BFTG - Cheltenham

[South Coast Royal]

Unfortunately my i-follow was not much good last night so only saw a bit of the game.
Ryan Lowe on Sky Sports said that some of the approach play from both sides looked good with Reading shading it but both teams were badly lacking up front.

So that is 6 league games played by these two sides with just one own goal to show for 540 minutes of action.

Shout out to Royals and Racers who predicted a bright future for Carson based last season on his first appearance for the U23s.
I hear that NGW's time may be up anyway so am very pleased to read the reports on Carson's performance.

Definitely a brave selection of a team for last night by Selles which spells out to those that think they are first-teamers that they need to improve which is totally different from last season when Ince gambled on the more experienced players would eventually come good which of course they didn't.

By the end of September after playing some of the seemingly better sides in Stevenage, Exeter, Bolton, Bristol Rovers and Blackpool we may have a better idea of how the season may pan out.
What a strange feeling the morning after winning a league game-more of it please.

[Stranded]

Really good seeing the young players deliver. We've a long way to go yet. Finally some pace at the back and it got usout of jail more than once.

Button continues to be adequate but shakey at times, Southwood the better of the two keepers.

Defence played well, but I remain unconvinced by Mbengue's reading of the game at fullback. I don’t think that line up would stand up so well to a good L1 attack. For me centreback should be:

McIntyre/Dean/Holmes
Abbey/Mbengue/Binden

Amazing that Dorsett now seems nowhere.

Midfield was better, but still needs much more movement. Camara and Knibbs did ok, if unspectacular.

Vickers looks quality, but we mustn't burn him out, lots to develop. Ehib is a cracking player but fades early.

Lots of promise, the next few months still likely to be a slog. 3 league games in and no goals for a Reading player yet.

Honest question as we all see things differently but what was it about Button's performance yesterday that you considered shaky? He claimed every high ball perfectly, including coming through players on a couple of occasions - dealt with the few efforts on goal calmly and effectively. Was constantly communicating with the back 4 and you could see the relationship between the CBs and him build throughout the game and his distribution was decent bar maybe 1 or 2 that he overcooked. There was the backpass mix up in the first 5 mins but that seemed to be more a bit of nerves from Bindon that on the GK.

Essentially, and I know it is one game, he countered pretty much every negative we've heard about him and finally being first choice again looks like it may help him regain the confidence he clearly lost at WBA. Am sure there will be games where we wonder why we bothered but last night he showed a lot of the traits that the club were clearly looking for in a keeper - he fits the plan.

Thought he lost where he was for the high ball near his bar and made a right meal of it.

The one he pushed over for a corner? I can see why you may think that - looking at the highlights again, had his eye on the ball throughout and decided to take a safety first approach, not sure with the loop of the ball doing anything else would have been sensible.

[hughsies no.1]

Changes had to be made following THAT second half on Saturday - and it was good to see, even though I don't think anyone was expecting the volume of changes that were made.

Thoughts -
- Great to get a league win, regardless of the opposition
- If there was ever a league game to throw the kids in, Cheltenham at home who are arguably one of the weakest teams in the league with 3 defeats this season going into the game was the one
- The team will only get better but insistent we need to remain level headed that we have scraped past them with an own goal
- Abbey was great, Bindon was good but would still go with Dean ahead of him, looked toothless up top (hopefully Smith's return will help with that)
- I want to see a mix of youth and experience, come Saturday and a Steve Evans Stevenage who will be very physical with 3 wins on the trot - I feel we will need experience in there and would start Hutchinson
- Still adamant that AC can do a job at this level for us and not holding him to blame for the weekend if we are not playing a style that does not suit his play, having Vickers playing off him could be very interesting and I would actually try that Saturday

Overall, great to get the win, the kids did good - if we persisted with that line-up last night I think we would be looking at bottom half finish in the league - need a mix of experience and youth. I think Saturday will be a completely different task and would go with the following - Button, Carson, Abbey, Dean, Mbengue, Knibbs, Hutchinson, Savage, Camara, Carroll, Vickers

[NewCorkSeth]

Nope, leaving that for a few weeks.

