BFTG - Coventry (A)

[CountryRoyal]

What an absolute shit show. For the most part it was a game without any quality between two crappy teams, but second half really was eye-opening, we were torn apart time and time again and were justifiably beaten even if the stoppage time was controversial. That being said we fcuking deserved it, from not giving the ball back, to McIntyre taking the piss when he went off. Well and truly deserved what a shocking performance.

Cabral 6

Yiadom 3 - ineffective in the first half, after he moved to the left might as well have not been there. I don’t think he was within 3m of a player at any time, was constantly in the middle of nowhere and no surprise they slid ball after ball past him.

Morro 6 - better defensively but too many aimless hoofs and doesn’t know when to bring the ball down and when to clear it.

Moore 4 - what has happened to him? A few decent blocks in the second half but awful positioning by and large, weak, zero leadership. Shocking.

McIntyre 5 - hopefully we’ve seen the last of him at left back. Awful.

Rino 7 - much better defensively but still at sixes and sevens at times and his passing was beyond awful.

Laurent 4 - another case of who is this imposter? Looked to get forward but lost the ball so easily, sloppy passing, so weak in the challenge and just let players drift by him at times

Azeez 5 - looked bright at times but too many shit passes (this is a common theme btw), poor decision making and lacked quality with the final ball.

Swift 7 - again the only one that looks like he has any quality and can produce something but doesn’t do it anywhere near enough. A lot of sloppy passing but his forward run won us the pen.

TDB 6 - Looks bright but faded second half.

Puscas 4 - A lot more effort today but just so ineffective. Can’t even blame the system, when he gets the ball you have zero confidence he is going to do anything positive with it.

—————
Holmes 5
Hoilett 4
Clarke 2

Conceding the best part of 30 shots is just not got enough, especially to a team like Coventry who’s squad is hardly littered with house-hold names. Yes a lot of the shots were hopeful and from long distance but that just shows we didn’t close them down anywhere near as quickly as we should be doing.

Coventry got in our face constantly, hassled and harried and we’re first to pretty much every second ball, they gave us no space and we just played right into that. Laboured, passive, uninspiring bollocks. We are a bit all over the place, we don’t know when to play it quickly or when to slow it down. It’s all a bit hopeful and just generally lacking in quality.

It’s worrying where we go from here but things need to change very quickly.

[blythspartan]

What an absolute shit show. For the most part it was a game without any quality between two crappy teams, but second half really was eye-opening, we were torn apart time and time again and were justifiably beaten even if the stoppage time was controversial. That being said we fcuking deserved it, from not giving the ball back, to McIntyre taking the piss when he went off. Well and truly deserved what a shocking performance.

Cabral 6

Yiadom 3 - ineffective in the first half, after he moved to the left might as well have not been there. I don’t think he was within 3m of a player at any time, was constantly in the middle of nowhere and no surprise they slid ball after ball past him.

Morro 6 - better defensively but too many aimless hoofs and doesn’t know when to bring the ball down and when to clear it.

Moore 4 - what has happened to him? A few decent blocks in the second half but awful positioning by and large, weak, zero leadership. Shocking.

McIntyre 5 - hopefully we’ve seen the last of him at left back. Awful.

Rino 7 - much better defensively but still at sixes and sevens at times and his passing was beyond awful.

Laurent 4 - another case of who is this imposter? Looked to get forward but lost the ball so easily, sloppy passing, so weak in the challenge and just let players drift by him at times

Azeez 5 - looked bright at times but too many shit passes (this is a common theme btw), poor decision making and lacked quality with the final ball.

Swift 7 - again the only one that looks like he has any quality and can produce something but doesn’t do it anywhere near enough. A lot of sloppy passing but his forward run won us the pen.

TDB 6 - Looks bright but faded second half.

Puscas 4 - A lot more effort today but just so ineffective. Can’t even blame the system, when he gets the ball you have zero confidence he is going to do anything positive with it.

