BFTG-Bournemouth

[Victor Meldrew]

I was going to start with "Adkins Out" for playing 4 wingers in midfield but have now calmed down after hearing that Williams, Guthrie, Akpan and Hector were all injured.
We were o.k for about 5 minutes with a rather weak header from the Terry Butcher- bandaged Gorkss and then it was all down hill.

This must have been the softest midfield 4 that the club has ever put out:
Drenthe a headless chicken
Jobi just a chicken and as usual too ponderous and weak for the hurly-burly of central midfield.
Robson-Kanu another chicken
Obita -a little boy lost and let us not hear from him again that he is a central midfielder.

Surely it was talked about before the game that Bournemouth have probably the tallest back 4 in the division so what do we do?.....yes it was the long ball again and with Pog winning nothing in the air Alf was rendered pointless.
For me the only plusses on the night were Bridge coming in as if he had never been away and Ledge getting half an hour.

Kanu's goal was well taken but as with his other 2 goals this season only happening when the game was over.
Anybody know why McCleary didn't come on-it was crying out for Harte to be taken on but nobody bothered.

We surely can't make the play-offs with this spineless lot and the sooner we are put out of our misery the better.
Can't be bothered to do ratings but Bridge might have got a 6 or 7 and McCarthy had no chance with the goals and none of the midfielders warranted more than a 3 or 4-they were really that bad and if Bournemouth had been a bit more clinical it could easily have been a 6 or 7 goal thrashing.

[Upper West Ginger]

Midfield certainly improved once Drenthe went off and Leigertwood came on.

I notice Gorkks was wearing a bandage around his head. I assume it is to cover up the operation scar (from when they sucked out his brain cells and replaced them with solid lead). Truly abysmal. Pearce alongside him was not a lot better. Gunter continued to frustrate. Bridge didn't seem to be an improvement on Obita, who had a miserable game in midfield.

Bournemouth played fast attractive football, passing accurately and challenging for the second balls. Reading had a good spell of about 5 minutes during which we scored, but the rest of it was rubbish.

At least winding up the opposition fans was good fun.

[Royal Ginger]

I was going to start with "Adkins Out" for playing 4 wingers in midfield but have now calmed down after hearing that Williams, Guthrie, Akpan and Hector were all injured.
We were o.k for about 5 minutes with a rather weak header from the Terry Butcher- bandaged Gorkss and then it was all down hill.

This must have been the softest midfield 4 that the club has ever put out:
Drenthe a headless chicken
Jobi just a chicken and as usual too ponderous and weak for the hurly-burly of central midfield.
Robson-Kanu another chicken
Obita -a little boy lost and let us not hear from him again that he is a central midfielder.

Surely it was talked about before the game that Bournemouth have probably the tallest back 4 in the division so what do we do?.....yes it was the long ball again and with Pog winning nothing in the air Alf was rendered pointless.
For me the only plusses on the night were Bridge coming in as if he had never been away and Ledge getting half an hour.

Kanu's goal was well taken but as with his other 2 goals this season only happening when the game was over.
Anybody know why McCleary didn't come on-it was crying out for Harte to be taken on but nobody bothered.

We surely can't make the play-offs with this spineless lot and the sooner we are put out of our misery the better.
Can't be bothered to do ratings but Bridge might have got a 6 or 7 and McCarthy had no chance with the goals and none of the midfielders warranted more than a 3 or 4-they were really that bad and if Bournemouth had been a bit more clinical it could easily have been a 6 or 7 goal thrashing.

McCleary is supposedly struggling with a niggle and not fit. I think the question should be more along the line of why was he on the bench if he's not fit and we've got another 5 wingers in the squad.

Wasn't one of Robson-Kanu's other goals the first goal in a 1-1 draw with Barnsley?

[winchester_royal]

Woeful. Midfield was predictably dreadful, what's the point of having an academy if we choose to play second rate wingers instead of giving younger players who can actually play the position a chance? Defence was even worse. Gorkss is a complete joke, as bad a performance as I've seen from any Reading player in the last 10 years, and Bridge looked miles off full fitness.

Nice to see Ledge back, but he wasn't particularly good.

Kanu the best of a sorry bunch, played pretty well tbf to him.

We are just so lacking in pace and energy right now, especially in comparison to a very competent AFCB side, and when you combine that with a lack of technical ability and imagination on the ball...it doesn't make for pretty viewing.

