BFTG - Wednesday Home

[sandman]

He played at Barnsley.

In a 3-4-3.

It's all a bit meaningless though isn't it ?
Today wasn't a 3-5-2 really.... maybe a 3-4-1-2 but Beerens played on the wing a fair bit so often it was 3-4-3

Not really. McCleary was clearly wide of a front three at Barnsley because before he was sent off he was clearly playing wide in a front three because he was ripping their left back(s) apart.

Sorry to be picky but it is the TB and you have to be Rain man with these things.

[Royal Ginger]

How did the Kermorgant-McCleary partnership look?
This was the first time Kermie has played since we've gone 3-5-2 I believe.

Because of the way they were set up it was more Kermorgant and Beerens which didn't look bad. Would love to see him with Rackels again. That was starting to click.

This system with Kermorgant is exciting.

[marlowuk]

Until we scored our first goal there was only one team that was looking like winning and that was Wednesday! They bossed the midfield pretty much throughout the match but as we were without the guile and class of Swift and the drive and energy of Williams that was, perhaps, not surprising. But then we got that bit of luck with a deflected goal and our confidence surged!

Wednesday had plenty of chances (and more shots than we managed) with Joao wasting the best of them and most of the rest sailing over the bar - not forgetting two outstanding saves by AAH of course. Having Moore back was a big plus and I thought all of our back three played well especially in the last seven minutes when we were really hanging on. JVDB is the weak link for me and he seems to be a red/yellow card just waiting to happen. Samuel worked hard but without much joy and bringing on Kermie was the right decision. GMac was a bit more subdued than usual but he was playing more centrally which doesn't play to his strengths.

I think there were three yellow cards handed out in the 2nd half mellee although the highlights only show Wallace's which, I agree, should have been red. Wednesday were a decent side and can probably feel justifiably disappointed not to at least have earned a point but Bereens composure for our second goal was class!

After the Fulham result and display I was worried about this fixture and the rest of our season, so three points is a relief and a credit to our fighting spirit. Being four points clear of 4th place is a good place to be!!

[harry]

I thought at 2-0 the scoreline flattered us. The goal at the end meant a nervy few minutes. After last week the win was very important. A clean sheet wold have been nice but I'll settle for the win

AAH - overall good, some dodgy distribution, couple of decent saves and off his line fast once or twice to deal with their long balls well
Moore - excellent. We look a different team with him. Solid defensively and some nice passing at times
McShane - good. Didn't see why he got booked in the melee other than ref wanting to even it up a bit.
Blackett - couple of very solid tackles. Generally good.
Gunter & Obita - decent
Evans - OK
Joey - off the pace still. Got caught in possession a couple of times thinking he had all teh time in the world.
Beerens - his Marmite season continues. After being utterly useless last week, I thought he was much better this, although still not great until the goals. First was fortunate, second was class.
GMac - a quiet one by his standards this season
Samuel - ran around a lot and some ok link up play but rarely looked a threat. Suspect Kermorgant will be starting again soon.

Kermorgant - a decent performance winning some important header including the flick-on for the 2nd and more defensively late on.
Kelly - replaced a tired VDB. Shame his effort from about the halfway didn't go in.
Mendes - little time to influence the game much but even then could have (and should have) scored late on but dithered.

With Swift & Quinn injured & Williams suspended we are threadbare in centre mid. Good job the current formation only needs 2 of them. Suspect Joey will struggle to get through 3 games in a week so I can see Kelly getting some game time. Wasn't that Evans's 5th yellow as well? Whatever happened to Sandro Wieser?

[CountryRoyal]

Kermorgant played some absolutely cracking balls today.

[CountryRoyal]

I like the "bouncebackability" of this team, each bad result doesn't feel like it's the start of a downward spiral as much as our experience would tell us that to expect.

In the previous 2 seasons we have only managed to bounce back from a defeat with an immediate win 3 times, we've already done it twice this season.

Obviously it's a difficult stat to read too much into because you don't want to be losing that much anyway but it just backs up my belief that we this team seems to be a bit mentally stronger.

Love it.

Also I'm loving this confidence in the team. When we are up I have so much belief that we will see the game out, even at 2-1 and the goal scramble I genuinely didn't think we'd throw it away. Weird to say that being a reading fan.