—————
Holmes 5
Hoilett 4
Clarke 2

Conceding the best part of 30 shots is just not got enough, especially to a team like Coventry who’s squad is hardly littered with house-hold names. Yes a lot of the shots were hopeful and from long distance but that just shows we didn’t close them down anywhere near as quickly as we should be doing.

Coventry got in our face constantly, hassled and harried and we’re first to pretty much every second ball, they gave us no space and we just played right into that. Laboured, passive, uninspiring bollocks. We are a bit all over the place, we don’t know when to play it quickly or when to slow it down. It’s all a bit hopeful and just generally lacking in quality.

It’s worrying where we go from here but things need to change very quickly.

A good read.

I really can’t see what can change? Ideally, we need two new strikers, a left back and an organised defence. I am not convinced any of that is achievable tbh.

If Swift gets injured which is highly likely we have nothing left in my opinion. The way we’re going we’ll soon have an under 23 side playing in the Championship. I’ll still be shouting out my support but I am expecting a lot of humiliating defeats.

[Pandoras Box]

What an absolute shit show. For the most part it was a game without any quality between two crappy teams, but second half really was eye-opening, we were torn apart time and time again and were justifiably beaten even if the stoppage time was controversial. That being said we fcuking deserved it, from not giving the ball back, to McIntyre taking the piss when he went off. Well and truly deserved what a shocking performance.

Cabral 6

Yiadom 3 - ineffective in the first half, after he moved to the left might as well have not been there. I don’t think he was within 3m of a player at any time, was constantly in the middle of nowhere and no surprise they slid ball after ball past him.

Morro 6 - better defensively but too many aimless hoofs and doesn’t know when to bring the ball down and when to clear it.

Moore 4 - what has happened to him? A few decent blocks in the second half but awful positioning by and large, weak, zero leadership. Shocking.

McIntyre 5 - hopefully we’ve seen the last of him at left back. Awful.

Rino 7 - much better defensively but still at sixes and sevens at times and his passing was beyond awful.

Laurent 4 - another case of who is this imposter? Looked to get forward but lost the ball so easily, sloppy passing, so weak in the challenge and just let players drift by him at times

Azeez 5 - looked bright at times but too many shit passes (this is a common theme btw), poor decision making and lacked quality with the final ball.

Swift 7 - again the only one that looks like he has any quality and can produce something but doesn’t do it anywhere near enough. A lot of sloppy passing but his forward run won us the pen.

TDB 6 - Looks bright but faded second half.

Puscas 4 - A lot more effort today but just so ineffective. Can’t even blame the system, when he gets the ball you have zero confidence he is going to do anything positive with it.

—————
Holmes 5
Hoilett 4
Clarke 2

Conceding the best part of 30 shots is just not got enough, especially to a team like Coventry who’s squad is hardly littered with house-hold names. Yes a lot of the shots were hopeful and from long distance but that just shows we didn’t close them down anywhere near as quickly as we should be doing.

Coventry got in our face constantly, hassled and harried and we’re first to pretty much every second ball, they gave us no space and we just played right into that. Laboured, passive, uninspiring bollocks. We are a bit all over the place, we don’t know when to play it quickly or when to slow it down. It’s all a bit hopeful and just generally lacking in quality.

It’s worrying where we go from here but things need to change very quickly.

A good read.

I really can’t see what can change? Ideally, we need two new strikers, a left back and an organised defence. I am not convinced any of that is achievable tbh.

If Swift gets injured which is highly likely we have nothing left in my opinion. The way we’re going we’ll soon have an under 23 side playing in the Championship. I’ll still be shouting out my support but I am expecting a lot of humiliating defeats.

That was absolutely shambolic.
It’s like having a tombola with all the names of league 1 and 2 players (maybe Conference) and picking out 11 names, shoving them on a pitch and saying there you go, get on with it.
I seriously can not think of any way to get out of this debacle.
We don’t play as a team, we have no shape, we have no plan.
We can’t defend, we can’t attack. We have no creativity and no passion.
No one will take a shot, and no one will press to stop them playing at will.
The passes are too light or too heavy.
The play is too slow and too obvious.
The decision making is awful.

Quite happy if we play well and lose, but this - no thanks.

