BFTG - Blackburn Home

[PieEater]

Good win in a game that we dominated. We sat back a bit in the second half, and Blackburn looked better with Emnes and Jao, but we were never really troubled.

Kelly ran the show until he was subbed, and I thought the second goal exemplified exactly what Stam is trying to do - pass it around the back - commit players to close you down and then spring and attack. That goal was the highlight of the season so far for me.

Kermo on fire again, two cracking headers. Give him a decent cross and he'll score

[sloughroyal123]

Did anyone notice the free kick for our first goal, the ball was still moving when it was taken?

[Greatwesternline]

Very small attendance, i know we only played on Saturday but really....its not great.

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Very good first half, nice passing mixed in with some longer stuff. Blackburn had the stuffing knocked out of them with the first and weren't in the game.

Second half they went for it and we invited them on. Still some great moves on the break

Oxford....... very good and always looked to pass sideways/forward even under pressure, rather than back to Al-Habsi

Moore....... Imperious

Blackett...... didn't put a foot wrong for once, very good going forward first half

Mutch....... pretty rubbish first half but 'mutch' ( )improved second half

McCleary ......... goal aside ( ) he was laughably awful

Kermogant ........ pretty much perfect. Started every attack, defended well. Just awesome. Really gutted he didn't get the hattrick

[Top Flight]

Another great win and good to see that following on from Saturday lots of chances again created.

This team are looking very impressive right now. It will be hard for the others to stop us.

[harry]

Very good 1st half. Should have had more than 2 by half time. Their changes at the break made 2nd half hard & thought they deserved the goal back and what a strike it was. Thought AAH had no chance. Great response but it was badly needed as we only really started the 2nd half when we conceded.

Moore was outstanding and for me just edged MOTM from Yann with two great headers. Both 9/10
Blackett - great cross for first goal. Did very little wrong defensively other than a dodgy foul. One good turn & run. 8
Swift - good turn & run down left wing 2nd half, great cross for 2nd goal. 1st half good, faded out a bit. 7
Oxford - very good, couple of dodgy passes but some good tackles & generally looked solid. Looked like he was struggling before being subbed. Shame to see him go off but good to see Ilori back. 8
Ilori - good showing 7
Kelly - good performance especially 1st half. I assume his sub was again to protect him. In fairness we needed to change something to turn the momentum back in our favour. 7
Williams - looked busy when came on. Surprised & pleased to see him playing after Saturday. 7
Beerens - patchy 6
Popa - looked bright and caused problems 1st half but faded. 6
McCleary, apart from a lovely strike for 3rd goal, was again very subdued. 5
Gunter - good performance. Seemed to often be covering 2 men. 6
AAH - good tip onto th epost and a couple of other decent saves. Thought he had no chance for the goal. 7
Mutch - a couple of dodgy moments but thought he had a good game overall. Surprised he wasn't booked for persistent fouls. 7

Ref - generally ok which is high praise from me

Oppo - thought 3-1 flattered us. They have the quality to get themselves out of relegation zone, it's whether they have the guile. If they'd got the goal back earlier in 2nd half it could have been a very different result.
They looked much more dangerous with Emnes & Joao on in 2nd half.

[Platypuss]

Kermie's second was great technique.

[Gunny Fishcake]

Classic game of two halves, we were great first half, rather complacent and sat back second half which made Blackburn threaten , Moore was quite outstanding , wonderful commitment , graft and reader of the game , thought Oxford looked promising . God knows what McCleary is eating at the moment, yes he scored a good goal, but his composure infront of goal is woeful at present, I think he's unfit as he also seems to have no sparkle or life in him. Still great result which makes top 3 or 4 place very achievable.....hope it's fourth as third place is a sucker .

[IceIceGylfi]

Better result and performance than I thought it was going to be.

What a signing Yann has turned out to be; when he joined I thought he was past it but fair play to him; gives it his all every game he plays and contributes massively.

AAH- 8, one fantastic save but rarely tested. Nothing much else to do; their goal gave him no chance, brilliant strike
Gunter - 8, I was in the camp that wants him gone but every game since the international break he has been superb
Moore - 8, Solid; solid as a rock
Oxford - 8, Fantastic and composed/calm under pressure
Blackett - 9, Nothing wrong bar a silly foul. Fantastic cross for the first; dare I say the best thing he's done in his time here
Popa - 7, Bit quiet but was decent getting back to help out and very pacey
Mutch - 6, a few good balls here and there but I'm still not entirely convinced by him to be honest
Kelly - 8, Makes a brilliant makeshift CDM
Swift - 8, Excellent cross for the second and some great skill. He oozes class
Beerens - 6, meh, I have a feeling he is low on confidence. He rarely takes on players anymore. Not bad, but could do with a boost
Kermorgant - 9, What more can I say? Brilliant in all areas of the pitch. Love the guy.

