Reading Post Match Thread

[Basingstoke Fox]

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.

A good read and I find it hard to disagree with any of that to be honest.

[jamesmilner]

echoes of last year . sousa was the man then , most fans licking his bum . then reality .

[SMX11]

I don't think we should over react yet but do question Sven's midfield selection. How many goals are you going to get out of Abe, Fernandes and Wellens? If we are going to play this 4-3-3 then we need goals from the midfield which isn't going to come from that current three. Also why is Neil Danns being played out of position? Just baffling that Gally isn't on the pitch imo.

----------------Fernandes------------

-----Wellens---------------King-----

-----------------Gallagher------------

--------Nugent------- New signing/Schlupp

[The Fox and The Crow]

First post for me as i've always been more of a spectator on FT.

As I wasn't at the match yesterday and was unable to listen to it on the radio I can only really go with what's been posted on here. Subsequently the below is just a general observation.

Why are we always so quick to blame our manager? It seems to have been this way for as long as I can remember. In many cases i'm sure we were correct to do so, but certainly not in every case. Isn't it about time the players were given some responsibility for the way that they perform? That said (and this has again been true for some time), there are also certain players that a high proportion of our fans show no leniency to. They're barely allowed one bad game where other players provide us with perpetual mediocrity but are warmly rewarded for their "passion" and the inevitable lack of discipline that seems to accompany it. Vassell is a perfect example of this. He's still got a fair bit of pace, bags of skill and his work rate was often second only to Naughton last season. He runs at people (Something else totally undervalued by Leicester fans) and we generally seem to be a better team when he's in the side but somehow he gets labelled as "ineffective". Amazing.

I don't think many would question Sven's pedigree. In my opinion, he has often had his achievements undervalued by his media image and this ill informed perception that he failed as England manager (just look at what's happened since!) Yes he gets paid a lot and yes we do deserve better than yesterday but he is far from the only culprit. It seems like everybody has already forgotten the turnaround of last season. A turnaround which may have had an ever sweeter ending had our most relied upon players not seemed to completely burn themselves out towards the pinnacle of the season (An issue which let's not forget, Sven has done his best to address this season with more strength in depth). Yesterday he made mistakes (which according to some of your posts he did try to correct), the players made mistakes and we were punished by one of this leagues most consistent sides. It's frustrating and very disappointing after the excitement of the build up but it is just the beginning and it will happen to everybody at times.At least Sven himself saw this. His post match interview on the OS reflects what most of our fans have been suggesting about yesterday. Anybody remember the days of Peter Taylor where it seemed that he was watching a different game to us every single week?

Let's have a little patience and see what happens. I can't see us being in the same position as we were at the beginning of last season.

[OzFox]

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....

Much appreciated thanks. As are many of the comments on this forum....some articulate people on here.

I found it hard to get any decent coverage of our games when I lived in Harrow, let alone moving to Australia.

Bellevue Hill eh? Very nice. You would have been well positioned for Sydney FC games. And they could do with the support...last season crowds down to 5000. As if that wasn't bad enough, they've just taken on Zeljko Kalac as a goalkeeping coach

[EnglishOxide]

echoes of last year . sousa was the man then , most fans licking his bum . then reality .

**** off.

Seriously.

[Bert]

The season is two games old. There's always going to be issues early on. Let's see where we are after 10 Games eh? We could be cov, not scored in the league and out of the cc 1st round? Leeds have no points on the board, and Forest are only on one.

Saying all this, I'm looking forward to Wednesday. The players should be desperate to put right yesterday's result, and if we win, the Reading game will just be a distant memory.

[Guest]

Leicester supporters really like to moan don't they?

Perhaps it's a good slap in the face for all the arrogant City fans who have been belittling other teams and supporters just because we've spent £10m. Supporters support. Are you supporters or football critics?

[accessory]

Why are we always so quick to blame our manager? It seems to have been this way for as long as I can remember. In many cases i'm sure we were correct to do so, but certainly not in every case. Isn't it about time the players were given some responsibility for the way that they perform?

But it's the manager who picks the team and makes the decision about its formation and tactics. Given the salary we pay Sven (probably the highest in the division, after West Ham) it's entirely reasonable for us to evaluate, scrutinise and praise/condemn his performance when need be.

