Back from the game - Southampton (H)

[St. Brynjar]

Poor. At least the hope is already gone.

Federici - 4 - Should have done better with the first goal, poor distribution
Gunter - 6 - Pretty solid game, some great overlaps and bailed a few of ours out of jail.
Morrison - 5 - Too slow and was often destroyed for pace by Rodriguez.
Mariappa - 5 - Bad game from Mapps. Lots of wayward heading and passing.
Kelly - 4 - I'll chalk this off for being played out of position, but it was his worst appearance.
Karacan - 6 - Chasing shadows, did okay defensively.
Akpan - 5 - Average, didn't make much of an impact.
Guthrie - 7 - MOM, some great passing and tackling, our only Prem class player today. Unlucky to be taken off.
HRK - 6 - Impressed without making much of an impact.
McAnuff - 5 - His decision making is dire. Worked hard though.
Le Fondre - 5 - Isolated

Subs:
Leigertwood - 5- See Akpan
McCleary - 5 - Didn't have time to make an impact
Hunt - 5 - Same.

[Royal Monk]

Your wind-up was out of the bag once you gave Karacan a 6

[winchester_royal]

Promising signs that Adkins might get us playing decent football, but this horrendously average squad that McD put together didn't get close to the excellent Southampton players.

Just want this season to be over.

[super darren caskey]

Promising signs that Adkins might get us playing decent football, but this horrendously average squad that McD put together didn't get close to the excellent Southampton players.

Just want this season to be over.

+1 nothing else needs to said after this post really

[blueroyals]

This could turn into Rogers Mk II unless money is spent in the summer. The players are nowhere near good enough to play 'passing' football like Adkins wants.

[Royal Lady]

Thought with Paultheroyal reffing we might have got something from that game.

Looked like a penalty to me, was it?

Thought we showed glimpses of improvement - but first goal was the usual flapping about and should have been avoided. Seemed to give them loads of space at times. Didn't think Southampton were as good as last season when we played them.

I'm looking forward to next season, I think if NA can bring in a couple of quality players in the summer and work with some of what we've already got, concentrate on playing to feet and forgetting hoofball, we could do ok next season.

Would LOVE us to get something against Rodgers next week, but sadly can't see it somehow.

I quite like these early games tbh - get home nice and early and in time for the Grand National today.

[sandman]

Well that was the kind off fun that isn't.

Feds - Not his best game by any means possibly could've done better for the goal. 5

Gunter - Did better than his previous appearances was probably the best of the back four. 6
Morrison - Struggled against Rodriguez. 5
Mariappa - Worst game in a Reading shirt! Too slow when danger was around him. 4
Kelly - Out of position but still should have been better. 4

Kanu - Good first 30 minutes but faded. Maybe could've won a penalty but was at the other end so I'm pleading the Arsene Wenger amendment. 5
Jem - Simply not a Premier League player. 3
Akpan - Started well but struggled after the injury. 4
McAnuff - Worked hard, got back to help the defence but didn't see much of the ball going forward after the first 30 minutes. 5

Alf - Ridiculous to start him up front on his own, completely isolated. 4

[windermere_royal]

Well that was the kind off fun that isn't.

Feds - Not his best game by any means. 5

Gunter - Did better than his previous appearances was probably the best of the back four. 6
Morrison - Struggled against Rodriguez. 5
Mariappa - Worst game in a Reading shirt! Too slow when danger was around him. 4
Kelly - Out of position but still should have been better. 4

Kanu - Good first 30 minutes but faded. Maybe could've won a penalty but was at the other end so I'm pleading the Arsene Wenger amendment. 5
Jem - Simply not a Premier League player. 3
Akpan - Started well but struggled after the injury. 4
McAnuff - Worked hard, got back to help the defence but didn't see much of the ball going forward after the first 30 minutes. 5

Alf - Ridiculous to start him up front on his own, completely isolated. 4

No wonder we lost, we only had 10 players

[Royal Lady]

What about Guthrie?!

[sandman]

What about Guthrie?!

People have complained that I criticise the poor wickle thing too much so I'm not going to even acknowledge him.

[Unbelievable Jeff]

Overall not a terrible performance, but at the end of the day we need points and we didn't collect any today.

Thought Guthrie had a decent game, got the ball down and worked hard for the team. I also thought Gunter had a very good game given his last performances. Got up and down very well and done what he had to do.

On the flip side.. although you cannot blame Kelly too much as he does not play left back he did not have a good game mainly because he has no left foot what so ever. I also though Karacan was poor. he didn't play the game Adkins wants to install and just kept hoofing it up the pitch.

Alfie was isolated and as proven, he cannot play the lone striker role!

Just need to enjoy the rest of the season and plan for next season

[Westwood52]

Personally I was shocked at the gulf in class today-apart from the first twenty minutes we made Soton look like Barcelona.There was absolutely no structure to our game and we looked if anything like a Division 1 team, let alone Championship. the lack of pride,professionalism and team spirit was very disappointing.

