Back From The Game - Middlesbrough (H)

[strap]

This team is far, far worse than the team which got us promoted from division 2 back in the day. Id much rather have a fully fit andy hughes, Kevin watson, viveash,etc
How can a club go from 8th in the prem to a squad that would be mid table in division 2 ( at most). Middlesbrough sliced us open like a cake at times today and didn't get out of second gear.
There is truly nothing to get excited about with this current set up as a club and I can't stress enough how much I regret renewing my season ticket. The second half performance today was the most clueless I've seen since the days of elm park - at least that relegation team had fight and could do the basic bombard the opponents goal scenario. This team just fizzled out without a ripple, had absolutely no idea what formation they were playing and its going to be a sorry sight when our best player bertrand leaves in the summer. If anything was going to happen it was by his doing - he's a left back ffs.

Rodgers - clueless. Just completely clueless as a manager, no idea how watford did ok with him in charge. Truly remarkable.

Madejski - self proclaimed anti-football man who knows nothing about the game. He somehow believes selling more or less your entire first team squad will have little impact. Set the club back YEARS over the last few months. However, I wouldn't sack rodgers, no point. A source of mine has it that these talks with the arabs are still ongoing and are still likely to happen, so fingers crossed this goes through before xmas. They'll want there own man so might as well wait until that goes through, thats the only positive on the horizon.

Agreed, although with the shenenigans over at Portsmouth, be wary of Arabs bearing gifts. Their bloke looks as dodgy as shit, so hopefully the ones doing due diligence on our books have something about them. No wonder the Mad Man doesn't give a toss, he'll be out of it soon crowing to his cronies about how he beat the system and made a shed load out of a football club.

[North Somerset Royal]

I didn't post after Preston because I did not want to rain on the parade and spoil the euphoria at an unxpected away win. Truth is though that we displayed the same faults at Deepdale as in most other games this season and we just got luckky with Preston hitting the woodwork 3 trimes and Fed making some world class (to slip into Rodgers speak) saves. Today was probably the worst display of the season but for Rodgers to say on BBCRB afterwards that it was wildly different from Deepdale is pure fiction. Fact is that the tactics of playing only one up front are no good at this level with the players we have most of whom are just not good enough to play that system which requires a team to take most if not all of the few chances that will fall to them. The whole inexperience problem was highlighted today by the way that the Boro defence completely stifled Church employing some off the ball professional fouls not seen by the ref and drawing Church into on the ball fouls easily spotted by the ref. In addition we only play for 45 minutes and I cannot help feeling that doing away with fitness training in favour of ball work has had a detrimental effect on the fitness of the squad.














season sen and dealt with by the ref.

[John Peel]

Well if nothing else Mr Ego will have a smile on his face.........................no doubt concerned about having to pay out a win bonus on Tuesday, he can happily put his scissors away and keep his cloth uncut today. The man really gets on my tits with the "we are a well run club" bollocks, he is responsible for this carnage and the sooner he fcuks off the better, the mans an ass and when he goes good bloody ridance to hm. !!

The disciples of Madejski will be issuing a fatwa in response to that![/quote]

I don't know who people think is going to take his place. Maybe he will fcuk off and then we'll really be in the sh*t.

Agree that the club is showing no ambition. The problem is that if we were a Scuthorpe we wouldn't care, but we've tasted success and now it's hard to take the fact that the management has settled for a quiet life in England's third tier. I think we'd all better get used to it cos it ain't gonna change anytime soon - not unless some rich Arab decides to take over a club he's never heard of.

Anyway, as for today's performances, it was a game of two halves again. BR's h-time teamtalks must be f*cking w*nk. I thought Karacan was our best player and can't understand the criticism someone gave him on the board earlier. The guy read the game well today and was always there to link up with other parts of the field. So:

Fed - 6. Great shot stopper but has no command of his area. Come on Fed. And what's happened to the quick release play you used to do?
Cummings - 5. I couldn't see who was at fault for goal but I'll take your word. Prob his best game at home (not saying much!).
Ivar - 6. Still some way off match fitness but confident he will come good.
O'Dea - 6. Not as good as usual.
Bertrand - 5.5. Worst I've seen him but still a good player.
Karacan - 7. Our best player.
McAnuff - 6.5. But 7 on first half display.
Gunnar - 4. I rate the guy but was poor today.
Howard - 4. Drop him. Bring in Marek or Sig.
Kebe - 6. Should've taken off Howard instead. We missed the width and pace to test an average Boro defence.
Church - 5. Let's not play one up front at home again please. The guy was lost.

