Back from the game: It was better...

[winchester_royal]

Really? I thought it was one of Marek's worst games in a Reading shirt.

Don't think we played well at all TBH, but we battled brilliantly and deserved a win.

[Ian Royal]

Got to watch quite a lot of the game streaming on the net. We lucked much improved from when I've seen us, but much like Leicester just couldn't finish it.

Stonewall penalty on Long second half, but that seemed to be the only thing he contributed. We really need another striker. Pleased for Church. Kebe looked dangerous once again when he came on.

Ivar looked to be at fault for the goal for me, but then I'm sure many will call me biased against him. I'm willing to admit he hasn't impressed me for quite a while now.

Bertrand seemed improved going forward from recent matches.

The performances seem to continue to be improved, I think Rodgers gets another stay of execution. As long as the performances stay decent he gets 'til mid december for me. Start pulling in a few more points and I'd be happy to give him the season.

Oh, Marek struggled because Ipswich had so many bodies back. A less good game for him. Gave the ball away cheaply too often again.

[floyd__streete]

Came away feeling utterly underwhelmed again. Two teams who showed exactly why they are down at the bottom of the table, the only difference between the sides as far as I am concerned being that Ipswich have superior forwards to count on and therefore presumably the better chance of escaping relegation.

The first half performance was nothing short of pitiful. An improvement after the break, but only the blind and stupid could say they are enjoying the football under Rodgers; today for the most part it was all about the long ball lumped forward to Rasiak. Curious substitutions again today and I have to say I have less faith in Alex Pearce's abilities every time I see him play.

[londinium]

Came away feeling utterly underwhelmed again. Two teams who showed exactly why they are down at the bottom of the table, the only difference between the sides as far as I am concerned being that Ipswich have superior forwards to count on and therefore presumably the better chance of escaping relegation.

The first half performance was nothing short of pitiful. An improvement after the break, but only the blind and stupid could say they are enjoying the football under Rodgers; today for the most part it was all about the long ball lumped forward to Rasiak. Curious substitutions again today and I have to say I have less faith in Alex Pearce's abilities every time I see him play.

Only thing i can agree with is the Pearce comment ...liability.

[winchester_royal]

Came away feeling utterly underwhelmed again. Two teams who showed exactly why they are down at the bottom of the table, the only difference between the sides as far as I am concerned being that Ipswich have superior forwards to count on and therefore presumably the better chance of escaping relegation.

The first half performance was nothing short of pitiful. An improvement after the break, but only the blind and stupid could say they are enjoying the football under Rodgers; today for the most part it was all about the long ball lumped forward to Rasiak. Curious substitutions again today and I have to say I have less faith in Alex Pearce's abilities every time I see him play.

Very much 'greed for once.

Nothing really clicked today, and apart from a decent spell at the end of the game there was no fluency to our play.

Pearce is utterly laughable on the ball.

[RoyalBlue]

Got to watch quite a lot of the game streaming on the net. We lucked much improved from when I've seen us, but much like Leicester just couldn't finish it.

Stonewall penalty on Long second half, but that seemed to be the only thing he contributed. We really need another striker. Pleased for Church. Kebe looked dangerous once again when he came on.

Ivar looked to be at fault for the goal for me, but then I'm sure many will call me biased against him. I'm willing to admit he hasn't impressed me for quite a while now.

Bertrand seemed improved going forward from recent matches.

The performances seem to continue to be improved, I think Rodgers gets another stay of execution. As long as the performances stay decent he gets 'til mid december for me. Start pulling in a few more points and I'd be happy to give him the season.

Oh, Marek struggled because Ipswich had so many bodies back. A less good game for him. Gave the ball away cheaply too often again.

I would like to see some official stats on pass completion rate (and number of passes made). I reckon they would show Marek is nowhere near our worst offender when it comes to giving possession away. On several occasions today he completed passes that he had little right to. One in particular springs to mind in the second half when he himself was set up with a hospital pass but somehow got to the ball first and in one movement flicked it over the opponent's challenge and straight out to Kebe's feet some thirty yards away on the wing.