One thing that shocked me last night, was how on earth did not one member of the coaching or playing team from two seasons ago say nothing to Selles about packing Southwood in on corners and set plays and trying to bully him.

Given that's what broke him in our side.

Have you considered Cheltenhams defense are more competent than the defense Southwood had for late December and January? That was an abysmal period where everything that came in the box was completely missed by our players.

[Stranded]

Unfortunately my i-follow was not much good last night so only saw a bit of the game.
Ryan Lowe on Sky Sports said that some of the approach play from both sides looked good with Reading shading it but both teams were badly lacking up front.

So that is 6 league games played by these two sides with just one own goal to show for 540 minutes of action.

Shout out to Royals and Racers who predicted a bright future for Carson based last season on his first appearance for the U23s.
I hear that NGW's time may be up anyway so am very pleased to read the reports on Carson's performance.

Definitely a brave selection of a team for last night by Selles which spells out to those that think they are first-teamers that they need to improve which is totally different from last season when Ince gambled on the more experienced players would eventually come good which of course they didn't.

By the end of September after playing some of the seemingly better sides in Stevenage, Exeter, Bolton, Bristol Rovers and Blackpool we may have a better idea of how the season may pan out.
What a strange feeling the morning after winning a league game-more of it please.

NGW's time is up? What have you heard, are we shipping him out? Would have thought he was one of the "seniors" best suited to playing Selles style.

[SCIAG]

How can people be changing their tune going from “relegation is a disaster” to “now I think it’s good” based on the back off a 1 nil, ultimately laboured, home win against arguably the worst side in the division, and it was a massive own goal.

You new here?

[Sutekh]

Unfortunately my i-follow was not much good last night so only saw a bit of the game.
Ryan Lowe on Sky Sports said that some of the approach play from both sides looked good with Reading shading it but both teams were badly lacking up front.

So that is 6 league games played by these two sides with just one own goal to show for 540 minutes of action.

Shout out to Royals and Racers who predicted a bright future for Carson based last season on his first appearance for the U23s.
I hear that NGW's time may be up anyway so am very pleased to read the reports on Carson's performance.

Definitely a brave selection of a team for last night by Selles which spells out to those that think they are first-teamers that they need to improve which is totally different from last season when Ince gambled on the more experienced players would eventually come good which of course they didn't.

By the end of September after playing some of the seemingly better sides in Stevenage, Exeter, Bolton, Bristol Rovers and Blackpool we may have a better idea of how the season may pan out.
What a strange feeling the morning after winning a league game-more of it please.

NGW's time is up? What have you heard, are we shipping him out? Would have thought he was one of the "seniors" best suited to playing Selles style.

Think I'd play NGW as an actual winger so his defensive role is further forward and hopefully therefore less of a problem if he cocks it up.

[Snowflake Royal]

Nope, leaving that for a few weeks.

One thing that shocked me last night, was how on earth did not one member of the coaching or playing team from two seasons ago say nothing to Selles about packing Southwood in on corners and set plays and trying to bully him.

Given that's what broke him in our side.

Have you considered Cheltenhams defense are more competent than the defense Southwood had for late December and January? That was an abysmal period where everything that came in the box was completely missed by our players.

Of course, and they have a manager who knows how to set up a defensive set piece.

Still would have done it a couple of times to rattle him though.

[Royals and Racers]

Unfortunately my i-follow was not much good last night so only saw a bit of the game.
Ryan Lowe on Sky Sports said that some of the approach play from both sides looked good with Reading shading it but both teams were badly lacking up front.

So that is 6 league games played by these two sides with just one own goal to show for 540 minutes of action.

