BFTG - WBA

[Ian Royal]

BBC bizarrely calling it a shock result.

Really? Both teams crap in the League. Reading have a great record at home to WB, especially in the cup. WB needed penalties to scrape past Posh. Reading demolished Walsall 4-0.

Reading had made 3 QFs in the previous six years. We made the SF last year.

Reading had more possession, more shots, more shots on target and by far the most good chances to score.

There was nothing shocking about that result.

[CountryRoyal]

That third goal tho <3

[harry]

Ref: Very good-what a difference from the last couple of weeks.

Agreed. I can only remember whinging about a couple of decisions all game. That's got to make him a damn fine ref given 1) he's human and 2) I'm not exactly Mr Objective when it comes to decisions made by officials when Reading are playing.

[harry]

BBC bizarrely calling it a shock result.

Really? Both teams crap in the League. Reading have a great record at home to WB, especially in the cup. WB needed penalties to scrape past Posh. Reading demolished Walsall 4-0.

Reading had made 3 QFs in the previous six years. We made the SF last year.

Reading had more possession, more shots, more shots on target and by far the most good chances to score.

There was nothing shocking about that result.

At least they accept that we shocked them. Normally it's insert random team lose to Reading as if we had little to do with the result.

[Royality creeps In]

Thought we were great today
Unlucky to go behind with their first shot on target.

I thought HRK and Hector were faultless today. Having said that its hard to fault any one. At a push, If I had to criticise anyone it would be Cox and Rakels who looked off the pace.
We looked much better with Vydra and Hello.

Also a very big LOL to WBA fan who decided it was big to throw a coin at their player.
Sure I would be miffed with a performance like that. God I've put up with a few over the years!
But that is extremely pathetic.

If you wonder onto this board. A message for you.
You deserve to be banned from football for life. Tw@T

[Winston Smith]

[Platypuss]

Watching the highlights that was pretty poor work from midfield to leave Fletcher in so much space at the edge of the box.

[marlowuk]

I really enjoyed this game! There was a great atmosphere throughout and we deservedly won! WBA were very poor but that shouldn't detract from what was a good Reading performance. There were a few moments of class during the match and just about all of them came from Reading.

Firstly, I don't get the hate towards Cox. I was surprised that he started but thought he actually had a pretty good game. Vydra replaced him after about an hour but he never really got into the game. I don't think he was 100% fit and he was not risking himself by 'putting himself about'.

Hector was a rock and would be MOTM if he hadn't committed a stupid and unnecessary foul on the edge of the box which nearly resulted in a WBA goal. So my MOTM (just) is McShane and it was he who seemed to run the match for me as well as score a goal. Norwood was better than his last few performances and, of course, assisted for the first two goals. Cooper also was solid and is learning to not only win the ball in the air but also to direct it more accurately too.

Rakels was disappointing but playing wide is clearly not his true position. He did little wrong but tried little other than the safe pass. HRK had a dodgy start to the match but thereafter played well and was a constant threat. WBA's main threat seemed to be Sessegnon down the right and I thought Obita did a good job in containing him. Gunter and Quinn played well without being outstanding and Ola John for Rakels was a good substitution which injected more energy into the team and the game.

AAH did all he was asked to do and had no chance with their goal. Fletcher was given so much space in our box though - who should have been marking him?

So - on to the quarterfinals and, if we win again, we are in the semis again. When was the last time that a team from the second tier on English football made it to two consecutive FA Cup semi-finals? Snowball?

[Snowball]

Thoroughly enjoyable game, and a totally-deserved 3-1 win.

Al-Habsi is my new Jimmy Kebe. Great Character, loved his celebration. Someone wrote that his diving header was a bit whacky. Disagree. He was left in trouble and did well. Not at fault for the goal. Gets an 8 from me.

Gunter did a solid job, stopped most crosses but got a foot in to cover the mistakes of others. VG Game 8
Obita. Very solid, looks to have more confidence. First half attacks excellent. Close to an 8
McShane. Seems to have left that bad patch behind. Again, showing more confidence. Good shot, VG goal. High 8
Cooper. A kid holding TWO Premiership attacks. His passes out are VG. Destined for the Prem Close to an 8

Norwood. Good links with other midfielders, a few poor passes but overall good, gets a high 8 for two assists and a great clearance
Hector. I have said his best position is DM and he is VERY good there. He made the difference today and v Burnley. 9 MotM
Quinn. Fabulous midfielder, everywhere, clever, full of heart. Very High 8
HRK. A revelation. Looks on fire when on the right. Had he scored would've been joint MoM. High 8

Cox. Was very surprised to see him play very well. Did a great job for an hour. High 7
Rakels. Runs a lot, challenges a lot, showed good touches, but not quite up to speed yet. Will come good. Decent 7


SUBS

Ola John. Did very well, adds sparkle to the side. Made some good defensive steals. Clever for Piazon's goal. 8
Vydra. Looked hardly fit but was BRILLIANT for the goal. Dragged the defence to the corner, then fed Ola John. 7
Piazon. Barely on the pitch but our most lethal finisher did it again. Gets an 8 simply for securing the game

I think today's midfield is our best one (not just because of today's result). Hector helps us seem more solid by protecting the back four. Norwood seems to want to drop into the spot but will learn to play more forward in time. I LOVE Quinn. He would be in my first 11 every time. I think that's our best back 5, too.

