Back from the game - D&R (A) Cup

[Scrappy]

Having listened to the game its hard to pass judgement so this is open to anyone who went. Who, if anyone would you play on Saturday based on what you've seen tonight?

[Dick Habbin's hairdo]

he looked like the only Iceland team he should be in is the shelf stackers on the Oxford road.

That has made my night ! Classic.

Blimey, what is going on? The only posts anyone ever needs to read these days are by AP and GC - absolutely bang on the button everytime over the past month.

[Big Foot]

Having listened to the game its hard to pass judgement so this is open to anyone who went. Who, if anyone would you play on Saturday based on what you've seen tonight?

Keith Scott if we can sign him in time.

Kelly had a good game I think, played a number of good balls down the channel and can rarely think of him being really troubled at right back. S.Hunt looked more comfortable at left back than he did vs NF but not suprising given the standard of opposition.

Was more than a few occasions where Ingimarsson just headed or poorly cleared the ball straight to a blue & red shirt whereas Pearce took the ball down, travelled 5 yards with it and played a good pass. Impressed by that.

Harper wearing the captains armband on his leg just about sums up his captaincy & I'd say this is no more than a token gesture by Coppell to try and keep Harper at the club. Don't bother next time, if Bolton or Boro wanna pay £4m for him then take the money and laugh.

[Archie's penalty]

he looked like the only Iceland team he should be in is the shelf stackers on the Oxford road.

That has made my night ! Classic.

Blimey, what is going on? The only posts anyone ever needs to read these days are by AP and GC - absolutely bang on the button everytime over the past month.

Watch out - the other AP will get a big head...

[Kingsley's Kousin]

"Are you compo in disguise?"

[Barry the bird boggler]

Dull game, enlighted slightly by a lively Dagenham.

Reading I think were caught up in the M25 shenanigans as I don't think they arrived and some local park team must have turned up in their stead.

If the first two games are anything to go by we are in for a dull season watching the ball sail up the middle of the pitch over the heads of our 5'8" strikers in the hope that our midfield can pick up any knock downs from the 6' plus central defenders.

Occasionally we manage to get the ball out for some old fashioned wing play which appears to take the form of either being over elaborate "try and beat everyone twice" or knocking the ball into the seating in the opposite stand.

Lastly, on last night's performance, we are predictable with no variation to our play and nothing on the bench to change it.

Alex Pearce is class though.

Here's hoping to be proved well wrong come the beginning of May 2009.

[The 17 Bus]

poor start in the first two games, dull lifeless football, and it appears that Coppell has not changed his ways from last season, if this is the case, and i hope that it is not, I do hope that we have a replacement manager being considered.

Is only the league cup, but again we treat it with no respect, every competitive game should see a strong team played, it is good for morale, and gets a good routine going, they always say that winning becomes a habit, and cup games in the past were always seen as being part of that habit.

I have not turned against SC yet, but want to see something a bit more positive ASAP.

[silas]

Absolute load of fcuking shite, knew we were in for it once they announced the team lineup, all the anticipation and excitement of seeing the future of RFC whittled away in a moment, 'Hahnemann, Harper, Cisse, Ingimarsson' zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Oh brilliant, another treat awaits.

Same boring hoofball negative crap to two tiny strikers that didn't have a hope in hell of winning anything, Roberts (who we had a great time having some banter with) cocked up to gift us a goal, we were then utterly abysmal in the 2nd half, Daggers back on level terms after some of the worst defending you will ever see, then a one on one after more horrendous play allowed us 1st to be helped by MArcus, then Cisse just managing not to score an own goal. Embarassing. THANK GOD for 1 moment of half decent play getting us through, totally undeservedly.

'Are you watching Middlesbrough' and 'Long ball shit' was the cry as HArper put in another absolutely disgraceful performance, Karacan was the best player on the park in pre season, athletic, confident and willing to put a shift in, we were told about how we needed to get him involved this season, not used. Cisse, another absolutely awful performance from him too, if there is a worse central midfield anywhere than these two I would like to see it, we wouldn't have these two at Harwell Village.