A guy behind me also made a very valid point. Marek always puts in a challenge for the ball, even if he doesn't have that much chance of winning it (particularly in the air) and the very act of going for a challenge often leads to his opponent making a mistake and losing possession.

[floyd__streete]

Marek certainly isn't the messiah, but he certainly deserves his place in the team as he must surely be one of our eleven least sh*t players. Today he was wasteful in possession, one paced and petulant. He is even less adept in the art of tackling than Darren Caskey.

[Royalee]

Got to watch quite a lot of the game streaming on the net. We lucked much improved from when I've seen us, but much like Leicester just couldn't finish it.

Stonewall penalty on Long second half, but that seemed to be the only thing he contributed. We really need another striker. Pleased for Church. Kebe looked dangerous once again when he came on.

Ivar looked to be at fault for the goal for me, but then I'm sure many will call me biased against him. I'm willing to admit he hasn't impressed me for quite a while now.

Bertrand seemed improved going forward from recent matches.

The performances seem to continue to be improved, I think Rodgers gets another stay of execution. As long as the performances stay decent he gets 'til mid december for me. Start pulling in a few more points and I'd be happy to give him the season.

Oh, Marek struggled because Ipswich had so many bodies back. A less good game for him. Gave the ball away cheaply too often again.

Nailed on.

[RobRoyal]

Good fight, good atmosphere and support considering everything, but yet again we came up short in the opponent's third. On the balance of play we overwhelmingly deserved the win, but with none of the side showing much confidence in front of goal it's always going to be a struggle. Note of praise for Rodgers: having gotten an awful lot of stick on here for our poor second half performances, he managed to get the side playing better after the break. For once we've saved a point instead of throwing them away.

Good performances - Bertrand impressed me with his solidity. McAnuff deserves praise for his industry, though his inability to find a quality final ball was telling. Federici had no chance for the goal and did everything else required of him. Howard, though anonymous for sections, threatened goal a few times (including a great effort from range which clipped the top of the bar).

Poor performance - Sadly, all of Matejovsky's shortcomings were apparent and he failed to make an impact on the game. Shane Long, who replaced the sometimes-threatening Rasiak (poor substitution in my opinion), looked clueless again, though *snowball moment alert* with a better ref he would have been today's match-winner. The penalty decision late on was typical of our luck so far this season. Rosenior cleared a Long effort off the line, but it looked to me like a weak effort. Church still looks somewhat lacking at this level. His goal was pretty fortuitous, and he should have buried the chance after the penalty appeal. Having seen it again on Sky Sports, though, he did well to make the chance for himself.

The Ipswich goal was a result of rubbish defending (Tabb's poor clearance?), but we're paying a heavy price for a squad lacking goalscorers. Whoever is in charge come January needs to be backed to bring someone in.

Throughly enjoyed the chants of "Where was Rosenior" every time he had gone missing at the far post. Anyone else notice the cheeky kiss to the crowd?

Finally, after spending the Birmingham and Burnley games thinking "at least I'll never have to see Jimmy Kebe in a Reading shirt again," what a strange feeling it is to be hoping for his introduction off the bench. It's a bit of an indictment, really. He gave everyone a lift when he came on but ultimately he didn't create much.

[Ian]

Did you notice how once we started trying to create chances the crowd came alive and started getting behind the team.

A point gained is better than three lost. More than ever we need a poacher of goals a Cureton of a Kitson.

[Ian Royal]

Got to watch quite a lot of the game streaming on the net. We lucked much improved from when I've seen us, but much like Leicester just couldn't finish it.

Stonewall penalty on Long second half, but that seemed to be the only thing he contributed. We really need another striker. Pleased for Church. Kebe looked dangerous once again when he came on.

Ivar looked to be at fault for the goal for me, but then I'm sure many will call me biased against him. I'm willing to admit he hasn't impressed me for quite a while now.

Bertrand seemed improved going forward from recent matches.

The performances seem to continue to be improved, I think Rodgers gets another stay of execution. As long as the performances stay decent he gets 'til mid december for me. Start pulling in a few more points and I'd be happy to give him the season.