For what it's worth:

Federici 5 Should have done better for their first goal- caught like a rabbit in the headlights. Should have clattered the player-he wouldn't have been penalised as he was so close to the ball.Decision making has always been his problem.
Gunter 6 Got caught out a couple of times and those series of lobbed crosses rather driven ones in 2nd half really let him down.
Kelly 5 Never a left back in a million years-what was Adkins thinking of-didn't he look at the tapes of him there ?
Morrison 5 Not too bad, but was often caught out by the ball played behind him-showed his lack of experience.
Marriapa 5 Oh dear my player of the season had a mare in the first half-his confidence has been completely shot.
Akpan 4 Simply never in the game and once again his positioning was so often very poor,from Crawley to the Prem has just been too much for him.
Guthrie 7 Tried hard but I think he has given up.
Karacan 5 As usual worked hard , but he is just so weak in the tackle area and lacking in technique and power for this division.
Mc Anuff 6 Tried hard but he too has given up.
Alf 6 Missed a good chance in 1st half and then drifted out of the game big time.
Hal 4 Embarrassing.

Lwood 6 I have critisised him all season-but having seen Akpan start-Mc D had no alternative but to stick with him.
Mc Cleery 6 Not a Prem player.
Hunt 4 Out of his depth.

[P!ssed Off]

As an overall criticism of the whole squad in general, I've said it before but I'll say it again: Their mental attributes are awful.

As soon as they concede a goal they practically lose the will to live, let alone the game. Heard Karacan and others after the match talking about the goals being "sucker punches", and heard this numerous times before.Conceding one goal is not a oxf*rd "sucker punch". It is a setback but show some bloody maturity and determination and carry on without moping about or collapsing from the trauma. Even after half-time, when Adkins obviously tried to get something out of them in the team talk, they played decently for ten minutes, but then conceded and that was that again.

We need some players with some guts who are willing to keep going and keep some discipline after conceding. At the moment we're like a team of boxers who forget about the game plan and lose all discipline after taking one punch. Perhaps the players should practice boxing in training, to try and keep focus and concentration.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

No Pogrebnyak up front was a shocking decision.

[SPARTA]

Federici - 4 - Shouldn't have played. Had no reserve/u21 games to get match fit. McCarthy had two under his belt!
Gunter - 6 - Did well. The more I see of Kelly, the less convinced I am he's any better than what we have.
Morrison - 5 - Struggled with Rodriguez. Not his best performance. Pearce would have done no better though.
Mariappa - 5 - Possibly his worst game for us.
Kelly - 4 - Woeful. Not been good for several weeks. Reluctant to head back to the keeper, and lumped the ball forward too much. Jury's out on him. Not convinced.
Karacan - 4 - Headless chicken. Can't play a passing game. Aimless long-balls. He is Brian's creation though. Hopefully can adapt.
Akpan - 5 - More assured at this level than Legs/Karacan. Unlucky to pick up a knock.
Guthrie - 7 - MOM. Decent passing and put his foot in. Felt he should have stayed on.
HRK - 6 - Keen to get forward, did better than most but an average performance overall.
McAnuff - 3 - Terrible. Started poorly, went into his shell, then vanished.
Le Fondre - 5 - Cut-off up front but did a lot more than Pogrebnyak does in the same role.

Subs:

Leigertwood - 4
McCleary - 5
Hunt - 4

Unless we bring in 4-5 top end Championship players next season, then we are going to do a Wolves. They had a far better team than this when they went down. Now look at them! Nothing in these players gives me any confidence for next season. AZ has to invest a considerable amount next season. If he doesn't, and again tries to secure promotion on the cheap, then we are in big trouble.

[leicsRoyal]

A club that we beat to the Championship last season but a team that are now a class above us.

To save a lot of typing I'll give everyone a score of 4.5 cos that seems about right!

Sadly the result was one that most people would have expected.

[Tommy Youlden's Ears]

That was grim and depressing. I might muster further comment later, but really, what's the point...

[Jano]

I don't understand several things about today.

Why was Morisson marking Rodriguez and Mariappa left with Lambert? This makes no sense.
Why was Akpan asked to play a defensive game, man marking Ramirez, when it's not his strength yet it is Legs? makes no sense.
Why were we constantly playing in crosses to our 4ft nothing players, Le Fondre and Karacan, who were the only ones in the box? makes no sense.
Why play a player who blatently only has a right foot at left back? makes no sense.

I kinda understand Le Fondre up top on his own if we're playing the way Adkins obviously wanted us to, on the floor, quick pass and moves, his movement is perfectly suited to that. As soon as that went out the window and we reverted to type with the hoofball, Pog should have been on the pitch. The after match interviews and all the players saying we were done by a sucker punch? Rubbish. They could have had a hatful today, same as Arsenal last week. As the Southampton fans sang, they really were taking the p!ss. Team spirit? Balls they have good team spirit. The whole teams heads drop as soon as the first thing goes against them, theres no fight, no will, no spirit, at all.

That being said, while they were still in the game, so for the first 20 minutes or so, they did play some nice football and things looked promising.

[Biscuit_Boy]

Tina from Tilehurst on BBC Berks, that will cheer you up!

[Za Vas]

Hal 4 Embarrassing.

Harsh.