That said (and this has again been true for some time), there are also certain players that a high proportion of our fans show no leniency to. They're barely allowed one bad game where other players provide us with perpetual mediocrity but are warmly rewarded for their "passion" and the inevitable lack of discipline that seems to accompany it. Vassell is a perfect example of this. He's still got a fair bit of pace, bags of skill and his work rate was often second only to Naughton last season. He runs at people (Something else totally undervalued by Leicester fans) and we generally seem to be a better team when he's in the side but somehow he gets labelled as "ineffective". Amazing

.

I don't sense any great hostility to Vassell on here, even though his goalscoring record for us is no better than Waghorn's and it's not as if he produces a shedload of assists to compensate. Yes he has pace, as does Lloyd Dyer, but how often do we see an end product from this? And it's slightly ironic you raise "lack of discipline" as an issue for Vassell's rivals, a mere week after DV collected one of the quickest red cards in living memory.

I don't think many would question Sven's pedigree. In my opinion, he has often had his achievements undervalued by his media image and this ill informed perception that he failed as England manager (just look at what's happened since!)

That's not a perception - it's a historical fact. We didn't win any of the tournaments we competed in during his time in charge, or even come close to doing so. The fact that other managers, before and since, have had even worse records should not be allowed to obscure his.

Yes he gets paid a lot and yes we do deserve better than yesterday but he is far from the only culprit. It seems like everybody has already forgotten the turnaround of last season. A turnaround which may have had an ever sweeter ending had our most relied upon players not seemed to completely burn themselves out towards the pinnacle of the season (An issue which let's not forget, Sven has done his best to address this season with more strength in depth).

But Sven himself contributed to the under-achievement by undermining players with proven records of achievement under Pearson and in some cases bringing in inferior replacements. Kirkland, Bednar and Ricardo are three examples which spring readily to mind.

Yesterday he made mistakes (which according to some of your posts he did try to correct), the players made mistakes and we were punished by one of this leagues most consistent sides. It's frustrating and very disappointing after the excitement of the build up but it is just the beginning and it will happen to everybody at times.At least Sven himself saw this. His post match interview on the OS reflects what most of our fans have been suggesting about yesterday. Anybody remember the days of Peter Taylor where it seemed that he was watching a different game to us every single week?

The same Peter Taylor who, during much of his time with us, was being mentored at the FA by a certain Mr SG Eriksson?

Let's have a little patience and see what happens. I can't see us being in the same position as we were at the beginning of last season.

At least under Sousa we managed to score against Reading...

[Bob Weasel Fox]

The season is two games old. There's always going to be issues early on. Let's see where we are after 10 Games eh? We could be cov, not scored in the league and out of the cc 1st round? Leeds have no points on the board, and Forest are only on one.

Saying all this, I'm looking forward to Wednesday. The players should be desperate to put right yesterday's result, and if we win, the Reading game will just be a distant memory.

THIS

[accessory]

Leicester supporters really like to moan don't they?

Perhaps it's a good slap in the face for all the arrogant City fans who have been belittling other teams and supporters just because we've spent £10m. Supporters support. Are you supporters or football critics?

I have a piece of plastic card in my wallet. It's called a season ticket. I paid a fair amount of cash for that and committed myself to 46 hours/year minimum watching my team. So I'd consider myself to be a supporter. Doesn't mean I can't have an opinion though - last time I checked I was in England, not North Korea.

[Bert]

I'd also like to add - I'd be a lot more worried if we were to lose to Bristol City at home than Reading, (who we've an awful record against) without any disrespect to BC, we should be beating them.

[Happy Fox]

If we come out of the traps with energy and gusto we should beat Brizzle, if we score the first goal we mustn't be laboring about

[marbelladave]

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

However, maybe you should just watch the game

very useful, thanks.

A good read and I find it hard to disagree with any of that to be honest.

Thanks, mostly I just scribble notes when the ball goes out of play. I turn them into sentences and proper english when I get home.

Much appreciated thanks. As are many of the comments on this forum....some articulate people on here.

I found it hard to get any decent coverage of our games when I lived in Harrow, let alone moving to Australia.

Bellevue Hill eh? Very nice. You would have been well positioned for Sydney FC games. And they could do with the support...last season crowds down to 5000. As if that wasn't bad enough, they've just taken on Zeljko Kalac as a goalkeeping coach

My wife worked at the Royal Hospital for Women in Paddington so this was pretty convenient.

Interestingly I used to watch the egg chasers on a saturday, couldn't be doing with the 13 a side 'footy' nonsense, watching Randwick playing proper rugby was a real treat. Decent winter weather allowing fast flowing open play that was genuinely great to watch, miles better than anything you would see at Welford Road. Mind you having Matt Burke, several Ella brothers and the incomparable 'Campo' turning out on a regular basis did help.