So we just need to get the front two firing, and that is probably Termagant and Vydra with Rakels subbing for Vydra maybe

[Snowball]

I know I gave Hector a Mom 9 but just watching the WBA goal
Hector appears to just be ambling behind Fletcher, and that
is disappointing.

He still has poor moments

[Ian Herring]

Great to see these players performing to a higher standard and receiving the marks they've accumulated from those who've attended.

Bravo.

It's so pleasing.

More of the same please.

Cheers.

[Ian Royal]

Watching the highlights that was pretty poor work from midfield to leave Fletcher in so much space at the edge of the box.

That whole move building up to it, we didn't get tight to a single one of their players. So open and easy for them.

Hey ho. We won anyway.

[Steve_Upper_West]

A bit dour first half with neither team looking good going forward. But great second half, though we looked to be elsewhere the 5minutes either side of HT.

West Brom seem utterly reliant on Berahino winning them games and he looks lost and out of it.

Al-Habsi 8 hilarious header first half
Gunter 7 good game
Obita 8 good going forward
McShane 8 gave them nothing and scored
Cooper 8 much better today.
Hector 9 MotM cut out the hollywood crap and was immense
Norwood 7 better than recently, couple of great deadballs
Quinn 8 so hard working
Rakels 7 looked decent but not really a winger. Did a job
HRK 9 deserved a goal, and should have had one, caused lots of problems
Cox 7 worked hard, didn't look like scoring, but leading the line isn't his forte

John 8 caused all sorts of problems, super sub.
Vydra 7 offerred a liitle more than Cox but not fully fit
Piazon 8 did he do anything other than make the game safe?

McDermott 8

Great day.

Baggies went boing boing mental at the end fighting each other.

Anyone else spot Habsi diving into the East stand after the third? I fooking love him.

Norwood, 2 assists - 7
HRK - zero assists zero goals - 9

Were you at the game or are you just spouting stats from a website?
Who came closest to scoring Norwood or HRK?
Sometimes a player's drive and attitude lifts the crowd who in turn lift the team... that was HRK today and by the way only a very good save from their keeper prevented Hal scoring in the first half.

Stats can often be used to help make a point.... but it does not necessarily mean that point is correct

[Royal Ginger]

Agreed about Hector. Excellent today but the goal came from his area.

Al-Habsi diving into the East stand after the 3rd warms my heart a bit. He's not the quality of Federici obviously, but I really can't help but be endeared to him. Bond who?

[Ian Royal]

Cooper. A kid holding TWO Premiership attacks. His passes out are VG. Destined for the Prem Close to an 8

I have a slight qualifier for this, as I've seen a couple say it. I thought there was nothing Premier League quality about West Brom's attack. Rondon is a total plodder and whilst Berahino is talented, he's currently a total waster. Anichebe doesn't strike fear into League One defences, let alone PL ones.

But. Coops was very good.

[harry]

Watching the highlights that was pretty poor work from midfield to leave Fletcher in so much space at the edge of the box.

That whole move building up to it, we didn't get tight to a single one of their players. So open and easy for them.

Hey ho. We won anyway.

Could see the goal coming a mile off as defensively we seemed to drift from not marking one player properly to the next.

[Victor Meldrew]

Hopefully coingate won't be the big story after a very good win for Reading.
For me Quinn and McShane were our best players today.
Although the goals came from 2 set pieces and a breakaway I felt that we did well to restrict WBA to only about 3 chances in the game and generally we were in control.

I can't agree with snowball about Hector being a (defensive) midfielder-true enough he added steel to that area but IMHO his distribution is not very good so when he goes off to Chelsea and gets loaned somewhere I will be more than happy to see Tish play .

Ultimately credit to Brian for changing things early enough to make a difference but Dennis wide left (following Piazon playing there)didn't really work and I would have liked to have seen him in the middle rather than Cox who tried hard but never looked to be a goal threat.

So that's 14 goals in just 4 FA Cup games compared to 33 in 31 League games-I think I'll just go to FA Cup games in the future especially costing just a fiver (not serious but hopefully our league games will be a bit more exciting).

Who next?
Shrewsbury at home?

[moo]

The only incident more sickening than the coin striking Chris Brunt, was the 400 inbred's that invaded our town during Saturday afternoon.

My own daughter was sick just seeing their faces, and I mean physically sick.

In football news, MOTM was Hector imo. Solid performance, well taken goal.

[Snowball]

Cooper. A kid holding TWO Premiership attacks. His passes out are VG. Destined for the Prem Close to an 8

I have a slight qualifier for this, as I've seen a couple say it. I thought there was nothing Premier League quality about West Brom's attack. Rondon is a total plodder and whilst Berahino is talented, he's currently a total waster. Anichebe doesn't strike fear into League One defences, let alone PL ones.

But. Coops was very good.

Maybe, Ian, but that awful front line is averaging almost exactly a Premiership goal per game
and they are 8 points clear of the bottom three, 9 points off 5th.

They didn't impress me but they have W8 Premiership games, drawn another 8
so are a genuine "Mid-Table Premiership Side"

[Kitsondinho]

Just got back up norf......
Three things to say

1) I bloody love the FA Cup!!

2) I bloody love Brian!!

3) Great to see our best players today were all from the Academy (Obita, Hector, Cooper and HRK).