BFTG - Yeovil Town

[Will95]

What was with Yeovil's song before the game?

[M Brook]

What was with Yeovil's song before the game?

That was my highlight of the afternoon!

[Will95]

It was amazing

[winchester_royal]

don't understand any Reading fan who isn't happy tonight.

The last I'll say of the matter:

Other than the penalty which the referee gifted us in the 77th minute we had ZERO shots on target. ZERO!!!!!
Worst attacking performance in recent memory.
And all of this against quite possibly the weakest team in the league.
And this was a 'response' to the biggest defeat in 15 years.
It really has been a shockingly bad week for Reading football club.

Thought Karacan, Guthrie and McCarthy were decent. WIllliams was good when he came on. Everyone else was sloppy and ineffective.
Multiple signings needed.
Agree with St. Brynjar about parking, bargain!

As for the Reading fans: there really were some inbreds out in force today.
The group of skinheads near me, halfway way up in the middle section, spent:
The first 20 mins having a petty argument with stewards about standing on the stairs.
The next 15 mins taking photos of themselves as if they were teenage girls on a night out.
10 mins before half time they buggered off for a pint.

Start of second half they once again caused a bit of nuisance with the stewards.
Then they settled down before they all left 10 mins before the end.

Bloke behind me said he sees the same fat, bald "oxf*rd skinhead" causing petty trouble every week.

'Shockingly bad week'?

Deary me. We've been knocked out of an irrelevant cup and have 8 points from a tricky opening 5 games in the league. If this is the pinnacle of any 'hardship' in your life so far then I'm pretty jealous tbh

[tmesis]

Yeovil were not a great side at all and will struggle this year if they squander as many opportunities as they did today.

I thought they looked not bad going forward. They certainly passed it much better than we did once over the halfway line. OK, part of that is because we have a midfield that doesn't know how to tackle or close down, but it's also because we are hopeless on the break. There's just no understanding in the team of where they think they are supposed to run to, or the ability to anticipate moves from our own players.

I can see Yeovil struggling through a lack of goals, although it has to be said that for most of the game you couldn't see us scoring except from a set-piece.

Overall, one of those days where you just be thankful for the result, not the performance.

[royal_ross]

Jeering Blackman off? And people wonder why some of our players have no confidence, re: reaction to Ledge against Villa?

God I love some of our fans

[M Brook]

Just seen the penalty on SSN. Looked like a clear shoulder barge to me. At the game I was concerned that ALF had gone down rather theatrically but, having seen it properly in slo mo, it looked a pen to me. Yeovil fans clearly think that Kettle (today's ref) gets everything wrong - there's obviously history there between him and YTFC. Maybe something to do with a dodgy pint of cider some years ago. Anyway, Gary Johnson after the game on BBC Radio Cider claimed Yeovil were clearly the better team. He needs to lose the RTG soonest before YTFC are cut adrift at the bottom of the division. 'Better' is not a word that can be used to describe either team today. "Least worst' would be more appropriate, but neither team should take any credit out of today's game..

[The Quiet Man]

Not a brilliant display but 3 points is 3 points. If Yeovil had a goal scorer they would have won the game as it was they shredded Reading's defence almost at will in the second half. We started well with 10 minutes of passing around then Yeovil took over for 15 minutes and then it was evens. Second half Williams was good at surging from midfield but we did f all when we got to the penalty area except give the ball to Yeovil who ran through our midfield as if they didn't exist.

Player ratings: McCarthy 7 my MOTM made three or four crucial saves; Gunter 4 really poor positioning as usual, why doesn't Adkins convert him to a winger; Cummings 6 reasonably solid; Pearce 7 defensive rock with vital clearances; Morrison 4 poor when the ball was on the floor doesn't look comfortable with Pearce; Karacan 5 ran around a lot but never really got control in midfield; Guthrie 6 when he was on the ball we looked OK but spent large periods of the game without it; McCleary 5 did OK but neither him nor Drenthe track back; Drenthe 5 played as an orthodox winger and never really got into the game despite having a lot of the ball; Blackman 3 ineffective; ALF 6 gets a couple of extra points for the penalty dive (pretty much our first and only meaningful shot on target) and the conversion otherwise did very little of note. Subs Williams 6 good surging runs but no real end product and worryingly bypassed in midfield when Yeovil attacked; HRK 5 not on for long but looked lively; Akpan 5 OK on for 10 minutes to block up midfield.

