MATCHWATCH : Brentford (h) sponsored by end of season apathy

[Hound]

He wasn't having a good game, but it must be galling regularly getting hooked when you're playing better than Swift and Ejaria still.

usual cliche, but no one should be happy when they are being subbed should they? Be far more worried if he broke out into a big smile when his number came up

They should know the plan and why it's happening. Olise isn't getting hooked for poor performance, it's tactical and therefore part of a plan. At least it should be.

You didn't see Little or Convey pissed at being subbed for Hunt or Oster.

if he was playing particularly well, do you think he would have been subbed?

[Snowflake Royal]

usual cliche, but no one should be happy when they are being subbed should they? Be far more worried if he broke out into a big smile when his number came up

They should know the plan and why it's happening. Olise isn't getting hooked for poor performance, it's tactical and therefore part of a plan. At least it should be.

You didn't see Little or Convey pissed at being subbed for Hunt or Oster.

if he was playing particularly well, do you think he would have been subbed?

Yes.

[NewCorkSeth]

usual cliche, but no one should be happy when they are being subbed should they? Be far more worried if he broke out into a big smile when his number came up

They should know the plan and why it's happening. Olise isn't getting hooked for poor performance, it's tactical and therefore part of a plan. At least it should be.

You didn't see Little or Convey pissed at being subbed for Hunt or Oster.

if he was playing particularly well, do you think he would have been subbed?

NEVER QUESTION SIR STEVE.

[URZZZZ]

If you're not concerned with the apparant lack of motivational skills Bowen has then you're deluded. Had we had won these first 3 after lockdown all the Bowen lovers would be talking about a play off challenge and not treating them as "nothing games". They are nothing games in hindsight because we lost two and drew one, it is an easy get out for the Bowen supporters. I don't agree with changing the manager just yet but you have to look at the facts:

Defending in general - poor under Bowen
Game management - poor under Bowen
Chance creation - poor under Bowen
Team selection - poor under Bowen
Motivation - poor under Bowen
Entertainment value - poor under Bowen

Someone name a proper positive under Bowen?

He’s steered us away from safety I guess
Prior to the lockdown, we had one of the best defensive records in the league

But on the whole, can’t disagree that the tactics are questionable and the entertainment value somewhat lacking

I think the most frustrating thing for me is that he finds good partnerships, yet he never sticks with them. Morrison and Miazga were a good duo, yet he dropped Morrison for Derby, Puscas and Baldock had a good partnership up top, yet he hasn’t started them once since November, the Blackett, Adam, Ejaria triangle on our little run worked really well yet he hasn’t done it once since one defeat at Millwall. Even Aluko and McCleary, both changed the game in the cup at Cardiff, have barely played a minute between them since then

Yet others get selected no matter how bad they play week to week

[Royal_jimmy]

Having calmed down a bit from yesterday's showing I will elaborate on how I see the problems.

I agree Bowen has done an ok job taking over. He's steadied the ship and made us tough to beat when we are away from home. I went to more than half our away games pre-Covid and we set up well away from home. We are good at soaking up the pressure when the home side have to attack us, then we hit on the counter attack. Birmingham away was a great example when we came from behind and picked them off. Sheffield Wednesday was another. Our away record has improved greatly from last season. Ok we won twice away last year, we've won 6 away so far and had we had more luck I'd have said 8 wins. Definitely not too many issues there. With 1 up front we pack the midfield and don't let many in and I don't think anyone's truly outclassed us away from the Madejski except maybe Millwall. 1 day being outclassed away is no big deal.

What I am angry with and why I am not sure if Bowen is the man for the job is his inability to learn from mistakes and his 1 dimensional approach to games. We rarely ever play 2 up front at home, we should be doing it more often and we've won quite a few games this season comfortable that way. Here are some examples;

1. Reading 3-0 Luton where Puscas and Baldock started. On this occasion neither player scored and Luton were dismal but we still won.
2. Reading 2-1 Millwall where Baldock scored. In that game him and Puscas started. We played really well for most of the game, had many chances as well!
3. Reading 3-0 Derby. Joao and Baldock started
4. Reading 3-0 Cardiff. Puscas and Joao began that game and I imagine most of us remembered how well both players linked up together

I don't advocate that we play 1 up top at home every week. Sometimes teams have a lot of good attacking players and we need a more defensive approach. But what also bothers me is that we also don't create a lot of chances and to me, that's because we overplay, slow it down and lack an identity.

I'd stick to 1 up front at Luton Saturday and put Pele in there if he's available.

Against Huddersfield we must be positive. We should play 2 up front, high intensity and aim to nick an early goal and try get a 2nd one as they chase us. We should try something different like this, it does mean dropping Olise.