On the positive, there was some at least. Julian Kelly had a very solid game at right back, Pearce totally outshone Ingimarsson who was absolutely wretched tonight again. Slow, crap in the air, confidence shot to pieces, he looked like the only Iceland team he should be in is the shelf stackers on the Oxford road.

Noel Hunt looks to have something about him, and credit to Stephen Hunt again who when the fans totally turned on the side with about 15-20mins to go was the only one to show some bottle and fight and willingness to win that game. It was almost as if some of them couldn't be arsed. So with it seemingly going tits up Coppell does the sensible thing and leave all 7 subs to sit twiddling their thumbs doing nothing. Bored of Coppell, bored of his long ball negative tactics and absolutely bored of his midfield.

Never thought we won would you? We were exceptionally lucky to beat a team that narrowly avoided going out of the league last season, Plymouth I'm looking forward to seeing....pretty much the same team but with more favourites to come back in for the lads that actually don't deserve to be dropped. I would not be surprised to see Plymouth (who aren't very good) turn Reading over again on Saturday.

Another top quality rant AP Spot on as usual

[tlcs]

I can remember how many times Harper landed on his arse in the first half...he was so weak challanging i only wish Boro would make a firm offer.
And a special thanks to Tony Roberts he saved a few blushes on the night

[CMRoyal]

Kudos to all who made the trip, and as a stay-at-home I wouldn’t want to question too much of the criticism, but on the question of subs – given that the game looked to be heading for extra-time, in theory Coppell still had 30 minutes to play with in that department, so that must have been in his thinking? And who would you have pulled in normal time? Not Long or Hunt, N presumably? Apart from that, looks like all the pre-season fears are being realised – Ingi is looking too old, we should have taken the money for Harps, we need more creativity on the wings and Karacan is in danger of being encouraged to fulfil his huge potential elsewhere. It’s going to be a long one!

[papereyes]

I am quite glad I missed that.

From the sounds of things, no midfield and we need Hunt further up the pitch, but I could have told you that after Sunday.

If we're going to play super-duper hoof ball, someone up front taller than Frodo might be an idea.

[Kareem Abdul-Jabar]

Seeing as nobody appears to of given ratings, I thought I'd give mine.

Hahnemann 5 - Not at fault for the goal. Saved well when their striker went clean through (although any half decent player would of slotted it away). But why o why does Marcus feel the need to punt the ball so far and so quickly from every goal kick? One of the reasons we just can't seem to retain possession.
Kelly 6 - Looked average against below average opposition. Thankful he has LR & GM ahead of him in the pecking order. Never once came looking for a short pass from the centre backs or Marcus.
Hunt 4 - Positionally not great, still full of energy, but far too many hoof balls forward. Lost possession from every throw he took. It was amazing how easily Shorey could give a throw and kill whatever kind of crap pass he received back rarely losing possession. As said by just about everyone - not the LB solution!
Pearce 7 - About the only positive from last night. Looked solid but can't really comment too much until he's tested against decent opposition, which the Daggers most certainly weren't!.
Ingimarsson - 6 Don't really agree with other comments saying he looked poor. Again I thought he had a solid game without really being tested too much.
Henry 3 - What on earth do people see in this guy. Apart from being in the right place at the right time for the goal he contributed absolutely nothing to the game. No touch, didn't want the ball, did nothing when he had the ball, overhit every corner and delivered no crosses from open play. No pressure for Kebe, which is very worrying.
Cisse 2 - Dire. Plain and simple, not good enough. Lucky not to score an goal, didn't win a tackle all game, don't remember a pass going to feet. I really cannot work out what he is suppossed to contribute to the team?
Harper 3 - I was / am a big Harper fan, but I've always said he looks great when other players move off the ball and into space. He can pick a pass and keep possession at a premiership level. However, when the movement of the rest of the team is confrence level and nobody wants the ball, Harps gets caught under pressure. Not in the best of form, but given the fact that Cisse didn't turn up and Convey and Henry didn't move or want the ball, I felt Harper (as some are suggesting) shouldn't shoulder all of the blame for last night.
Convey 3 - Poor again. Didn't offer Hunt much to look for, but to be fair, Hunt just smashed it long everytime he got the ball. Needs to buck his ideas up, which is a pity as he looked bright against Villa.
Long 4 - Touch was shocking on numerous occassions. No service from any of the midfield, but made up for it at the end by delivering what our wingers couldn't do all game - a goal scoring opportunity from a cross!
Hunt 4 - Again right place at the right time forthe goal. A few nice touches, but again zero support or link up play from the woeful midfield.