Much more of a basic grind it out performance with quite a lot of long ball into the channels today which at least shows that Adkins knows he has to get some wins by whatever means to give a side confidence to adapt to his style of playing. We are surely, surely, surely going to sign a player at centre forward who can hold the ball, up run at players, and shoot otherwise it will be mid table this season at best.

[loyalroyal4life]

3 points and a clean sheet (at last)!! We move on....

[Royal91]

What was with Yeovil's song before the game?

That was my highlight of the afternoon!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBBhisBJIUc

[M Brook]

3 points and a clean sheet (at last)!! We move on....

As Muskrat said above, we are papering over the cracks. 3 points is great but the performance was worrying, to say the least. Anyone who left Huish Park today satisfied is deluded. For many reasons we are a club in crisis. We were, understandably, one of the favourites for promotion a month ago. How many of us now, having seen our 6 games so far, would part with their hard earned and back us to go back up?

[Cypry]

3 points and a clean sheet (at last)!! We move on....

As Muskrat said above, we are papering over the cracks. 3 points is great but the performance was worrying, to say the least. Anyone who left Huish Park today satisfied is deluded. For many reasons we are a club in crisis. We were, understandably, one of the favourites for promotion a month ago. How many of us now, having seen our 6 games so far, would part with their hard earned and back us to go back up?

Club in crisis? That's a bit strong!! We had some bad luck against Blackpool and a nightmare in midweek. Anyone who expected us to take Yeovil apart would be somewhat disillusioned....we got a lucky 3 points, and now have the remaining 2 days of the transfer window, plus loans, to shore up those areas which we're struggling in, plus a fortnight to work on those areas where we've been weak.....

If we're bottom at Xmas, then describe us as a club in crisis....

[P!ssed Off]

'Shockingly bad week'?

Deary me. We've been knocked out of an irrelevant cup and have 8 points from a tricky opening 5 games in the league. If this is the pinnacle of any 'hardship' in your life so far then I'm pretty jealous tbh

What has 8 points in 5 games got to do with a bad week?

Biggest competitive defeat in 15 years on Tuesday. (Pretty much our worst defensive performance in years).
ZERO shots on target (barring the gift of a pen) against one of the weakest teams in the division. (Pretty much our worst offensive performance in quite a while).

Not sure what the point was of your 'pinnacle of hardship' comment. You accuse me of exaggerating and then make stupid comments like that?

Most nobbers that were at the game appear to have gone home unsatisfied. I think your view is more out of touch with the average viewer than mine is.
You talk about "tedious negativity", but your positivity is a bit tedious tbh. It was shit, and you know it was so why bother pretending otherwise?

[Ian Royal]

3 points and a clean sheet (at last)!! We move on....

As Muskrat said above, we are papering over the cracks. 3 points is great but the performance was worrying, to say the least. Anyone who left Huish Park today satisfied is deluded. For many reasons we are a club in crisis. We were, understandably, one of the favourites for promotion a month ago. How many of us now, having seen our 6 games so far, would part with their hard earned and back us to go back up?

DOOOOOOM DOOOOOOOOOM

[Upper West Ginger]

Positives:
Good weather
We stood - legally - all match, and nobody died
Good stewarding
We gained 3 points
Our fans

Negatives:
Our all-round performance
Papering over the cracks
Some twat setting off a smoke flare
Queuing for 45 minutes to get out of the car park

[winchester_royal]

'Shockingly bad week'?

Deary me. We've been knocked out of an irrelevant cup and have 8 points from a tricky opening 5 games in the league. If this is the pinnacle of any 'hardship' in your life so far then I'm pretty jealous tbh

What has 8 points in 5 games got to do with a bad week?

Biggest competitive defeat in 15 years on Tuesday. (Pretty much our worst defensive performance in years).
ZERO shots on target (barring the gift of a pen) against one of the weakest teams in the division. (Pretty much our worst offensive performance in quite a while).