Oh, Marek struggled because Ipswich had so many bodies back. A less good game for him. Gave the ball away cheaply too often again.

I would like to see some official stats on pass completion rate (and number of passes made). I reckon they would show Marek is nowhere near our worst offender when it comes to giving possession away. On several occasions today he completed passes that he had little right to. One in particular springs to mind in the second half when he himself was set up with a hospital pass but somehow got to the ball first and in one movement flicked it over the opponent's challenge and straight out to Kebe's feet some thirty yards away on the wing.

A guy behind me also made a very valid point. Marek always puts in a challenge for the ball, even if he doesn't have that much chance of winning it (particularly in the air) and the very act of going for a challenge often leads to his opponent making a mistake and losing possession.

Yes yes, we all know he can be excellent with the ball and makes a lot of very good passes that are difficult. What part of once again gave the bal awa too cheaply are you miss-understanding?

It doesn't say "gave the ball away the most" or "gave the ball away more than he kept it" It says that he gave the ball away too cheaply, on too many occasions.

For a player of his undoubted ability to give the ball away with simple mis placed passes 3 or 4 times when I was watching (barely half the game) is nothing more than criminal.

I'd rather he didn't always put a challenge in. That's why he gives away silly free kicks and picks up stupid yellow cards.

[Archie's penalty]

I remember once he lost the ball on the left hand side of their area when we had 5 or 6 people up in attack. Ipswich went on to the attack and nearly scored. He needs to stop making those kind of mistakes...

[Ian Royal]

The Ipswich goal was a result of rubbish defending (Tabb's poor clearance?), but we're paying a heavy price for a squad lacking goalscorers. Whoever is in charge come January needs to be backed to bring someone in.

I thought Tabb originally too, but replays and the commentators seemed to show it as Ivar. Woeful header away and poor positioning the cause of it.

[Terminal Boardom]

By suggesting that it was better must only be because we lost.

MoM? Rosenior! That is how a right back plays at right back!

Today's game was a perfect example of two shit teams. The only side I have seen worse than Ipswich this season is us. Defensively we are a shambles. WTF is the idea of letting the ball BOUNCE on the edge of the 6 yard area? That's not even Sunday League football. The midfield is also a joke. I like Sig but he is not a winger. Everyone else in the midfield area gave a great example of giving the ball away as often as possible. As for the front players, sorry folks, but Simon Church is not good enough for this level yet.

I can't fault the endeavour or effort but the bottom line is that we are, simply, not good enough.

The cloth has not been cut. It has been well and truly shred to ribbons.

I know where I am pointing my finger because if something is not done, we are looking at league 1 football.

Having an experienced manager in charge of our squad would struggle to get them to be successful. What chance has someone with the experience of BR got? It is not his fault. You can not make a slik purse out of a sows ear.

[Royalee]

Pearce is better than Ingimarsson - Ivar should be dropped and Mills or O'Dea should come in. The goals against per game and where they've come from say it all unfortunately, he's not in the same class as he used to be and he was 'steady' rather than 'outstanding' at his best.

[Terminal Boardom]

You know you are in the shit when you find yourself actually wanting Kebe to come on.

[floyd__streete]

I can't fault the endeavour or effort but the bottom line is that we are, simply, not good enough.

Tend to agree with you at this moment in time. On the bright side though: no Reading game for 2 weeks.

[The whole year inn]

Alex Pearce on the ball

He reminds me of when you watch Rugby Union players trying to play league - it just looks wrong

He is not a footballer

[Archie's penalty]

Alex Pearce on the ball

He reminds me of when you watch Rugby Union players trying to play league - it just looks wrong

He is not a footballer

Well NOT a footballer is a bit strong but am not a fan. Slow of body and mind.

Loved his mickick on the touchline against Cardiff

[Terminal Boardom]

Alex Pearce on the ball

He reminds me of when you watch Rugby Union players trying to play league - it just looks wrong

He is not a footballer

Well NOT a footballer is a bit strong but am not a fan. Slow of body and mind.

Loved his mickick on the touchline against Cardiff

I pissed myself with his miskick against Leicester