Reading Post Match Thread

[EnglishOxide]

And there's no question about bringing in a striker. You would be in your own minority to disagree that one do not need one.

Why?

Schlupp looks promising. Nugent can be prolific if he gets a run of games. He has been unlucky so far. Vassell can play upfront. Waghorn and Howard can too.

Creating the chances is the solution. Not spunking another 5 million on some player.

[HoneyBadger]

Reading were not particularly outstanding but they were fired up by the presence of their ex-captain, they were spirited in defence, fast on the break and took their chances well. If they could keep that starting eleven together every week (although they won't) they would be promotion contenders.

Why, who will leave them? Their only high profile player has now gone to West Brom.

[marbelladave]

Last season I used to do a match report, mainly aimed at expats and other fixes who cannot regularly get to games. With others doing the same on this and other boards I have decided on something a bit different.

So, what follows is a transcript of my notes, made as the game unfolds and apart from filling in the odd player name, exactly as written at the time.

If anyone finds it interesting please say so, if not I shall not bother, up to you.....

First thought on arrival, surprised by the line up, looks defensive and lacking creativity and goal threat….

First half our shape was horrible. we had three players in midfield all doing pretty much the same thing, Abe entirely surplus to requirements and Wellens playing far too deep. Fernandez hardly on the ball and to be frank, largely anonymous, in fact pretty much everyone except Nugent was too deep and as an attacking force we were virtually nonexistent.

Danns looks completely lost as a wide man, Schlupp worked his flank but rarely got forward, the one chance he did get was blocked by the defence, that and a cross shot from Nugent driving in from wide were about our only strikes of the first half.

Our passing was poor throughout, Pantsil and Mills in particular giving the ball away more often than not. The malais spread and Fernandez, Wellens and Danns all regularly misplacing their passes. The forward players really were not given a hope, for the home team this really was abject.

We desperately need to sort out our shape, in midfield no one appears to be taking charge defensively, there is no creativity going forward and we lack pace in attack.

Reading looked much the better side going forward but despite another shaky performance from Mills our defence looked reasonably solid, though Schmeichel had to have words on several occasions.

King on for Abe at the start of the first half, with Abe largely redundant a reasonable call. What does worry me is that King is not really a creative player yet it looks like he is playing the attacking role with Wellens playing deep, go figure…..

Despite my reservations City get after Reading from the restart, a half chance followed by a shot against the post, both from Nugent. But then once again we start giving the ball away and Schmeichel saves well from Kebe.

City get back on the attack, an excellent strike from King is well saved and the pressure continues from City, Schlupp has another shot blocked and Danns shoots wide from a half decent opportunity.

Still not really creating that much despite the pressure and surprisingly (for me) the next substitution is Waghorn for Schlupp, not at all sure what he, Schlupp, did wrong.

Manset wins a corner against Pantsil and Harte crosses for Hunt to score with a virtually free header, Mills complains but difficult to see why, holding on Mills or Konchesky possibly.

City continue to push forward but there is still little threat to the Reading goal, in possession Reading are trying to slow it down with some success but look dangerous on the break, Kebe in particular.

More substitutions, Gallagher replacing Danns who was pretty poor, City continue to press but the final ball is still mostly not good enough, Waghorn and King the worst culprits. More pressure from City but Reading defending well, helped by a succession of poor crosses and corners, nothing remotely good enough to trouble the defence. Strangely the City attacks still seem to lack any sense of urgency, can not really see us pulling this back, an attempt from Bamba fails trouble the keeper, looks like we are just going through the motions.

With Bamba playing upfield the City defence just folds and lets in Robson-Kanu for a second, decent strike but he was given so much space…..

Piss poor performance overall, no real composure in defence no verve going forward, rubbish free kicks and corners, so poor in fact that I really don't know where to start.

[MC Prussian]

The reason we lost today is because we were up against a team and manager who know this league better than ours do.

