Well.....a decent performance in some ways, lots of positives within it, such as Yak's first goal, Williams looked excellent, Ilori was decent and nobody had a really poor game.....BUT if we keep handing out free gifts like that, we'll be 14th by the end of Feb!

Thoughts on Ilori?

He looked decent, good on the ball.

Talking to a friend who is a Derby season ticket holder and his words were that for 20 mins Reading looked like best team to come to Pride Park but that our keeper is a liability....Nothing new learned then!!

Great stadium
Freezing cold especially in second half

ilori looked class to me
First thirty minutes I thought - now I can see what Stam has been working towards
We not only kept possession but used it it to create chances, five I think
The three at the back looked comfortable and allowed Gunter and Obita to play to their strengths
We also looked very confident and passed it around really well and with some quick one touches (sadly lacking usually)
I can well believe Deeby saying we were the best team to play there so far

Then they equalised from a corner, where we were maybe a bit off guard
Bent didn't know much about it but at least he was in the right place and attacking the ball. Kermy take note!

Did well to get in at half time on equal terms as they had two shouts for penalties in quick succession

Second half we looked great again but then as usual a one shit pass too many and a gift of goal out of nothing. I bet they hadn't touched it up to that point

I missed the third as I was nobbing!

Subs worked well for a change and Meites goal was good, direct from a good corner from Kelly, though completely unmarked

Nearly pinched a draw and a couple of crosses went across goal without a touch.

So not that bad really
In patches looked great
Still over passing and sloppy goals given away
Ref as I said earlier was a total oxf*rd
If we had 3 Iloris we could really play a passing game without constantly giving it aŵay

We move on

Losing away at a VERY good Derby side is not going to define our season and the fact that we matched them and were for periods much the better team is testament to how far we have come. That being said it is so frustrating that we gifted them two goals, their third was slightly fortunate with the rebound off the block but there was still some lackadaisical defending in the build up.

Al-Habsi 6 - didn't have a lot to do, felt he made it easy for Ince and went down too early. Distribution mixed bag, throwing was decent but on the ball was poor again, often gets us into trouble with decision making. Would be very surprised if Stam doesn't make a keeper a priority in the summer, all things being equal.

Gunter 7 - thought he did quite well today

Illori 7 - impressive debut from the lad, unfortunate with some very soft decisions against him. Good on the ball and has a good awareness about him.

McShane 6 - a few mistakes and some standard indecision with the right pass

Moore 6 - his mistake for their second goal but played quite well besides

Obita 5 - lack of concentration and lost his man for their first, bit soft and then foolishly got himself sent off at the end

Kelly 8 - MOTM for me, brilliant link up play, a lot of good passes and plays at a good tempo

Williams 7 - energetic and always looking to drive us forward, a bit frustrating with the direction of his runs at times but by and large a good performance

Swift 6 - probably the worst of the 3 in midfield though didn't play particularly badly. Still not quite replicating his pre-injury form just yet.

McCleary 7 - good display in keeping with most this season

Kermorgant 6 - good link up, did what he was asked, didn't really get any genuine chances for a goal

Shout out to Meite who was a tank when he came on. I love him.

I feel positive after that performance, I was gutted earlier because I didn't feel we deserved to lose, but if you keep making silly mistakes it's going to cost you - especially against better opposition, as we found out today against a very clinical Derby side.

My biggest complaint is that we still overplay it at times and make the wrong decision when it comes to picking a pass, everyone is guilty however Kelly probably the least. At times on the counter if we were a bit braver and played the ball quicker we may have had more luck, but all too often we slowed the play down.

Anyway, overall a good performance and not too disheartened, Derby can fukk off though.

Is it another of the new laws this season that the home side gets a goal if they can spot a particular type of rock?

Derby fans are d1cks for keeping hold of the ball to waste time. Bunch of children.

yes of course, but what would we've done?

