BFTG Newcastle (H)

[Nessa From Eldorado]

People I spoke to this morning said Reading played well and it was entertaining for a 0-0. Tony Cottee said it was dire on SS last night though......

Tony Cottee is as thick as pig shit tbf.

[TBM]

People I spoke to this morning said Reading played well and it was entertaining for a 0-0. Tony Cottee said it was dire on SS last night though......

Tony Cottee is as thick as pig shit tbf.

He was sat next to the person watching the Arsenal game so i'm guessing he felt a bit left out not shouting "GOOOOOOAL" 6 [six] times

[Norfolk Royal]

Yes, Cottee looked like he was going to burst into tears at one point.

[oh_ROAR]

Interesting game. Certainly a big improvement from Saturday and in the second half especially I thought we looked good.

Joey and McShane were brilliant. When Moore went off I thought we were done for but I don't think we looked any weaker in defence and having Obita on the left provides a much better outlet going forward than Blackett. Can't really understand Gunters inability to pass the ball forward even if that's the easiest option? He knocked it past their fullback in the second half and went past him which made it even more frustrating seeing he has the pace/ability to do so. I'm a big fan of Kelly but taking him off at HT was the right decision, lost the ball too much but still hassled Shelvey well, Williams was great in the second half. Mutch was solid if not spectacular and whilst Grabban certainly has ability, I really don't see the benefit of sticking him on the wing.

All in all would've been very happy with a point before the game, but coming away I feel like we could've nicked all 3.

On to Preston

[Elm Park Kid]

It's funny - I was on the bus with some Newcastle fans on the way back and they were saying that they thought the game was pretty awful and the standard of football dreadful. They were asking me if 'it's always this bad' at the mad stad. However I thought it was one of the more interesting Reading games i'd seen this season - certainly better than Wolves on Saturday.

Compared to the later Adkins/Clarke days at least we look like a solid football side that isn't going to shatter under the slightest pressure.

Have to say though that I still think that Kermorgant is the weak link. He's another Pogrebnyak. Football fans can often be blinded to the failings of their own players and anyone that thinks he's good enough for a promotion chasing team is mistaken. Until we get in a £10m striker I can't see us being competitive in the big games.

[Hound]

Thought Joey, McShane, McCleary and Obita were good. Blackett came back after a few dodgy moments at the beginning.

All in all it was a good, disciplined performance.

Mutch and Grabben were poor. I'm probably jumping the gun here but I'm worried we will have a similar issue to last season for the rest of this one where disinterested loanees take the place of others who would do a better job.
How Grabban played 90 minutes is beyond me. All he did was give it away and jump into defenders. Also, for a big guy, Mutch is so weak in a challenge.

I think its probably more a case they are rusty. i would have thought both are fighting for their careers rather than being disinterested. Not that means they should be picked if there are better options.

[Top Flight]

It's funny - I was on the bus with some Newcastle fans on the way back and they were saying that they thought the game was pretty awful and the standard of football dreadful. They were asking me if 'it's always this bad' at the mad stad. However I thought it was one of the more interesting Reading games i'd seen this season - certainly better than Wolves on Saturday.

Compared to the later Adkins/Clarke days at least we look like a solid football side that isn't going to shatter under the slightest pressure.

Have to say though that I still think that Kermorgant is the weak link. He's another Pogrebnyak. Football fans can often be blinded to the failings of their own players and anyone that thinks he's good enough for a promotion chasing team is mistaken. Until we get in a £10m striker I can't see us being competitive in the big games.

Vydra cost something just under £10million. Would he have been good enough?

What about Jordan Rhodes or Ross McCormack? They are 10mill strikers. Scott Hogan?

[wiggso]

It's funny - I was on the bus with some Newcastle fans on the way back and they were saying that they thought the game was pretty awful and the standard of football dreadful. They were asking me if 'it's always this bad' at the mad stad. However I thought it was one of the more interesting Reading games i'd seen this season - certainly better than Wolves on Saturday.

Compared to the later Adkins/Clarke days at least we look like a solid football side that isn't going to shatter under the slightest pressure.

Have to say though that I still think that Kermorgant is the weak link. He's another Pogrebnyak. Football fans can often be blinded to the failings of their own players and anyone that thinks he's good enough for a promotion chasing team is mistaken. Until we get in a £10m striker I can't see us being competitive in the big games.

Vydra cost something just under £10million. Would he have been good enough?

What about Jordan Rhodes or Ross McCormack? They are 10mill strikers. Scott Hogan?

Grabban would probably cost that too and he was dogtoss last night

[Basildon]

It's funny - I was on the bus with some Newcastle fans on the way back and they were saying that they thought the game was pretty awful and the standard of football dreadful. They were asking me if 'it's always this bad' at the mad stad. However I thought it was one of the more interesting Reading games i'd seen this season - certainly better than Wolves on Saturday.