Reading were not particularly outstanding but they were fired up by the presence of their ex-captain, they were spirited in defence, fast on the break and took their chances well. If they could keep that starting eleven together every week (although they won't) they would be promotion contenders.

Once again Sven's weaknesses were brutally exposed and we wonder how many shreds Steve Claridge will rip him into on tonight's Football League show. One thing's for sure, Sven will deserve every piece of stick he gets. He let us down big-time today with a series of misjudgments not seen since the dark days of Kelly or Holloway.

With two away wins to start the season, expectations were naturally high and we expected a side with creativity, ambition and attacking flair to take the game to Reading.

Instead we were treated to the most timid of formations: a 4-5-1 with the lone striker far too isolated to produce any threat. Although Schlupp occasionally troubled the visitors with his pace, he was generally employed far too deep to make any meaningful impact with this.

Why Yuki Abe, who was clearly nowhere near fit, was deemed worthy of a starting place is a question only Sven can answer (if Stringer or Tanner would ever be brave enough to ask it). The midfielder was always likely to be jetlagged after his jaunt to Japan and so it proved.

Elsewhere in midfield Fernandes was his usual industrious self, although Leigertwood and Karacan troubled him far more than Cov's central midfield last week. Danns looked a square peg in a round hole, while Wellens (and later, King too) was guilty of attempting way too many 50-yard Hollywood passes, even when easier 10-yard ones were available. The result was a complete lack of rhythm and cohesion in the centre of the field, which a side of Reading's experience were always likely to exploit.

But the malaise was not confined to one area of the pitch. The defence looked disjointed and ill-at-ease. Even when international fullbacks Pantsil and Konchesky ventured forward, their overhit crosses invariably brought attacks to an end. Meanwhile attacking subs Waghorn and Gallagher had days which will not linger long in their memories or ours. Waghorn never threatened to add to his assists from Tuesday night, finding his prowess as a setpiece specialist diminished against somewhat stronger opposition,

The only player who emerged from this debacle in anything resembling a positive light was Kasper Schmeichel, who must already be wondering what he's let himself in for. His 50-yard rush from goal to berate a particularly wasteful Wellens displayed hunger, desire and passion - qualities all too often non-existent among those wearing blue shirts.. His tirade provoked cheers and a standing ovation among sections of the Kop. But if it was intended to motivate or inspire team-mates, it did not succeed on either count.

Fortunately in this extended season there will be many opportunities to quickly banish a bad performance from collective memories. Wednesday's clash against a struggling Bristol City side offers an immediate chance for the Foxes to restore confidence on and off the field. A win in that game is now imperative.

Mmhh.... Yeah, McDermott knows this league about ten months longer than Sven. His winning percentage is also only slightly better than Sven's (we're talking about one percent).

And your point is...?

Vassell is a good player on this level and he has established himself well on the flanks. The only issue that I have is that we're almost too dependent on him, starting (or having started) almost every game.

Sven's only real mistake today was playing too many central midfielders, defensive central midfielders that is. Danns, Wellens, Abe together don't work - Abe and Wellens are too similar in terms of style.

We lacked the right mix of both defensive- and offensive-oriented midfielders. There was no creativity going forward, the attacks were disjointed, Nugent left alone up front way too often. King could've/should've started straightaway.

And I don't think Schlupp deserved to start (regardless of his great game against Rotherham).

I thought Sven's alleged weakness has always been that he plays his favourites. Didn't really see that today.

Besides, we were lacking Vassell and I really can't wait to see what Johnson adds to our offensive play.

[jmono84]

Of course we wasn't going to score today... Our top league goalscorer is injured I think if Nugents shot went in then we would have at least got an result and against a team that seem to beat us for fun... Which I would have been happy with... We are one good striker away from a formidable first team... Come on you blues!!!

[tickler28]

people still spent there own money on tickets, as i said people deal with frustration in different ways..

how can you say its ok to boo in a month but not now ?? surely your for it or against it...

For it...no.....understand it after a month yes....by then people have a right as like you say tickets are not cheap and you have the right to expect as A Leicester fan bigger and better things. But come on after 1 game there's no argument it's embarrassing.

