Oh dear.

I think I'll focus on what might be glimmers of positive to start with. Hoilett, Ince, Long, Guiness-Walker, Yiadom and (when fit) Meite have all looked like they can do some damage on the break and play some pretty free flowing football. There's more crosses going in, direct running, and good technique, tricks and nice interplay. Now if we can just keep ourselves in games and a few of our forwards fit, we can score some quite special goals this season, and in a not unreasonable number. Ince, in particular, looks really up for it and is trying to play exciting quality football.

Now that's out of the way...

This season's monkey on our back, besides the usual injury apocalypse of course, appears to be starting slowing and conceding in the first 10 minutes of every single competitive game we play.

How do you respond to that? Defence run absolutely ragged through the channels. Shape all over the place. Individual errors galore, not least from the keeper we were warned had a regular calamity in him. McIntyre exposed for pace again and again, just as he has been previously.

We can all criticise this one til the cows come home, there's certainly a lot of ammunition. I've been fairly open in all the games so far that I don't like our defensive set up. We have players out of position just so we don't have to start anyone from the Academy. We sent out the one semi-experienced CB we have who can play that might have got a bit of pace. We're basically conceding midfield from the start by playing two deep DMs.

I think we have potential in the squad, but PInce is totally mismanaging it. When you have so few senior players, and especially when you've long since lost the game, you have to go to your bench and protect your remaining senior players. Long took a fair few hits in the game. TInce was fuming, Yiadom too, either could have made a rash decision and lunged for something they shouldn't or reacted and seen red or got injured. McIntyre was having a 'mare. And as for Lumley, there aren't words to describe a performance that bad. He made about as many major errors in one game as Southwood did in all his appearances last season.

On Loum, he started badly, and then improved a bit. Fornah started badly as usual and improved a bit. Hendrick was largely anonymous. This midfield is not going to control games without serious improvement.

Change of shape needed. Use of subs needed. Better preparation and pre-game team talk needed.

Hopefully, we can write this off as a one off. But to be honest, the pattern didn't look out of step with the other games so far to me, even if those results were better.

You didn’t go to the game ian. No one cares what you thoughts on listening to the radio/watching the telly is. We all have access to these if we want. The back from the game thread should be from the people who actually went.

Realistically we’re just going to have to hope we fluke our way to enough points to avoid relegation.

It’s almost like a bunch of kids and freebies and a crap manager, who hadn’t worked for 8 years, isn’t a recipe for success.

Your feedback has been received, thank you. However, other people asked, so I have delivered. Because I don't care that you want to get your knickers in a twist about it.

No players prepared to talk to BBCRB apparently. Where's Yiadom?

Win together lose together

We are going down based on that. Our whole defence except Yiadom are not up to this level. Lumley showed why Boro got shot of him today.

Tom Ince is the only one who showed that he cares and is good enough.

Feel really depressed after that

Your feedback has been received, thank you. However, other people asked, so I have delivered. Because I don't care that you want to get your knickers in a twist about it.

they didn’t ask you to do it, Christ. They asked why we don’t have one anymore. And you’ve taken upon yourself to post one up.

File under QPR Forest and Blackpool last year.

Your feedback has been received, thank you. However, other people asked, so I have delivered. Because I don't care that you want to get your knickers in a twist about it.

they didn’t ask you to do it, Christ. They asked why we don’t have one anymore. And you’ve taken upon yourself to post one up.
Actually, I offered and more than one person said yes. Ta. Feel free to give it a miss if you don't like it. Toodles.

Last week we beat a team who have won their other 2 games. And beat them relatively comfortably

Shit happens, esp this early in the season with the players we have

Might be a few weeks before we win again mind you. Not optimistic about the next 2. 2 points would be good, 3 or more would be excellent

Take off my mums bra and calm down, we all know it will be a struggle, there will be ups but mostly down, strange things happen in football, we have 43 games to go yet.

There have been numerous back from the game threads started by people who saw the match on the tv.
Ian saw the game. He is passionate about the club. It’s no biggie that he has started this thread.

+999999999

Back from the radio

There have been numerous back from the game threads started by people who saw the match on the tv.
Ian saw the game. He is passionate about the club. It’s no biggie that he has started this thread.

+1

There have been numerous back from the game threads started by people who saw the match on the tv.
Ian saw the game. He is passionate about the club. It’s no biggie that he has started this thread.

Indeed, and they used to get called out too. Tradition always, for many many years, was that the bftg threads were started by someone who actually went. The thread often wasn’t posted till 10pm at night or if an exile lived up north and was back quicker when they got home. This new trend of starting them when not attending goes against years of hob nob tradition and should be stopped.

