back from the game and feeling pretty gutted really. there was such a shocking reading performance and left me and many royals sitting there embarressed as we made ipswich look like a team of world beaters. ipswich played football, to feet whilst we resorted to long balls to shane long which was awful, firstly because where s**t when we play long ball and shane long is never ever first to the ball. this is his fourth season with us and quite frankly i just dont get why he is in our team. like people have said so many times on this board, shane long is an impact player, give him ten mins to come on and chase everything but from the start its just pointless. he mopes around the pitch, his head goes down and its just so fustrating. one thing i would like to point out is rosenior, the last five mins he was in a big tackle and could barely walk yet he didnt go down and kept trying to run although he couldnt even walk. i know that doesnt make him a great player but it was just good to see as a lot of players would walk off or go down at 2-0 down with a few minutes left and he was still chasing everything. also there was a lot of empty seats today like there was at charlton which is not good.
hughsies no.1

Jonathan Stead has been promised the undying love of Jim Magilton, the Ipswich Town manager, if he repeats the match-winning performance that inspired the home side against Reading at Portman Road. Stead broke the deadlock with a stunning, 20-yard shot midway through the second half and Jonathan Walters sealed victory late on. Magilton praised the performance of Stead, who is playing for his sixth club at the age of 25. “He needs to be loved a little bit more,” Magilton said. “If he keeps on scoring goals like that, I’ll give him my undying love.” Steve Coppell, the Reading manager, said that his side must acknowledge that teams will raise their game against a team relegated from the top flight last season. “People want to be going against a side that was in the Premier League last year,” Coppell said. “We knew that would be a factor.”
The Times