Really good result and quite deserved.

A few words of caution to start though. I though Preston were the worst side I've seen this season except us, so baffled how they're riding so high. Plus despite better defending and play in general they still got a couple of alarming free headers they didn't do anything with. We'll need to play better to get a run of results.

Ref: 4 no control over the game at all. Let loads of their shithousery go and blew up every time one of them fancied a sit down.

Cabral 6 solid. There when called on but nothing spectacular. Couple of shit kicks.
Yiadom 6 much more present in defence, but still allergic to making an early cross. Good cutting inside still.
Obita 7 quite but solid game, more conservative than Yiadom, but also more likely to cross.
Both still getting isolated and targeted, but CBs better set up to help out.
Moore - 7 much better performance on the left
Morrison - 8 like the player we saw in the first few games. Focus on him defending, not passing.
Miazga - 9 there for the winner and made sure. Solid at the back too under intense shithousery.
Pele - 6 meh he's ok. Not convinced but decent game
Swift - 6 very mixed. Some very sloppy passing and slowed things down, but also a strong outlet and threat
Ejaria - 8 deserved a goal, but does need to find that final ball more, and the extra touch and turn less.
Puscas - 6 came close a couple of times
Meite - 7 worked hard as ever.

Baldock - 7 injected some pace and directness
Loader - 5 not really a game I'd have picked for him to excel
Adam - 5 he's so off the pace of the game when the opposition have the ball it's terrifying, but he's got a decent brain and pass in him still.

Bowen 7 more direct, better intensity, better belief, but lots of work to do yet. Still think the flanks are a bug problem and we can't play both Ejaria and Swift in central midfield.

Subtle changes. Less risky at the back and got it to the strikers, Puscas and Meite, well in the first half. Bowen said we need to do that better, but the players did as they were told.

Far better game management, didn’t make wholesale, risky changes throughout the match. Which is wise, really as we have a lot of games coming up and I really hope steady progress can be made with a slightly different, direct but mixed style and confidence from that.

We were positive in our play, fought till the end, got lucky and nabbed our THIRD win of the season. Against a high-flying Preston side, too. Delighted for the players, delighted for Bowen and the staff. It wasn’t pretty, but a clean sheet and we move on to the fake hoops on Tuesday!

I'm also wondering how Preston were second in the table, they were pretty woeful. A team whose game plan was to get players booked, feign injury, harass the ref , then nick a win from a set piece.

We battled as we have done previously, missed our few chances ( Puscas, Ejaria) then nicked it at the end.

It couldn't have been sweeter given Preston's antics

Thought Moore enormously improved: Did his part, and was also screaming at players to get back when needed. The captainy sort of behaviour.

They were something else: Their No. 12 fouled someone straight in front of us in Y23, then went down on his knees, and head butted the ground. So the key-stone north end air ambulance walked over, wiped his nose. Then his hands. First one. Then the other. Are Southern pitches lethal to northerners? Is it something religious? Why did they not spend another five minutes wiping his ar5e, just for completeness?

No arguments with this ratings Ian, exactly how I saw it. At a push thought Pele was a 7 and did well esp in the first half

Preston started well and I was a bit concerned but yeah they didn’t do a lot. Genuine wtf were they doing with all the play acting, time wasting and getting in the refs ear at 0-0 against a bottom 3 side. Bizarre behaviour and deserved their defeat

Side note - I enjoyed the game a lot more. More controlled but direct forward play, far better movement up top (esp with Baldock on) and great to see the spirit hasn’t been damaged with Gomes sacking

Early days but saw nothing to make me think sacking Gomes was incorrect. Thought we looked far more organised

Pretty much agree with all of this. We were much more direct today with little of the awful passing between our centre backs. Preston were dreadful and got exactly what they deserved. Just how many times did their players go down injured in the second half?

We look much more solid with Miazga in the side.
A bit concerned with Obita who struggled to chase back on a couple of occasions when we were caught short at the back but overall a deserved win.

Yep I thought Pele was better today and loved that thumping tackle to win the 50/50 in the second half.

Can I just add a message for Bowen for the next game.....

KEEP THE SAME oxf*rd TEAM!!!

Yes I was baffled by how poor Preston were.
Apart from once when we were wide open 2nd half they never looked dangerous.
Not happy with three at the back,as our LH side was wide open,particularly in the 1st half.But heh ho.
We had far more decent shots and chances than they did,and they were happy to settle for a draw late on.
IMHO

Rafael 6 Really had very little to do
Obita 6 Thought he was playing from memory at times and looked rusty,but fair does on the goal.
Morrison 6 Looked a bit spare really,but did what was required.
Moore 7. The odd difficult moment,but did OK.Why hav’nt we seen his throws before ?
Miazga 7 Did ok defensively and hit the target
Yiadom 7 MOM really posed a threat 2nd half
Pele 7. It wasn’t all bad.
Swift 7. Some sublime moments
Ejaria 7 Missed a sitter but a real handful at this level
Puskas 5 Awful really
Meighte 6 Usual bashing about

Loader effective
Baldock showed a lot of commitment but one really poor moment
Adams Really ?

Ref Very poor 2nd half and the booking for Obita ridiculous.

A wins a win and at least we looked effective

Can’t see how you have Loader as ‘effective’. Didn’t do much at all tbh.

Adam contributes. It’s a joke he makes the squad. But he at least contributed.

Rafael - Nothing to do of any note really. Kicking quite poor but good to see a Reading keeper looking for an intelligent long ball first rather than automatically playing it short every time.

