott…have I said Poyet? F/cksake, they are all tossers talking monotone bollocks as far as I can tell. I won’t be holding this against Adkins, it seems part and parcel of the job.

So in summary me ol’ mucks Floyd – I’m still not decided on Adykins but don’t think he deserves duffing up just yet. We’ve played some shit, but we’ve also played some of the best football I’ve seen us produce in ages. Some players have gone backwards but others have shone. Despite this ‘nightmare of a season’ we are still up there challenging for the play-offs, despite the huge injury list, the total mess our owners have made of things and confusing u-turn on investment.

And as I’m not interested in dating Nigel, his personality doesn’t really come into it. S’all good.

[Green]

WRTTOP, TLDR.

[stealthpapes]

Ever year we hear that standard in the league this year is poor.

EVERY YEAR.

it's just the standard of the league. And we are a part of that.

A good point, young Zac.

[Pandoras Box]

Everyone has an opinion, but I just can't see this love for Gunter.
Seems to be from the Flat Earth Society where he cr@ps himself if he crosses the end of the world half way line.
Bottles it if anyone comes within 2 yards of him and offloads it asap to the CBs or hoofs it regardless.
Always second to the ball in a one on one and Saturday hoofed it all afternoon - which may be understandable due to the circumstances - but I don't think it went anywhere near his target (Pog) once?
Can show some promising moments but few and far between - so yeah, don't think he has 'come on' under Adkins - not a great fan.

[PistolPete]

The more possession you give some folk the more opportunity you give them to trip over it.

Quite succinct - I like it.

To develop the point I suppose that's why some players pass for the sake of passing but without the '2 to 3 passes ahead' thoughts...

So (I hope this isn't a sidetrack to the debate, but I'd still like to see Adkins in charge in 2 years time regardless of the league, ownership notwithstanding) who in the current squad can play what he wants to play?

Can:

Federici
Obita
Bridge
Williams
Guthrie
Pogrebniak
Le Fondre
Taylor
Drenthe
MacAnuff
Kelly

Maybe:

Hector
HRK
Blackman
Gunter
Karacan
McCleary
Cummings
Baird

Can't

McCarthy
Gorkks
Morrison
Legs
Pearce
Akpan

Perhaps we're only a couple of players away from being the side Adkins wants us to be?

[floyd__streete]

Was disappointed though, to see him overlook the obvious on Saturday and try and win back the midfield as our ten men started to tire – easy sub into the midfield, one up top, and maybe we could have got control of the game. A goal back to 1-2, oppo starts to panic, fans are awoken, players tails up – there is a point or more up for grabs. As it was, we changed nothing and faded out the game.

+1 to this.

[sandman]

Don't quite get why people are criticising Kaspars the friendly Latvian he's played some lovely passes out from the back in the last few weeks. Way more comfortable on the ball than Pearce and Morrison.

[PistolPete]

Don't quite get why people are criticising Kaspars the friendly Latvian he's played some lovely passes out from the back in the last few weeks. Way more comfortable on the ball than Pearce and Morrison.

I only saw the QPR game live and agree he looked the most comfortable, but given his age and that he's still prone to too many errors, I'd say he's not up to the game Adkins has in mind - long term at least.

[floyd__streete]

Way more comfortable on the ball than Pearce and Morrison.

Which is a litle bit like praising me for having better handwriting than Stephen Hawking.

[Extended-Phenotype]

Way more comfortable on the ball than Pearce and Morrison.

Which is a litle bit like praising me for having better handwriting than Stephen Hawking.

Or a better complexion than Simon Weston.

[sandman]

The point I was trying to make is that it's harsh to say he can't pass. Obviously his age is a factor and if he didn't make errors he wouldn't play for Reading.

[leon]

And he's gr8. Let's not forget.

[winchester_royal]

Good post Floyd. Absolutely agree that this season has not lived up to the considerable build up that the club gave it. Nite should take some blame for that, especially for the confused way in which we approached games towards the latter stages of 2013, but most of it lies with the board imo.

I was on the verge of losing faith after the Brighton game a few weeks ago, but I've been pleased with our last few performances on the whole, and if we can combine some good form of with further blooding of a couple more academy players then the season can still be salvaged in my eyes.

[AkpansBFF]

I think your all forgetting the fact Poyet made changes to his team in terms of style but not massive changed.

Adkins hasn't been given any transfer funds apart from the money for Williams, and to change a team like us to a passing attractive side its going to take time, to be honest there have been positive signs recently and next season we could be a dominant in the championship and with some money a good little team in the premiership. All of ours players just hoofed it up there but now we look to pass and with a few key additions (players suited to this style) and a little more time Adkins will prove you all wrong and show his potential.