[URZZZZ]

Mccarthy-6
Gunter-5
Pearce-3
Gorkss-1
Bridge-4
Drenthe-2
HRK-5
Mcanuff-2
Obita-4
Alf-2
Pog-2

Kelly-4
Ledge-4
Blackman-5

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Just got back. I am absolutely livid. Not an Adkins' basher but tonight I will make an exception.

Yes Guthrie & Williams injured has hurt us but still:

1) Why the fcuk would you put an unfit Bridge at LB for one half just to have to change him for Kelly 2nd half? Utter waste of a sub. Just put Obita there FFS.

2) Knowing it would be tough tonight with so many injuries why not play 4-5-1 & pack out the midfield? Safety first Nigel - make it hard for them to score, be pragmatic & settle for a draw rather than a confidence destroying thrashing like we saw tonight.

3) Leigertwood got one half but the damage was already done by then. Get him on 1st half & then we might actually go in at half time still in the game Nige!!

Personally I'd have gone:

Alex Mc
Obita Morrison Pearce Gunter
McAnuff HRK Leigertwood Blackman Drenthe
Pog

Fcuking shambolic & has IMO destroyed any chance of play offs now. I am fcuking fuming.

Gorkss can just fcuk right off as can the useless diving prick Drenthe. McAnuff was shite as was Alf.

Only players that come out with any credit are Pog & HRK. Rest were fcuking terrible.

I lay the blame at Adkins for this one & tonight has totally derailed our season now. I will be shocked if we amass more than 5 points from the remaining 5 games after that catastrophe.

Had we just kept it tight & packed the midfield we might have had something to cling onto. Now we've lost to a team with loads of momentum & been thrashed & now have to quickly pick ourselves up for Leicester & Wigan. Could have been 6-1 tonight easily.

Shocking. Had enough of this season now. Sell the fcuking lot of them.

[SCIAG]

McCleary is supposedly struggling with a niggle and not fit. I think the question should be more along the line of why was he on the bench if he's not fit and we've got another 5 wingers in the squad.

I would have thought the answer to that was reasonably obvious - a combination of wingers being needed in positions that aren't the wing, avoiding Jake Taylor covering seven positions, and our total absence of senior players who aren't full backs if you remove McCleary and Legs from the squad.

Personally I'd have gone:

Alex Mc
Obita Morrison Pearce Gunter
McAnuff HRK Leigertwood Blackman Drenthe
Pog

You have managed the impressive feat of selecting a less suitable midfield than that Adkins chose.

[SHORT AND CURLY]

Firstly I BOOOOOOOOOOOOd at half time after watching a pathetic, error ridden, passionless bunch of clueless idiots run around the field in blue and white tonight.

WTF in hell tactics does our so called manager install in our team. We have a striker who cant run, cant hold the ball up, cannot head, cannot score who saunters around like he couldn't give a flying one. Another who cant do anything. We have a midfield somewhere. They went missing in action big style. A defender who played and looked like Basil Fkin Fawlty

Get rid of this lot fast and I include our manager in that. I see on the Official site that he says we gave away three soft goals. NO SHIT SHERLOCK!!! What about the rest of the game then, Whats your excuse for that.

Not a happy bunny this evening

[MmmMonsterMunch]

McCleary is supposedly struggling with a niggle and not fit. I think the question should be more along the line of why was he on the bench if he's not fit and we've got another 5 wingers in the squad.

I would have thought the answer to that was reasonably obvious - a combination of wingers being needed in positions that aren't the wing, avoiding Jake Taylor covering seven positions, and our total absence of senior players who aren't full backs if you remove McCleary and Legs from the squad.

Personally I'd have gone:

Alex Mc
Obita Morrison Pearce Gunter
McAnuff HRK Leigertwood Blackman Drenthe
Pog

You have managed the impressive feat of selecting a less suitable midfield than that Adkins chose.

Don't see how. Obita & McAnuff was a disaster of epic proportions. I'm sure for one game, Blackman & HRK could do a job there. I would agree it's a bodge job but certainly better than the 4-4-2 disaster I witnessed tonight. They cut through us with ease it was pathetic.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Firstly I BOOOOOOOOOOOOd at half time after watching a pathetic, error ridden, passionless bunch of clueless idiots run around the field in blue and white tonight.

