Stayed to the end out of perverse enjoyment.

Positives. Rhimota looking better with every game and we are so much better when Bod is on the pitch. Also nice to see Harriett.

Everything else....utterly abject.
Just playing it out of the back when under pressure, no thought, just coached stupidity. Just the worst of Stam.

Don't get excited by the nice play from the last 30min, Swansea didn't even try once they went 4 up.

About right

Going to massively disagree on the Stam bit though. Asking the keeper to try to pass out is the only thing in common. Otherwise we play nothing like the Stam era at all imo

Know it will be controversial with the anti-Swift crew, but thought he did ok as well. Put some nice passes about. Him and Rino did ok, as did all 3 of the subs

On the negative side - before starting on the defence - what the utter fcuk were those performances by Barrow and Meite? Abysmal. And Meite pottering off the pitch when subbed was piss poor as well

Considering that 4 of the 5 at the back are pretty experienced - that was utterly embarrassing. What is O Shea bringing? An unorganised mess. Jaakkola was poor today as well

Genuinely thought Swansea were the worst side to visit us bar Hull. Slow plodding possession and continuously losing the ball. If we are losing 4-1 to that we have absolutely no hope at all

Be amazed if we stay up

SS highlights don’t put things in any better light. Really poor defending. Disorganised mess

Their Pen though - watched it back about 6 times - where was the foul? If it was McCleary surely outside the area. But none of the players even bothered to argue.

Ref was a bit w@nk tbh. Their 23 threw the ball away on a yellow and somehow the ref just ignored it. same for some clown who booted it miles in the first half after a free kick given away.

Agree with both those comments above - with the exception of I feel really sorry for Swift. Yet again the only person with any nouse, skill, creativity and workrate .... he must feel really shit playing in such a shit team. (Sorry, Rino was off the pace today as well....)

Meite - just get rid. He isn't even league 1 standard. Much brighter with Bod and Loader adds nothing, either.

Barrow - get rid. Another couldn't be arsed, couldn't stay wide to give some width and couldn't track back or take on a defender.

Thought he was excellent at turning in circles!!! Only began to play once Swansea backed off and he had a bit more time. Thought he was dreadful and would have been my first sub.

We are so lightweight and the football was turgid and ponderous.

Could see ilori losing his man for the first from about 30 seconds before, saying - dont just wander off, stay with him. Stay with him, dont drift, stay with.... Oh, you wandered off and left him wide open in the box.
The second was a succession of powderpuff defensive challenges as they just bundled It slowly toward the net. Possibly offside? And by then it was game over.

We were mentally shot after the first, gomes has a huge job rebuilding confidence before he rebuilds the team.
Really cannot see where the points are coming from.
Doom. Gloom

Not easily done, given that Clement recently gave him a 5 yr contract.

Bunch of utter c*nts.

What the oxf*rd is Meite supposed to do with that behind him? What did they create? Nothing. In fact he put in the only decent cross we put in the 45 minutes I was there before giving up on the stupid C U Next Tuesday's.

Also......WTF happened with that Barrow corner?

Did he accidently kick it? or intentionally play a short corner not realising any reading players were there?

What the oxf*rd is Meite supposed to do with that behind him? What did they create? Nothing. In fact he put in the only decent cross we put in the 45 minutes I was there before giving up on the stupid C U Next Tuesday's.
I'd agree with you if Bod didn't manage to create so much space for himself, make good runs, and hold the ball up in his brief spell

What the oxf*rd is Meite supposed to do with that behind him? What did they create? Nothing. In fact he put in the only decent cross we put in the 45 minutes I was there before giving up on the stupid C U Next Tuesday's.

He was just so stagnant though. Lost everything that came his way. Genuinely looked disinterested. Sulked off the pitch when subbed

Million miles from last time I watched him vs Brizzle

I think I'll just cut and paste your review if that's OK OMA.
Can I also add that Loader isn't and never will be good enough.

Utter shambles, worst performance of the season by a country mile

Ratings:

Jaakkola 2 - should have been dropped after Millwall, not good enough

Yiadom 2 - POTS will be a hard call but the fact people think Yiadom should get it is frankly laughable, I can count four/five good games this season, an absolute joke yet again unable to pass the ball 3 yards to his own team
Ilori 1 - worst CB we've had in years, utter disaster
O'Shea 3 - very sloppy passes out today, bullied by McBurnie
Richards 2 - how can someone be a professional and constantly miscontrol the ball?

Rinomhota 6 - best of a bad bunch, few loose touches
Swift 4 - not awful but far from good enough, he's too slow on the ball
Aluko 5 - worked hard and kept the ball well, needs to be more creative but why he was taken off I don't understand

McCleary 1 - can't think of a single thing he did right, he's lucky not to get zero. Should have sold him straight after the Huddersfield PO final when he bottled taking a penalty
Meite 0 - absolutely terrible, needs to be sold ASAP
Barrow 0 - same as Meite

Pen - Yiadom was all over his back and when the player turned him he ran into his leg and went over. Soft, but you get that tight and physical in the box and you're asking for trouble.