N Hunt - 5.

[RoyalBlue]

Second half in particular was really was dire.

Was like being back at the swansea game again

Their keeper never made a save in the 1st half. We had one header that went just wide and maybe a few shots that were blocked. 5 shots on target tand 11 shots in total?? That may be stretching it a bit.

what wa sthe deal with the "fancy" free kick in the second half? We can;t even get the basics right, we should focus on that before we start on the fancy stuff.

Throw ins.. twice in the first half we threw the ball to our player who kicked it straight out for a boro throw.

So in the second half we changed tack and just through the ball staright to their player from our throw in.

Crosses were dreadful, high hanging balls that their keeper could claim all day long.

One of the most depressing things is that their keeper looked pretty shyte - like a rabbit caught in headlights everytime the ball ran through to him chased by a forward. However, we didn't test him in 90 minutes of football.

Well if nothing else Mr Ego will have a smile on his face.........................no doubt concerned about having to pay out a win bonus on Tuesday, he can happily put his scissors away and keep his cloth uncut today. The man really gets on my tits with the "we are a well run club" bollocks, he is responsible for this carnage and the sooner he fcuks off the better, the mans an ass and when he goes good bloody ridance to hm. !!

I don't know who people think is going to take his place. Maybe he will fcuk off and then we'll really be in the sh*t.

We're already in the shyte and rapidly sinking deeper - how is he going to balance the books next year? He's already had all of the family silver flogged off and there is absolutely no way that ticket sales (season and pay per game) aren't going to drop off - and he is going to fcuk off, so the sooner the better.

[working class hero]

Hunt, Ingimarsson and Karacan were OK. The rest were a shower of shite.

I'm a perennail RTG, but that was naive, gutless, woeful, inept and embarassing.

Agree - was a BR faithful till today; that was shocking. Just can't understand where Rasiak was; and I just can't believe that Marek would be worse than Howard, but BR obviously doesn't think so.

I suspect there is pressure to release MArek as his wages are probably much higher than Howards....

[Ian Royal]

Hunt, Ingimarsson and Karacan were OK. The rest were a shower of shite.

I'm a perennail RTG, but that was naive, gutless, woeful, inept and embarassing.

Agree - was a BR faithful till today; that was shocking. Just can't understand where Rasiak was; and I just can't believe that Marek would be worse than Howard, but BR obviously doesn't think so.

I suspect there is pressure to release MArek as his wages are probably much higher than Howards....

Siggurdsson has done more this season than the pair of them put together and will cost us less than either. WHY THE oxf*rd DID WE SIGN HOWARD FFS!!!

[Terminal Boardom]

Did anyone else notice the new formation halfway through the second half? 505

That's right. 5 at the back and 5 up front and a dirty great big hole in between.

[Jobbo no.11]

That was just utter shite. The two fullbacks actually deserve to b put down. Cummings. Who the oxf*rd even thought it wud b a good idea to replace rosenior with that pile of utter rubbish. Karakan and Macanuf are the only two players that even looked average. At least they were up for a tackle and tried.
The thing that really sums up the game was that the loudest chant we gave was "how shit must u be weve just had a shot".

Off topic abit lita's goal was class and deserved the reception he got. I just hope madejski took notice and may hav helped him realise how much he has oxf*rd up this year.

[It Is What It Is]

Did anyone else notice the new formation halfway through the second half? 505

That's right. 5 at the back and 5 up front and a dirty great big hole in between.

It was supposed to 4-1-2-3 but the man in front of the back 4 just got pulled back and the two supporting the strikers & main wingers just got sucked forward and it just became a big mess tbh

[John Peel]

It was supposed to 4-1-2-3 but the man in front of the back 4 just got pulled back and the two supporting the strikers & main wingers just got sucked forward and it just became a big mess tbh

I think that sums up the second half perfectly. First half wasn't actually that bad but never have I seen a formation and structure go completely and utterly to pieces as I did in the second half. It was a complete and utter mess and it was as if the team had never played together before at times. Like watching a car crash.