WTF in hell tactics does our so called manager install in our team. We have a striker who cant run, cant hold the ball up, cannot head, cannot score who saunters around like he couldn't give a flying one. Another who cant do anything. We have a midfield somewhere. They went missing in action big style. A defender who played and looked like Basil Fkin Fawlty

Get rid of this lot fast and I include our manager in that. I see on the Official site that he says we gave away three soft goals. NO SHIT SHERLOCK!!! What about the rest of the game then, Whats your excuse for that.

Not a happy bunny this evening

I feel exactly the same. Season over now for sure. Gorkss...well I am speechless. This was yet another Barnsley-esque performance. Just terrible.

[P!ssed Off]

McCarthy-0
Gunter-0
Pearce-0
Gorkss-0
Bridge-0
Drenthe-0
HRK-1
McAnuff-0
Obita-0
Alf-0
Pog-0

Kelly-0
Ledge-0
Blackman-0

Nigel Adkins 0

I'd quite happily get rid of all of the above. Obita can stay if he agrees to play at left back: the only position he's shown he's capable of.
HRK can stay if he promises to produce moments of quality on a more regular basis.

[SCIAG]

Don't see how. Obita & McAnuff was a disaster of epic proportions. I'm sure for one game, Blackman & HRK could do a job there. I would agree it's a bodge job but certainly better than the 4-4-2 disaster I witnessed tonight. They cut through us with ease it was pathetic.

You're sure two players with little to no defensive ability who have never played central midfield before would do better than two players who are reasonable defenders and have played central midfield before?

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Don't see how. Obita & McAnuff was a disaster of epic proportions. I'm sure for one game, Blackman & HRK could do a job there. I would agree it's a bodge job but certainly better than the 4-4-2 disaster I witnessed tonight. They cut through us with ease it was pathetic.

You're sure two players with little to no defensive ability who have never played central midfield before would do better than two players who are reasonable defenders and have played central midfield before?

Yes I'm sure that playing 5 in midfield would have been the better option. NA would not have had to waste a sub on Bridge either. TBH Drenthe, HRK & Legs could have done a job in the central 3 & then Blackman & Jobi on the wings.

[Will95]

oxf*rd atrocious. oxf*rd this season, oxf*rd it, oxf*rd bollocks. Shite defending oxf*rd us over, Bridge nowhere near fit, Drenthe has been useless for 3 games now, Alfie actually for once one of the better players. Legs looked decent on his return is the only positive. oxf*rd oxf*rd oxf*rd oxf*rd.

[Doolittle]

So frustrating. What is going on with all these injuries ?

Seems to have been a consistent pattern this season, of players we thought were fit suddenly being revealed to be injured on the day of games.


Why have we lost so many players to injuries received during training or warm-ups (Baird, Morrison, Guthrie, etc) ?

Also, why does it always take our long term crocks longer than forecast to come back ?

.. and why do they seem so totally off the pace when they finally manage to get back on the pitch ? I realise full match fitness takes a while, but really....

Why is Williams so fragile ?

How did Hector and Akpan get injured (there seemed no sign of that during the Huddersfield match) ?

Makes you wonder what's going on with the training regime. Whoever the fitness coach is needs to have an urgent performance review.

Also, would it hurt to at least let the supporters know what the situation is in advance, so we don't get fooled into thinking that we're striding purposefully into a big match with a fit squad boosted by returning players, rather than desperately throwing out a mix of square pegs and half-fit convalescents ?

[kwik-silva]

B'mouth 3-1 Royals

Reading allowed the chasing pack to move within two points with another disappointing defeat, this time away at AFC Bournemouth. Although the loss isn't exactly surprising, given the two sides' recent form, the manner of defeat was particularly frustrating.

The opening two minutes was all Reading, with Gorkss eventually putting a free header over the bar after getting completely underneath the ball - but that's where Reading stopped playing football, and started imploding. Matt Ritchie scored with less than ten minutes gone, when a ball into the left channel was pulled across the six yard box by Lewis Grabban.

Royston Drenthe made a blistering run down the right-wing at 1-0, but only ended getting bundled off the ball with ALF screaming for it in the middle. 1-1 is a completely different game, and Drenthe's aversion to passing the ball so often ends with the team on the defensive after losing possession. However the reason the fans chant his name is, not only because he's one of the highest profile Reading players ever, but also because he's so often the only player on the pitch who looks like he wants to be there. Admittedly not enough to keep him in the team - so many wayward crosses again today - but it would be nice to see that commitment from the rest of the team. I feel Pog should probably get a mention, he looked to provide the impetus on many an occasion and held up the ball as well as one could be expected with no support.

