BFTF ...Some hazy blobs...(H)

[Hound]

Also, bye to Charles Watts whose last game was today, only felt like mentioning it because I liked his coverage of Reading so it's a shame to to see him go but he moves into a role elsewhere where he gets to cover Arsenal and as an Arsenal fan, well, he wasn't going to say no.

Second that. He has been excellent, probably not 'supporting' Reading has helped provide a relatively objective viewpoint

Good luck to him in what sounds like a dream job for him. Though having to watch Arsenal's Groundhog Day season after season doesn't sound so appealing personally

[Nameless]

1. Spent most of the first half unable to follow what was happening on the pitch, and hoping for it to be abandoned

2. Stam states that it had NOT Been called off before halftime. He gave his half time team talk, then was called to the refs room where discussions were held and he wanted to keep playing

3. Ref should have inspected during half time. It looked really bad for the announcement to be made with visibility better than ever. The fact that it might have deteriorated is irrelevant as there were no safety implications.

4. Staff had not been told before half time that it would be abandoned. They had been told it was a possibility.

5. People demanding travel costs be paid etc need to get real. I would certainly hope the club honour existing tickets for the rearranged game but can't see there being any refunds. I think the half price rule is a limit, not a minimum. Any suggestions the club are ripping people off at half price ignore the fact that the cost putting on the second game will be the same as the adandoned one, I wonder if the club have insurance to cover abandonments ?

[Pepe the Horseman]

Still - it gives us more time to get Swift and McShane and Obita (and Rakells?) back to full fitness before meeting them again. Fulham are a good side - better than their league position suggests - and we will need to be at the top of our game to beat them.

Yes it does, but on the flip side Callum Harriott is now injured with nothing to show for it.

The injury gets overturned when the game is abandoned.

[Sutekh]

Believe the 2 bookings awarded yesterday (1 to either side) stand

BBC Berks were adamant that the terms and conditions for abandoned games are set by the EFL and not by the clubs concerned

Car parking at the stadium yesterday was a total mess due to insufficient staffing (was told that there were only half the usual number available to organise it) and inconsiderate people just parking any old how and where

[Old Biscuitman]

Didn't log on to read a weather report. Did anyone see any football?

[Ian Royal]

1. Spent most of the first half unable to follow what was happening on the pitch, and hoping for it to be abandoned

2. Stam states that it had NOT Been called off before halftime. He gave his half time team talk, then was called to the refs room where discussions were held and he wanted to keep playing

3. Ref should have inspected during half time. It looked really bad for the announcement to be made with visibility better than ever. The fact that it might have deteriorated is irrelevant as there were no safety implications.

4. Staff had not been told before half time that it would be abandoned. They had been told it was a possibility.

5. People demanding travel costs be paid etc need to get real. I would certainly hope the club honour existing tickets for the rearranged game but can't see there being any refunds. I think the half price rule is a limit, not a minimum. Any suggestions the club are ripping people off at half price ignore the fact that the cost putting on the second game will be the same as the adandoned one, I wonder if the club have insurance to cover abandonments ?

About the 5th sensible post in 4 pages of whining.

[RoyalBlue]

Lets face it, the 'fog' would have got worse again second half as it mostly consisted of the breath/body heat of the fans hitting the cold, damp air..... of course it was going to clear at half time. In the same way the temperature always drops at HT

Interesting interpretation of science! If that is the case, how come we don't suffer from 'fan induced' fog more often? Cold, damp air isn't a particularly infrequent occurrence. Furthermore, plenty of fans remain in the stadium bowl during half-time. Also, despite the A33 being packed with cars and thousands of walking fans generating even more heat when they left after the game, visibility was fine.

[RoyalBlue]

Would have had no issues had the game been abandoned during the first half when the fog was at its worst by a long way. I think at that point both sets of fans were reconciled to an abandonment as the atmosphere really seemed to drop off.

If the linos were having problems seeing during the first half when the fog was at its worst, why didn't they communicate that to the ref and, if they did, why did he ignore them?

What incensed many people was the fact that the announcement of the abandonment didn't come until a) half-time was over and b) visibility had significantly improved. Furthermore, the decision appeared to have been made without a contemporaneous inspection by the officials - perhaps the visually challenged linos should have stood on the touchline during half-time and checked whether they could see the far side of the pitch.

