BFTG - Clinging on to 6th place

[yappy]

Thought the midfield trio of Hector, Williams and Obita was impressive. Massive improvement on the midfield performance compared to the shambles at Bournemouth. Unfortunately we don't seem to be half the team the second Williams is off the pitch as he seems to be the one making the transitions between defence and attack.

Bridge had a pretty poor game, but I'm willing to put that down to a lack of match practice. Jobi too had a poor game, I personally don't think he's doing enough to merit a starting place.

Thought the players looked shattered towards the end of the game and the players lost the composure to pass the ball about. Pog was a passenger for the last 20 minutes or so. Aside from that I thought it was generally a pleasing performance, a little surprised by some of the negativity.

[SCIAG]

Twice in the first half they took illegal corners and perhaps if the ref had looked over at any point he would have seen that.

Nope. They were fine. Either you don't know the rules, or you weren't looking closely enough. The referee does know the rules, and on both occasions he checked (the second time he deliberately waved away protests from our players).

[3points]

Tactics were poor in the second half, there was no desire to support the forwards not the closing down that we saw in the first.

I've thought all season that our fitness levels have not been good enough and not up to playing a high pace, pressing game for 90 minutes. We've faded badly in the second half on a number of occasions this season after having a good first half

[Ian Royal]

Really good reaction and you couldn't fault the effort, just sometimes the application wasn't quite there. Too many silly little mistakes but we deserved the draw. Both teams can feel a little disappointed they didn't win. We had more of the best chances and couldn't convert them, but they had more of the game otherwise. Leicester look worthy Champions and I'd fancy them to survive a season or so depending on their summer.

Top atmosphere and a good game. Those tweenies of Leicester's were an embarassment. Bit disappointed our support dropped off after half time but not that surprising and pretty common.

McCarthy 8 looked to be unsighted for their goal. Pulled off a worldy. No idea why Leicester targetted him as shit but good on our lot for reacting every time.
Gunter 8 one of his bestgames for me. Got forward really well and dealt with Dyer ok mostly.
Bridge 6 weakest link at the back. Not the best passing out and seemed to be caught out a bit at times.
Pearce 8 rock. And a goal. Legend.
Morrison 7 defensively good most of the time, but his concentration is still weak and he was shanking passes all over the place.
McCleary 6 obviously not match fit or sharp and should have been subbed 10 to 20 minutes sooner. He was shattered good runs but por passing and end product should have scored.
McAnuff 7 too much goes wrong, but superb deliveries first half and how they stopped him scoring ive no idea. Worked his ass off. A bit weak and hesistant in the challenege at times
Hector 7 first half didn't seem too involved turned into trouble and lost out in challenges a bit too much. Looked a cultured CB played out of position. Last 20 I thought he really stepped it up and looked quality.
Williams 9 MOTM bust a gut, drove forward well, passed well and defended well. Missed him when he went off, but kust have been knackered.
Obita 8 played well, shouldn't have been subbed off in my opinion. Should also still be at left bsck if we had any midfielders.
Pog 8 went to ground a bit too much as usual, so close to scoring and worked like a trojan.

Legs 6 two apallingly timed challenges and deserved to go. Showed glimpses of what he can still do if he can get match fit.
HRK 5 shouldn't have been brought on into midfield, one run with few options and he let the defender beat him
Drenthe 6 ok very little time and not much chance to run at people or get forward. Needed to work a bit harder defensively.
Adkins 7 much better shape and intesity, but subs not good enough for me. Although little options there.

Back in the top 6, probably not going to make it, but that could be a big point. If we can raise our game to that standard we should beat at least doncaster and boro and we've got decent chances against burnley and wigan. IF we can match that performance. Easy to be up for it at a tv game with a loud crowd when the champions elect visit.

Not there yet and almost certainly won't be this season, but some more positive signs. Think the season can't end soon enough for McCleary, he's been a shadow of himself for about a month and a half now and looks like he's just not fit or comfortable. Hopefully his current form sees off suiters and he can kick on next year.

[SPARTA]

Hector - 8
Pogrebnyak - 4

Hector was MOTM, Pog was anonymous. For such a big guy he goes down like a ton of bricks, has a terrible first touch, and as a lone striker is dreadful. How would you rate both? Perhaps 4 is harsh but I really do not see what he offers us, apart from a headache in the wages department.

[Ian Royal]

Hector - 8
Pogrebnyak - 4

Hector was MOTM, Pog was anonymous. How would you rate both?

I'd rate them like I was watching the match with functioning eyes. I assume the same goes for genome. Something that clearly doesn't apply to you.

[Ginger Ninjas]

Jobi had an absolute shocker tonight, he does sometimes but is usually worth his place.

Thought Hector grew into the game and impressed by him. Pearce had a good game but Morrison still off the pace, should get better.

Bridge looked rusty, not surprisingly, Gunter big effort from him.

Williams stand out player in midfield although very noticeable when he drives forward that there is very rarely an out ball for him, not enough players getting up to support him. Peach of a ball through to McCleary, who should have scored.

Obita played well fitfully it has to be said, McCleary played well in patches, Pog the usual. Ledge shored it up a bit when he came on, would have been useful to have him available for the run in, oh dear.

This saves me writing my thoughts, thanks

[winchester_royal]

Another pretty meek performance in this dog's dinner of a season. An improvement on last Tuesday, for sure, but not even close to hitting the levels we should be expecting. The two young academy graduates stood out in midfield, and their respective performances hopefully point towards the salvation of this club in the next few years. Motivated, talented youth is desperately needed to cure the apathy that the majority of the fanbase feel towards the overpaid, under-performing journeyman 'pros' we are currently stuck with.

