Back from the ****

[tmesis]

So-called fans booing as they walked out - get over yourselves. Honestly our support this season has been worse than every player except Martin. Complete joke and an embarrassment. Get a sense of perspective.

What perspective exactly sees today's game as anything other than a complete disgrace? That lack of effort was shameful. The lack of ability was an embarrassment - against a half-interested team who have happily settled for a 0-0.

That was as bad as it had been for a very long time. 45 minutes of boredom, 25 minutes where there was at best a hint of a hint of promise, followed by 20 minutes of gutless farce.

The players deserved to know just what fans thought of their efforts this season. They have not been appreciated.


I would ask the alternate question to the fans who applauded at the end, what exactly were you applauding? The entertainment this season? The hard work the players have put it? Their determination and dedication to the cause?

Walk past the club shop and see the players' expensive cars lined up in the first row of parking spaces, and ask yourself how many will really give a toss when they are sunning themselves on a beach in a couple of weeks time.

[Snowflake Royal]

Also the people who seem to think that every single defeat is the worst we've ever played, and who forget that we were two penalties away from the Premier League a year ago.

This shower playing in the premiership. Laughable. Too inexperienced and lack the mental strength to battle.

More realistically where have we finished over the past 4 seasons.

Worse teams than us have done just fine in the PL - Huddersfield for example. I think we'd have added a similar quality of player and done similarly well.

Of the players who have been fit this season, only Gunter was with us four years ago. Almost the entire squad was signed or given their debut under Stam, so I don't think our performances under Clarke are particularly relevant.

I don't think Huddersfield are a good example of a team who were worse than us.

[Zip]

I can't put into words how angry I am so I am going to mash the keyboard with my head a few times.

G4gyjmufbhrhttbbtbgbt

Yes me too. I thought we were lacklustre in the first half. My biggest concern was that from an Ipswich corner they had three players unmarked in our box. That’s unacceptable.
We upped the tempo in the second half and looked decent. Their keeper made a couple of excellent saves.
Once we conceded it was pathetic.

I still think we will stay up and hope to God that we do. I fear for the club if we go down. Not in the mood to do player ratings although I thought Barrow and Ilori were decent. As for Swift he really has lost his way very badly.
Sad to see a Reading fan sarcastically applauding their fourth goal.

[Westwood52]

I shall try to take a balanced view of today's performance. 1st half just showed that the league table doesn't lie; we were poor ; but not disastrous. However our inability to score, came back to haunt us, as once Ipswich got their first; we literally collapsed from one to eleven, and the sheer lack of professionalism and application from players who get paid a lot of money was shameful.
IMHO:
Vito 4: Pulled off a good save 1st half; but that 3rd goal was shocking-at least Jakkola's similar howler didnt go in. What exactly was his thought process-has he even got a brain.

Gunter 2: For years I have tried to defend him. But even in the 1st half he was very poor, and in the 2nd half , he was just terrible. He is a seasoned Pro; but he was absolutely gutless 2nd half and sums up Reading's season.Should never ever have been made captain. Putting it quite simply he is a complete disgrace.
Richards 4: Horribly exposed again.Whoever coached him in his formative years;either didnt have a clue, or Omar just doesnt listen. Going forward he is OK, but has no sense of positioning defensively.
Moore 4: Was OK, if not at his best 1st half;but when Ipswich came calling, his game just fell apart. Remember for the 2nd goal,the Ipswich player was totally unmarked in the middle of the penalty area.Does he really think someone is going to come in for him ?
Ilori 5: OK at CH, but just not a FB. I saw him play FB last season and he got roasted. Did none of Clement's staff tell him this ? Surely Elphick should have gone to RB ?
Swift 2: He absolutely fell apart for 20 minutes in the 2nd half, and was so upset, he no longer wanted the ball.Nothing went right for him. How can the best passer in the Club consistantly miss his man.
Kelly 6: MOM,but his corners were awful.
Barrow 6: Had his moments, but so often goes from the sublime to the ridiculous in a heartbeat.
Bovardson 5 : Suprised he was taken off, one nice touch of play 1st half. But for a professional. technically very poor.
Kermit 2 : Moans at everyone else; but now a shadow of a once good player. He is just so slow and cumbersome.
Aluko 1: What can I say;we should have bought his Sister.