Not sure what the point was of your 'pinnacle of hardship' comment. You accuse me of exaggerating and then make stupid comments like that?

Most nobbers that were at the game appear to have gone home unsatisfied. I think your view is more out of touch with the average viewer than mine is.
You talk about "tedious negativity", but your positivity is a bit tedious tbh. It was shit, and you know it was so why bother pretending otherwise?

All we've heard from the Adkins bashers over the last few weeks after good performances against the likes of Watford and Bolton is that results count. We go away, win ugly, keep a clean sheet, and yet it's still worthy of being called a 'shockingly bad week'. Losing 1-0 at Blackpool is nothing to be ashamed of, Watford did the same today and most consider them to be an exceptionally strong team. P'boro was bad, yes, but it was a second string playing in a competition we weren't taking seriously.

The performance wasn't great today, in fact it was probably the worst we've played in a league game since Nige came in, but that doesn't make the 3 points any less meaningful. Teams can't be at their most fluent all the time.

[P!ssed Off]

All we've heard from the Adkins bashers over the last few weeks after good performances against the likes of Watford and Bolton is that results count. We go away, win ugly, keep a clean sheet, and yet it's still worthy of being called a 'shockingly bad week'. Losing 1-0 at Blackpool is nothing to be ashamed of, Watford did the same today and most consider them to be an exceptionally strong team. P'boro was bad, yes, but it was a second string playing in a competition we weren't taking seriously.

The performance wasn't great today, in fact it was probably the worst we've played in a league game since Nige came in, but that doesn't make the 3 points any less meaningful. Teams can't be at their most fluent all the time.

Far too much partisanship on this site.
If we play well, I'll say so.
If we play shit, I'll say so.
Today was shit.

Must have seen Reading win hundreds of times. Can't think of a win as undeserving as today. Regardless of who the manager is.

[AkpansBFF]

McCarthy 7

Gunter 7
Morrison 7
Pearce 8
Cummings 6.5

Karacan 6.5
Guthrie 8

McCleary 6
Blackman 4.5
Drenthe 6.5

Alf 7.5

Williams 8.5
Hrk 6
Akpan 7

[Unbelievable Jeff]

Well in the car anyway...

All in all a poor performance but its 3 points in the bag. Yeovil are a nice little club but disappointed by the lack of alcohol at the ground (did anyone find the cider tent?) surprised there was none due to the number of wasps!

Williams came on half way through the first half and was easily the best player on the pitch. Le Fondre played well too and Royston was a step ahead in class. However he try's to be too clever and not play the simple ball.

Negatives. Blackman is out of his depth in this league though I do rate Ed Upson, there is no substance. Morrison was my biggest concern and he was on more than one occasion turned over. Yeovil could of nicked a draw, and I don't think enough people give them credit. I think they will pull clear of the bottom three.

Overall lots of work to be done, but 3 points in the bag. We move on.

Its very funny how people can see two completely different sides to something.
How you can say Drenthe was a "step ahead in class" bewilders me, he was ( on todays performance only) very very average. His set pieces were atrocious and he really didn't create anything at all, he even took a shot that went for a throw in.
I Also wouldn't agree that Le fondre played well ( through no fault of his own), yes he worked hard and all that but I think he just struggles to challenge physically and when he doesn't get any service behind the defenders or to his feet, he doesn't exist in the game and this was what happened for large parts of todays game.
In all honesty, todays performance was among the worst I've seen from a Reading side in a good decade or so. There was no fluidity, no structure, no urgency and we just didn't look like a top of the table side.
A final mention for Danny Guthrie who was streets ahead of the rest of the team, a different class today.
Yeovil are in for a very long season because they are shocking. It was a game of hit and hope for them and when they did have a chance they completely fluffed it.

All in all, 3 points is what we went for, however if we want to achieve promotion we need to vastly improve from todays performance

[Unbelievable Jeff]

McCarthy 7

Gunter 7
Morrison 7
Pearce 8
Cummings 6.5

Karacan 6.5
Guthrie 8

McCleary 6
Blackman 4.5
Drenthe 6.5

Alf 7.5

Williams 8.5
Hrk 6
Akpan 7

Please sir, may you explain how Gunter got a higher mark than Karacan

Thanks alot