I saw Swift do three things in the highlight. A lame freekick on target, a shit cross shot that had the keeper stepped back another inch or two would have been the lamest goal I've seen us score since Al-Habsi dropped the ball in his own net against us, and then a pointless turn into trouble and pass straight to a Swansea player to start a break that nearly led to a goal. Obviously not representative of his performance across the entire match. He really just can't play proper midfield, he's got one position where he isn't just a liability who occasionally takes a nice free kick or does some flashy control or pass, and that's No. 10 - in fairness got Gomes, we don't have a lot of options with Bacuna acting like a teenage moron and a casualty list longer than the Light Brigade's.

Some horrendous defending in there. Yiadom has obviously given up trying and is resigned to getting relegated from the Championship two seasons in a row after a very poor career choice to come here. Still, at least he isn't on O'Shea's hat-trick of relegations, the man to organise our defence. PMSL.

Not easily done, given that Clement recently gave him a 5 yr contract.

Probably Gourlay TBF.

I think I'll just cut and paste your review if that's OK OMA.
Can I also add that Loader isn't and never will be good enough.
He's 18, and has played what, five games? Nearly won us the game on Saturday, and set up our goal today. Give him a chance ffs.

Pen - Yiadom was all over his back and when the player turned him he ran into his leg and went over. Soft, but you get that tight and physical in the box and you're asking for trouble.

I saw Swift do three things in the highlight. A lame freekick on target, a shit cross shot that had the keeper stepped back another inch or two would have been the lamest goal I've seen us score since Al-Habsi dropped the ball in his own net against us, and then a pointless turn into trouble and pass straight to a Swansea player to start a break that nearly led to a goal. Obviously not representative of his performance across the entire match. He really just can't play proper midfield, he's got one position where he isn't just a liability who occasionally takes a nice free kick or does some flashy control or pass, and that's No. 10 - in fairness got Gomes, we don't have a lot of options with Bacuna acting like a teenage moron and a casualty list longer than the Light Brigade's.

Some horrendous defending in there. Yiadom has obviously given up trying and is resigned to getting relegated from the Championship two seasons in a row after a very poor career choice to come here. Still, at least he isn't on O'Shea's hat-trick of relegations, the man to organise our defence. PMSL.

Agree with Ian Royal.

When horses are in pain and can no longer function they are taken behind the barn and shot. We need about 16 bullets.

I think I'll just cut and paste your review if that's OK OMA.
Can I also add that Loader isn't and never will be good enough.
He's 18, and has played what, five games? Nearly won us the game on Saturday, and set up our goal today. Give him a chance ffs.

I would agree. I think it's fair to say though that he might not be ready for a Championship relegation battle though based upon what I've seen. Wouldn't dream of saying he'll never be a decent player though.

Unless you were there today, it would be difficult to over emphasise how shocking we were for the first 70 minutes .This was worse than anything that has gone before. Sure we dominated the last 20 minutes-but four nil up-Swansea sensibly realised that they had bigger fish to fry.

At home in particular; you have to start with loads of energy , movement and commitment; but right from the off the Swans were all over us , like a bad rash.

Gomez will now know, despite the reputation of the majority of his players; what a huge task lays before him. With a few caveats, Rino apart, he must have felt like he never wanted the other ten in his starting eleven again. But that is clearly not possible-as Moore apart, we will be unable to offload anybody-so that he can bring in the five or six players that we clearly need.

That said despite the tragedy , that enfolded before us-I felt the second goal was offside, and the pen was not a penalty-although the Ref could easily have given another one against us, shortly afterwards.

IMHO:

Jakkola 2: He had a real bad time of it for about 20 minutes-could have done more for the 1st, then gave a ridiculous pass out, which put us under immediate pressure, then kicked out straight into touch.He clearly is not up to it. But are the other two either ?


Yiadom 4: Give him his due, he kept trying, but is seriously lacking any subtlety.
Richards 4: Got seriouly shredded early doors-but in the last twenty, he did show a lot of attacking flair, which is clearly his strongest suit. Was it a penalty on him late on-or did he dive ?
O Shea 2: This is clearly a season too far, and despite his experience, was totally unable to get us organised.
Ilori 0: We simply cannot play him, if he continues to throw this sort of performance in, every other game. They are not good odds-a real horror show. A CB has to do the basics, and it is quite beyond him, how on earth did he ever get into Liverpool's set up.
Rino 7: Easily our best player-made one mistake the whole game, amongst the carnage around him.
Swift 4: Some horror passes-but he did keep trying and kept on making himself available.
Alukho 3: Suprised he was taken off; far better than Macca or Barrow today-but that's not saying much;just couldn't get into the game.
Macca 0: Hes captain for gods sake-but once he knew he was having a bad game, threw in the towel.
Meite 0: Back to the bad old days-when he barely looked a Pub footballer-some horrific moments.We're four nil down; yet he strolls off when subbed as if we were four nil up-has he got a brain ?
Barrow 1:Simply not interested-wants to leave.