[Muskrat]

Until we scored our first goal there was only one team that was looking like winning and that was Wednesday! They bossed the midfield pretty much throughout the match but as we were without the guile and class of Swift and the drive and energy of Williams that was, perhaps, not surprising. But then we got that bit of luck with a deflected goal and our confidence surged!

Wednesday had plenty of chances (and more shots than we managed) with Joao wasting the best of them and most of the rest sailing over the bar - not forgetting two outstanding saves by AAH of course. Having Moore back was a big plus and I thought all of our back three played well especially in the last seven minutes when we were really hanging on. JVDB is the weak link for me and he seems to be a red/yellow card just waiting to happen. Samuel worked hard but without much joy and bringing on Kermie was the right decision. GMac was a bit more subdued than usual but he was playing more centrally which doesn't play to his strengths.

I think there were three yellow cards handed out in the 2nd half mellee although the highlights only show Wallace's which, I agree, should have been red. Wednesday were a decent side and can probably feel justifiably disappointed not to at least have earned a point but Bereens composure for our second goal was class!

After the Fulham result and display I was worried about this fixture and the rest of our season, so three points is a relief and a credit to our fighting spirit. Being four points clear of 4th place is a good place to be!!

I reckon you've pretty much nailed it there, we were lucky to get in at half time 0-0 after a dire first half performance. A lucky deflection gave us the lead and our confidence grew as we had a brief spell of better possession. A breakaway goal gave us the cushion that we knew would be required and Wednesday's heads visibility dropped for the next ten minutes. Once they regrouped they put us under sustained pressure and got the goal that was always coming. Luckily for us it came too late and AAH made a last gasp fingertip save to preserve the three points. All in all a good victory against a very competent side wrought through hard work and tenacity, helped by profligate finishing by Wednesday.

[John Madejski's Wallet]

I guest we needed to be defensive today to make sure we didn't lose after the Fulham drubbing, but I don't like the Evans/JVB thing. They sat so deep we essentially had a back 7 and then a big gap to McCleary/Behrens/Samuel, basically handing the midfield to Wednesday.

Still it did its job, so happy with the outcome

[genome]

All I can say is

[3points]

Until we scored our first goal there was only one team that was looking like winning and that was Wednesday! They bossed the midfield pretty much throughout the match but as we were without the guile and class of Swift and the drive and energy of Williams that was, perhaps, not surprising. But then we got that bit of luck with a deflected goal and our confidence surged!

Wednesday had plenty of chances (and more shots than we managed) with Joao wasting the best of them and most of the rest sailing over the bar - not forgetting two outstanding saves by AAH of course. Having Moore back was a big plus and I thought all of our back three played well especially in the last seven minutes when we were really hanging on. JVDB is the weak link for me and he seems to be a red/yellow card just waiting to happen. Samuel worked hard but without much joy and bringing on Kermie was the right decision. GMac was a bit more subdued than usual but he was playing more centrally which doesn't play to his strengths.

I think there were three yellow cards handed out in the 2nd half mellee although the highlights only show Wallace's which, I agree, should have been red. Wednesday were a decent side and can probably feel justifiably disappointed not to at least have earned a point but Bereens composure for our second goal was class!

After the Fulham result and display I was worried about this fixture and the rest of our season, so three points is a relief and a credit to our fighting spirit. Being four points clear of 4th place is a good place to be!!

I reckon you've pretty much nailed it there, we were lucky to get in at half time 0-0 after a dire first half performance. A lucky deflection gave us the lead and our confidence grew as we had a brief spell of better possession. A breakaway goal gave us the cushion that we knew would be required and Wednesday's heads visibility dropped for the next ten minutes. Once they regrouped they put us under sustained pressure and got the goal that was always coming. Luckily for us it came too late and AAH made a last gasp fingertip save to preserve the three points. All in all a good victory against a very competent side wrought through hard work and tenacity, helped by profligate finishing by Wednesday.

I genuinely don't get these points of view. I thought we were very comfortable in the first half Without really creating much. They were much worse than us. Their only decent chance was when AAH passed the ball out to one of their players and made a good save. Second half was more open but they played no football. Everything was route one either started by their keeper or centre backs. I did have a little chuckle though when our second goal came from a proper route one attack. Perhaps we should do that more, especially with Yann in the team flicking the ball onto McCleary and Beerens

[Nameless]

I guest we needed to be defensive today to make sure we didn't lose after the Fulham drubbing, but I don't like the Evans/JVB thing. They sat so deep we essentially had a back 7 and then a big gap to McCleary/Behrens/Samuel, basically handing the midfield to Wednesday.