Compared to the later Adkins/Clarke days at least we look like a solid football side that isn't going to shatter under the slightest pressure.

Have to say though that I still think that Kermorgant is the weak link. He's another Pogrebnyak. Football fans can often be blinded to the failings of their own players and anyone that thinks he's good enough for a promotion chasing team is mistaken. Until we get in a £10m striker I can't see us being competitive in the big games.

Call me crazy but I would actually argue Kermie has been one of our best, most consistent players all season. Sure he could have got a few more goals, but he puts in a shift week in week out, I rarely come away from a game thinking that he hasn't played well.

[wingnut]

You lot were watching a different game to me. Utter dross in the first half. Improved a bit in the second, mainly thanks to GMac stepping up.

Kelly had one of the worst halves of football I've ever seen, culminating in kicking a corner straight out for a goal kick.

Very harsh. We were okay, nowhere near utter dross. Improved much more than "a bit" in the second and domin8ed - actually a lot to do with Williams and Obita more than G-Mac I thought, who only really threatened in the last 10 minutes.

Kelly had a right shocker, though.

I'm with jd82 here. We were so poor in the first half I nearly fell asleep - all of our possession was just in front of our penalty area and Newcastle had the bulk of the chances. I've not seen Kelly play such a bad half of football and it was no surprise he didn't reappear for the second.
We were much better in the second half and at least we had spells of decent possession in newcastle's half. Blackett looks so much better as a central defender than a full back so I don't know why Stam keeps picking him over Obita.

[stealthpapes]

Have to say though that I still think that Kermorgant is the weak link. He's another Pogrebnyak. Football fans can often be blinded to the failings of their own players and anyone that thinks he's good enough for a promotion chasing team is mistaken. Until we get in a £10m striker I can't see us being competitive in the big games.

Not meaning to be rude, but what planet are you on?

Best chance we have is finding a young lower league player and having a punt that pays off. Most such punts probably won't.

[jd82]

You lot were watching a different game to me. Utter dross in the first half. Improved a bit in the second, mainly thanks to GMac stepping up.

Kelly had one of the worst halves of football I've ever seen, culminating in kicking a corner straight out for a goal kick.

Very harsh. We were okay, nowhere near utter dross. Improved much more than "a bit" in the second and domin8ed - actually a lot to do with Williams and Obita more than G-Mac I thought, who only really threatened in the last 10 minutes.

Kelly had a right shocker, though.

I'm with jd82 here. We were so poor in the first half I nearly fell asleep - all of our possession was just in front of our penalty area and Newcastle had the bulk of the chances. I've not seen Kelly play such a bad half of football and it was no surprise he didn't reappear for the second.
We were much better in the second half and at least we had spells of decent possession in newcastle's half. Blackett looks so much better as a central defender than a full back so I don't know why Stam keeps picking him over Obita.

Weird innit.. might have something to do with the fact I don't go that often so I'm not used to this torturous style of play.

Obita must be spitting every week when he sees Blackett ahead of him at lb

[OLLIE KEARNS]

I really enjoyed the game but you probably had to be a Reading fan to see it in that light. Maybe that enjoyment largely comes just from having a fully committed team given what we've seen over the past couple of seasons ?
Thought we found a slightly better balance last night in terms of keeping possession and longer balls in behind to use the pace of McCleary and Grabban but Newcastle were very well organised as were we. So all in all a decent point in the wider scheme of things.
Too many positives to mention. Only player negatives would be Kelly who seemed to rush everything last night and Grabban who gave us little going forward and nothing at all when it came to his defensive duties. Kelly will learn from the experience I'm sure whilst Grabban is unlikely to change his ways I guess.
The biggest negative is the pitch. A lot of good players on the pitch last night all of whom had to take an extra touch every time they received the ball. Let's hope the pitch at Wembley is in good nick

[genome]

Very harsh. We were okay, nowhere near utter dross. Improved much more than "a bit" in the second and domin8ed - actually a lot to do with Williams and Obita more than G-Mac I thought, who only really threatened in the last 10 minutes.

Kelly had a right shocker, though.

I'm with jd82 here. We were so poor in the first half I nearly fell asleep - all of our possession was just in front of our penalty area and Newcastle had the bulk of the chances. I've not seen Kelly play such a bad half of football and it was no surprise he didn't reappear for the second.
We were much better in the second half and at least we had spells of decent possession in newcastle's half. Blackett looks so much better as a central defender than a full back so I don't know why Stam keeps picking him over Obita.

Weird innit.. might have something to do with the fact I don't go that often so I'm not used to this torturous style of play.

Obita must be spitting every week when he sees Blackett ahead of him at lb

It was, but Newcastle were set up well (and quite deep) and shut off all the opportunities to go forward. A couple of panicky moments in possession aside which Newcastle failed to capitalise on, I have seen much much worse this season.

When Newcastle opened up a bit in the second half, we got forward much more.