Karacan & Kebe should of come on when we conceded just to change the midfield. The crowd were calling for Leroy, but with the kind of football we were playing, I think he would of had a frustrating time just as Long & Hunt did.

Overall - poor performance, but a new ground so all's well that ends well.

[Royal Rother]

Jeez, if the crowd were calling for Leroy it must have been bloody awful.

[cmonurz]

Jeez, if the crowd were calling for Leroy it must have been bloody awful.

Not necessarily true with Long on the pitch.

[Alan Partridge]

Those ratings are fairly close to what I would say, although S Hunt was better than a 4 for me, Kelly was a 6/7, thought the 2 forwards did alright and were worthy of 5's maybe a generous 6 although as you correctly say Long's first touch is appalling, it goes further than I can kick it. But otherwise yep the others were DUMP, oh and COppell 2

[Sarah Star]

Odd that on the radio Convey and Henry seemed to be having quite a good game...or as good as it gets anyway.

[Jerry St Clair]

Christ on a bike; Dagenham is a fecking long way. It takes 15 minutes on the tube just to get back as far as Upton Park, and anyone who's been there knows what a slog that is from Paddington.

Still it was worth it. Nice, compact terrace, piss-ridden toilets, dodgy burger bar and friendly stewards. I'd be quite happy watching my football at places like this again. Only downside was no pubs (that I could see) anywhere near the ground,

As for the game, I concur with everything Partridge said. Despite his naval gazing after Derby, Coppell hasn't learned a thing from last season. Sticking with same old favourites, ame tired tactics, and same unwillingness to make substitutions. The most worrying thing is the gaping chasm where our central midfield should be - Coppell cannot be so myopic that he can't see this needs to be filled with Karacan immediately?

[The 17 Bus]

Odd that on the radio Convey and Henry seemed to be having quite a good game...or as good as it gets anyway.

Shame they were on the radio, doing it on the pitch is whats needed.

[The 17 Bus]

Christ on a bike; Dagenham is a fecking long way. It takes 15 minutes on the tube just to get back as far as Upton Park, and anyone who's been there knows what a slog that is from Paddington.

Still it was worth it. Nice, compact terrace, piss-ridden toilets, dodgy burger bar and friendly stewards. I'd be quite happy watching my football at places like this again. Only downside was no pubs (that I could see) anywhere near the ground,

As for the game, I concur with everything Partridge said. Despite his naval gazing after Derby, Coppell hasn't learned a thing from last season. Sticking with same old favourites, ame tired tactics, and same unwillingness to make substitutions. The most worrying thing is the gaping chasm where our central midfield should be - Coppell cannot be so myopic that he can't see this needs to be filled with Karacan immediately?

Don't worry Hammond is on the case, new LB expected, tho it is now with two weeks, so much for having someone lined up.

[Jerry St Clair]

Odd that on the radio Convey and Henry seemed to be having quite a good game...or as good as it gets anyway.

Shame they were on the radio, doing it on the pitch is whats needed.

Convey's contribution last night consisted of:

- Receiving the ball from Hahnemann
- running with his head down until he ran into a defender
- stopping, turning round and passing the ball back Cisse/Harper

Repeated ad infinitum

Woeful