[Bezzanator89]

Several factors were behind today's defeat:

• Sloppy passing generally...
  
• Attack was anonymous due to the lack of service and bit in midfield...
  
• Caught in possession too often and were found wanting when caught on the break from a rare Leicester attack...
  
• The absence of a goalscorer was dreadfully exposed...
  
• Some players looked unfit and tired, such as Pantsil and Abe...
  
• The selection and formation was suspect, some back from Internation Duty but should have stayed out of the starting line up...
  
• Lack of a general desire to bounce back when we went a goal down, which is nothing new with Leicester City.
  

That's my general diagnosis of the game yesterday, hopefully Sven can put some of the wrongs right by Wednesday when we face Bristol City. Keep the Faith!

[Raw Dykes]

What a mess.

I've only recently moved back to Leics., so this was the first match I've been able to get to for a while. I was really looking forward to seeing our new expensively assembled team in action. To say it was a bit disappointing would be an understatement.

Most of what I wanted to say has been said already. Picking Abe when he'd only just returned from international duty was a schoolboy error. He was clearly exhausted, and with Wellens, Fernandes and Danns also in the starting XI, there was no need to play a CM who was even slightly tired. There was very little creativity in the midfield and Danns was made to play out of position. Schlupp was too, although it wasn't as obvious as with Danns, and as the game went on, Schlupp started to get the hang of it, and then, inexplicably, he was taken off. It was a mistake to throw Schlupp in at the deep end anyway. I'm sure today's events can't have done his confidence much good. I'm not his biggest fan, but Dyer would probably have been more effective and less of a risk for the left forward position.

We just gave the ball away all too often - far too many wayward passes (Mills being the main offender), and both Abe and Danns were guilty of dallying on the ball and just letting the opposition take it off them.

I was very surprised to see how defensively we were set up, and the apparent complete lack of urgency to get forward, especially towards the end of the game.

I suppose there are some positives. Fernandes and Bamba did play well, and it was great to see Schmeichel's enthusiasm. I am sure that we almost have the squad to make an easy on the eye attacking 4-3-3 work, but what we used today needs altering. I don't think the formation needs a lot of work. I just think we need to use one defensive midfielder, and two of our more creative CMs (at home, at least), and employ our wider forwards further forward, and they need to be able to support the central striker better.

We are going to need a couple more players up front if we want to challenge for automatic, but there is time to bring them in. We need a true winger, whether we play 4-3-3 or 4-4-2, and a striker. We did miss Vassell today, and the moment Nugent is unavailable, our attack is going to look a lot worse than it did today, if that's even possible.

As bad as today's shambles was, I still remain hopeful of a good season. Maybe today was the much needed valve on the team's pressure cooker of expectation.

[Guest NGoloMode]

So who else isn't panicking about this? 1 game out of 46..

[OzFox]

Last season I used to do a match report, mainly aimed at expats and other fixes who cannot regularly get to games. With others doing the same on this and other boards I have decided on something a bit different.

So, what follows is a transcript of my notes, made as the game unfolds and apart from filling in the odd player name, exactly as written at the time.

If anyone finds it interesting please say so, if not I shall not bother, up to you.....

First thought on arrival, surprised by the line up, looks defensive and lacking creativity and goal threat….

First half our shape was horrible. we had three players in midfield all doing pretty much the same thing, Abe entirely surplus to requirements and Wellens playing far too deep. Fernandez hardly on the ball and to be frank, largely anonymous, in fact pretty much everyone except Nugent was too deep and as an attacking force we were virtually nonexistent.

Danns looks completely lost as a wide man, Schlupp worked his flank but rarely got forward, the one chance he did get was blocked by the defence, that and a cross shot from Nugent driving in from wide were about our only strikes of the first half.

Our passing was poor throughout, Pantsil and Mills in particular giving the ball away more often than not. The malais spread and Fernandez, Wellens and Danns all regularly misplacing their passes. The forward players really were not given a hope, for the home team this really was abject.