[Bigtimmeh]

Yeah. Im not back from the game yet still in coventry but disappointing performance. We didn't deserve anything and would have been lucky to get the draw, as it was dissipointing to concede at the end... puscas quite clearly not good on his own upfront. We had not much quality.. Holmes was good when he came on

[tmesis]

What an absolute shit show. For the most part it was a game without any quality between two crappy teams, but second half really was eye-opening, we were torn apart time and time again and were justifiably beaten even if the stoppage time was controversial.

I do think it's time for timekeeping to be taken out of the hands of referees. All too often they give an attacking side one last chance to score, always blowing at a time they deem to be non-controversial, e.g. when the ball has gone out, or an attack cleared.

One time is up (allowing for stoppages) then the game should finish, even if a side is about to take a free kick on the edge of the box.

[alfie9]

Taking the lead at Coventry and parking the bus in the 40th minute. What have we become.

[hughsies no.1]

First away game since Forest back on a cold Tuesday night in Jan 2020 for me.

Arrived at the ground excited, not really too sure what to expect but expecting us to be competitive at least.

First half, thought we knocked it about nicely without any real threat, cov had the main chances and then we got the pen and great to go in at the break ahead.

Second half, first 15 I’d say we looked comfortable for the lead but lacked some cutting edge around the final third.

After that, I’d genuinely put that as one of the worst Reading performances I’ve ever seen (and there’s been a fair few competing with that). I thought we looked clueless, aimlessly hoofing the ball out of defence, I thought there was no urgency, no energy, the only credit I’d give would be to Yiadom, Moore and Morrison for blocking those shots in the box. I can’t put into words just how bad and spineless we were in the final third of that game.

Appreciate we have lost all of our goals from last season and Hoilett needs to get up to speed (his debut today is up there with one of the worst I’ve seen again), but these are very very concerning times as a Reading fan.

[Brogue]

Taking the lead at Coventry and parking the bus in the 40th minute. What have we become.

One of Boris’ bendy buses with no engine and loads of gaping holes in it

[PremAddict]

Someone needs to take a pipe to Gourlet. Incompetent management and spending now haunting us. Can’t really blame the manager for this. Threadbare squad with three starters out and no real LB.

[leon]

Someone needs to take a pipe to Gourlet. Incompetent management and spending now haunting us. Can’t really blame the manager for this. Threadbare squad with three starters out and no real LB.

Absolute horse shit. The manager sends the team out with a plan and the team executes it.

Both this season (and last) have failed to do it properly.

This team are so much better than this.

[CountryRoyal]

Someone needs to take a pipe to Gourlet. Incompetent management and spending now haunting us. Can’t really blame the manager for this. Threadbare squad with three starters out and no real LB.

Absolute horse shit. The manager sends the team out with a plan and the team executes it.

Both this season (and last) have failed to do it properly.

This team are so much better than this.

Yeah +1, going by some on here Pauno would literally have to shag their girlfriends before they thought he’d be at fault for anything.

[Zip]

Someone needs to take a pipe to Gourlet. Incompetent management and spending now haunting us. Can’t really blame the manager for this. Threadbare squad with three starters out and no real LB.

Gourlay has been and gone. Pauno has to stand on his own record. I want to see our side match the intensity of the opposition from the start right through to the end of each match. It ain't happening.

[Millsy]

A bit of perspective here guys....

Is it me or didn't we just lose this VERY NARROWLY with the last kick of the game? A 1 goal injury time deficit, otherwise it'd be an away draw.

Didn't we also lose against Bristol by one goal?

Didn't we also lose against stoke by just the one late goal and weren't we just as gutted as this?

Spotting a pattern here? We score well enough, we're conceding lots, margins (win or lose) are tight.

It's not exactly a reason to go nuts. It's not like we're losing 4-0 each game. This is better than our awful patch at the end of last season losing against a 10man relegation team, being twatted 3-0 etc etc...

[Sutekh]

What an absolute shit show. For the most part it was a game without any quality between two crappy teams, but second half really was eye-opening, we were torn apart time and time again and were justifiably beaten even if the stoppage time was controversial.