The Fulham kit colour causing problems seems a ridiculous claim. We were having more difficulty spotting the Reading players, which would seem to make more sense given the amount of white in their kit. Also, if the colour of the shirts was a problem, could they not have been changed?

Adi WIlliams, wrongly in my opinion, stated the colour of the ball was not a problem. We frequently lost sight of it during the thickest fog and had to relocate it by watching where the players were moving to! If the linos could not see the ball then that would cause a problem in judging offsides (i.e. when was the ball played). IMO the ball should have been changed for an orange one (and if there wasn't one available and/or allowed then it should be) as that would have increased visibility for players, officials and the paying fans.

Furthermore, the FA do FA to help in these situations by their ridiculous ban on the media being able to talk to the paid match officials who are responsible for running and sometimes ruining games in a league(s) where so much is at stake. There is unlikely to be true respect whilst the officials are allowed to hide away from the consequences of their decisions.

In contrast, we had a lot of respect for those match officials who in the past have actually asked to speak to the media after a game to explain and sometimes apologise for their decisions/actions (e.g. the ref who apologised for blocking the ball which led to our opponents scoring).

[Emeraldroyal]

Lot of foggy talk on here very little about the game !

Personally I think vaping should be banned inside stadiums but who I am to complain.

I actually thought Jap ditched the possession game and allowed them to play with some expression.
Had Gmac finished that absolutely delicious ball from Kermo I thought we would go on to dominate. Kelly impressed me he battles for everything and seems to have a real footballing brain. Wasn't sure if it was Liam Moore or JVDB who put in the tackle that got everybody to their feet (blame the fog!!!) but it was a proper crunching old school tackle really impressive. Fulham are a decent side no doubt very pacey down the wing.

No matter, I smashed my bovril and chicken Baltie and legged it as soon as the announcement was made. Was in the pub by 21:20
Lot of people tutting and moaning its done now. Roll on Brizzle city we carry on.

[ElmPark1988]

Was anyone close enough to verify who did put in that absolutely brilliant tackle on Oluko on the half way line?

[rob_dawson]

This video made me laugh:

https://youtu.be/1Oy_SVg_IPs

Cliff notes:

Football blogger begins video talking about going to Brighton vs Cardiff game. He's a neutral and I think just goes and blogs each fixture

3 hour drive to game and it's called off

Him and friend decide to go to Billericay game in Essex and as they go around M25 that game is called off

Finally they go to Reading and get into ground at 8:05. Video shows announcement of game being abandoned.

They then have another 3 hour drive him

[blueroyals]

If the game had been abandoned when it should have been in the first half, would we still have had to pay for another ticket?

[Nameless]

Most people won't have to pay for a new ticket, it will still be included on season tickets. Fairly sure it would have been 1/2 price for match ticket holders.

Can't believe RB dismisses the fact that Fulham's shirts were a problem. The Reading players were clearly visible even in the worst of the fog. The Fulham players were invisible. Not interested in whether this is 'believed', it was the situation.

In my opinion the ref has a duty to do everything to ensure the game is completed, and he failed to do that. He was unlucky as well but he could have done much better...

[genome]

Cracking set of results for us today. Could've been even better save for a couple of last minute equalisers. But still 3rd without even playing.

[paultheroyal]

Reading's white shirts against a white advertising hoarding in white fog was clearly a problem for the referees assistant over on the east stand.

There is no conspiracy with the tickets and getting to half time nor with selling the food.

Hope everyone is now out the car park!!

[RoyalBlue]

Most people won't have to pay for a new ticket, it will still be included on season tickets. Fairly sure it would have been 1/2 price for match ticket holders.

Can't believe RB dismisses the fact that Fulham's shirts were a problem. The Reading players were clearly visible even in the worst of the fog. The Fulham players were invisible. Not interested in whether this is 'believed', it was the situation.

In my opinion the ref has a duty to do everything to ensure the game is completed, and he failed to do that. He was unlucky as well but he could have done much better...

The 'situation' as seen by Nameless is, of course, far more valid than the 'situation' that might have been seen by others! As for 'not interested' in what other people might believe - sheer arrogance.