We desperately need to sort out our shape, in midfield no one appears to be taking charge defensively, there is no creativity going forward and we lack pace in attack.

Reading looked much the better side going forward but despite another shaky performance from Mills our defence looked reasonably solid, though Schmeichel had to have words on several occasions.

King on for Abe at the start of the first half, with Abe largely redundant a reasonable call. What does worry me is that King is not really a creative player yet it looks like he is playing the attacking role with Wellens playing deep, go figure…..

Despite my reservations City get after Reading from the restart, a half chance followed by a shot against the post, both from Nugent. But then once again we start giving the ball away and Schmeichel saves well from Kebe.

City get back on the attack, an excellent strike from King is well saved and the pressure continues from City, Schlupp has another shot blocked and Danns shoots wide from a half decent opportunity.

Still not really creating that much despite the pressure and surprisingly (for me) the next substitution is Waghorn for Schlupp, not at all sure what he, Schlupp, did wrong.

Manset wins a corner against Pantsil and Harte crosses for Hunt to score with a virtually free header, Mills complains but difficult to see why, holding on Mills or Konchesky possibly.

City continue to push forward but there is still little threat to the Reading goal, in possession Reading are trying to slow it down with some success but look dangerous on the break, Kebe in particular.

More substitutions, Gallagher replacing Danns who was pretty poor, City continue to press but the final ball is still mostly not good enough, Waghorn and King the worst culprits. More pressure from City but Reading defending well, helped by a succession of poor crosses and corners, nothing remotely good enough to trouble the defence. Strangely the City attacks still seem to lack any sense of urgency, can not really see us pulling this back, an attempt from Bamba fails trouble the keeper, looks like we are just going through the motions.

With Bamba playing upfield the City defence just folds and lets in Robson-Kanu for a second, decent strike but he was given so much space…..

Piss poor performance overall, no real composure in defence no verve going forward, rubbish free kicks and corners, so poor in fact that I really don't know where to start.

Surprised you had time to watch anything after writing that lot

I sat in the directors box for the Forest game, right behind a bloke who was drawing little diagrams of all our moves. Lots of little stick figures and arrows etc etc. Maybe you'd consider incorporating a few of those with your notes? Just for us expats like (Couldn't help but notice he didn't draw anything after Weale's howler. Probably no way you could sum it up on a scrap of paper)

Sounded very disappointing yesterday, but not all that surprising. It always takes time for "new" teams to gel and nothing motivates the opposition more than playing a load of expensive, overpaid "favourites"

Whats more worrying for me is the lack of attacking ideas, and that we've splashed millions on someone who by some accounts is no better than Brown or Hobbs.

[Dan]

If we're in the same division as Reading next season we should just give them the points before the scheduled match at our place.

Would save a lot of money

How much? £5mil?

What a steaming shower of shite.

I'm not writing us off yet, but what a horrendously embarrassing display.

Nothing going forward, poor at the back. Same old Reading, I'm sick of them, it's the same every fvcking time.

I'll write in more detail when I can be fvcked, but I'm livid.

[teblin]

Yesterday the team looked like a team of new players, played a little bit like strangers.

Mills was poor, very poor but hopefully it was just a blip.

I still can't help but think we always need the option of a big striker whether that be howard(though looks like he is off) or a new signing. Having waghorn on the bench doesn't really offer anything different to nugent to shake it up.

Schlupp didn't look ready for this level quite yet. it was one of the worst games i've seen Abe play.

On a positive note Nugent worked hard and looked ok, Fernandes is a class act, both full backs and big sol looked steady.

[Karljohn]

Based on what I have seen of Matt Mills first 2 league games and taking on board the Reading fan's comment, I was pleased to hear that we have some reliable back up heading home in 3 weeks time in the shape of Mr Tunchev.

For a moment I thought we had Michael Morrison back in the side yesterday at No 5.