I do think it's time for timekeeping to be taken out of the hands of referees. All too often they give an attacking side one last chance to score, always blowing at a time they deem to be non-controversial, e.g. when the ball has gone out, or an attack cleared.

One time is up (allowing for stoppages) then the game should finish, even if a side is about to take a free kick on the edge of the box.

I recall Clive Thomas at the World Cup in 78 applying the laws of the game as they should be applied (and in doing so denied Brazil a last second winner v “little” Sweden) and FIFA effectively vilified him for it. Consequently if the ball is being put into a dangerous position the ref allows the play to proceed until it’s all safely finished one way or another.

To be fair to the ref though, players should be playing to his whistle and not giving up as they think it’s all over. There were, apparently, 3 bookings handed out in stoppage time so presume that’s where the overrun came from. Having VP go on about it after the game was I thought embarrassing and just trying to cover up Reading’s general ineptitude during the game.

[NewCorkSeth]

Very poor effort wise for me. Too many players were sloppy in possession. Was it just me who saw people praising Dele-Bashiru for doing the same thing we complain about Yiadom and Ejaria doing? Beating 2 men only to run straight into the 3rd.

Laurent kept winning the ball either through a tackle or interception only to misplace the simples pass. Was infuriating to watch from the whole team pretty much.

Rafael made some good saves but then fluffed it a few times too.

Don't even know what to say about our defending. Rinomhota seemed the most effective defender and he doesn't even play there.

Though Coventry looked fairly decent. Not fantastic but they didn't have to be to beat us I guess. That Dabo chap always seems to play well whenever I have seen him.

[Sutekh]

VPs take on the game below

https://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/foot ... c-21370852

[Linden Jones' Tash]

A bit of perspective here guys....

Is it me or didn't we just lose this VERY NARROWLY with the last kick of the game? A 1 goal injury time deficit, otherwise it'd be an away draw.

Didn't we also lose against Bristol by one goal?

Didn't we also lose against stoke by just the one late goal and weren't we just as gutted as this?

Spotting a pattern here? We score well enough, we're conceding lots, margins (win or lose) are tight.

It's not exactly a reason to go nuts. It's not like we're losing 4-0 each game. This is better than our awful patch at the end of last season losing against a 10man relegation team, being twatted 3-0 etc etc...

Yes, tight margins, but the pattern does seem to be set and we do seem to persist with an approach that hasn't delivered too many wins in the last 20 games.

I worry about the corrosive effect of these defeats and lack of character at conceding late goals.

Maybe its karma for the run we had at the start of last season....

[Horsham Royal]

Maybe its karma for the run we had at the start of last season....

+1

Start of last season we were playing average at best and winning.
e.g. Barnsley, 2 sendings off.

This year playing average at best and losing.
e.g. Stoke, 2 deflections and a goal that should have been disallowed.

That said, letting the oppostition have 25+ pops on goal tends to make the small margins bigger.

[scumbag]

A bit of perspective here guys....

Is it me or didn't we just lose this VERY NARROWLY with the last kick of the game? A 1 goal injury time deficit, otherwise it'd be an away draw.

Didn't we also lose against Bristol by one goal?

Didn't we also lose against stoke by just the one late goal and weren't we just as gutted as this?

Spotting a pattern here? We score well enough, we're conceding lots, margins (win or lose) are tight.

It's not exactly a reason to go nuts. It's not like we're losing 4-0 each game. This is better than our awful patch at the end of last season losing against a 10man relegation team, being twatted 3-0 etc etc...

Truly spoken like a man who did not attend either game. We were oxf*rd atrocious in both, results aside these are two of the worst consecutive performances I've seen in many years.

[Hound]

Though Stoke and Preston were pretty good performances tbf

Not sure Bristol was that terrible a Performance overall, just some horrendously inept defending

But is definitely a pattern under Pauno since the turn of the year of losing these fairly close games. Not being able to hang on to leads is especially disappointing

Something seems to be missing mentally. The real belief and desire to go on and win it.