[EnglishOxide]

I have a piece of plastic card in my wallet. It's called a season ticket. I paid a fair amount of cash for that and committed myself to 46 hours/year minimum watching my team. So I'd consider myself to be a supporter. Doesn't mean I can't have an opinion though - last time I checked I was in England, not North Korea.

That's the problem. Everybody has their opinion and the bottom line is that it means **** all. If you were all so knowledgeable you would be football managers.

You act as though you were forced to buy a season ticket, and that gives you some god given right to be critical all the time.

Supporters support. And it should mostly be vocally while at the match.

(Not directing this post specifically at you)

[The Fox and The Crow]

.But it's the manager who picks the team and makes the decision about its formation and tactics. Given the salary we pay Sven (probably the highest in the division, after West Ham) it's entirely reasonable for us to evaluate, scrutinise and praise/condemn his performance when need be

Whilst I agree that his pay packet opens him up to some fair criticism when he doesn't produce, I just think it's too early in this season to start suggesting that he's already failed us. Likewise with the formation and tactics. By the sounds of it he got it wrong yesterday, tried to fix it and failed in doing that. I wouldn't say he's consistently done it throughout his time here at Leicester though. My post was by no means trying to completely free Sven of any blame for yesterdays performance or any of his shortcomings. I just feel that a lot have been very quick to take a rather comprehensive standpoint against a manger who overall has done reasonably well since he got here. Whether he's done well enough or not I guess we'll see at the end of this season. This judgement will then be in the hands of the board.

.

I don't sense any great hostility to Vassell on here, even though his goalscoring record for us is no better than Waghorn's and it's not as if he produces a shedload of assists to compensate. Yes he has pace, as does Lloyd Dyer, but how often do we see an end product from this? And it's slightly ironic you raise "lack of discipline" as an issue for Vassell's rivals, a mere week after DV collected one of the quickest red cards in living memory.

In fairness I had forgotten (somehow) about Vassell's recent dismissal, but it's not like he's regularly done that type of thing. I don't think it's just discipline in terms of cards either which tends to be lacking with some of our players. I think both Vassell and Lloyd are guilty at times of failing to deliver that killer pass, cross or shot but I don't believe they should be totally undervalued based on this alone. What they do does still serve a purpose.

That's not a perception - it's a historical fact. We didn't win any of the tournaments we competed in during his time in charge, or even come close to doing so. The fact that other managers, before and since, have had even worse records should not be allowed to obscure his.

We didn't win any of the tournaments but if I remember correctly we were knocked out of the World Cup at the quarter final stage by the eventual winners (in a match that we had lead). Whilst you're right to point out that it's hardly a succes I wouldn't exactly say it's a disgrace either. I personally just don't think the England team is THAT good. Capello's record was sublime untill he took over at England. Again I'm not saying he's blameless but to apportion all blame to him or not consider that it might just be a bad fit seems unfair.

But Sven himself contributed to the under-achievement by undermining players with proven records of achievement under Pearson and in some cases bringing in inferior replacements. Kirkland, Bednar and Ricardo are three examples which spring readily to mind.

That's a fair point. These were bad signings. Would you also say that his signings this summer were inferior (genuinely asking - not a loaded question)?

The same Peter Taylor who, during much of his time with us, was being mentored at the FA by a certain Mr SG Eriksson?

I don't think you can blame Sven for Peter Taylor. I just don't.

At least under Sousa we managed to score against Reading...

And under Sven we didn't lose 6-1 to Portsmouth. We can't compare managers over individual match achievements. Under the afforementioned Taylor, we were top of the Premiership (briefly....)

[Thracian]

The season is two games old. There's always going to be issues early on. Let's see where we are after 10 Games eh? We could be cov, not scored in the league and out of the cc 1st round? Leeds have no points on the board, and Forest are only on one.

Saying all this, I'm looking forward to Wednesday. The players should be desperate to put right yesterday's result, and if we win, the Reading game will just be a distant memory.

The players should have been desperate to put on a performance for their first home game but they weren't.

Times I've heard this "we'll need to put it right" lament. About free kicks, corners, shooting, cutting out defensive errors and about performances in general.

We won't put it right until we get the players to put it right or use the players we've got to the best effect.