Forget Wingers and Strikers if we can't even keep the ball in the first place, and if we can't do that then we need to reintroduce Dyer who at least will carry the ball with positive runs for 40-50 yards up the pitch.

2 games in and we have Nugent, an out of sorts Waghorn, a youth academy kid and a centre back pushed up trying to score goals? yet our goalscorers Gally and King warm the bench?

[l444ry]

Just an observation but Reading would probably not have scored their first if zonal marking was being employed on corners, and nor would our winner against Coventry last week. Funny how man-marking hardly gets highlighted when it fails as miserably as these two examples.

[Stig the Lawnmower]

haven't read the whole thread, too pi55ed off!

very poor display, went to the ricoh last week and came away full of optimism, probably just shows how poor cov are.

didn't seem to have a clue yesterday, no shape, no attacking game plan, did sven think we were the away team? should not have played schlupp from the start, the lad must have been on a high after rotherham and quite rightly so, but to start him against one of the leagues better teams? he was mostly ineffective, can't have done much for his confidence - should have been intoduced with 20 mins to go. definately one for the furture though.

thought Pantsil showed promise, as did Fernandes, Danns hot and cold, Konchesky was ignored a lot of the time, as he was at the ricoh, Mills? needs to show a lot of improvement. Early days, hopefully the team will gel. Never thought I'd say this, but we need Heskey back!

make Kasper captain, loads of passion and not afraid to give a bollocking, thats what we need

still, ever the optimist, roll on wednesday!

[Happy Fox]

Even though I don't like us losing it is good to get it in the system, as it should bring out a positive reaction among the players and give them the will to do better, as Kasper alluded to yesterday their was an edge of complacency that the players would stroll over and expect an win, but promotion is not served to you on a plate, it takes each game one at a time 100% focus

[marbelladave]

Surprised you had time to watch anything after writing that lot

I sat in the directors box for the Forest game, right behind a bloke who was drawing little diagrams of all our moves. Lots of little stick figures and arrows etc etc. Maybe you'd consider incorporating a few of those with your notes? Just for us expats like (Couldn't help but notice he didn't draw anything after Weale's howler. Probably no way you could sum it up on a scrap of paper)

Sounded very disappointing yesterday, but not all that surprising. It always takes time for "new" teams to gel and nothing motivates the opposition more than playing a load of expensive, overpaid "favourites"

Whats more worrying for me is the lack of attacking ideas, and that we've splashed millions on someone who by some accounts is no better than Brown or Hobbs.

When I was living in Spain I found it very hard to get any decent coverage / analysis of our games. The mainstream press are useless and most of the online comment was of the 'we were crap / we were great' variety and the banter / abuse that followed such statements.

It was the posts of contributors such as Thracian on here and one or two others elswhere that made a huge difference, so now that I am in the UK for a while I thought I would return the compliment.

BTW - Used to live in Bellvue Hill, about a mile down the Old South Head Road from Bondi Junction back in the eighties....

[phildw]

Total embarrassment - enough said. The papers are having a field day but when you put yourself on a pedestal......

[Basingstoke Fox]

Why do we have to lose every bloody game we play against these bastards? It's just getting out of hand.

Thats my analysis from the day. Thoroughly ****ed off.

[Babylon]

The papers are having a field day but when you put yourself on a pedestal......

It's the papers, bookies and pundits that put is on there, not us.

[cc_star]

Based on what I have seen of Matt Mills first 2 league games and taking on board the Reading fan's comment, I was pleased to hear that we have some reliable back up heading home in 3 weeks time in the shape of Mr Tunchev.

For a moment I thought we had Michael Morrison back in the side yesterday at No 5.

Forget Wingers and Strikers if we can't even keep the ball in the first place, and if we can't do that then we need to reintroduce Dyer who at least will carry the ball with positive runs for 40-50 yards up the pitch.

2 games in and we have Nugent, an out of sorts Waghorn, a youth academy kid and a centre back pushed up trying to score goals? yet our goalscorers Gally and King warm the bench?