Elphick : The jury is out on whether we should sign him. A class act, no doubt, but he was part of a defence which gave away four shocking goals.
Smith: Had one header; but really not a lot he could achieve given the circumstances.
Martin: People can have a go at him; fair enough; but today , the ineptitude around him, meant he had no chance.

Clement: Seemed a strange selection. 4-2-4 looked like we were going gung ho.No Evans, as the holding player ?
If we had just kept it tight; maybe alternatively Elphick in front of the back four , amongst a three we might have nicked a point.

Ref: Not great;but we have had worse.

Where do we go from here ? I cannot see us suddenly turning into a winning team next week. I have been waiting for a spark all season, and it just isnt there.I think two of the B s will lose next week, and we will then survive. But fundamentally we are such a bad team, that we deserve to go down.Today was the complete pits, and the players need to ask themselves,what they are doing in this profession. Ipswich arent world beaters, but they all worked tremendously hard, and had an excellent all round attitude. As for us the players are a disgrace , and in any other industry, they would have some very serious performance review.
Will I renew my season ticket ? Absolutely yes-however I am glad that I have three months off, from turning up to watch this rubbish.

[SCIAG]

I rarely get sucked into personal debates on here, maybe its because I'm so angry and upset, but please don't patronise me by saying I don't support my club . What I won't do is support this bunch of grossly shameless overpaid mercenaries who clearly do not give a flying toss about Reading FC like the fans do. Getting relegated would not be a disaster, the club could be rebuilt, imho, it's rotten from the top to the bottom. Getting relegated and rebuilding didn't hurt Wolves, Southampton and Swansea. I'll be there first game of the season where ever it is next season , so yes I am a supporter.

It isn't my intention to insult you and certainly not patronise you. I just think that by definition, actively wanting your club to be relegated (or lose a match) means that you aren't supporting them, even if just temporarily.

If you simply don't mind if we get relegated then that's another matter, but actively wanting the club relegated is incompatible with being a supporter.

Patronising you would be to suggest that you're overreacting and you'll see sense when you calm down tomorrow. I hadn't considered that possibility but I guess you could reasonably claim to still be a supporter while having a bit of a freak-out after a loss. We've all done it. If you're coldly, rationally calling for us to be relegated then at least for the minute you're not a supporter, no way around that. If you're having a crisis of confidence then fine.

The club got to the playoff final a year ago which suggests that it's perfectly capable of success. Swansea spent 24 years in the bottom two tiers. Southampton and Wolves both had resources which far outstripped other Championship clubs, let alone League One clubs. Norwich would probably be a better example. I don't think it would be the end of the world if we got relegated, but it would definitely be worse for our long-term prospects than staying up.

[SCIAG]

This shower playing in the premiership. Laughable. Too inexperienced and lack the mental strength to battle.

More realistically where have we finished over the past 4 seasons.

Worse teams than us have done just fine in the PL - Huddersfield for example. I think we'd have added a similar quality of player and done similarly well.

Of the players who have been fit this season, only Gunter was with us four years ago. Almost the entire squad was signed or given their debut under Stam, so I don't think our performances under Clarke are particularly relevant.

I don't think Huddersfield are a good example of a team who were worse than us.

We finished above them last season. They only managed to put one goal past us over 300 minutes (the same as we put past them). Perhaps it would be fairer to call us evenly matched.

[Snowball]

First

The Manager gets a 4 for putting out such
a lightweight two-man central midfield.

Swift and Kelly are not just lightweight
but both horribly out of form

5 Mannone Made at least two good saves, but one shot through his legs and that horrible mix-up

3 Gunter. Timid, tepid, just gets rid so he won't make a mistake. One good break but not so good cross (and see above)
7 Illori. Didn't do much wrong, tried even more when shifted to RB
5 Moore. Nothing like his best, doesn't lead the back 4
5 Richards. Curate's egg, decent going forward but not quite ready

2 Swift. One good run, plus the goal chance but so many TERRIBLE passes.
2 Kelly. No urgency. A few decent tackles, a few decent passes, but others Swift. (Maybe they were 3s)
5 Barrow. Not a stinker but way off his Reading best
2 Aluko. Misplaced passes (altho he won some tackles), bad misses

6 Bodvarrson. I still like him. Works hard, but not the world's deadliest striker
5 Kermogant A Season too Far

SUBS

5 Smith Not enough time. One good hard run into space ignored by Gunter
5 Elphick. Guessing the score a bit. Seemed to be voluble, organising the back four

-18 Martin

[SCIAG]

What perspective exactly sees today's game as anything other than a complete disgrace?

