Well back in my uni accommodation, fair play to the one's who are still on the way back to Berkshire. Very poor. Really surprised by Stam's comments as for the that certainly was not one of the best performance of the season. 1st half was quite cagey before they scored. 30 seconds before this we had a great chance, McCleary only having to square to Samuel to put us in the lead. It wasn't taken and after an easily avoidable throw in, a very scrappy goal was taken by Wood. After this, Leeds were very happy to sit back and watch the ball go between, Moore, McShane and Al-Habsi for the remaining 25 minutes of the half. I would say it was pretty similar to the Birmingham and Ipswich home games at the start of the year, plenty of possession but absolutely no threat and movement from the attackers.

Second half was much the same, Leeds very happy to sit on the 1-0 lead and we struggled to break them down. Beerans forced a good save out of Green but that was as close as it got before a very soft penalty allowed them to make it 2-0.

Al-Habsi - 6 - very little to do and distribution not great

Gunter - 5 - offered very little
McShane - 6 - must have had a superb pass completion %
Moore - 6 - see McShane
Blackett - 2 - Very poor. Seemed very nervous in the first half and made an awful pass in the 2nd half that Leeds should had scored from

Evans - 5 - Anonomous
Kelly - 5 - Some promising runs although he sometimes struggles to get the ball out of his feet
Van de Berg - 5 - Did ok, nothing special, nothing awful - was playing out of position

McCleary - 4 - seemed very frustrated in the 2nd half with the way we were playing. Was not at his best.
Beerans - 5 - Never really got in the game. Forced a good save out of Green in the 2nd half
Samuel - 4 - Offered nothing up-front

Subs:
Kermogant - 5 - Did very little. Played more in a central mid position.
Meite + Cooper - not enough time to give a score but Meite should have scored at the end.

Didn't go and didn't listen because I was working (turned it on for 2 seconds to hear "silly by reading").

Losing away to Leeds is hardly a bad result and I have every confidence we will get a result against Blackburn.

No biggy. Well done to those who went.

Leeds supporting mate just texted me reckoning that was their best performance of the season.

Thing is, we all know we're a couple of players short to really challenge, particularly away from home to the better teams in the league. I see this season as a bit of a sighter to where we are and what we need to do.

We're clearly re-establishing ourselves as a play off challenger, we've got a solid management team in place and up front aside, we have a pretty solid spine to the team but there's precious little depth to the squad in key positions. We're missing Swift and I we need an experienced, calming influence in midfield which is potentially where Jordan Mutch could come in. I also think we may need another centre back as it's make or break for Cooper and he's not getting the game time to make a decision either way.

I'm not too disheartened by last night's defeat, even if we were pretty ineffective, we'll learn more from that.

Obviously difficult to judge only from the highlights, but barely looked like Leeds had a chance bar the goal either. Pen was a joke, but suppose we've had some dodgy ones

Swift missing is starting to bite, esp with both Williams and Obita out. I much prefer the 3 5 2 to the 4 3 3, and Obita is pretty key to the first system.

Need to win vs Blackburn now really

Whilst I agree we need to win on Saturday it is amazing how expectations change isn't it. If we lose, slip to what 5th?

Would have taken 5th on Xmas day on August 6th.

Win on Saturday though and all good; would be 7 wins from 9 - can't argue with that!

Also prefer the 3 5 2 - but don't think we have an appropriate LWB with Obita out (don't think Blacklett suits this role)

Result doesn't count due to injuries and dodgy pen.

And their first goal was lucky.

I agree with comments re first half, but thought we dominated them second half and lacked that final ball.

Pontus was a machine and got in the way of everything for them, though he loved to dive in which we should have exploited.

Think we missed swift and Williams massively as lacked creativity between Evans and the front 3.

Kelly'a touch is dire and cost us a lot. Samuel isn't good enough.

Penalty didn't look like a pen, but I didn't have a great view.

Leeds aren't going up, and nor should we tbh.

Game after game it is becoming more and more apparent how vitally important the first goal is with our new style of play. If we score first we will force the opposition into abandoning their gameplan to nulify the way we play, if we concede they can sit back and watch us struggle.

This made for an interesting read on the commute this morning -

77% possession, 14 shots, 6 corners, just 2 on target

If that doesn't prove we need some talent up top, then nothing will.

How bored must you be to spend that long writing about the opposition. Could have said all that in one sentence

I know there's not much else to do up there, but...

Yeah, I spotted that about a month ago.