[FORSTERS_RIGHT_FOOT]

Another team in red.

Says it all.

[PEARCEY]

Well, he's lost the crowd; the indifference was overwhelming.

The interesting thing is that if most other clubs' supporters were witnessing what we are having too, they would have been on the backs of manager, players and board a long, long, time ago. Reading fans have shown an incredible amount of restraint at games to date but I suspect that it won't be too long before this starts to change, unless we start to see some wins.

Oh and the ref and one of his assistants was absolutely shocking today but even if they had been world class it would have made no difference to our team's dreadful performance.

I agree with this but I think our next home game is Leicester on a Monday night...the attendance is likely to be markedly lower than the average gate this season...and if we fail in that agme then I think the fans will turn(assuming we dont get points from WBA and QPR

[Terminal Boardom]

Well, he's lost the crowd; the indifference was overwhelming.

The interesting thing is that if most other clubs' supporters were witnessing what we are having too, they would have been on the backs of manager, players and board a long, long, time ago. Reading fans have shown an incredible amount of restraint at games to date but I suspect that it won't be too long before this starts to change, unless we start to see some wins.

Oh and the ref and one of his assistants was absolutely shocking today but even if they had been world class it would have made no difference to our team's dreadful performance.

I agree with this but I think our next home game is Leicester on a Monday night...the attendance is likely to be markedly lower than the average gate this season...and if we fail in that agme then I think the fans will turn(assuming we dont get points from WBA and QPR

Half term for the kids? Think again.

[Terminal Boardom]

It was supposed to 4-1-2-3 but the man in front of the back 4 just got pulled back and the two supporting the strikers & main wingers just got sucked forward and it just became a big mess tbh

I think that sums up the second half perfectly. First half wasn't actually that bad but never have I seen a formation and structure go completely and utterly to pieces as I did in the second half. It was a complete and utter mess and it was as if the team had never played together before at times. Like being in a car crash.

Corrected for you - apols if it causes offence to anyone.

[Man Friday]

STILL haven't seen Reading score live since November 2008 (except the Birmingham match and I'm not counting that - it was just a consolation goal).

[handbags_harris]

It's a world class model dontcha know. We're only an inch away from being a very good team, and we're going to spank a team for 7 (SEVEN) goals soon.

[Sarah Star]

Well, firstly I don't think that was "our worst second half performance this season" as I heard on the radio on leaving the match, I'm sure our first few games were worse in terms of the way we played as a team. However, I do think we were totally outclassed by a side that were bigger and faster than us and that doesn't bode well for the rest of the season. I know we're a young side and in development atm, but that's no excuse. We need to be able to beat these guys if we're going to get anywhere.

We didn't play as well as we did at Deepdale. Then we played well down the wings, hassled the Preston players into making mistakes and worked as a team and that sort of broke down after the 'borough goals. I still think we need more stamina and we don't look fit enough to last for the second half - and that goes for the whole team, not just the older guys.

It was great going to Preston to see us win away but I'm sick of us not winning at home. So I've decided that I'm going to suffer even more until we win at the Mad Stad. I'm not going to have anything sweet until we win and then I'm going to have a big celebration, that way the win will be all the sweeter too.

[Humanistic]

STILL haven't seen Reading score live since November 2008 (except the Birmingham match and I'm not counting that - it was just a consolation goal).

Impressive- how many games is that? I've been to 21 consecutive matches (home and away) without seeing a Reading win

[sandman]

We were absolutely awful no drive, direction or desire. Kebe wasn’t playing brilliantly but he didn’t deserve that stupid substitution which resulted in our midfield having more holes than Swiss cheese. I seriously don't think that this manager knows what he is doing especially from half time onwards.

What made it worse was seeing the amount of goals scored by ex-players (not just the obvious one) and players who are currently on loan.

Cummings is atrocious. How what was once our most dependable position is being occupied by this clown is baffling. Gunnarsson played poorly and showed that he can't play two games in a week. Howard is an awful signing and I'm re-evaluating my initial opinion about him being even an average Championship player, where is Tabb?

Our much maligned crowd have actually been pretty patient thus far but they're rapidly losing it .The manager needs to start sorting it out and quickly otherwise he's going to be in real trouble.

[Sarah Star]

I was told today that Tabb and Davies are going out on loan. I'm not sure I like the sound of that.