------------------------------Rafael-------------------
Yiadom-----Moore/McIntyre--------Morrison-------Richards
------------------------------Pele----------------------------------
------------Rinomhota---Swift------ Olise-------
-------------Puscas----------Baldock------------

If we win 2 games from the last 7 I will tentatively back MB to manage us next season but he's showed himself to be a limited manager since he signed the new contract. From the moment that Stoke equaliser went in, his man management skills have showed up to be appalling. Many of these players have future contracts and possibly new deals with us but the way they played yesterday showed they don't give a damn about the club. Looking at Bowen's facial expression yesterday he definitely looked a bit worried! Maybe his days are numbered.

[10539.4 Miles Away]

+1

Hes RFC through and through. Was a great player for us and a leader on the pitch.

He was a great player, and now he's a shit stirring mediocre presenter.

It is literally his job to encourage interaction from the listeners, they wouldn't have much of a show without it. He is a club legend and can pretty much say whatever he likes, he has earned the right to.

Hahahaha. What a load of tripe.

And yes, I saw Adie wear every number shirt from 1-11. Great defender, great captain, guarantee the person who sent the tweet wasn't, Adie choosing to read it was dumb.

[Old Man Andrews]

He was a great player, and now he's a shit stirring mediocre presenter.

It is literally his job to encourage interaction from the listeners, they wouldn't have much of a show without it. He is a club legend and can pretty much say whatever he likes, he has earned the right to.

Hahahaha. What a load of tripe.

And yes, I saw Adie wear every number shirt from 1-11. Great defender, great captain, guarantee the person who sent the tweet wasn't, Adie choosing to read it was dumb.

*Ady

[leon]

I think the point here is that actually he’s not a bad broadcaster and that he does know what he’s talking about. Football and whats going on at RFC.

And he actually cares.

If I wanted unbiased reporting I’d listen to 5live - ha ha.

[South Coast Royal]

We are a lazy team.
Lazy in the head when it comes to defending.
Lazy in body from midfield because the players just don't get forward quickly enough to support the front man.

If he is going to play one up front, Bowen should get his players to look at videos of Man City and Spurs (on a going day).
Both of those play with one striker but the other players swarm forward when an attack is on; same goes for Leicester.

My one other bugbear is that we for years haven't played pass-and-move through midfield; we play stand-and-watch.
We have the players in there who are comfortable on the ball and could do it but last night Brentford showed us how to play that way.
Once again it is lazy football, not the case with the strikers who make so many runs but often don't get the ball.

A good attitude and playing for each other are attributes currently both lacking.

[bcubed]

A match between how not to run a football club. And a club who do everything right we have lost millions they have made 50 million on transfers play attractive football and will at least be in the playoffs. Will be a humiliating evening for all concerned with Reading FC. A very easy win for Bees.

Good call in every aspect

[CountryRoyal]

We are a lazy team.
Lazy in the head when it comes to defending.
Lazy in body from midfield because the players just don't get forward quickly enough to support the front man.

If he is going to play one up front, Bowen should get his players to look at videos of Man City and Spurs (on a going day).
Both of those play with one striker but the other players swarm forward when an attack is on; same goes for Leicester.

My one other bugbear is that we for years haven't played pass-and-move through midfield; we play stand-and-watch.
We have the players in there who are comfortable on the ball and could do it but last night Brentford showed us how to play that way.
Once again it is lazy football, not the case with the strikers who make so many runs but often don't get the ball.

A good attitude and playing for each other are attributes currently both lacking.

Yep. Even the worst skilled teams can defend well. Organisation doesn’t cost a lot, just requires effort and discipline. The same can be said for attacking, although smart runs require more ability. We don’t run enough.

[Snowflake Royal]

We also play quick when we should play slow and slow when we should play quick.
So often when under pressure we just launch it forward or send someone on a solo run with no support.

Yet the second the opportunity comes up for a swift interchange or to run at space we slow it down and wait for numbers.

Spend some time watching where we play our passes. So often they're one to two yards behind a player, or require an extra touch to control. Or a ball is dawdled slowly towards someone because the player on the ball has no attacking options.

And movement seems to be one or two players at a time.

Watch teams like Brentford and the ball is mostly crisp and zipped in to a place where control is easy. To feet or just ahead. And they're all moving as one.

If only the rest of the team played like Rino and Olise. They both show for the ball, play it crisp and purposefully and run all day.

[Ascotexgunner]

I think the point here is that actually he’s not a bad broadcaster and that he does know what he’s talking about. Football and whats going on at RFC.

And he actually cares.

If I wanted unbiased reporting I’d listen to 5live - ha ha.

5 Live(erpool) more like.

[sandman]

I think with Williams his style would be far better suited to Talksport than the BBC.

[Ascotexgunner]

I think with Williams his style would be far better suited to Talksport than the BBC.

I agree.....I think he holds back a bit sometimes from saying what he really wants to say. I like him a lot....
#grahampotter