Back From The Game - Middlesbrough (H)

[Royal Lady]

I've missed him recently - has he posted since yesterday's game?

[readingbedding]

First half I thought we competed fairly well but the quality of the final ball was desperate. Especially when you only have one up front, you simply hace to deliver good balls. How many good openings did we get where the winger failed to beat the first man, or looped an aimless cross beyond the far post?

Second half was clueless, not a lot more to be said about it than that.

Oh and the Leroy love-in was fcking embarrassign too, but i'm going to find somewhere else on the board to moan about that. He was claiming the first goal by the way, so may have notched twice.

Irony was dripping yesterday, never knew they had it in themselves, loads of wags... fans collectively deciding to cheer opposing players and last-minute 1st shot on target, if I was BR I would be feeling slightly perturbed about the gallows humour.
Rather that than the boos to be fair.

[brendywendy]

at leats the twats wait till aftyer the game to boo


its still embarrassing though

almost as much as our 2nd half yesterday

[Terminal Boardom]

I did not boo. I was too angry. I did join in with the celebrations for our first and second shots on target. The time to be worried is when the crowd start calling for the ball to be given to Jimmy Kebe.

[brendywendy]

i do that every game

but its mostly ironic

[Ark Royal]

My first game today for over 10 years. Drove 100 miles each way. I agree that the match was poor from a RFC point of view and it reminded me of the darker, final days of Mr Branfoot and the sucession of poor/cheap/underqualified replacements we had.

There is, however, a common thread to the really poor performances - they're all AT HOME!

Why is that? Is it because going to a game has never been the same since they sold Elm Park? No - most of these boys probably never knew that EP even existed.

Is it because there's a jinx or voodoo curse on the Madejski or the club? Unlikely - I doubt anyone else cares enough about RFC to bother.

Or is it because the crowd are constantly on the backs of THEIR OWN players for the slightest thing? If I was on the pitch and was subjected to the same level of barraking and abuse as they get FROM THEIR OWN FANS then I'm not sure I could be bothered either.

I thought us fans today were patiently awesome

What's that then - waiting quietly whilst doing something amazing? Can't say I noticed.

showing real class with Lita

I Like Leroy too, but I wouldn't want to encourage him to play even better than he was already, even if we weren't taking a beating

and real humour with the ironic shot cheering at the end.

Absolutely - how better to prepare the lads for the next home game?

a better final irony than booing would be to sing again 'where's the money gone'

I'm sure that will make them all feel valued and deperate to play their hearts our for us all next time.

Why not try SUPPORTING the team instead of UNDERMINING it?

I think you're absolutely wrong. The home crowd has been acually quite supportive. we haven't won since january...not sure how such "great" fans like Leeds , West Ham, Newcastle (no sorry they're mugs) etc would have coped

And why should they when this club has fcuked every supporter in the arse with their '"brick-by-brick" approach?

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

Mad Dogs Ghost wrote: Two centre backs on the bench sums up BR's confusion.

No confusion MDG you can name seven subs this season.

[winchester_royal]

So....how many RTG's/BR groupies do we have left now??? I can only count Royalee and winchester_royal at the moment and possibly Sun Tzu who rarely makes a criticism.

Could you be anymore pleased with yourself?

At least when I have an opinion, I have the ability to stick with it, rather than change it everytime we play a game.

[Royal Lady]

That's very true - but how can you possibly still think we've got a great team and BR is great - that's what surprises me more than anything. You have to be realistic and at least admit that things aren't looking very good at the moment.

[winchester_royal]

That's very true - but how can you possibly still think we've got a great team and BR is great - that's what surprises me more than anything. You have to be realistic and at least admit that things aren't looking very good at the moment.

I don't think I've ever said either of these things, and will readily admit that BR has made mistakes so far, but I can still see light at the end of the tunnel, and 3 points from the last 2 games is more than I expected, ergo I'm not overly upset.

[CMRoyal]

My first game today for over 10 years. Drove 100 miles each way. I agree that the match was poor from a RFC point of view and it reminded me of the darker, final days of Mr Branfoot and the sucession of poor/cheap/underqualified replacements we had.

There is, however, a common thread to the really poor performances - they're all AT HOME!

Why is that? Is it because going to a game has never been the same since they sold Elm Park? No - most of these boys probably never knew that EP even existed.

Is it because there's a jinx or voodoo curse on the Madejski or the club? Unlikely - I doubt anyone else cares enough about RFC to bother.

Or is it because the crowd are constantly on the backs of THEIR OWN players for the slightest thing?

No, it can't be that because they were playing poorly even when the crowd was behind them. The difference is simple - away from home, teams come out and attack us, which allows us to get chances on the break. When we are at home, teams are less worried about getting a point rather than three, and are therefore more inclined to be patient and wait for their chances. And we simply don't have the confidence (or ability, it seems) to take a game to the opposition. I agree that a lot of RFC fans are woeful - we moved our ST seats simply because even when the team was doing well last season, too many people around us spent the whole time whingeing. But on the whole, the fans have been patient. It snapped on Saturday because almost from the off it was obvious that for the fourteenth game in a row, we were not going to win. Remember, a lot of us have been to every single one of those games. It's a time and finance commitment that quite frankly is making us look like complete mugs at the moment, so a bit of barracking is the least you should expect. (Not that I ever barrack or boo our players, but I can no longer blame those that do.)

[CMRoyal]

Or was it the 15th game in a row? So punch drunk, I've lost count.

