Yeovil (H) BFTG

[3points]

and I really dislike all these luminous away kits. What's wrong with normal colours?

[Will95]

Absolutely atrocious, for a side chasing promotion to fail to beat 8 man Yeovil at home is unacceptable.

Thought Gorkks did decent myself, yes he hoofed a fair bit but he was solid at the back, but what a shocker from McCarthy for the goal, atrocious, he's made a number of errors recently and it's very unlikely, and this rate that England call up is a long way off. Drenthe was a bright spark when he came on. McCleary had an absolute shocker, and Alfie was utterly useless. Thought Akpan, whilst still poor, was better today, but still not a touch on his January form.

Fair play to the ref, an excellent performance from him, all decisions were correct, bookings for timewasting, very good showing. Two more Yeovil players could have walked, but I get why he wanted to keep the game going so I won't moan about that.

This is the most horrific season I can remember, no excitement, even the wins (bar 4 or 5) have been shocking to watch. Let's just give up on promotion now, we're not good enough and even if we somehow got up it'd just lead to another horrible season. Time to accept another 3-5 years in this division after a mass clear out this summer (no way Drenthe, Pog, Guthrie etc. will stay) and start again.

[RoyalBlue]

Explains why they ref Sunday league then or the standard of refereeing is so poor these days! You need to have a word.

Not sure it does. Care to answer the question as to whether the regulations and/or guidance have changed since Warnock's cheating or was that game not abandoned?

And even if they are wrong, the blame has to lie with the FA for not training them correctly! Not sure about the guy who phoned in but my son is certainly intelligent enough to remember what he has been told!

Absolutely atrocious, for a side chasing promotion to fail to beat 8 man Yeovil at home is unacceptable.

Thought Gorkks did decent myself, yes he hoofed a fair bit but he was solid at the back, but what a shocker from McCarthy for the goal, atrocious, he's made a number of errors recently and it's very unlikely, and this rate that England call up is a long way off. Drenthe was a bright spark when he came on. McCleary had an absolute shocker, and Alfie was utterly useless. Thought Akpan, whilst still poor, was better today, but still not a touch on his January form.

Fair play to the ref, an excellent performance from him, all decisions were correct, bookings for timewasting, very good showing. Two more Yeovil players could have walked, but I get why he wanted to keep the game going so I won't moan about that.

This is the most horrific season I can remember, no excitement, even the wins (bar 4 or 5) have been shocking to watch. Let's just give up on promotion now, we're not good enough and even if we somehow got up it'd just lead to another horrible season. Time to accept another 3-5 years in this division after a mass clear out this summer (no way Drenthe, Pog, Guthrie etc. will stay) and start again.

Hopefully the cloth cutter will be another not staying.

[Will95]

I'd like to point out, for my McCarthy comment I meant it's 'unlike him' not 'unlikely'.

[RoyalinBracknell]

Explains why they ref Sunday league then or the standard of refereeing is so poor these days! You need to have a word.

Not sure it does. Care to answer the question as to whether the regulations and/or guidance have changed since Warnock's cheating or was that game not abandoned?

And even if they are wrong, the blame has to lie with the FA for not training them correctly! Not sure about the guy who phoned in but my son is certainly intelligent enough to remember what he has been told!
.

Nope - that game was abandoned when Sheffield United went down to six. It's been like that for ages. Think that's what the guy on BBC Berkshire said too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bramall_Lane

[3points]

Hopefully the cloth cutter will be another not staying.

Don't worry - the Omanis are coming to save us

[Haag Royal]

Woeful first half but much more fun second half. We didn't win but much more entertaining than being hammered every game in the prem. Two questions however
How the hell does HRK get a game let alone a start. Possibly the biggest waste of space ever in a Reading shirt and, trying to win a game we bring on Blackman?

[paultheroyal]

Explains why they ref Sunday league then or the standard of refereeing is so poor these days! You need to have a word.

Not sure it does. Care to answer the question as to whether the regulations and/or guidance have changed since Warnock's cheating or was that game not abandoned?

And even if they are wrong, the blame has to lie with the FA for not training them correctly! Not sure about the guy who phoned in but my son is certainly intelligent enough to remember what he has been told!

Absolutely atrocious, for a side chasing promotion to fail to beat 8 man Yeovil at home is unacceptable.

Thought Gorkks did decent myself, yes he hoofed a fair bit but he was solid at the back, but what a shocker from McCarthy for the goal, atrocious, he's made a number of errors recently and it's very unlikely, and this rate that England call up is a long way off. Drenthe was a bright spark when he came on. McCleary had an absolute shocker, and Alfie was utterly useless. Thought Akpan, whilst still poor, was better today, but still not a touch on his January form.

Fair play to the ref, an excellent performance from him, all decisions were correct, bookings for timewasting, very good showing. Two more Yeovil players could have walked, but I get why he wanted to keep the game going so I won't moan about that.