Shout out to Royals and Racers who predicted a bright future for Carson based last season on his first appearance for the U23s.
I hear that NGW's time may be up anyway so am very pleased to read the reports on Carson's performance.

Definitely a brave selection of a team for last night by Selles which spells out to those that think they are first-teamers that they need to improve which is totally different from last season when Ince gambled on the more experienced players would eventually come good which of course they didn't.

By the end of September after playing some of the seemingly better sides in Stevenage, Exeter, Bolton, Bristol Rovers and Blackpool we may have a better idea of how the season may pan out.
What a strange feeling the morning after winning a league game-more of it please.

I was going to blow my own trumpet - but you have kindly done it for me

[Snowball]

Allegedly shaky Button was awarded MotM by
WhoScored with a mark of 7.4

Southwood was also joint-top player for his side with 7.0

He did, after all, make four fine saves

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Unfortunately my i-follow was not much good last night so only saw a bit of the game.
Ryan Lowe on Sky Sports said that some of the approach play from both sides looked good with Reading shading it but both teams were badly lacking up front.

I think we just need that ruthless edge in front of goal. Kelvin E is doing pretty well, always looking to do the right things but we need a bit more of a striker's instinct, exactly like what we saw at Millwall. Not necessarily pretty goals, but in the right areas to get the goals. Knibbs and Vickers look like they have the potential to create for us, Camara has looked decent since pre-season after blowing a bit hot and cold before.

Obviously Smith is a big miss, but if Kelvin E can improve that side of his game and maybe the others in behind can chip in with the goals, we could easily see our best front 4 this season be:

Camara Vickers Knibbs
Kelvin E

Which would simply be fantastic to see 3 academy lads producing, with Azeez in the background as well. But that's the key thing for me, producing, that's what we need to see. It's positive though at the moment, although suspect a lot would be complaining more if these players were not through the academy at the same time.

[Hound]

Do realistically need to bring another striker in I think. Carroll doesn’t look fully fit or suited to Selles and whilst I think Smith is ideal in this side could be a couple of months til fully fit again

Don’t really want either Ehibhatiomhan or Vickers playing 90m other than as a real exception

[tidus_mi2]

We did look a lot better yesterday, I think we still faded though, I struggle to think about what point it turned, maybe about 60mins we started to struggle to create decent chances. I hope it's just a case of we're not 100% there yet and with more games and training time we'll improve, that said we really restricted Cheltenham, I can't think of a big save Button had to make, but speaking of Button, he didn't flap at anything and made some confident catches which was good to see.

[PieEater]

Leaving the game hanging on to our first win of the season against one of the worst teams in the league it didn't really feel like a win.

For once I'd like to get a comfortable win but I guess we have to start somewhere and now we have the monkey off our back I hope we can improve and play more freely.

The refs this season have been poor, where he found 11 minutes from I've no idea, except maybe giving fouls to their number 11 for his theatrics every time he was touched. If I can see a player is trying to buy a foul _every_single_time_ they get the_ball then why can't a professional referee?

[Snowball]

Leaving the game hanging on to our first win of the season against one of the worst teams in the league it didn't really feel like a win.

For once I'd like to get a comfortable win but I guess we have to start somewhere and now we have the monkey off our back I hope we can improve and play more freely.

The refs this season have been poor, where he found 11 minutes from I've no idea, except maybe giving fouls to their number 11 for his theatrics every time he was touched. If I can see a player is trying to buy a foul _every_single_time_ they get the_ball then why can't a professional referee?

It felt like a MONSTER win to me.

Apart from games where we clinched promotion/top spot
this win ranks right up there with the very best. (For me).

A near "second-eleven" ("you win nothing with kids...")
and the average age ONE THIRD of mine, and one RDG
player a QUARTER of my age, I could not have been more
chuffed.

I was posting throughout (and telling anybody in the stand who'd listen)
that this was an exceptional evening, the future laid out for all to see.