Yiadom - Tireless up and down the flank. Couple of good crosses, including one that Puscas could have done better with if he could have been bothered getting across the Centre Back. 8 MotM

Miazga - Took the goal well and dealt with everything in defence. Makes such a difference to that back three when he plays. 8

Moore - Shaky start but grew into the game. Probably his best performance of the season. 7

Morrison - Back to form. Did he had to do. 7

Obita - He's still getting up to speed but is looking stronger with every game, so pleased for him. Great shot in the lead up to the goal. 6

Pele - Solid if unspectacular performance. Put himself about well. 7

Ejaria - The usual fancy footwork but seemed to move the ball with more speed. Should have scored. 7

Swift - Put a shift in defensively and in attack. 7

Puscas - Couple of half chances but poor again. 4

Meite - Plenty of effort from Yak but nothing really came off for him. Must be difficult when you're having to put in the effort of two people because your strike partner can't be arsed. 5

Loader - Thought he did ok. Got won the corner late on for the goal. 6

Baldock - Added energy and enthusiasm. 7

Adam - Pulled a muscle soon after coming on so that must have hampered him. 5

I see the Puscas bashing still in full flow, I thought he did very well today, was lively and plenty of good movement off the ball.

Pretty close to this, but would give Pele a 7.

Direct style may be a bit agricultural at times, but it suits our players better than tippy-tappy. Thought PNE were very poor - if ever there was a false third, they're it. After their timewasting antics, an injury time goal felt all the sweeter.

I wish Yids would cross more/earlier. You know he won't - so do the opposition. Did wonder who the replacement would have been for him if he got injured as there didn't seem to be any RBs/RWBs on the bench. McIntyre?

Bowen’s first game 1-0
Gomes’ first game 1-0
Clement’s first game 1-0
Stam’s first game 1-0
Clarke’s first game 1-0

Correlation

Much improved with the direct play. Clever movement throughout from Puscas but his touch is woeful. Meite couldn’t trap a bag of cement although as usual, he worked hard

Midfield three worked well. Pele, after a torrid first 15 minutes, much improved and kept his passes simple. Ejaria and Swift worked well but those two need to cross the ball in earlier, you don’t need to keep turning your man inside out

Obita was poor but redeemed himself with his shot. Was too slow throughout and offered little offensively. Yiadom was much improved offensively today with a couple of good crosses into the box but he can still improve the tempo of the play

Three centre backs were immense. They stuck to what they were best at, not being the distributor of the ball

Overall, impressed but more is needed offensivdly still

Incidentally - am intrigued by new post-match thread name.

Big F*cking Game Thread?

Thought Obita did ok. More solid than Richards and he is the best crosser in the team by a distance

I’d give him a run there. I think he suits the newish system and style of play

Pretty close to this, but would give Pele a 7.

Direct style may be a bit agricultural at times, but it suits our players better than tippy-tappy. Thought PNE were very poor - if ever there was a false third, they're it. After their timewasting antics, an injury time goal felt all the sweeter.

I wish Yids would cross more/earlier. You know he won't - so do the opposition. Did wonder who the replacement would have been for him if he got injured as there didn't seem to be any RBs/RWBs on the bench. McIntyre?


Yids was better with his crossing in the second half after being very frustrating in the first half.

Think we may be without Meite v the fakies but other than that I agree.

Obviously.

3 points from a late winner and Jane leon II managed to forage a load of sloe berries from where we parked afterwards.

So a great day.

Sure he will come good with goals soon enough! ,

Well played Reading ! I thought we deserved that for effort in the second half and never giving up . Good to see no fannying about at the back and getting the ball forward quicker.

Not a lot beats a 98th minute winner, I can't remember the last late late winner like that.

Thought Swift had a great as did Yiadom and Ejaria was my man of the match.

I wasn't a fan of Bowen's appointment but fair play to him on getting the team to produce a good performance like today.

Wtf was Obita doing shooting from there?!

The last late late winner was as recent as March v Wigan.

Actually scored an absolute load of late goals recently

Wigan, Ipswich, Norwich, Wolves, Swansea, Fulham(admittedly pointless), today...

Not surprising seeing as we rarely started trying until about the 70th minute and at least 1 down.

Finally a game that was enjoyable to watch. How did Miazga end up in the box to drive home the spilled ball?

Really pleased for Bowen. After what must have been a difficult week for him.

Not surprising seeing as we rarely started trying until about the 70th minute and at least 1 down.


That’s the spirit Ian. Every silver lining has a cloud.

Thrilled for Mark Bowen. Noticed the first mong to be interviewed by Tim Dellor wasn't happy and felt Gomes shouldn't have been sacked. We would have lost today if Gomes had been in charge.
A clean sheet was fantastic, defence was decent and kept it far tighter than it had been. We got the ball forward quicker, picked up more second balls and more importantly we concentrated for 90 minutes.......
Couple of things I would like to see improved are-:
Get the crosses in the box quicker rather than take an extra touch and pass all the time. The number of times moves broke down was frustrating.
Defenders need to hoof the ball out if under pressure, we nearly undid ourselves a few times when trying to just knock the ball to a non existent blue shirt.

Overall great result and battled til the end.
Nice of the players to celebrate at the end in front of the club 1875 fans, they worked hard today singing for 90 mins.
Only downside I wacked the seat in front with my knee and its a bit of a mess.......but worth 3 points.

The players put a bit more effort in. Preston didn't even look like they were trying to win.

Beyond that, it's hard to get too enthused by anything, other than the late winner.