Exactly my point about Howard, he is the only forward who offers us something different, no one is pretending he's going to play every 90 and guide us to promotion but off the bench he is different in that he gives us an outlet if we're playing rubbish or holding on to a lead

Dyer should also be in the 16 for the same reason.

Gally & King should be on the pitch for me with the newboys being introduced gradually so as not to unbalance us &/or once they've earned their chance

The competition for places seems limited despite all the players, a situation which will only get worse once the permanently ineffective Vassell is fit.

[ACF]

Last season I used to do a match report, mainly aimed at expats and other fixes who cannot regularly get to games. With others doing the same on this and other boards I have decided on something a bit different.

So, what follows is a transcript of my notes, made as the game unfolds and apart from filling in the odd player name, exactly as written at the time.

If anyone finds it interesting please say so, if not I shall not bother, up to you.....

First thought on arrival, surprised by the line up, looks defensive and lacking creativity and goal threat….

First half our shape was horrible. we had three players in midfield all doing pretty much the same thing, Abe entirely surplus to requirements and Wellens playing far too deep. Fernandez hardly on the ball and to be frank, largely anonymous, in fact pretty much everyone except Nugent was too deep and as an attacking force we were virtually nonexistent.

Danns looks completely lost as a wide man, Schlupp worked his flank but rarely got forward, the one chance he did get was blocked by the defence, that and a cross shot from Nugent driving in from wide were about our only strikes of the first half.

Our passing was poor throughout, Pantsil and Mills in particular giving the ball away more often than not. The malais spread and Fernandez, Wellens and Danns all regularly misplacing their passes. The forward players really were not given a hope, for the home team this really was abject.

We desperately need to sort out our shape, in midfield no one appears to be taking charge defensively, there is no creativity going forward and we lack pace in attack.

Reading looked much the better side going forward but despite another shaky performance from Mills our defence looked reasonably solid, though Schmeichel had to have words on several occasions.

King on for Abe at the start of the first half, with Abe largely redundant a reasonable call. What does worry me is that King is not really a creative player yet it looks like he is playing the attacking role with Wellens playing deep, go figure…..

Despite my reservations City get after Reading from the restart, a half chance followed by a shot against the post, both from Nugent. But then once again we start giving the ball away and Schmeichel saves well from Kebe.

City get back on the attack, an excellent strike from King is well saved and the pressure continues from City, Schlupp has another shot blocked and Danns shoots wide from a half decent opportunity.

Still not really creating that much despite the pressure and surprisingly (for me) the next substitution is Waghorn for Schlupp, not at all sure what he, Schlupp, did wrong.

Manset wins a corner against Pantsil and Harte crosses for Hunt to score with a virtually free header, Mills complains but difficult to see why, holding on Mills or Konchesky possibly.

City continue to push forward but there is still little threat to the Reading goal, in possession Reading are trying to slow it down with some success but look dangerous on the break, Kebe in particular.

More substitutions, Gallagher replacing Danns who was pretty poor, City continue to press but the final ball is still mostly not good enough, Waghorn and King the worst culprits. More pressure from City but Reading defending well, helped by a succession of poor crosses and corners, nothing remotely good enough to trouble the defence. Strangely the City attacks still seem to lack any sense of urgency, can not really see us pulling this back, an attempt from Bamba fails trouble the keeper, looks like we are just going through the motions.

With Bamba playing upfield the City defence just folds and lets in Robson-Kanu for a second, decent strike but he was given so much space…..

Piss poor performance overall, no real composure in defence no verve going forward, rubbish free kicks and corners, so poor in fact that I really don't know where to start.

Really useful for us overseas fans. Thank you so much!

However, maybe you should just watch the game

[shade]

Last season I used to do a match report, mainly aimed at expats and other fixes who cannot regularly get to games. With others doing the same on this and other boards I have decided on something a bit different.

So, what follows is a transcript of my notes, made as the game unfolds and apart from filling in the odd player name, exactly as written at the time.

If anyone finds it interesting please say so, if not I shall not bother, up to you.....

