MATCHWATCH : Oxford United (h)

[Royal_jimmy]

I do think a lot of fan frustration comes from simply getting used to where we are as a club. Last night was definitely a good result for a team in a relegation battle, and as much as the 2nd half was underwhelming, how many chances did Oxford create?

New owner and new manager, if it happens, would only be the first step to recovery. We should see a small improvement with the uncertainty taken away and smarter management decisions. But we won't start dominating teams in this league. That will take a couple of years good ownership/management to build.

This is the worst Reading side for probably 35-40 years and Oxford still couldn't beat us.

[Snowflake Royal]

Should we use the staff wage fund to buy the ref some glasses after that penalty he didn't penalise Yiadom for?

Maybe you should buy some, it was a coming together, there was a bigger shout down the other end a few minutes before that you neglected to mention.

The hand ball early on? I did, in fact, mention it.

And it wasn't just a coming together. Yiadom lunged for the ball, missed and the player went over him. Its a freekick everywhere else on the pitch and usually a penalty.

[Sutekh]

I do think a lot of fan frustration comes from simply getting used to where we are as a club. Last night was definitely a good result for a team in a relegation battle, and as much as the 2nd half was underwhelming, how many chances did Oxford create?

New owner and new manager, if it happens, would only be the first step to recovery. We should see a small improvement with the uncertainty taken away and smarter management decisions. But we won't start dominating teams in this league. That will take a couple of years good ownership/management to build.

This is the worst Reading side for probably 35-40 years and Oxford still couldn't beat us.

Watched the club's highlights reel of the game. Second half was apparently truly appalling as only highlights the club found for it were an Oxford cross across the six yard box, another wayward Oxford shot and absolutely nothing from Reading whatsoever.

[Royal_jimmy]

Enjoyed that match, the first half was very even but felt we slightly edged it having more chances. Second half Oxford took command as Reading looked tired, bad subs should have been made upfront. MOM was a close call between Sam Smith and Femi Azziz but Azziz did fade 2nd half, Tom Holmes also had a solid game. So stop moaning overall we played well and worked hard for that point.
Very surprised at how many Oxford supporters were in Club 106.

Hopefully they got their heads kicked in

[windermereROYAL]

Should we use the staff wage fund to buy the ref some glasses after that penalty he didn't penalise Yiadom for?

Maybe you should buy some, it was a coming together, there was a bigger shout down the other end a few minutes before that you neglected to mention.

The hand ball early on? I did, in fact, mention it.

And it wasn't just a coming together. Yiadom lunged for the ball, missed and the player went over him. Its a freekick everywhere else on the pitch and usually a penalty.

No, not the handball, somebody got to the byline, not sure who and was bundled down from behind.

[Snowflake Royal]

Maybe you should buy some, it was a coming together, there was a bigger shout down the other end a few minutes before that you neglected to mention.

The hand ball early on? I did, in fact, mention it.

And it wasn't just a coming together. Yiadom lunged for the ball, missed and the player went over him. Its a freekick everywhere else on the pitch and usually a penalty.

No, not the handball, somebody got to the byline, not sure who and was bundled down from behind.

Wel I didn’t see anything that looked like a pen and I didn't see anyone else talking about it either.

[Hound]

Should we use the staff wage fund to buy the ref some glasses after that penalty he didn't penalise Yiadom for?

Maybe you should buy some, it was a coming together, there was a bigger shout down the other end a few minutes before that you neglected to mention.

The hand ball early on? I did, in fact, mention it.

And it wasn't just a coming together. Yiadom lunged for the ball, missed and the player went over him. Its a freekick everywhere else on the pitch and usually a penalty.

Oxford didn’t really appeal if iirc. Looked like the guy was looking for it and just ran into him to me. Could see why it would be given mind you

[Hound]

I'm with GWL on this.

The team are making fundamentally basic mistakes. Set up wrong and executing poorly thought out/non existent tactics.

That's down to Selles and the players.

Now it could be argued that under a proper owner Selles would have been sacked months ago. But that is a slightly different point.

Selles is clearly part of the problem and a big part. But to just dismiss the effects of a toxic work environment on confidence, morale and mental fatigue and the effects they have on executing basic skills and decision making is just plain stupid. Imo.

To play at pro level you need to be fully focussed on the game. If you’re not it’s when poor decisions come into play

Along with poor coaching, unclear tactics, fatigue etc

It’s difficult to put a lot of blame on the off field situation but I guess it has some impact. similar to how we seem to lose focus after tennis ball protests

[Snowflake Royal]

I'm with GWL on this.

The team are making fundamentally basic mistakes. Set up wrong and executing poorly thought out/non existent tactics.

That's down to Selles and the players.

Now it could be argued that under a proper owner Selles would have been sacked months ago. But that is a slightly different point.

Selles is clearly part of the problem and a big part. But to just dismiss the effects of a toxic work environment on confidence, morale and mental fatigue and the effects they have on executing basic skills and decision making is just plain stupid. Imo.