Does Jonathan Low actually proofread his reports? The one on the getreading site regarding Tiago Ilori's performance is .....well. Read it for yourselves.

First time that they have beaten us in eight years?

First time that they had conceded a goal at home in nine games?

Enjoyed the phone call from my Derby-based friends just as the final whistle went....not

Long gone are the days where even the most basic grasp of the English language are a requisite of being a journalist.

That was painful to read.

Good day out and entertaining match.
Stick with that team and we'll get rewards.
Tiago was calm and collected and is a great addition.
Sounds mad after letting in 3 but that back four will become unbeatable.
Thought Swift lost the ball too many times.
It's got to the point where I shit myself every time someone passes the ball back to Al-Habsi. It's ridiculous.
Good team performance and more purposeful attack mainly due to excluding Beerens and Van den Berg.
Bring it on.

Long gone are the days where even the most basic grasp of the English language are a requisite of being a journalist.

That was painful to read.

Just read it:



Expected to eye roll as nobber evening overly critical but yea that is a really poorly written article that barely tells us anything.

It looks more like notes to me, that a journalist may scribble down to properly write up at the end.

The tenses are all over the place, grammatical errors throughout. Just doesn't make a lot of sense.

I don't think he misplaced a pass. Composed on the ball. Lacking match sharpness. Another good young technical footballer that Stam can mould.

Long gone are the days where even the most basic grasp of the English language are a requisite of being a journalist.

That was painful to read.

Just read it:



Expected to eye roll as nobber evening overly critical but yea that is a really poorly written article that barely tells us anything.

It looks more like notes to me, that a journalist may scribble down to properly write up at the end.

The tenses are all over the place, grammatical errors throughout. Just doesn't make a lot of sense.

Considering his apparent predisposition towards poorly written and illogical content, I'm surprised he doesn't post more on twitter.

He just seems a bit out of his depth really.

Long gone are the days where even the most basic grasp of the English language are a requisite of being a journalist.

That was painful to read.

Just read it:



Expected to eye roll as nobber evening overly critical but yea that is a really poorly written article that barely tells us anything.

It looks more like notes to me, that a journalist may scribble down to properly write up at the end.

The tenses are all over the place, grammatical errors throughout. Just doesn't make a lot of sense.

It was strangely difficult to read.

Is it another of the new laws this season that the home side gets a goal if they can spot a particular type of rock?

Yes surprised you didn't know about that one
oxf*rd auto correct!

Forgot to add the "We've got the ball, we've lost.the ball" song was very funny. Has it been sung before?

Long gone are the days where even the most basic grasp of the English language are a requisite of being a journalist.

That was painful to read.

Just read it:



Expected to eye roll as nobber evening overly critical but yea that is a really poorly written article that barely tells us anything.

It looks more like notes to me, that a journalist may scribble down to properly write up at the end.

The tenses are all over the place, grammatical errors throughout. Just doesn't make a lot of sense.


It reads like something I'd have churned out in year 9 English.

Morning all.

I said before this game our season was at somewhat of a crossroads.
Result left me bitter but on reflection and having had a nights kip I'm more relaxed.

Excellent stadium very easy to get in and out. I actually thought the Derby fans keeping the ball was hilarious as we had been giving them pelters for a solid 10 minutes first half (we've got the ball we've lost the ball) ad Infiniti

For our part we looked very very comfortable when we took the lead.
Composed and patient I had the feeling we would score again and bent knee nothing about that goal. He's made a career of that but fair play.
Was pleased to see the half time whistle.

Tiago stood out for me. Had a great debut. Never panics just does the basics very well. Gunter too was full of energy as always. Gifted them two goals. Not sure who was responsible for the half hearted pass that allowed Ince in. Lifted the Derby fans and made for a hostile but exciting last 15 minutes.