Loader: Looked useful-but asking him to drag us out of the mire at this stage of his career, is asking a lot.
Bod : Looked more gifted than Meite; but thats not saying much.
Harriot: Glad to see a young player drag himself back after two years out-didnt do much; but at least he got the goal.

Ref/Lino : Will have to look again tonight-but my initial thoughts, two of their goals should not have been given-the 2nd and the pen -but the blame for us capitulating cannot be put down to them.

Quite how does Gomez pick the semblance of a team for Saturday-after that embarrising effort, by so many palyers, and we are on telly ! OMG !

He's 18, and has played what, five games? Nearly won us the game on Saturday, and set up our goal today. Give him a chance ffs.

I would agree. I think it's fair to say though that he might not be ready for a Championship relegation battle though based upon what I've seen. Wouldn't dream of saying he'll never be a decent player though.
Yep. Also probably doesn't help that half our fanbase expected him to singlehandedly save us from relegation.

POSITIVES

I didn't go to the game so it's easier perhaps for me to be positive, but here they are.

1) Harriott's return. IIRC he was doing really well before he got injured so it's great to have him back.

2) Eye opener for Gomes. No shitty narrow defeat or useless draw, but the real deal: a major whooping at home by a mediocre side, with all the frailties of the team laid bare for Gomes to see. Couldn't come at a better time with the transfer window open. The interview he gave was very honest, very solid and quite franky I was impressed. I'm not necessarily saying I'm a fan of the appointment as I share people's confusion about his appointment, but we couldn't ask for more from the interview. This match seems to have taught him a LOT about individual players, the supporters, the league, and most importantly the players' headspace.

Ridiculous as this may sound this *could* continue to play out as a catastrophic season ending in League 1 footy, or this could well be the turning point for Gomes and his team to get to grips very quickly with the problems we have, ship out a load of players and bring in some quality to turn this around. The timing couldn't be better as I say. And whilst 4-1 seems awful let's face it we were always probably going to lose anyway. At least with this sort of defeat lessons are being learnt very quickly.

Have faith in the Gomes- like it or not we have no choice! He's a nice chap, let's support him

GOMES' BARMY ARMY!

Yeah those pesky useless draws giving us a point to stay in touch with the sides above them!!! Much better to have a 4-1 defeat.

Loader did ok. Showed for the ball nicely and a great assist. Needs to be quicker with his decision making though. As mentioned did far far better than our starting 3 who were utterly woeful

Whole back 5 was dreadful. Midfield, so often the weak point, was the only area in any credit. Stats show Stamsea only had 8 shots (5 on target) and 1 corner - to concede 4 to that is dismal.

Thought the third goal was borderline offside tbh. Still don’t really see the penalty. But would have made little difference to the result

Personally think he sounded exactly like Clement in the post-match interview.

According to the commentary he managed to kick the flag post by accident and then could only get minimal power on the ball.

We lost 4-1 to Plymouth before Brian saved us after Rodger's dismal reign, perhaps this will be the kickstart of our season?

Ok wishful thinking.

Jaakkola - Crap. Indecisive with terrible kicking. First job this window is a new keeper. 0

Yiadom - The others are so crap that it's catching. Worst game for the club so far. 1

O'Shea - Should never be starting two games in a few days at his age. Ponderous and looked every one of his 37 years and a few more on that. 1

Illori - Sick of this casual PoS. He wanders around thinking he's Raphael Varane when he's more like Raphael the Ninja Turtle. You're in a relegation scrap getting rinsed by crap like Oli McBurnie you tw@. 0

Richards - Torn apart by the experienced Dyer. Not at the races at all. 1

McCleary - He's finished I'm afraid. Real shame to see how the injuries have beaten him. 1

Swift - Tried but he just couldn't get a grip on the game. 2

Rinomhota - Tried a couple of runs. Was the only one to play with any sort of intensity. 3

Aluko - What is there left to say? Should be the first one in that office being told where to go. 0

Barrow - Cant believe this is the same person I voted for as player of the season last year. He can't blame Clement now so what is the excuse going to be? Doesn't take people on anymore. Should have let the ball go out for the second goal rather than kicking it straight to a Swansea player. 0

Meite - Tried his best but got little to no service. Good cross just needed him to run in and head it in himself. Seems to be struggling for fitness since his injury. 3

Personally think he sounded exactly like Clement in the post-match interview.

True. Certainly in terms of his honesty and decency and likability.
Both decent guys, as was Stam also, to be fair.
But we are where we are, Gomes is our man.
Remember a good interview is one thing, converting it into action is where it counts. Clement and Stam had the honesty and interview skills but were clueless. Let's hope Gomes can actually do something now.

Reading Football Club as many of us remember it, is long dead.

The days of players in the away end at Sheffield United are a distant memory.

A club that had an affinity with its fan base and seemed to want to engage, left the building.

Welcome to new football, I can't invest, so I'm out.