[genome]

I thought Pog worked very hard and offered some good hold-up play. I was not a fan of the diving but he wasn't a 4. Hector, I can't remember seeing him or contributing anything in the first half. Better in the second but definitely not twice as good as Pog so I'm not sure how you worked that one out.

[genome]

My ratings

McCarthy 6
Gunter 6
Pearce 8
Morrison 7
Bridge 5
Obita 6
Williams 7
Hector 6
McAnuff 5
Pogrebnyak 7

Subs:
Leigertwood 5
Robson-Kanu 5
Drenthe 5

[SPARTA]

Hector was MOTM, Pog was anonymous. How would you rate both?

I'd rate them like I was watching the match with functioning eyes. I assume the same goes for genome. Something that clearly doesn't apply to you.

Over-paid waster who can't stay on his feet, and doesn't do nearly enough to warrant half his wages. (probably goes for both of you tbf)

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Drenthe was particularly awesome tonight. Just ran around in a circle for 15 minutes ball watching. I shudder to think what he is earning.

[Ian Royal]

Hector was MOTM, Pog was anonymous. How would you rate both?

I'd rate them like I was watching the match with functioning eyes. I assume the same goes for genome. Something that clearly doesn't apply to you.

Over-paid waster who can't stay on his feet, and doesn't do nearly enough to warrant half his wages. (probably goes for both of you tbf)

Ah, so you admit your rating is not a reflection of his performance, but of his salary worth.

[Cureton's Volley]

McCarthy, Pearce, Obita, Williams, Hector, Pog were all decent. The rest were pretty poor on the whole.

Yet again we failed to use options to stretch the opposition, too often choosing to play back infield into trouble. Leicester on the other hand gave our full-backs a torrid time. We are painfully slow to attack space round or behind defenses - especially from throw-ins. Leicester demonstrated a couple of times how quick wits at throw-ins can make good ground and cause trouble.

Happy with a point, but still believe we will struggle to outperform both Brighton and Ipswich between now and the end of the season, our GD advantage is very slim now also...

[Unbelievable Jeff]

Drenthe was particularly awesome tonight. Just ran around in a circle for 15 minutes ball watching. I shudder to think what he is earning.

he came on in the 84th minute of a game where we had 10 men and Leicester were keeping possession. Cut him a bit of slack

[genome]

Hector was MOTM, Pog was anonymous. How would you rate both?

I'd rate them like I was watching the match with functioning eyes. I assume the same goes for genome. Something that clearly doesn't apply to you.

Over-paid waster who can't stay on his feet, and doesn't do nearly enough to warrant half his wages. (probably goes for both of you tbf)

I can't possibly see how you can call him anonymous though. He was clearly involved numerous times...

[P!ssed Off]

Hector was MOTM, Pog was anonymous. How would you rate both?

I'd rate them like I was watching the match with functioning eyes. I assume the same goes for genome. Something that clearly doesn't apply to you.

Over-paid waster who can't stay on his feet, and doesn't do nearly enough to warrant half his wages. (probably goes for both of you tbf)

I quite agree.
Ian Royal's seems to think that Pog almost scoring is a positive???!!!??
I'd say that him letting the ball smack him in the face and bounce off and hit the post was fairly crap given that he was in the centre of goal about a metre off the line.

He's also a massive cheat. I honestly can't believe that some of the people around me are still claiming for free kicks every time he goes down.
On the whole the referee was very poor tonight, but he was quite right to ignore the Pog most times he went to ground. Well perhaps he should have booked him at least twice for diving!

There was even a 2nd half dive by Jobi which the referee correctly didn't give a foul for. Any neutrals that happened to be watching that game on tv will think Reading FC are right cheats. Let's not forget that Pog picked up a 2nd booking for diving in our televised match against Brighton earlier in the season.

As I've said before, Drenthe and Pogrebnyak are perhaps the two biggest cheats ever to have played for Reading. They need to oxf*rd off quickly because I'm not keen on Reading's Plan A to be 'dive and win a free kick or penalty, nor do I want us to be known as 'that team that cheats'.

[WestRoyal]

Hector was MOTM, Pog was anonymous. How would you rate both?

I'd rate them like I was watching the match with functioning eyes. I assume the same goes for genome. Something that clearly doesn't apply to you.

[/quote]

Not when it came to mcanuff he didn't
Genome gave him a 5 unlike your very generous 7

[P!ssed Off]

Over-paid waster who can't stay on his feet, and doesn't do nearly enough to warrant half his wages. (probably goes for both of you tbf)

Ah, so you admit your rating is not a reflection of his performance, but of his salary worth.

Your ratings are a reflection of how high you are.
Chucking around 8's and 9's like a oxf*rd mad man.
Back to the loony bin.

Perhaps Hector was a 7 and not the 8 that Sparta gave him.
Other than that this thread might as well have been locked after the 1st post because Sparta was spot on in his assessment.

[RoyalBlue]

yes I fail to see the "defensive" side he brings to the team.

He can't cross, can't dribble, can't shoot, can't pass and just points at other people to do the jobs he should be doing.
If I was able enough to collect the highlights of all of the good things that Jobi has done this season compared to the bad things I think you'd see how sh*t he is

Can I suggest that in future you get your guide dog to assess players for you.