This is the most horrific season I can remember, no excitement, even the wins (bar 4 or 5) have been shocking to watch. Let's just give up on promotion now, we're not good enough and even if we somehow got up it'd just lead to another horrible season. Time to accept another 3-5 years in this division after a mass clear out this summer (no way Drenthe, Pog, Guthrie etc. will stay) and start again.

Hopefully the cloth cutter will be another not staying.

Please remind me of the warnock incident

You need seven active players to start / complete a game. That has not changed for many many years and certainly in place before I retired.

I was involved in a cup match where teams will remain anonymous where one club had 3 red cards, had used their subs and the bench instructed two players to feign injury in order to get the game abandoned in the hope of a rematch.

Game did get abandoned but club kicked out of cup and banned from competition for a couple of years.

[Victor Meldrew]

Poor, poor , poor. Ratings irrelevant as if you can't beat the bottom of the league team with -25 goal difference then there is no hope of playoffs. Add in 8 men etc it shows how far we are behind the other average teams in this league that sadly the above us and will remain so. We have a hugely difficult run in and the next week will probably determine another year in this league (probably not a bad thing until we have a credible owner). Still positive, is a trip to Bournemouth to come

The trip to Bournemouth for a Tuesday night game is a positive?
I've l had to live with the 2-0 loss at home against them so anything short of a win there and the stick will carry on for some time.

[arthurfondrelli]

That was disappointing.

McCarthy - 6 - messed up for the goal and didn't have much to do except that
Gunter - 7 - looked to get forward and if we had better players in the box, he could have a created a goal or two
Pearce - 6 - too much hoof
Gorkss - 6 - looked slow at times and hoofed a lot
Obita - 5 - not one of his better games for us
McCleary - 6 - not at his effective best, but linked up nicely at times with Gunter
Akpan - 5 - I am an Akpan fan but not one of his best games
Williams - 6 - not his usual busy self
Robson Kanu - 5 - ineffective
Le Fondre - 5 - I am a Le Fondre but hasn't done an awful lot since his 2 hat tricks, including today
Pogrebnyak - 6 - not much of a goal threat but tried at least

Drenthe - 8 - has to start, only one who looked like they really wanted it
Guthrie - 7 - got us playing a little
Blackman - 5 - didn't really notice him

[Ian Royal]

Not getting the Akpan hate today really, certainly not the Guthrie love that goes with it.
Williams just cannot seem to play with Guthrie, and clearly has a good understanding with Akpan. Complexly disappeared when Guthrie came on.

Obita had an absolute stinker all game and I just cannot understand the point of HRK as a footballer.

My man crush on Günter is developing nicely as he was the only person who wasn't complete dogshit today

It seems to be because Guthrie looks for the ball off the defence whilst Williams just stands in the middle being marked. Guthrie is basically the only player who actually looks to lose his man and come to receive the ball.

Williams and Akpan work quite well if they can boss the midfield and get turn over ball. But if it's playing it from the back they get utterly bypassed and are worthless. Like first half today from about 10 minutes in.

[marlowuk]

How frustrating was that?

Where is the Reading that scored 7 and 5 against Bolton and Blackpool? The team that played the ball to feet with one-touch football and with confidence? There is no point in hoofing the ball up to our forwards because Alf is too short and Pog doesn't have a jump on him (contrast N Hunt!!). Even less point when they have towering players like Duffy and Moore who can defend such balls with ease!

For the first 15 minutes we looked in control without playing well and without creating many clear cut chances. They scored a soft-looking goal from where I was sitting (at a bad angle) and it seemed to be a McCarthy error. I wouldn't criticise AM too much as he made 2 superb saves later in the game. We then lost control of the game and half time couldn't come soon enough!

Guthrie came on for the second half and immediately there was more urgency about the team. Akpan had shown some good touches but had made more errors so that substitution was justified. Drenthe (for an ineffective HRK) similarly added something to the side and he won the penalty for us. At the time I commented to my mate next to me - 'Don't give it to Alf. He's missed everything so far!'. To be fair it was a good save by Stech (MOTM by a long way I suggest!) although we got a very scrappy equaliser within a minute of that. With Yeovil down to 10 - then 9 - then 8 men I thought we surely should win this but it was not to be. Stech made some great saves and their defence threw bodies in the way so respect to them but we looked incapable of breaking them down. Shots from range were blocked and crosses were cut out relatively easily. In the end Yeovil deserved their point!

None of our players distinguished themselves. Even in the dying minutes players seemed reluctant to make themselves available for throw-ins. There was too much head-ball and a reluctance to bring the ball down to feet. Pog and Guthrie were exceptions to both these criticisms. McCleary was not as effective as recently; Pearce lost more headers against Moore than he usually does in a game; Gunter did OK but I would not have realised he was captain; Williams was quieter but did reasonably well; Guthrie sprayed the ball around effectively and must surely start next time (though the effect his presence has on the influential - usually - Willams must be considered); Gorkss was solid but hoofed the ball too much; Obita did pretty well I thought - probably MOTM for us. If Jobi is not ready for the next match I would start with Drenthe if he is deemed to be fit.