[OLLIE KEARNS]

You lot were watching a different game to me. Utter dross in the first half. Improved a bit in the second, mainly thanks to GMac stepping up.

Kelly had one of the worst halves of football I've ever seen, culminating in kicking a corner straight out for a goal kick.

Very harsh. We were okay, nowhere near utter dross. Improved much more than "a bit" in the second and domin8ed - actually a lot to do with Williams and Obita more than G-Mac I thought, who only really threatened in the last 10 minutes.

Kelly had a right shocker, though.

I'm with jd82 here. We were so poor in the first half I nearly fell asleep - all of our possession was just in front of our penalty area and Newcastle had the bulk of the chances. I've not seen Kelly play such a bad half of football and it was no surprise he didn't reappear for the second.
We were much better in the second half and at least we had spells of decent possession in newcastle's half. Blackett looks so much better as a central defender than a full back so I don't know why Stam keeps picking him over Obita.

Just my view but I think Blackett is a much better defender than Obita when it comes to both stopping crosses and defending the back post. He's not as easy on the eye when going forward but he's far more effective in terms of the bread and butter elements of being a defender. I also think he has a lot of improvement still to come. I've also long been of the view that Obita isn't a full back and should be played higher up the pitch.

[genome]

With Moore injured Obita should get a decent run in the side. I thought he looked very good yesterday, playing with a point to prove.

[Kuhl_Runnings]

It's funny - I was on the bus with some Newcastle fans on the way back and they were saying that they thought the game was pretty awful and the standard of football dreadful. They were asking me if 'it's always this bad' at the mad stad. However I thought it was one of the more interesting Reading games i'd seen this season - certainly better than Wolves on Saturday.

Compared to the later Adkins/Clarke days at least we look like a solid football side that isn't going to shatter under the slightest pressure.

Have to say though that I still think that Kermorgant is the weak link. He's another Pogrebnyak. Football fans can often be blinded to the failings of their own players and anyone that thinks he's good enough for a promotion chasing team is mistaken. Until we get in a £10m striker I can't see us being competitive in the big games.

Call me crazy but I would actually argue Kermie has been one of our best, most consistent players all season. Sure he could have got a few more goals, but he puts in a shift week in week out, I rarely come away from a game thinking that he hasn't played well.

+1

[3points]

I'm increasingly liking Blackett. Agree with Ollie K - his defensive work is ahead of Obita's and Gunter could learn a few lessons too about closing down the space and getting tight to the attacker, being aggressive in the challenge. He does still have lapses in concentration and plays a few too many stray passes though often I don't think it is the thought process, more the execution that let's him down.

When we moved to three at the back and two wing backs, it actually helped keep Ritchie quiet as he spent most of his time tracking back to help cover Obita and McCleary which significantly reduced his impact on the game as he looked very dangerous up until then.

[genome]

Reading the Newcastle forum's comments. You can actually hear their accents in the way they post, my favourite being "f**k off and boil ya heed man"

http://www.newcastle-online.org/nufcfor ... 6.250.html

[muirinho]

Very harsh. We were okay, nowhere near utter dross. Improved much more than "a bit" in the second and domin8ed - actually a lot to do with Williams and Obita more than G-Mac I thought, who only really threatened in the last 10 minutes.

Kelly had a right shocker, though.

I'm with jd82 here. We were so poor in the first half I nearly fell asleep - all of our possession was just in front of our penalty area and Newcastle had the bulk of the chances. I've not seen Kelly play such a bad half of football and it was no surprise he didn't reappear for the second.
We were much better in the second half and at least we had spells of decent possession in newcastle's half. Blackett looks so much better as a central defender than a full back so I don't know why Stam keeps picking him over Obita.

Just my view but I think Blackett is a much better defender than Obita when it comes to both stopping crosses and defending the back post. He's not as easy on the eye when going forward but he's far more effective in terms of the bread and butter elements of being a defender. I also think he has a lot of improvement still to come. I've also long been of the view that Obita isn't a full back and should be played higher up the pitch.

I do think Stam wants his defenders to be defenders first and foremost rather than attackers - creativity etc is meant to come from the midfield

this quote from his post-match reaction was also interesting:

"We could have done a little bit better and we only conceded chances because we lost the ball. In how we play we are confident in what we do.
"We just need to keep on going.

He's said stuff like this before - basically he'd rather we kept the ball until there's a very clear attacking opportunity, rather than gamble, potentially lose possession, and get penalised on the counter-attack.

So - the players who are safety-first - especially the defenders - are following orders. I bet he was pretty happy with Chris Gunter's performance, for instance, for the exact reasons that many here find him so frustrating! Unless Gunts is 99% sure a forward pass is going to work, he's not going to try it. Obita is a frustrated winger, rather than a defender, and is much more inclined to gamble.

I'm happy enough with the safety-first approach against good counter-attacking teams like Newcastle - but I'd rather a bit more attacking oomph against other teams.

Based on results though, Stam's approach is working.