by marlowuk »
13 Feb 2016 22:01
A very entertaining game between two evenly matched good (but not very good) Championship sides; a clean sheet and a point. In other words -a step up from the Wolves match!
But, like the Wolves match, we had a poor referee who kept his cards in his pocket for too long and nearly lost control as a result. AAH has to be MOTM again for that penalty save but also for several other good saves. Burnley should have won on clear cut chances created but a draw was probably fair on the balance of play.
We looked stronger in the air - which we haven't done for some time. Kermorgant won just about every header he went for and with Hector, Cooper and McShane also in the side we were a threat at set pieces. But what has happened to Norwood? His passing was dreadful - not just the long sweeping passes - he was messing up the short simple stuff and wasting the free kicks as well. HRK had a good game and it was good to see him taking on his full back. It was a pity he missed a reasonable chance in the second half. Piazon got a bit more 'stuck in' than usual but I'm not convinced by him. Cooper made a few stupid, and potentially dangerous, mistakes but once he has eradicated those from his game he will be a very good player indeed.
Kermorgant was at the wrong end of some over-physical challenges from Burnley early on but had a good game and Rakels impressed in another short cameo towards the end. In fact the last 15 minutes or so saw a catalogue of simple passing errors by Reading in the opposition half. This was very frustrating but could, at least partially, be put down to the bad pitch getting cut up.
Finally, anyone claiming that Brian is a 'hoof ball merchant' after this game needs to get their eyes tested. We are a passing team that plays the ball on the ground where possible. We will get some goals soon; then the confidence will return; then we will see what sort of side we really have here!