Back from the game (ish)

[Badger Finger]

Well, sat in a car...

Toilet. Utter toilet...

10 players scared of a ball, devoid of any instruction other than to hump it down the channels. Poor old Jobi was so poor it was embarrassing. We lost to a team equally poor.
Highlights of the game beings Gorkkssss nearly clearing the ground when trying to make a five yard pass to Mills and the horrible, benefit cheating, mongtard stewards...
If it's like this every week, them I'm out.

Out.

[susieroyal]

Awful 2nd half, completely lacking in creativity and composure.
Stewards as laughable as always. Special lolz mention to the woman steward.
PS, on the tram not at home.

[FiNeRaIn]

Couple of forest fans saying we are the worst team they've played this season. Were we really that bad guys?

[susieroyal]

Worst I've seen us play for a long time, but it was the first time I've been this season.

[Badger Finger]

It was Grade A Shambles...

Back four weren't that bad defensively. Distribution is more than a lump down the channels. maybe someone should teach them that.
Midfield... Wingers couldn't beat Whitney Houston tonight. Devoid of any creativity or confidence. Jem did okay, won tackles, played the simple ball (Though the simple ball was usually backwards which then resulted in a massive lump upfield) Ledge had one of those games where he'd win the ball, and then just loft it down the channels again. Meat and drink to any kind of substandard defender.
The front two ran a lot, put in a good shift on that front. but that's what you have to do when you don't have any service. Manset looked a handful in the first hald, then just fizzled out. Yet again running out of steam it seems. Alfie... Well... He had a chance, it was our only proper chance. It was the 92nd minute. Think that says it all...

Laaaaaaaddddssss
Laaaaaaaddddssss
Laaaaaaaddddssss
Laaaaaaaddddssss
Laaaaaaaddddssss
Sit Down
Oh
Laaaaaaaddddssss
Laaaaaaaddddssss

[leicsRoyal]

Just back after watching two equally poor sides.

Feds - 6, not really much to do apart from pick the ball out of the net, kicking poor at times.
Cummings - 6, did ok not much more to say than that
Gorkss - 6, as above, LOL at the short pass along the ground that nearly ended u in the back of the stand.
Pearce - 6, again didn't do too much wrong but nothing to write home about
Mills - 6, just a steady enough game but no more than that
McAnuff - 2, at least he got on the bus to get there, he would have got higher marks had he missed it!
Leigertwood - 5, a few glimpses of the player from last season but not enough
Jem - 5, not really in the game as much as we need a central midfielder to be
HRK - 5, no real threat and pretty quiet throughout
Manset - 7, worked hard and gave the centre backs a tough time but never really much of a threat
Alf - 6, chased lost causes and for some reason seemed to become our target man in the second half!

One corner up until the 70th minute that was almost rolled along the ground to the first defender, the good old fashioned hoof down the channels in the vain hope that someone might actually get on the end of it and the first attempt of any real note came in the 92 minute.

Dire game, jobs worth stewards and a Oxf@rd of a referee.

[RobRoyal]

It seems Jobi is struggling with the responsibility of being skipper and also being expected, along with the winger on the other side, to be the only creative players in the side. He was so poor tonight, it was quite shocking.

Same old faults - no creativity in centre mid, nothing for our forwards to work with. Crossing very mediocre from everyone.

Trying to salvage a positive - we defended ok for the most part, and Leigertwood put in a decent performance.

But all in all, very bad indeed.

[winchester_royal]

Awful awful stuff. Even as a steady RTG I'm struggling to find any positives from tonight. Aimless hoof-ball. Utter utter crap. McAnuff had his worst game in a Reading shirt, and STILL Brian wouldn't take him off.

Actually I've thought of one, Mills wasn't too bad tonight, probably our best player TBF.

You could tell just how bad we were from our fans. First 30 minutes didn't stop singing, after that we could barely muster a 'URZZZ'.

Feeling really quite demoralised after that.

[floyd__streete]

Didn't attend the Palace game, but was heartened by a reasonable result. Was hoping we could kick on tonight and get something ahead of two frankly horrible looking home games to come. Despite a first half which we certainly shaded, that didn't happen - thanks to an utterly awful second half showing and the usual powder-puff attack.

Manset pulled Forest all over the park in that first half. So why is he only fit enough to play an hour? It's frankly pathetic from a professional athlete. When the replacements are the equally toothless duo of Church and Hunt it is even more galling. With Le Fondre showing himself to be little more than a poacher - although how he contrived to blaze our best chance over at the far post in the first half when we were dominating is beyond belief - with a thoroughly average all round game which makes it highly unlikely he'd ever be able to fashion a chance of his own making by beating a man or providing some piece of magic or trickery of his own, it is easy to see why we have scored a meagre 15 goals from 15 games this season.