[Tilehurst Mike]

Highlight of a truly abysmal afternon's entertainment was the Delia impressionist on the pitch at half time. BR has to go. The man doesn't have a clue and you can only play one up front at home if you have a experienced half decent striker in the first place. Church is not up to this task, and Cummings has to be one of the worst players I have seen in a Reading shirt.

Fitness amongst the players doesn't look too good and we are crying out for some motivation and direction from the touchline instead of the invisible 'men'--Austin and Lampard.

Definitely relegation form and the Board must take a lot of blame for the current situation.
Seriously thinking this will be the final season I have a season ticket unless things pick up soon at home.

[brendywendy]

'gree on fitness

it can only be that, or somesort of misfiring jedi mind trick used by rodgers at half time that causes us to become utter dross after the break- every oxf*rd time


if weve gone from being the fittest team ive watched to one of the least, just due to rodgers- training with the ball only rubbish ill be very upset

[CMRoyal]

So....how many RTG's/BR groupies do we have left now??? I can only count Royalee and winchester_royal at the moment and possibly Sun Tzu who rarely makes a criticism.

Maybe we should start an Official I Was Wrong About Brendan thread. I think I stepped over into the anti- camp on Saturday. This isn't knee-jerk - I've been to eight league games this season, and my reluctant conclusion so far is that he is completely and utterly out of his depth. Sad really, but we can't stand and watch him and the team flail about much longer. Either they suddenly get their heads above water in the next few games, or we will have to start thinking of alternative strategies.

[andrew1957]

Have not posted earlier as I was also disappointed by the lack of fight shown by the players in the second half. No one can make excuses for that.

BUT I think this reflects more on the players than the manager. I just want to give him 20 games. If there is no sign of improvement by then, then fair enough get on his back or ask for his head but let us just give him a chance to turn this round.

I have always been amazed by how little time other clubs have given managers - I just don't want us to fall into the same trap.

[Ryn]

I am still totally stunned as to his 'tactical' decision at half time to take off Kebe.

Kebe was not having a good game by any stretch of the imagination, but McAnuff WAS. We were doing well down the left flank and despite going in a 1-0 we were competing with Boro.

After making an utter hash of the formation at half time we were well out of it. None of the players looked liked they knew what they were supposed to be doing. Even AFed wasn't sure if he was supposed to be throwing the ball out, keeping hold of it or what.

Utter utter shite. Why change the formation (much as I HATE 4-5-1) when it was working?

To sum it up for me, I watched Chelsea Vs Liverpool yesterday and noted that Brendan ROFLodgers' beloved Chelsea played a 4-4-2 against Liverpool's 4-5-1 and comfortably played them off the park. Torres hardly got a foot to the ball. All the play through the middle of the park, John Terry just headed everything away. How that reminded me of the blue and white hoops.

We need to get back to basics and FAST. Fitness training, wing work, and some oxf*rd set-piece practice would be a start. How many oxf*rd corners have we had so far this season, and we've got nothing from them.

Get the ball down the oxf*rd wing, get in the space beside the full back and CROSS THE BALL IN. It works well enough for everyone else in this division.

RODGERS GET A GRIP!

[weybridgewanderer]

My first game today for over 10 years. Drove 100 miles each way. I agree that the match was poor from a RFC point of view and it reminded me of the darker, final days of Mr Branfoot and the sucession of poor/cheap/underqualified replacements we had.

There is, however, a common thread to the really poor performances - they're all AT HOME!

Why is that? Is it because going to a game has never been the same since they sold Elm Park? No - most of these boys probably never knew that EP even existed.

Is it because there's a jinx or voodoo curse on the Madejski or the club? Unlikely - I doubt anyone else cares enough about RFC to bother.

Or is it because the crowd are constantly on the backs of THEIR OWN players for the slightest thing? If I was on the pitch and was subjected to the same level of barraking and abuse as they get FROM THEIR OWN FANS then I'm not sure I could be bothered either.

I thought us fans today were patiently awesome

What's that then - waiting quietly whilst doing something amazing? Can't say I noticed.

showing real class with Lita

I Like Leroy too, but I wouldn't want to encourage him to play even better than he was already, even if we weren't taking a beating

and real humour with the ironic shot cheering at the end.

Absolutely - how better to prepare the lads for the next home game?

a better final irony than booing would be to sing again 'where's the money gone'

I'm sure that will make them all feel valued and deperate to play their hearts our for us all next time.

Why not try SUPPORTING the team instead of UNDERMINING it?

This has really annoyed me and I have waited a few days to calm down.

I travel an 80 mile round trip every home game. You rock up for the first time in 10 years and have a pop at me.

You are entitled to your thoughts on the team, but please I have seen, Barnsley at home in the league cup, swansea away, watford at home, doncatser at home, sheffield at home, and boro at home amongst others. It is hard to remain positive when you watch this garbage week in week out.

We have tried the "be positive and give the team your support", it made no difference.

I think its about time we are entitled to have a pop at a few people. I suggest Brendan comes and watches a few games next to us in the North stand. He obviously is not seeing from the technical area what we are seeing from behind that goal.

[Wycombe Royal]

We have tried the "be positive and give the team your support", it made no difference.

Have we? I must have missed that.

If you mean "be positive and give the team your support by keeping quiet and not booing" then yes I suppose we have.

[sandman]

We have tried the "be positive and give the team your support", it made no difference.

Have we? I must have missed that.

If you mean "be positive and give the team your support by keeping quiet and not booing" then yes I suppose we have.

We are just not the sort of club for that. Most teams have a more vocal support away than they do at home games and we are no exception to that.