Still it did its job, so happy with the outcome

I agree about Evans/ VDB but they were all we had left in midfield and are essentially carbon copies of each other. Solid holding midfielders but lacking the energy of Williams or Quinn or the guile of Swift. Steam used what he had and sensibly did not try and force players into roles that didn't suit them. While we may have handed the midfield to Weds they did nothing with it. We put a huge Great Wall in front of our goal and all they could do was shoot (badly) from 20 yards). A mix of good management from Stam and an inability to change by them.

[Sutekh]

Two well matched teams both with decent players ruled out.

First half was a total borefest with neither side looking concerned and we were nailed on for a 0-0

Second half Wednesday woke up to the fact there was 3 points up for grabs and pressed higher and got into out faces as much as possible and sure enough the standard Reading panic first think later started emerging but managed to keep things level largely thanks to the fact that Joao forgot totally how to shoot when his meant came.

Then Reading got a break with a deflected goal and then dominated the game, scored again and remained in charge until the ref dropped a clanger and somehow did not dismiss Wallace for a poorly timed lunge which led to a wonderful scene of handbags at 10 paces that we all love to see (and even had a Wednesday substitute booked for "getting involved")

After that it was a case of sit back and defend the lead and look to cock up a breakaway which were all achieved successfully.

Moore was MotM followed closely by Blackett.

Samuel struggled again for me but I don't think that is a reflection on him but more reflection on the fact he is not suited to playing in the sort of system Stam prefers. I'm expecting YK to be back for Leeds, at least for the first 60/70 minutes, and Samuel to be on the bench particularly with 2 long haul trips to play difficult opposition.

[sandman]

Could've been bad for Samuel that Kermorgant came on and did well.

But then Mendes came on...

[leon]

Until we scored our first goal there was only one team that was looking like winning and that was Wednesday! They bossed the midfield pretty much throughout the match but as we were without the guile and class of Swift and the drive and energy of Williams that was, perhaps, not surprising. But then we got that bit of luck with a deflected goal and our confidence surged!

Wednesday had plenty of chances (and more shots than we managed) with Joao wasting the best of them and most of the rest sailing over the bar - not forgetting two outstanding saves by AAH of course. Having Moore back was a big plus and I thought all of our back three played well especially in the last seven minutes when we were really hanging on. JVDB is the weak link for me and he seems to be a red/yellow card just waiting to happen. Samuel worked hard but without much joy and bringing on Kermie was the right decision. GMac was a bit more subdued than usual but he was playing more centrally which doesn't play to his strengths.

I think there were three yellow cards handed out in the 2nd half mellee although the highlights only show Wallace's which, I agree, should have been red. Wednesday were a decent side and can probably feel justifiably disappointed not to at least have earned a point but Bereens composure for our second goal was class!

After the Fulham result and display I was worried about this fixture and the rest of our season, so three points is a relief and a credit to our fighting spirit. Being four points clear of 4th place is a good place to be!!

I reckon you've pretty much nailed it there, we were lucky to get in at half time 0-0 after a dire first half performance. A lucky deflection gave us the lead and our confidence grew as we had a brief spell of better possession. A breakaway goal gave us the cushion that we knew would be required and Wednesday's heads visibility dropped for the next ten minutes. Once they regrouped they put us under sustained pressure and got the goal that was always coming. Luckily for us it came too late and AAH made a last gasp fingertip save to preserve the three points. All in all a good victory against a very competent side wrought through hard work and tenacity, helped by profligate finishing by Wednesday.

Lucky at 0-0? Eh? How many actual proper chances did they have?

[Sutekh]

Until we scored our first goal there was only one team that was looking like winning and that was Wednesday! They bossed the midfield pretty much throughout the match but as we were without the guile and class of Swift and the drive and energy of Williams that was, perhaps, not surprising. But then we got that bit of luck with a deflected goal and our confidence surged!

Wednesday had plenty of chances (and more shots than we managed) with Joao wasting the best of them and most of the rest sailing over the bar - not forgetting two outstanding saves by AAH of course. Having Moore back was a big plus and I thought all of our back three played well especially in the last seven minutes when we were really hanging on. JVDB is the weak link for me and he seems to be a red/yellow card just waiting to happen. Samuel worked hard but without much joy and bringing on Kermie was the right decision. GMac was a bit more subdued than usual but he was playing more centrally which doesn't play to his strengths.