Second half we were lackadaisical all round and no-one sums up that more than Captain Marvel MacAnuff himself. His delivery was woeful all evening, he rarely takes on and beats a man, and he blazed the rebound woefully over when we finally managed an effort on target in the 92nd minute. Very poor effort indeed once again, I never realised that wearing the armband spared you from being substituted.....well, it does in McDermott's world, he should have been hauled off long before the end. You know what, I'd probably sooner see Obita in the team, a young man who might make mistakes whilst learning the game, than MacAnuff who has flattered to deceive for a long, long while now. I also have misgivings over Gorkss and Pearce; both are immobile, clumsy in possession and have little composure. How terrible must Bonghani KhumaLOLo be not to get a place in that back four.

In summary then - powder-puff going forward, with glaring weaknesses defensively. Dreadful result against a Forest side who looked absolutely mediocre themselves.

[RobRoyal]

Couldn't disagree with any of that, Floyd.

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

Floyd_Streete wrote: Manset pulled Forest all over the park in that first half. So why is he only fit enough to play an hour?

He does not have the capacity nor the energy levels to last the full ninety he runs out of energy!!

[Norfolk Royal]

Was going to jump on the train from Norwich to Nottingham yesterday afternoon but when I considered it, having seen some awful games between us and Forest there before, I thought, 'What if we turn in a dire performance and lost 1-0 and I have to sit on the train back to Norwich for two hours in misery?'

I didn't go.

[3 veesinarow]

I am the rosiest of RTG's, but cannot pull a single positive out of that. It was probably the worst game between two very poor teams that I have ever had the misfortune to watch - you wouldn't even mind so much if Forest had played well and beaten us out of sight, but they were so dreadful, particularly in the first half when they passed more times to a player in blue & white than they did their own that to end up being beaten by them is embarassing.

It's the same old, same old - play well and up to the level of higher placed teams and slump down to the level of teams struggling for form and points. I'm not a Jobi-hater, either, but that was the worst shift he has ever put in and he should have been hauled off.

We didn't deserve the win, but then neither did Forest, so Camp's worldie at the end was all the more galling.

Bah humbug.

[Maguire]

Was going to jump on the train from Norwich to Nottingham yesterday afternoon but when I considered it, having seen some awful games between us and Forest there before, I thought, 'What if we turn in a dire performance and lost 1-0 and I have to sit on the train back to Norwich for two hours in misery?'

I didn't go.

If you had have done then the game would've been different though

[melonhead]

sounds appalling. yet again we play to the level of our opposition.

leigertwood, gorkss and pearce appear to be the only ones coming out with any credit
strikers starved of service, wingers not doing their jobs, no creativity(bring back brian howard! ).

plus points- the midfield, and defence look solid as a rock. but that leaves us short on ball players and if we play like that we need our FB and wingers to be the creators, and they just arent doing it. HRK has gone of the boil after a good start, mcanuff is really struggling, and kebe isnt starting, and whenever he plays any part we lose.

brian wont panic though, its our first loss in 9, so he'll look at it calmly, and do whats required:

maybe harte needs to come back in, for his quality on the ball, and set piece goals.
maybe 4-3-3 with tabb, ledge, and karacan in the middle, trying to hold and pass, with kebe, mcanuff on the wings to create for le fondre on his own up front.

[Maquisard]

Sounded pretty poor on the radio, although there were some moments in the first half when the Nottingham commentators said nice things about us. Overall, how did the game compare with Watford, which has to be the worst performance ever?

[Alan Partridge]

Would suggest it's more where Reading are as a team right now rather than 'dropping levels'. The Southampton match wasn't Reading's 'normal' level if it was they'd be 3rd right now, they raised their game for that and played well. This team has some really obvious weak links and areas of the side where with a fraction of decent money you could improve in a heartbeat. As it is they will win some lose some but 6 points off 6th, 6 points off the relegation zone I really think that is where Reading will be after 46 games.in the middle maybe slightly nearer to 6th in terms of points than the botton 3 but 14th something like that. They are a very average Championship side this year. To be honest they were last year apart from a stunning late run which got them into the playoffs. For the majority of the season they were your run of the mill 'honest' i think is a good term for them kind of side.

[leicsRoyal]

Sounded pretty poor on the radio, although there were some moments in the first half when the Nottingham commentators said nice things about us. Overall, how did the game compare with Watford, which has to be the worst performance ever?

Didn't make the Watford game but if there was anything worse than last night I'm glad I wasn't there.

[melonhead]

Would suggest it's more where Reading are as a team right now rather than 'dropping levels'. The Southampton match wasn't Reading's 'normal' level if it was they'd be 3rd right now, they raised their game for that and played well..

and derby, and boro, and palace etc

which was my point- we play to the level of the opposition we are playing.
shit team, and we play shit
good team, we play well

[Barry the bird boggler]

Listened on the radio. Sounded pretty even in the 1st half with Reading just edging what seemed to be two teams generally inept of creating anything.

Second half was more of the same with Reading creating even less. Not surprised by the score but embarrassed that yet another crap team has beaten us fairly easily come the end of the game.

Let's hope it's sufficient to give them a massive kick up the backside as I dread to think what the score will be if we serve up more of the same against Birmingham.

Still think we need to restore Harte to the team as our set pieces have generally been absolute crap this season. Also we still need a striker, someone who can make something on their own - I am thinking of someone in the mould of Long.