One that's seen us get relegated before, play much worse than that before, play at lower levels before, and go entire matches without threatening against equally-mediocre opposition. Shit happens.

I would ask the alternate question to the fans who applauded at the end, what exactly were you applauding? The entertainment this season? The hard work the players have put it? Their determination and dedication to the cause?

All three of those, as well as just the fact that this is my club and I support it unconditionally, unless it starts behaving seriously unethically. If you support a football club then you take the rough with the smooth. Booing your football club after a defeat is like booing your grandchildren when they get Cs on their mock GCSEs.

[Zip]

I agree Snowball. Swift and Kelly cannot play together in central midfield. They are also both incredibly shot shy. Time and again they tried to thread a pass through the eye of a needle instead of having the balls to have a go on goal.

[Royal Rother]

Have been reading that this type of gutless performance shows that it really has been the players’ fault, and not Stam’s....

Rubbish.

Stam’s regime got rid of many of the promising youngsters who had come through the Academy and cared about the club. They may not have had the supposed talent of the players brought in to replenish the squad but by God they’d have fought hard and given the fans something to SUPPORT. Unlike this shower of shite.

Of course it’s Stam’s fault it has come to this. He built the squad, he let whatever is festering inside impact the performances on the pitch.

And seriously, the conspiracy theorists suggesting that there is something very wrong at the club and it is rotten to the core etc. etc. Well yes, if the management from the top down is shite it can reach the playing side of things in some small way but all they really DEEPLY care about is picking up their money - they need structure, balance, training, motivation (what about tenacity, spirit and flair?) and Stam was clearly unable to provide the spark they needed to show those qualities this season.

Quite obviously the malaise (can I call it cancer?) is too deep for Clement to be able to turn things around without a total clear out.

The players fault, of course. But the real culprit is Jaap Stam for letting it come to this state. Unfit, undisciplined, unmotivated and un whatever else you can think of.

[Berry]

Can Leon do a poll on whether Martin could score in a brothel, and add an option of whether he has the energy to even walk into one?

[Ascotexgunner]

So-called fans booing as they walked out - get over yourselves. Honestly our support this season has been worse than every player except Martin. Complete joke and an embarrassment. Get a sense of perspective.

What perspective exactly sees today's game as anything other than a complete disgrace? That lack of effort was shameful. The lack of ability was an embarrassment - against a half-interested team who have happily settled for a 0-0.

That was as bad as it had been for a very long time. 45 minutes of boredom, 25 minutes where there was at best a hint of a hint of promise, followed by 20 minutes of gutless farce.

The players deserved to know just what fans thought of their efforts this season. They have not been appreciated.


I would ask the alternate question to the fans who applauded at the end, what exactly were you applauding? The entertainment this season? The hard work the players have put it? Their determination and dedication to the cause?

Walk past the club shop and see the players' expensive cars lined up in the first row of parking spaces, and ask yourself how many will really give a toss when they are sunning themselves on a beach in a couple of weeks time.

You've actually said exactly what I wanted to say. I boo' d......loudly. I have every right to. These players arnt children.....their adults on big money. I'll continue to critisise the management. As I said from day 1,Clement was completely the the wrong man for the job. Today showed he has improved nothing. Mentally they seem worse. He basically had some luck that Stam didn't. If we continue with him we will no doubt be here again next season (if we survive). He will be gone by January, Completely the wrong man for the job and not the right credentials. But we are where we are.