Fact: From our seats and through our eyes (quite often in line with the assistant ref on that side), the Reading shirts were less visible than the Fulham shirts and shorts. Perhaps not surprising since the Reading shirts have a fair amount of white and fog is also white! Not sure anyone would advocate using a white football in fog.

'Most people won't have to pay for a new ticket'? Well sod the Fulham fans then, why should we worry about them or the thousands of Reading fans who still pay per game?!

[Royal Ginger]

Most people won't have to pay for a new ticket, it will still be included on season tickets. Fairly sure it would have been 1/2 price for match ticket holders.

Can't believe RB dismisses the fact that Fulham's shirts were a problem. The Reading players were clearly visible even in the worst of the fog. The Fulham players were invisible. Not interested in whether this is 'believed', it was the situation.

In my opinion the ref has a duty to do everything to ensure the game is completed, and he failed to do that. He was unlucky as well but he could have done much better...

The 'situation' as seen by Nameless is, of course, far more valid than the 'situation' that might have been seen by others! As for 'not interested' in what other people might believe - sheer arrogance.

Fact: From our seats and through our eyes (quite often in line with the assistant ref on that side), the Reading shirts were less visible than the Fulham shirts and shorts. Perhaps not surprising since the Reading shirts have a fair amount of white and fog is also white! Not sure anyone would advocate using a white football in fog.

'Most people won't have to pay for a new ticket'? Well sod the Fulham fans then, why should we worry about them or the thousands of Reading fans who still pay per game?!

Nameless is right in this instance, the Fulham shirts were harder to see.

[royalp-we]

Also, bye to Charles Watts whose last game was today, only felt like mentioning it because I liked his coverage of Reading so it's a shame to to see him go but he moves into a role elsewhere where he gets to cover Arsenal and as an Arsenal fan, well, he wasn't going to say no.

Second that. He has been excellent, probably not 'supporting' Reading has helped provide a relatively objective viewpoint

Good luck to him in what sounds like a dream job for him. Though having to watch Arsenal's Groundhog Day season after season doesn't sound so appealing personally

Yeah, his content was not that great this season, good to follow on Twitter.

I was going to comment the other day about how he had wrote a good few opinion based pieces last week - funny that, with the timing

He's done a far better job than some of his predecessors mind; Best wishes to him for the future

[Nameless]

Wind your neck in !
It was you who stated that the Fulham shirts were not a problem. I can state categorically they were. If you want to dismiss the views of others then fair enough. But maybe be gracious enough to accept that when someone disagrees with your view then they may actually have a point. Whether the Reading shirts were a problem is a different debate, and me describing what I see is not arrogance, neither is me telling you I won't allow you to tell me what I see !

Why are you so aggressive re the ticket prices ? 2/3 of the fans won't have to pay for the replay (surely that is a GOOD thing ? And it's part of the ST benefits that you effectively have insurance for this sort of situation.
The rest will pay a tenner (in most cases). I have sympathy for those who will have to pay, but am bemused that you take such an unpleasant tone
Two things to think about
1. The club will lose a lot of money on the replayed game. The abandonment was in no way their fault. They have done a lot regarding ticket prices this season, is it fair to expect them to give more money away ?
2. I actually suspect many people won't bother going to the replay if they have to pay. Which means revenues will be down (with no revenue from ST either). The cost of running the game won't change. So in reality it might not cost the club much to honour tickets for the second game. 3000 people not turning up or 3000 turning up for nothing is more or less the same thing

[WAZZOCK]

1. Spent most of the first half unable to follow what was happening on the pitch, and hoping for it to be abandoned

2. Stam states that it had NOT Been called off before halftime. He gave his half time team talk, then was called to the refs room where discussions were held and he wanted to keep playing

3. Ref should have inspected during half time. It looked really bad for the announcement to be made with visibility better than ever. The fact that it might have deteriorated is irrelevant as there were no safety implications.

4. Staff had not been told before half time that it would be abandoned. They had been told it was a possibility.

5. People demanding travel costs be paid etc need to get real. I would certainly hope the club honour existing tickets for the rearranged game but can't see there being any refunds. I think the half price rule is a limit, not a minimum. Any suggestions the club are ripping people off at half price ignore the fact that the cost putting on the second game will be the same as the adandoned one, I wonder if the club have insurance to cover abandonments ?

All very sensible, although I can assure you that the ref inspected at half time alongside the safety officer.