To play at pro level you need to be fully focussed on the game. If you’re not it’s when poor decisions come into play

Along with poor coaching, unclear tactics, fatigue etc

It’s difficult to put a lot of blame on the off field situation but I guess it has some impact. similar to how we seem to lose focus after tennis ball protests

The entire team basically know we're doomed unless we're sold. No one expected this and its very hard to give your best and get things right when you're expecting to lose all the time and nothing is going right.

[WestYorksRoyal]

And it's confidence really. Having the technique to make a 10 yard pass and identifying the right option should be 2nd nature to footballers. But when confidence is short, you 2nd guess what should come naturally, particularly in front of a nervous crowd which many of these guys are dealt with. Of course it affects their performance.

And, looking at the big picture, their efforts are futile without new ownership. They can keep us up this season, but if Dai remains we'll lose another load of players out of contract, get a new batch of teenagers, another dodgy manager and rinse and repeat. We spent 5 years circling the plug hole in the Championship before dropping out; the same awaits in L1 if Dai stays. Whereas under new owners, these players may see an opportunity to help this club recover; isn't that something to get more excited by?

[Clyde1998]

Disappointing game from an entertainment factor, but getting a draw wasn't the worst result.

Thought we controlled most of the first half, whilst Oxford controlled most of the second. Neither side really created much aside from the goals - Oxford probably should've done better with that chance where they had two-on-one, but their attacker couldn't lift the ball over Button. The only other incident they could've scored from was that shot that went narrowly wide towards the end. Feel we should've gone for it more in the second half - we seemed content to get a draw.

Abbey and Dorsett each had a particularly poor game last night: both consistent losing possession in dangerous areas; somewhat surprised they were both taken off though. Along with Yiadom, our defence seemed to linger on the ball for far too long - even when we had multiple chances to clear the ball. That Yiadom incident in the six yard box was a very lucky escape for us. Our ball retention was poor overall last night though.

Holmes did well, although was arguably at fault for their goal - along with Dorsett for allowing the cross to come in so easily. Surprised Bindon didn't start, but I think Selles was wanted a more physical presence in defence for this game.

Vickers never really got into the game; surprised he lasted as long as he did. That said we didn't have a wide player on the bench who I think would've made an impact last night - all too lightweight for a game like this.

Great ball by Wing for our goal and Smith took the finish well; whether he was onside or not, I don't know - the highlights didn't clear anything up as the ball had been played at least a second before Smith comes into view.

For a side in the play-off picture, I thought Oxford were poor. They were probably around the level of Barnsley, but don't seem to be much more than a mid-table side who've had a good start to the season based on that showing. It's games like the last two that should remind us there's not much of a gulf between the top sides and bottom sides in this division - small improvements can easily lead to good results.

As discussed after the Carlisle game, the following chances are based on teams carrying on performing as they are in terms of xGF and xGA (YMMV):
Reading's relegation chance: 43% -> 39%
Oxford's top two / play-off chance: 3% / 42% -> 2% / 39%

[morganb]

Great ball by Wing for our goal and Smith took the finish well; whether he was onside or not, I don't know - the highlights didn't clear anything up as the ball had been played at least a second before Smith comes into view.

From Y26, it looked like Smith curved his run well so remained onside, the only Oxford player to really appeal for offside was the one playing him on.

[karbota]

Enjoyed that match, the first half was very even but felt we slightly edged it having more chances. Second half Oxford took command as Reading looked tired, bad subs should have been made upfront. MOM was a close call between Sam Smith and Femi Azziz but Azziz did fade 2nd half, Tom Holmes also had a solid game. So stop moaning overall we played well and worked hard for that point.
Very surprised at how many Oxford supporters were in Club 106.

Hopefully they got their heads kicked in

Violence a Typical Leftie trait.

[morganb]

On the topic of violence, it looked a bit like the Wild West outside the Monk's Retreat early yesterday evening with lots of Stone Island-clad youths lobbing plastic chairs at each other (I kid you not, I felt they were provided especially for the occasion!)

There were lines of police in town blocking people accessing the station/buses at one point, however if you went one street up towards the Town Hall then the way was totally unobstructed.

We did see a few gangs of youths, all clad in black, hoods up, scarves over faces, literally running around town looking for trouble. Didn't see them find any though.

Police seem to handle most things well. There were mounted police up at the Stadium pre-match but we never noticed anything untoward either before or after the match.

Green Park station was very busy but thankfully fans mingled peacefully. Train when it arrived was ram-packed.

[rabidbee]

For a side in the play-off picture, I thought Oxford were poor. They were probably around the level of Barnsley, but don't seem to be much more than a mid-table side who've had a good start to the season based on that showing. It's games like the last two that should remind us there's not much of a gulf between the top sides and bottom sides in this division - small improvements can easily lead to good results.

I had a quick look at an Oxford forum earlier, and there were a few comments that their early season form had given an unrealistic impression (and fans unrealistic expectations).