[Whitley]

As soon as I saw the line up with that midfield Swift and Kelly with VDB and Edwards on the bench I knew it would be difficult for us to get a result. I understand Clement wanted to play 4-4-2 but with those two lightweight midfielders we had no chance against a strong Ipswich side. Personally I dont think either VDB or Edwards are the answer but we would have done better with one of them in midfield today, I don't feel Swift and Kelly can play in the same midfield 3 let alone a midfield 2 surrounded by Barrow and Aluko

Anyway, the team

Mannone - 6 Very little chance with any of the goals
Gunter - 4
Richards 5 - Struggled before he went off injured, although we conceded 4 after he went off and the defense shuffled around.
Moore 5 - Normally I'm a big fan of Moore although today he was poor, played Waghorn onside for their 1st goal and went missing after that, not the normal leader he is.
Ilori - 5
Swift - 3 Terrible passing today, should have scored, can't play in a 2 man midfield
Kelly - 3 Poor today
Aluko - 2 Terrible, does he know what position he is supposed to be playing? Far too greedy on the ball, can't finish
Barrow - 6 Probably our best player today
Kermorgant 4 - Did nothing of note
Bodvarsson - 5 Should've scored and unlucky to be subbed off

Martin 3 - LOL, how is this guy a professional football player? Surprised he managed to walk round for the lap of appreciation, furthest he's moved all season.

Clement 2- Got his tactics all wrong today, very hard on the players during the post match interview but he has to shoulder a lot of the blame today for his terrible team selection.

Fans 3- Not one for booing during the game as our fans did even though the 3rd and 4th goals were shambolic.

Hopefully we just about stay up by the skin of our teeth, Bring on next season

[Big Ern]

2 words after that

ACCRINGTON STANLEY

Who are they?

[Lower West]

Kelly 6: MOM,but his corners were awful.

Goal no 2. Walking back when we lost possession. Absolutely no attempt to get back 10 yards to defend. Not good enough to warrant a starting place every week. Doesn't bring enough to the team. Certainly hasn't improved in the past 12 months.

[NewCorkSeth]

For me the thing is if Aluko hadn't taken that shit shot in the second half and instead used his eyes to see the cutback for the oncoming, unmarked Swift we would have won that easily but instead we wasted every chance we got and made it hard work to look like finding a way back into it. Confidence again is the issue. The players are incapable of making the correct decisions and are suffering from poor leadership on the pitch.
I hope there's not many left in the Gunter camp after today. Swift would make a better captain.
No point in doing player ratings but I would like to mark out future England star Liam Kelly yet again standing still and watching his man run at goal. Seems to do it every game.

[NewCorkSeth]

Kelly 6: MOM,but his corners were awful.

Goal no 2. Walking back when we lost possession. Absolutely no attempt to get back 10 yards to defend. Not good enough to warrant a starting place every week. Doesn't bring enough to the team. Certainly hasn't improved in the past 12 months.

Big +1 as I just posted the Liam Kelly love in needs to stop. He's clearly getting a big head from it and has, imo, regressed somewhat.

Also nobody on our team is good at corners. Or throw ins.

[Ascotexgunner]

2 words after that

ACCRINGTON STANLEY

Who are they?

Without sound like a scouser from an 80s ad.....a well run club that have come back from the dead and who have a rather good CEO who has spent money very wisely. As opposed to the charlatan Ron Gourley, who claims he did CEO work for Chelsea and Man U but wasn't actually a proper CEO and as such has f*cked up contracts galore costing this club fortunes. I'm in a good mood this evening.

[3points]

Omar Richards really isn’t very good

Thought Ilori was a better option at right back than Gunter

[NewCorkSeth]

Have been reading that this type of gutless performance shows that it really has been the players’ fault, and not Stam’s....

Rubbish.

Stam’s regime got rid of many of the promising youngsters who had come through the Academy and cared about the club. They may not have had the supposed talent of the players brought in to replenish the squad but by God they’d have fought hard and given the fans something to SUPPORT. Unlike this shower of shite.

Of course it’s Stam’s fault it has come to this. He built the squad, he let whatever is festering inside impact the performances on the pitch.

And seriously, the conspiracy theorists suggesting that there is something very wrong at the club and it is rotten to the core etc. etc. Well yes, if the management from the top down is shite it can reach the playing side of things in some small way but all they really DEEPLY care about is picking up their money - they need structure, balance, training, motivation (what about tenacity, spirit and flair?) and Stam was clearly unable to provide the spark they needed to show those qualities this season.

Quite obviously the malaise (can I call it cancer?) is too deep for Clement to be able to turn things around without a total clear out.

The players fault, of course. But the real culprit is Jaap Stam for letting it come to this state. Unfit, undisciplined, unmotivated and un whatever else you can think of.

Rubbish. Equal blame. He let the players down with tactical inconsitensy and inexperienced management. The players let him down by being absolutely shite.