McCleary - 5, Besides a sweet finish for the third, his touch has been poor recently. I thought the decision to drop him for tonight was fair.
Williams - 6, Quiet but did his job. Got back and forward very sharply and a few nice touches and battles
Illori - 7, Solid, and like Oxford was calm under pressure.

Ref - I thought he was pretty decent. Let the game flow and waited for advantages properly; and then had a brief word after the passage of play whenever necessary .

[biff]

Liam Moore - 10. That was the perfect athletic centre back performance. Very lucky to have him.

[Jackson Corner]

The last couple of games we have looked a team that deserve to be in the top 6! Some lovely pass and move football with Kelly and Swift playing well in midfield. It was nice not having to rely on Al Habsi to get us the points for a change.
Have to agree on the low attendance. Begs the question do Reading deserve a Premier league football club? The owners, manager and players are doing there bit. but the fans can't be arsed to come.

[Hound]

Have to say I'm surprised by the poor attendance (but also a little surprised Leeds sold out)

Our midweek games generally seem to be poorly supported - difficult to understand why.

That's the one disappointment from the game

[RoyalBlue]

Have to say I'm surprised by the poor attendance (but also a little surprised Leeds sold out)

Our midweek games generally seem to be poorly supported - difficult to understand why.

That's the one disappointment from the game

Difficulty getting there and then finding somewhere to park in rush hour after work? School nights or holiday season?

[paultheroyal]

Have to say I'm surprised by the poor attendance (but also a little surprised Leeds sold out)

Our midweek games generally seem to be poorly supported - difficult to understand why.

That's the one disappointment from the game

Normally 10 of us go.... with only 4 of us there.... kids don't go to midweek games unless holiday others had work commitments

[Royal_jimmy]

I am also another one disappointed with the low attendance. Tickets were a fiver if you had a Leeds ticket which indeed was sold out (even with Leeds fans in the home end). The club can't make it any cheaper and we are nailed on to get a playoff place. Was expecting 18K at least!

[windermereROYAL]

Back to the game. it concerns me a bit how we appear to take our foot off the gas in the 2nd half of games. complete control in the 1st half. but as on Saturday we gave Blackburn plenty of possession. but AHH was largely untroubled apart from one fine save.

[Lower West]

Another game of 2 halves. Jaap understandably wasn't happy with the overall performance. In the second half we lost of control of the game. With no ability to match Blackburns 3-4-3 formation. Really missed JVB in that period.

At only 18, Reece Oxford is a true talent. You'd have thought that he played with Moore all season. Can see him going on to play at a very high level in the future.

Mutch is a very effective player that does the simple things well. Had a good game last night.

Popa should start before Beerans. At least he has the energy to chase and harass. Adds something to the team.

Blackett without doubt had his best game to date.

Swift at times was sublime. Seems to be getting stronger and stronger on the ball.

Moore should be made Captain next season. A real inspiration along with Yann on the pitch.

[The Cap]

Personally, I don't think we fear playing anyone now, as our confidence is so high. Kermie is a bit of a talisman for us, and it looks like we've developed into a really balanced team. Still susceptible to the odd counter attack although we seem to be improving on that front as well. Don't think anyone would want to come up against us in the play offs, and it's all a bit reminiscent of when Swansea got promoted. When you have an expansive pitch at Wembley, and some big game players, such as Swifty, it augurs well for our style of play.

[Hound]

I feel the team is in a very good place at the moment. Swift mentioned the pitch being a lot better due to the decent recent weather, and that is probably part of why him and Kelly are looking the part again.

We've got loads of options all over the park, except maybe up front where we are suddenly a bit reliant on Yann. Moore is back to his best, Gunter has hit form. I'd like to see a bit more from the wingers, but I think Popa has shown enough and has such a good work rate, that he is due a little run

[Pandoras Box]

Although a big fan of McShane, the pairing of Moore and Oxford was excellent.
Is Oxford an option to buy at the end of the season?

As others (although everyone has a free choice) I think the attendance is absolutely dire for a club at 3rd or 4th place. Let's see how many are at Wembley if we get to play off final, and if successful try getting a seat when Chelsea et al are in town.