Today was a perfect storm against Reading. Gorkss had a particularly bad game - almost every pass missed its target, and so often got the team into trouble; Bournemouth knew exactly how to exploit our defence - over the top, and force the centre backs to turn; and finally having both Williams and Guthrie out injured meant that those in the central midfield positions didn't pick up runners, and our midfield was completely overrun. Playing Bridge also seemed like a mistake, he wasn't up to the pace of the game and was substituted early in the second half. When playing Gunter and Obita we have pace at the back to cover balls over the top, but today whenever Gunter was caught up pitch we had nothing.

So within 17 minutes it was 2-0, and they were lucky not to concede more. A weak McCarthy parry could have been turned in, but luckily a man in blue and white got there first, and a corner almost fell to Grubban but was taken off his foot acrobatically by a teammate who blazed over. Grubban was also clean through after he beat everybody for pace, but he somehow missed McCarthy's bottom left corner.

That wasn't to save The Royals though, as less than a minute before the 45 were up lax defending once again meant that Bournemouth could easily pick a ball into the corner before crossing - this time Kermorgant headed home. At half-time it was quickly becoming a question of damage control, because, what with teams closing in, goal-difference is quickly becoming an important factor.

It seemed like Bournemouth were content with what they had, but in the second-half they still managed to have the better chances. Hal Robson managed to pull a goal back with a nicely placed finish, but even that didn't save him from the fans' frustrations when he bottled a challenge. At that point, a 2-1 scoreline would have been a lot better, or potentially even a 2-2 if Drenthe had squared to ALF.

All in all, the result was flattering to Reading, but it also means that there is still something to play for. I just wish that the players saw that. Leigertwood looked fairly good for somebody who's been out for the best part of a year, and Reading actually played some fairly nice stuff in stoppage time. Although that may be because Bournemouth sat off and let them play. Leicester on Monday is huge!

[floyd__streete]

First BFTG effort from me for a bit. Simply because I haven't bothered attending the last couple of games, such is my dislike of and distrust for this current team.

Truly awful this evening. Ludicrous team selection. Why are Guthrie and Williams incapable of playing twice in a week? Notwithstanding that, we played 4 wingers across the middle of the park and got overrun in front of the two slowest centre-halves in the division. If Leigertwood was fit enough to come on after 60 minutes then why not start him and offer some protection to our back four?

Against a side bang in form, bang up for it and with good movement we should have looked to spoil and restrict. I haven't heard Adkins post-match witterings nor do I really care to hear them because as usual they will be full of hyperbole and management speak and devoid of any analysis which might fool one into thinking he knows what he is doing and that he isn't in fact the most expensive mistake this club has ever made. In fact, for all the tactical nous Adkins displays on nights like this you may as well have Craig Mortimer as manager and save some much needed money.

This is a rancid Reading team clearly full of big egos who do not remotely justify their huge individual opinions of themselves, let alone the huge salary many of them command. I will be genuinely delighted when many of them inevitably leave in the Summer, I might even begin attending games again.

[Jackson Corner]

Outclassed by Bournemouth. We have sunk this low in just 12 months. As good as Bournemouth were we were as bad. We should not be surprised we have been shit all season and are only in 6th due to the failings of others. This time next week we will be down to 9th and the season over. Get Atkins out and bring Brian back. ASAP

[windermere_royal]

Outclassed by Bournemouth. We have sunk this low in just 12 months. As good as Bournemouth were we were as bad. We should not be surprised we have been shit all season and are only in 6th due to the failings of others. This time next week we will be down to 9th and the season over. Get Atkins out and bring Brian back. ASAP

The lowest we can be next week is a point outside the play-offs, get a f*cking grip man
as bad has Adkins is this Brian is a sight worse. Leeds have lost 20 games FFS , when will you lot stop w*nking over our previous manager?
if he were to come back and fail would he get the same vicious bile our present boss gets?

[Haag Royal]

Outclassed by Bournemouth. We have sunk this low in just 12 months. As good as Bournemouth were we were as bad. We should not be surprised we have been shit all season and are only in 6th due to the failings of others. This time next week we will be down to 9th and the season over. Get Atkins out and bring Brian back. ASAP

FFS If thats the best you can offer "bring Brian back" then you should go and feckin support Leeds mate. And if you cant even spell the name of the current manager don't bother trying.

What team would you have put out last night with the 4 CM senior players of the club injured/recovering from injury?