Our record when we take the lead in the first half is something like P9, W8, D1, L0. Our record when going down in the first half is similarly emphatic at something like P6, W0, D1, L5. I don't think we're a strong promotion contender, because we just can't rescue points where we don't get our noses in front early. But, we're still in the mix because we're good at getting in front and then amazing at staying there.

Yeah, I spotted that about a month ago.

Our record when we take the lead in the first half is something like P9, W8, D1, L0. Our record when going down in the first half is similarly emphatic at something like P6, W0, D1, L5. I don't think we're a strong promotion contender, because we just can't rescue points where we don't get our noses in front early. But, we're still in the mix because we're good at getting in front and then amazing at staying there.

While our current style of play certainly emphasises and exacerbates this fact, our inability to come from behind is a problem that has plagued us since we were relegated last.

A bit surprised by the negativity around the match, as we are severely hamstrung for creativity with recent injuries and suspensions. Despite this, we frustrated a Leeds side and really should have picked up a point but for some bodies on the line defending and a lack of cutting edge from our front three. The upside is, we are not far away from Williams and Swift returning, and I am convinced we will fork out for a decent striker or two in January.

I can completely relate to what Stam has said post match. It was a frustrating evening with Leeds benefiting from a huge slice of luck for the first and being gifted a non-penalty for the second.

Leeds fans can sneer, laugh and joke about the style of play, but in the long run we will find that our framework will be a lot more sustainable to see us finish in the top 6. If, and it's a big if, we get promoted in the near future it will also prove to be of benefit.

Shame the 150 away fans didn't spur Reading on to victory.

Kes, serious question, do you go to many Chelsea games?

Bantering about attendances

Isn't that for teenagers, Twitter armchairs and Brighton fans?

Who's "bantering"? I was asking a genuine question.

It wasn't directed at you, calm yourself

I went.

Our patience and discipline at sticking to a plan for the first 65 mins was amazing. The plan was to hold them to 0-0, frustrate them, then put on our better forwards and nick it. Spoiler alert - we were 0-1 down after 20 mins because someone - Joey I think - let the ball run past him in the 6 yard box and their fella had a tap-in. No change in plan though.

67 mins before we had a shot on target. The Leeds fans were taking the mick of our possession game before half-time and I thought we took it to extremes here. Fair play to Jaap - although I was bored sick for the first hour - we really did squeeze them for the next 25. Trouble was, they were one-up and happy enough to sit back, soak up and wait for their break.

We missed Obita (vs Saturday), Blackett at LB was a bit sloppy, wayward. Joey and Samuel, just like at Fulham, did nothing going forward so effectively it was our defence holding the ball and finding nothing on - Swift and Kermy badly missed.

Their crowd was good - helped them out in the late spell where we were on top.

As for the league table - IT DOES LIE. Objectively we do of course have the 3rd best record in the division but the table isn't a measure of the current strengths of the various teams. Anyone see Brian Glanville's piece in the Sunday Times on the Fulham game? He was incredulous that we were third and anyone who saw the Leeds game would think the same. We're doing well with limited resources and finishing 12th with this lot would be decent enough.

No, sorry, lost me there. How can a league table lie after almost half a season exactly? I could understand the argument after 5 or 6 games but not after 21.

Looking at the squad I can see why someone might think we are over achieving, and I have to say that I think there are weak links that we need to improve on e.g. getting a striker and I'm still not convinced on JvdB, but when you consider we have had no creativity so far this month, with both Williams and Swift sidelined, it is unsurprising that in the games we've had we've struggled badly to offer much threat and consequently a casual observer, like the respected Brian Glanville, might be amazed at our current position

Hoping that the takeover sorts itself out quickly so that the club can make the right moves in January that take this style of play much closer to the finished article.

I do not understand how people perceive building from the back when chasing a game as a negative approach. The objective of building from the back is to create a chance & score a goal ( obviously)

If we were to play with more `urgency` move the ball quicker & go more direct to appease some of our supporters,it means we will lose the ball & possession more often which probably has the same percentage chance of scoring as it does from building slowly from defence

Jaap deserves big credit for his stubbornness & sticking to his principles

With Eddie Gray's latest comments on getreading site, I think we can safely say that Jaap's well and truly upset the Yorkie apple cart. And set up a return fixture that should prove.......interesting. To say the least

If we end up beating Leeds comfortably in the return fixture, can we just ironically chant "Boring, boring Reading"

They do seem to be a bit obsessed.

Just saw Sky Bet Championship tweet our first goal video and there was a Leeds fan comment something along the lines of:

"well they didn't test Leeds"