[Guest Col city fan]

My summary of yesterday's game:

1. Reading played extremely well.. Had a game plan and stuck to it

2. Abe should have been rested

3. The only midfield player who showed any creativity was wellens

4. Nugent must be knackered already... Fair play to him for nearly scoring again

5. Schlupp was wasted on the left

6. Danns is a good good player... He seems to have no idea of his position

7. We need a player like kebe if Sven is going to insist on this current formation

8. I remain concerned not about svens ability to attract players but by Sven the tactician and motivator ( one of my mates in the pub last night was sitting in the boxes above the dug out and said that, when reading scored, Sven came out and gave a silly little clap and then sat down again!

9. It's too soon of course to know anything much about how we are going to do this season... A win against brizzle is imperative to give us any sort of momentum back again.

[MikeyT]

Mills Twitter:

realmattmills5 Millsy

The abuse doesn't bother me - find it very sad that you feel the need to obviously haven't got anything interesting in ya life

[bluesbrothers]

Paha, I knew i'd come on here and face a barrage of moans.

2 games in, against a Reading outfit who are solid and came with a game plan. As they always do. Seriously, when did we last beat Reading at home?

The result was a dissapointment, but there are positives to take from it. We saw from Schmeichal what we've wanted to see from any of our players for years now - passion and a big gob. I thought Konchesky looked alright, Bamba was too, and Schlupp while on showed us a few moments that suggest he's got something to bring to the team. Abe was industrious, as was King when he came on, and Nugent was painfully unlucky - seriously, the right post is his best mate this season!

Downsides? Paintsil, while alright on his debut, lacked the match fitness we needed to see for him to get back after his forays into the reading half as the game progressed. We saw better tracking back from Peltier at Cov and, once he's back from injury, I fully expect Lee to regain his position due to his better stamina. Mills, as we know, was off form - but i'll give him this one as long as he doesnt play that badly again! St Ledger, after his quality display against Croatia, should have played a role. Gallagher and Waghorn were largely innefective - though this is largely down to the failure to alter the 4-4-2 and beat Reading's 5 man midfield. It's all well and good saying that Waghorn isn't a quality striker - but there was no proof to back up the claim yesterday, because he hardly got a chance to shoot! Delivery is key, and Gallagher was too damn lightweight to muscle in and get a good ball in, while Danns before him seemed off the pace. And the two players who could have actually changed the game for Leicester - Howard and Dyer - were ommitted from the bench. I understand it's hard to choose subs now, given the stupid FA rules, but these two should be the first on the sheet for their game changing skills.

To sum up, Reading's 5 man midfield was key to their victory - our defence coped well with their breaks, but there were too many of them for us to handle.

[Raw Dykes]

The result was a dissapointment, but there are positives to take from it. We saw from Schmeichal what we've wanted to see from any of our players for years now - passion and a big gob. I thought Konchesky looked alright, Bamba was too, and Schlupp while on showed us a few moments that suggest he's got something to bring to the team. Abe was industrious, as was King when he came on, and Nugent was painfully unlucky - seriously, the right post is his best mate this season!

Abe was asleep, more like.

The post is Nugent's arch nemesis!

[MikeyT]

Abe was asleep, more like.

The post is Nugent's arch nemesis!

Can't blame him for being tired though. Played last Saturday then flew half way around the world twice to Japan and then back here to play yesterday. Can forgive him for being off the pace a bit.

[Guest Col city fan]

Can't blame him for being tired though. Played last Saturday then flew half way around the world twice to Japan and then back here to play yesterday. Can forgive him for being off the pace a bit.

So why was he played mike? Ridiculous surely? It's not rocket science is it?

[MikeyT]

So why was he played mike? Ridiculous surely? It's not rocket science is it?

I entirely agree mate. He should have been rested and possibly King start instead. Maybe had Johnson on the bench instead of Abe for yesterday.

[Bryn]

I don't think we were that bad yesterday, to be honest, Mills aside. On another day, as I've said elsewhere, Nugent scores one or two and we win. They scored against the run of play, the heads went down and they got another.

The starting lineup was wrong, though. Abe and Fernandes at home is unnecessary, we needed King or Danns central and any of Gallagher, Waghorn, Dyer or a new signing out wide, to provide support to Nugent. They also need to sharpen up the play, but we played great stuff at times in the second half.

Crap time to play Reading, who were settled, organised, excellent defensively and produced an exemplary away performance. They'll pale as the season progresses and their losses start to stretch them.

We'll be alright, but we need a striker or a winger - I'm inclined to say the latter in a way, I thought Nugent did a good job.