First thought on arrival, surprised by the line up, looks defensive and lacking creativity and goal threat….

First half our shape was horrible. we had three players in midfield all doing pretty much the same thing, Abe entirely surplus to requirements and Wellens playing far too deep. Fernandez hardly on the ball and to be frank, largely anonymous, in fact pretty much everyone except Nugent was too deep and as an attacking force we were virtually nonexistent.

Danns looks completely lost as a wide man, Schlupp worked his flank but rarely got forward, the one chance he did get was blocked by the defence, that and a cross shot from Nugent driving in from wide were about our only strikes of the first half.

Our passing was poor throughout, Pantsil and Mills in particular giving the ball away more often than not. The malais spread and Fernandez, Wellens and Danns all regularly misplacing their passes. The forward players really were not given a hope, for the home team this really was abject.

We desperately need to sort out our shape, in midfield no one appears to be taking charge defensively, there is no creativity going forward and we lack pace in attack.

Reading looked much the better side going forward but despite another shaky performance from Mills our defence looked reasonably solid, though Schmeichel had to have words on several occasions.

King on for Abe at the start of the first half, with Abe largely redundant a reasonable call. What does worry me is that King is not really a creative player yet it looks like he is playing the attacking role with Wellens playing deep, go figure…..

Despite my reservations City get after Reading from the restart, a half chance followed by a shot against the post, both from Nugent. But then once again we start giving the ball away and Schmeichel saves well from Kebe.

City get back on the attack, an excellent strike from King is well saved and the pressure continues from City, Schlupp has another shot blocked and Danns shoots wide from a half decent opportunity.

Still not really creating that much despite the pressure and surprisingly (for me) the next substitution is Waghorn for Schlupp, not at all sure what he, Schlupp, did wrong.

Manset wins a corner against Pantsil and Harte crosses for Hunt to score with a virtually free header, Mills complains but difficult to see why, holding on Mills or Konchesky possibly.

City continue to push forward but there is still little threat to the Reading goal, in possession Reading are trying to slow it down with some success but look dangerous on the break, Kebe in particular.

More substitutions, Gallagher replacing Danns who was pretty poor, City continue to press but the final ball is still mostly not good enough, Waghorn and King the worst culprits. More pressure from City but Reading defending well, helped by a succession of poor crosses and corners, nothing remotely good enough to trouble the defence. Strangely the City attacks still seem to lack any sense of urgency, can not really see us pulling this back, an attempt from Bamba fails trouble the keeper, looks like we are just going through the motions.

With Bamba playing upfield the City defence just folds and lets in Robson-Kanu for a second, decent strike but he was given so much space…..

Piss poor performance overall, no real composure in defence no verve going forward, rubbish free kicks and corners, so poor in fact that I really don't know where to start.

very useful, thanks.

[dayday]

Just a thought but last season we had little pace in the side.....so what has changed?.....Is it that the full backs are not pushing on enough,does Sven fear Konchesky and Pantsil are not quick enough to get up and down the park.

I know he was worried about to many goals being linked,yet if we are going to be more defensive side...we have to try and win games as well.

It is much easier to open teams up with width,yesterday the midfield was to congested and the movement was lacking big time,hence the sloppy passing.

If Sven is going to be more defensive then he has to buy faster attacking players,or we can expect more of the same.

A wide man and a new striker is a must.

[Happy Fox]

Just a thought but last season we had little pace in the side.....so what has changed?.....Is it that the full backs are not pushing on enough,does Sven fear Konchesky and Pantsil are not quick enough to get up and down the park.

I know he was worried about to many goals being linked,yet if we are going to be more defensive side...we have to try and win games as well.

It is much easier to open teams up with width,yesterday the midfield was to congested and the movement was lacking big time,hence the sloppy passing.

If Sven is going to be more defensive then he has to buy faster attacking players,or we can expect more of the same.

A wide man and a new striker is a must.

Two wide men and at least two strikers are needed imo if we are wanting automatic promotion