[Clyde1998]

On the topic of violence, it looked a bit like the Wild West outside the Monk's Retreat early yesterday evening with lots of Stone Island-clad youths lobbing plastic chairs at each other (I kid you not, I felt they were provided especially for the occasion!)

There were lines of police in town blocking people accessing the station/buses at one point, however if you went one street up towards the Town Hall then the way was totally unobstructed.

We did see a few gangs of youths, all clad in black, hoods up, scarves over faces, literally running around town looking for trouble. Didn't see them find any though.

Police seem to handle most things well. There were mounted police up at the Stadium pre-match but we never noticed anything untoward either before or after the match.

Green Park station was very busy but thankfully fans mingled peacefully. Train when it arrived was ram-packed.

Generally people looking for violence go looking for others wanting to partake in violence; most people aren't interested. When I travelled on the train to the Swindon game, there was some 'anti-social behaviour' from the Swindon fans (a seat ripped out of the train, etc.), but both sets of fans were mingling around the station without issue. On the way back towards Reading, albeit it wasn't the first train after the game, a group of Swindon fans (who looked the demographic who might be involved in violence) were cordially discussing the game and our situation with a couple of our fans.

I didn't see anything last night and haven't really seen anything on social media to suggest much happened. It might be that the incident you've mentioned was the only thing that happened.

I personally had more issues with a group of our own supporters (maybe fifteen of them) who decided it was a great idea to smoke/vape on the bus back from the game, whilst discussing the times they'd been involved in football violence and what they'd be doing at school tomorrow . Had to move away from them due to feeling nauseous and the effect on my throat. Incidentally, The buses to the surrounding towns did seem to take an abnormally long time to get going after the game (about 20-25 minutes); would've thought the police would've wanted to move the buses along as quickly as possible to get people away from the stadium.

[Clyde1998]

Great ball by Wing for our goal and Smith took the finish well; whether he was onside or not, I don't know - the highlights didn't clear anything up as the ball had been played at least a second before Smith comes into view.

From Y26, it looked like Smith curved his run well so remained onside, the only Oxford player to really appeal for offside was the one playing him on.

Was having a look at the Oxford forum and found a wider shot of our goal:


You're right; he's definitely onside (and that image is after the ball has been played) - their LB is playing Smith on.

[Greatwesternline]

And it's confidence really. Having the technique to make a 10 yard pass and identifying the right option should be 2nd nature to footballers. But when confidence is short, you 2nd guess what should come naturally, particularly in front of a nervous crowd which many of these guys are dealt with. Of course it affects their performance.

And, looking at the big picture, their efforts are futile without new ownership. They can keep us up this season, but if Dai remains we'll lose another load of players out of contract, get a new batch of teenagers, another dodgy manager and rinse and repeat. We spent 5 years circling the plug hole in the Championship before dropping out; the same awaits in L1 if Dai stays. Whereas under new owners, these players may see an opportunity to help this club recover; isn't that something to get more excited by?

The chaos at Wigan isnt preventing them winning matches.

Every teenager playing for Reading has all the motivation they need. We are a stepping stone club with a productive academy that provides a shop window to progress. Every teenager in our academy dreams of being Michael Olise. The majority of our academy output as time goes on will be turning teenagers from London who have dropped out of Arsenal Chelsea Spurs West Ham etc into PL players. This is no bad thing. But i dont think the majority of our academy players are too fussed about the success of Reading in the medium term to be honest.

If we were pushing for promotion to the PL then sure maybe. Irrespective of who is manager Abbey Dorsett Wifi will have hopes of getting in performances good enough to be considered by scouts at clubs like Palace and West Ham.

I think a new manager can make big improevements, but i dont think players give two shits about ownership struggles. All professional sportsman are very individualistic, they have to be, that's how you get to be a pro.

[Clyde1998]

On the topic of violence, it looked a bit like the Wild West outside the Monk's Retreat early yesterday evening with lots of Stone Island-clad youths lobbing plastic chairs at each other (I kid you not, I felt they were provided especially for the occasion!)

I found the footage: https://twitter.com/CasualChaps/status/ ... 1368941873

Completely pathetic.

[Snowflake Royal]

And it's confidence really. Having the technique to make a 10 yard pass and identifying the right option should be 2nd nature to footballers. But when confidence is short, you 2nd guess what should come naturally, particularly in front of a nervous crowd which many of these guys are dealt with. Of course it affects their performance.

And, looking at the big picture, their efforts are futile without new ownership. They can keep us up this season, but if Dai remains we'll lose another load of players out of contract, get a new batch of teenagers, another dodgy manager and rinse and repeat. We spent 5 years circling the plug hole in the Championship before dropping out; the same awaits in L1 if Dai stays. Whereas under new owners, these players may see an opportunity to help this club recover; isn't that something to get more excited by?

The chaos at Wigan isnt preventing them winning matches.

You're aware they have just 1 point more than us in their last six games right?