People bemoaning our lack of investment have, imho, got it wrong. With the quality of the players we have we should be gaining a play-off place at least! The fact that less talented sides can hold us (and turn us over) is a matter of concern; the fact that our players have failed to score a goal in 3 consecutive home games against 'lesser' opposition is a cause for concern; the fact that we have reverted to hoof-ball after playing so well without it is a cause for concern. We should be doing better and the buck stops with NA.

[Ian Royal]

And there is the crux of the matter and exactly why we got our tactics wrong! Our thick players compounded the problem by crowding the box themselves! The majority of our players should have stayed out of the area and played it around the outside of the box, which would have created openings for shots. That would have forced their defenders into making tough decisions as to when to stay put or when to move out and close down. Our players made it easy for them by all going to stand in the midst of the giant defenders!

Moving the ball around 30 yards from goal would have just been stalemate as Yeovil would have continued to defend basketball style with 4 on the 6 yard line and 4 at the top of the box. They would have stood and watched us play it around. We did have shots from distance but Yeovil threw bodies in the way of the ones on target. With them happy to take a point it was always going to be tough, but we should have been up to it. We mixed up the crosses - we hit low balls from the byeline, whipped crosses from out wide and ran at defenders. When we did get half chances their keeper was inspired or we snatched at them.

Spot on.

[JIM]

at last we are seeing the point of no investment equals no promotion. not even the play offs. next match, if Brighton win we go down another place,Even leeds are talking play off place, well done the READING board now quit

[Ian Royal]

Watch the game. Gorkss ended up with the ball with very little options on and being closed down. Our movement is shocking. Midfield seem incapable of making space. So he was always launching it.

Very true Leon. When he does go short to Obita, Obita then had no-one in space to pass to, but nor did he try to take on the defender. Their No.20 was poor, yet Obita just didn't have a go at him today

It's absolutely this. We go wide early, hugging both touch lines leaving two players to cover the entire middle of the pitch where they're out numbered and easily marked. We then have to go back, straight up the line or long into the channel for the strikers to come wide, leaving bugger all in the box.

If you do your homework it's easy to defend against. Strikers drop back and mark central midfield, who'll not try and get into space. winger, full back and occasionally central midfielder double / triple up on winger. Have no where to go, lose the ball.

We then start punting it up at the head of a short player and a man incapable of time his jump or directing a header. This obviously doesn't work.

Opposition capitilise on our obligatory howler.

[sandman]

Not getting the Akpan hate today really, certainly not the Guthrie love that goes with it.
Williams just cannot seem to play with Guthrie, and clearly has a good understanding with Akpan. Complexly disappeared when Guthrie came on.

Obita had an absolute stinker all game and I just cannot understand the point of HRK as a footballer.

My man crush on Günter is developing nicely as he was the only person who wasn't complete dogshit today

Same thing as always with Guthrie, a bit of style masking a severe lack of substance.

He does those flash little pings out to the wings and everyone oohs and ahhs about how great he is but he never really creates anything for the forward players.

The two times he had a chance to make a real impact on the game were our last corner, which he over hit, and the awful attempt at a long range chance that went well wide illustrated that point perfectly.

To a lesser extent the same happened with Drenthe. He produced plenty of step overs but the crosses in were often easy for the defenders to clear.

[AthleticoSpizz]

....its back to Jobi everytime

[Denver Royal]

So, its harder to play against 8 than it is 11? Hope we never play against 8 again...

"Adkins wants Reading response".

Oops, sorry, that was 2 weeks ago.

Somebody made a good point earlier...we don't have a dead ball threat to bail us out.

Harte used to be good. McCormack at Leeds scores goals for a laugh.

We just lump high, hopeful, lofted, back-spinning...well, you know the rest.

[genome]

Well, let's face it. Any team down to 8 or 9 men is going to park 8 or 9 men across the box, and it's going to be hard to break down.

Now, if we had gone on to lose the match from 1-1, I would be livid. But Yeovil hanging on for the draw isn't as unfathomable as it might seem.

[Scarface]

Don't get the Guthrie criticism, I thought he was class 2nd half. Unfortunately when they went down to 9 men, for some reason we panicked and decided lumping it into the box from deep was the right tactic, even though they had every player in the box. I guess the players were desperate to score, but especially when they had 8 men, the tactic should of been to pass it across the pitch working some space to get behind them.

Not scoring against 8 men isn't the thing I'm concerned about, it was the 60 mins against 11 men bottom of the table that concerns me more. For some reason we lack the tempo to win the ball high up the pitch and create chances. The Blackpool home game where we constantly slipped balls inside their back four seems a long way off.

Are the play-offs out of our grasp, well no they aren't, but we seem to be a team low on confidence again and there are other teams on the up now around us. Catching forest is probably our best chance now, but you just can't see us stringing a winning run together at the moment.

Both our strikers are playing poorly, but the reality is we don't have any viable other options, unless we switch to 4-2-3-1 and bring in Drenthe, but I'm not confident in him starting games. However if Adkins keeps sending out virtually the same 11, how can we expect any different results.

The next 3 games are crucial to our season and with this league, who's to say we won't win them all.