I personally don't think we faded (as in we got tired) but we maybe went
into our shell a little (probably due to Selles half-time talk = "Let's not be
quite so Gung-Ho, guys, because Cheltenham look dangerous on the break...")

But we defended BRILLIANTLY.

So we learned we can attack with speed and panache, but also defend.

I LOVED EVERY MINUTE!

[skipper]

I'm not sure I'm getting all this Cheltenham approach play was as good as Readings melarky. Or that Reading "just shaded it". Were they watching a different game?

For 60 minutes we absolutly bossed them.

And when they got back into the game, it was a classic case of the other team allowing them. We were knackered and our subs had a negative impact on our play.

Stamina will be something we need to address, because we have players that can seriously play.

[Jerry St Clair]

Cheltenham started where they left off from Bolton on Saturday. A pretty limited side with two or three key players injured making things worse, just couldn't get close. The second half improvement was surprising but, as others have said, absolutely no goal threat whatsoever. Last season Alfie May would have got on the end of one of the half chances and Cheltenham may well have nabbed a point.He is badly missed.

if you want a yardstick, from what I saw last night and last season in L1 I'd say Reading are roughly a lower mid-table team. Plenty better and a few worse. The top half of the league has actually weakened, but the bottom is stronger. Forest Green, and to a lesser degree Accrington, were basket case whipping boys last season. I don't think any of the teams that came up from L2 are as bad so "competition" for the relegation places may be stronger this year.

[Vision]

I have a suspicion (based on very little as per ) that to some degree Selles’ team selections have been preselected .

Our preseason was so shambolic that he really didn’t have enough time to assess how players could work in the system he wants to play . As a result these opening games and selections very much have a preseason feel to me.

Hopefully he’s now at a stage where he knows what his best side is . I hope this includes some of the youngsters who have performed admirably so far and that the early substitutions aren’t just a way of managing minutes for the players .

I think the fact he considers the academy players as legitimate first team options is clearly a step up from last season . Also once his playing style kicks in with everyone I think we will enjoy watching this side play. There will be frustrating days for sure but I’m pretty optimistic about the path we’re on.

[Clyde1998]

Cheltenham started where they left off from Bolton on Saturday. A pretty limited side with two or three key players injured making things worse, just couldn't get close. The second half improvement was surprising but, as others have said, absolutely no goal threat whatsoever. Last season Alfie May would have got on the end of one of the half chances and Cheltenham may well have nabbed a point.He is badly missed.

if you want a yardstick, from what I saw last night and last season in L1 I'd say Reading are roughly a lower mid-table team. Plenty better and a few worse. The top half of the league has actually weakened, but the bottom is stronger. Forest Green, and to a lesser degree Accrington, were basket case whipping boys last season. I don't think any of the teams that came up from L2 are as bad so "competition" for the relegation places may be stronger this year.

Yeah, I agree that Cheltenham never looked like threatening our goal (especially in the first half, they did set up to try and not concede). Given I think survival would be a good season for Cheltenham, we weren't significantly better; part of that will be due to playing a large amount of our less-established players who are probably lower League One players at best in their actual ability. It follows that lower mid-table is our level right now (if these young players are used regularly this season, they should improve a lot by May though). Port Vale will probably be mid-table, so that result/performance again backs this up.

The course of the game was surprisingly similar to Port Vale (other than the result). The Sofascore attack momentum (which appears to be a reflection of where the ball is at a given time) shows this (graph below; Port Vale is grey, Cheltenham is yellow): a strong first half, followed by a weaker second. The difference is we got the goal when we were on top against Cheltenham (albeit a scrappy own goal), but failed to get that goal against Port Vale (who looked better than Cheltenham anyway once they got into the game).

Attack momentum graph. A positive figure shows Reading on top; a negative figure shows opponents on top, with a ten minute moving average.

Millwall (orange) incidentally saw very little of the game where we were on top in terms of territory, despite the scoreline (part of that is game state); Millwall didn't really threaten much despite this.