There have been numerous back from the game threads started by people who saw the match on the tv.
Ian saw the game. He is passionate about the club. It’s no biggie that he has started this thread.

Indeed, and they used to get called out too. Tradition always, for many many years, was that the bftg threads were started by someone who actually went. The thread often wasn’t posted till 10pm at night or if an exile lived up north and was back quicker when they got home. This new trend of starting them when not attending goes against years of hob nob tradition and should be stopped.

The problem is the BFTG threads stopped last season as no one could be bothered starting the thread.
Better having something rather than nothing. Those that travelled will doubtless add their comments later. Frankly they have been short changed by that excuse of a performance.

If it helps O don’t mind starting BFTG threads for home games. I don’t go to away games so wouldn’t start a thread for those.
I also have a fair way to travel to home games so would only start the threads on my return home that evening
If nobbers want me to do this for home games I’m happy to oblige and will post one up for Blackburn late Wednesday night.

The reaction on Wednesday will be telling, but we've been down this road before. As of now, I'm happy enough to draw a line under it and call it a disastrous day that we've had for a number of years and go again on Wednesday against Blackburn.

We aren't a great side, we are down to bare bones, hammerings will happen. Whatever, it's Rotherham who it shouldn't have been against, but yeah it happens. Whilst the team is still in a state of limbo with players coming in, players going out, wage caps, confirming deals, injuries etc, you're going to get inconsistencies, you will get the good, the bad and the ok.

Don't really get the goalkeeper comparisons to Southwood anymore, move on. Lumley had a shocker of a day, but comparing him to a goalkeeper who has shipped 13 goals in 4 game in a league below shows that he wasn't good enough either. Up until today, Lumley was decent, let's see what the reaction is like Wednesday. If we get what we've got from him (and most players really) on Wednesday, then we should be ok.

The match day thread can get very busy and a lot of the decent comments can get lost in the shuffle so its good to have a 2nd thread where things can go into more detail. Doesn't really matter that he wasn't there does it?

Anyway, that was utter shite and I can't help feel that we will end the season with Mark Bowen in charge of the team. When you have a fairly average/poor team like we do you have to have someone in charge who knows how to win ugly and if not win, go up to somewhere like Rotherham and grind out a draw. From the first minute we were too open and allowed Rotherham to stroll into dangerous positions. The players just didn't seem to have any urgency or desire to stop crosses or put their bodies on the line. It's really concerning to see. I think we can all accept losing but there is a way to lose games of football and today was the epitome of rolling over and dying.

Wonder if it might have been better to give our first team players the minutes in midweek against Stevenage just to keep them sharp. They were a million miles away today.

Also, can't help but feel I've ha de ja vue from about 3 hours ago whilst watching United play away at Brentford, all sorts of similarities in more ways than one.

Just back from the game....Watched Lumley in the warm up and he looked good, thats as good as it got for him....I have to say that rates as bad of a goalkeeping display that I've ever seen from a Reading Keeper..Positives from the game were Ince, Hoilett and Yiadom, the rest were ordinary.....I guess we move on but with no decent back up keeper we could be in for a long season

If it stops Brogue throwing a tantrum and attracting DD, go for it.

Back from the game...No to Lumley, Yes to Yiadom, Ince, Hoilett, Unsure on others...Rotherham is a horrid place, full of "Buying and Selling" Shops, Bookies and money lenders....We move on

+1

Feel sorry for Lumley. One bad game and everyone’s turned against him.. wouldn’t be the same if he was from our academy.

I`ll back Lumley unless this becomes the norm rather than exception, he was good last week, he`s rightly taking flak but he needs chances.
He`s clearly a decent keeper but he needs to cut out this shit.

Agreed when McIntyre and Holmes are no better and both have cost us loads of points

they didn’t ask you to do it, Christ. They asked why we don’t have one anymore. And you’ve taken upon yourself to post one up.
Actually, I offered and more than one person said yes. Ta. Feel free to give it a miss if you don't like it. Toodles.

Don’t worry Brogue, snowflake is an inadequate with a seemingly empty life that uses this site in an attempt to impress folk, sound intellectual and knowledgeable to cover for his mundane existence. He has a thesaurus to hand, but unfortunately has not yet learnt how to use the big words in the correct context. They do not flow, have any impact or any passion. This clown posts on Christmas Day FFS! Tout a leur baby!

Good lord.

What is wrong with you lot? It's Saturday night, enjoy yourselves.