The sense of tension when balls got played back at pace towards Ali was painful. Whole stadium sensed it. Needs sorting. He hasn't got the technical ability so abandon that tactic.
Swift got harrasssed off the ball too many times for my liking. Ran into blind alleys quite a bit.
All in all apart from stupid mistakes we were actually very good yesterday ! That might sound odd but we played some quality football at times. With some tinkering and self belief this is a side that can do big things I really believe that.

Special word of mention to the Yorkshire nobber sat beside me (you know who you are) pleasure meeting you.
And to the Reading support. Stood and sang and got behind the team. Like the Tiago song too. Well done all.
Derby - great ground friendly bunch but ur chicken balti pie was muck. My son took one bite and chucked it. He's 7 and a professional so I trust his judgement.

Onwards and upwards. What could possibly go wrong

Such a simple but 100% correct observation. JS knows more about football than me (seriously, he does). But I never feel relaxed when the ball is kicked back to AAH. I'm amazed we aren't losing more goals as there's been so many close calls now.

Genuinely worried about Obita playing, he looks consistently out of sorts yet I do not think Blackett would fair much better

I didn't go to Derby so my opinion isn't worth very much. But, another game without Joey or Evans in the holding midfield role and another defeat.

It looked like we killed ourselves at Derby with defensive mistakes getting severely punished and what was an otherwise good Reading performance getting completely unrewarded.

I think the absence of George Evans in the starting eleven caused most of those problems. Evans binds our team together. He is the go through man. He is the man that seems to make our team tick in a quiet, unnoticed sort of way. He sits between defence and midfield and makes himself available to receive balls out from the keeper or back four and gets the ball moving around the pitch.

With Evans in the side, we play our total football possession game so much better. And we make far fewer mistakes. The second goal that Derby scored, I'm sure wouldn't have happened had Evans been on the pitch. He would have been closer to Moore and able to receive the pass. He would have then moved the ball on to someone else.

I can see the dilemma for Stam. You don't really want to play without Kelly, Swift or Williams. He wanted Ilori in the side as well and you don't really want to lose McShane or Moore either. Unfortunately you can't fit them all in. I think Evans and Beerens are important to our side and he should stick to his convictions and the system that has got us so much success this season.

For Fulham, I'd like to see:

GK: Al Habsi
RB: Gunter
LB: Blackett
CB: McShane
CB: Moore
CDM: Evans
CM: Williams
CAM: Swift
RF: McCLeary
CF: Kermorgant
LF: Beerens

SUBS:
Tiago Ilori
Liam Kelly
Yakou Meite
Joey Van den Berg
S Moore
Dominic Samuel
Tennai Watson

You said it.

These three IMO should start the next game

I'm not convinced Meite should, I think his physicality and pace make him a perfect impact sub.

One of those rare times where i have come away from a loss and felt pretty positive.

1st 30 we were brilliant. One of the best phases of a game we've had all season.

Ilori looks like a player. Very well suited to the system & i think after a while a back 3 of Ilori-McShane-Moore could be brilliant.

AAH - 5 Such a liability to have in this system. They had 3 shots on target yesterday and scored 3.

Gunter - 7 One of his better games. Got forward well.

Ilori- 7 - Good debut. Showed a lot of composure.

McShane - 6 Wasn't great, wasn't bad.

Moore - 6 ^

Obita - 5 Expected more from him going forwards. Stupid foul to get a red.

Kelly - 8 MOTM. Kept us ticking.

Williams - 7 Some good driving runs.

Swift - 7 Well taken goal and looked back to his best 1st 30. Faded after that.

McCleary - 6 Didn't trouble there defence as much as i thought he might.

Yann - 6 Held up the ball fairly well. Never got in any good positions in the box.


Meite - 8 This guy could be something special (he's only 20). Well taken goal.

Samuel - 5 Failed to make much of an impact.


Stam - 7 Nice to see some early sub.


Thought the 850 fans were in good voice yesterday. Fairplay to Derby fans too. Rare to see home fans make much noise these day.

Meite - Reading's Balotelli?

Based on???