I think there were three yellow cards handed out in the 2nd half mellee although the highlights only show Wallace's which, I agree, should have been red. Wednesday were a decent side and can probably feel justifiably disappointed not to at least have earned a point but Bereens composure for our second goal was class!

After the Fulham result and display I was worried about this fixture and the rest of our season, so three points is a relief and a credit to our fighting spirit. Being four points clear of 4th place is a good place to be!!

I reckon you've pretty much nailed it there, we were lucky to get in at half time 0-0 after a dire first half performance. A lucky deflection gave us the lead and our confidence grew as we had a brief spell of better possession. A breakaway goal gave us the cushion that we knew would be required and Wednesday's heads visibility dropped for the next ten minutes. Once they regrouped they put us under sustained pressure and got the goal that was always coming. Luckily for us it came too late and AAH made a last gasp fingertip save to preserve the three points. All in all a good victory against a very competent side wrought through hard work and tenacity, helped by profligate finishing by Wednesday.

Lucky at 0-0? Eh? How many actual proper chances did they have?

Before we scored they had 2 chances of note. The Joao cock up that he really should have scored and the shot from Wallace in the first half that Habsi pushed out for a corner. But that chance only presented itself after Habsi's appallingly mis-hit pass to Blackett. All Reading had managed was a header in the first half that was a bit awkward but generally a comfortable save for Westwood.

So lucky really in the sense that Joao fouled up but from first half neither side was lucky to still be at 0-0 in my opinion.

[Ascotexgunner]

McShane for me was MOTM....Lead by example. At 2-1 and 4 mins left I feared the worst......SW had some big lumps up front that can cause problems and we showed real spirit that hasn't been there for sometime.
Still feel we need a big target man up front though..would love a cheeky bid for Cameron Jerome seeing as Norwich are falling to pieces. Know its not gonna happen though.

[windermereROYAL]

Goodness knows how we have managed to win our last 4 homes games. we must be doing something right.
Yesterday was once again a day where the opposition couldn`t hit a cows arse with a banjo.
44 attempts on our goal in the last two home games must surely be a cause for concern.

And how can losing three central midfield men leave us so short in that area?

[leon]

I reckon you've pretty much nailed it there, we were lucky to get in at half time 0-0 after a dire first half performance. A lucky deflection gave us the lead and our confidence grew as we had a brief spell of better possession. A breakaway goal gave us the cushion that we knew would be required and Wednesday's heads visibility dropped for the next ten minutes. Once they regrouped they put us under sustained pressure and got the goal that was always coming. Luckily for us it came too late and AAH made a last gasp fingertip save to preserve the three points. All in all a good victory against a very competent side wrought through hard work and tenacity, helped by profligate finishing by Wednesday.

Lucky at 0-0? Eh? How many actual proper chances did they have?

Before we scored they had 2 chances of note. The Joao cock up that he really should have scored and the shot from Wallace in the first half that Habsi pushed out for a corner. But that chance only presented itself after Habsi's appallingly mis-hit pass to Blackett. All Reading had managed was a header in the first half that was a bit awkward but generally a comfortable save for Westwood.

So lucky really in the sense that Joao fouled up but from first half neither side was lucky to still be at 0-0 in my opinion.

That wasn't really my point. I was talking half time score.

There's too much of people watching a game through the prism of their own prejuidices.

[SCIAG]

With Swift & Quinn injured & Williams suspended we are threadbare in centre mid. Good job the current formation only needs 2 of them. Suspect Joey will struggle to get through 3 games in a week so I can see Kelly getting some game time. Wasn't that Evans's 5th yellow as well? Whatever happened to Sandro Wieser?

The window for five yellows has passed so there's some breathing room until players start getting to ten (which shouldn't happen to a disciplined side).

Wieser's performances for the U23s have been mixed, he had a very good debut but hasn't looked special since. He's very much a defensive midfielder too so not the solution right now. Agree that it would be good to give Kelly some game time, he offers more going forward.

[Ian Royal]

Goodness knows how we have managed to win our last 4 homes games. we must be doing something right.
Yesterday was once again a day where the opposition couldn`t hit a cows arse with a banjo.
44 attempts on our goal in the last two home games must surely be a cause for concern.

And how can losing three central midfield men leave us so short in that area?

Because that's a lot of players to lose in one area? Very few teams can cope with three injuries in one area, the Champions League contenders possibly.